Dabluz

I've been using 4 lb test Nano for a few years now and it's great. Got some 8 lb test the other day and I am still deciding which reel I will put it on. I ordered 2 spools for my Shimano Stradic 1000 and will maybe install the Nano on one of the spools.

I had an Olympus (still have it but don't use it) and I was disappointed in the picture quality. Ok....it was a Stylus 600 so not very expensive but I now have a small Canon which is about 1/2 the size and the picture quality is great.

Walleye.....not much of a sport fish except for the fact that to catch them consistently takes a lot of experience. Pike are more sporting. I only keep about 1 or 2 pike per year to eat and even then, they are usually only about 30 inches long. Walleye regulations in my region are a bit strange however. The limit is 6 walleyes, 32 to 47 cm. Walleye are quite rare in my region. The only large population of walleye is in Lac St-Jean. However, they are trying to reduce the number of walleyes in Lac St-Jean in order to help the landlocked salmon population by allowing a limit of 10 walleye of any size. No crappie, sunfish, bass in my region. This is brook trout territory.

I've got a 4 x 12 flat bed for hauling ATVs and snowmobiles that I also use to haul my 14 foot aluminum boat. I drive an Impala and I don't even feel the trailer and contents behind the car. I did have a Suzuki 4X4 and it also did a great job even though the motor was shot and would barely go up any hills,,,,even without a trailer. A 12 to 14 foot aluminum boat on a boat trailer.....you could haul it by hand.....almost.

I found the lure..... Rebel Buzz'n Frog

No bass where I live but there are lots of pike. Real frogs are scarce yet frog imitations do produce well. I love top water lures, they are fun to fish with. One of my buddies always outfishes me with a hard top water frog that was quite common but is harder to find these days. I think Berkley used to make them. The body of the frog is divided in 2 parts. The front part looks like a frog while the from the waist down, the lure spins. I really like to use Salad Spoons for pike fishing. The most versatile lure that I have ever used. It sinks, it floats, it buzzes, it swims, great hook ups and best of all.....inexpensive! I'm sure they would be great for bass. I rarely hear anyone talk about them and I have never seen them for sale.

Why have a throw rope when you are alone in your boat? The police in my area only go to 2 bodies of water unless it's to search for a body. The rest of the region is too remote. i rarely see any other boats or canoes when I go fishing.

I prefer making my worm harnesses. That way I can use the best quality equipment. I make my harnesses with usually 1 Colorado spinner, a couple of beads in front of the spinner and 4 or 5 beads behind the spinner. I use rather heavy stiff mono and tiny metal beads in front and behind the clevis. I then add a swivel. I add 2 or 3 hooks snelled on 8 lb Trilene Sensation with a length of line in front of the 2 or 3 hook combo so that I can adjust the length of line between the spinner(s) and the bait. No bass where I live. I use my worm harnesses for walleye. I dislike fishing with bottom bouncers because I find that it's too heavy but if the walleye want them, I have no choice but to use them. I found the dandiest beads in the sewing department at Walmart's. They light up like walleye eyes when light deflects on them. I bought all that the store had on hand. I made a bunch of harnesses and gave most of them away. I still kept a few for myself and will be making more this coming winter.

I don't particularly like the looks of those 2 hooks sitting so low on those frog lures and they are very expensive. In the past 10 years or more, I often use Salad Spoons http://www.lunkercity.com/sal.html These lures float on the surface and when you give them just the right twitch, they go subsurface. You can even bring them back up to the surface. They twisty tail really beats on the water on retrieve when the lure is on the surface. I use a 4/0 hook (usually Gamakatsu) unweighted or a VMC 1/8 ounce weighted 4/0 hook. I also cut a groove in the lure so the hook will sink further into the body of the lure and therefore expose more of the point after hookup. Otherwise, the hook point is just under the skin of the lure and therefore completely snagless and weedless. I sure would love to one day see the same lure a bit larger than 5 inches.

I use long forceps that lock but most of the time, I could do a great job with just a long thin wooden stick with a small notch in the end.

