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That's exactly what I was doing at Liberty Lake, as another guy there suggested it. I was using a tiny Williams Wobbler as the flasher. My uncle's suggestion was just a hook, a worm, and a big splitshot a couple feet up the line, and that's what my cousin used when he hooked into one. I can try it again, different spoon, and with better (I hope) hooks (Kamakazi 1, 2, and 4 I believe I have in my kit). I wanted to try some of my spinners. I heard those actually can catch fish. In fact, in some cases, it's the only lure you need! I've got worms in the fridge, ready to go. That's a good idea, and I thought of it when I was brushing my teeth before bed.. Was too tired to edit my post, haha. And thanks so much for all your help in PMs! Sweet, that would be cool.. But I don't know what's up yet - I invited my cousin to go last night, but he hasn't got back to me. If he wants to fish, it'd be Saturday, since he's usually tied up on Sundays. I will let you know. Have you caught an aurora? Liberty Lake is kinda half-way... Don't know about the cell signal, though. It's a good drive down Red Squirrel Rd. Supposedly you have to be there real early to catch anything though.

So, I've been reading up on fishing for trout, mostly brook trout, which is the next species I'd like to try targeting. Luckily, the most reliable local fishing partner I have (my cousin) also wants to try for trout. Well, we've tried for aurora trout several times at Liberty Lake, unsuccessfully. The closest we came there was him losing one after a short 20-30 second fight, and for all we know, it was a sucker or a turtle or more likely, a stickerel that put up a bit of a fight (I'd believe that before I believe auroras exist!). I know a lot more today about trout fishing than I did a week ago, but I have a few questions still. There are a few lakes around here that are either stocked with brookies or rainbows, or they occur naturally. Is there much of a difference in fishing tactics/gear when fishing stocked versus natural? There is also a nearby lake that is stocked with splake, and there are supposed to be lakers in Anima-Nipissing, but I am not going after those just yet. If I use spoons, should I remove treble hooks and put on singles? I keep reading you should use 4 or 6lb mono line. I have 12lb test green braid on my reel right now, but the package says 6lb diameter (0.007"). The question should be obvious: is this line OK, or should I really buy some clear mono? Since I currently only have one spool for my reel, I'd probably have to just buy a small and cheap combo, specific for trouting (which I don't mind doing, just lacking funds at the moment, especially with Christmas approaching), or a second spool (if possible). And if I have to buy another rod specifically for trout, would it make sense to go for a fly rod instead of another spinning rod? I would like to get into it (looks really relaxing), but again, money. The lakes I am going to are pretty small. I don't really know how to choose locations on any lake, big or small, so I typically troll them and then cast a while once I get one. For trout, I don't want to troll (I tried that in the rainbow-stocked lake, got nothing, and in Liberty we had that one on). I thought about leaving the trolling motor in the car and just use a paddle. Would the thrust and splashing of a paddle spook the fish more or less than a slow trolling motor, fully submerged, or does it not matter much once you anchor in a spot and then cast? Sorry I have so many questions. Time is running out on Liberty Lake, and soon there will be snow and ice (*shudder*), so I just want to be make sure I'm not accidentally messing up my chances to hook, or wasting my money. I'm grateful for any and all advice.

See image below for assistance.

My favorites so far are the Original Floating Rapala and the Arbogast Hula Popper. Any colors, really, but I usually use perch/firetiger. Neither are working in the past week or so (since my last report). I am still new, but these have produced the most for me so far.

I don't know about Dara, but I sure did!

Very nice pike! I find it hilarious that he only uses one lure - but I'm glad it's not just a pickerel rig like my friend, heh. I never catch anything on my Mepps #3..

There's no Auroras in Liberty Lake, I can tell you that!

I should probably get around to getting a proper battery for mine, too... I've just hooked it up to my deep cycle battery for my trolling motor. I'm guessing it's a bad idea, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.

That is very respectable, man. I know it might seem selfish to some people, but my wife and I never planned to have kids partially because everyone we know who has kids never seems to have time to do anything. I'm lucky to have an understanding wife, but I could see that changing if we ever had kids. I wouldn't want to stick her at home with them all the time, and I too would feel guilty. I already feel guilty when I go out and she stays home, but she comes often enough with me and doesn't mind because she has other hobbies of her own to do. But if it came down to it, I hope I'd have the ability to make the same decision you did. Removing temptations is hard, and it's often the only way to succeed in many areas of life, not just fishing. I can't see anyone laughing at you over this - that'd be petty and stupid. It's honorable, and your family will probably see your sacrifice and respect you and love you for it. Have a happy life, man.

wow, you got those in that?! I should cast my line in my back yard. I haven't cut the grass in weeks, so there should be fish?

Thanks guys! I managed to record a little bit of video of him catching his first bass, but he didn't want me to share it with anyone. I'm not sure why, but he gets really excited and he talks to the fish. I think at one point he calls it a "son of a beehive" which, well, I don't know what that means... Haha. Anyhow, I'll respect his wishes. Haha, not yet, but we both want one, so we're gonna try some more... I don't understand why they're so hard to catch when we're doing everything right as far as I know. I have a good feeling about September, though!

