ch312

i arrived on friday to find the bay was dead calm and i was lucky to be able to go 42 mph both ways. motored out and setup the boards and trolled for a while with no luck, so i tried long lining and riggers without a sniff. 4 hours of trolling and no fish wasn't looking good. the white you see is a couple hundred swans. you'll have to excuse the phone quality pics as my camera was one of the thing's i had forgot about. i got tired of trolling so i got ready to cast for the hundreds of unknown species of fish surfacing nearby that turned out to be gar from 16"-36". after an hour of trying different lures without success i gave up on that too. it was still cool seeing that many in one small area. next up was casting towards weeds on a drop off and i had one follow the first cast. after trying multiple baits i was getting follows but no takers, so i switched to an old 8-9" believer and nailed one first cast. i caught a few more fish, but i was still having too many follows. i also tried a super shad rap and got a couple on that too. i tried tossing plastics to the followers, but the water was so calm the fish would spook as i tried to set my rod down to switch. next up was a 7" original rapala, the lure of the day. the majority of fish came on this one, as you can see... best action? cast far and reel literally as fast as possible while imparting a jerking action with each "jerk" being like a hook set into a trophy fish. then, after 5-6 jerks i'd slow it down and use a normal jerkbait retrieve. this is when 75% of the fish hit. 20+ pike from 20"-36" landed 8-10 lost with one brute that was honestly 50"+ 20-30 follows to the boat believe it or not, at one point i caught 3 fish with 3 consecutive casts and lost a fish on the fourth. the huge scarred up fish that i had right beside the boat spit the lure while i was going for the net. when this one hit i knew instantly that this fish was in a different league than the rest and it was disappointing losing what would have been my PB. the action was hot right until i forced myself to leave just after the sun dropped below the horizon. i never would have thought that big baits fished very fast would be the ticket in 42-44 degree water, but they simply weren't interested in anything under 6" or slower than "rip their lips off" fast [] the action was too hot to get pics of them all, but here's a few since there's no pics of me for size reference, the net is 26" across. it doesn't look like it, but the fish in the last pic was 34" or so.

LMAO...here i thought you were bragging about a fast boat

i agree, but i really wouldn't put it past some people that are trying to protect "their" spot. who'd get charged? the guy loosening the lug nuts or the guy that caught them doing it and beat them with the tire iron they were using?

they reproduce like sunfish, are just as easy to catch, and sometimes taste just as good. who wouldn't? going by this report the native range of smallies reached north to north bay or so. http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/stdprodconsume/groups/lr/@mnr/@letsfish/documents/document/stdprod_095205.pdf

i wasn't going to touch this one, but i'll play since you're calling many of us "suckers". 1) resale value. better quality vehicles don't hold their value simply "just because". 2) without yearly oil spraying big 3 cars rust much worse than the so called imports. 3) most people have better thing's to spend their money on than a car. but, some do realize that a higher investment on quality means less headaches in the long run. 4) compare a big 3 car and import after 10 years on the road. the proof is in the puddin. like i said, you have to look at each class of vehicle, not each brand. chrysler may make good vans, but their cars suck the big one. as for premium gas, you're somewhat correct in that someone putting premium into an engine that doesn't need it is wasting money. but, some cars do in fact call for premium along with engines with higher compression. there IS a difference between regular and premium...

yep, just a slight tickle for some. we used to grab bare wires on purpose just for the heck of it. getting zapped at the panel is a slightly different story

import cars are worth every penny as the used car market proves which brands last in the long run and hold their value. when you're talking about cars the imports annihilate the big 3 in high mileage durability and make the higher initial investment very much worth it. by high mileage i mean 200k+. unlike their cars, big 3 trucks seem to hold up well as long as you take care of them. i wanted a tundra, but i have a purdy dodge. i haven't a clue about mini vans, nor do i even want to think about owning one any time soon

no, what i'm suggesting was not tried on the grand as those volunteers couldn't hand out tickets. having people on the water that can't enforce anything and the tips line = complete waste of time, we all know this. thing's would be much different if people were being handed $125 tickets rather than warnings from angry anglers. lack of enforcement is the #1 reason we all see so many laws broken.

the majority of people breaking the rules know what they're doing and simply play stupid when confronted. you're suppose to know the rules before you play and this is something we all learn when we're kids. a speeder that claims to not now the speed limit shouldn't get a ticket if he didn't see the sign? a hunter shooting a deer with a gun in a bow only area is ok if he didn't read the regs? if i kept that sturgeon i caught it would be ok as long as i claimed i didn't know they're protected? sorry, but i believe adults should be held accountable for their actions. it's not like fishing regulations are something new

my post said "appointed volunteers that have went through minimal training" meaning volunteers wishing to take part would need to take some training on how to deal with people and enforce the few rules i mentioned. they would target those 3 specific violations and would hand out tickets only for those simple thing's that can't really be disputed. i wasn't suggesting that every john, joe and harry would be able to hand out tickets, only a select few for each water body that are hand picked by the MNR. lowering the number of people fishing over the limit, no license and fishing in sanctuary/closed areas would be very beneficial to our fisheries and are simple black and white regulations that could be enforced by someone with minimal training. but, like i said, i assume it would never happen.

