Spiel

....Hey shoot me a PM Garry if you're holed up for a few days with your daughter. Perhaps we can find time to grab a coffee together. And thanks for all those wonderful reports from the sunny south.

....Nice to have you on board. Good luck with them stripers!

....Wow sounds like my dream job, oh well I'll least be able to read your reports at some point. Congratulations, sounds like you're in for a fantastic summer.

....Sheesh, you're never around when I've been in Roger. But I do appreciate you taking the time to respond with the facts on that big aquarium.

....Just a suggestion but GET OFF THOSE DAMN RESERVE SMOKES ! Man those things are nasty. Other than that I hope you feel better soon.

....So I'm not a sissy? I'm so confused.

"Roe is for sissies, real men use jigs!" ....I use roe. But those are some sweet jigs, nicely done.

....Brutal!

....Phew, thank goodness I didn't end up on Gerritt's team. And even better is I made it on to Bernie's team.

....Now that there is one of them there species I needs to put on my "to catch" list (it's a long list).

....Well this is also the first I heard about it (thanks for posting Auger). It sure looks like it would have been a blast, perhaps next year we'll have to try and attend Gerritt.

....I believe what you're refering to is steel crimping sleeves and yes they are for forming the loop on heavy floro or wire leaders. As for floro, never really got on the band wagon. I'm also a big believer in minimal hardware so all my leaders are attached via triple surgeons knot. Center pin reel advantage is a direct taught line to your bait (float) and a smooth revolving spool that rotates with minimal effort thus allowing a better drag free presentation. Mind you this can also be achieved with a quality level wind reel.

....So we're all good then, everybody is a Mod?

....You ought fix that problem then.

....Worked fine for me.

....I know of bright Kings running in the spring with loose roe in certain Ontario rivers. I've also encountered and seen plenty of fall spawning rainbows, go figure.

Community group to manage Roches Point dock yorkregion.com Mar 26, 2008 Georgina council members voted unanimously last night to allow a community association to manage a local dock and beachfront on Lake Simcoe. The move comes after years of complaints of drunken rowdiness, illegal fishing, noise and drug abuse at the Roches Point public dock. It prompted a couple who live next door to offer to buy the property for $650,000 and close it to the public, forcing council to declare the sale to be considered during a meeting that packed the council chambers. The offer sparked the Roches Point Community Association to come forward with an alternate plan to manage the dock area with the hope of ending the chronic problems. The association members feared losing local use of the lakefront area — a federal dock for more than a century before it was taken over by the town several years ago. Association president Murray Marriage said the proposed sale would also set a dangerous precedent leading to more potential private takeovers of public lakefront. Council supported the proposal after hearing plans for the complete transformation of the property, including the continuation of its use by Georgina residents only, council. A report from the town's leisure services department will outline details of the agreement.

....That there is some good advice.

....Congrats Pete (Charmaine), sounds like a sweet ride.

:D :D

....Kind a sums up my thoughts.... Editorial

Still plenty of ice fishing to be done; Walleye season ends Tuesday; bring on the pike and trout March 29, 2008 Bruce Heidman / thesudburystar.com If you're still looking for your hard-water walleye fix, better get out there this weekend. The walleye season now closes April 1 in newly created zone 10, where Greater Sudbury and surrounding area falls in. The walleye season used to be open until April 14 north of Highway 17, but that is no longer the case. Ice fishing huts must also be removed by Tuesday. However, other angling opportunities abound, and at least one new one is available for local anglers. The season for northern pike in zone 10 is now open year round. As a bonus, the biggest pike of the year are often caught during late winter. Big pike are filling up for extra energy for the spawn and are loaded full of eggs or milt, making them even heavier. The best place to start your search for these big toothy critters is at the first or second dropoff on the edge of weedy spawning bays. Find a spot on the north or northwest section of a lake out from an a incoming flow of water, no matter how small, and you just may have a pike magnet. Big bait, especially lively suckers and dead smelt, hooked up on a quick-strike rig under tip-ups are tops for pike this time of year. Pike, even big ones, are scavengers and eat up winter kill. Some anglers even swear by killing big suckers right before putting them on their hooks. Check regulations for the lake you intend to fish to find out if smelt are legal to use as bait. There is a slot limit for pike in zone 10. Those with sportfishing licences can still keep six fish, but only two greater than 24 inches of which one may be greater than 33.9 inches. Those with conservation licences may keep two pike, only one greater than 24 inches and none greater than 33.9 inches in length. The trout season is still in full swing, be it lakers, specks or splake. With the water temperature the same throughout the water column this time of year, lake trout can be anywhere. During family trip to Lake Joseph in the Muskokas last week, we found them in 140 feet of water, while a friend fishing Manitoulin Island's Lake Manitou was catching them 30 feet down the same weekend. Run and gun is the order of the day until you contact fish. A set line with a live minnow and a jigging rod with varying assortment of jigging spoons are often the way to go for these denizens of the deep. Speckled, or brook trout, cruise the shallows this time of year. Search out mud-bottom bays in as little as two or three feet of water. An incoming stream bringing in oxygenated water can improve your odds. The biggest specks I've caught were in three feet of water only three feet off shore. Keep off the ice if possible after setting tip-ups with small minnows or worms to avoid spooking shallow fish, or stay as still as possible while jigging tiny spoons. Panfish, including perch, are open year round and can offer fast and furious action this time of year. Female perch are loaded with eggs this time of year, and for a special treat remove the egg sacs, batter them up and toss them in the frying pan with the fillets. Get your fishing fix now if possible. We're only a couple of weeks away from that terrible time of year where there isn't enough ice to support anglers and not enough open water to grab a rod and reel or launch a boat. I shudder at the thought. Bruce Heidman is The Star's sports editor and a fishing fanatic.

