Spiel

Michael please no worries. All input negative or positive is appreciated. In the end it's all about making the membership happy because obviously without all you good folks we wouldn't exist. We'll tweak this bit by bit and hopefully in the end all will be happy.

I use cod liver oil on occasion but I don't recommend you leave it on the lures. It'll dry to a tacky brownish goo that just attracts dust, dirt and grime. If you need to store 'em and are worried about rust.....WD-40.

Our resident fishing Goddess "Joey" makes awesome jerky. Perhaps she'll share a secret or two with you.

Your opinions are appreciated Capt Bruce and changes to remove ads from the threads are being implemented. Try and hang in while we tweak the new format, it's not easy or perhaps even possible to please everyone but we are listening and we are trying.

Wow, what are the odds, I have a B'day this year too. Oh wait I think I have one every year. Problem is I'm gonna have to miss a few before you catch up to me Wayne. Hope you're having a good day and that you have a great evening.

Spiel Filter? There's no Spiel filter just some occasional post reply editing for those that seem to have difficulty understanding the rules which seem to be pretty straight forward.

Dave is highly entertaining. If anyone in the Hamilton area would like to catch him in action he'll be in town this Friday. http://www.ofncommun...showtopic=41819

One day at a time Carole, it's working for me. Nice to have you back.

Looks like a perfect day to me Tom, easy walking, easy drilling and plenty of eaters for the pan. Stellar!

I've dealt with them (Peterborough) a few times without issue, in fact they were great. Why not try calling back (today, tomorrow) and see if you can't get another rep on the phone who isn't a dick.

Mmmmmm, sounds delicious! I've been fortunate enough to have had several meals of venison lately thanks to the generousity of a good friend.

I never use the back page option because that takes you to previously viewed pages. I use the "GO" button at the bottom of the page or click on the "general discussion" header at the top, either one will take you back to the "general discussion" page and load any new posts.

I never new this, thank you muchly.

Well that was certainly not what I was expecting but admittedly I howled....Too funny!

Is anyone else having issues with page load times? On the old forum and every other web site I peruse, no issues. But this new forum takes on average 15 to 20 seconds for every page load.....

Good for you Bruce, keep us posted on any info you obtain on this matter.

I've also caught lots of blue coloured walleye out of Kipawa. The one pictured above looks like the heavy slime of fish that have been laying in the snow.

Teens linked to thefts from ice huts Mar 17, 2010 / www.simcoe.com Penetanguishene - Six Penetanguishene teens have been warned under the Youth Criminal Justice Act in relationship to a series of recent thefts from local ice fishing huts. Southern Georgian Bay OPP have been investigating a series of break and enters to ice huts - as well as some fishing tackle that was discovered - dating back to February 22. “As a result of the investigation most of the owners of the found fishing tackle have been located and six youths from the Penetanguishene area have been dealt with using the provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act,” stated Const. David Hobson, adding anyone who is missing any ice fishing tackle from their ice hut on Penetanguishene Bay this winter should go to the Southern Georgian Bay Detachment to view the recovered tackle.

Unfortunately I won't be making it out that way Dave, however I will see you next Friday.

I'll have to take your word on that Joe.

Maybe

Nice, even has a seat on the back for moi.

