manitoubass2

bummer dude, sorry to hear about the health issues and the sled. Much appreciated though that your out there pre fishing for me and my pops, lol, good on ya! That is a nice eye you landed here too, pretty colors! I'll chat with ya tomorrow. I got a sitter lined up and it sounds like were heading out tuesday around 5. If ya can't make it ya can't make it, but I certainly hope you get to visit, even if just for abit Prost my friend

Love the prerequisite sink shot!!! Beauty fish RC, nice going .

Thats good to hear! When I was younger I worked there temp. for a new store build. Got in good with the owner/manager and the main corperate guy sent in to take charge of the build. We had a great crew, a few of my good friends were on too. Had alot of fun treating the customers really well. Made for happy days and some good stories. Makes me wonder where the service is at these days? I thoroughly enjoyed treating customers as good as possible.

If I was to fish there I would have serious issues leaving . I'll never understand how you left?

oh man, very pretty fish! So jealous right now!

I knew I was missing something, stupid american, lol.(no offence meant to any americans here)

3-0 now, and whats with the NHL tonight??? Everygame I turn to there is a goal per minute it seems...

Another thing to consider when discussing the homeless/addictions aspect of things, there is always a story to each case. Some people are addicts before becoming homeless, for some that may in fact what caused their plummet, many I'm sure become addicts after the fact as a coping mechanism, and so on and so forth. This is where the whole categorical stereotype kind of irks me. Just keep an open mind here for a sec... Everyone has their vices, EVERYONE! Human behavior has alot to do with our neuro anotomy and our chemical makeup. Everything you do in a day is strongly correlated with how your chemical makeup reacts to the things you are doing, the risk/reward. Alcoholics may experience the same thing neurologically with drinking that another experiences while smoking a cigarette, or having a cup of coffee for that matter. It's all intertwined, you just normally don't realize it... Now, imagine yourself homeless and on the streets of Toronto. Frustrated because you can't find a job, have no money or place to sleep and your hungry. It all sounds overwhelming, because it is, but thats not the point here. The point is, what is now your risk/reward, and stimulus for your neurotransmitters???? There really aren't any, are there? This is in large part, why I think the homeless are far more susceptible to addictions and or mental issues (their creating their risk/reward). Whether anyone wants to admit it, we live to be stimulated. What happens when that is taken away???

So far we've had a few OFC members chime in that were either homeless or in a similar situation. A very good testament to bad things happening to good people, or, OFC is full of crack heads, get a job people!??? Kinda sad to see some of these ignorant posts, kinda uplifting to see some educated input and discussion by others. Some people really need to challenge their own ignorance in order to improve who they are. Enough people do that, and maybe we'll start seeing some improvements in our incredibly sick society.

I've used them in moderate current and it is tough to keep it on the bottom. I tried using split shots to return it to bottom faster, but had a tough bite using that approach (assuming it messed with the action unfavorably). They work pretty good in the eddies though. Also, I found leaving the bail open and letting the bait travel worked ok too

Thanks Onthefly and mercman, much appreciated. That awesome work your sister did there skipper (sorry for the loss as well). Many more people need to help in similar fashion IMO. For the record, I don't fault wsb for his comments. Sometimes it's outta context, or ignorance, moreso than just flat out inhumanity. Lots of homeless people just fall victim to bad circumstances beyond their control. And once your outta your house, it's really tough to recover. There is a serious lack of help to regain your life. It's almost impossible to retain your job, or find a job. and if you do, it's still a real struggle to continue that job when your half starved, stressed out, emotional, looking after your kids, wondering where to stay etc. All the while people are looking down on you, and insisting drugs or alcohol is what got you where you are. Just imagine the mental strain? I would imagine it wouldn't take long for ones mental stability to deteriorate. I like to have a few drinks myself, when I think I'm stressed out, I gotta imagine it's sounds even better for a homeless person? A few hours away from the stress. Then in turn, that too may deteriorate your mental ability. Anyhow, I just feel extreme compassion for my fellow man, and the hard times that can fall on any one of us. Imagine if we responded the same way to fellow OFC members who have been diagnosed with cancer??? Let's just all help each other out, everyone deserves a good life or the help needed to achieve that...

