fishinggeek

I know it's been mentioned before, but I can't get enough of Jim Saric's show, The Musky Hunter. It's informative and relevant, and he never fails to entertain with big muskies. He doesn't push products down our throats like other shows, nor does the show seem overly scripted. Personally, a big pet peeve of mine is when fishing shows script what should be real action, like doing multiple takes of landing and releasing fish. The Musky Hunter, from what I can tell, is always a snippet of real fishing action. Simply Fishing is another one that comes to mind, another great show that doesn't have a lot of staging for the camera. Anyone seen it and agree? I really can't get enough of TMH and am itching to get more serious about musky fishing.

Just my humble, candid opinion, of course!

I've given up on them too. Ever since they hired Mike, the show has gone way downhill IMHO. It's much less informative. I keep meaning to get the address of WFN to complain about this show and extreme angler, which is another one that annoys me. If anyone does the same, please PM me the address. Not only do I find these ones annoying, but I actually do other things (like errands, watch other channels) so I don't have to watch it. I think letters like this might sway them to change their programming. I have heard complaint letters, especially ones explicitly stating the viewer is both dissatisfied AND not watching the show, send a strong signal. Any show that has to do an "uncut" version (in quotes as it seems more scripted than uncut) or has middle-aged hosts with "dawg" in their nicknames are not worth my time. I know they are trying to draw a younger audience, but I'm not that old myself and cringe everytime I click past these shows.

Credit card companies really don't like fraud because they pay the lion's share of it. That's why they demand a signature on the back. If a cashier catches a signature mismatch and reports it, he/she will get a small monetary reward for being on his/her toes. But often they don't look at the signatures or don't know about the reward program, which is why photos are not on most cards. Some credit card issuers piloted a program of photo credit cards and the the results showed almost all cashiers did not look at the photo, making the cards not only useless in defending fraud, but also more costly to maintain, so that was scrapped. I think credit card companies should do more, like PIN'ing cards for both point-of-sale and online purchases. Online purchases might be PIN'd with a system like PayPal, except the credit card company like American Express would remit the payment from your account to the merchant. But these changes are very expensive for the credit card companies, who might be more likely to swallow the fraud losses at our expense (and the criminals' gains).

But be mindful of prices wherever you go. I have found the exact same items (lures, reels, rods) can vary tremendously in prices between different retailers. Some are cheaper at a few items, others at different items. If you shop smart between a few places that are closeby, you can get the lowest price for everything and have that much more money left over for gas, boat storage, or whatever else you need. Good places for a quick comparison are Cabelas and Le Baron, which have their prices listed online.

Yes cheap prices are what make me a loyal Le Baron customer! But for a few items that could be found cheaper at other places, I gladly go there. And BPS is convenient to window shop when I'm otherwise shopping at the mall, but I almost never buy anything there. I usually bring my Le Baron catalogue with me when I go to other tackle shops to compare prices. I would take lower prices over service anyday. I don't need anyone to chat about fishing with, or even friendly, smiling faces. You can call me names for all I care as long as I'm paying the lowest price!

Photoz, I agree with you. I think that on average, C&R might have a low mortality rate, say 5% or so. But there are factors that change the expected survival rate. Things like water temperature, oxygen levels, predation of tired fish, and handling practices are important.

We're in a different age now. It's difficult to work and retire in the same company, let alone the same position. Benefits are getting worse (both corporate and public) and costs are going up. Thankfully income is also going up but we have to be smart about it. Being relatively young, I have come to realize the following that at least apply to me: 1. Act in your own self interest professionally. I will never do something that hurts myself or my family financially to help my employer. If they want me to take a pay cut to help their expenses, and I can find a similar job at relatively more pay, I'll move in a heartbeat. I just can't buy having to feel the company's pain, unless I was self-employed. I have loyalty as long as it's reciprocated, meaning they compensate me fairly. 2. Always strive to improve, unless retirement is nearing. Do graduate school, some type of certification, networking, or whatever you have to do to stay competitive. I don't see raises, promotions, and bonuses coming to those who are complacent. Of course, if you're retiring in the next few years, this will not payback itself. 3. Be prudently risk-adverse. I don't invest in anything that has risks higher than I should tolerate. Speculations like real estate, derivatives, or junk bonds are way too risky for me. Uncertainty is only one part of my risk, exposure is the other. I won't ever pile a large proportion of my portfolio into any investment type (ie. not all my eggs in one basket). I have insurance on life events that I cannot recover from financially or required by law (eg. home and auto). All other insurance is a waste of money for me at least for now, as I have no dependents. 4. Always save. Put my discretionary income into my primary residence, RRSP's, or non-registered investments (in that order). I don't need to do any arctic fly-in trips, bluefin tuna charters, top-of-the-line bass boats, etc. When faced with the option of these luxuries or retiring more comfortably, sending kids to university, or nicer house, I'll forgo the luxuries any day. Give me a few lures, a rod & reel, and I'll go for GTA every weekend if it means my kids can play hockey, get braces, AND do their doctorate in another country. I see people in poverty living happy lives. I am lucky I don't live in poverty, but I'm happy living the life of a poor person. Good friends, family, health, and a few fish make everything worthwhile. People think I'm too frugal, but I like to feel safe and responsible in terms of providing for my future family and my retirement.

P3TA's website had a bunch of links to scientific papers for their support. Being bored one day, I read them (at least the abstract). And they really don't support P3TA's hard-and-fast view against C&R. They were interesting reads though. I think they put up a bunch of scientific links to seem legitimate, figuring very few will actually take the time to read them.

