Garry2Rs

I love bucktails, but if I was buying one lure it would be a Walleye pattern weighted Sledge. It's a Jerk Bait and only works right if you start and end with slack line, but it is deadly!

As you probably know most Crankbait rods have extra Fiberglass in the blank to soften up the action. With jerkbaits you want to start and end with slack in the line. A stiffer rod is helpful in getting a short hard jerk. Some guys use ML, M and MH casting rods for different weight spinnerbaits. The light rod is for 1/4 ounce baits and the heavy for 3/4 ounce baits. Some guys want two or three Jig and Pig rods, depending on the size of the trailer and the weight of the bait. I bought a special rod to fish Flukes. Regular spinning rods were too stiff in the tip. If my Fluke hung on a lily-pad etc, when I twitched it off, the bait would fly out of the strike zone. I cured the problem with a ML rod with a soft action, now my Fluke climbs over obstructions instead of taking flight. Some of this is just toy collecting, because we all secretly know that the one with the most toys, when he dies, wins!

Dear Moosebunk and friends; I asked you to please, not take my comments personally. I don't dispute your right to take fish legally. The laws may be stupid, but no one can not fix stupid. My first problem is with the concept that limits are set with the best interest of the resource in mind. Next, I dispute the idea that the fish are free and just there to be taken... Those fish are the future. If you can not see the truth in that, forget it! There is no future! About limits... In the Kawarthas we have had a number of low recruitment years for Walleye... I honestly feel that the Walleye fishery should have been closed, to allow it to regenerate. But what has happened? The limits have not even been reduced!!! WHY? Because lower limits are bad for business! Businesses in this area have a 14 to 16 week window in which to make a living. So my friends, we will screw the resource to keep the dollars flowing. Yes, this is short sighted, because the tourist who didn't catch fish isn't coming back, but as I said you can't fix stupid! Could we agree that this is total bull-poop and a sell-out of the resource? But, that's the way the game is played. North of #17 is a totally different story. I don't know what your situation is... I think only Dan, Joey and TJ actually live up there year round and I think they fish with dynamite. Down here in Cottage Country we are within two hours of The Big Smoke...Toronto. We have a tournament or two and perhaps two hundred white bucket shore fishermen every weekend. People are casually killing fish that it took us 10 or 12 years to grow. Every big fish you remove makes space for a bunch of small fish...If you keep doing this we might be a panfish fishery in a few years!!! Look at Europe and England, people fish for trash fish and minnows... Why? Because there ancestors killed all the game fish. You can do the same for your children if you choose. I DON'T CARE!!! I am old and in a few years I will be dead and gone. You will have to explain your part in the extinction of game fish to your Grandchildren...Good Luck!

The forecast is for light rain and 25K winds...Make sure your loved ones are wearing PFD's!!! I will have clients on Lower Buckhorn, and I won't let then eat the future of fishing...HAHAHA

As Lawyers say..."Without prejudice." I respect that those of you on the Moosebunk train aren't breaking the law and are completely within your rights. I once rode that train myself. I am not criticizing Moosebunk or any of you personally, and I resepct everyone's rite to continue doing what they want, within the law, until they find a better way. However, in my opinion, you are like spoiled children, who have so much that you don't respect what you have! I spend six months of the year in the Southwestern desert. In Yuma AZ. where I stay, they have about as much fishing water as there is in Hamilton Harbour, it's about the same colour too...grin...The city has a full-time population of 77,500 but that doubles during the winter. The fish down there are seen as a precious commodity that have to be nurtured and protected. Fishermen take ownership of these fish and work to protect them. If these terms are strange to you, what I mean is they consider these fish to be something that belongs to their community. If these few hundred fish are lost, there will be no more fishing and the whole community suffers. When I say work, I don't mean they attend a few meetings to talk loudly about what the government should be doing for them. They volunteer their time and their boats to attend Bass tournaments, that they are not involved with, to transport the fish from the weigh-in back out to various parts of the lake. We here in Ontario are blessed with an abundance of fish and water. Unfortunately this also creates a disassociation between us, as fishermen and the basic resource that is essential to fishing...Namely the fish! Those who subscribe to the Moosebunk theory must see these fish as so many wild flowers, that belong to no one, to be picked, or trampled with little or no regard. Why would you Care? The fish are simply There! They can be taken freely, as long as you don't exceed arbitrary limits, on how many, and when, set by organizations more concerned with the continued flow of tourist dollars than the true health of the resource. If this seems harsh, or you feel offended, I'm sorry. I offer in condolence two quotes for you to consider...Shakespeare said "To thine own self be true." And I believe it was Socrates that said 'If your not part of the solution your part of the problem." Unlike hunting, where without the kill you only have wildlife harassment, with fishing you have the option to release the prey. Now is the time for a gut check. You have a choice. The benefit is obvious! You can catch a fish many times...you can only kill it once. Here ends the sermon...wink.

