Spiel

....Ah....what's best served with white grapes and white wine.

....Fishing must be keep'n ya busy.

....Yea I've heard that Raf, I don't get but hey, to each there own.

....For those who may have missed it....RAF! http://www.ofncommunity.com/forums/index.p...mp;#entry198682 Scroll down to the last post, TJ's.

....Thank you very much Chuck and Sinker. Weather permitting back tomorrow.

....Wow, your very own private brookie paradise for four days. I'm jealous. Have a great time Doug.

....According to a map I have there is a public boat launch in or near Island Grove. Can anyone tell me if this a useable ramp with available parking. Thanks.

Uranium Producer Warns of Lake Ontario Pollution May 22, 2008 IAN AUSTEN / nytimes.com OTTAWA — Cameco, the world’s largest uranium producer, has told the Canadian nuclear regulator that its refinery might have leaked uranium, arsenic and fluorides into Lake Ontario. The plant at Port Hope, Ontario, across the lake from Rochester and down the shore from Toronto, first refined uranium for the Manhattan Project during World War II. It has been temporarily closed since July to remove contaminated soil. A spokesman for Cameco, Lyle Krahn, said Wednesday that a computer model created for the cleanup, which is several months behind schedule, indicated that the radioactive and toxic materials have been polluting a harbor adjacent to the factory. The harbor leads directly to the lake. The company notified the regulatory agency, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, about the finding at a meeting last week and now plans drilling tests to confirm the contamination and to measure its extent. “We’re anticipating that material may have been entering the harbor,” Mr. Krahn said, adding that Cameco did not know how long it would take to confirm any possible pollution. A spokesman for the agency, Aurèle Gervais, said: “The Port Hope UF6 plant matter has been ongoing for some time and the harbor issue is a recent development,” using the chemical formula for uranium hexafluoride. In a background paper prepared for the agency’s commissioners last week, its staff concluded that the potential remained for continued water pollution from the plant. Cameco in general and the aging Port Hope refinery, which transforms mined uranium into forms suitable for electrical power reactors, have long been targets of environmental groups and the regulatory agency. After a flood last year closed one of the company’s mines, which produces about 10 percent of the world’s uranium, Linda J. Keen, then the head of the regulatory agency, said her commissioners and staff had a “lack of confidence” in Cameco and its management. Gordon Edwards, the president of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, an environmental group in Montreal, said that contamination of the lake had been assumed, given the plant’s age, history and location. “There’s a long history of contamination at Port Hope,” he said. “The whole siting of this refinery is absurd. It’s right in the center of town, it’s on flood plain and right on the lakefront.” The plant was opened in the 1930s by Eldorado Mining and Refining to process radium and has undergone several cleanups. The most recent effort began in July when a construction project at the factory uncovered soil contamination that led to the plant’s closing. At the time, the company said that the shutdown and cleanup would take about two months. Mr. Krahn said the 18 million-Canadian-dollar project, which involves removing soil under the plant and constructing a leakproof floor, will be finished by the third quarter. If drilling confirms lake pollution, Mr. Krahn said that Cameco did not expect that would delay the plant’s reopening.

....It' invisible to everyone but you and I GCD.

....I guess I could make time to be there. Might be entertaining.