ENVIRONMENT: Lake Ontario, on the rebound March 17, 2010 Jeremy Moule / www.rochestercitynewspaper.com About two miles off the shore of Lake Ontario, the water's often so clear that a measuring device submerged 40 feet is visible from the surface. That's a major improvement from the 1970's and 1980's, when "if you could see down 10 feet, you'd be lucky," says Joseph Makarewicz, a SUNY Brockport environmental science and biology professor who studies aspects of the lake's ecosystem. Makarewicz and others attribute the clear water to advances such as efforts to reduce the amount of phosphorus discharged into the lake, as well as stricter controls on sewage treatment plants. Lake Ontario's health has improved greatly over the last 30 to 40 years; so much so that researchers and environmental officials have begun serious efforts to reintroduce native fish species that disappeared long ago. That's good news, but it would be na�ve to say there aren't still problems to address. Among them are emerging invasive species threats - Asian carp has a lot of people worried - and the evolving nature of lake water pollution. Even phosphorus remains a pesky problem. When the state banned the use of the nutrient in laundry detergents, officials wrote the law too specifically, says Ray Yacuzzo, a DEC special assistant to the commissioner, who's tasked with Lake Ontario issues. At the time, dishwashers weren't ubiquitous and dishwasher detergent wasn't included in the law. Dishwashers are now common in households and the detergent is typically high in phosphorus.� And since wastewater treatment plants aren't terribly effective at removing phosphorus, the substance is still making its way into the lake. The phosphorus, combined with residential and agricultural fertilizer runoff, contributes to substantial aquatic vegetation growth in the near-shore areas. "We're basically over-fertilizing Lake Ontario," Yacuzzo says. It's that vegetation that contributes to the frequent closings of Ontario Beach to swimming. While pollution levels in the lake are decreasing, the nature of the contaminants is changing. No longer is industrial pollution the chief concern - in fact, industry contributes roughly 10 percent of the lake's surface pollution, Yacuzzo says. Industrial pollution is still an issue. In places like the Rochester Embayment Area of Concern, an impaired area that surrounds the mouth of the Genesee River, officials are trying to sort out how to deal with pollutants that have settled at the bottom. Those include industrial chemicals and heavy metals. Airborne contaminants from sources like coal power plants - they're a source of mercury - are another problem, Yacuzzo says. But contamination from runoff is a bigger problem - perhaps the biggest. The runoff carries fertilizer nutrients as well as herbicides and pesticides into the lake. This kind of pollution is challenging because it often doesn't involve a single source and can be difficult to pinpoint. Authorities are also struggling with newly recognized contaminants, including pharmaceuticals. When people dump or flush household drugs down drains, the compounds ultimately end up in Lake Ontario via treated sewage. The chemicals build up in the lake ecosystem, and there's no definitive answer as to what the long-term outcome may be. Some local governments and organizations have established pharmaceutical collection events. The county recently announced that the Sheriff's Office A-Zone substation on Linden Avenue in Pittsford will accept unwanted medications on the second Tuesday of each month from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The B-Zone substation in Henrietta collects unwanted pharmaceuticals on the first Tuesday of the month from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Law enforcement officials take the collected medications to an incinerator. The state of the lake is reflected in the lake fish consumption advisories issued by the state Health Department. The concentrations of harmful chemicals like PCB and the insecticide Mirex have been declining in the lake's fish. "They are coming down, and in a rapid fashion in some cases," Makarewicz says. "That becomes then a health concern and a political concern in terms of when do you tell people it's really OK" to eat the fish. Chemical concentrations in fish have been routinely monitored in the Rochester Embayment Area of Concern. That area could receive some attention as federal officials begin awarding Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funding - there's $475 million set aside for the Great Lakes region. Researchers, state officials, and environmentalists are anticipating the first round of the grants, which they say will be a significant step toward addressing some important Great Lakes issues. More than 100 funding applications were submitted for New York State. The best way to improve the lake's water quality is to work at the watershed level, Yacuzzo says. Watersheds are the areas that drain into the lake, so attacking things like runoff from those areas would improve Ontario's waters. One important project would be establishing "maximum daily loads" for watersheds, essentially a plan to help reduce certain materials - phosphorus, for example - that pass from a watershed into the lake. Improvements in the lake and some, if not all, tributaries have led environmental officials to reintroduce long-departed native species. The US Fish and Wildlife service is working with DEC and SUNY Brockport to reintroduce lake sturgeon into the Genesee River. Overfishing and pollution drove the fish out, but the river's improving health - a benefit to Lake Ontario since the Genesee feeds into it - may aid a comeback. The big question is whether the fish will ultimately reproduce, or if toxic sediments at the bottom of the Genesee will prevent that. The Department of Environmental Conservation is also looking into a program to reintroduce to the lake deepwater ciscoes, a fish species that spawns in January and February in water that's 300 to 450 feet deep, says Steve LaPan, DEC's Lake Ontario fisheries unit leader. DEC officials shared the plan in public meetings across the state last week. As the theory goes, the four species of ciscoes that were once common in the lake were done in by overfishing and by the invasive alewife, which ate the newly-hatched ciscoes. The once-booming alewife population has dropped off some, however, so DEC officials says it's a good time to try to reintroduce the ciscoes. The story's more complex than that - since their introduction, alewives have found a place in the Lake Ontario food web. They're the favored diet of Chinook salmon, something of a prize for lake fishermen.

