adolson

Wow, nice! I would like to catch a muskie some day. Some day... I don't even know where I could get one close to me (Lake Temiskaming, maybe? I don't even know), and I would need a whole different setup, I think. Or are they commonly caught in a '68 Sportspal?

So, here's another "report" if you can really call it that. Not a ton of fish, and nothing big, but a good and fun day on the beautiful Anima-Nip with the wife. She passed the boat exam yesterday, and so this was her first time controlling the boat. It was really nice and freed me up to quickly change lures the couple times I did, and whatnot. She doesn't fish, but likes to be outdoors and on the lake, so I figured, why not give her a more active role, right? I started off using a Wally Diver, got one on it: That lure got snagged a couple times (no depth finder yet, and still learning the lake), so I changed to my trusty Original Floating Rapala with new hooks. We saw a fish surface, and trolled over it just like we did last time. When the lure hit about that spot, I hooked it (or something), but after a little fighting, I lost it. I got another something on the line, and it felt pretty big, but it too got off. I kept getting bites and had another fish or two on, but they got off. Lesson I learned here: hooks probably matter a lot. I think the ones I replaced the rusty ones with suck (from an old mix pack of treble hooks I bought probably 15 years ago, looked like new), so I'm gonna change those again.. Then I switched to a longer, new Original Floating Rapala and took off the middle treble hook (three is overkill). I stuck with this lure the rest of the trip and landed four more smallies. While trolling along, the wife says, "oh, a herring!" and I was confused. A herring? I don't think there's herring in Anima-Nip, is there? And how would you see it on the top of the water? So I turned and looked - not a herring, a heron! LOL After hitting the trolling motor on a rock (watch out for the buoys! you just did the course, you know this! lol), we decided it was time to eat. So we landed on a little island. It was very nice, but too rocky to put a tent in there. Wild blueberries all over the place, though: I think this was the biggest one. Biggest one I got on camera anyhow: There MUST be bigger bass in this lake! It's a big lake! Right? Right??? Next one is gonna be a monster, I just know it... ...Yep! I knew it! Do the big ones taste as good as the little ones? I have tried both. The answer is no. So, it was a good day. I caught I think five little guys in total (one I ... accidentally released early as it shook and jumped back into the lake, haha). Released them all, because they were all pretty small and I have four or five in my freezer already anyhow. It was fun just to catch them. On the trip back to the launch, we rounded an island and saw and heard several fish surfacing, I guess eating bugs. I made a few casts there, had one strike right as the lure was getting outta the water. I was going to try using my Jitterbug or Hula Poppers but the mosquitos came out and were getting us real good, so we just headed for home. My buddy Maximus was happy to see us return safe: Thanks for reading and checking out the pics, even though there's no big catch or anything. Next trip: Monday, going after the Aurora Trout with my cousin. May cast off shore tomorrow a bit, I dunno, we'll see.

No injuries? Terrible aim.

Hmm.. I think for me personally, the opposite might happen: if I had this experience, it might soil my "regular" fishing experience of getting one fish to maybe a handful... Or maybe I'd be perfectly fine going back to "normal." I dunno.

Yep. Your kids will never forget this, regardless of whatever else happens, they'll have these types of fond memories forever. I don't really want to say more than that.

I am sure there is more than one "Bay Lake" eh? This is the one in Latchford, part of the Montreal River system. Same one? It seemed fairly big to me (not Lake Temiskaming big, but big).

I read up on it, since I've seen that in smallmouths in the Montreal River and Gillies Lake, and if I remember correctly, it happens in nutrient-rich water, and it's safe to eat as long as you cook it thoroughly. I almost always freeze my filets for a couple days as well. If it was a crazy amount of specks, I probably wouldn't eat it. I never even thought about eating a rock bass. Maybe I should have.

"Hey, you don't mind if I watch while you eat my body, do ya? Don't be distracted if a little tear comes out... You can just tell yourself it's butter." Jim Gaffigan is comedic gold. More good stuff can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DV4Jl0Q-beE

This is why my wife only wants to camp at actual campgrounds, like Marten River, because she says they monitor for animals. I don't remember any cameras over our tent last time we stayed there! I would rather find a small island and camp on that, myself. Put some water between the mainland and us, and that should help. I hope.

That's very generous of you! I will let you know if things don't work out.

Welcome!

Always have, always will. I reel like a gimp with my left.

