Ron

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Brammer+Drive,+Orillia,+Ontario&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=51.177128,114.169922&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Brammer+Dr,+Orillia,+Simcoe+County,+Ontario,+Canada&z=16

I don't understand why you would have a point like that Greg. The ice fishing harvest, although I have not seen the numbers yet. I would be surprised there were more than 500 Sunfish in total harvested. 500 Sunfish being the number all anglers in total harvested through the ice on Rice Lake. Personally I did not harvest one Sunfish, however I did harvest 75 Perch in total. 50 of those Perch were used to prove a point. Too bad the RLTA doesn't look at this in a positive way to promote icefishing. The size of Perch we were catching are very comparable to the size we catch on Lake Simcoe. Speaking with the local CO who frequented Rice Lake often, said there were not many people who harvested fish. On a good note, he only laid one charge in relation to keeping fish out of season. Fortunately for the person who got charged, the fish swam away. The OPP laid several charges for drinking but that is still lower than the amount of drinking related charges in the Summer months. I for one am not targeting Sunfish through the ice, they are not as agressive during the winter months. I did however find an area where they are holding but the size of them are way too small - 15cm (6 inches) was the biggest one I caught. I mostly target Crappies in the winter months and use to travel many kms (miles) to pursue them. Doing over night trips and weekend trips North of Orillia was not uncommon for me last year. Now I can do this in my back yard. Once people find the Crappies on Rice Lake, that will be the main targeted species through the ice. *Edit* Furthermore, With all of the Kawartha Lakes being open, the fishing pressure laxed off on other lakes like Scugog. It was also noted that the fishing pressure slowed down on the Haliburtan Lakes for the Lake Trout as well. The anglers did not all just go to Rice Lake to ice fish, they spread out on all of the Kawartha lakes. Rice Lake for an example only received perhaps 250 - 500 anglers at most. There was only 1 area which was concentrated with anglers - Bewdley. (easy access and BJ Tackle had hut rentals). All the other areas that I visited may have had 2 or 3 huts here and there. Gores Landing for an example, had 5 huts at one point. Without giving away the areas I fished, in total I had 8 huts in the same areas I was fishing. The 3 most heavily fished Lakes on the Kawarthas this winter were Chemung, Sturgeon and Big Bald. The best part of ice fishing was seeing all the kids out there having fun with their friends and families. That to me is much better than having the kids couped up indoors playing Nintendo, watching TV. Cheers, Ron...

Good one Wayne, I like it!

Who says we don't eat pan fish? I guess I am eating garbage when I have a feed of Bluegill, Perch or even Crappie. She "Thinks too much" How many times does she say "I think"? Now this is a great way to make changes to regulations and zones!

The larger landing nets that people use for Rainbows fishing off the piers and high river banks. The hoop nets are roughly 30 - 36 opening.

How many members here are OFAH members as well? If you are a member, send them an email and ask them what they are doing in regards to the RLTA proposals.

Hope you enjoyed your day Norm!

We have got to stop this nonsense! http://www.northumberlandnews.com/news/northumberlandcountynews/article/150667 I can't believe the County of Northumberland can make a decision without consulting no one other than the Rice Lake Tourist Ass. If they want to designate Rice Lake to have separate regulations, fine. I guess they are saying "ta Hell with the Associations in the Kawartha Lakes" So what happens to Bridgenorth tourists who find out that there is a limit on all Lakes except Rice Lake? Where do you think these tourists will book then? Ok, lets say they go ahead with the 500 limit. I guess with Rice Lake being so fertile, perhaps they should make an exception to the walleye as well. Lets take the limit back to 6 with no size limit. Now lets not forget to decrease the size limit for Muskie back to 36 inches too. Hey, this lake is so fertile, lets have year round fishing for all species! Even better, lets allow netting too! Now back to reality... A limit of 300 pan fish, check the rest of the Province, check the rest of North America. Where is the limit any higher than 300? Yes Ice fishing is open now. Did you see anyone who harvested 300 pan fish? Yes I harvested 50 Perch in one day, far from being ethical in my opinion (yes I admit, MY OPINION). Why did I harvest that many? To prove a point. Did they go to waste? Well if you consider pan frying them in butter and feed a family of 6 (my wife, 2 daughters and their boyfriends plus myself) for 4 meals. Easy to clean by the way, I think I am going to do this from now on. This one cracks me up too! http://www.northumberlandnews.com/article/150845

Well it seems like that time of year again. The Cobourg Fish Lift will be taking place on Saturday April 3rd. This is a the tentative date. Same as last year, sign in sheet with the MNR, bring your waders and nets. This is a great opportunity for everyone to hone up on their poaching skills. We are anticipating to lift 200 (100 male, 100 female) Rainbow trout up and over the dam. Start up time is generally 8:30 AM. Location - same as last year - Map (The Mill Restaurant, Cobourg) Park in the restaurant parking lot. Hope to see everyone there. Cheers, Ron...

