Garry2Rs

If you want it, I have a big jar that I brought home from Arizona. It's not new, but is only lightly used...grin.

Yes Centimetres...sorry, I'm an old throw back to Imperial measurement and I'm easily confused by all these foreign words.

My client turned out to be a "fair-weather-fisherman...I took Buck back to the lake this morning when the city-boy conked out. It was warm and there was almost no breeze. It was wet out, but it wasn't really rain, more of a light drizzle. In many cases this is great fishing weather. About 1PM some real rain arrived. After that it raining on and off about every 15 minutes, until we decided the bite wasn't good enough to keep us out there. I wore my old rubber lined rain-suit and was probably wetter on the inside than on the outside...hahaha. What a curse that old style wet weather gear was! Thank goodness for Gore-Tex. The fish were still there in the shallows, but the Crappie bite was very slow. Even the Sunfish were not very active. I spoke to several guys coming in from the Walleye spots and no one had fish. If the fish aren't active now, there might be a big bite in a day or two when the new weather pattern settles in. Garry2R's

If you haven't figured it out yet, the number of Rapala baits is the length in millimetres. The real question is, what weight will your rod cast best? Again, you're probably aware of this, but there is a decal on your rod that will tell you what weight baits will work best. Garry2R's

It was another beautiful day in the Kawarthas. The Black Flies were tame today. There was no breeze and Lake Prop Buster was as still as a mill pond. The sunfish were everywhere in the shallows sunning themselves with their backs out of the water. I saw many bass and a few perch in the shallows too, but no Crappie. In spite of all the fish, that were visible, the bite was tough. I caught a few using Berkley Trout Worms and other tiny baits, but the bite was definitely off! I did have some fun fishing two small cranks at the same time. I used two swivels, one sliding loose on the main line and one tied to the end of the main line. I had a dropper on each swivel and a small crank with a single treble on each dropper. This cast easily without tangling. The two leaders are slightly different lengths, so one bait appears to be chasing the other. By holding the rod tip high I could virtually wake them through the schools of Sunfish. I got a few hits this way and it was more fun than still fishing. Garry2rs

I think you have the answer. It was only around 3PM, so after I saw him, my thought was that the sudden shut-down was Musky related. Buck and I went back today. The bite was even better. There are scores of one and two inch minnows around the Lodges docks and we saw a few Perch moving in as well. The sunfish were everywhere today, holding in schools of 10 or 12...Thick as fleas. The Crappie we caught were also a larger size than yesterday. What the rain, over the next few days will do, I don't know. however I don't think it will hurt anything, the temp's are supposed to stay up. Garry

So Buck and I are standing on the pier at good old Lake Prop Wrecker. Last week this area was barren, but today the Black Flys are out in force and that says Crappie time to me...grin. So, we stopped to check it out again. This time we are catching big Sunfish and a few small Crappie on almost every cast. If there are small, there might be large... After a couple of hours of steady action, Ontario Hydro brings their Jon Boat in and puts it on the trailer. When they clear off, the bite is dead! Normally one boat don't kill the bite here...In fact once the commotion is over, sometimes the prop-wash has stirred things up in the shallows and everything is feeding like crazy. Today, is different...It's deader than Bancroft after dark!!! To try and get things going again I switch to a Lindy Fuzzy Grub. This bait is a couple of sizes larger than I have been using, but my thought is to show them something worth chasing... I even remove my bobber to let the bait fall to the weed tops. I cast the jig out and start reeling very slowly, One crank revolution per second...as it swims toward me I feel a couple of bumps, then a solid bite...I sweep the rod sideways and reel fast to set the small hook without pulling the bait out of it's mouth... There is good resistance, and I steer the fish over to the deep side of the dock, so as not to re-startle anyother fish in the shallows. As the big Bluegill comes shallow enough for me to see it clearly, a 40 inch musky comes out of the deep water and inhales my fish! For the next 45, very interesting, seconds I have my first musky on an Ultra Light spinning outfit...Then the 4 pound Fluorocarbon parts and I am both jig and fish-less. I hope he enjoys the meal, I will be looking for payback the second week of June! Garry2R's

IN MY OPINION- If you're not left handed you have purchased the wrong reel. However here is a how to I wrote for a friend. There are only two things that cause a backlash. Number one is the spool turns faster than the bait is taking the line out. Number two is the spool keeps turning after the bait has hit the water. On the side of your reel opposite the crank is a magnetic or centrifugal brake. This brake moderates the speed of the spool especially at the start of the cast so that it doesn't out accelerate the bait and the line going out...To get started if it's a knob turn this on all the way. If your reel has brake shoes, turn them all on.. Under the crank handle there will be a knurled knob. When this is tightened it applies pressure to the end of the spool shaft. This pressure will slow the spool at the end of the cast so that it stops when the bait stops. To get started, tighten this so that when you release the spool the bait settles to the ground/water and the spool stops. You are now ready for your first cast. Turn your wrist slightly so that the reel handle faces up at a 45 degree angle. OR down to the ground if you are still using the wrong reel. Press the spool release, but keep the spool from moving with your thumb. Point the rod at the place you want the cast to go...now look up about 45 degrees and pick a spot that is above the target, something like a cloud in the sky or the top of a tree will work nicely. Make a nice easy cast toward this object. Using this secondary high target will compensate for the time-lag between when you think about releasing the spool and when your thumb actually moves. The rod should start level at 9 o'clock, then rise to 12 o'clock. With your elbow down, when your wrist meets your shoulder, bend your wrist back to about 1 o'clock then snap your wrist and forearm forward with a hammer-like motion to drive the cast. As the your hand comes forward release the spool as you reach your high target. Try to keep you elbows down, stretching your arms out will not add distance to your cast. You will soon get the timing, but use the cloud trick to get started... The cast should go out in an arc, then the bait will die in the air and fall to that water with no tangles in the line. The cast dies in the air because you are using too much braking and you can back each brake off a little once you become comfortable with the mechanics of casting this type of reel. If you get in the habit of stopping the spool with your thumb as the bait reaches the target, in time the friction brake might be loosened off all the way and completely replaced by your thumb. The magnetic or centrifugal brake can be backed off until you see loose line on the spool during the cast, or hear the line flapping inside the reel during the cast. Good Luck Garry2R's

