solopaddler

Great news!

It's really hard to say Matt without witnessing the incident. Ironically I'm "kind of" going through something similar. I have to tell you guys what just happened recently in my house. It's a long story but it's been festering for awhile now. My sister in law was living with us recently for a short while along with her 120lb mastiff. As many of you know I have a 11/2 year old german shorthair, which happens to be way less than half the size of the mastiff. By and large she's a big happy idiot that wants nothing more than to play all day, my 5 year old sleeps with her every night. Not once had I seen an ounce of aggression out of her....until recently. She pestered the mastiff constantly, trying to get it to play and the bigger dog mostly ignored her. Total opposite personalities. One morning when I was alone the house I heard this crazy racket and the mastiff had my dog by the neck shaking it like a rag doll. My dog was mewling in pain. I couldn't get it to let go of my dog. I punched it, I kicked it, it still wouldn't let go and was shaking her violently. Ultimately in complete desperation I BIT the damn dogs ear myself and she finally let go. I firmly believe it would have killed my dog. The second the mastiff let go, my dog viciously tried to attack it, I honestly was shocked. I pulled them apart, put them in separate rooms and left for work without telling anyone in my family what had happened (figured it would blow over and didn't want to cause any angst). BIG mistake. Later that night when my sister in law came home and let her dog out, MY dog went at her again like a wild animal. Apparantly it wasn't pretty. Everyone calms down and I say "that's it, sorry but this dog needs to be out of my house". My wife and her sister disagreed (it was like having two angry wives LOL!) They promised they'd constantly keep the two dogs apart until my sister in law moved out. This strange situation lasted one week. Then one night we're all peacefully watching tv and Joanne gets it in her head to bring the mastiff out for a pee. My dog was laying quietly beside me, then suddenly the mastiff chuffs at my dog and before I can do anything my dog leaps up and tries to attack it again. My wife got in the middle of the two dogs and the mastiff bit her badly on the wrist trying to get at my dog. Fractured bones in her wrist and deep wounds that required a bunch of stitches. It was a nightmare. The mastiff was out of my house shortly afterwards. NOW my issue is everyone on my wifes side of the family is convinced my dog is vicious and needs to go. No one but me saw that damn dog attack mine for no reason and nearly kill her. I've explained, but it goes over everyone's head. As far as I'm concerned my dog was protecting herself, her family and her territory. I honestly didn't know she had it in her. IMO it was the mastiff who snapped and I've flat out told my family I don't ever want my kids anywhere near that dog again. Thankfully my wife agrees 100%, but man it's causing some big time strife in our household right now! (sorry for the huge thread hijack, I needed to get that off my chest)

Well this year's license is brown Mike, so it appears as though you did buy the right license. (the color does change every year) Wow crazy if true. Can't believe any retailer would be dumb enough to do that. As far as I knew they had to be accountable for every single license issued to them. Good luck man.

Yep that's me, constantly attacking people with absolutely nothing of value to add to any conversation. I think the non fishing posts on OFC are great, they're part of what makes this such a great place to hang out. In my useless opinion politics is a subject that doesn't belong here. But I digress, you've got a lively debate going here, mostly with yourself. Carry on...

I feel for you man. I doubt it's a common occurence as far as not remitting fees go though. Fish Ontario didn't have the greatest rep to begin with, looks as though it may be about to get worse. You should be flipping, because NY State allows you to buy the following years license well in advance of Sept 30th. Anyone buying a non resident license in Sept should automatically be assumed to be purchasing the following years license. At the very least she should have asked. If that mistake was made it should have been obvious though, the year is printed right on the stub. Tough luck Mike, hope you sort it out.

And I'd like to know what really happened in Area 51, but it's not going to happen. Snidely is a font of useful information. You seem angrier than usual tonight. No of course you didn't.

Them other gi's don no whut theer tokkin about. This is how ya cuk a burd! <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/GKw1yTkAxyE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Sorry should have been more specific. A standard 8wt is give or take 210 grains, a 9wt is 240 grains. So the 230 grain Madison is selling is in between the two but closer to a 9wt. IMO it would be a perfect match for the 8wt. It never hurts to up the line size when tossing big bushy flies, and that's probably just the perfect amount.

