Dabluz

I may make a few myself. Some really big ones for pike and some really small ones for brook trout. I think I will drill a hole from one end to the other and pass a strong wire from the eye to the rear hook. Maybe even make another hole so that I can pass the wire through a wire loop for the belly hook and then fill up the holes with epoxy.

In a situation that you describe, I would go weightless and floatless. Use fine clear mono and let the bait drift where the current takes it. Invariably, the bait will do exactly what natural bait will do and end up right in the rainbow's face. Cast far upstream in order to let the bait approach bottom. I'm sure that you can rig up the bait so that the point of the hook does not protude too much and catch on bottom. You will feel the bite when you start to lift your rod tip. One thing for sure, the fish will not spit out the bait so even if you strike well after the fish has the bait in his mouth....it will still be in his mouth. Use the longest rod you can find. Even a 9 foot fly rod will do.

What kind of wood? Do you use some kind of primer on the bare wood?

Lol....I'm with you on that. There is some nice stuff on sale sometimes. Ok....the Cherrywood costs about 28 dollars but the Lightning rod is often at under 30 dollars when on sale. I recently bought a Lightning Rod "Shock" that is supposed to be made specifically for the new non-stretch lines....on sale for 30 dollars. I used it for jigging walleye with Fireline and was really surprised at the improved hook up percentage with this rod. Then the other day, I was bank fishing for brook trout in the Saguenay river. I use 3 ounces of lead pencil weights, 3 hooks and a hookless Sutton to attract the trout. This rod worked very well in this situation too. It may seem to be a bit soft but the backbone of the rod really comes on fast. The medium weight 7 foot rod behaves like a medium-heavy 7 foot rod. With the Sutton flashing and vibrating in the current, the rod tip does not move much but just below the tip, the rod vibrates to show that the spoon is doing it's work. With over 3 ounces on the end of the line, the rod casts very well too. I will have a better idea if I like the rod or not after next season. I like to give a rod some time before making a definite opinion. So far....I'm happy with it. The real test will be when trolling and casting crank baits for walleye, and landlocked salmon. As for spinning reels, there are so many good ones at a decent price today that just any reel in the 70 dollar range will do the job very well. Even the mid-range baitcasters at around 100 dollars work great these days. In any event, the internet is full of reviews and before buying a rod or reel, it's always a good idea to read what others have to say about them.

I do teach fly casting to friends and I found that a double taper fly line is easier for a beginner to cast. A weight forward line works well when there is a good 30 feet of line beyond the tip of the rod. Add a 7 to 9 foot leader for normal sized flies and that is a lot of line in the air for a beginner. A double taper line is more forgiving of small mistakes when casting and is way better for roll casts. I use the roll cast for lifting the line off the water when re-casting my fly. This saves making a couple of false casts in order to get line out from the end of the rod. However, for additional distance, using a weight forward is easier to use but a beginner is not necessarily looking for distance at first....it's his timing that is most important. Timing changes according to the amount of line out past the end of the rod and the fly fisherman must feel the rod flex in order to time exactly when he must move the rod forward for the cast. To make a shooting taper from a double taper is very simple.....you take the first 30 feet of line and add a good shooting line from one of the many that are sold for that purpose. I like the Cortland Oval monofilament shooting line. If you cut back the front taper just a few feet, you end up with a sort of forward taper line with a shooting line for the rest of the line. Very easy to make and you save a lot of money. The other part of the line is now an ordinary floating line 60 feet long with the taper of a double taper. When I made my shooting taper, I was surprised at how small the nail knot was between the floating line and the oval shaped monofilament shooting line. Yes, I have other fly lines (fast sinking, sinking tip, weight forward etc) but you can't beat the taper of a double taper line for delicate casts for trout in lakes and ponds. For very close quarters, (small rivers and streams or very small ponds) I use a 9 weight line on a 7 weight rod. This way, I can make very delicate short casts. The heavier line makes the rod work better while transfering more energy to the fly leader for those short casts with a longer rod. I also use double tapered lines that have the forward taper cut back when fishing in close quarters. I have a few less expensive lines that work fabulously when cut short and added to a shooting line.

