colin519

I picked up a Piranha Max 160 Portable for 129 bucks at Sail last year. Seems like a good unit. It was great in Temagami last year. I'm still learning how to read it but I like the product for the money. My advice is to make sure you get a dual beam unit. I found be able to mark fish near the boat instead of just below was a help.

Go Leafs Go but ya they look pretty good. I'm hoping for good years from the Leafs and Habs

Even the Sportsmens show this year did have some great deals. I bought a sleeping back for 50% of retail (paid 55 for a bag that lists for 115 on eBay!) and some tackle that included free crankbaits as well as a decent deal (30% or so less than BPS) on a Plano tackle bag. I am in Toronto sitting and weighing whether I want to go out there. I would be stocking up on splitshot, hooks, perhaps a rod and reel if I can get a decent deal. Should I not bother, and just go to SAIL where at least you get a decent price compared to BPS?

I did the license online a couple of years ago. These booth setups where you can do the test in 20 minutes are the problem. The online test takes a minimum of 2 (maybe 3 I don't recall) hours, in that you need to stay on those study pages for at least that time. You cannot submit your answers until you have spent that much time with the material open. I knew much of it, but going back and reading it while I waited for that timer to expire definitely helped my knowledge. As you said, most of it is common sense but some of it is really good info, for example the information on sunstroke treatment and such. Also, there really is no way to learn and retain that much info in 20 minutes, especially in an environment like the Sportsmens show. You might be able to retain the knowledge for a while, long enough to be tested, but long term, that knowledge is useless. I do suspect that the OP's common knowledge is what allows someone to test in 20 minutes, and I don't have a problem with that. The scary thing is whether a true newbie would be able to get a license in that time because humans just don't learn effectively in that little time.

Planning on going anyway but I'd love to go free!

I was there (just about to get a great deal on a sleeping bag and Plano softside tackle bag). The alarm went on for a couple of minutes, and then a completely confusing message that said something like 'the report has been investigated and the emergency is good, please exit the building through the nearest exit'. Half hour like we got in, grabbed our deeply discounted gear, and got out. Anyway, good show I thought. Don't know what it was like on Friday/Saturday but my sense was that it was too snowy for many people to get down there so Sunday seemed very busy. I've been going since I was very young and I'm 27 now so I've seen it change over the years. The hunting/shooting section was a bit cramped and I don't think they do the big art exhibition, combined with the fact that the dog show/exhibitions are now tiny made some sections a bit crowded. The seating at the dog show is minimal (like little league bleachers for 40 people on each side of a small rectangular area.

I have a Humminbird PiranhaMax 160 Portable. http://ca.humminbird.com/products/356812/PiranhaMAX_160_Portable I used it last year in Temagami and it was great. All you need is depth and structure and experience with the unit. After a while you get to recognize sandy bottom, big trees, weed lines etc. The only thing that is a bit of a pain is removing the transducer (easiest to pop the seal with a knife blade in my experience) before moving. I also used the adjustable transducer to do rudimentary side scan. You can aim it at the shore and gauge distance and probably pick up any items in the water between you and the shore. May not be accurate fish fish but I tested it in a bay I am familiar with and certainly was able to see a large rock formation that comes up near the top of the water column. I would recommend getting something with at least dual beam (the cheaper PiranhaMax is single beam, which is useless for objects in the water) and a I'd go for something without AA batteries.

I have never really caught anything on braided line, I tried some green braid (can't remember what it was) and it may as well have been paracord because nothing came near that rod. I've got some 6lb Rapala finesse mono that is perpetually cheap. Perhaps I will re-spool with that after some initial attempts.

Hey all, Looking for some advice on line to pick up for a Temagami trip. I usually go with a fly rod, ultralight and a medium action rod. I have 4lb Berkeley sensation (or maybe XL can't recall). I'm comfortable with that choice, however on my medium action rod I wanted something a bit stronger than the 6 or 8lb Vanish I usually like to use in case I wanna throw a spoon through some weeds or pitch a senko into some wood. I bought some 6lb Spiderwire Invisibraid and the reviews I've read are horrible. Anyone like this line? It was a whine to spool and the knots are obviously more difficult but I like the idea of it's 1lb equivalent diameter. What the deal with Fireline and PowerPro? Are they better? I prefer to use small diameter lines as 10-12lb test quickly become overkill for my Abu reel. Any advice, thoughts on Spiderwire, clear water, braid vs flouro, vanish vs other lines. Anything to give me some context for my decisions would be awesome. Thank you!

sorry wrong forum please delete

Just throwing my opinion out there. 'I broke' and 'it broke' read very differently. Breaking on a hook set, even something that wasn't a fish shouldn't break a rod. Good luck sir!

When did: 1) buy rod 2) break rod 3) buy new rod Change to: 1) buy rod 2) break rod 3) expect free rod replacement I can understand if it was defective, but if you are catching a tip and breaking off a foot of it 10 months after you bought it, I would expect you should purchase a new one to break.

