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Thinking of buying a 50 Gallon fish tank and putting a bass in it, but i am wondering what i should feed the bass, other then minnows, leeches, worms, bugs and beetles... Hoping I am not the first idiot to try this and someone would be able to give me some decent advice

I have a trailer up in Ennismore on Buckhorn. This past weekend was the Theona Park fishing tournament - 16 teams. I've entered the last 3 years rotating partners between my dad, my brother and this year a family friend. This season has been a weird one. Catching in unconventional ways compared to the norm. The heavenly spots that you visualize catches on aren't producing. There's definitely been quantity this year but nothing of substantial size. A normal day is anywhere from 4-8 1lb largies. Despite all of this I had a good gut feeling about the tournament. We had a smallie spot in mind that we knew we needed to hit first but it was going to be tough knowing others knew about it as well. Sure enough someone had beat us to it and within 45 min landed himself what had seemed to be a 5lb. smallie. This sent us for a whirl and really crushed any excitement we had started out with. We started working a small patch of reeds around that spot and an hour and a bit in landed our first bass (3lb) on a white swimmer. We worked up a shoreline not far from that spot and while my friend was working the back of the boat out into more open water I was hitting the shoreline with a wacky, something that hadn't been working for me all season until then. I landed two 4+ lb. largemouth on that worm and just like that we felt like we may be in the running. The last few hours were near dead and the last 2 bass caught were just to fill the limit and add to our overall weight but I was really hoping on that one bass to maybe even take biggest fish. It was close. At weigh in we had a total of 13.6 landing us 3rd place! Largest fish went to that guys smallie at 4.85. My largest fish was just under him at 4.6. All in all it was a great day and the first time I've ever placed in a tournament or caught that quality of fish in a day. It really made up for a not so exciting season on our lake thus far.

Ok, perhaps I am totally out to lunch here, but I have a serious question for all of the bass anglers out there. Is it just me and my friends, or has there been a massive sharp decline in large sized bass and even species over the past 2 years. Here is my hypothesis and supporting piece of evidence. Hypothesis: The record cold and winters that we had 2 years ago severly impacted the population of aging bass and in some northern locals nearly eliminated populations of largemouth bass. Or a natural culling cycle is occuring. -In the years 2008-2013...it went without question that in the Pointe Au Baril area, i could consistently catch largemouth bass in certain honey holes that I could frequent. No harvesting of bass was ever done in these spots, nor did I ever witness other anglers specifically targeting these fish in these locations over a 6 year period of time. That was until last summer where I became totally perplexed by the decline in the largemouth population in the Pointe Au Baril area. Last year I caught a grand total of 2 largemouth bass in an entire year. -The MNR was conducting a study in the Pointe Au Baril area of fishing rates and catches for the entire year. I routinely ran into the MNR every weekend I angled for the entire year. The one student (I cant recall his name now) was in the boat every weekend and by the end of the summer his weekly visit to my boat always included some additional fishing talk. I sure enough inquired to him about bass catch rates and he indicated that out of the entire year, he had a grand total tally of 4 largemouths being caught in the entire PAB area by all anglers over the course of the entire year. (incredible) -My main fishing homie has a spot on upper buckhorn. He consistently fishes every single weekend from bass opener until thanksgiving. Last year his largest fish was a 3.5 largemouth bass. The trailer record for the entire year was 4.5lbs and I would put their family catch numbers for the year well over 800. The pattern has held this year and he has yet to break the 4lb mark. In previous years it was without question that him along with with father and dads best friend would consistently boat 4lb bass with at least a few 5lbers all the way up to 7 lbers on an annual basis. - I spent approximately 45 hours this past week targeting smallmouth bass. I would estimate that myself along with my fishing buddy boated over 60 fish over the course of the week. Out of these 60 fish, the largest was 3lbs 1oz I was just reading a report and noticed that fisherpete said he fished rice this past weekend and caught 25 fish and the biggest largie he could muster was 3lbs...Ive also had some PM conversations with other members here that consistently boat big bass and they had indicated that the size of fish was way way down. so I put this out to all you bass fishers out there...is something going on? Is this just a natural cycle? Did those 2 unusually cold winters do something or am i just cookoo? Where the Nicklebass at Tho?! holla at me!