Go spend a few days offering up some of your free time to help these homeless people and find out. You'd probably be surprised at how many good people are homeless. And alot of homeless people fall into a trap of drugs/booze that contributes to mental issues, or vise versa. I personally don't blame them for abusing to numb the pain. Have you ever experienced rejection on that level, the hopelessness, the ridicule etc? Humans will take some pretty drastic measures when in that type of enviroment

I use scents from time to time, but strongly prefer water based versions like Berkleys. I never use them right off the bat though, only when I'm having a hard time getting fish to bite. Then, it does help (at least IMO). I also tend to use them after water fluctuations leave the water with little to no visibility. As for the WD40 thing, I always have a chuckle when it comes up. It seems most anglers believe the fish oil base myth. I've never tried using it to attract fish though, so no comment on how/why it would work. Back to the scents debate. I think, anything that disperses either fats or amino acids, present or similar to present counterparts available in the fishes diet, would attract them. I have no idea if this is accurate or not, but one would think that much like humans, this is what contributes to the urge to feed. The chemical cascade of hormones etc would in theory help getting the fish to eat, or at least come in to inspect a bait presented to them. Think of it like this, we know(instinctively) from birth, what food is. We dont pick up a plastic chicken leg when we are hungry, right? Well, even as a baby, we can can find that bottle of milk, and I think in large part it's hormonal. I tend to think that fish are affected in a similar manner, although obvisously to a lesser degree.

yeppers, lol, at least one of them . Photo of a photo is always a good "theme" too That just a beautiful, crisp photo of a great fish!!!

Alot of nice fish!!!! Only PB I broke this year was pike, and couldn't get a pic, but the memories will last along time, I hope, lol. Joey, that pb musky of yours is one heck of a beautiful picture!

Now it's time to go hammer some walleyes!

Very, very true. I'm on Rainy and I can speak from experience that all rules of the lake/ice are out the window. Especially near heavy current/rapids. My vouche to take it easy on Rainy this year was in due to some close calls last year. We had very experienced people all pulling the shacks off near the same time and all of us had some close calls. The river does some crazy things. Of course the current plays a part, but alot of people underlook the raising/lowering water fluctuations. 34" in one spot, 3" in the next. Very unpredictable. Always drill your way to the spot! (on a river anyhow) ***This post is made under the influence. It made sense to me at the time. Please be safe on the ice!!!***

lol, we got a few of those combos as well, assuming that rod is the Fenwicks they are selling??? All my tackle is ready for the ice. I seen someone drilling holes out there yesterday, so of course I had to go punch a few holes and check it out. Turns out there is a good 6 inches!!!

I hope not. I can come up on the 29th if your game, let me know

Very happy for you!!! Merry Christmas bigugli and family!!!

Has anyone tested any of the mounts in deeper (10-12ft) water with heavy current? I cannot wait to get my gopro camera, gonna be a lot of fun for ice fishing and next softwater season

I bought my girlfriend a sewing machine. This thread has made me think about returning it

basically a short term for a really, really old school beer mug. noggin is the full name I think?

On Rainy river, we had one heck of a weird year. All ice season was good. But when the upstream rivers let go, we had darn near flood waters for the first time ever. Went from 7ft average to over 21ft average. Took all of spring and a bit of summer for the water to stabilize, and the fishing was just strange. I had to figure out new spots, new patterns etc, lots of fishing water with zero visibility, it was kinda a nightmare. Then towards the end of summer, everything dropped, down to a 2ft average, and went gin clear. It's still around 3ft average now. If we don't get snow, I'm not gonna like next season very much (if there even is a season).

I'm enjoying the weather, but..... I do want to go ice fishing, and I'm very concerned about the water levels on rainy if this keeps up. We already have very low water levels....