Dabluz

I've also got some cheap Canadian Tire neoprene chest waders. They were on special for about 80 dollars. I've been using them for about 5 or 6 years now and I even lend them out. Ok, the solid rubber foot is something you won't write home about but they do give a solid footing when walking along the shoreline. I don't wear wading boots very often so I didn't mind buying something cheaper. The water up here in the Saguenay region of Quebec stays cold all summer so neoprene is the way to go. I wear a thin pair of long underwear underneath the waders. So far, no leaks and no humidity problems either. Now, I'm trying to find something to keep my elbows dry when I go into water deeper than my waist.

I go out fishing alone most of the time. However, my hired body guards are not far from me in another boat and my private helicopter is within a few minutes just in case.

For fresh water fish I use 4 to 8 lb test mono if in shallow water or 6 to 10 lb test Fireline in deeper water. For deep saltwater fishing in the Saguenay River, I use 30 and 40 lb braid and for ocean perch in deep water I use 14 lb test Fireline. I use spinning and baitcasting reels on short home made rods.

Thanks irishfield (champs irlandais). I got a personal message telling me what it was. My posting above was just my chance to pull somebody's chain....lol.

Ok....from what I can see....I'm not the only one who does not know what PB means.

I've been patient. I'm curious to know what PB means. I've been lurking the posts to try to deduce what PB means and for a long while I thought that it meant a bass. Now "PB walleye" pops up and I have to start all over again.

Leaks are good....no? Leaks allow the water to run out when it rains.

I can't see how smelt can damage an environnement. They don't grow large, they spawn in the spring in streams or on well oxygenated shores and they don't compete with other fish species other than the fact that they eat plancton and tiny animals that live in the water. I would even say that they are one of the few fish that will benefit a body of water due to the fact that predator fish just love to eat them and they do offer a better food source than other species of baitfish. Unless the body of water is perfectly suited to the smelt's taste, there is no possibility of this species ever taking hold in a body of water....let alone taking control over a lake. The other fish species that will benefit any body of water is brook trout. As for the possibility of a frozen fish ever being able to spawn.....that's impossible.

We become 3rd world nation and it will be China's turn to send emergency supplies to keep us barely alive. China will send journalists and their camera crews to film how abject we have become. Chinese people will offer to adopt our kids. Pigs and chickens will be household pets.

Did you see the second article about the second battery of tests? Other knots were tried out. The diameter of the knot hole was the same for the mono. It was a test between fluorocarbon and mono. Most people have been buying fluorocarbon because the common myth was that fluorocarbon did not stretch as much as mono and thereby better hook sets. The testing was a comparison between Trilene XL against a bunch of fluorocarbon lines. Trilene XL is a mono with about the most amount of line stretch when compared to other mono lines. No need to test fluorocarbon when wet....it does not absorb water even when soaked for 3 hours. So the 3 hour soaking was eliminated in order to make the testing a bit faster. The testing was scientific enough to my tastes. What more should have been done? The tests were done to debunk all of the suposed advantages that fluorocarbon lines have over mono. There are no advantages to using fluorocarbon instead of mono. Actually, with mono, you have more advantages such as stronger knots, no stiffness, no line damage after the line is stressed, better resistance to shock, just as good resistance to abrasion if not better, better over all strength. So, if a fisherman decides that if fluorocarbon is invisible in water (not been proven yet) and therefore fish will be less shy to bite (which has not yet been proven) he will have to accept the fact that fluorocarbon is inferior in all other aspects (except it's price) when compared to mono.

My Symetre 2000 with rear drag has had a lot of hard use in the past (I think 8 to 10 years) and it is still working like it was brand new. With the anti-reverse off, I can place the handle of the reel in a horizontal position and the reel will slowly rotate until the handle is pointing down. No loose parts, has never been opened for cleaning and lubrication and I use it year round. I use 2 lb test mono for brook trout on this reel and have never had a brookie break the line. 2 to 4 lb brookies are quite common up here where I live. I also use this reel for walleye using 4 and 6 lb test mono. Even though the reel has a rear drag, it is very smooth. However, I always transport my rods in a rod case and my reels in a cloth bag. I even use the reel in brackish water for migratory brook trout in the Saguenay river. If you search the internet, you will see that the Symetre is considered the best "bang for the buck".

For the fluorocarbon lover and haters.....look at this site for the first of 2 articles concerning independant tests on fluorocarbon lines. The fluorocarbon lovers are in for a big surprise. http://www.tackletour.com/reviewfluorocarbontest.html

Hard to say which is the best bang for the buck. I have a small Olympus Stylus 600. It's my third digital camera. I've had it almost 2 years now and I like it quite a bit. Very long battery life (rechargeable battery), works great in all weather (rain, snow, -30 C etc). Takes pretty good pictures and very easy to operate. Has good anti-blur (my granddaugter is always dancing etc). Great for macro. very fast auto focus. Very good large 2 1/2 inch screen. However, uses XD type data card which are a bit more expensive and harder to find. No sound when I am using it for taking movies but that does not bother me. I hate it when you hear somebody breathing and talking 10 times louder than everyone else during a home movie....lol. It's not a movie camera anyway. If you want to recharge your battery when away from home, get a 10 dollar converter that plugs into the cigarette lighter of your car. You can even get one that allows you to play your walkman or mp3 player through the car stereo via an FM frequency. In any event, get good glass lenses and at least 6 to 8 megapixels.