My brother doctored his sunfish lure. Before: After: No coffee, just a 3:30am wake-up call when you're 7 and going fishin'.. First bass of the season and someone's photography skills are not up to snuff. Brother bass Not sure if this one was looking for love? Or a meal? For a moment he thought he had the bass of the year. All 3 of us had hits on the sunfish but my brother was the only one to get a bass in the boat. Still not peak slop frog season anyway but had to try 'em. We fished only topwaters and did well for numbers but getting the "big ones" in the boat didn't work-out. The jr. angler was having a tough time getting his hooked fish into the boat but finished the day with the biggest bass landed.

Well here we go, for me the season of 2015 is done. 2015 Was a fun year for me covering a little bit of everything. Ice fishing late January and Feburary, great success on the creek this spring with the Rainbow’s. Walleye wasn’t amazing but the two times I got invited out by my friend Glenn we caught some fish and had awesome weather to do it in. Bass opener soon followed then one two week camping trip and a 6 night trip in September. All in all I can’t complain too much I got to fish lot’s and enjoy my summer. Didn’t break any PB’s this year except a big trout but aside from that I sucked. Didn’t catch any 5lb+ smallies on the inland lakes I stay at. Largemouth this year were bigger on average but no giant’s, some nice low to high 4lbr’s breaking 5lbs once. Maybe next year well break the PB Largemouth and find that 7lb’r I’ve been searching for. With my last trip out back in September fall has been slow just working and picking up things for the boat project next spring. We finally got away from the rental so should be able to fish a extra week or two next summer. Rental’s are expensive so the 14’ deep and wide open floor style boat I picked up will be perfect for the smaller lakes. On with some pictures now! First trip out for 2015 was Rice Lake Ice Fishing. We mainly were after a few cold beers and some good food from Rhino’s but got out on the ice for a few hours managed to catch a little over a dozen Perch and Sunfish. Was a good “ice breaker” after many weeks of cold and snow. Back to basics, no wind so had all I needed lol. Decent Perch Got out on Lake Simcoe for 2 trips out with a hut rental operator. Caught lot’s and had to bring lunch and tackle was awesome! Clean fish always a nice treat Trout opener soon followed. I was surprised this year how busy the creek was, decided to wait until the first weeks in May, less fish but no crowd and could actually enjoy a hour or 2 down there tossing small spinners and crankbaits into the pool’s. Here are a few pictures from my trips out. Dozen’s of these guys, fun fish New PB, no scale or tape I would guess 7-8lbs the fight was intense on the 6’6 Light Fast Spinning Rod. I did good work keeping the fish on deffinately test’s the “light” equiptment. And another Beauty little trout love this shot Walleye then opened up next. My first of the year haha dink from Rice Lake always happy to catch a couple there. Another day another pair to take home 2015 Lineup ready for war with bass season around the corner, lineup always changes have added another rod and reel I think since then Bass opener wasn’t great. I got out with another friend of mine on Clear Lake for the day. We caught dozen’s of bass many small smallmouth and a few walleye also that day. I hooked up with the 2 only decent bass that day. After so much open water and rock I convinced my friend to steer the boat into a backbay that was shallow. Not a 10 minutes in I hooked up with a nice chunky largemouth. Made my day had me wanting to be on my home waters