My three bank on-board charger has three sets of wires. Two are for the deep cycles and the third is labelled for the cranking battery.

We were shore fishing, so I`m not able to report on the water temp. We only had until noon, so with the high cost of gas we opted to leave the boats home and travel in one more fuel efficient vehicle...

Got out this morning with the neighbours. Fished the Buckhorn area. The action was fast from 8am until about 10 am. The fish were mostly shallow and around weeds. After 10AM the schools seemed to disburse. A blue and pearl mini tube was hot. Best technique, after the first couple of fish were taken from a school, was to cast to the hot spot, then reel very slowly. This meant we had to lengthen the dropper from the bobber to keep the bait down...

I use drop-shot weights so that I look professional when I have a client...Grin. However if I'm out on my own, I use barrel sinkers and peg them with a round toothpick. The sinker will still slide off when snagged, just like the fancy ones do. I can also slide it up or down to adjust the length of the leader. But...this set-up is much, much cheaper than the store-bought stuff. The very low cost allows me to have many different sinker sizes on hand. As to the actual size you will need, depth and current will dictate what weight you should use. I like my sinkers heavy enough that I have positive bottom contact.

There are lots of great Bass lures. Many have been listed here already. My personal favourite in the early season is a plastic toad/frog. However I will bet that more bass are caught on plastic worms than all other baits combined! If I have to produce fish, day-in-day-out a 5" plastic worm is what I want. You can fish it weightless, Texas rig it, drag it on a jig shaky style, cast or bounce or drag and swim it weighted Carolina style, nose hook it and fish it over the weeds and slop, hook it wacky under a bobber, put it on a worm harness and cast or troll it...etc. etc. etc.

These guys have a good reputation ...Alluring Baits

I use Crappie grubs that I buy from trout magnet in the USA. I also use their 1/32 and 1/16 oz. jigs as well. However any small tube or twister tail will work. In most cases 18 to 24 inches below a small float is about right. This past Saturday I was shore fishing. It was sunny in the Kawarthas, the Crappie I found were around old Coontail type weeds in very shallow water at the back of the bay where the launch was. On the Sunday it was overcast and blowing. I found them in the back of windblown bays. I speculated that the warmer surface water was piling up in these areas. If you are just starting out don't overlook live shiner minnows. They are cheap and Crappie love them.

This site location was posted a couple of weeks ago and I think the general opinion was that the data was out of date. We shouldn't be looking this gift horse in the mouth. Obviously this was a big project and the old data can easily be updated now that it is up and running.

I have never had trouble launching off of bunks. If there's enough water to float the boat you can launch, if not, how do you get the boat back on the trailer?

I have been out several times this week looking for Crappie. There are lots of Sunfish, but fishing from shore I only found a few Crappie, and these were all around some very shallow weeds. These were tall coontail type weeds left over from last year and pretty sick looking... Today I got out in the boat with a client. All my regular early season spots were empty early this morning. We went for a boat ride and checked the back of a big windblown bay were I have had early season success before. Usually the first fish are behind a small island at the back of this cove. Today the action there was quite good, and the fish were on the large size. Interestingly, the sheltered area where I usually connect wasn't as good as a more open area a few yards away. There are a series of docks there and it was on a straight line with the wind, and I think it was where all the warmer surface water was piling up. So, until we get some warmer weather and some fresh weeds. I would check around any cover in the backs of bays that have the wind blowing into them. Garry2r's

I had nothing but unexplained break-offs with Spiderwire Invisabraid. I returned what was left and Pure Fishing sent me another 300 yards...It was just as bad!!! I wouldn't give it to my worst enemy.

I have used most of the major brands. In ascending order I like Fireline Tracer, Powerpro Hollow Ace and the new Sufix 832 braids. I have 40 pound Hollow Ace on most of my casting reels and 30 pound 832 on one reel for test purposes. I still run Fluoro and Mono on a couple of casting reels for top-water's and deep diver's. There is 10 pound 832 on all but one spinning reels. That one still has Tracer braid in 15 pound test. I still like the visibility of Tracer for Senko type worms.

One of my repeat clients is still only about 7years old. Last year he showed up with a Banjo Minnow outfit his Mom had given him. We rigged up a fairly large one and before I could get his Dad set-up, with a Senko, the little guy had a nice Bass in the boat.

I started building rods this past winter down in Arizona...You know, something to do when it was too hot to go fishing. Anyway I was shocked to find that the COST of the rod parts could easily double when you started adding bits of "eye-candy" that only glamorized the basic rod. Needless to say my rods feature basic black with a strand of pearls...

This is a good test for knot strength with dry line, but what if the line gets wet???

The guy next door and his daughter got 30 on Saturday between when it stopped raining and when the sun came out. I tried the same spot today. The water was flat, but it was overcast... I could only find Sunfish and 4 OOS Bass.