Just to confuse you further...the Sage Bass Taper is one of the few lines beyond the skagit lines on the market that don't have a weight designation. (6wt, 7wt, 8wt., etc) Their weight is listed in grams. Cool huh?

Personally I don't think you could go wrong with either. The 8wt is more than capable of handling large bushy flies...provided the appropriate line is used in conjunction. The 9wt may be a safer bet for a novice, but beware, a 9wt will be the fly rod equivolent of a pool cue. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing.

It's cheap and usually their stuff is sent USPS. I've mostly ordered a bunch of clothing over the last couple years, no rods, but their service and communication have been first rate everytime.

I can offer dozens of great locations. This particular one stands out for 4 reasons: it's dirt cheap, the cabins are really nice, the fishing is great, and there's numerous back lakes to fish as well. It's a bit more than 12 hours away, but not by much. http://www.bushlakeresort.com/index.php?p=fishing

Joanne has allotted me a tiny section of our freezer for my roe. It's about the size of two paperback books. Not a lot, but if you're in desperate need Steve you're welcome to it. Did anyone actually read the latest diatribe? I made it through 4 lines myself before my brain turned numb.

Just kidding, I love smelt.

Yech! Looks like a plate of salties, some toast and a blob of ketchup.

I was just talking with John last week about some writing for the magazine and he referred me to the travel editor James Smedley. I kind of wondered about it at the time. I've been an admirer of Mr. Kerr's for a long time. He's a very well respected outdoorsman and will be missed.

Ooops sorry, I never noticed that and it's right on the website! Blue Moon Retreat near Barry's Bay is nice: http://www.bluemoonretreat.info/Blue_Moon_Retreat.html Northridge on Lake Bernard is also highly regarded among my yuppie friends LOL! http://www.northridgeinn.com/

I just thought of Obabika just west of Temagami. There may not be a finer drive-to resort in the province based strictly on ammenities and cuisine. They have honeymoon packages as well, although they're not cheap. http://www.obabika.com/experience-obabika/experience-obabika.html

I find this amusing and sad. Lou I'm in your corner 100%. There are many who likely don't know this, but Louis is heavily involved with CRAA and has given many hundreds of hours of time to the cause over the years. Louis is also a dedicated steelhead fisherman who also happens to fish with roe. Mr. Snyders comments are akin to a small brat of a boy poking a stick into a hornets nest just to see what might happen. He obviously knows what Lou's contributions have been to the fishery, but that counts for nothing apparantly. Even in the face of the largest run of WILD steelhead on the Credit in years. It's no wonder Louis snapped. It's a thankless job these guys do most of the time. At the very least guys like Lou and Joseph (who's also heavily involved as well...thanks Joe!) deserve a pat on the back. NOT some internet fool attacking them personally and spouting off their insane rhetoric.

Rob I can help you! Check out Madison River Fishing Company: http://www.mrfc.com/MadisonRiverShopping/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=4 They have a clearance section with some fantastic prices. You can refine the results when you search so it goes faster. I've purchased from them many times before and they're great to deal with. Just had a quick look and they've got Temple Fork Signature series rods in both 8 & 9 weight on sale for $70. (I'd go with the 8 weight, although 9 would be okay). Very decent rod and it's got an unconditional lifetime warranty. They also have Scientific Anglers 2L fly reels on sale half price for $79.95. They've always been one of the best values on the market in a fly reel and for your purposes would be perfect. They even have a Sage Bass Taper fly line on sale half price for $39.95. That line would be ideal for throwing pike flys.

Well done young man!

I started this back on page one, who knew? The bottom line is this, although some of us have very different agendas we're all passionate anglers and all of this in fighting serves absolutely no purpose.

Congrat's! If you're looking for a couples resort, why not try The Couples Resort? This place is pretty highly regarded: http://www.couplesresort.ca/index.html

Really outstanding report, thanks for taking the time.

Thank you sir!!! Anyone contemplating any type of fishing related purchase should really contact Phil. I'm embarassed to admit I never even thought of it for the trolling motor. He's got a new online tackle shop (etackle.ca), is a great guy and is an OFC member to boot.