To support this great family of ours I say go ahead with the ad bots in the threads. If it would be possible to set it to be at the bottom of each thread, all the better. How many members??? So if you were to charge a few $$$ each.... Still would be one of my cheapest memberships I would buy in the fishing world. The best part of it is, this probably has more information on this site than any other membership or club I belong to! Not only fishing related, I think that is why I enjoy it so much though. Hey just a thought, how about setting up a paypal account where guys could voluntarily donate money to keep this site running. Just a thought.... Cheers, Ron...

I would never never ever agree with Gerritt, he's liable to "Tea Bag" you. Depends on what voice the Mayor is listening to at the time....

Things might look bad at the moment but I bet the water levels will still come up by the season opener. *Note to self* - go to Sturgeon Falls and find the rock that is 85% exposed for a great walleye spot.

Looking forward to see the whole shootin match together.

Seems as though I have missed out on yet another great seminar given by Mr. Mercer. You have definitely stepped on the highest of my ranks Dave. Looking forward to being out in your boat in June. Hey if ya want for old times sake, I'll even take ya out for a burn once in a while. Do you think it would handle a trip or 2 to the Great North? Now I'm talking North of Nippissing here not North of the Kawarthas.

Now that right there is funny!

I'm the same way, all my plastic stays in their original packages or get transferred to zip locks.

Hopeyou have a great day there Wayne.

Keep it up guys! No complaints on this end. Well not until another month or 2! Just like anything, everything has it's quirks, surely the geeky guys with glasses will get them all hammered down. Cheers, Ron...

Unfortunately, I think this thread is going to come to an end. Too bad, I thought it was going rather well. Mike if you have accusations against me, please bring them forward. I would love to see your evidence. Be careful though, slander is an indictable offence. Your efforts on making people think I am a poacher, over harvesting, spoilage of game fish and cheating for a profit in a derby does not reflect very well with my peers. To Rice Lake Tourist Association, From what I gather and summed up on this thread is this, and I feel other members in this angling community would agree: The Rice Lake Tourist Association is against the extended angling opportunities. The Rice Lake Tourist Association is against the catch limit of 300 panfish of which 30 may be larger than 18cm (7.1) and feel that a 500 limit of which 0 (zero) may be greater than 18cm (7.1) would be better. Your representatives are accusing all local anglers for contributing 0(zero) dollars into the local economy, you are accusing anyone who is fishing on the ice are poachers. With the regulations you are proposing you are going to make every "new to fishing" fisher person, a poacher. Think back to when you were a kid, what was the first fish you caught? Chances are, if you are with the majority of people, it was a Sunfish. For your information, when I referred to catch limits, I was not misleading anyone. The following text is copied out of the fishing regulations: Catch and Possession Limits – The catch limit is the number of fish you are allowed to catch and keep in one day and includes fish that are retained for any period of time and any fish eaten or given away. The possession limit is the number you are allowed to have in your possession on hand, in cold storage, in transit, or anywhere. Possession limits are the same as one day's catch limit except where otherwise specified.

Tigers are regarded as a Muskie in the fishing regulations.

Nice seeing you back Carole! Hope you are felling better. Cheers, Ron...

Bunt...

