Kingsalmon

Sign me up Mike. I'll be the 1st subscriber! Now to start packing myself for my surf & turf (walleye & moose) trip to the Ogoki in a few weeks. Have fun in Armstrong. Still jealous. Hahaha.

I'll admit that I have always been jealous of your trips, whether it be up north on a flyin or chasing steelhead around the Great Lakes. I enjoy your posts and can get more lasting information from them than any half hour fishing show. Yes, your posts may be a little commercial at the end, but I value the honesty that you present in your review rather than cutting it short and not commenting on the boats, the accommodations and the operator/owner. Good job. Keep you head up and keep 'um coming. Mike G.

Question is: Who went out to change the flat tire?

Good luck on your adventure although you won't need it. There are some big brookies at the gorge (on the downstream side or Hawley Lake) and they are a totally different shade than the river fish. Something like a Superior Coaster would be the best description, more silver than green. When I was there 16 years ago, some of the guys caught 7-8 pounders there, so be aware. The laker fishing away from the rocks was exceptional as well. Hoping to get up there again sometime, but sadly no more personal floatplane.

Could be something a lot simpler than blaming the gas. If it is a re-occurring problem, I would look at the filling point. I dont know what you have but on any boat, they are usually exposed to the weather. If the gasket/seal is lost or broken, it will allow rain water in whenever it gets wet especially if its on a flat surface of the boat. Just my $0.02.

Just came back from Chicago and stopped in the Hammond, Indiana store. They had in-store specials on the Guide wear jackets. Bought three jackets that were $299 each, but got them for $97.49 each. This price was posted on the rack and the register was not aware of it, but they honoured the posted price anyway. Actually, most of the Guidewear extreme stuff is on sale now online at $199.00 each for the jacket and bibs, so you might want to look into that. I would inquire if Cabelas Barrie would price match, but sadly, i doubt it.

I wouldn't be surprised by those numbers, and it just comes back to my main reason for starting this topic. Why do the commercial netters have more harvest than sport fisherman? 29000kg vs 20000kg? And the sport fisherman got screwed over on a new limit again? So as others have pointed out, we release the smaller fish to grow and get taken up by the netters. Who makes this stuff up? I guess its only in Ontario. Simple math brings me to this conclusion: Commercial harvest - 29000kg gross - 14500kg filleted @ $35.2/kg($16/pound) retail = $510,400 at retail prices. Sportfisherman (my trip this past week) - Accommodations, boat, fuel, bait, tackle, food, travel - $1200 - 1 walleye kept at 1.5kg/3.3lbs gross - .75kg/1.65 pounds filleted = $1600 per kg / $727 per pound If the 29000kg commercial harvest numbers are correct, we are talking about a commercial fishing industry worth a half a million bucks! Meanwhile the whole sport fishing industry on Lake Nipissing is collectively losing multi millions a year and sportfishing more than likely contributes multi millions to the general economy of the area. This is what gets me. The OMNR and our government is restricting sport fishing for the protection of an industry that contributes little to the overall economy of the region while using a greater portion of the resource for its activity. Stupid, just plain stupid. All for 1/2 million dollars. What the hell?!?!?!?!?! I didnt want this topic to go off on a tangent blaming the natives that live off the land for their substinence. That is not what I intended. Yes, it is the natives that have the commercial fishing quotas on Lake Nipissing and I would have the same feelings if it were white folks netting the lake. Given that Lake Nipissing is a valuable resource and is within commuting distance of the GTA, it should be used more effectively than present practices.