The shame of Randle Reef Politics derail cleanup of the harbour March 15, 2010 James Howlett / The Hamilton Spectator It is the stuff that nightmares are made of. Toxic muck on the bed of our harbour known as Randle Reef -- and no one plans to move it. Above the harbour is a hope-withering muck of politics, bureaucracy, apathy, and lies. It is "Randle Mountain" -- and no one plans to move it either. The reef was the intentional dumping of toxic fill using dump barges and clam buckets -- not a sewer pipe -- off Stelco's dock with the plan to cover it with clean fill and make land out of it. Stelco would also cloud the waters by pointing fingers around the harbour, saying it could have been any of the other bay industries. Just like the resident of a crack house who says the hypodermics on the lawn were thrown there by the neighbours. Born in shame, the reef was illegitimate and distinctive -- the largest chemical deposit in the Great Lakes -- an environmental crime that would spread. Ugly and destructive, its reputation would travel the world, while the toxins would travel the bay -- killing anything they could reach and repelling what they couldn't. Nothing can live on the reef. Dead fish and birds are often found there. The shame would grow. The city that called itself ambitious would not have the clout or the cash to clean up the mess. The reef failures relate to leadership and judgment. Tough words -- which have been coming from the lips of citizens for quite some time, something that indicates strong instinct and intuition. Maybe that's the best radar of all, for most of us don't know what coal tar is -- but we do know that it would be naive to think that a sophisticated, multilayered, interdepartmental, career-hinging, share-crashing interpretation of events might not be adopted by Stelco to avoid charges. Denials of this sound like Tiger Woods' "confession" -- a choreographed evasion of justice and shame. No one would confront Stelco for fear of legal costs if we lost -- and lost jobs if we won. If we are to move forward from this we must reject the idea that it is either jobs or the environment -- and Hamilton industries must be told to run clean or go elsewhere. Steelmaking is much cleaner in some parts of the world than it is here and its profitable -- and it is the same companies. In a strange twist, Stelco created the reef on its west side and avoided cleanup costs but filled in the harbour on its east side and sold the land it made to the Hamilton Port Authority (HPA) for $17.5 million to make Pier 22. Stelco was then sold for $1.1-billion to U.S steel, which would have nothing to do with the reef either. Some money from the sale of Pier 22 and of Stelco should rightly have gone to the harbour's remediation. Yet the money has skipped town like a mobster on $20 bail. A further slap: the port authority paid Stelco $17.5 million for what became Pier 22, then committed $150 million to HPA projects, only to plead poverty when it comes to the reef cleanup. This after driving the reef costs up by $8 million to make the capped reef strong enough to dock ships. It will spend $6 million on port facilities on the reef when it is capped, but none of it is for cleanup, and the HPA gets the land for free. Touting itself for years as the leader of the cleanup, the HPA now, when it comes to the work, does not have the expertise to do it. Some shame should land in their camp to commit real work and dollars to the project instead of talk. Surely some shame belongs to the leaders at Environment Canada, who pushed a plan of parlay and patience -- rather than push and punish. How could they miss the idea of a big company doling out promises and denials -- then blowing town with a fistful of dollars that should have stayed in the bay? In trying not to treat Stelco as a stereotype of an evil corporation, Environment Canada leaders led the way to unjust stereotyping of its frontline staff as shaky-handed enforcers. The Remedial Action Plan committee and Bay Area Restoration Council have been sharing around town that our mayor has dropped the ball for the city's portion of the cleanup. We need results from the mayor now. Any more delaying -- legitimate or not -- runs the risk of looking like pre-election timing, adding the taint of political insult to environmental injury. If all money from the land made by the capping project went into a fund to do harbour cleanup, and pay back the city's share, we would taste some justice from Randle Reef. If the port authority isn't paying into the plan, it shouldn't get the land for free. Maybe we can also look at hauling Stelco's owners to court over the reef, and the Pier 22 infill as well, now that fears of them leaving town have ironically come true. People like me are told not to talk like this. We are told to work out of sight to realize our goals. This will keep the detente necessary to work with all parties. It will hamper the process to talk frankly. Yet what is there to save, when decades of effort by most of the reef stakeholders has seen a sleight-of-hand to the side, delaying the cleanup for decades and swelling the budget? What have we learned from the reef? That we must be safe from naivete in government as much as business needs to be safe from zealous enforcers of environmental law, or we will continue to have situations like we have today where -- when the reef is finally capped and left for others to deal with, and we are justifiably gladhanding each other over the final result -- three decades of environmental justice will be interred with the bones and shame of Randle Reef. James Howlett lives in Hamilton. He was an adviser to the International Joint Commission on the Great Lakes, and serves as a tribunal judge on matters relating to fill and flooding under the Mines and Resources Act.