Tories extend gun ownership amnesty; No Prosecution (Saskatoon Star Phoenix) OTTAWA - The Harper government has extended the two-year-old amnesty that protects firearms owners from prosecution if they fail to register their rifles and shotguns. The Cabinet approved a directive on May 8 that extends the amnesty to May, 2009, virtually guaranteeing the Conservatives will not have to risk defeat of a bill scrapping the controversial registry before the next federal election. A senior Liberal MP who once was in charge of the registry as a solicitor-general says the essentially inactive registry, now under RCMP management, has become a bigger waste of money under the current government than it was under the Liberals. Prince Edward Island MP Wayne Easter pointed to a published report last month that the government has foregone $56.5-million in fees through the amnesty and a separate waiver for licence-renewal fees over the next three years while the registry is expected to cost $35.9 million. "They're wasting far more money now," he said. "All they are doing is playing political games. They're not implementing the law the way it was supposed to be implemented, and they're not getting rid of it either." The Conservative government first introduced the amnesty on May 17, 2006, to protect individuals, according to the Cabinet order, "from incurring criminal liability under the Criminal Code as a result of the illegal possession of unregistered non-restricted firearms." The previous day, Auditor-General Sheila Fraser had tabled a follow-up report on the gun registry after her first explosive expose in 2002 ignited a firestorm, confirming the registry had cost taxpayers $946-million from its inception in 1995 to 2005. Fraser's second report found the Canada Firearms Centre had made "satisfactory progress" implementing her 2002 recommendations on financial reporting, but the audit also found accounting errors that resulted in the Department of Justice under-reporting the centre's cost by $60-million over two years. Ms. Fraser also found weaknesses in the centre's management of firearms information and contracting problems.

....Good stuff Al and Chuck. I didn't fare as well, man I marked steady fish all day but only had four hits and landed two. Julie, my GF being a rookie said she felt something (?) on a half a dozen occasions but never connected. I did venture to the west of the pack Chuck thinking you'd be in that area but never saw you. Al you were anchored fairly close to me at one point. Did you all notice the boats out there....LOL

I know you're not going to regret it Roy, it's a ting o beauty!

....Bingo, nice haul. I'll be out there tomorrow with the GF and the dog if'n you see me say hello.

....Good golly! Now I'll get to see what me own motor looks like from behind. Very nice Roy.

....You are correct Glen, he is a relatively new and welcome member here.

.....Absolutely makes sense. While longer steelhead rods are designed to flex and handle big fish they are not designed to take the shock loading of casting heavy pike/musky baits. Also keep in mind the average size of the hooks on big pike/musky baits, a trout rod is not designed for setting these hooks into bony, toothy mouths. A shorter stout rod is the ticket. Trust your local tackle shop owner, he's definitely trying to help you.

Tasty bluegill are worth the effort May 23, 2008 Terry Curtis / northumberlandtoday.com With the spring fishing season just kicking into gear and the walleye, pike, panfish and trout seasons having opened recently, I've got a question for you: what's your favourite fish for dining pleasure? Most Canadians name walleye as their number one eating fish, and there is no doubt they are right up there on my list, as well. Especially freshly caught ones deep-fried in a beer batter while on a northern fishing trip. Something about the whole experience of the clean, crisp air and the smell of those walleye fillets sizzling in a cast iron frying pan over a hot fire is enough to turn even the pickiest of fish eaters into a bottomless pit! Ah, but let's not forget our crappie friends. I'll take a feed of those tasty little critters any time, cooked almost any way. Pan fried, deep fried, on the barbecue, it doesn't matter. In fact, I find them almost better-tasting than walleye, but maybe that's because I've eaten so many walleye over the years compared to crappie. After all, crappie didn't arrive on the scene locally until a few short years ago, and very few people in our area had ever tasted them. Boy, have I made up for lost time in the last 10 years or so! I've eaten my share, and then some! Yes, walleye and crappie are some mighty fine and tasty eating. As are pike and trout, I might add. But, what about the lowly bluegill? Do you eat them? Unlike our visitors from the south, most Canadians tend to overlook these firm-bodied panfish, thinking of them as a pest or, in some cases, a garbage fish. For anyone who hasn't tasted them, bluegill are probably one of the best eating fish in the world. Although their fillets are tiny and they are a pain to clean, these fish are so sweet it's almost a sin to eat them! Those Americans know a good thing when they eat it. That's why you'll see them bringing in baskets of bluegill to the fish cleaning huts around the Kawartha Lakes. Whether they're filleted, or scaled, gutted and then cooked with the skin on, those little rascals are well worth the time it takes to clean them. Best of all, they aren't hard to find and catch. You might say they aren't the brightest of fish and will willingly eat anything from tiny minnows or teeny pieces of worm to plastic, one-inch tube jigs - especially yellow and white tube jigs. They can't resist them, likely because they resemble the bass eggs they love to steal from the bass nests. Two- or four-pound line is more than enough to land bluegill and the best way to fish them is on a 1/16-ounce lead head jig under a tiny sensitive float. And leave the heavy rods at home. The very lightest of ultralite rods and reels will be more than you need. I guess by now you want to know where to find these fish. Check out sandy shorelines early in the year, especially those areas where bass spawn. Oh, and don't forget to check out overhanging willow trees along these shorelines. The combination of sand and willows is a proven bluegill magnet until the water starts to warm up and the bass spawn is over. Then you simply move out to the first weedlines off the shore. Bluegill will inhabit them by the hundreds and hundreds and the fishing is easy! As I mentioned before, bluegill aren't real sharp and are easy to catch, especially early in the first weeks of June. Keep a sharp fillet knife at the ready. Once you find a school of these pretty little fish you'll need it back on shore. Overlooked and underrated for their feisty fighting skills and taste, bluegill are more than worth the effort it takes to clean them, and there isn't a better or easier fish to catch for a family outing. Even for old kids like me!