Bushart, I know that there has been commercial netting on Nipissing for years. But if you step back and take a look at what is really going on, you dont have to be a scientist to see the true picture. Right now there is a few very strong year classes that are ranging from 12-17 inches. Something had to spawn those fish 2-3 years ago. To tell me that those fish simply disappeared is Bull. Its no secret that gillnets target fish over a specific size/length. So where are the larger fish? To me there is only one answer. That and the fact that there have been at least five abandoned ghost nets found this year simply confirms what I believe to be true, it is the commercial nets that are removing the larger fish, and not the sport fisherman. Lake Nipissing should no longer have nets. You state that 30 years ago there was no technology to find fish. 30 years ago you didnt need technology to find fish; they were pretty much everywhere. To tell you the truth, I think the walleye are pretty much everywhere this year. I truly believe that there is less than half of the anglers fishing Nipissing today as 30 years ago. Sturgeon Falls was a fishing mecca 30 years ago, today it resembles more of an RV park. There is less fisherman, the limits are lower, there is still lots of fish (under 18") but few fish above 18". Again, it just tells me that nets are the main reason that this is happening. I have no issue with natives taking what the need for substinence, and I never have. But to sell pickerel/walleye fillets at the HWY 17 roadside, I have issue with that. $16 a pound for pickerel is far cheaper than what it cost me to get a feed when I have to catch it. $100 or more a pound would be more like it if you account everything involved with what it takes to sportfish a walleye. This just brings me back to the MNR. Stop, buyout, whatever, the commercial harvest on Lake Nipissing. Given that this lake is within driving distance of a large population should make it even more obvious that commercial netting has no place on Lake Nipissing. I am passionate about this subject because it seems that our government, our MNR, does not want to do anything about this subject other than taking it out on sport fisherman. Its about time that things change. I am afraid, the blame game will continue on both sides. The MNR has bought out quotas before,but you never hear about it happening on Nipissing. Stop Commercial fishing on Lake Nipissing! Kingsalmon

Just came back from the South Bay area of Lake Nipissing and we were blessed with awesome fishing weather for three days, light winds and warm days. The pickerel were definately on the bite as almost every spot we stopped at, we caught fish. For three days and 4 or 5 rods fishing, we caught over 200 walleye. Usually we catch that amount over a week, but this year we only had three days to fish, so there are definately lots of fish. Now this is where my passion for Lake Nipissing stops. Previous to this season the limit was two walleye, none between 40 and 60 centimetres. The limit used to be 6 any size, that changed to 4 any size, that changed to 4 with the slot limit, then two with slot limit, and now 2 over 18.1 inches. Of the over 200+ walleye that we caught we only caught one keeper. I had to explain to my kids that we had to throw them back to get bigger. They asked why? I don't know. Someone thinks that there are no fish in this lake. Previous years we caught lots in the slot. This year there were very few of last years slot fish. The only explanation I have is that they have been harvested. I understand lake managers were saying that older years classes were disappearing but whey they were disappearing can only be attributed to one thing and I will only mention it once. In my point of view, the commercial netting of fish on Lake Nipissing is decimating the walleye population. Sure there are lots of small ones, but once they get big enough that they get stuck in the gill nets, they are gone. Certain authorities are blaming sport fisherman for over harvest. All I can say is this; thirty years ago fishing lodges were vibrant with full occupancy and a limit of 6 walleye and this continued for decades. I remember summer days were we would see hundreds of boats out on a weekend. This Sunday and on previous years, you are lucky to count a couple dozen boats, so there is for certain less angling pressure/harvest, yet there is less walleye in the lake because of sport fisherman? MNR give your heads a shake and open your eyes! Big and wide open! I so hope that something changes soon so that my kids and eventually their kids will enjoy fishing this lake like I have over the past fourty years otherwise it will be too late. Resorts are hurting and this years regulation change will be the final nail in the coffin for many of them. I cant even imagine anybody going ice fishing anymore with this regulation. Rant Over…... Kingsalmon

Steal it back! Thats what I would do. They probably wouldnt be able to describe it if it went "missing".

I guess their working to make the recreational fisherman the only reason why the fishery is failing. Come on guys, pull your heads out of your a_ses, a net kills all fish that get stuck in a net. A spear kills the larger walleye when they are spawning. A rod catches a fish but it can be released. Rec anglers are governed by possesion limits and slot limits. Yes, some will break the rules, but 10% is stretching it a bit. The natives and their lawyers have an agenda and they won't stop until Nipissing is their playground, and only their playground.

You prpbably haven't had the suit in the elements yet, but what do you think of the new Guidewears. Thinking of picking up a set if the new ones are worth it.

Doesn't help when Alberta is dumping oil sand crude into the states at $35-$40 because nobody wants it? What the hell? Then they mark it up as if we are paying market price. Why don't our refiners buy it for that and sell it to us at 60 cents a litre. Whole lot of bullcrap going on.

Hoping everything turns out well for Jen, and you and wife can finally breathe normally without all the stress this is causing everyone. As with everything I have read about Jen, this is just a bump in the road, and she'll be back normal in no time. Take care and hopefully you can get some fishing or flying in soon. Michael G.