adolson

Looks like a good success rate to me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SI9aMpZX22w I will find one and give this a shot the next time I'm snagged (probably tomorrow at Liberty Lake... that's all I catch there. hoping to change that, of course).

Thanks. I'll look at the sparkplug idea and the other retriever instead. The logic of these things makes sense, but why risk it, and then have a fish with a hook left in it out there? I feel bad enough the couple times my line snapped with a fish on years ago. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POdOBXOXQts

I'm investigating the best way to not lose lures to snags... I found the Ultimate SmartLink Lure System, and it looks convincing to me, but I wanted to ask the experts. It's basically a split ring replacement that will allow you to pull lures out of snags, losing only the snagged hook. http://www.ultimateluresaver.com/ is the site. Apparently Bill Dance uses these... I bet they come in handy when he gets his lure snagged in a spectator's shirt or in his boat seat.

I guess I missed that part. Not sure how, since it was literally the very first thing you wrote. If you sell to consumers via an online store, shoot me a link, I'd love to check it out. Right now I order my coffee from about three different sites, depending on what I want. I can always add another.

I'm gonna be heading to Timmins soon for a couple days (work) and I'll have my rod with me. I probably won't bring my Sportspal with me, though. I'm curious if anyone knows any good places to go off the shore there? I'm mostly looking for bass, walleye, pike, trout, whatever can be had from shore - not too picky. Not a catfish fan, though. One thing I know: under the bridge might not be a great idea. My brother went not long ago, and he landed the following with 10lb test: That last one weighed in at about 43lbs! Not too shabby. Anyhow, suggestions?

I'm not in the industry, no (though I did look at the stock prices for GMC - wish I knew about trading because I saw the Starbucks announcement a mile away, and the stock went up pretty quick after that). I'm a programmer for an ISP. Are you? You seem to know a lot about coffee, too. I love coffee, and I love my Keurig, and so I know some stuff... I've tried a ton of the K-cups, including the Folgers and Barista Prima K-cups and other stuff you don't find in retail stores around here. I just know I hated the Tassimo (slow, messy, plus it broke down after about 4 months - they replaced it), though I miss the cappuccino/latte capability. It wasn't perfect, but it was pretty good. Terrible selection, though (last I checked, there are more tea varieties for Keurig than all of Tassimo's selection combined). I am not very familiar with Dolce Gusto or any other pod-based competition, and my only hands-on experience is Tassimo and Keurig. I hadn't heard about the patent extensions, and I hope they aren't granted.. Paying more does suck, in any industry and any commodity, but given the crop issues, it's not really a shocker that prices are trending upwards. I'm the only one in the house who drinks it, and it's still cheaper than hitting Tim Hortons every day. Especially since the nearest one to me is like a 15-20 minute drive away. And at least with Keurig there are several options to use your own grounds - something the Tassimo design makes nearly impossible. When I say I love coffee, I'm not joking. Here's a slightly out-of-date pic of my coffee cupboard: And there's more than that - I have a huge box of mixed ones on top of the fridge, including teas, decafs, and various flavored and unflavored coffees.Those green-topped bottles are another beverage system... Anyone know what they are?

Well, I used to have a Tassimo, and the thing was a bloody mess. I miss the Starbucks breakfast blend, but not for long. Starbucks is jumping ship to Keurig, so GMC must be doing something right. But you didn't explain why it's an issue that they own a monopoly on a product they also own, as Keurig is owned by GMC? It's not like they own Kraft and Nestle and every other coffee option in the world. In any case, the patents on the K-cup expire in 2012, so their evil K-cup monopoly won't go on for much longer. True that... In North Bay, you could go to any of the what, four or whatever Timmies and order the same thing and end up with four wildly varying coffees. I haven't had this problem with McDonalds, or Tassimo or Keurig for that matter. Making it the old fashioned way in a drip machine, however, I did. I guess maybe if I tried measuring...

Haha, nope, but I have a Starbucks travel mug that keeps coffee hot-to-warm for like 3 hours. I think it tastes better than Timmies. It's the only thing worth consuming from McDonalds.

Once I bought a Keurig machine, I stopped going to Tim Horton's.