First, I would be asking myself "where and when will I be using the fly rod?". If you are fishing from a canoe, I would get a long rod....9 foot rod because you will be casting from a sitting position. The longer rod will help in keeping your line above the water when casting. However, the good thing with fishing from a sitting position in a canoe or boat is the fact that your profile will be low and you will catch fish much closer to you. If you plan to fish small lakes, you will inevitably run into some windy situations. You will need something more than a 6 weight rod. If you plan to fish with large flies and poppers for bass....you will need a more than a 6 weight rod. If you plan to fish mostly for bass....go with a 9 weight rod but if it's 50-50 trout and bass, I would recommend a 7 weight rod. Since you are a beginner, I would recommend a 9 foot 7 weight rod. It will handle any situation. If you ever fish with tiny flies (size 18 to 24), you just use a longer finer fly leader on the 7 weight rod. I do a lot of fly fishing for brook trout and when somebody with a 5 or 6 weight rod comes with me, he is very often disappointed in how his rod performs. Start out with a good double taper floating fly line. You can even make a great shooting taper for big bass bugs with the other end of the fly line. A quick search on the internet will explain how to do this.

I agree with GCD. Experiment with the family before inviting guests. Badly cooked fish is a disaster and yes....like GCD said, fish is easy to cook but it's also easy to mess up. I would even experiment a handfull of recipes at one time in order to find the one you like the best....starting out with just frying a couple of fillets in flour and then straight into the fry pan. Also try out a few fillets cut into cubes in beer batter and cooked in the deep fryer. There are also some great recipes for oven cooked fish and maybe a couple of fillets with lemon juice, onions and a bit of salt and pepper then wrapped in aluminum foil and cooked in the oven. Make it into a family thing with everybody cooking the fish a different way.

There was a good 3 inches of snow on the ground just north of Chicoutimi this morning but that melted early in the day. Intermittent snow all day and evening by the Saguenay River but the snow melted rapidly.

Anyway.....get them large and add a thick insole inside the insulated part so your feet will be even further off the ground. I bought some boots from Walmart (on sale for about 70 dollars) that were rated at -84 F. They look like Baffins and even the outer part has insulation. I usually wear 9 1/2 but I bought size 12 I think. I added a thick insole that is full of holes and keeps my foot further off the ground. I managed to put the insole under the insulated boot that is not felt but feels like polar and is very thick. I fish in -30 C degree temps all the time and I also do a lot of snowmobiling.....never got cold feet. I also wear a good sock and a very thick insulated sock. The boots are quite high (almost to the knee) and the lace on top keeps the snow from entering the boot. The boot has 2 adjustable straps to tighten them at the ankle and a bit higher than the ankle. Walking with these boots is pretty good too but I wouldn't walk for 3 miles in them. The bad news is the fact that I have never seen these boots in Walmart since then.

If you are seriously going to use a baitcaster....go with the CuradoE. If you are a bit less serious, then the CiticaE is the one to buy. If you eventually want to get rid of them, they are real easy to sell. Most of my baitcasters were bought "used" on Ebay and I haven't regretted buying any of them. I have even sold a few of the lower quality ones for a slight profit.

I think that in a short while, your secret will be know to everyone in your area. In the Chibougamau region, there is a small pass between 2 rivers and there are lots of people who race to get there every evening and space is limited. The water is very shallow and the ciscos are migrating. When it starts to get really dark, the walleye come into less than 1 foot of water. Everybody wears headlamps because the best fishing is at nightfall. The only way I could get my line in the water was to use a small boat, cast downstream with a floating X-Rap and let the current take my lure further under the bridge and then reel it back slowly against the current. Most of the fishermen wear waders in order to have a place to fish from. The walleye are right at the edge of the drop off and strike the lures there. The most popular lure is a medium sized Husky Jerk (blue with orange belly).