I went out to Bay Lake, first time, and I didn't get anything except some weeds. Then I was trolling back to the launch and got this little guy on the line. I didn't even think there was a fish, I thought it was weeds at first. But then it pulled a bit. I wasn't gonna bother posting this, but in that "gimme BoQ GPS coords" thread, you guys stressed how you looooove pictures, so here ya go. Here's a picture: I joke it's a monster, but it actually is the biggest rock bass I've seen myself. I estimate it was about 1/2 a pound or so (no scale! gotta get one soon). I know the Ontario record is like 3-4lbs, though. My left (rod) hand is in rough shape from so much fishing lately (pinky and ring feel rubbery... not good). I need a couple days off, and then I'm gonna hopefully hit Anima-Nip and Liberty lakes on the weekend. My uncle is hooking me up with a free older Hummingbird finder in a week or two, so that should help me out in the future! Kinda excited about that.

Heh, well, this was one of many pics. This was the best pic of Me Holding the fish, and not really the best pic of me holding The Fish, if you know what I mean. The self-shot pic in my avatar makes that fish look bigger than it actually was, to me anyhow. I shoulda did that again. But I'm open to schooling. I'm here to learn.

I thought I read that they'll pay their portion for one every five years, if needed (ie: may have to try repairing old one first).

My display name is Dana, which is my actual name. I am not 100% sure, but I think it means, "We wanted a girl."

I'll have to ask my mom if she still has it.. This was many years ago. I do recall talk of sending it into America's Funniest Home Videos, but I don't think it ever got sent. It was pretty funny, except for the fact that right as his leg was fully submerged I hit stop - I wasn't expecting it and was already in motion to stop recording. I hit record again as soon as I could, so it kinda cut from leg down the hole, to him bawling his eyes out. If she has it still, I have a capture card and a VCR, so I could get it onto YouTube. I'll email her and find out.

I'd like to see this guy even more than ZZ Top themselves: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DVbt5W-DNc

Thanks for the responses. I read that entire site earlier today. I am still considering going. If I don't, it'll be another three years before I could go again. Well, if I don't go between now and October or whenever the season closes. I may call somewhere to make sure the lake is open, as suggested, so I at least know.

There are a lot of different kinds of full-face masks, so maybe you just need to find the right one? They should let you try them on at the store and test seal and fit, etc. I tried a bunch and only found one that would work well for me. For data recording, are you sure yours doesn't have that feature? My machine does have a card that records data, and the machine itself stores data and I can browse it from the menus (it's not detailed, mostly just summaries for certain ranges). I don't know anything about them checking the card, and I'm not sure if my machine would operate without the card in the slot.. I know if I ran Windows on my PC I could buy a little USB card reader and software to see detailed data, like what they use at Shoppers Home Care or other similar companies. Even the bottom-of-the-line machine I borrowed originally also had a card that stored data but no way to browse it. They could check at Shoppers though, and show me the data. I think you have to pay for them to show you the data, though. There's probably card readers and software for any cards out there.

Ahhh, I just thought of a great fishing moment! I went to go ice fishing with my uncle, stepdad, and one of my brothers. He was just a little kid at the time, and hyper (ADHD or something). Anyhow, we had no luck on a lake so we went to a trout farm. My brother caught one, and got super excited and was jumping up and down. I was video-taping this, by the way. My stepdad goes, "be careful! you're going to step in one of the holes!" and my brother is backing up yelling, "I got a fish! I got a fish!" when, bloop! Leg right into one of the holes. We did laugh. He did cry. Good times.

I did mine at boaterexam.com and my wife is doing hers there so I can change lures and troll without having to constantly look up to make sure I'm not driving into the side of a cliff or something. Regular price is fifty bucks, but there are coupon codes to get you ten bucks off. If you can't find one, I can give you one of mine that arrived with my card in the mail about a week later. You can print a temporary card as soon as you're done, too. The site tracks your time, and forces you to put in 3 hours. It reads everything to you. It tracks your progress so if you need to stop, you can resume later. I found it easy and got a 94% on the test, so I missed 3 questions (I know one of them I ran out of time by mistake, but that's no excuse).