Panfish limits lifted in region; Local tourism operators relieved May 23, 2008 Ronald Zajac / recorder.ca The Ontario government has lifted catch limits on sunfish and yellow perch for at least two years, a move applauded by local tourism operators who faced financial damage from the restrictions. But an outspoken eastern Ontario MPP, while welcoming the reversal at Queen's Park on the two types of panfish, said it should have happened in days rather than weeks. Officials at the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) announced in a prepared statement Wednesday that, effective immediately, "there are no catch and possession limits on sunfish and yellow perch in Fisheries Management Zone 18 in eastern Ontario." Zone 18 extends from Trenton to the Quebec border and north to northern Lanark County. The ministry will set up a "fisheries advisory council" for the zone to advise the MNR on sunfish and perch management rules to be put in place in 2010, the statement added. It describes the advisory council as being made up of "volunteers who represent the wide variety of interests related to fishing within the zone and provide advice to the ministry." The MNR had imposed a daily limit of 25 of the panfish with a conservation licence or 50 with a sportfishing licence. That left local tourism operators fretting over heavy financial losses due to cancellations and lost bookings, in particular from American fishermen who felt the catch limits did not make a trip to this area worth their while. Roxanne Stewart, co-owner of Nordlaw Lodge on Bob's Lake north of Westport, credited Natural Resources Minister Donna Cansfield with following through on her promise to find a temporary solution to the problem - even if it took nearly six weeks from the April 12 meeting the minister attended in Westport. "I'm very pleased," said Stewart, who credited a groundswell of opposition from local groups for the suspension of the limits. "It doesn't matter how round the wheel is, sometimes it just needs a little push to get it going." The move comes too late for Stewart and other operators to get back the Memorial Day weekend crowd south of the border, but at least they can start calling back people who have cancelled for later in the season, she said. There will be a financial impact no matter what, since fishing operators, like any other businesspeople, are feeling the effects of high gas prices, said Stewart. The panfish limits were just one more nail in the coffin. "She's (Cansfield) pulled one nail back out," said Stewart. Bill Wills, who co-owns the Upper Rideau Resorts cabin rental business near Westport, said the MNR decision was "wonderful news," adding his business lost at least four or five rentals as a result of the limits. People who stay at his cabins also buy bait in the area and eat at local restaurants, noted Wills. "It's had to have some sort of large-scale detrimental effect." Wills, who lives in Baltimore, said other pressures on American tourism to Canada, including the high Canadian dollar, high gas prices and uncertainty over U.S. passport rules, had no effect on his business last year. But once the panfish limits became known, many fishermen stayed away as a result, said Wills. Although his July and August rentals tend to be to families on vacation, the period from this coming weekend to mid-June tends to see fishermen rent his cabins, said Wills. "A surprising percentage of them want to catch the panfish." His business's next step will be to call back people who cancelled, said Wills. Local opponents of the panfish limits felt the restrictions were imposed without consultation and without supporting scientific data. They argued panfish such as crappies, yellow perch and sunfish are thriving in area lakes and preying on the eggs and fry of bass and walleye. Randy Hillier, the Progressive-Conservative MPP for Lanark-Frontenac, Lennox and Addington and one of the leaders of the charge against the restrictions, welcomed their removal. "I think it's a victory for rural Ontario," said Hillier, adding it is also "a victory for sensibility and reasonableness." But the Opposition MPP said Cansfield assured him a variation order, which allows the minister to change catch limits as deemed necessary, could be done in two days. He compared the panfish situation to another recent MNR about-face on bait size restrictions, saying it is symptomatic of a bureaucracy that does not want to admit mistakes. "Here was ... another one of those simple little screwups by the MNR," said Hillier. "It still took them six weeks to sign a variation order. "Clearly, the bureaucracy is in control." Hillier likes the "premise" of the advisory council, but worries it might be stacked in favour of "people from one side of the equation." David Bauer, a spokesman for Cansfield, denied the delay was an example of bureaucracy run amok and said Hillier likely misinterpreted the minister's remark. "We have to study situations as they come to us," he said. "Jumping the gun is just something that is irresponsible." The ministry "did hear concerns from the local tourism industry" about the impact of the restrictions on business and strove to make a decision that favours the sustainability both of the species in question and the local economy, said Bauer. The advisory committee is now being set up and its membership will be balanced, he added.

