Garry2Rs

I have to tell the truth...HTHM is here and he did it! HAHAHA.

It's true that fluorocarbon wants to sink, but with the size of Musky top waters, I think Lew has the right formula. A foot or less of heavy fluoro isn't going to sink a Sledge. I also like 80 pound braid for casting. I have used PP and Tuf-Line up to 135 pounds, but feel that it's over kill. Eighty pound won't break if you throw a tangle with a heavy bait, so it's strong enough for me. The bonus is that it casts better than the heavier stuff. For trolling, it's up to you. If you have a dedicated rod/reel and want to run extra heavy line for trolling, go for it!

Waterford ponds for Crappie.

Okay, that clears things up for me. Thanks for the update.

I might have this wrong, but I thought you couldn't continue to target a species in hopes of upgrading a legal limit. That's why bass tournaments set their limit at one under the legal limit.

Back about year 2000 I stumbled upon a strange group of fishing fanatics on this board. For the next couple of years I was an total inmate. OFC was my home page and it was open 24/7. Over time I became one of the core group, first asking, then answering all the (same old) questions...wink. At some point I became bored and drifted away to help a friend with his new musky board. When I wandered back, the cast of characters had changed. Many of my old friends were gone or had become inactive. However what was the same was that the core group were friends, even if they had never met. They exchanged ideas, advise and stories and exchanged the events of their lives. Since then the core has turned over several times. What stays the same is that this is a true community. It is also the fastest moving fishing board I have ever found. On other boards, questions hang on the front page with little or no in-put, or worse a bunch of X2 posts. On OFC, your post will be on page three by sundown if no one is interested...HAHAHA. We are lucky to have OFC and lucky to be a part of this lively on-going forum.

This is an interesting new knot that is well thought out. The knot is designed so that it doesn't cut itself. You might like to give it a try.

Last night I forwarded a link from this thread to John's wife. This morning I received this reply. I thought that you-guys might like to share it too. Garry2R's Garry Thank you so much for sharing this with me ... I'll pass it on to our son Matt too. I never quite understood the whole OFC thing except that I know John truly treasured the friendships he made and enjoyed the sharing of great 'fish' stories and solving all the 'world's problems' big or small. We know John touched the lives of many many people over the years and will remain in their hearts and thoughts for years to come. Thanks again Garry. Think of John often when you're out on the lake searching for that perfect catch! Wendy

I suspect that Round-up is the way to go.

To all John's fishing friends: It is with deepest sorrow that I inform you that your friend John Francis passed away on Saturday April 16th following a short battle with cancer. Info re: JohnF.

Nice work! Good luck with the fish.

The info on lakes in my area is okay, but as others have observed, in many cases it's way out of date. I've been in the North Kawarthas for 10 years now, and there were well established populations of Pike and Crappie in several local lakes when I arrived. These fish don't appear on the species list, so the data is obviously quite old. On the other hand, it's a start and I for one am glad to see it. Garry2R's

Ouch! personally, I wouldn't tackle a full tear down like that! If you need to open-up the gear box, I think it's time to take that puppy back to Shimano.

Unless you have dunked the reel you should only need a drop of oil on each of the three bearings on the spool shaft. There is one bearing on each side of the spool and another under the tension knob that is under the crank handle. If you have some lighter fluid you can wash the bearings out first and de-grease the centrifugal brake drum. If you don't have any don't worry, just oil the bearings.

Buck and I are back in Apsley after a winter of tanning and washing lures...in other words generally poor fishing. We are looking forward to seeing our fishing friends very soon. There are some holes in the ice, has anyone tried for Crappie yet?

Now there's an excellent idea, I will make up some test units when I get home... Grinning like the Mad Scientist...Yahahaha.

Six months ago, when I was leaving Ontario, I made a post re:P-line's new glue for attaching lines together without knots. According to the liturature, it has other applications. For instance, a drop-shot rig can be constructed or a dropper hook attached to the running line, using beads above and below the hook and the special tubing as a stopper at either end Neat snell's can also be made using glue instead of knots... It took until the Spring for Tackle Warehouse to get this stuff in stock. Basically this is a Krazy Glue type of product, made especially for fishing line. The kits comes with a handful of soft plastic tubes with different inside diameters. For mono to mono, mono to fluoro or fluoro to fluoro joints, you slide a one inch piece of a tube of the nearest diameter onto the lines, wrap the lines around each other a couple of times, apply a drop or two of glue at the overlaps and quickly slide the tubing over the splice. The glue sets up very quickly, but there is ample time if you work smoothly. Again, according to the literature, this joint is stronger than the original lines! Mono or Fluoro to Braid is done in a similar fashion, but the lines are looped, so that you twist and glue braid to braid and the leader material to itself, then cover it with the tubing as before. My main interest was to see if I could glue leaders into hollow core braid. If this works, it would eliminate the need for a nail knot or serving (winding) on top of the joint. This union doesn't really need to be super strong, it just protects the end of the braid from fraying and the leader from slipping when the hollow core is slack. I have made up two glued joints to test, but so far I have not caught anything big enough on really stress them. Pike will be open in my area on May 21st...I will let you know how these glued joints hold up. Garry2R's

I'm sure that you know that if you want to save something, you can high-light it by holding the left mouse button down as you scroll over it. Then Copy be pressing Ctrl and "C" at the same time. Now you can e-mail it to yourself, or put it into word pad etc. To Paste it into the form press Ctrl "V"

You have mail...

I liked the song...

Yes this bait stays on top most of the time. It has a diving lip and can be tugged under, but it's nature is to lay on it's side on the surface. Without wanting to split hairs too finely, or derail the thread, I feel that most body baits qualify as crankbaits. This is because you don't float them in the surface film like a fly or dead stick them like a worm...They generally only start to "work" when you're reeling. To me Topwater would only be a subdivision. Other subgroups would be Lipless, Deep-diver, Swimbait, Glide bait, Jerkbait, Stickbait and Wake bait etc. Garry2R's

I am still in the USA. Next Friday I will load Buck and the truck and head for the Kawarthas. Buck... When ordering from the US it's a good idea to ask that your goods be sent via the US Postal Service. Slower but cheaper. If you have a friend, like me, who winters in the States, they might let you send your lures to them...After a few months away we are allowed to bring back $700.00 tax free. On my pension I never even get close to that number...grin. Garry2rs

Mine arrived. I will be replacing the stock hooks.

We seldom had this problem when the province had a Spring Bear hunt. But don't worry the politicians will phone Bambi to come and take his friends home!