Asian carp search turns up nothing Feds to keep trying; critics see it as waste March 15, 2010 Dan Egan / Journal Sentinel Fishery crews have spent the past month chasing Asian carp with nets and fish-shocking tools on the Chicago canal system near Lake Michigan. They've landed zero Asian carp. Asian carp experts predicted this was a likely result when the fishing expedition started in mid-February. "These are incredibly hard fish to catch when there are not many of them," said Duane Chapman, a biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. But federal officials remain undeterred. They say the fishing will continue, despite criticism from some who see it as a distraction from the larger issue of forcing big changes on the Chicago canal system that has destroyed the natural separation between Lake Michigan and Mississippi River basin - a canal system that biologists say has become a "revolving door" for unwanted species such as zebra mussels, round gobies and now Asian carp to invade fresh waters with an ease nature never intended. "It is a waste of time and money," Tom Marks, New York director of the Great Lakes Sport Fishing Council, said of the ongoing fish sampling operation. Federal officials see it as a critical piece of their $78.5 million plan to keep the fish from colonizing Lake Michigan. The Obama administration released the plan after revelations that "environmental" DNA testing in and around Lake Michigan showed at least a handful of the ecosystem-ravaging fish had breached an electric fish barrier on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. The new plan sets aside about $4.6 million to remove Asian carp from the canals, to increase DNA testing and to conduct sampling operations like the one under way that relies on nets and shocking tools to get a better idea of the numbers, ages and locations of any fugitive fish. The operation is being conducted by several government agencies, and last week, no one could say how much it is costing taxpayers, but its weekly tab easily runs into the tens of thousands of dollars. Marks fears the longer crews fish without finding anything, the more it will take pressure off federal agencies to take more significant action to try to protect the Great Lakes. A coalition of Great Lakes states is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to force the agencies to do more to protect the lakes, and congressional pressure has been mounting as well. "I think they believe that a 'good show' with no results (of Asian carp) will prove what they have been saying; there are no carp above the barrier," Marks said. "Very few people . . . understand the (fishing) gear being used and its limitations in the environment it is being used." University of Notre Dame environmental DNA expert David Lodge explained in a recent U.S. Supreme Court filing the limitations of using nets and electricity to find evidence of the "leading edge" of the Asian carp invasion in a waterway the size of the canal system. It stretches over dozens of miles and is in places nearly three-stories deep and wider than a football field. It also is a waterway bursting with other fish species. Lodge wrote it would take an "extraordinary effort" using traditional fish survey tools such as nets and electro shocking to harvest only about 10% of a total fish population in a small lake. Head out onto a bigger system like the canal, he said, and crews can expect to land perhaps 1% of its total fish population. Now, if only 1% of that entire fish population can be expected to be harvested, and only a handful of Asian carp are within that overall population, odds are it's going to be darn hard to land an Asian carp. Feds want a fish While DNA testing during the last half year has yielded evidence of the fish in several areas above the barrier, including Lake Michigan itself, no fish have been found in those areas. The lack of fish is a big deal to the barge operators and tour boat owners who fear federal agencies are about to bow to political and public pressure and order intermittent closures of two navigational locks on the canal to try to choke the number of fish making their way into the lake. Biologists say a handful of fish swimming into the lake doesn't mean the fish will establish a successful colony. First the fish have to find each other, then they have to find a suitable place to spawn, then their offspring have to find enough to eat, live long enough to reach sexual maturity and start the whole process over again. For this reason, most experts say it will take a large number of fish over a sustained period of time to successfully establish a breeding population in Lake Michigan. That's why conservationists and politicians outside Chicago want to take dramatic steps on the canal now, even if it causes economic havoc for waterway-dependent industries still waiting to see an actual fish turn up in the waters above the barrier, which is about 25 miles downstream from Lake Michigan. Despite a lawsuit brought about by a coalition of Great Lakes states and congressional pressure, federal officials have resisted demands to close the locks, contending the leaky structures are less than ideal barriers and that closing them could unleash floods and economic havoc on the Chicago region. They also have sided with those dubious about the DNA results. "We'd like physical evidence, i.e. fish coming up in the gill nets or with electro fishing sampling before we are willing to acknowledge that there are fish there," said Charlie Wooley of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "We're using the (environmental) DNA as an indicator that there might be carp present," he adds. "And then we're going to physically sample to try to validate: Yes or no, are they there?" Yet the fact that they found zero fish tells very little, U.S. Geological Survey biologist Chapman said. "You're never going to prove a negative," he said. "No matter how much you fish, you're never going to prove there is not a fish there." Chapman says the netting operation does have value. While the weather is cold, there might be an opportunity to catch fish attracted to the warm-water discharges from the industries lining the canals, and finding some fish could give researchers a better idea of the size and location of the problem. Still, he says, if there are 100 fish in the canal system, crews could fish and electroshock for months and still never come up with a carcass. The $3 million carp Marks, of the Great Lakes Sport Fishing Council, said it is ironic that the government is using fish nets and electro shocking to try to confirm what the DNA is telling them because it was the failure to find the fish with nets and shocking that drove the government to use the DNA technology in the first place. After years of netting turned up no evidence of fish in the waters below the electric barrier at a time when common sense suggested the north-migrating fish should be there, last summer the Army Corps hired Notre Dame to do the DNA sampling, and those tests determined the fish were in the waters just below the barrier. That DNA evidence was a big reason the government spent about $3 million to poison the canal in December so the barrier could be briefly turned off for maintenance. Fishery crews spent the days after the poisoning picking up the floating carcasses of loads of non-Asian carp fish carcasses. Only one turned out to be an Asian carp. Government crews jokingly dubbed it the $3 million fish, but it did bolster the argument for the accuracy of the DNA testing. Henry Henderson of the Natural Resources Defense Council says that's an argument that should be over. "We have to be painfully aware of fact there is not bottomless pit of money to throw at this problem," he said.