in Eastern Ontario right at that moment love slop and heavy cover. Next trip was first 2 weeks of August. Lot’s of pictures I choose some of the better pics. First of the trip, morning fish on the jerkbait out deep Not many frog fish this year but here was a pair My papa came with us on this trip. This was his first bass and ended up being the biggest of the trip. Went 5lbs 9oz and is his new PB. Life took us apart for 6 or 7 years so now that things are good again I expect to take more trips with my Papa, Dad and Uncle in the future. Still mad he beat me haha not next year! Very thankful he brought me into fishing when I was very young. Every morning I love throwing the popper around. Didn’t produce any size this year. Caught lot’s of nice bass like this one but no piggy’s this year. Lot’s of these 2-3lb class fish on the plastics and jigs. They sure do love that 3.5” TRJ Big fish from pads close to deep water. Love that new Aldebaran 50HG incredable reel very strong. Every summer I tangle with a few of these here was the biggest of the trip Swim Jig’s were a important addition to my techniques this year caught big fish and lot’s of them. Good for covering vast weedy areas, I used this on outside edges and when going from slop bed to slop bed anywhere I could, even sinking it deep and fishing it like a crankbait worked well on tougher days. More Largies from the deep on jerkbaits Few smallies too finally showed up Got off shore this year learning to visually follow weedlines, flipping a jig down them worked in the afternoons pretty good got to expand on this more next summer My dad and I wanted to start a tradition with my uncle and friend out where we go fishing. So here was the deal. 2 boats Dad and I vs the other two guys(locals). We did cooler’s with running bilge pump’s(Home made livewells) and went for a 4 fish limit. We set out at 5am and had until 11am so 5 hours made for a quick derby. Dad and I only boated 6 fish that morning I think with 2 in the well. We won and took bragging right’s for the summer with 8lbs 10oz the other guys had 4 fish for 7lbs 10oz haha. Nobody caught a kicker and we had basically 3 2lbr’s with one bass around 3lbs. Can’t wait to do it again always fun a little competition Last round was my trip I took back in September. We went for the last 6 days and it was fun. Fish were biting and I did pretty good. First morning, cold but got a nice smallie to come up and crush the spinnerbait Another spot another Smallmouth Only got 1 bass from slop this trip was nice to get one pitching the plastic around Back to my friend, the Jig Big fish of the trip Spinnerbait bite was strong, was happy to come across it After the rain And another Last outing for me was a fun one. After a tough 1 bite morning I was mad at the fish. I went out solo after breakfast until 3 or 4 that afternoon. Burning a spinnerbait on some weedlines produced nothing but Pike, did the jig in the same spots and came up empty. Abandoned my gameplan and went shallow and to a channel where there might of been warmer water. Sure enough I found decent slop and dead weed in the channel so we got onto a stretch of maybe 3 or 4 bites in a hundred yards. These 2 were nice so they got seats in the livewell. Made me happy and I turned a terrible day into a good day, was nice to put pressure on yourself and when you can be successful it all becomes worth it. https://youtu.be/c4qaz8wZzDg This summer I got a GoPro so am just starting editing and making little clips. Here was one I put together from my trip in September. Can’t wait to do more of this next year, thanks for reading and viewing all the pictures everybody! Be safe this winter and good luck to everybody in 2016 MTBF