Rigged barber pole style.....wow....great idea. I will have to pick up some jigging spoons. I think I know exactly where I'm going to try this when the walleye season in my area opens up for icefishing. We are allowed 5 icefishing rods and are also allowed to use dead smelt during the winter but I sure will set up one rod with a jigging spoon and rig it up barber pole style.

The real fact is that nobody can garantee catching walleye. Yes....experience is very important when it comes to fishing for walleye. Sure...some days you can't beat them off with a bat but there are lots of days when they are few and far between. I'm a pretty good walleye fisherman. Been fishing walleye since I was about 3 years old. One day this year, I had the audacity to garantee walleye to 2 guys I brought fishing with me. I caught the only walleye. They were fed up and wanted to leave. It was about 1 hour before sunset when we left. Anyway, that's the last time I garantee walleye...lol.

I seem to have read somewhere that along the St-Lawrence, biologists have been spraying cormorant eggs with "Pam" in order to kill the eggs. Just breaking the eggs only causes the cormorants to lay more eggs.

Right now in the St-Lawrence River, Quebec City, the walleyes are biting in very shallow water. The shore fishermen are making good catches. The recent rains has dirtied the water and the walleye are cruising the dirtier water close to shore. The fishermen are also saying that there are lots of gobies close to shore too and I know for a fact that here in the Saguenay river, the 2 inch smelt are running upriver by the millions. However, walleye season is closed in my region....I have to fish for the brook trout in the Saguenay river. So....as you can see, it's a question of finding the walleye....they could be anywhere. At the end of our walleye season, I was catching walleye in 20 to 30 feet of water with a Walleye Diver which dives to about 15 feet. In Chibougamau, the small ciscos are moving into the rivers and the walleye come right up into 1 foot of water after sundown.

Pike are fantastic eating. I've often cooked pike and walleye (in cubes and deep fried in batter) and nobody could tell the difference. I release the large pike but will keep a few pike in the 4 to 6 lb range for eating. I remove the whole fillet and cook the fillet. I don't mind removing the bones when I'm eating the pike. This way, there is no loss of meat. I even cook and eat the heads of the larger sized pike I catch. I cook the head in aluminum paper....adding a bit of salt, pepper, onions and lemon juice.

About prey being mesmerized I've often seen that. One time, I was rabbit hunting just outside Kingston Ontario and an owl landed in a tiny opening in the woods just about 75 feet from me. I walked to the opening and there were a few rabbits in the opening. It was a nice sunny afternoon and you how rabbits in heat will gather into little groups and play around. Anyway, the owl landed on the ground, made some noises and hopped around until it finally hopped on a rabbit and took off with it. All the rabbits seem to freeze until the owl went away. Another time, I was fishing close to my vehicle and my dog was on shore watching me. While he was watching me, there were 2 rabbits on the dirt road right behind him and they were hopping about and playing together. The dog had no clue of what was going on behind his back. This particular spot must be real attractive to rabbits (snowshoe hares) because almost everytime I fish there, just about sunset, the snowshoe hares come out and play on the road beside my truck and boat trailer while I'm fishing for walleye about 25 feet from shore. Prey are actually dumber than we think. If a person makes little noise and better yet....if you are sitting still (low profile), they will almost climb up on you. The trick is no sudden mouvements. I've caught trout with my bare hands (this is illegal but I put the fish back in the stream) and I've often caught spruce grouse with my hands....also illegal.

Yep....used Daiwa Crystal for ice fishing.....good line. Spiderwire....even the stuff sold in bulk for 10 dollars at CT is very decent line too. Both lines are very clear and are just as invisible as fluorocarbon in the water. When going on fishing trips, I always bring a bulk spool of 8 or 10 lb Spiderwire in case anyone needs some line. I use the stuff for brook trout shore fishing in the Saguenay river. I add a 4 to 7 foot length via a small swivel to my braided line and toss out my baits (we are allowed 3 baits) with a bell sinker on the end of the leader. I make fresh leaders for every outing. The 1 to 2 ounce bell sinker is attached to the leader with a short length of 4 lb test mono because the bottom of the river is littered with rocks and the sinker gets snagged up very often. I use snell knots, dropper loops, clinch knots, perfection loops etc when making these mono leaders and both of these "so called cheap" lines work great.

