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so where does mcD's fillet of fish fit in

They fit in my trash can. It's a loose fit, but that just means there's room for more.

Great job! I can't imagine getting walleye the size some of you guys post here.. Maybe some day I will get lucky.

Saturated animal fat is good for you (see disclaimer above)

And research shows that only select people have a correlation between their blood and dietary cholesterol levels, but most people do not.

I've seen these types of lists from various sources and they're all a little different, but they usually have a few things in common - wild Pacific salmon and Canadian farmed non-Great Lakes rainbow trout. As fish go, I mostly eat those and trouts I catch myself (and sometimes walleye, bass, and pike, but that's all increasingly rare for me).

But out of curiosity, what makes red meat so bad for you? I don't eat it every day, but I'm just curious why everyone says that, but never really gives a reason. When I eat a steak, I eat the fat and everything. But I buy the locally-raised, grass-fed, antibiotics-free, hormone-free stuff from Mennonites. And yes, it tastes much better than the grocery store stuff. Mmm, conjugated linoleic acid...

I watched the dude cook a pound of bacon and throw it in the woods.

What the hell!?! What a waste.

^^ love how it auto-edited my post. At least capitalize the first word, silly auto-editor.

Cool. I'll be picking up the bottom one and the perch coloured one. Can't go wrong with a good perch minnow.

Certain lakes around here, that's really all I would use and always catch something.

I feel your pain, Mike. I almost jumped in after a fish once. It wasn't a PB, but it was a trout, so that's practically the same thing.

I know it's an unpopular stance, and I honestly don't expect or hope to change anyone's mind. This "low saturated fat, 6 servings of grains a day" mantra is so deeply ingrained on our culture.

 

But when the real research is given the light of day and more widely accepted...well...you heard it here first

The nutrition "science" is hilarious. Eggs are bad! Eggs are good! Egg yolks are bad! Milk is bad! Milk is good! Cholesterol is bad! Saturated fat is bad, buy our white synthetic butter-type spread!

Currently, the so-called mainstream is all, "low-fat is the way to go, and here is the science to back it up!" The paleo guys laugh at the absurdity, but then turn around and do the exact same thing, only with a different macronutrient: "Low-carb is the way to go, and here is the science to back it up!" I expect a low-protein craze to pop up any day now, "low-protein is the way to go, and here is the science to back it up!"

Every day there's a new bad guy we all need to avoid.

Personally, I don't do the low-fat or "diet" products. I also don't worry about dietary cholesterol or saturated fat. I do try to avoid HFCS, MSG, artificial sweeteners, hydrogenated oils, refined sugars, and unnatural trans fats. I regularly eat bacon, actual butter, coconut oil, two dozen eggs per week, bacon, nuts, local chicken and beef and bacon, lots of fish (especially trout), and bacon. I think you'll find most of this to be agreeable, yet pretty much against the traditional mainstream. But I also eat salads, fresh fruits and vegetables, potatoes, and whole grains as featured in english muffins, pastas, rice, and breads.

Paleo works for you, and that's great. Balance and moderation works for me. Or at least it appears to be... Maybe I'm secretly still morbidly obese and all the fat is just hiding on my back so I can't see it!

If all the carbs I have been eating ever suddenly kick in and I gain back the 100+ pounds I've lost, I'll look at cutting out all fun and happiness carbs from my diet.

Probably one or several of the following: (?)

 

Potatoes

Bread

Rice

Pasta

Breakfast Cereal

I eat all of this stuff. In fact, I've eaten more of it in the last year and a half than I have the rest of my life, and I've lost between 100 and 120lbs in that time and feel so much better than I ever did. Can't be all THAT bad for you.

Over-eating is what makes you fat. If you eat 4000 calories a day, of anything - even just bacon, but your body and activity only burns 2500 calories a day, you're still going to gain weight. It's not magic, it's not a mystery; it's just how it works.

I have heard the paleo argument, and it's OK if you want to live like that. It may work well for you and others, and that's good. But I don't think it's for everyone. I need my carbs.

AND my bacon.

It's bad for your health!

Are you a paleo guy?

Congrats dude, and nice pics.

Does your wife know your son is named after a fishing reel?

Bahaha, dude, I JUST saw that after searching the name on Google... I had seen the reel before, but totally forgot about it until today. That's hilarious! I am thinking of buying one as his first Christmas gift from daddy, and keeping it in the box until he's old enough to use it (if he wants to - maybe he'll just keep it in the box).

Dana, everything seems to be pointing to a future outdoorsman there. Even his initials are "CO".

