steve_paul

Nice job, that last one is a beauty. Congrats to your buddy too on his first. Thanks for the report.

Great report Kemper Beautiful pic of the sunset. Rich is going to be very aroused by the plate of WGSF

Great report, congrats on the new PB. Thanks for the report.

If that ever happens, I am going to get slapped alot .

LOL, shows how long it has been since I made a pay phone call I guess.

Beautiful fish, congrats on the new PB

I asked my son the other day what was wrong with carrying a quarter in his pocket and using a pay phone like I did growing up. He looked at me like I had 2 heads

Great stuff, thanks for the report. Love the pic of the 3 generations of fishermen, bet that will be displayed proudly in the home. Congrats to AJ.

Goran We have used St. Thomas Canvas and Awning in the past to make odd size air conditioner covers, etc. They may be worth a call and they do good work. Their number is 519-633-4444

This was posted awhile back by FishHeadRic - well worth reading thru for you BigD - some great tips, knowledge and advise in here from someone who has caught alot of nice fish up your way http://www.ofncommunity.com/forums/index.p...mp;#entry198969

Nice job boys, sorry you didn't get into any of the LPB pike. Glad you got the motor up and running again Johnny.

Great report johnnyb and congrats on the PB.

That sounds pretty much exactly what I am planning, thanks for the input LB. Much appreciate it. We already have the barrels, plus enough good lumber on 2 existing docks so won't have to buy much to make this work.

LOL Meely, floating docks and fluffy people can be an adventure. We are looking at doing the dock 8' wide to add some stability. Plus no one will be allowed on the dock when I am on it.

Thanks for the input guys - much appreciated. I was thinking of a 3 part dock. We have dock legs - 2 which we would anchor to shore and attach the first section to. The second section is then hinged to that and dropped into the water with floatation at one end. The non floatation end would be hinged to the 1st and above shore. There would be about a 1 - 2 foot drop to the water level over this 8' span. The 3rd section then is hinged to the second and we could use the 2nd set of dock legs at the end of this section to attach the end of the dock to. Figure it would not be as stable as a crib style but would allow the rise and fall that comes with ice flows and the river level rising and falling. Where the dock is is sheltered for the most part from the current and would not be subjected to as much ice out pressure as the other side of the island. I have a very basic diagram I will try and scan and post tomorrow that might make it clearer what I am thinking. Also, for the end of the season, unless someone is there to help, my Aunt would not be able to swing, rise, crank etc the dock out so leaving it in for the winter is almost a necessity.

Rich, when is your trip up to the French? Cindy and I are planning another trip up sometime in Sept - if you would like maybe we can hook up and try and get on some walleye for your wife. Our island is about 1/2 hour drive in from Wolseley Bay. Let me know. I yanked with all I could to get the lure out of the tree but no luck, had to send him in. It is a family ritual now that he has to rescue one of my lures. Not sure if I casted it in there on purpose or not Love the new boat - we had tons of room during the week and it worked great for both casting and trolling. Was very good on gas - about $60 for the week so no complaints.

It can be very tough, we put 76km on the boat this week trolling different areas, running and gunning all over and I would say 90% of the fish we caught, we were within sight of our own island. May forgot towing the boat up next time and just wander the island fishing from shore. But boats are so dam fun, probably won't do that either.

For those of you who have docks and experience with either crib style or Floating style I would appreciate your input. Current dock at the French River needs to be replaced. Ice flows have knocked it all cockeyed off the crib and the crib seems to be coming apart as well underneath it. Throughout our journies trolling for muskie this past week, I did not notice alot of floating docks on the River. I have a great design for a floating dock to use and most of the materials to construct it but am a little worried since I did not see many in use up that way. Is that due to the current / ice flows / etc or just that fact that crib styles have been used forever up that way. The existing dock has been reinforced / braced up and should last the season but we will have to pull it out at the end of the year as it won't last ice break up next year. Also, dock is normally left in as my Aunt does not have the means or strength to take out the dock each fall when she closes up and it is left in the river all winter. The new dock likely would be the same and left in all winter unless I can work something into the design to winch it up on shore at the end of the year. Any input into these to these styles, designs, benefits, drawbacks, help, $.02 worth, $.05 worth - anything would be appreciated.

LOL, yes he rescued my lure again this year. He was smart enough this year to tie the boat off as last year while rescuing me, the boat drifted away from shore and I had a horrible time coming back into get him. Left him stranded there for about 1/2 hour while I diddled around with trolling motor and avoiding rocks. Thanks for the estimates, was going to say 6 - 8 lbs so I guess I was close.

Congrats Sydney Awesome report Cliff, great job by you and Carole getting her out there and enjoying fishing. Not too much beats a great day fishing with your kids.

Nice report JB, sounds like a good day out there.

Take all the paperwork into a Services Canada branch and they should get you the ownership / registration right then and there. If you don't have all the required paperwork, they will let you know what you need. Maybe call first, ask what they want to see and have it before going in. When I registered mine, I was in and out in about 15 mins. I took in the bill of sale from the marina and I think the previous owner registration and that was it. Very easy to do.

Family vacation time again at the French River. Headed up June 26, left St. Thomas at 2 am, at the grocery store in Noelville at 8 and on the island by 10:30. Just went up with my wife Cindy and son Ryan this time as my daughter Jess is at a camp on Georgian Bay for 2 weeks. As always, we had an incredible time. Weather for the most part was good, couple days of rain, couple days of very high winds, water temps stayed between 66 and 69 on the surface the entire time we were there. Headed home July 4 and of course can't wait to get back. Loaded and ready to leave We went in hopes of landing our first muskie, while the effort was there, the success wasn't. Tried everything we knew in our limited knowledge and came away empty handed. Although disappointed, makes up look more forward to heading back up again to try again. Did however catch this lovely pine tree once and Ryan made his annual pilgramage onto an island to dislodge one my lures from a tree. While our muskie fishing was less than successful, we did however have a great time fishing for everything else. That is the beauty of the River, so many choices of what to fish for. Decided to do some bass fishing on the opener. Since we are used to the circus that is Long Point Bay on the opener, having the entire River to ourselves on Bass opener was a treat. Landed a few nice ones - Ryan's first topwater bass One of mine Had our most successful trip yet for pickerel, but not much for the freezer - everything we were catching was in the slot so back they went. Nice fish though all the same. Ryan with a shore lunch eater Couple of nice slot sizers Trolling one night and landed this beauty - my Personal Best pickerel - 27 1/2", not sure of the weight as she went right back in to go make more little pickerbabies - any estimates on the weight as I have no idea This was also our new dog's first trip to the River. I think he thought he had found Shih Tzu paradise up there. The only time he was still was at night when he slept - the rest of the time he would tear around the island, go swimming and did some boating and fishing Harley's first view of the river Harley warming up with my aunt after a swim Harley fishing No report would be complete without the obigatory WGSF picture. Ryan landed this monster trolling one night - the little bugger actually took lure that was the same size as him - 2 1/2" - thought of keeping and mounting but decided to let it live another day Just some random pics Not sure when we are headed back up there, but can't wait. Thanks for reading and any estimates on the weight of the pickerel would be appreciated.

Scary similarity Mike (Sorry could not resist)

Nice fish Lew, can't wait to see her momma when you get her in August. Thanks for the report, glad you had a great time.