Made it out for some fish today. It appeared that many other fishermen also had the same idea. My choice would have been to go hunting but Ryan asked to go fishing since he gets to more actively participate. Most of the areas we wanted to try already had someone else and I'd rather try a new water rather than crowd another boat. We bounced around looking for some topwater fish and only had few hits and a couple of hook-ups, but only a single bass in the boat. Made it home before the end of the Jay's game. Did get a bird the other day as well. I was really hoping to have some fish to go with it.

Well 6 of use headed up near Point Au Baril for the weekend, had awesome time Thanks to the people that offered advice, Rock shoals produced some nice bass for us. First morning just the guys went out, found a shoal just around the corner from the cottage, we were drop shottin. We managed to land 9 bass, mostly smaller ones under a pound but got one 3lber, and i lost a big 4+ near the boat. i thought that one would haunt me all weekend Matt with the first decent fish of the weekend Got a few of these tiny guys throughout the weekend as well We went out a bit later on in the day but never really got into them, just some smaller bass. The next morning was spent recovering from the night before, so we didn't get out until the afternoon. We spent an hour casting for pike with no luck...just couldn't find the weeds we needed. We were about to our original rock shoal that produced morning before, but i took a scan of the area on the Navionics and noticed a few really nice looking rock shoals just a few hundred yards away, so i said we'll hit this up before going back, glad we stopped there! We caught a few 2-3lbers and things were looking up, I switched to an anglers choice Misty craw tube, and within a few casts felt a thud on the line. A few botched net jobs and a dozen crazy runs later a nice black Georgian bay football was in the net! Made up for losing the tank i had on the day before. Right after that every one started using tubes, ken got a nice pike and others were catching some nice bass as well. I managed another nice bass on the tube, then a few minutes later i hooked into another giant. Another great fight and i got the second tank in the boat! Took some measurements and released them both to fight another day. I thought it would go 5lbs but it was a hair under, 19.5". That was the highlight of the trip for me, what a blast catching these were. We went out to a shallow bay and managed nearly a dozen hits on the topwater frogs but didnt keep any buttoned. Needed more time to hone in the top water hook set i guess! Thanks for reading people!

Out in the boat with my brother and son today. Topwater bass was the plan but the bass missed the memo. Ryan was the first one with a fish in the boat... His biggest yet, although he was accused of cheating because he switched to a crankbait. "Black" bass for my brother I found some pike as well We even got some pike back in the slop with the rubber frogs.. My first though was I had a really solid bass, then i figured it might be a bowfin but once we got it out of the weeds it was another pike. In the end we caught a few more bass than pike but considering we hadn't caught/seen any pike in these spots for 6 weeks it was a bit of a surprise.

Decided last minute to take my son fishing today and this was the going to be our first boat launch without adult supervision. He did great, I did ok, and we caught some fish. Not bad for a stinkin' hot day. He was too busy catching fish to even finish his snacks... and he's always eating his snacks. Now he needs to practice using a camera so we can get some photos of all those monsters I catch.

Two trips, one post. Fair amount of hits and we even got the hooks into a few. Despite years of tips, my brother doesn't take the best photos even with his own camera. Ryan had some hits on his topwater but couldn't get the hooks into one. Lots of panfish though. Saw lots of gar as well but they didn't seem to be too interested in rubber frogs.

Hi all, got out for a couple of hours at William's Bay on Lac Seul before rain(and lightning) stopped play. The roads up there are like driving on tarmac almost, right upto the last 200 yards before the landing, whether you come past Silver water wheel route or the William's Creek route. The walleye bite was probably the worst I have ever had, although we met plenty at the landing that had no trouble finding them in numbers and size. We saw lots on sonar but was difficult to get them to bite, not so with the bass. We must have caught at least twenty in almost as many minutes, definitely on the beds right up on shore....almost impossible to catch anything under 18", definitely more fun than chasing walleye with lockjaw!