That, or maybe a movie director for Disney's newly-acquired Star Wars franchise.. You never know.

Thanks again, everyone.

Great thread Dana. Keep those picture safe. Later on in life, they're worth gold.

Thanks for the advice. I may invest in a little fireproof safe for pictures and other sentimental things we never want to lose.

Thanks, everyone!

I have a couple ice rods and I thought about using them for him, but wasn't sure if they were long enough really. And they're just Berkley rods... Maybe good enough, though. We'll see!

I hope he does out-fish me ASAP! I can steer the trolling motor and he can pull in the fish. Teamwork.

Nipfisher, I will update my profile pic sometime. Just for you. haha.

Clockwork Angels, at the moment. The song by Rush, of course. In a lengthy playlist that includes the whole album, plus a bunch of Pearl Jam, the new awesome Soundgarden album, and much other good stuff.

I am working on making a second rig so that I will have two rods and two stationary rigs - enough for two people, so I can go with a friend or family member who doesn't have their own gear but would like to fish with me. The second stationary rig will come in handy on the colder days when I get too lazy to jig.

My rig is not really a traditional tip-up. Or maybe it is - I don't know much about ice fishing gear, really. But I love it. It's a hockey stick, a tip end from a 2-piece fishing rod, and an HT electronic spool/reel that beeps and flashes an LED when line is taken out, so you know if you get a bite without having to keep your eye on it every second. It worked very well for brookies last season.

My gear is pretty much ready. I'm not sure how much I'll be out this year though. I thought I would be out all the time, but now, I still care about fishing, but I don't want to miss anything with my son. I will definitely hit the ice a few times. Gotta get me some trout. Hmm, if I bundle him up warm and take him, can I put four lines in?

I wanna try this!

A few months ago I asked my dad what my first fish was and he told me it was a resident brook trout, and told me the exact location I caught it.

What I didn't know was that he took pictures of my earliest fishing trips, and my mom had them in an album. She brought my childhood photo albums to me this weekend at my request, and I got a big surprise while leafing through the pages. Here are a few of the pics, from Spring 1984.

Fishing on the rocks:

My first fish - my first brook trout:

I was only 2 years old at that time. In June of '84 I took my first ride in a Sportspal, and while I can only see a tiny piece of the gunwale and wooden transom, I am very sure this is one of the two Sportspals that I currently own. It was originally purchased in 1968 or 1969 at Giant Tiger by my grandfather, Cliff, who passed away earlier this year. I showed my dad the pictures tonight and he also thinks it is my 12 footer, as I bought it from my grandpa last summer.

My first canoe ride:

My mom was bringing my albums so I could compare my baby pictures to my first and only child, a son, born on November 19th.

His name is Caius Channing Clifford Peter Olson. We already have a tiny lifejacket for him. I just need to find a small Shimano rod and reel for him, and we're all set. None of those junk $10 rods for my kid.

Here he's probably dreaming of fishing, and judging by the expressions he was making, he probably lost a trout right at the boat. Oh well, we'll get the next one, buddy!

I can't wait for him to catch his first fish. I'm going to fish the spot I caught my first this spring and see if they're still in there. If they are, I'm going to take him there so his first fish can be a speck, just like daddy.

And I will also take him in my 12 foot Sportspal for his first canoe ride. Just like daddy.

I'm a tad jealous.. For the first time in my life, I can't freaking wait to get on the ice. I've got a list of lakes to try and reach this season. The tough part will be finding parking somewhere close, since none of them are in my back yard and I don't have a sled or ATV.

I love my own rigs that I cobbled together, and I'll stick to those. I can buy a lot of bacon for $42.99.

I used Whiteout to sign my name overtop of his. Now I own the only Dana Olson signature Shimano rod ever made! It's not a bad little rod for the price.

I flipped my Sportspals upside down. Bam. Winterized.

Have you eaten an Ontario farmed trout lately? Anyone who thinks they can tell the difference is lying to themselves.

At $15 for an average rainbow trout fillet, my wallet can tell the difference.

Beauty!

Do all trout spawn in the fall? I thought rainbows maybe spawned in spring for some reason, and I have no clue about splake, they're a mystery. Regardless, I put in many days and never seem to catch anything after a certain point, no matter what I do or what I target (I did try for bass and pike last fall).

I don't want to give up so early, because the wait for ice is a long one. So if the fish are catchable, then I will get out there again a few more times.

I have one blade bait, or snag machine, as I call it. Never tried it for specks. Maybe that's the secret weapon I need...