Steve

never used the "d" version, but my original calcutta te's are amazing! good to hear the "d"s are holding up.

Rapala make fantastic lures. The Taildancer series, J series (especially J11 and J13), as well as the X Rap series, are all best in class!!! Once you upgrade the hardware you have fish catching machines. (I also just started into the Rapala R Type planer board rods as well....quality build from what I can see so far).

I can guarantee you one thing. The bait will cost well over 10 dollars, likely closer to 20 dollars, will have fancy foil or other "real life" paint jobs..... then will be built with the cheapest split rings and cheapest hooks China will make....

I hope we sign Stamkos, but we must remember he is only a "top 40" scorer....not a "top 10" or certainly not a "top 5" scorer. I believe he currently is in 42nd in scoring ..... certainly not a $12M / year player!!! (but I do believe we will be signing him...just not sure for how much)

I trust you are not calling out Mr Serge Lapointe?! Because while Serge may have been a lot of things, an idiot was not one of them!

absolutely awesome!! thank you for the reply. out of curiosity, who were your pro's?

MM, I believe Stamkos is going to end up in Toronto ... I'm just afraid what we are going to pay him to do so.

You were a great help!! Believe it or not, I learned a tremendous amount that day. I think no matter how experienced or skilled an angler is, they can always keep learning. Bass clubs are also great for that...lots of sharing. jedimaster, if you could, what was the main difference (or differences) to fishing your program down there vs the same program or similar up here? You adapted very quickly, clearly. (way to represent Canada!!!)

ya, hows that person doing lately from Tampa Bay? Last two seasons actually. I hope we don't sell the Leafs future on a huge contract who may be successful as Neon Dion was. We should work from within. Nylander, Marner, and Kapanen are our future. If we sign a huge salary player, we may not have enough to pay our actual future. I'm not quite on the Stamkos train like so many others.

Interesting note about how the tournament discussions work in tournies down there vs up here. personally, I believe it is due to "pro's" vs "wannabees". Pro's are already doing it. They have confidence. They see it as growing the sport. They don't mind sharing, right up to blast off. Up here most guys are only dreaming of being a pro, working Monday to Friday and fishing on the weekend. Therefore, fewer folks want to share any success or help....now, there certainly are the exceptions, like Mr Hirk on this thread who was very helpful when I fished with him. But the norm is "tight lipped" leading up to an event, and even after an event. Great on you to see the success you did down there, and even better to report it to us up here. Cheers!

new captain can only be one player. no other player comes closer to providing the leadership qualities Uncle Leo does. it only make sense.

Bondar, I re-watched it...and I think you are 100% correct. Drag was too loose to start, then was tightening it up...which means the second he took his hand off the handle of the reel the extra slack was created - fish off. Well, the show has got my blood pumping enough....I'm heading out on Lake Ontario tomorrow for a winter troll. :)

I know what you boys mean. When Manny was battling that huge pike, he had the fish to the gears...heavy rod doubled over....then I saw him go for the drag....thought NO don't do that...I mean, he likely wasn't tightening the drag, rather letting off it a bit....no sooner he did that the fish popped off!!! I've done that a number of times...big fish on...let off the drag....fish off. Shows that the fish simply wins every once and a while. You can tell Manny simply has natural skills...he makes it look easy, almost like he isn't trying...but he nailed the big walleye in the river on the minnow spread, nailed the big pike (which he lost) in the last episode, caught the big crappie, and also nailed the huge sturgeon ... what a heart breaker that sturgeon was...you knew with five or six floating buoy markers that handling a huge sturgeon would be trouble.... Aaron Wiebe is a fish whisperer. The way he explains his fishing decisions is second to none. Manny's Pike, Crappie, and Sturgeon were all as a result of Aaron's excellent guidance. But Manny had the skills to hook the fish in all three cases. (just unlucky to lose two of the three). I could watch this series forever. (and yes, I'm totally game for a fun attempt of our own this spring/summer)

enjoyed episode 5 very much. the boys from Saskatchewan are hard core! Fished through the entire night ... and kept going all morning. watching Manny battle that huge sturgeon was tons of fun! paul and taro pulled more bonehead moves, this time forgetting the trolling gear while attempting to catch the biggest walleye on Erie. They also forget the trolling gear the day before on Lake Ontario trying to fish for salmon, lol. Was awesome seeing them get that 24" walleye rip jigging in 30' of water though. my money is on Team Saskatchewan, but had Manny landed the monster sturgeon, I think Manitoba would have had it in the bag. best fishing show ever.

yah, I heard (and already suspected) who was doin' the stealin'.... but didn't want to mention it ....