Fish from one watershed are not the same as the fish in another watershed. They have had a good 10,000 years to evolve and there have been evolutionary changes over time. The brook trout in the small lakes in my area are not the same as the brook trout I caught north of Kingston. The brook trout in my area are in colder water, most have never eaten a chub because the lakes do not have any other fish species so they either canibalize when they get the chance and eat insects. The shorter growing season makes them on the overall average smaller and thinner. Over time, the smaller size and slimmer body has even changed the structure of their skeletons so that the skeletons are finer and more fragile. I'm sure that ADN analysis of fish from different regions will prove that fish from one area are different from fish from another area. For example, Lac St-Jean (which is in my region) has landlocked salmon (ouananiche) and smelt. This lake is about 24 miles wide and almost as long. There are 2 distincts groups of ouananiche in this lake and 5 distinct groups of smelt. They have been co-habitating for close to 10,000 years. An association that I co-founded to re-establish the ouananiche populations in Lac-St-Jean by catching ouananiche in the lake and using them to produce fingerlings in a brand new fish hatchery found out a few years later that Hydro Quebec had introduced ouananiche from another area to the waters feeding into Lac St-Jean....and probably affecting the genetic strain of the ouananiche in Lac St-Jean. If you really think about it, fish from every different body of water have different genetics. Here in Quebec, the use of minnows, amphibians, fish parts, etc (even dead) is only allowed in a few bodies of water and the transport of live fish is also strictly limited. Stocking is no longer as easy to do as before. Yes, capturing minnows and using them in the same water system could be allowed but there are always some dummies who would not follow this guideline.

If the pike are non native to the Kawarthas, how did the musky get there? About the time that all freshwater species started to inhabit all of N.America, the only thing keeping them away from some regions were mountains and glaciers. The last glaciers were those on the highest mountains. Since the highest mountain in Ontario is under 1000 feet in elevation, there have been no obstacles to prevent fish from migrating anywhere they wanted. The only obstacles other than mountains would be the waterways between bodies of water and the fact that pike do not spawn in fast flowing streams....they spawn in warm shallow water in the spring and their eggs cling to vegetation. If it wasn't for the spring flooding, the pike would have very poor spawning conditions. Pike and musky have been co-habiting together for thousands of years. The only difference is the fact that musky prefer warmer water than pike. There are no musky in northern waters even though the Hudson Bay watershed covers a huge portion of Canada all the way to the Great Lakes.

A firearm doesn't need lubrication to function so I guess boiling the moving parts was a good idea but there are silicone based oil that do not freeze up. I even have some silicone based grease that I use on my reels and when I go fishing in -30 degree weather....the reels are as smooth as in the summer. It's an instrument grease that I got when I was in the military. Very thick too. Very surprising stuff. I also hunt in very cold weather with a semi-auto shotgun for small game here in northern part of quebec and Rem Oil is great. Some guys use Rem Oil to lubricate the bearings in their baitcasters. I find it's too light for that use. I use Hot Sauce which sticks to bearings a bit longer and that stuff is lighter than Rocket Fuel for baitcasters.

Sounds like you are fishing light yet using heavy line. I consider 10 lb test line a heavy line for spinning reels. I've been fishing for close to 60 years and the heaviest mono I have ever used as a main line was 8 lb test (Original Clear Stren, Clear Trilene XL and Royal Bonyl). Yes, I did use Stren and Trilene in fluorescent clear blue but they deteriorate faster than the clear lines. Anyway, I hate losing lures and I rarely loose any. I also rarely use metal leaders and very few pike have cut my lines here in Quebec over the many years I have been fishing for walleye. For the past 40 years, I have been using 4 and 6 lb mono for walleye and the number of pike that have cut my line has not increased however, I do lose a couple more jigs per season with the lighter lines. I don't like fluorocarbon at all. The fact that it sinks is one of the many reasons I don't like it for any kind of fishing. I like the way that mono is more bouyant and this means that my jigs leave the bottom with a more vertical jump and therefore do not snag up as often. Braid and fusion lines like Fireline float better than mono. This does reduce snagging on the bottom with jigs. Where I fish, many of the rivers were used for floating lumber so the bottoms of these waterways are littered with logs. When fishing these waters, I often use 6 to 10 lb Fireline and I rarely lose a jig when using the stuff. If you want strength, long casts, sensitivity etc.....use 6 to 10 lb Fireline. On top of that, the line does not deteriorate so you will save money too. Use a Palomar knot but do a double granny knot when tying it. If the line frays too much....just cut back a couple of inches. The fraying does not weaken the line very much. Lure action will be much better with finer line too.

