ccmtcanada

I'm sorry to hear this news Sam! You have made lots of friends here on this board...and I really hope to see you still on here. Thanks so much for everything...I wont forget the great things you've done for me...and hope the taxidermy business does well for you when you get that up and running again. Good luck in whatever you do...good things happen to good people...and you fit that bill.

I read the news section all the time! Great job guys...truly a one stop board for fishing!

Cant hold the big ones that way though...and I have a nice scar on my index finger because of it...LOL.

Damsel flies...I stand corrected! Thanks Glen.

You guys caught more carp in one night than I have total...LOL. Looked like a great time guys...congrats on a fantastic overnighter!!!!

With the perfect weather forecast, Bly and I couldn't pass it up and headed to our favourite Kawartha lake to see if we could tease any muskies out of the weeds. We launched around 715am...waters were calm, winds were zero, and the temps were nice. Water temperature hovered around 72F...about 10F cooler than the last time we were there. We started out in about 8 to 10 feet of water, looking for the weed structure that we've always had luck with. No bites at all, so we moved close to some shallow spots...prime bass waters. I put on a plastic worm rigged weedless and began throwing into the weeds. As I retrieving one time, I'm watching my worm come in...when out of nowhere, this little muskie bolts for it! I didn't feel the fish on, but as soon as my bait disappeared, I set the hook. It took me straight into the weeds and quickly shook the hook loose. Oh well...at least it seemed they were biting. A little while later, using my favourite spinner, I feel my lure stop as I'm retrieving it through some weeds. I set the hook but must have pulled it right out of it's mouth. I learned my lesson last year and continued my retrieve...twitching it to mimic an injured fish. Sure enough as it comes closer to the boat, I see it following...and it take it again. After a quick fight...a smallish muskie came to the boat. Not too bad...a few hours out and two muskies on! No pic...just released it right away. Bly decides that since the bite isn't on for her, she wants to jig for a little while. Not long into it, she hooks into this beauty smallie. Then the bite turned off...nothing for a few hours, so we spent the time looking for weed edges and shoals to see what may be swimming around. We decided to head back to our normal spots after we caught absolutely nothing...by then, the clouds had rolled in and a nice chop had formed on the water. We were hoping this combination would put the bite on again, and we guessed right! We drifted through areas that looked promising...then trolled back through the area to set up our next drift. As it turned out, this was a good strategy today, as we boated 3 more...2 for Bly and one more for me...here's a few pics.... One time while trolling, I looked at one of my other fishing rods and spotted these dragonflies... Anyhow, had a great day out there...the weather was perfect, and we managed to catch a few fish while we were at it...the fish were all small, but we didn't care...it's always fun to tussle with a muskie!

You can check out any time you like... But you can never leave...

That Peavey amp is also 25 years old and still works like a charm...LOL. Bass players are always putting others down to hide their own inadequacies LOL.

I have big time delay on it...I needed a 'fat' sound to pull it off...took me a long time to get a tone and delay that I wanted for this song. For this song that guitar part is key...we weren't going to play it if I didn't like the tone. Of course you think that!!! LOL. Those Ibanez guitars are 25 years old now. We didn't get a deal...we couldn't afford better ones when we were teenagers!!!

So, while Bly was with her brother in New Jersey experiencing some awesome fishing memories, I was up north near Parry Sound with a bunch of friends camping out. My band hauled up the generator and all our gear so we could play an outside concert. A good friend (and ex member of the band) moved to New Zealand, but he showed up and joined us again...so here we are...when you see 5 guys in the video, that's our original lineup from over 20 years ago. Anyhow, I know this isn't for everyone, but if you want to see some of our music videos, you'll find them below.... Oh yeah...for those that do not know me, I'm the guy playing the red Ibanez electric guitar. "Baker Street" - A Foo Fighters cover of Gerry Rafferty's original "The Boys are Back in Town" - A Thin Lizzy Cover "The Middle" - A Jimmy Eat World cover "Keep Your Hands to Yourself" - A Georgia Sattelites cover We invited whoever wanted to sing up to take a stab at the microphone...what a blast!!!!