I glanced over the specs for the different models of Calcutta 300 and 400 and for someone who spends 90% of his time casting for musky, I would seriously consider an Abu Garcia 6500 C3 because of the tremendous price difference even though it is not considered as robust as the Calcutta. You can buy 3 Abu Garcia reels for the price of one Calcutta. If the line guide does not disengage on the Abu Garcia, I would remove the whole assembly so that the spool will be as free spooling as possible. You will see that when you are holding your rod and reel in your left hand with the handle of the rod under your left arm, your left thumb and forefinger will have no trouble guiding the line evenly on the spool. Check this site: http://www.birds-eye.net/fishing/musky_beginner_setup.htm

If the line guide follows the line from side to side during the cast, this means that the bar that moves the pawl must turn and also the gears that turn the bar are also moving. This adds a lot of resistance to the spool itself. It is no longer turning free. This greatly reduces the speed of the spool. The speed of the spool is essential for long casts. Some low profile reels have a self-centering line guide that eliminates the worst resistance (when the guide is to one side while the line is leaving the spool from the other side of the reel). The only way to really increase casting distance is to do what the long distance pros do.....that is to completely remove the line guide and the whole assembly that moves the line guide from side to side. This means that the angler must manually move the line from one side of the reel to the other with his thumb and forefinger. Actually, it is quite easy to do and does become quite automatic. I have a few reels for deep water ice-fishing ( 200 to 700 feet ) that have had the line guides removed. I fish all winter on the Saguenay River and the temperatures vary from -10 C (nice day) to -35 (not so nice) and sometimes even colder (especially at night). I sometimes use wire line during the summer and wire line destroys the line guide. There is always the fact that even though the line guide on many reels is always engaged, this does not mean that the line guide will be always in line with the line on the spool. When using my low profile baitcasters and even my round reels (Cardiff 101A or Calyx 100A), my drag is adjusted quite low. Just before making a cast, I often center the line guide in the middle by turning the handle of the reel against the drag and then disengaging everything for the cast by pressing the casting bar. The Cardif which is a round reel and the low profile reels have rather narrow spools so the angle that the line leaves the spool is never really a problem unless I'm casting very light lures (1/8 to 1/4 ounce). But these reels are not musky reels.

There is a difference in casting distance between a low profile reel and a round reel. If you look at a round reel, the line guide is close to the spool while the line guide on a low profile reel is further away from the spool. This means that on a low profile baitcaster, the line leaves the spool at a lower angle (if the line is at the far end of the spool) than on a round baitcaster. This means reduced resistance. Imagine the resistance when the line guide is to the far left while the line is coming off the spool from the far right. On top of that, low profile baitcasters usually have a narrower spool which further decreases the maximum angle that the line has to make between the spool and the line guide. However, there is the difference in line capacity and there are no real big low profile reels to compensate for the difference in line capacity. Fortunately, the new braided lines are 50% smaller than equivalent monos and that has helped to increase the line capacity for the low profile reels. Since 90% of your fishing for musky is casting, I would recommend a low profile reel. I'm sure you can find a great but used Curado 300 for under 100 dollars because the 2009 Curado 300 is now on the market. Everyone with the old Curados will want to buy the new Curado that has been upgraded quite a bit. I think that maybe a new 2009 Citica would be okay for musky. The only difference between this new reel and the new Curado is in the number of bearings.