Isn't it time to recognize that these fish are worth more in the water than on the plate? There is no economic sanity in our fishing. We will always spend much more on tackle and transportation than the cost of a few pounds of fillets. Therefore, like golf and billiards this is just a recreation... You don't have to gut the golf cart or the caddy, to show your prowess as a golfer, why do you insist on killing the future of fishing to prove you're a great fisher person? Every fish you remove from the system reduces everyone's chances of success next week. Look at the math...If there were 1500 guys from this board out fishing every weekend, and we only take a couple of "Keepers" on our two day trip, at the end of the season there will be 78,000 fewer fish in our waters. Those are our fish! the ones we could have caught next year, the ones our kids could have caught... Now think about this, if there are an average of only 10,000 guys fishing this weekend, that's 20, 000 less fish on Monday, and 520,000 less fish by the end of the season...and none of these guys took a limit! Next time you belly up the feast of wormy fresh fish you brought home, think about this... You are eating your children's chance to enjoy something beyond Carp fishing.

I throw Bucktails and spinnerbaits with a 1/2 to 2 1/2 ounce 7'2" StCroix and fish Jerkbaits /Gliders with a stiffer 6'3" or 7 foot rod. I have 8 foot and 9 foot Steelhead casting rods. They are great for fishing from a pier or from shore but are too long for boat fishing. I think you will find that 8 ft Musky rods are heavy, and tiring to use. The tip will hit the water every time your bait gets close to the boat and they will make netting awkward. At the end of the day, any gain in casting distance will be of little or no real value. These opinions are based on fishing Kawartha size lakes from 16' to 18.5' boats, and casting 8" bucktails, one ounce spinnerbaits and 10" Sledge type baits... BUT, these are just my opinions.

Longer rods will cast a little farther...but...they aren't as accurate. If an extra foot of length equals an extra three feet of distance it also can mean you are an extra three feet farther from the target. To look at it a different way, say that with a six foot rod you can reach a target but you're average cast will miss the bull's eye by about a foot. A seven foot rod will multiply your error by three. Sometimes they are easier to figure-eight with. The latest fashion trend is toward longer rods. Twenty years ago a six-six was a long rod. Longer rods are more dangerous to others in a boat. Two or three feet of leader, 8 to10 inches of bait, eight feet of rod and three feet of arm means everyone in a twenty foot boat needs to be aware of the guy swinging the weapon. I had a client, using a 7' 3" rod, take a rod out of my hand last year. He was on the rear deck, while I was stand at the trolling motor of a boat over 18 feet long! In a careless moment he tried to send a long cast to a distant target directly behind the boat. His Sledge crossed in front of my face, and the hooks snagged my rod, and breaking it in two. That was his last trip with me!

If you are doing business with Rick Keith from Quincy Michigan, he makes very nice rods. He has done work for me in the past and it was always better than I had imagined.

If you are doing business with Rick Keith from Quincy Michigan, he makes very nice rods. He has done work for me in the past and it was always better than I had imagined.

