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Haha. I remember Hiway market, that place was great. I was quite young then but it was always a thrill to get to go UPSTAIRS to the toy section. It seemed like a dungeon up there but it was always full of toys...

 

Now.. What happened to Hiway market? They had to shut down, and now there is a Zehrs on top of it.

Yeah, the toy section was the other biggie in that place in my even younger days. As far as the fishing tackle they sold, I still have and use on occasion a Lightning Rod that is almost 27 years old...think it was a birthday gift for my 18th, that was purchased there!

I love any store that sells fishing gear. I don't even care if they are more or less expensive than other stores. I just like looking at fishing gear and I usualy end up buying at least one thing in the store. I can remember back in the day when Sears, Kmart, towers and zellers also sold fishing equipment. I loved it.

I remember those days! How about (for anyone in the Kitchener area) Hiway Market...my buddy and I used to bike there from Waterloo to check out the fishing tackle back in our early teens.

Heck...I would have bought one, and I don't even own a boat!

LOL...I'm waiting for the guys that picked one up for that price to start selling them for a profit. Not that I want one, but, you know it will probably happen. What a great deal.

The fact is we all love the idea of parking at the door and having lots of product selection to paw thru. To me Bass Pro or Cabela's is like a day at Disney World. And if I happen to see something that's too good to resist, naturally I'm gonna buy there.

 

 

 

JF

Exactly...we make a morning adventure out of it. If I can save a few bucks when I'm there I will purchase it. Usually take the "old man" along as well...he loves going and at 74 appreciates us picking him up and driving through the Toronto traffic.

I just go there to stare at the Beaver....

Enjoy going there just to see everything in one place, however more of just an annual trip now. Buy 90 % of my stuff at Angling Outfitters ten minutes from home!!!!

I change my line out when it gets down to 3/4 of the reels spool. That's braid or mono, and either is changed atleast once a year...line is one of the cheapest expenses an angler has, AND it's the ONLY thing keeping your next trophy fish on...why skimp?

 

Also get int he habit of clipping 1-3 yards of line off before every day of fishing or after catching a big toothy critter. Nothing is worse than losing a fish cuz you were too lazy to tie one measly knot!

 

Extremely good advice...especially the clipping of 1-3 yards before fishing...when steelheading I will clip close to a yard after every fish above 2-3 lbs. They aren't exactly toothy critters, but, sometimes roll in the line (like a laker) especially in colder water. Better safe than sorry.

Line and hooks are soooo important and both are relatively inexpensive in the scheme of things.

Watched a few episodes of the Two Coreys and you could see it coming. Too bad that another childhood actor gave in to the lifestyle. RIP.

All depends on the target species for me. I have a few smaller reels I typically use for bass that dont have a lot of line on em. I'm into my 3-4 season with the same spool of braid with no issue to speak of.

I will second that. Also type of line, are we talking mono, braid, etc...

I try to not let my line get very low at all on certain reels where I want casting distance. For instance I use a 4000 series Shimano for chucking hardware on Lake Huron piers...you want a full spool to get that distance as the fish start moving out later in the morning.

Beauty "brownies", David!!!!!!!!!

Man, am I ever glad I got out last weekend instead of waiting for the final weekend before closing!!!! Can't wait until next year for some more of those Simcoe lakers and hopefully some whities as well!!!!!

Anybody that lives down in the Woodstock/London/Kitchener area can thank me for the lack of snow this year. I bought snow tires for the first time in my life, LOL!

What a joke!! Just makes me shake my head at what the leaders of the world are worrying about and gets me thinking about my kids future.

That's why it so important to get our kids out fishing...don't force them, nothing will turn them off quicker, but, teach them the fundamentals and the heritage behind what we do as anglers. I find just showing the boys pictures in my outdoors magazines, or watching a fishing show or two...helps pique their interest.

It is truly scary that the organisations acutally have the "ear" of anyone...let alone our leaders!!!!!!!!

Don't kid yourselves here... the Great Lakes and it's feeders are on the agenda as well... that would mean the entire Trent Severn as well as any water dumping into these bodies... it's not only up to our neighbours to the South.. we need to support them as well as it is gonna affect Ontario, and both the East and West Coasts. If they get their way in the South, look for a world wide fishing ban to be next on their agenda.

