SirCranksalot

It's good to know that I'm not alone in taking a 'kitchen sink" approach to taking lure etc on a fishing trip. But what I find is that I just use a handful of the 'tried and true' or 'lucky' ones even though I have a box full(or 2) to choose from. Anyone else do the same?

Thx for your continued input, folks. As my friend Dalton would say:"I have to hit the pause button for a little while on this one"

Most of us already know 'how to fail'. It's dealing with it that causes us the distress. e.g.How long was it before you admitted to yourself that you weren't gonna make the NHL? I've played pick-up hockey with some guys into their twenties who seemed to think there were NHL scouts in the stands.

Oh, the weather outside is crappy and no one's very happy I'l tell it where to go bloody snow, bloody snow, bloody snow. (saltier versions available on request!)

If no live bait is allowed then worms aren't allowed.

YP, I'm curious about your choice of lines. The std recommendation seems to be to use a leader lighter than the main line so that the leader breaks first.

Trout also tend to come into near shallows and to feed near dusk. They also tend to gather at the mouth of streams, presumably because there's more oxygen in the water as well as food being washed down.

In my experience the specks won't touch anything other than a fly once the Mayfly hatch has started.

Bill, Just out of curiosity, was that Lake Huron(Geo Bay?). I hope that's not revealing too much of a secret.

Here's the kind of thing canoeists use to keep their clothes etc dry. http://www.mec.ca/AST/ShopMEC/Paddling/BagsPacksCases/Bags/PRD~5010-156/mec-brooks-bag-dry-bag.jsp

Thx for all the advice folks. I'm leaning towards an Ugly Stick. Like I said earlier, I've never been to fussy about spinning rod quality. Gord Deval(aka 'the old guy) used to say that any old rod will do(except when it came to fly rods when only a handcrafted split bamboo would do----but that's another subject) Not that he was right about all that stuff. Shush already! We don't want everbody going there, esp before the first of June and catch all the bigguns before we get there. I don't know how to do the old multiquote trick, but to barefoot---no, we'll just be doing reg fishing, trying mostly for walleyes but maybe doing a real slow retrieve if a small wally gets on. "Dave, blur the background, would ya!? <br style="font-family: tahoma, arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(249, 234, 191); "><br style="font-family: tahoma, arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(249, 234, 191); "> Geez it'll be a zoo thus weekend!!!"----yeah, really. I'd recognize that piece of the boreal anywhere! You're not saying that you caught that monster on a flyrod, are you?

Well, we are booked to go to the Nakina area for the first week in Jun---thx to Mike Solo for his great advice. The rods that I have are a bit on the light side. I'm looking at buying a spin rod with a bit more backbone for fighting the bigger pike that we've been "promised". Also hope to land some bigger walleye but I think they will be less demanding on the rod than the pike. I have never paid much attention to spin rod quality---bought stuff on sale at Can Tire etc. Any recommendations? The Ugly Stick seems to be the most popular 1 out there. Any good? Thx

I've done several repairs on an old canoe. I just got the kit from C Tire with cloth and all. I may have had to buy extra cloth but it was nothing special---just what was on the shelf at C Tire. It seemed to work well for an old canoe. If it was a spiffy new canoe that I'd just knocked a hole in O might have been a bit more careful in my selections. I have added skid plates to my kevlar canoe and for that I used the West system epoxy, which is a better grade than C. Tire. I think I used C. Tire cloth with that.

Nice catch----and the fish looks pretty good too! (Or at least it did a while ago)

Nice report---I don't see anything crappie about it!

Sounds more like Hank Snow.....been everywhere!

Try contacting your outfitter. I contacted mine( 7 Lakes) today and was told that some lakes are ice free, some still frozen.

I use premium gas in my lawnmower and small outboard if there's any chance the gas will be left in over the winter or in the tank for several months. I have read and heard too much about about the ethanol in reg. gas absorbing water etc that I don't trust it. For the small amount of gas I use the price diff is fairly small---a lot cheaper than fixing a gummed up carb.

Yeah, for a canoe trip you could go in Butt and come out Queer!

I find that the little light brown garden worms are like that as well. But maybe I should get out there and do more 'research' on a few lakes and streams just to put that conclusion on a solid scientific footing.

What are 'trout worms"? Different from regular garden worms that you an dig? I've found that garden worms are tougher and stay on the hook longer than night crawlers.

Even Thesaurus Rex is getting in on it! http://www.cbc.ca/thenational/indepthanalysis/rexmurphy/story/2012/04/12/thenational-rexmurphy-041212.html

Well, at least they offered some sort of excuse. The Leafs offer no excuses for falling all over themselves!

Wow! What a report, and what a trip! I didn't manage to get my kids very interested in fishing----good for you that you have.. Looks like they're hooked better that those walleye.