I've got a 2000 Dodge Caravan and I tie my 14 foot Sportspal with ratchet style straps. I don't even bother to wrap the straps around the cross bars but just hook the straps to the holes that are already made in the supports that hold the crossbars. Been using this method for many years. However, I have added foam to the gunwales of the canoe where they contact the roof rack. The foam I use is the stuff you can buy in rolls. This is the stuff that you put on the edges of a pickup when you want to install a fiberglass cab. The foam comes in a roll and is very sticky when the backing is removed. The foam also is great for when you lay your rod across the canoe. The foam protects the rod from getting boat rash.. It also prevents the rod from sliding when there is a breeze. I even added a small extra strip at each end of the laid down foam rubber strip as an added stopper for the rod when the wind gets a bit stronger. One roll has lasted me for over 20 years. I even have added the foam to the gunwales of my aluminum boat so I can lay my rod without worrying about boat rash when still fishing. The foam also reduces noise when laying the rod on the edge of the canoe or boat.

I use a stringer for walleye all the time. I've never had a walleye die when it was on the stringer. Ok....the water in my region never gets over 70 degrees F. Other species of fish either go into a large mesh basket (trout) or directly on the ice (landlocked salmon). However, I no longer use those cheap chain link stringers or even those nice stringers made from chain and covered with plastic tubing because I've had both types broken by very large pike who have attacked my walleye. I now use a strong nylon rope stringer (I think made by Berkley) or the stringer made with braided steel cable. Both types are sold by CT. A few years ago, one pike almost swamped me when I hung a chain type stringer from the side of my canoe. Luckily, the chain broke....lol. She attacked my 3 lb walleye 4 times. I even managed to pull her out of the water while I was sitting in my canoe but my arm was not long enough and her tail was not clear of the water so she gave a big swing to her tail still in the water and shot out of my hands. She came back about 2 minutes later and broke the chain stringer that was only about 2 years old. She was huge. It was not actually the chain that broke but the connection between the chain and the clip that holds the chain to the boat.

2 of my granddaughters have already started fishing. One is 4 years old and the other one who is 9 has been fishing since she was 2. They both wanted Barbie rods so that is what I bought them even though you can get something cheaper and better. I do the casting. A couple of weeks ago, the 4 year old went fishing for the first time. She caught 8 brook trout. One of the brookies was 14 inches long. Her little pink Barbie doll rod got a good workout. For kids under the age of 6 or those who are going out fishing for the first times, I recommend a spincast reel. If you can get away from the Dora and Barbie rods, I recommend an ice fishing rod about 3 to 4 feet long and a nice Zebco spincast reel

Over the past few years, I,ve had a few problems with the fishing department at CT. I live in a region where brook trout are like perch elsewhere. They are all over the place. No bass or sunfish and no perch. Just brook trout. However....the CT store does not cater to brook trout fishermen like it could. There are lots of lures and other tackle for bass and walleye but not very much for brook trout. No 2, or 3 or 4 lb test line except Trilene XL in 4 lb. No selection of Panther Martin lures even though Panther Martin says they sell them. Very small choice in good hooks for brook trout. No light weight jigs. No small reels or light weight rods. No slim slip floats. They do sell illuminated floats for 12 dollars but do not sell the lights that go into the float so I made my own lights with DEL 3 volt dc lights from Dollarama that fit in the float. They do not sell 28 gauge shotshells even though up here, we shoot ruffed grouse and spruce grouse sitting by the side of logging roads at 15 yards . When I asked if they were going to order stuff for brook trout, the answer I get is that it's not in their computers so they cannot order it. The department manager can no longer order special items or even suggest that the store stock them. Everything is now decided by somebody in Toronto who probably never goes fishing and if he does, it's for deep water fish in the great lakes or bass. I no longer buy at CT. I sometimes look at the prices when I visit the stores (there are 4 within 45 minutes of where I live) and buy over the internet for way less and have it shipped to my door. I did buy a bunch of jigs with interchangeable weights last year. On sale for 33 cents per package. I bought all they had....lol. Walmart is even worse than CT. They rarely liquidate fishing items.

