Paulus

Looks like you are good at catching all different species. Curious to know what your favourite bait is for - Walleyes, - Salmon - hot blondes with affinity for fishing ? congrats all around p.-

So... it looks like we are keeping Tomas Kaberle for at least another year. Good? Bad? Don't matter? Don't care? Rather watch "Dancing with the Stars" than "Hockey Night in Canada"? Brian Burke ( ) went fishing way up north a couple of weeks ago, and he didn't even tell us what he caught. Do you think he's being more secretive about any offers he might have been getting for "Kabby"? Please share your thoughts! p.-

Funny is this referring to another post? Yes, they are staging now. Take your glow spoons and hit any likely pier after work. This is the best time, because they are mostly fresh I will wait a week or two yet, then catch a cold *cough* *cough* p.-

Oh great. Why don't you give it all away? That was my SECRET spot! Now, every Tom, Dick, Harry, Bill, Bob, Phyllis, Bartholomew, Huang, Viktor, Supreet, Jean-luc, Jim-Bob and Peggy-Sue are going to be out there, force-feeding marshmallows and flossing all my black boot babies! I won't even have room to put my cooler down & set up my folding chair a-twixt all the shoulder-to-shoulder you just summoned down on my very own private section of Lake Ontario tributary! I'M GONNA HAVE TO STAND!!!!! ...just kidding... thanks for letting us know p.-

Kessel is what he is: a proven, young scorer who in all probability will score consistently for the Leafs for the foreseeable future. That, and a reasonable expectation that his presence might fast-track the rebuild, were the prime motivations for the Kessel trade. Don't get me wrong, as much as I like Kessel, I wasn't overly enthused when I heard about the trade. But as has been said, I don't think that Burke expected to provide the Bruins with a top two draft pick this year. Then again, imo he must have considered the possibility of it. I'm also not so sure that he didn't provide the Bruins with a top ten pick next year, despite having put down a solid foundation for future improvement. The risk lies not only in how high the draft picks go, but what those players eventually do. If Boston gets two or even just one frachise-type player out of the deal, then Toronto clearly loses on the trade, since Kessel is not really a franchise player; but that has yet to be seen, and it's a tall order. To judge the trade as a bust now is unfair to the player we got, and it's needlessly pessimistic because... Even if we lose the Kessel trade, we still got a guy who's going to score regularly for this team year-in year-out. He fits into the plan that Burke is implementing (despite his on-ice lack of truculence). Let's just enjoy the ride and see how it all pans out. p.-

Doh! C.O. Phinney'd have had my posterior in the slammer if I'd done that. That fish was in a closed section of river. Hopefully she gets away before the opener p.-

Nnnnice! The Roe Bag Sonnet Let me not to the catching of chrome fish Admit such poor judgment. Roe is not Roe That sits at home forgotten in a dish Or is chum for the chummers we may know. O no! It is an ever fresh/cured bait That looks on pools and is ne'er shaken. Prepared of various colour and weight, It glides in streams til it has been taken. Roe's not bass food, though Solopaddler's hooks Within their barbèd arch have caught a few But tempts again even the trout that spooks, When hordes of hungry rubes have all passed through. If this be false, so that I've sinned: I never fished, nor no man ever 'pinned. p.-

That's a good point. But if you look at Burke's overall record just this year, there's no doubt that his efforts are honest and effective. Would you ever have suggested to him that he NOT make the pre-Olympics trades that brought Phaneuf, Giguère and Sjostrom to T.O.? The only player I lament in those deals was Ian White - but then who would you rather have? White or Phaneuf??? You have to pay a price. The trade to get Blake and Toskala out of town was awesome. I couldn't believe it when I heard about it. Other than being a cap hit, it's a complete and total on-ice win for the Leafs. It's a trade I'd make every day, twice on Sunday, ten times on Monday. The loss of two high-end draft picks - especially in view of how bad they'd be if they didn't have Kessel (so they'd be close to last in the league again next year) - hurts. But Kessel is a known commodity and can score now. So, when you add all this up, there's no doubt that Burke is executing a plan, and a good plan. We haven't seen this many good trades in Toronto since the Gilmour trade in 92! p.-

I had the same experience. p.-

Ha! Very funny. I thoroughly enjoyed that. Thanks! p.-

Aha! A wordsmith-swordsmith-wordbuckler! Have at you, fiend! I thumb my nose at you! There once was a trout named Edna Or maybe her name was Svetlana She stayed and ate roe Though she knew she should go And so now she's a dish in "Toronta" p.-

The poor spawned-out thing looked tired and beat. So I thought I would give her a little to eat. Her reaction to the offerings was really funny and neat. I hope she enjoyed her little "celestial" treat p.-

It would've made a great blog Congrats! p.-

Careful of the backgrounds on those pics, dude. You might have a million guys in your livingro..uh..at the neighborhood Walmart trying to use your rods! All on your own, you could completely decimate their stock!!! Obviously just kidding. Those blanks look awesome. Almost as awesome as the workmanship on the final, useable product. p.-

I couldn't help babbling to it. I think it comes with being a dad to little twin sons You know... "here comes the cracker.... oooh! here it comes!" hehe p.-

Hold on there, pard. That's Svetlana. An' she's with me. p.-

Correctomundo . That's a big lamprey bite on its shoulder. p.-

You know, even during a fishing trip, sometimes a guy gets bored... While munching on one of those yummy harvest bars (the ones with the peanut butter in them) I saw a rather large hen steelhead hanging around, just beneath me, under a bridge. It was almost as though the poor thing wanted a piece of my bar... She looked like she was begging, like she was soooo hungry ... So... I pulled out a couple of roe bags and... bon appetit! p.-

Great post Rob . Mike & Bill are great guys to fish with. Looks like you fit right in! p.-

Sweet post, O obnoxious one. Looks like you got the last good day on that system for a while, too. Good decision to fish it on Monday, as that is not your norm. That chromer looks like it was a good deal of fun to catch. Are you sure you didn't get your pics mixed up with some older ones from March??? p.-

Oh boy. I think there's a virus in your post, Bill. I don't think I can last till the end of the week. By wednesday, I'll probably be bed ridden. At least, I might not be able to make it into work... p.-

Oh, hey Mike. Was that highly animated, super friendly, incredibly magnanimous guy from "Team Nissan" there? What a conversation we had with him, last fall! Or did he move? I think he might be permanently residing in Aruba or someplace. Anyway, maybe he was visiting and you saw him... just wondering... I feel a cold coming. Not sure if I can make it to work... p.-

Corn holed LOL! p.-

Sweet! Nothing like those northern chromers! It's nice to see that you got into some of them with flies, too. Bonus! p.-

Awesome post, Bill! When I got up on Friday am, I knew you guys were going to have a good day. I'm glad you did. ummm... except....did you leave any for the rest of us? p.-