New dockage for anglers and boaters March 26, 2008 Nadine Schofield / midnorthmonitor.com Espanola; On Tuesday, March 18 the shores of Lang Lake featured a joyous occasion; the official ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the new dock. Construction is about 80% complete on the dock being built by Acton Contracting and is fully funded by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Small Craft Harbours Branch. The cost of building is $40,000. Maintenance is administered through the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines and the Rainbow Country Local Service Board (RCLSB). The project took 10 years to successfully secure funding doe to the persistence of Marcel Rancourt, President of the Lang Lake Cottagers Association. Over 180 cottagers use the public dock located close to the Lang Lake Resort owned by Konstantin and Liudmila Aizenberg. Lang Lake is just one of eight interconnecting lakes accessible from the dock. Constructed out of hemlock, the new dock will finally eliminate the hazards that plagued the old dock. The new dock is four feet wider than the previous one. Brent St. Denis said, “One thing about it taking this long (10 years), it will last that much longer.” He commended the dedication and persistence of those involved commenting that the cottagers, many who come from the United States and southern Ontario, will know that RCLSB cares about them. Richard Foucault, Chairman of the RCLSB, sent out his sincere thanks to his board and everyone involved, and commented on how Acton Contracting is going out of their way to make sure that the dock is well reinforced for the long road. They are also coming in under budget and on time. Marcel Rancourt of the Lang Lake Cottagers Association said that the Ministry of Natural Resources didn’t take an active role in the project, which is why they relied heavily on Brent St. Denis’s office for support over the last 10 years. The new dock was necessary as water was coming over the sides of the dock, people were having accidents and grass was growing in the middle of the old structure. Rancourt expressed how grateful the Lang Lake Cottagers Association was to the RCLSB for their support

Remove ice huts now, MNR cautions March 26, 2008 Kate Weldon / barrysbaythisweek.com The deadline for ice hut removal is soon approaching. Although March 31 is the day all ice huts need to be off frozen waterways, Pembroke District Ministry of Natural Resources Special Project Officer Doug Skeggs says, "Now’s the time folks, don’t wait." He says spring temperatures are unpredictable and a quick rise in temperature and a little rainfall can turn a frozen lake into a swimming pool with the blink of an eye. "If you leave it (an ice hut) on too long it may no longer be safe to retrieve it." Every year, Skeggs says, ice huts fall through the ice because their owners don’t remove them in time. The structure, along with its contents, end up on the bottom of the lake where they can interfere with the ecosystem of aquatic life. Those who leave their hut out on the ice after March 31 can face a fine of $150 under the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act.

Monitoring of at-risk species set to start Mar 28, 2008 Craig Campbell/ Dundas Star Several organizations will team up to monitor the effect of a July pesticide spill into Spencer Creek on animals that use the creek and Cootes Paradise as a food source. Fire douse water from a Head Street pesticide plant fire allegedly killed all living organisms in the creek, which flows into Cootes Paradise and Hamilton Harbour. The contamination may have effectively wiped out the food source for several at-risk or endangered species, and potentially created new at-risk species of animals that once thrived in the area. But no new data has been collected over the past eight months as monitoring of the birds, amphibians and mammals that eat in and around Spencer Creek has not started yet. But Ministry of Environment spokesperson Jennifer Hall said a rehabilitation and recovery plan drawn up by a partnership including the MOE, Hamilton Conservation Authority and Royal Botanical Gardens will include monitoring of animals affected by the loss of their food source. Small aquatic organisms; "No one agency can do it," Ms. Hall said. "We have to rely on the expertise everyone has to offer. The ministry is monitoring the recovery of the small aquatic organisms which are the food supply for fish. "Additional sampling of the creek for both water and sediment quality will be carried out in the spring." Counts of other animals in addition to fish will also take place beginning in the spring. But Karla Spence-Diermair, species at-risk biologist at the RBG, said it could be quite a while before anyone determines whether the July 2007 spill actually impacted animals other than fish and microscopic aquatic organisms. "Basically, it would be ongoing research, and we'd discover it over the years," Ms. Spence-Diermair said. She said that would include finding evidence of a particular species being wiped out completely, or a brand new at risk species being created from an animal that was once stable. Among the species considered at risk in the Spencer Creek area are specific fish and turtles. Ms. Spence-Diermair suggested birds may naturally defend themselves because they fly off to find a new food source. "But they probably drank the water, which would have more of an impact than losing their food source," she said.