Depends on the day you want. There's something to be said for a secluded stretch of beach on Huron near Bayfield. Port Stanley is a bit more small beach town, Grandbend if you wanna play 'Who Let the Dogs out' from your Jeep Wrangler. Long Point or Rondeau can be nice for wilderness and beaches. Pinery as well of course.

Hey all, So i'm doing my yearly Temagami thing in a week and I picked up some things from SAIL. Got a PiranhaMax Portable 160 for 129 bucks and a Berkely 15lb digital scale for 10. Grabbed a headlamp and a couple other things I needed also. This will be my first year with this type of gear in the boat. I'm worried about whether all my 5lb+ smallie stories will be shattered once I get a chance to weigh a few of these fish. Anyone else find their world shattered when getting these? Any tips for a first time sonar operator? I've read the book and I'm fairly sure of how to operate it but is there anything I haven't thought of? I am going with 3 rods. My Abu medium with 6lb Spiderwire invisibraid (1lb thickness which I think is sweet). Also have a Mitchell/Shimano ultralight with 4lb Trilene XL on it. Any tips for a first time braid user? Is it going to be too visible in clear northern water? I typically fish Berkeley Transition. Also bringing the St Croix for some fly practice. Can't wait. I've got that stupid excited feeling and I can't help it.

I bought a dual beam PiranhaMax 160 at SAIL for 129. The Lowrance X-4 is single beam and similarly priced. SAIL is awesome.

Did you catch that pike on a bare jig head with no leader?

Unlimited iPod tunes on a 7 day+ camping/fishing trip is worth 129 bucks. Recharging a headlamp or a GPS is pretty cool as well.

I'm going to Algonquin in a few weeks and I'm just bringing a small selection of my gear, but thats because my gear is mostly bass related. Going to try an ultralight spinning rod and a fly rod a bit. Might try the 3 way swivel thing if it's warm but I think it'll still be cool enough to catch at a reasonable depth.

Look on the bright side. Trout fishing is good.

Thank you, I am aware of the regulations but appreciate the reminder. The vagueness was simply my not wanting to telegraph my exact plans to the world.

Ya I appreciate that. Thanks. I'd almost rather figure that out on my own. I'm using the MNR guide to figure out something. I just don't want to end up going to a lake with pumpkinseed and pike. I'm just trying to figure out where I can even get in along the west side. There is so much information it's hard to figure out what is great for an 8 day trips vs what might be appropriate for a weekend. As far as the 4 posts go, meh. I come from a long line of fly fishermen and need some of my own tales before I can come here and brag about them. It's too bad there is no magical rating so you can figure out which posters are responsible, mature people who care about the fish they catch, and which ones sit down by the pier chaining smoking, listening to Nickelback and couldn't tell a splake from a rainbow if their life depended on it. Thanks for the advice folks, I'll run with it.

Any specifics? West side access for Brook Trout sounds ideal. Don't really care whether it's Laker or Brookies but access from the west or from 60 is a must. I'd prefer not to do any lake with motors like Opeongo or anything too huge. Something small, with maybe a short portage or no portage. Thanks so much!

Hey all, I am planing a 3 or 4 day weekend up in Algonquin in the next few weeks. I'm wondering if anyone can give me any suggestions for an access point and lake to hit. Most of the information I've found points to lakes that are 5-10 portages in and that's just not gonna happen. Are there any one portage accessible lakes for trout?

Just came back from camping a week on Cross Lake, rented from Tamar vacations. If you want to know the specific spots, I can show you on a map sometime. Contact me privately if you want to do that. Can't say enough about Tamar, great people running it. As for using them to direct you to fishing spots, they will get you close, but you will have to think for yourself down there. Lakers you are going to need sonar, and potentially downriggers, I wouldn't bother myself frankly but a laker this time of year would be nice. Smallies, you can pretty much catch any where with some rocky cover or a fallen tree. Don't waste your time fishing too near the shore or in some of the back bays on the way into cross, some are 4 foot deep and tree covered which can get nasty fast. I had a few shore lunches over the week, crayfish dead inside every one of them so it might be worth bringing something like that. There were some 4 or 5" yum 'dingers' we were slaying them on as well. Walleye were few and far between (I only got one on a 3" gulp) but of course are really nice if you can hit a school. The one I got was at about 9:00PM so it was quite dark which is quite dangerous especially in Cross lake. Keep in mind the slot limit on there. A few other buddies were staying on Tamar and fished Austins bay and Outlet bay pretty effectively as well. I got (and lost at the boat) a decent pike on a spoon tailed with a medium sized yum (salt and pepper). Smaller pike in the weed lines in the bays, bass there of course too. Bigger pike will be harder to come by, but they are out there. Contact me if you do want to talk more specifics.