I took part in that discussion. I was the one who had the battery that did not have more than 10 minutes of reserve. Anyway, the quality of deep cycle batteries is closely related to the price of the battery. There aren't that many companies making batteries. If a person wants a deep cycle battery, he must be certain that it is not a hybrid battery or a starting battery. A deep cycle battery has caps that can be removed in order to top up the cells with distilled water. Only an intelligent battery charger will completely recharge a deep cycle battery. The user must have a hydrometer to check the specific gravity of each cell. The best thing to do is when you buy a deep cycle battery, you charge it to 100% and you check the voltage of the battery and the specific gravity of each cell after it has rested for a few hours. You note the readings and after each recharge, you compare the readings. If the battery liquid levels do get a bit low, top up with distilled water and charge the battery and take readings again after a few hours rest. Try not to discharge the battery to less than 50% of it's capacity. For those who use their electric motors a lot, they would be better off buying 2 batteries because they will save money in the long run. Buy the largest batteries.....at least 180 minutes of reserve....better yet....over 200 minutes of reserve.

Add a tip top guide and use the shorter rod for other fishing. Actually, you may find the rod is now perfect for finesse fishing for walleye or small mouth bass using 4 to 6 lb mono (1/8 to 1/4 once jigs etc). Most ultra light rods I have come across are way too wimpy anyway.

The problem with low charge rates is the fact that the battery is a long time charging. The time the battery is not fully charged, it does get a bit damaged. Ideally, the battery should be recharged as fast as possible, without overheating and without too many bubbles on the plates. Usually, a good intelligent battery charger will start out at about 6 to 15 amps and the charge rate decreases as the battery recharges and causes more resistance to the charger. When the battery is charging, shake it every once in a while to remove the bubbles that the hydrogen gas has formed on the plates. Touching the battery will tell you if it is overheating. Another thing that must be considered to keeping your battery in top shape is to not let the battery discharge past it's 50%. The number of times that you can recharge your battery will drop considerably if the battery is consistently discharged past it's 50% point. Battery voltage should always be above 12 volts. If the trolling battery is to be used a lot, consider buying another battery.

Caddis flies leave the water immediately when hatching.

I do a lot of fishing in places where there are a lot of pike and I have never seen a fish do this. However, I must add that my fishing is done in unpolluted water.

I was surprised to learn that he was so young. I thought he was at least 10 years older.

I play guitar and blues harp in a blues band but I'm too far away.

Forget the solar panels for recharging deep cycle trolling motor batteries. To have enough amperage will cost a fortune and would be too large to haul around in a boat. Buy a second or even a third battery.....the biggest you can find. Buy a gas powered generator that will give a charge of 10 amps at 12 volts. Charge one battery during the day while using the other.

I spent most of my life hunting and fishing and nevertheless....I'm allergic to blackfly bites and mosquito bites. I really swell up after getting bit. Yes....the area around the eyes is a bad spot. One bite and my eye swells up closed. Other than the eyes, I think the worst spot is on the lips. My mouth goes all lopsided and the itching lasts for at least 24 hours.

I've done a lot of camping since childhood plus ice fishing etc. I have 2 or 3 old Coleman stoves. I bought a used one last year for 10 dollars and it had never been used. I also have some propane and naphtha lanterns and I bought a 2 burner propane stove about 40 years ago. For those hikes, portages and long snowmobile trips, I haul a 1 burner naphtha stove which is very compact but powerful. All of this stuff works perfectly and I still don't know which is best...lol. For now, I prefer using propane when I spend a few days of camping. When I want to do some cooking in the boat, I prefer my Coleman naphtha stove. I fill the tank and there is enough fuel to cook a meal and brew coffee and still have lots of gas left over. The stove is compact and rugged. For heating, I have 3 different sized propane heaters and 1 large kerosene heater. All have their uses. For someone who wants to buy their first camping equipment, I say buy a 2 or 3 burner propane stove. You can add a propane heater if needed. As for lanterns, I rarely use them anymore. There are battery operated lighting systems that do very well.

To add a bit of spice to the discussion......I hate fluorocarbon.....even though I am going to try out some Berkley 100% pro grade in 4 lb test. I've tried a few different fluorocarbon lines over the years and I have had terrible results. Yes....I can tie my own knots and I know many of them and I use them all when I need to use them.