I almost feel stupid posting pics of the handfuls of tiny fish I catch when some of you guys are catching 80lb bass and 10ft muskies and 400 walleyes in 20 minutes and whatever, but here goes. My cousin - let's call him.. Adam, which is fitting, since that's his name - has gone fishing with me several times this summer, but has yet to catch anything. I was determined to help hook him into his first bass, and today I succeeded. It took a trip to beautiful Anima-Nipissing to do it, but clearly the Montreal River was only being kind to me so we had to try elsewhere. The weather was nice. It got chilly towards the end of the day, but there was only a light sprinkle of rain when we launched. Not too much wind, so the lake was fairly calm the whole time. He caught the first fish of the day, a little rock bass - it's no muskie, but hey, it's something. Shortly after this, I caught the first REAL fish of the day, a smallmouth. It wasn't much bigger (they're all pretty small, the ones I've caught in this lake so far). The Sportspal was nice to us today, no water leaked in whatsoever. We managed to get our first double-header, too! Just stupid rock bass, though... Mine is the bigger one. I knew it was just a matter of time before he'd get a bass, and as we trolled along the shoreline, we came across a long, sunken tree trunk, and somewhere near it, he hooked one, and he looked pretty excited. We saw it jump, and I knew it had finally happened. I had helped someone with a first. I was almost as happy as he was: I normally don't pay much attention to it, but there were tons of fish blips on the GameBoy fish finder, and since he caught one, we turned around and trolled over the same log again. And whaddyaknow? He gets his second smallie, and it's bigger, about 16". So, we turned around and trolled back over the same area. I got my second tiny smallie that time: We ended up each catching two smallmouth, his first two ever, and at least three rock bass each, before we headed back with a nearly-dead battery (argh, stupid charger don't work properly), and we were cold and hungry and tired, and our butts were sooooooooooore from those cement hard foam seats. Obviously not the most amazing report, but for us, it was great times. He was so happy to get his first bass, and that in turn made me really happy. I was happier when he was catching fish than when I was, which was weird. I'm no guide, but I now can see how that would be very rewarding work. His new favorite fish to catch is bass, but he wants to go for a trout sometime soon, and so do I. We plan to try Liberty again at least two more times before the season closes for three years. I also plan to hit Anima-Nip again this weekend with the wife (if my battery will charge up enough) and maybe head south-west to the narrows this time. Never been down that way yet.

I forgot how close it was to Toronto. You misspelled "mayflies." (pic from wikipedia page. I took this pic in North Bay. there's a truck underneath all that. gross.)

If you are looking for a good lunch, go and find The Sub Place and order a gyro (regular or chicken). Best food in the city!

I don't have much to add to this, but maybe this, almost seems like a no-brainer: When shore-fishing where there's a lot of room, I clamp my locking forceps onto the neck of my shirt so I always know where they are. This really saves valuable time when I walk up and down the river bank, and especially handy if I get a pike on. I don't have a holster or anything like that, and clamping on my shirt works a treat.

Ah, North Bay... I lived there for about 6 years, and I liked it well enough. I can tell you the best restaurants for almost any type of food, and you can trust it since I am a fat guy. I miss a couple friends I made there, and it's nice when bands I know show up there. In the years I lived there, Alice Cooper and UnderOath both played there, but I didn't get to go. Then last year, La Dispute and Norma Jean played and I did get to go (odd, since I no longer lived there, heh). I almost had to move (was looking at Ottawa) after losing my IT job with the telemarketing company / hell there and couldn't find any work for several months. But then I got hired by the local ISP (Vianet) and that saved the day. I have a lot of fond memories of North Bay, and I would go back there if I wanted to move again (I don't). I like where I'm at now, for the most part. I really regret not fishing there much at all while I lived there. The only fish I caught were some gross catfish - that's probably why I didn't fish more.. I should have got out more, bought a cheap canoe, etc. If I lived there now, you can bet I'd be out fishing with some other OFCers as much as I could. There's not many people that I know of around here (Tri-Towns) who like fishing enough to go even weekly, let alone register for a fishing forum or - gosh - go two days in a row..

Wow, nice work! I'm lucky if I get one to three fish in a trip... I'm clearly doing something wrong.

I run Linux. So I sincerely doubt it in my case..

I was hacked a few weeks ago. I'm not entirely sure how it happened, but I noticed it within seconds because I was watching a video on my PS3 with my wife beside me on the couch, when suddenly I'm signed out due to signing in at another location. I couldn't get back in. I tried my email, couldn't get in there either. I managed to reset my email account quickly, and then reset my PS3 password. The IP address in my email's activity history is a TOR IP, therefore it's useless - anonymous network utilized by hackers, amongst others. Hasn't happened since, but some odd timing... I signed up for an angler site right before this occurred. But that may be coincidence, considering the PS3 hacking and whatnot. But how my email and PS3 account were linked together, I have no idea, as they're completely different domains and everything... What's that mean?

Might not help if you're in the bush or whatever, but I clean my fish at home and I take the guts and skin and put it in a couple plastic bags and then freeze it until garbage day. I'm pretty sure that's legal, and if it's not, I don't have a clue how you're supposed to dispose of the inedible portions of a fish!

I know that, I catch smallmouth in several lakes that does not list them all the time. But it's better than nothing, and I was just trying to help spawn fill the void of the old MNR listing. Which I have no idea if they were accurate, either, I haven't got a copy.

You have seen Fish ON-Line, right? http://www.web2.mnr.gov.on.ca/fish_online/fishing/fishingExplorer_en.html

Sad day... RIP

Deja vu.

If you worked in a very small retail store with maybe three or four employees and you were asked to take on more responsibilities and become manager of the store so the owners basically don't have to be there very often, what kind of pay would you ask for during negotiations (if they force you to give a figure first) without offending them? Assume you are working three days a week at pennies above minimum wage currently, and you already feel underpaid as it is due to increasing responsibilities over the months/years. I feel kinda odd asking this here, but I really have no clue about this stuff and there have to be people here who might have experience or whatever. I'm asking for a close friend of mine, not myself (I'm a programmer at an ISP).