Actually, it doesn't take long to find names of resorts and about people on the internet. I googled Susan Irving-Cogar and this is what I got: Rice Lake ice fishing problems feared Brendan Wedley, Peterborough Examiner January 21st, 2010 Allowing ice fishing on Rice Lake and limiting the number of panfish caught from the lake will cause problems, a local tourist association representative says. Susan Irving-Cogar, the owner of Sunshine Cove Cottage Resort and a Rice Lake Tourist Association member, urged county council Wednesday to complain about the new fishing regulations to the provincial government. Council plans to raise the issue with newly appointed Natural Resources Minister Linda Jeffrey at the Rural Ontario Municipal Association conference that runs from Feb. 21-24 in Toronto. A panel put in place three years before the regulation changes to research the fishing situation and make recommendations found there should be a 500-panfish limit, Irving-Cogar said. “Overbreeding of this invasive species is something that will happen,” she said, “Overbreeding is a serious concern.” Previously, there wasn’t a limit on the number of panfish a person could catch, Irving-Cogar said. A panfish is a small fish that generally can fit in a frying pan. Examples of species of panfish include sunfish, crappie and perch. With the new regulations, the limits are 300 sunfish with only 30 more than 18 centimetres long with a sport licence or 15 sunfish of any size with a conservation licence; 30 crappie with a sport licence or 10 with a conservation licence; 50 perch with a sport licence or 25 with a conservation licence. The Ministry of Natural Resources brought in various new fishing regulations across the province on Jan. 1. Among the regulation changes, the fishing season for sunfish, yellow perch, black crappie and northern park has been extended to year-round; the catch limit for walleye between 35 and 50 centimetres is four with a sport licence and one with a conservation licence; and the bass, muskie and walleye season is extended to Dec. 15. There has been no winter fishery on Rice Lake in more than 90 years, Irving-Cogar said. “Ice fishing brings a lot of problems with it,” she said. Irving-Cogar listed problems such as Rice Lake’s reputation for unstable ice, the current in the lake with inflow from the Otonabee River and outflow at Hastings into the Trent River, putting emergency staff at peril if they need to rescue people fishing on the like in the winter, walleye poaching and the lack of conservation officers. Irving-Cogar asked council to push the Ministry of Natural Resources to create special area for Rice Lake with its own set of regulations. The bulk of resorts around the lake aren’t winterized, Irving-Cogar said. “We are seasonal and quite frankly we don’t have funds to make ourselves a year-round business and quite frankly we don’t want to,” she said. Concerns put forward at a public meeting on the regulation changes fell on deaf ears, Havelock-Belmont- Methuen Reeve Ron Gerow said. “I share your concerns,” he told Irving-Cogar. “I don’t think that MNR actually listened to anybody.” Rice Lake: A Specially Designated Waterway The Rice Lake Tourist Association has won support from the County of Northumberland to declare the Lake a specially-designated waterway. The resolution, which also has the support of Peterborough County and its municipalities ... will be sent to the Ministry of Natural Resources. One of the association's members, Susan Irving-Cogar says it's a complete contradiction to permit winter ice fishing while imposing limits on panfish Rice Lake: A Specially Designated Waterway The Rice Lake Tourist Association has won support from the County of Northumberland to declare the Lake a specially-designated waterway. The resolution, which also has the support of Peterborough County and its municipalities ... will be sent to the Ministry of Natural Resources. One of the association's members, Susan Irving-Cogar says it's a complete contradiction to permit winter ice fishing while imposing limits on panfish. The next 2 are the best ones... talk about a double edged sword... County Backs Tourist Association on Fishing The Rice Lake Tourist Association has won support from the County of Northumberland to declare the Lake a specially-designated waterway . The resolution ... which also has the support of Peterborough County and its municipalities ... will be sent to the Ministry of Natural Resources . One member, Susan Irving-Cogar says it's a complete contradiction to permit winter ice fishing while imposing limits on panfish . Irving-Cogar says winter ice fishing ... which tends to leave mounds of garbage on the frozen surface ... amounts to a flagrant disregard for true conservation . Mar.19.10 <H3 class=status-headline-big>Susan Irving-Cogar</H3> <H3 style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 4px">About </H3>Member CPS since 1978. My husband and I own a cottage/fishing resort on Rice Lake. Been boating my entire life and still love it. Actually, we own about 15 other boats, but "the Hawg" is my baby and mine alone. She's loud (has thru hulls) and fast .. about 70 mph. Makes me smile I'd buy a Donzi .. now there's a dream come true. Fast and loud .. did I mention fast .. and loud .. lol. All of the above is from googleing her name. Seems to me she is a real coservatoinists herself with that nusience boat on the waterways... On a good note, at least it appears that northumberland Tourism is accepting the thought of promoting Icefishing. I see Mike Ferguson is promoting his business on the same page, right above BJ Tackle. http://www.northumberlandtourism.com/en/wi...eIceFishing.asp Kinda kewl, even OFC made this link! Cheers, Ron...