Take a look at the Horse Power and Load ratings. In general, the higher they are the stronger and more seaworthy the boat. Check the actual widths and depth. In general the longest, deepest, widest boat will be the most stable. The Lund is 14'6" The Legend is 14'3" The Ultracraft is 14'1" Lund has a good reputation, that might mean a higher resale price when you're ready to move up. I haven't looked at small boats in a long time, but Legend's used to be roughly finished...lots of sloppy grinding on the cast corners etc. That might be okay if you are getting a better price, but in this case it's the most costly... I like the corner seats in the Ultracraft, it makes sense to make the rear seat sideways in a tiller boat. Some more opinions on small boats in general... Used is good, also "non-current" year boats are cheaper than this years models. Boats with flat floors are nicer to fish out of. Bench seats are the work of the Devil. They are designed to be uncomfortable and they are too low to allow adults to stand up easily...pedestals are much better. There won't be much room to negotiation price wise, so you might be better off to accept their price, but ask them to throw in things like a safety kit, anchor and rope, PFD's etc. that you will have to buy anyway. Good Luck.

The water has been, and continues to be, very high on the east side of the Kawartha's. This probably has held the weeds back, and as Beans observed, coupled with the cooler weather, the Crappie fishing wasn't as good as say last year. But, unless you were hoping to fill the freezer, it was still okay. A couple of my honey holes were only hot on the second weekend of the season. Since then we have been finding singles instead of schools. On the other hand there have been tons of large Sunfish! I have Pike in a near-by lake and the fishing has been quite good, using Husky Jerks etc. My Musky friends, who are warming up their two-by-four lures and pool-cue rods, on my Pike, wink are saying they aren't getting as many real big ones this year. However, I am catching lots of fat mid-thirties fish on my light tackle...grin. Weed growth has really turned on in the last week or so and the water temperatures are finally in the 60's. I have seen lots of cruising Musky and caught a few small Bass, while looking for Crappie, and a few large ones while jerking for Pike, so I think things will be very good when those seasons open.

Tooth paste is basically baking soda in an easy to use format. A stronger cleaning product is called something like Dentu-Cream. It's a tooth paste for false teeth, and since it's used outside the mouth, it can have much stronger stain removers and coarser polishing ingredients. I have used it to clean-up rusty looking lures and it works quite well. By-the-way, don't trust rusty hooks, even when they seem to clean-up okay. It doesn't take much rust to severely weaken old hooks.

Shimano Canada Ltd. 427 Pido Road Peterborough 705-745-3232 The strip mall location has been gone for a year or two. Since they moved to the new building, everything is handled out of the one spot. Bud Benwell is still the man to see.

Did you-guys "catch and keep"...maybe you ate them all last year...grin.

Good old Vu...he was never really mine. He was my daughter's and I don't miss him a bit...HAHAHA. Here's a group shot...Vu is the white ball of fluff on the left...grin. My daughter gave him away when I didn't want to take him to Arizona... I have low fences down there and it would have been impossible to keep him from wandering.

Buck has been fishing with me for a long time. In the beginning he wanted to retrieve every cast and would obsess about bobbers floating on the water. He is calmer now and only goes into the red zone when a fish jumps or breachs (swirls the surface). If a fish flips off the hook into the boat, he will try to catch it, but not to eat it. Lacking fingers he is forced to pick things up with his mouth, and that's what he will do...He quickly loses interest if it stops moving. You can see in this three-shot-sequence that he isn't really the whirling dervish that was described...just a curious on-looker...like a guy at a Peeler Bar, he just likes to see them wiggle...grin.

Buck is fine. With such a hairy dog it was hard to tell if the hooks had skin or just fur, so I cut them to be on the safe side.