ahhh heck, I'm sure I'll take flak from the gun folks on this board but....... his vehicle was getting stolen...his family was not in danger, he was not in danger, he had no right to shoot and kill anyone! Call the cops. A quick call to 911 advising that you are WATCHING someone steal your truck will have cops there before he gets on the road (right FfA?). You can't shoot and kill people that are stealing your property. Not in this country!

dave, you are 10000% correct. Music playing these days is absolutely horrible. Brutal MP3's, cheap iphone/ipod/etc speakers.... Cheap stereo's. Streaming of audio...listening to compressed crap and most kids (younger than 40) don't even have a clue what they are missing... recordings are overloaded with volume, taking all audio dynamics out of the equation. Its rather unfortunate that we are at a time when "getting" music is easier than ever, yet the quality of the sound itself is the worst it has ever been. Video on the other hand....now that is much better than ever before.

So I watched the three episodes last night. As a multi species angler myself, who targets every fresh water fish that swims, I think the Uncut 39 hrs of Angling is the best fishing I've ever seen on TV. Favourite highlights so far: - Paul and Taro starting so late Saturday morning (Talk about confidence, lol) - Taro getting shut out of McDonalds for filming. - Manny from team Manitoba just absolutely kills me. - Paul is the best fisherman I've ever seen on TV. The way he moves from species to species with confidence and expertise is second to none. - Taro is like Manny, absolutely hilarious. - Love how Manitoba and Saskatchewan plan on fishing through the night...Paul and Taro, not so much. :) (again, over confidence). Truthfully, Manitoba and Saskatchewan wouldn't have a chance of winning this if Paul and Taro fished more seriously. They could have gotten the King first thing Saturday morning (if they were actually fishing) and would be able to get some big cats on the grand fishing Saturday night (if they weren't sleeping, lol). Niagara River / Niagara Bar / Lake Ontario, for multi species angling, is likely the best spot in all of Canada. Manitoba and Saskatchewan anglers have to keep changing lakes / waterbodies to hit their multi species needs.....Taro and Paul COULD Have done it with just the Niagara River / Lake Ontario and the Grand River. And ... I have to say it again, Paul's ability to fish multispecies is second to none. So far they have 3 way'd, casted, jigged, fly fished, downrigged, dipsy'd, and planer boarded - all without going back to shore!!!! I can't wait to see what "day two" brings...we'll see if Lake Diefenbaker will save team Saskatchewan. If they hit a mutant Brown, Bow, and Walleye, they just might be able to pull this off. (and I kinda hope they give Team Ontario a run for their money, as Team Ontario could have fished smarter). THIS is what fishing TV should be all about!

Well said Mr Ironmaker. spoken from experience, clearly.

I don't worry much about possessions. 17 year old boat. 7 year old motor. 6 year old truck....but at least I own them.... I know lots of folks who live it up....but on credit....and really, nothing wrong with that....you only live once, and can't take it with you. :) Each to their own.

'mericans are awesome!!! :)

Lots of people spending big money...more than ever before.... But those people aren't really "fishing board types". Even the fisherman themselves that are the "haves" don't post on boards like these....because, well, they are looked down at for having money. White collar workers are making more than ever...and are spending more than ever....but the demographic of most of the fishing boards are blue collar workers.... Unless you are working in power energy (nuclear mainly), unfortunately not a lot of money to be had out there..unless you're in a professional industry... Those who are buying cottages in the burtons, muskokas, etc are playing millions for their cottage.....dropping 100k or 200k on a boat is just a drop in the bucket.... Tons of tech millionaires working in the KW/Guelph/Waterloo area as well...they aren't your typical ofc fishing board members....but certainly are buying fishing boats....cause lots of people love to fish!!!

Staples isn't scubbing any security camera's, lol. Staples would want the footage in the event Cliff was a fraud and decided to sue for millions of dollars claiming everything under the sun.

We already have Kapanen and Komarov...then maybe we get Laine, Puljujarvi, or Juolevi in the upcoming draft.... Strong, smart and talented Finns. The future is looking bright.

Leo is still locked up for 2 more years (at an incredible $2.95m / year). UFA in the 2018-2019 season. Leo will not be traded. Not even for a 1st round draft pick at trade deadline. The only teams that would want him (that would pay for him) would be teams making a run for the cup. If a team makes a run for the cup, that means they'll have a high draft pick. Trading Leo isn't even worth a 1st round pick above 18 or so.... Leo will be around for the length of his contract...and by that point, he will be revered like Gilmour or Clark was (not saying as good, just as revered) ... and he will be offered a long term contract to end his career with.