ccmtcanada

Good on you Rick! I have a neighbour who bought a new snowblower a few years back and he LOVES it when big snow comes. He was out at 8am yesterday and cleared snow until about 5pm. I talked to him afterwords and he did 11 driveways....some more than once and even part of the road so that when the plows came through we didn't have anything to shovel. He didn't ask for a cent....we invited him in for coffee and Christmas cookies afterwards...that's all he really wants is food....

LOL

LOL...I have to agree though...monster pike fishing with bunk would be up there on my list! Got extra room for a small hobbitt????

Yikes!!!!

Congrats on the purchase! Good to see Paul doing the work while you got out to play...LOL.

401 Westbound at Kennedy Rd....all lanes closed!!! Be careful out there!!!

This is mine.... Never caught anything thru the ice....LOL

YIKES!!! Thanks for the update Karem...I notice the increased forecasted amounts when I checked environment canada and the weather network. Gonna be a fun one!!!!

I usually wear this hat when I'm fishing with others from this board..... I will usually meet up with the other person at a pre-determined time and location...do some introductions and then head off to fish. I'll tell them what kind of car I drive etc... Good luck!

Toronto is now included in the weather watch (added at 10:33am)...as well as most of Southern Ontario. It's gonna be a messy weekend. Check here for updates.... http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/warnings/son_e.html

Yep...here's the weather watch from Environment Canada....no driving for me Saturday night/Sunday! Stay safe! =================================================================== ..Major winter storm approaching Saturday.. This is an alert to the potential development of dangerous winter weather conditions in these regions. Monitor weather conditions..Listen for updated statements. A major winter storm will develop in Texas later today and make its way north towards southwestern Ontario Saturday afternoon. Significant snowfall accumulations over the regions are likely Saturday night through Sunday. It is possible winter storm warnings will be issued for some regions due to snowfall accumulations of 25 centimetres in less than 24 hours. There will also be significant blowing snow and possibly freezing rain over the regions. The snow will spread northward over most of southern Ontario Saturday night and through Sunday morning. This will make travel on the roads extremely hazardous and travel should be postponed or alternate travel arrangements should be considered. The winter storm watch may be extended northward and eastward once the exact track of the storm and the extent of the snowfall is determined.

Hmmm....I'll be in mid-Michigan for Christmas....know of any good spots near Lansing?? LOL.

Here's an interesting fairly recent article (July 2006). Some American scientists came up to Northern Ontario to investigate Blue Walleye that were reported caught. They caught lots of them, but when they analyzed their DNA and compared it to stored samples from the 1960's they didn't match. It mentions what Dan was saying about the colour being in the slime. Here's the text.... By Lee Kernen Contributing Writer Seventy-five years ago, Lake Erie was home to a species of fish known as the blue pike, which was actually a subspecies of walleye. They were slightly smaller in size than the walleye, and had larger eyes, perhaps to help them thrive in the deeper water they preferred. Their color was a grayishblue, with none of the brassy yellow markings of the walleyes we know. Like walleyes, they were delicious table fare. The blue pike disappeared from Lake Erie in the 1950s, probably through the combination of pollution and overfishing. Over the years, there have been sightings of blue-colored walleyes in several areas of Canada, but no one had ever collected these fish to see if they were related to the extinct species from Lake Erie. If they were, it might be possible to re-establish this unique critter to the Great Lake. At a recent meeting of fisheries biologists who belong to the American Fisheries Society, held in Dubuque, Iowa, I was surprised to listen to a presentation about the discovery of blue walleyes in Ontario. The researcher doing this work, Dr. Wayne Schaefer, is a professor of biology at the University of Wisconsin. During the past few summers, Schaefer and his students have traveled to Canada, following up on reports of blue walleyes in an attempt to collect some and study them to determine the genetic integrity of the fish, the cause and evolutionary significance of the blue color, and the distribution of the blue-colored fish. Schaefer’s investigations centered in the area east of Ear Falls in Ontario. Most of the reports of blue walleyes were associated with the upper end of large river systems. Blue-colored walleyes were collected from several locations by hook and line. With the genetic testing capabilities that scientists have today, it didn’t take Schaefer long to compare the DNA in the blue Ontario walleyes to archived samples of Lake Erie blue pike that had been preserved in the laboratory before they disappeared. They didn’t match. The DNA analysis showed the blue walleyes from Ontario were genetically similar to the normal-colored walleyes, and not the extinct blue pike. But many questions remain as to why the different color. Schaefer took a knife and lightly scraped the side of the one of the blue fish and he could see clearly that the blue pigment was actually in the mucous of the fish. Moreover, he and his students sampled normal walleyes that had small areas of blue pigment in their mucous, too. Could it be spreading? Next he analyzed the chemical make-up of the blue pigment itself and found that it is a protein, and the closest match he could find was an amino acid in a relatively obscure marine fish, the spotted puffer. The next objective will be to determine whether the blue protein is being produced by the fish themselves, or whether it is an caused by an external environmental influence. You can go to www.bluewalleye.com to learn how to collect a fish mucous sample and send it to Dr. Schaefer to participate in the study, should you chance upon such an unusually colored fish. Source: http://www.pfo.net/pfo_files/File/blue-walleye-article.pdf

A surprise brown for sure! Kudos to you for releasing her to do her business...I need to catch a fish soon...all these great trib reports are killing me....LOL.

What amazing pictures!!!! You'd almost hate to spoil the water with wake in some of those!!! Thanks for the report...although it's killing me...spring is a LOOONG way away....LOL.

Wow. Wow. Wow. You may be a bit crazy, but you sure know how to connect with fish! I'm going to book a WEEK off in the spring...and if you can put up with me, I'd love to join you then...I figure at least ONE of those days should be good for fishing...LOL.

Have you been told yet today??? Here's a live camera view of my route home....

What is it with everyone trying to get me to ice fish? LOL. I'll give it another go this year and we'll see....haha. Your offers and support are appreciated! Hey DiscoPhish....you should post more often...they are always very thoughtful and hilarious! The pleasure has been all ours! Looking forward to fishing with you again. Likewise! Get ready for Salmon next year...it'll be a blast! Thanks for the kind words Glen...and as far as fish are concerned, you caught a very nice perch at Quinte. LOL. Hey Snag....we'll have to do more fishing next year...always a blast meeting up with you.

Yep...first time I watched it and saw how he got out and then put himself BACK IN the water again, I thought this guy was nuts...LOL. Great information to have....I hope no one has to ever practise this for real!

With Bill's thread on ice thickness safety, I thought I'd post this video that Rick put up last year. Watching this may save your life if you should ever fall through the ice. <br><br> <object width="320" height="240"><param name="movie" value=" name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src=" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="320" height="240"></embed></object><br><br> Play safe everyone!!!

Good to hear you are better.... I'm now on antibiotics for upper respiratory issues....LOL.

Great read Mike...sounds like most of my outings....minus the girl....and oh yeah...minus the fly fishing part. LOL. Actually the only part that rings familiar is the lack of stream fish....

Looking Great! Looks to be a fine puppy!

Thanks everyone! We've had a banner year for our first full year of fishing. We cant WAIT until the spring, but somehow I know a few members here will drag me out on the ice kicking and screaming this year...LOL. And we DO NOT have any hidden reports stashed away...that's it for now!! LOL

I checked kijiji.ca and craigslist.org for the Toronto area and no aluminum ones listed at all! I remember growing up...we had one...it was much better than woods ones that you had to wax all the time. I'll keep an eye out Joe....good luck!