As usual for the Pike Opener I was expecting a house full of fishing friends. Guys like Todd, Jerry, Kirk and Andy, that long time OFC'rs would know. We rolled out at 6AM Saturday after a night of partying, and had a big breakfast to hold us over until suppertime. The morning drizzle turned into a heavy down pour by the time breakfast was over. My friends left in shifts for the Lake, but I hung back waiting to see if my neighbour wanted to take his 9 year old out and go fishing with me...In the end the thunder scared them off, so it was Buck the dog, and I in the boat for opening day. We launched late, at around 10 O'clock... It was very dramatic, with a torrential down pour overhead and lightning in the background. This however was nearly the last of the truly heavy rain. I worked my way around the bay I was in to a small point and hooked a good fish of about 30 inches??? The fish fought well but eventually came to the boat...Buck, my big Golden Retriever, ever concerned that I am too old and feeble to land fish by myself, launched himself overboard to assist me. In the ensuing battle, the fish was unhooked and the dog hooked up...The next act involved landing a wet 100 pound dog, with a large crankbait in his armpit, and removing the treble hooks...thank goodness for Knipex hook cutting pliers! I switched rods and threw a few casts with a Spinnerbait before crossing the bay and tangling with an OOS Largemouth under a blow down. We then exited the bay and chugged out into the main lake. We had been using a Kopper Perch Live Target crankbait, but with the hooks now pruned to a nub, we switched to a Bronze Live Target Smelt, which we fished as a jerk bait. Working the shoreline and any weed beds or small points etc. we caught four more pike before cutting the bait off and losing it on a shoal. We decided at that point to call it a day and head home. Sunday was cool, bright and windy...no, let's make that COLD, bright and WINDY...grin. In the open water there were white caps on the white caps! Buck and I went to another bay and tried to fish in sheltered areas. Overnight, we had repaired the Perch bait with new hooks, but had no luck with it. Since we had lost the Smelt, when we decided it was time to change baits, we went with a Gold Rapala Husky Jerk. Within a couple of casts of changing baits, we hooked up with a nice OOS Smallmouth, then we hooked a pike that came straight up out of the water and shook it's head, throwing the hook. I cast back to the same area on the off-chance that there might be another fish, or that number one might hit again...Sure enough, we hooked up and landed a fat 30 incher. This one was netted without incident...Buck was dozing and being a Bass dog at heart, didn't understand the significance of the net...grin. Once the fish was on board, Buck was very interested in the net...even after the fish was released he watched it's ever move. When, a few minutes later, I reached for the net again, he was on double alert! This fish was about a four pound LMBass and Buck went into the water when it jumped...He had a quick refreshing swim while I netted and released the OOS fish. With Buck back on board we worked our way back into the main lake. Behind a point, near a shoal, we hooked a 32 inch Pike. This time Buck waited for the fish to slide into the net, then he tried to join it...I anticipated this move and smoothly pulled the net aside, much like a Bull Fighter moving his red cape at the last second...as my helper dove for it...Ole! Once that one was measured and released, I hauled Buck back on board. Some friends were camping on an island and we had promised to stop by for a pop, so we put the gear away and went visiting for the rest of the afternoon. Half my guests left after supper Sunday, the others left early Monday morning. I opted to go Crappie fishing on Monday because I will be out with a client for Pike on Tuesday, and I needed a break...grin. To sum up the weekend...My friends all caught bigger fish than me... But, I caught the most fish, and hooked and landed the biggest dog! We had fun and it was great to see my fishing friends again...all-in-all it was a great Opener in spite of the weather. Garry

My Ranger has two large built-in tanks. On Saturday I fished all day and ran one dry. I intended to refuel before going out on Monday, but was short of time and figured that with a full tank in reserve I could go water skiing for the day and not run short... I guess that when you troll with a 150 Horse V6 you burn a LOT of fuel, because as John stated, I ran dry...I won't make that mistake again! However the trolling was a bust, and casting was paying off for other boats and besides, it gave me a chance to fish too...hahaha

Sheepshead/Freshwater Drum have white flesh with a mild flavour. The fillets have almost no oil in them so it is very easy to over cook the meat. When over cooked they dry out and are like cardboard. I can understand the boiling recipe, because it would prevent them from drying out.

Wednesday was a beautiful warm, sunny day, but the wind at the lake was semi-hurricane force. After school, the neighbour, his 9 year old and I fished from shore for a couple of hours before Supper. We were at the Viamede/Mt. Julian public boat launch on Stoney Lake. It was tough casting into the wind, but we managed to catch seven or eight Crappie and a bunch of big Sunfish.

I got my Daddy-do list finished last week. Therefore I will be Pike fishing with Friends and Clients all weekend and most of next week. Wish you were here...GRIN.

If you leave the batteries hooked up in series they will recharge together from one charger. This will be slower and the weaker battery might not get a full charge It would be less convenient, but I think recharging them individually would be best, but I'm not 100% sure. Don't over look a three bank charger if there are accessories running off the cranking battery. My three bank came with one set of wires labeled for the cranking battery

Yes this will work. If you connect red to red and black to black, you have made a bigger 12 volt battery.