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It has been done. I saw it posted here, even. MNR busted a few guys, and then pulled carcasses from the lake and charged them for each fish they went over. Like I said before, maybe you should have to take a course before getting a fishing license, since people don't seem to understand the regs. If you eat fish once a week, OK. I eat fish at least 5 days a week, but usually 7. I don't tend to catch enough trout to fill my limit in a day, let alone fill my plate each day. So I buy.

Almost every week I buy fish. I don't just toss the filets in the freezer how they come packaged, either. I wash them and pack them in ziplocks in some water. The exact same way I do with fish I catch and keep. And I don't keep my receipts for any food I buy, either. That's ridiculous.

Not surprising, it was right in the strikezone.

Nice report! Those are some gorgeous pics (even the ones without fish in them)!

I haven't caught lakers on anything other than white tubes (as I said in your other thread) but I also have only targeted them a couple times and didn't really know what I was doing. That being said, my go-to for other trout is the blue/silver Little Cleo. It landed me my first brook trout of 2011 and many since, including trolling, casting, and jigging through ice. It also caught my first soft-water splake this weekend, so I would say have at least some of those in there. I'm confident they'd catch lakers too, I just haven't tried much yet.

Yesterday, I was sitting on the couch, not moving or talking, just kinda frowning I guess, and staring at the window. I was thinking, and I was watching the wind on the trees. A couple minutes later, my wife looks at me and then says: "Are you thinking about going fishing?"

Good for you and your buds! I am in the best shape of my life, and I am still nowhere near being capable of 18K in a day, nevermind with obstacles and such.

I'll second the "go cheap" recommendation. I think money should probably go into better gear for more critical applications. My own ultralights are pretty decent little rods that I sometimes use for catching specks. Two identical setups: Shimano Sojourn 5' 2-piece, paired with Shimano Sienna 1000 front-drag reels. I can fit both into one Plano ultralight rod case for carrying through the bush. The rods were about $20 each. Reels about double that. I use 6-10lb Tuf-Line Duracast on them, but whenever I respool I may go with 4lb P-Line fluoro.

Congrats on the catches! It looked like you guys really knew what you were doing, too. I didn't see anyone taking the lure out with sticks or anything!

For lines, the majority of people seem to like PowerPro. I don't care for the noise it makes through my guides, nor the tangles I've had with it. I haven't tried the Super8 stuff yet, so maybe that's the way to go. I may give it a shot next time I have to respool, just so I have tried it at least. In the meantime, I'm happy with recommending Tuf-Line Duracast. I use 10lb, generally, and have had pretty much no issues with it. Edit: I have it on four spinning reels, and will be spooling up my ice rods with it this winter too. I don't own a baitcaster, so I couldn't tell you if it would work well on one of those setups.

Man, that's some bad luck.. Two tires blown in one trip, that's never fun. Back in July I blew out two tires on my van when leaving Lake Temagami. Sucked pretty hard. I have fished the river a lot, but have yet to pull out a walleye; always just pike and bass. But I also fish it further south, and always from shore. Seems you did not too bad up there.

Obviously my statement was in jest, and in reference to the boater exam. However, thinking more on it, given the two routes to the same end result, I would rather have had to endure such a course than the wrath of self-righteous fishermen with no tact.

Well, I used to weigh my fish, but after some... uh, "education"... from guys on this very forum, I tossed my scales in the trash and now I only measure length, if that. -- Early this year, when there was still ice to stand on, I had posted on a social networking site that I was "3/4 of the way to my 2012 fishing goal." Someone who doesn't fish much (maybe 3-4 times a year) got right pissed at me, claiming I was damaging the fishery and "imagine if everyone did what you are doing." Must've been thinking that I caught and kept nearly two thousand fish, before ice out, hahahah... Obviously that wasn't the case at all, with "2012" being the year, and my goal of the year being simply to catch one of each of the four trouts available in my area. Still, goes to show that some people are passionate about the fishery, even when they use it only a few times a year themselves. I would agree with Terry and say that law-changing is the way to fight unethical practices, because in my limited experience and observation, education from fellow anglers more often than not boils down to angry berating and belittling, with very little in the way of trying to convey reason and transfer knowledge. And at the end of the day, that gets you nowhere. Maybe to get a fishing license, you should have to take a course...

Do you have any Little Cleos? I don't know much about pond fishing (only did it once as a kid in winter, and we used a hook and piece of corn.. But I suspect we could have used a bare hook). However, I've caught lots of brook trout from stocked lakes using those, as well as small Panther Martins. Mepps #3 dressed work well too, though I've not caught on those (fishing partners have). I wouldn't know about the Syclops - I've casted them a bit but never had a hit.

I tried all kinds of lines last year and a couple this year, including Spiderwire, Fireline, PowerPro, and a bunch more. The one I keep coming back to is Tuf-Line Duracast.. I don't know anyone else who likes it, but it's pretty much all I will buy. I do have a spool of 4lb P-Line fluoro that I like too, for brook trout, but I wouldn't use that for pulling spoons through weeds.

Man catches muskie with his bare... foot Someone asked me if I was related to this guy, on account of the matching last name and love for fishing. (Sorry if this was already posted - I looked and didn't see it, thought some of you might get a kick out of it).

Good job! What did you end up catching on? Did you beat out your dad?

IN Megadeth. The Drover brothers. Good cover, by the way. I don't listen to this band, but I love the genre. Maybe I'll check them out.

Well, since others with more experience have echoed the white tube jig suggestion, I'll encourage you to give it a shot before you switch to your dad's lure of choice. And here's why: I was fishing with a guy about twice my age and probably forty times the experience. When he asked what I was going to use, I told him, white tube jig, and he chuckled. "Good luck." And I pulled up three before he asked if he could try using one of my tubes. "I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks," he says. Yes, indeed.

I hope those who need the inspiration take it from you! Thanks for sharing your journey with everyone. I can relate, and am down XX lbs myself (over 88 but not sure exactly, as my scale used to say Err2 when I'd stand on it). I can echo what you say - It is the best gift you can give yourself! I feel a whole lot better and my canoe floats a lot better, too.

I've only caught four lakers in my life, all this year, but through the ice. My experience won't likely help, but I got them on a 3-4" white tube jig with a shiner. I've got no idea if this would work vertical jigging from a boat in summer or not. I'll be watching your thread for ideas myself, as I'd like to catch some in soft-water too.

Nice action pics! Same here.

I just looked at the Quebec regs. Very interseting how different it is compared to here (up to 10 ice lines in some zones, brookies are properly classified as char and have a limit of 10 in the zones I checked, spouse/children using your license, etc). Interesting stuff, I had no idea. Quebec is actually closer to me than many of the lakes I frequent (need to drive a few hours to get to a sane zone with no brookie size limit, for example). Anyhow, didn't mean to derail the thread or anything. Back to the awesome video: I think it has inspired me - this winter I'll be trying for rainbows through the ice more than the twice I tried (unsuccessfully) this past season.

Nice fish. Out of curiosity/ignorance, where are you allowed 4 lines in at once?