FINALLY, a topic I know something about. For years I suffered from headaches, but I never connected it to sleep apnea because when I made a conscious effort to eradicate any trace of aspartame and monosodium glutamate from my diet, they went away. I *rarely* ever get a headache anymore. MSG in particular is difficult to avoid, because they put that into almost EVERYTHING, even things you would think there's no reason to put it in, there it is. Even if your daughter's headaches are not related to MSG intake, it can't hurt to cut it out. That being said, here's a bit of my sleep apnea story... Back in very late 2005, I was starting to get pains in my chest a lot. I weighed less then than I do now, too (though I'm currently working on it harder than I ever have). I kept going into the ER and they always told me my heart was fine. I had to talk to a counselor, as they thought it was due to stress. They didn't find a problem. Anyhow, it would come and go. Sometimes, I couldn't breathe, it was very painful and scary. I almost passed out at work and had to lay down on the floor in the hallway one day. A day or two later, I had such severe pain in my chest and such a sense of dread overcame me, I was terrified to lay down to sleep. I really believed that if I tried to sleep, I would not wake up. I went again to the ER. They stuck me with some kind of needle and I don't even know what it was to this day, and at the time I didn't even realize what was going on, nor did I care. I thought I was - and I likely was - on the verge of dying. They also gave me a referral to the sleep clinic. It is a bit of a blur from that point until the sleep clinic appointment, which was sometime in 2006 I believe. I felt somewhat better, but I was on meds for the pain. I also acquired a family doctor, but he was fairly useless - just kept telling me to lose weight, and I spied his notepad once, where he had written "Depressed?" on it... Uh, I wasn't depressed. Anyhow, about a week or whatever after my sleep clinic appointment, I got my results. I went in to talk to the sleep doctor, and he assured me it had little to do with my weight, and that he had it himself, and supposedly about 1 in 3 or 1 in 5 people have it and most don't even know. Anyhow, I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea. My AHI was only 31 - I believe "severe" begins at 30. Severe sleep apnea requires either invasive surgery or a CPAP machine (there's another type of machine that does bring air in and pulls it out, I forget the name right now). The dental appliance options are not going to do anything for severe cases of sleep apnea, only mild and sometimes moderate cases... I asked. I really didn't like the idea of having to use a mask to sleep at night... An AHI of 95 is very severe. What happens is, when you have an apnea or hypopnea while sleeping, you stop breathing in or out, some flaps of skin in your windpipe (lol, I don't remember the correct terminology here) cuts off the flow of oxygen. Your brain sends a shot of adrenalin through your body, and you start breathing again (a partner might notice this as a snore or a snort, when it's really your body gasping for life). This happens to me 31 times in an hour, and to your daughter 95 times in an hour... Your body will grow more and more tolerant or immune to, and fatigued by the adrenalin, so the risk of death increases the more it happens. Dental appliances will pull the bottom jaw ahead, opening up the airways, but again, only works for milder cases than mine. CPAP will force air down to the lungs (not actual oxygen - there's no tank, just whatever is in the room in the air), essentially ensuring you continue to breath all night long. This is the way it was explained to me by the doctor, more or less. So anyhow, the shop lent me a machine to try it out, and some device to track my oxygen levels overnight and the first morning after, I had felt better than I'd felt in many, many years. I couldn't believe the difference! I've been using a machine ever since, and yeah, it sucks, but it's just something I have to do now. It makes traveling a pain, and camping a rarity. But I feel a whole lot better than I ever did before. I've been exercising every other day since March and eating better, and getting out of the house a lot more lately. I'm hopeful that when I get my weight down, my sleep apnea severity will lessen, but I'm not banking on it. It can't hurt, and it'll benefit me in a multitude of other ways. One other thing to consider is the type of mask. I started off with a nose-only but ended up my mouth would open in the night and that renders it wholly ineffective. A full-mask is what I would really recommend, so you can be sure it's going to work. AND it will work if you're stuffed up with a cold, since it can force air in through the mouth. The only real downside to it is the rash on my face from the rubber part of the mask. :\ But it's that, or potentially die. I wear the mask.

My favorite fishing moment is always the next fight.

So, I don't know the first thing about fishing for trout, but I was doing a bit of reading and see that August 1st is a holiday, and is also the opener for auroras. Liberty Lake is about two hours away from me and open this year. Considering the aurora trout lakes rotate every three years, and the limit is 1 for sports license, what would you do? There's a part of me that wants to hit somewhere closer to home and catch as many fish as I can, all day long, and maybe camp somewhere. Then another part of me that wants to be in the 2% or whatever it is who can say they've landed and seen an aurora trout. They look very pretty. There must be someone here who has hit Liberty before? Possible to get there with a car (without destroying it)? Would you do it Edit: I saw a comment here from Gary from brooktrout.ca from a few years back saying that the auroras didn't survive in Liberty - if that's the case, I guess that decides my long weekend for me..