....I think a complete overhaul of our bass (and other species) seasons is long overdue.

....Well I'm kinda undecided on that GCD. Likely going to use a braid or fused line of one sort or another.

....I've copied this from the Simcoe board as I know many here also frequent the Simcoe board and in one way or another have likely been helped by Slyatv. Good day folks, I haven't talked to some of you in a LONG time. I hope all is well with you. I'd like to clear up any confusion with Icedude's post from yesterday. A lot of you were not on the mailing list. As some of you may or may not know, Shane Young, better known as SLYATV has been diagnosed with stage 3 throat cancer (on the vocal cord). He will be starting his radiation and chemotherapy treatments in early June. They are scheduling him for a 7 week period if not longer. Shane will be out of commission and unable to work for a while. Unable to work and with no benefits from his employer, no income other than what he can claim through unemployment, I am reaching out to you for your assistance in helping Shane out financially and emotionally. Some of you don't like me and the feeling may be mutual, (LOL) and some of you may not know me, BUT this is NOT about US, this is about Shane. And I KNOW all of you know him. A person who has helped SO MANY people, be it friends or strangers. It is now time to pay back someone who has probably helped you in one way or another. I am in the process of opening a Trust Fund under his name and will provide the info once I get it. I hope to have it in place by Monday. I have already been in touch with my bank and have an appointment with them on Monday. I did not realize there was so much paper work and hoop jumping to open one of these things but it will come together. I am also going to organize a fishing touney after I get this Trust Fund thing worked out. I want to make it 100% payout to SLYATV. The winners can have bragging rights. I'll keep you folks up to date and I truly hope you can all help in one way or another. I have included MY e-mail if you want to talk about this off line. Post this on other boards folks and help spread the word. I also want to say THANK YOU VERY MUCH to all those who replied to my e-mail from yesterday. GREAT to see that there IS a lot of support for Shane. THANKS AGAIN!! George aka RSB!!! Thread on Simcoe board

....Those above would be Erie fish.

....White (silver) bass and white (silver) perch are two different fish and those above me friend are of the bass variety. White Bass White Perch

....Those are two sentiments I could not possibly agree more with!