Gee...leave her alone for one weekend and look at all the fun she has!!!!! LOL. Great report Carole...maybe next time you'll let me carry your gear or something and let me tag along? Bly? Alex?? Anyone????

We finally got a chance to get out in our boat without the little one...it's been a while, so we were looking forward to chasing down some Musky! We don't target them with them when she's in the boat...you just never know what could happen. Anyhow, headed up to our favourite lake, and launched by 830ish. It didn't take long for the heat to come! The humidity was brutal, and there was really no breeze at all...so we were wondering how long we'd last out there. It wasn't windy, cold or raining, so we were ready to make the best out of this summer weather! We stayed on the water til around 430...a great and fun day! We each caught one Musky...and I'll just let the pictures tell the rest of the story. You'll see our Karartha go to lure for Musky in one of the pictures.... A nice chunky 37 incher! The release.... And here's the baby one I caught...LOL. Love how the markings are so pronounced on these smaller ones (yes, that's me reaching for the virtues of being outfished by Bly yet again....haha)

Sweet looking baits Joey!!! And yet another great Lakair report. Looks like a great time was had...gotta try one of them cabins one of these times!

Wow...incredible looking musky!!!

Beauty skis!!! Congrats!!!

I'm speechless!!! EPIC! LOL.

It's been a while since I was able to post an actual fishing report. Work has been CRAZY and even though we've made it out a few times, I haven't had time to post reports. So, here's a little mish mash of stuff..... Shore Fishing... The bite has been off and on...mostly off for us this year...but a few fish have been caught. Bly went out and found out that walleye seem to frequent close to shore in some of our spots...here's a nice fat one for her team! While I was away on business in Lebanon, Fishnsled and Bly hit a local spot for some carp...here's I think his first and only carp of the year! Here's a nice little shore walleye for me as well.... My little one back in July managed to hook into a great bass! Her new personal best. She's been wanting to practice jigging in the weeds this year and I must say, she has the right touch! On this day, she caught the nicest fish out of all of us in the boat...and her new PB. Last weekend, we headed up to Sturgeon Lake for a little time on the water. The day started out nice, but quickly turned windy. She put on a multi species clinic in front of Bly and I... She was very proud of this one. It was the first walleye that she ever caught all by herself...of course jigging in the weeds...gotta ask her how she does it...I couldn't catch anything that day....LOL. Now for the proud moment. Cancer has affected many people...every family seems to have been touched by it...mine included. My youngest daughter, Sydney, wanted to cut her very long hair and give some of it to charity. So yesterday, off she went to the hair dressers...and 12 inches of her long hair was cut into two pony tails. Here is a picture of her proudly displaying her donation. It will be mailed off to an organization that makes wigs for children affected by chemotherapy. Well, that's it for now...hopefully I'll have a little time to catch up on the board now that things are going to slow down for a short while...looks like another trip for me overseas for work in September. This time I'll be gone over a weekend, so I'll be booking a tuna charter on the Mediterranean Sea for sure!

Thanks everyone for your comments! Some asked what it was I'd be doing over there... We are working with a French company to replace our advertising, marketing and vendor systems. Their developers are stationed in Beirut...which is why I went there. I was testing pre-first release software that has been tailored to us. I may have to go back in September...and if I do, I'll be booking that Tuna charter!!!