Hi Everybody! It's been a while since I've made a new post, but there will be more to come! It’s been a busy year and with a new addition (it’s a boy!) to the family in May (Just in time for pike season) I haven't hit the water as much as normally would. I did find the time to finally start working on a tattoo I have had planned for years. Each fish represents a time and place in my life. 1. The catfish - This represents my time spent fishing in Virginia in a private pond back when I was 5-6 years old. My parents had just split up and we relocated from the BVI to Virginia to stay with family friends while we planned where were were going to go next. I spent hours fishing this little pond with my buddy, often with a bamboo rod. We caught plenty of panfish, but we always had a blast when a big ole cat would come along and take our bait. These are my earliest memories of fishing, and the time where my addiction truly began. 2. The smallmouth - fast forward a few years to Ontario, location Jack Lake. Another family friend had picked up a cottage on the North east side of the lake in the early 90s. This is where I really learned about the joys of bass fishing. These days the lake can be tough to fish, and I primarily target musky when I do visit the lake - but those days chasing bass on Jack Lake taught me the importance of using the right lure at the right time at the right place. 3. The pike - I was torn between getting a musky or a pike tattoo. These days at least 80% of my fishing is dedicated to musky, but I decided pike fishing is where it all started. I can remember the very first time I saw a pike, it was watching Bob Izumi's fishing (probably 20 years ago!) and he had caught an absolute monster pike, well over 40 inches. I went to bed dreaming of that monster and in 2003 I realized that I didn't have to go way up north for big pike, we had them right here in Toronto. I joined OFC back in 2004 to show off some of the awesome pike Jon and I had caught at the Islands. 4. The brook trout – When I moved out east to Halifax 7 years ago I was heartbroken to be leaving behind my pike and musky. I quickly learned that while the brook trout of Nova Scotia don’t get too big, they are unmatched in their beauty. With light gear I explored small rivers and roadside ditches teaming with brookies. I haven’t targeted brook trout since I moved back to Ontario a couple of years ago, but the memories of these fish are as vivid as their colours. I am 8.5 hours in so far, and there are a good 8 hours left to go. The work was done by Scott Duncan (fisherman/fly tier/artist/hunter) at Sugarshack Tattoo in Kincardine, Ontario. (http://www.sugarshacktattoo.com) The pictures! These are are early photos, and there is additional detailing that will be added during the final sitting. The initial planning sketch. The outline The catfish The smallmouth The Pike

Made it out on the water this past weekend. With this amazing weather you would be stupid not too! Add in the fact that the fish were on a feeding frenzy, it makes for an amazing outing. Caught these fish on shallow rocks with tubes, senkos, jerkbaits, crankbaits, it all worked! Also tightened up on a couple eater sized walleye that made excellent table fare! Enjoy the pics, and get out there while their hot!

Hey guys, Haven't been on much lately, been really busy with work and whatnot. Amongst the bussy-ness, I have still been able to get out for some fishing! All start at the day after Bass Opener when I landed a PB bucketmouth. This is at a local lake, that is not named, and know one knows about it, yet it is on public property. Kinda weird how isolated it is from the nearby civilization, I haven't even seen signs of other people around the area (garbage etc) so its a nice getaway close to home. Caught this guy close to dusk, flinging a fly (egg sucking leech) and it was quite the fight on a little 5wt, with a 4lb test leader. Especially when it goes straight into the slop and you gotta pull it out LOL. Anyways here is the picture of this big fella. Didn't have a scale or tape measure on me, or even my OFC sign, Team 3 would've had a nice boost! Next up, was a little brookie trip on a cool day. Woke up late but still managed to be on the stream by 8 am, water temp 68, perfect, walk down stream a bit, and what do I see.. 20-30 cut up brookies, Bigger sizes to, quite a few 10 inchers. Disgusting that people would think this is okay on these small streams, considering the legal limit is 5 per person, I couldn't imagine 6 people fishing in this stream together at the same time.. Anywho, after seeing that I decided that the stream had seen enough pressure, and I moved on to another, less productive stream. This is my first year of targeting brookies and I enjoy every minute of it, From crawling through thick bush, to seeing them dash out from underneath the bank to smash the spinner, its all a thrill. I went 6 for 9 in 2 hours, and even found a spot with enough room to toss a fly. Had to keep one due to an extremely deep hooking, but all other were released unharmed. Here's a quick picture of the first one of the day.. Now, I recently have taken up fly tying. I just want to give a quick thanks to a local guy who gave me some great materials at insanely low prices. He has tons of extra material and he's always looking to sell some, so if your interested lemme know and I will give you his contact info. Anyway here are my first few ties, if people could chime in that would be greatly appreciated, need to know what mistakes I'm making or any suggestions. First Tie Cone Head Wooly Bugger #2 Clouser Minnows. (Been slaying Grand River Smallies with these) #3 Foam Ant? Didn't really follow any pattern just tied up mquickly before a panfish outting. Sunnies smashed it all night. #4 Little Minnow Imitation, Don't really know a name as i just tied off the top of my head. #5 Bass Popper (so far only sunfish been hitting it.) And that's all for now, in the mean time I will be on the water, and tying flies. If you have any tying recommendations for my flies, or even suggested patterns that I might wanna try I'd love to hear em, Thanks! PS I am changing my username from shasta, to Snaggy to match the other forums I am on to keep it consistent, just a heads up!