Anyone know how good the Pete Maina low profile reel is for an entry-level muskie reel? Also, how good are the Grandmas when compared to the Jake? I notice the Jakes are a lot wider, so I'd imagine they perform quite differently.

It actually looks pretty good. Thanks for posting it. I usually find BPS sales to be more "smoke and mirrors", at least for the items I usually buy.

Bushart, couldn't agree with you more. And although I have seen a few threads locked in a manner I thought was premature, I would have to agree that the Mods here are doing a fine job. I would say I'm quite happy with the job they've done so far.

While it's true the American medicare system is far and away more expensive than our universal system, I think our tax system in general and relatively higher operating costs are to blame for our higher prices. Everyone, both companies and individuals, face way higher taxes in Canada than our southern neighbour. And at least in theory, any tax (whether levied to business or consumers) will almost always lead to higher prices. With respect to operating cost, we are not nearly as polarized in income as the USA. We generally have higher proportions of educated and skilled workers, so our wages are higher. And our income attributable to capital is extremely low when compared to the states, which means our equipment is much less efficient. Heavy taxes and inefficient, costly operations are the main culprits to the price differentials, in my opinion. I always look at prices and I buy whatever is cheaper, whether local or an import. Though local retailers may suffer somewhat, the consumer is actually gaining quite a bit in terms of discretionary income and welfare. If I pay lower prices, that means I can buy more lures, retire earlier, or send my kids to a European university, so I am better off. By me paying higher prices to local retailers, I feel I am subsidizing companies that cannot compete with foreign competitors, and I don't feel that providing subsidies to businesses is my job. And in the end, I think it's healthy to trade between countries. If the USA is better at the retail trade, let me buy their retail products. Similarly, they can import our Canadian things like oil, forestry inputs, and even coming up here to our great fishing resorts!

CCMT, I forgot about those ones! Good "catch"!

So Rich now needs 2 permits????

That sounds reasonable. But a permit to transport fish to their backyard kiddie pool or basement aquarium? That doesn't sound reasonable. I could be wrong though. In any event, I'm just making useless banter. Never done it myself, but would've been cool to see a smallie eat a ciclid (sp).

Recently a post was made about people keeping native fish as pets, and how the transportation of live species is illegal under the same statue that applies to sport fishing. From reading it, most of us (including me) had a "no harm no foul" view on it. But I have also read people getting ridiculed on here for doing things that were perfectly legal, such as keeping a muskie whose survival was dubious, taking pictures of OOS fish that weren't targeted, and keeping trophies (eg. walleye, lakers). Certainly the law does not necessarily equate to "right" nor is what's right always in the law. But in my opinion, a lot of people subconsciencely derive what's "right" as what's "good for me". For example, muskie fishermen may gasp when a muskie is legally kept or even held vertically and released, yet I did hear much objection to keeping (and probably transporting) rock bass as pets. I guess my beef is allowing a group of lay people to decide what's right and wrong, then projecting these decisions onto the general public. I think we all have good intentions, but allowing our emotions dictate our actions (or our government's actions) is definitely a sub-optimal way to go. Any constructive thoughts? For the record, I have never kept any fish as pets, nor have I kept a muskie.

I'll bet no one here had a permit to transport the fish!

Thanks for the info! BPS has the Rome ones on their website, so I'll see if the Toronto store has them on sale. I checked out the sites for LeBaron and MEC and neither had them.

I'm thinking about buying a pie iron. Anyone use them? Any big difference between aluminum or cast iron? What about the shape?

I was thinking about popping in today (monday) for the last day. But I was worried it would be a smaller show and not worth it. Thanks for everyone's honest reviews of the show. From reading them, it does sound like a "mickey mouse" kind of fishing show. Maybe it's a good boating show, but I like a good number of vendors selling a lot of good tackle (at low prices). I have decided to hold out until the big sportsman show, which I can't wait to go to! Lumping in the Spring Fishing show into the sportsman show means I only have to go to one show now. Thanks again to everyone who posted.

Lew, that muskie odyssey thing sounds amazing, especially since I am trying to learn about muskie fishing. I'll make a note of attending next time it's on. Steve, thanks for the info. Still I wonder how much better the big sportsman show will be. I know it's a bit more expensive especially without free parking, but I know it's bigger and better IMHO so I might still wait until that one and skip the spring fishing show.

You mean the seminars are in additional to the admission price? That bites. The sportsman show or outdoors show or whatever they are called now does not do this. I was undecided about this show, but if they're charging for me to see a seminar, I might just wait until the big show.

Good times! Thanks for sharing. Tell me you didn't eat a GTA pike. I haven't checked the guide recently, but something tells me it isn't good.

Maybe we should all write letters to WFN? I have heard TV stations really listen to these, and might remove some of those shows that we don't like. Personally, I am very fast to change fishing shows that really annoy me like Fishing Canada, Extreme Angler, or Dimestore Fisherman (which thankfully WFN doesn't air). And considering I am paying extra for the channel, I would hope to get quality programming I enjoy watching. As I am typing this, there are really only a few shows that I like on WFN. Real Fishing (when he's not in an exotic location), Lindner's new show, TNB (about half of the time - don't like how it's so staged), and Jim Saric's Musky Hunter (my recent favourite). The fly fishing shows are cool too, but I don't watch them very often. Ok I've decided to write WFN in polite protest. Anyone with me?