The last few months have been incredibly busy for me at work, and I haven't had a lot of time to post reports or browse the board as much as I'd have liked to! All that work was in preparation for a week long business trip to Beirut, Lebanon to test out some software that we are purchasing. The first thing I did was look to see about fishing opportunities, and there was something that looked promising...a tuna fishing charter based out of Beirut on the Mediterranean Sea! Unfortunately, I arrived there Sunday afternoon...worked Monday thru Friday and then left at 2am Saturday....just a few hours after leaving work for the day. I may be sent back there in September, so hopefully I can get out then! Anyhow, I left Toronto on July 18th...on an Air France 747. Business class just rules...no lineups, access to those first class lounges, and amazing service once on board. It has been a while since I have flown, so I was impressed to see that one of the channels on the TV was dedicated to the flight status, showing altitude, speed etc...as well as GPS mapping showing exactly where you were. Somewhere over the Atlantic, I got to see a sunset...as it set on top of the clouds... I landed in Paris, France and had a few hour layover before heading to Beirut. En route, we passed right over the Swiss Alps... Finally, about 16 hours after I left Toronto, Beirut was in the distance...here's an approach shot. This was to be my home for a week...a great hotel! The very first night, I looked out and saw this cool sunset... There are lots of reminders of the past as you travel through this city. Much of it has been rebuilt, but there are still lots of sights like this... this first one is right beside the hotel I stayed at. Also, I was taken aback when the first morning I awoke there, I looked out to see armed military patrolling the front of the hotel area. They were there the entire time. Bullet holes riddling the sides of buildings are a common sight... It was mostly a working week...at the office from 8am til 6 or 7pm every night. The first few nights I was completely exhausted as they are 7 hours ahead...getting back to the hotel at 8 felt like 3am to me! I did manage to visit the new downtown area. It's like traveling to a completely different country, when in fact it's only about 10km away from the hotel. It's been called the Paris of the Middle East, and I'd have to agree!! The sobering thing about this area is that every single street leading into this area has heavily armed military guarding the entrance. Friday after work, we went to an absolutely incredible place called the Jeita Grotto. It's a massive underground cave with some incredible sights within. It took thousands and thousands of years for these stellagtites to form...truly breathtaking! You are not allowed to take pictures inside, but I grabbed one from the web to post here. You can visit their site at www.jeitagrotto.com. This site has been nominated to be one of the new natural wonders of the world. The people there are very friendly. I had no idea, but the second language there is French...so if you know a few words, they are eager to talk with you. Most also know at least a little English. There are many western influences in Beirut...here's a pic of the soft drinks available in the hotel mini bar...7up, pepsi, and a locally brewed beer.

How bout a collaborative effort? MJL for writing and some of DSN's pictures?

Yeah...got the call during the dinner hour...if I wasn't performing at the wedding we would have been on our way home right away, but our oldest daughter handled the situation perfectly. The neighbours all came over to make sure everyone was ok. Cliff...we were planning on heading up your way later this morning, but now we have this to deal with. I have two chainsaws and some friends making their way over here around noonish today. Thanks for the offer though! If this is a multi day job, I'll let you know. A friend of mine who was at the wedding is an insurance guy...our fence is ok...just the lawn is ripped up. His advice was that unless there is serious property damage (ie to the house or the deck or whatever), that it likely wouldn't cover it. We shall see.

While Bly and I were at a friends wedding this afternoon, we got an urgent phone call from our oldest..saying that a severe storm came through the area and that the tree that we have in the backyard was down! Everyone is ok here...the tree missed our house, even thought it's large enough that if it fell a certain direction it could have landed on it. The kids were in the house, when the winds picked up...when my oldest looked out the window, all she saw was white...couldn't see anything outside at all. The hail that came down was incredible...the winds off the scale. Here are some pictures...guess I'll be busy tomorrow. Anyone have a chain saw I can borrow? The view from the field on the other side of our property... Everyone is safe...the storm passed by very quickly... On the bright side, I'm terribly allergic to that tree...been thinking of hiring someone to take it down for a few years now...

Wayne and Leah...when Carole told me about it, my heart sank for you. So sorry to hear about her passing. When you are in town, if you need anything at all...no matter how small, be sure to call us. We are only 10 minutes from Ajax...

Voted! Good luck!

Yep...very well said! And a thanks goes to you too...great conversations and also for letting Chris take us out in your boat. Until next time!