Hey Everyone, I'm looking to buy a house north of Sudbury sometime this year. I was wondering if anyone would be kind enough to share some fishing tips as I haven't been up there much. I'm not looking for anyone's honey hole, just a place with easier access where I can catch a few Pike and/or bass. I fish from a canoe mostly, so maybe some smaller lakes that aren't as well known? Thanks in advance! JW

Hey Everyone, Heading up to Moon river and fishing woods bay for bass, I,ve never been before can anyone share some maps or some spots that hold bass? LM or SM Thanks in advance,

Hey! I hear people say they fish for bass and pike on the Grand river all the time. I just moved to Cambridge and I was wondering if someone could tell me where the better access are? I plan to fish from my canoe. Thanks for the help!

Hello All, The fishing on the Rideau River has been hot the last couple of days - in sharp contrast to the lacklustre action the previous weeks, smack in the middle of never-ending fronts. This is a short video I filmed on Monday. The largies were stacked on a mid-river wind-swept slop edge. Water depth was approximately 3 to 4 feet and flipping jigs accounted for all fish.

Well the plan was to try Couchinching today in the hopes that some spots might produce some fish that would keep the adults happy while also holding some panfish that would keep Ryan interested. Small issue luanching. The Orillia triathlon was on so the area was much busier then normal but the launh itself was fine and we were quickly on our way. First spot produced a nice fish to start. crankbait bass And as hoped, lots of fish for Ryan. We didn't take too many pan fish photos. The rest of the bass we did find were small but ounce we had them hooked Ryan was on the reel. Ryan is getting better handling fish but they sometimes still end up on the bottom of the boat before they get back in the water. And with a predictable conclusion on the ride home.