Yes....the size of the line is important. I go fishing with lots of people. I have been fishing for a very long time. I use fine line. I usually fish with 2 to 6 lb clear mono. Not the fluorescent blue mono that we usually see in the stores but real clear mono and I almost always outfish everyone that fish with me. I tried different types of fluorocarbon lines.....they are all crap. I did stretch tests with fluorocarbon lines and they have just as much stretch as most monos. I did strength tests with fluorocarbon lines and they are weaker than equivalent monos. Even the famous Seaguar fluorocarbon line is junk unless you want to use over 40 lb test fluorocarbon. Walleye and brook trout are line shy. For brook trout I never use anything more than 4 lb test clear mono and for walleye, I use 4 to 6 lb test clear mono. I know for a fact that just using a snap on the end of your line when fishing with a jig for walleye will decrease the number of bites. I don't know why but I have seen it happen quite a few times with people who were fishing with me. If there are pike and I don't want to lose a lure, I use 4 to 8 kg, 49 to 54 strand steel wire that I buy in Europe. It's about the size of 6 lb mono and flexible enough to knot. It's very expensive and when you get hooked on bottom and you have to apply extreme tension to rip your lure loose, the wire becomes curly queued....lol. However, there are times when you have to use a more robust line. I use 4 to 10 lb test Fireline when necessary. Yes, the stuff does fray but it's the finest and the strongest line you can find. I don't mind having to cut of a few inches after a day of fishing with Fireline. For heavy fish or for very deep water fishing ( I often fish in 450 feet of water ), it's hard to beat a good braid in 20 to 30 lb test. Get the braid that is 100% dyneema or spectra. This means the stuff that does not have additional nylon or mono to make it rounder, stiffer etc. There are not many braids out there that do not have this additional junk to make them larger and so called "more manageable". The only braids that I know of without this extra junk are Mason Tiger Braid and Tuff Line. Not the Tuff Line Plus or the Tuff Line XT....just the Tuff Line which is very hard to find. When I use braid or Fireline for pike fishing and I don't want to lose the occaisonal lure, I add a leader of 49 to 54 strands of steel....8 kg test. The stuff I buy in Europe. I tie on a small swivel at one end and a small snap at the other end. A 9 to 12 inch steel leader is ample. Less than that and the pike can wrap the leader around his head and the line can end up in his mouth. If you want to test your fluorocarbon against equivalent test mono, tie something to end of your line, put a bucket of sand on a bathroom scale, tie the line to the handle of the bucket of sand and pull while looking at the readout. While you are at it, check the elasticity at the same time.

All snowmobiles are great choices. All have their advantages and disadvantages. Since this is a fishing site, I surmised that Terry would be using his machine for ice fishing in the winter. Here in the Saguenay region of Quebec, the average is 2 snowmobiles per household. Most have machines that are either much lighter for one-up riding or longer wider machines for deep snow. However, the fishermen almost all have machines with wider and longer tracks. Most use machines with tracks 144 inches long and 20 inches wide. I have used Summits and Grand Touring and these machines were not good in deep soft snow. My old 1988 Safari with 144 inch X 16.5 inch track (no electric start and no reverse) and 503 air cooled engine does better in deep snow. The 2004 Skidoo Legend 500 liquid cooled weighs 550 lbs (quite heavy). The track is 136 X 15 inches (not bad but could be better) However, if the snow does not accumulate on lake Simcoe and the warmer temperatures help make the snow more compact, a Legend or a Grand Touring may be great. I don't know because I have never snowmobiled in that area. However, machines like the Legend or the Grand Touring etc are about the best you can get for 2 passenger riding on snowmobile trails.

If you plan to do any amount of snowmobiling "off trail", you will be very disappointed with that machine.

I mostly fish for speckled trout and walleye. They were not in the poll.

It would be interesting to know how much the insurance company wants for your ATV. Keep us posted.

Having good quality fly tying stuff is a big advantage for a fishing boutique. Buying fly tying stuff is most definately a hands on thing.

That's what I did for a few years but I would now need 2 or more backpacks most of the time. Also, when the plastic boxes are in a backpack, acces is not quick and easy.....especially when you have stuff like a rainsuit, lunch, thermos, GPS, camera, binoculars, flashlight, bait etc in the back pack. I still use a backpack when portaging into remote areas but when I do, I always place a smaller soft tackle bag in the backpack. For ice fishing, I don't need as much tackle so 1 or 2 large flat plastic boxes and a couple of smaller plastic boxes easily slip into a back pack along with extra clothing and lunch.

I mostly fish from shore when fishing in the Saguenay. Yes...the back pack was my main carrier for many years. It still is when I have to carry extra clothes, lunch, etc. But I have a soft tackle bag that I can hang from my shoulder. I rarely bring an extra rod unless it's a fly rod. Here in Quebec, we are allowed to use only one rod at a time. When I go fishing just across the street from my house, I carry much less equipment. My fishing equipment is pretty well divided according to the species of fish I want to catch. There is stuff for brook trout in the small lakes, then stuff for walleye, ouananiche and pike, stuff for pike only, then there is the fly fishing stuff and finally the equipment I need for bottom fishing in the Saguenay River. When I go camping/fishing or longer trips where there is the possibility of fishing for a variety of fish, I bring along more tackle bags. I like to have a lot of fishing equipment with me. I just hate it when you get a situation where the fish are biting on something special or special technique and what I need is at home.

Every once in a while, Canadian Tire and Walmart sell a similar bag with 4 large plastic boxes, 3 zippered pockets for around 12 dollars....sometimes 10 dollars. I have 2 of those. I also have a larger one that my wife bought for me as a present. And then, I got one when I subscribed to a fishing magazine for one year. Subscription price was 14 dollars for one year and a free soft tackle bag (no plastic boxes). For some reason, the magazine thought that I was a dealer or something because this subscription was not for the general public. Now that I have 4 of those soft tackle boxes, I only need about 2 more. And another one big enough to hold large square plastic boxes....each plastic box will carry a reel. I rarely leave my reels on my rods. The only time I do that is when I'm going down the street to fish in the Saguenay river for brook trout, landlocked salmon and walleye.