I would just love to be able to buy at least one CiticaE. They cost 190 dollars up here where I live. The E model is considered to be the best bang for the buck.

Nice videos.....clear and sharp focus. I think you would make a lot of money making porn videos...lol. You never see porn/fishing videos. I see no reason why a handmade lure cannot be as good as a factory made lure....especially the easy to make lures like poppers, walk the dog lures, gliding lures, lures like Suicks etc. I know that I make way better flies, worm or minnow harnesses, fly leaders, than those I can buy in any boutique. I have a question.... Is the lure made of 2 parts of wood glued together with wire running through the lure to secure the hooks to the eyelet? What kind of wood do you use? I would love to make some larger lures for pike.

One thing for sure, lines change over time even though they sport the same name. Ok....Vanish hasn't changed in over 10 years but I think the company is stuck with too much stock...lol. Sure there were a number of independant tests done on braids, fluorocarbon and mono and I'm sure that there have been some changes over the years. The sad part is that fishermen don't have the budgets and time to test many lines during a fishing season so they must trust what has been working good for them. One mono has stood the test of time since it came out is the original Stren. Yes, the company can say that there 8 lb test Stren is the strongest 8 lb test mono on the market but if you check it's diameter....it is larger than some 10 lb test monos....lol. Since it is a very inexpensive line, it does have irregularities in diameter (therefore strength) throughout it's length. It's size makes it more abrasion resistant than other lines and it does not stretch quite as much as Trilene XL. UltraViolet exposition does weaken it quickly....especially the fluorescent colours but, all monos that have added fluorescence added to them to make them easier to see also attracts UV wavelengths. The best way to see if your mono is being affected by UV and heat etc is to run a good length of the line between your thumb and forefinger and then look to see if there is a white powdery substance on your fingers. This means that the line should have been changed a good while ago....lol. Pros change their lines every day because they have noticed that after a day's exposition to sunlight, heat, dust, stress etc....the line does get weaker. Catch a really big fish that has stretched your mono, especially if it has been soaking in the water for a while, you will see that it has weakened. I only use clear mono except for Trilene XT which is available in green only. What I find strange is the fact that Berkley had an excellent line by the name of Sensithin. Since I use only 2 to 6 lb mono on small spinning reels, I can immediately see if a line is weak, large diameter, visible in the water, hard to manage and Sensithin was the best I had used up till now. Now, I'm in limbo....trying to find a line that is equivalent to Sensithin. Yes, I do have a spool or 2 of 4 lb Sensithin in a drawer in the basement but after next spring, I will have no more. One mono that has surprised me has been ordinary clear Silver Thread. I have only used it in 6 lb test but it has been surprising. The sad part is the fact that there isn't much choice in lines where I live. I see rows and rows of Trilene, Power Pro, Stren but some of the premium lines that come from Europe or Japan are never available. According to what I have read, the best or one of the best monos is Remington Ultra. I would like to try that stuff some day. As for fine lines with big fish, I have caught 20 to 40 lb sturgeon on 4 lb mono and my buddy caught a 12 lb pike on 4 lb mono that he put on his Pixy baitcaster. He was jigging for walleye. I often use 4 lb mono for walleye and often catch pike in the 4 to 6 lb range. I fish a lot with baitcasters but have never tried putting mono on a baitcaster....does it add distance when casting?