from what i've seen, your interpretation is the exact opposite of what really happens. remember, this is for cars. the big 3 do build good trucks that last, providing it has a ram on the front

when was the last time you shopped for a cheaper car? i went through this last year to help a friend and ALL of the higher mileage and older big 3 cars were complete garbage. most ran rough, hard shifting, leaking fluids, tons of rust, horrible mpg, and many parts that can wear had tons of play or were broken. after seeing nothing but junk she decided to spend more money and we started looking at the imports with the same high mileage and it was like comparing apples to oranges. i'd say we looked at and drove about 12-14 cars total and it was very evident that the big 3 cars were junk and simply worn out. if you'd read what i posted you'd see the point of posting those numbers is the cars from the big 3 are often scrapped or used in demo derbies when they're around the quarter mill mark while imports are still going strong. and no, these people aren't keeping their big 3 cars, they're selling them when they have much lower mileage. you can use autotrader, kijiji, craigslist, used car dealers, etc to browse for yourself to see REAL WORLD stats on what holds up over the years and miles. but, i'm sure you'd rather listen to websites and magazines that just happen to be funded by the winning brand?

this past sunday in caledonia the CO made a special stop to check me and one other guy who had to wade about 75-100 yards to show his license. i had the pleasure of showing it again the next day too. i fished the grand for a good 15 years without seeing a single CO on the river and then i got checked two days in a row. weird coincidence i guess? it would be nice if there was a way to have appointed volunteer CO's after having went through minimal training. they could hand out fines for simple thing's like being over the limit, no license, littering, etc and strictly enforce those rules only leaving trained officers to deal with more complicated or dangerous issues. it would cost next to nothing to operate, generate huge revenue for the fish, clean up the trash (garbage and poachers), and improve our fisheries. but, i assume that would never happen?

lol...don't get so defensive, it implies guilt i wasn't implying you do this as i haven't a clue about your fishing practices, but we're all aware this happens everywhere. i just don't see how someone can justify targeting one species and harvesting the eggs to help them catch a "better" fish. i guess it's the main reason why i'd fully support a ban on the use of roe. as far as buying fish vs wild caught. we all know it costs much more to catch them ourselves, but i think most of us are just fine with that.

i have the "pleasure" of owning a beagle/walker hound cross and know how stubborn they can be. i'm willing to bet he'll come back on his own as long as nobody interrupts him. there's been times when i take the dogs for a walk which ends up with me sitting and waiting for a couple hours sometimes for her to return. they seem to be very good with direction. hopefully he comes back soon and all is well slight hijack to help keep it up top; does anyone use a gps tracking device on their dogs? if so, how well do they work?

number of automatic cars with 300,000kms+ for sale on autotrader within 100kms of brantford : chevy : 2 toyota : 9 dodge : 0 ford : 2 nissan : 2 honda : 10 every region shows pretty much the same results in that toyota and honda cars last about twice as long as the rest. you sure don't see many ford, chev, or dodge cars in working condition over 200k, let alone 300k, because they're often put in derby's or scrapped by then.

finally, an update... put the 2" blazers on the firebolts and upgraded to a flemish string. after tuning the lumizone scope at 20 yards i hit 1" dots at 20,30,40, and caught the edge of the dot at 50 yards. i was sitting and using a bipod and can't wait to try some grouping off the bench. i guess that's one of the reasons why i chose a recurve

^^^^^^^^^^^^^ best answer so far...

like those who think nothing of slicing a salmon for roe, but would crucify someone that did the same to a steelhead? selective harvest indeed i believe the 300 limit on panfish in the kawarthas was introduced to thin out the huge populations of those tasty little egg robbing fish to help the larger species?

brian, thanks for looking. i'll go see the old man this week sometime to see if he can dig it up so i can post it for you guys.

trust me, the fish was out of the water for less time than it took to type this sentence and was treated with the respect it deserved. unfortunately the same can't be said for the other guy that caught what appears to be the same fish as the pic shows him holding the fish by the gill plates for his pic :wallbash: :wallbash:

out of curiosity, how did you come to the conclusion that there has been an "over-harvest" of trout and salmon this year?

i was talking about my truck. i take the fan clutch (big fan attached to the front of the engine) off every winter to help with getting to operating temp quicker just like i did with the dakota. it still runs at the exact same temperature as with the fan on, but long idling isn't a good idea. i sat in a drive thru for 10 mins today and the needle didn't move. i believe she has the 3.55 gears.

exactly. every winter a storm rolls in and the weathermen make it sound like the "storm of the century" is coming and it often results in a whopping 2-3" of snow. more media hype to boost ratings and people fall for it every time...

YES! please post it if you can find it. the headline was something along the lines of "ok, where's the chips" someone else caught a sturgeon in the same water and same area last week and got his picture in the paper. i'm assuming it's the same fish, but we'll never know. it would have been cool to get my pic in the paper with a sturgeon just like the old man did 20 years ago. yep, but i did receive a couple cuts on my hand after tailing the fish and didn't realize until after that it was probably from those little nubs on the fish.