 

The problem right now is that they are not distinguishing between commercial fisheries and recreational angling... they have lumped us all together and consider us (the anglers) to be as big of a problem as a 200 foot boat dragging nets... typical animal activist groups at work here. The worst part is the the Obama administration is listening.

 

The Americans need to flex their muscle and let the Obama administration know what they will do come voting time and so do we. Let your local representative know as well as the higher ups that we will not stand for this. Pretty soon their going to be telling what we can and can't wear outside!

 

JP

BINGO!!!!!! And it is scary that any administration would listen to these groups...it's all about votes.

What next...we already have cruelty to worms in Europe, bans on catch and release fishing...we really need to stick together as anglers and/or hunters. Whatever nationality we are!!!

Sorry guys i guess i should have more informative.I will be using it for bass,walleye and smaller pike and it will be used for still fishing.I have a seven footer now i am just thinking that with the more lenght i will get a better hookset and better casting distance.And yes it will be from shore.

Having owned both the Browning and the Fenwick, I can say that I've never had a problem with either. Eight and a half - nine feet should be long enough to give you a better cast and hook set.

Touching read, beautiful picture!! Way to go all who participated in that act, great to see anglers working together and helping each other out in times of crisis.

Haha, I knew one of these was coming.

 

We released a lot more fish than what was kept over the past few weeks. We've had a good ratio of stockers/naturals, almost 50/50 and the majority of the naturals went back, plus many stockers as well. Tons of fish to go around.

I can support Steve on this one. We landed 3, two were released (one stocker, one natural)...Steve's buddy also hooked two (reeled in by our boys) 3 lber kept by us, the other released.

I know I've been pretty hard on the ministry in some threads, but, I must say...Simcoe is managed extremely well. With the amount of fishing pressure this lake gets it is astounding the numbers of fish there are to be had. The amount of smelt/baitfish in the ones we caught is incredible...the bellies bulge like a fish full of spawn!!!

Send a PM to Fishmaster...he will point you in the right direction.

Nice...love the taking kids fishing posts. If we as responsible anglers can teach our kids the sport, and, they grow to love it as we do, it can only help our fishery in the long run.

And, oh yeah, I'm jealous...I still haven't got one THAT BIG

Way to go...Simcoe truly is amazing as Terry says...blows me away how many great reports come from that lake considering how close it is to major metro areas. Really nice "whities", enjoy!

Nice work. Steve R is top notch and Cal is a good apple. Those 2 can certainly catch fish. Glad to see you had fun with the fam. Nice day out there.

Steve was great, and, showed tons of patience with the boys...would recommend him to anyone. Can't wait to get out on my own next year...this season was basically my intro into ice fishing after not doing it since I was a kid. Learned alot from G2 on Quinte and Steve on Simcoe. I have never used a guide in my almost 45 years, but, figured it was a good way to get myself and the family on fish, as well as learn locations and techniques. With the limited time I had to go out, I don't regret using guides at all. That said it will be awesome to get out on our own as soon as I get all my ice "stuff!"

I'm sure that laker will taste real good when it comes out of the smoker.... Enjoy

Thanks for sharing your time out

Leechman

Just came out of the smoker about 20 minutes ago...Juli actually preferred it over the rainbow and salmon I did last year. Even got one of the boys to try it...came back for three more bites. I almost regret releasing two of them, lol.

So maybe I should recant my statement from an earlier post about not caring if the all fishing were catch and release:D ....nah, I would still fish just as much, but, I do love a good feed once in awhile.

Since Simcoe seems to be the topic...here's our family adventure from yesterday.

Juli, her boys and I went up for an afternoon of fishing with Steve R and friend...she and I got our first ice lakers, me two, her one...kept one for the smoker (should be done in about an hour from now, mmmmm!)

The boys had a hard time hooking them, but, reeled in a couple of Cals fish. One of the twins hooked one, but, lost it after a short battle. We had an awesome time...can't wait to hit Simcoe ice again next year!!

What an awesome early March day for a family fishing adventure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!