I'd need to lose over half my current body weight before I even entertained the thought.

Registered. Looking forward to seeing the selection of spoons and spinners and everything else.

Yep, my uncle fishes a lot and he recommended I track everything in a spreadsheet. So that's exactly what I'm doing. Every fish I catch, I write down the time, lure, weather, species, size, location, etc. I don't wear a watch, so a good thing to do is if you have a camera make sure you have the time set correctly on it, and then just have someone take a picture of each fish (be fast if you're releasing, of course), so you can easily look at the EXIF data to get the times and look at the pic to see the lure, weather, etc. Works well for me, and the info I'm tracking will likely pay off in the future. That is so awesome! Hahaha

Yep, thanks guys. I can actually turn off the fish ID on this unit if I want to. I really only wanted a depth finder so I could tell the depth. Anyone I've fished with ignores the fish on the screen. Figuring out structure will be something that takes some getting used to for me on this thing, because it's all binary pixels, and so there's not a whole lot of detail. It should do me fine for now though. And this one can apparently be used for ice fishing without a heated shack, so that's a bonus.

Haha, yeah. Well, it was the first TRUE fish-finder. (according to that ad, lol)

My uncle won this thing in a fishing derby in the 80s, apparently it was like $700 back then. Tried it out last night, saw some red dots, but didn't catch anything. I like the depth alarm so I know if I'm about to smash my trolling motor to bits. I've downloaded the manual, but I didn't get to reading it yet. I need to figure out why the temperature doesn't show up. I'm gonna guess it's because the transducer doesn't support it. I'm new to owning a fish-finder, so that's just a guess. Fun times.

Wow... Very nice bass!

I've never really had luck getting walleye from shore. Any tips? I love catching bass, though I love eating walleye too. Indeed. I mostly ignored them until my wife told me to try my little one in Anima-Nip while trolling. I have liked other Rapalas, but now this is my favorites. I did pick up a Husky Jerk too, but haven't really used it yet. Judging by the 14 or so hours I've spent lapping that lake, I'd say it's no longer at risk, but extinct. Tried one of those tonight, since Anima-Nip was a bit rough and I am anxious to get a trout now anyhow for some reason. No luck. The fish-finder I have is real old... Humminbird LCR4ID or something like that. The screen is just gigantic dots! But hey, it tells me the depth, warns me when we hit shallow water, and kinda shows the bottom. The fish are in giant red pixels, but I can't tell if they're baitfish or rainbows or what. I think I have to read the manual. And I don't really know what to use to catch trout (except worms, which I forgot at home).. I have some research to do. If you know much in advance when you're going, let me know and if timing is right, I could plan to hit it again that day and meet you too. Unless you figure the less boats on the water, the better - but honestly, didn't seem to make a difference for us since we were alone this time and no luck. (Or if you're going alone, I could just drive and meet you there if you want to boatpool..). I'm sure you know you gotta be there before the sun wakes up, and that road has about four nasty spots on it, so make sure you've had your coffee. Some day, I will catch this fish. Until then, I think they don't exist.

Nice work! Now I want one of those lures.

No worries. I just don't want you thinking that I break the law, and then am stupid enough to post it on a fishing forum. LOL

first pic is hillarious! world's smallest pike? haha

I'm newly returning, yeah, but I'm really not an idiot. I try hard to fish fully legally. This is a great pastime, and I don't want to ever knowingly (or unknowingly) break any laws. Trust me, if I see a No Fishing sign, I'm not fishing there. Here's the closeup sign:

Here's a report for today, spent fishing with my cousin. We started off by waking up at 4am, left my place at 4:30ish, hit the water with lines in at Liberty by 5:50am, in hopes of finally landing an Aurora. Beautiful start to the day. No action until around 6:30. At that point, my cousin hooked one, OR SAYS HE DID, but lost it. I didn't get a single bite. We both tried with hook and worm and lures and lures with worms, trolled every speed we could, let out a mile of line, I tried with a tiny Williams Wobbler with the hook removed, then maybe a foot of line with a hook and worm, as recommended by a guy we met last time. We did catch a whole lot of Liberty Lake Special - wood of all sorts and sizes. Here's the biggest one of the day: On the way out of Liberty Lake, I wanted to take a Sharpie and black out the "ing" on the "No Fishing" sign. Too bad I don't carry them, and that's probably illegal anyhow. On the way back to my place, we went to the Montreal River in Latchford (the parkette side of the bridge) and tossed away a brand new Rattlin' Rapala that I didn't want anymore. Never fishing that side of the bridge again. I had good luck on the opposite side in the past. Then we hit my place for homemade pizza lunch. while watching a trout video. Around 2pm we head out to my favorite spot on the Montreal, down a back road from Cobalt. It hasn't done me wrong yet, and I'm due for a fish - hadn't got one since last weekend. 6pm rolls around, still no fish. I almost call it a day - it's been a long one already, but no, I persist. This curse must be broken! 7:30pm, I decide, OK, I can't cast my floating Rapalas very far, but they work great at Anima-Nip while trolling. I tie it on, cast out as far as I can about 3 times and I feel the nibbles... Next cast, bam! Smallie on, and landed. I weigh over 300lbs (working on that...) so that bass is what, like a good 40-45lbs?? A few minutes later, wham! Pike takes it. Good thing I have a leader on. Since my cousin hadn't caught a fish yet, and has never caught a bass, I give him the magical lure and I switch to my trusty Hula Popper. Within a few minutes, BAM! Another bass on my line! Love that topwater action! Nice size, too (didn't measure). Hula Popping still... A few more minutes later, whack! Another smallie takes it! My cousin can't even keep his line in because he's taking the pictures, haha. He decides he's gonna try popping, so we switch up again. I go back to my Rapala. A few casts in, BAM! Pike takes it. A little guy - didn't have my pliers, took a bit for my cuz to run and get them (now I know to clip them onto my shirt while I walk the shore). I held him in the water at the shore until he kicked away, so he should hopefully live fine. There wasn't much damage or blood or anything. I LOVE THESE LURES. And that was all she wrote. I did have another (fairly big) pike on, but it got off before I could land it. My cousin had a good time, but didn't land a fish. He's landing jumps in Burnout Paradise now as we rapidly approach the 24-hour mark of being awake. I may try Liberty ONE MORE TIME. But I'm gonna wait on that for a while. Time for dinner, and then bed for a 12-hour nap. Probably gonna hit Anima-Nip tomorrow evening with my fish finder from my uncle (should arrive tomorrow - it's really old, from the 80s, but hopefully it works fine). Thanks for checking out my report.

Figure out what fish is in the lake, then troll with an appropriate lure. Or bounce a worm off the bottom real slowly. Maybe that's just me.

The reel doesn't turn backwards if you hold onto the reel arm/handle (which I am doing when I am fishing), and it certainly doesn't make a full turn if the trigger is near the rod. I have done a lot of fishing with my GX125 and it's still in perfect operating condition. What's your definition of a "cheap" reel? A $60-80 Spirex? Doesn't seem that cheap to me, maybe compared to the top-end, but it's certainly a far cry from the cheap $19.99 dealies. Regardless, Dave wants a cheapo $40 combo. I am sure anti-reverse is nice, but unnecessary (as is a trigger, obviously). My suggestion would be hit a store and feel them in your hands and get the one you like the feel of the most, in your price range (I'd probably walk out with Shimano, myself, though a couple Quantums felt good too). Or just grab a pink Barbie rod and give'r. No trigger, no anti-reverse, and you can land sharks with them.

I'm sorry to hear that, man. He sounds like an excellent role model, and I'm glad you got to spend that time with someone so respectable. I'm really sorry for your loss. I lost my grandma last year, the sweetest lady I've ever known. The sting of losing her was amplified by my family deciding that her birthday was most certainly not an appropriate day to hold her funeral. Instead, they held it on MY birthday. I couldn't even stay for the whole thing because I had scheduled my G driving test for my birthday, figuring, there's no way that if she passed on, that my family would put it on my birthday. Oh how wrong I was. I don't think she would have been impressed with them. But anyhow, it sucks when we lose true gems.