Never met my mother's father, the man who passed on his bum chin. In fact, other than a faded picture in memory and some sentimental genetics, sitting here today I can't even think what his name is. A soldier in WWII he left this earth 20 plus years before my time, and nothing has ever been said. However, until this past April my step-grandfather was there my entire life, and although it seems as if I only knew Norm just a little more, until his long struggles with lung disease took his last, hard breath, he was there. The spring came in angry. After our family laid Norm to rest on the 2nd, the first few weeks of April life kinda sang off like some lousy country song. The 3rd I picked up a bug which really zapped the energy for about 2 1/2 weeks. The truck engine done died, just after having a front-end diff installed, and the wife's car went in twice too leaving me without a vehicle for nearly two weeks. My buddy Kev lost his best friend, at far too young an age. Too much winter augering, I picked up a stubborn epicondylitis for the first time which still doesn't want to go away. While transferring a critically injured patient to Ottawa in the ambulance, a triple IV pump broke off it's pole landing on my knee, this leading to a week of no good. And come May things didn't improve either, for I was left no choice but to cancel out on a fly-in fishing trip to the Attawapiskat, and then later in the month I received word that friends and past co-workers lost Dustin and others when an ORNGE helicopter went down in Moosonee...... On the work front I had one of those remarkably trying days. Male in 20's, small car smoked from behind at high-speed, basically detached his head or rattled his brain to bleed. Impossible to describe all of what three of us needed to do to keep him alive long enough for me to transfer with him and the Medics to the city. The toll on this one was exhausting... How was the weather, did it suck? Hardly noticed. Been awhile it seems since writing anything, so maybe best to prepare for a long-winded one. Been stock-piling spring photos too and like always, rather than post weekly, when finding a long days downtime I'd rather just pick out some best pics and package it all up. This here be the spring recap. 　 Before all the woes, fishing was off to a great start. Spring steelheading was something new, and of all the fishing this past while, it's those days with friends Mike and Luke, and some great bows caught, that could very well be a highlight of the season. Walking the river, placing the cast, controlling the drift and seeing that float drop is definitely an all encompassing, different kind of cool fishing experience. Time this year was the most rewarding yet, and the hope is to build on that with trips ahead. Really quite appreciated these fish and days fishing, and considering the horror stories of "loogans" and lined banks of anglers, on our trips we found more than enough free space to ourselves. Some favorite fish... 　 During the down and out weeks after steelie fishing it got into my head that it was time to sell the WarCanoe. Pulling off the winter tarps there was some first wood rot in spots and work to be done. Summer sun is hard on a wooden boat, trailering not much easier, and the waters down here are full of strange fungi spores which get into the wood and expand. It came to mind that up in the northern cold, running rivers like it used to, is the best place for a longer life and it's end of days. So, up on Kijiji she went... and I waited... and waited. A few fellas showed interest but, not really, and some were just too far away to come and get it. Again the hope was it would go north, and one guy from Waskaganish seemed to really want it. No sale once May arrived, when it was almost time to start hitting the walleye I couldn't take it. Keel and splash guard rot got routed or cut out, repaired or replaced, a couple dry trouble spots on the gunnels took some touch-ups and a gouge in the canvas was filled with some fiberglass. Honda slapped on the back and the WarCanoe was ready to go another year, and in most respects now I'm quite happy with that. No pavement, no cell service, no guides, no luxuries along the way, we've got some amazing history exploring the WarCanoe and I, traveling and fishing the northern rivers of James Bay. 　 It was about a week before May when fishing resumed. Kicked off those days with lakers. When the weather forecast looked alright, my buddy Pat and I took off for Lady O to try our luck on some big pan greasers. The previous year with my father we came up empty during an insane midge hatch, well low and behold we timed it again perfectly to fish this years even more insane midge hatch. Wind saved us from digesting swarming bugs with our eyes, but the fishing was tough again. However, did manage to make it worth the trip with one tank. Won't be the last time fishing lakers on that stage. 　 Trollin' and riggin' is always great, but with some summer plans for that, it's nice to take advantage of ice-out casting opportunities when available. Sight fishing and chucking lures to shallow cruising laketrout, it's really quite a rush to have your offering creamed by a charging fish. Having some fun playing them out on light gear and seeing them swim away unscathed (except the odd BBQ'er) into their frigid waters is hard to beat. The numbers of fish can be awesome too. This window always closes fast, yet with a couple friends along it's definitely worth peering in for a look. This spring Huddy and Patty joined me in the Lund and the company was surely welcome. 　 What would be spring without a little crappie fishing. Table fare they're great. Sociability they're perfect. Fun factor is high. There has to be no easier fish to catch during the month after ice out than crappies so, why not hit 'em up? This spring took off on tour several times to have my father, my oldest friend Fraser, usual suspect Patty and new buddy Doug join along. A solo trip with perfect timing actually turned out to be the banner day of all though, for during four hours one afternoon, anchored, another boat circling, I had the chance to experience the best crappie numbers in my life. If it wasn't every cast, it was every second cast a fish came over the gunnel. When I called a buddy up on the way home to tell him about it, we just had to meet on the road so he could raid the well a little and steal enough of a meal for himself. Some new spots, some old, it'll be filling to revisit these spring grocery stores in the future. Strange story before crappie fishing with Doug is we both showed up at the launch with our boats. A gentleman, being closer to home he returned his while I took the hour and a half wait to come good on a promise with an old friend. At a nearby school Caroline teaches Kindergarten, and she asked me to stop in and speak with the kids about nursing, healthcare and the North. It was a remarkably feel-good morning. I had been reluctant to do this for some odd reason, but kids are little people that I often see at work by the 100's each year, so upon arriving at school I found my cool. This class though, thirty of them at once, all energetic, inquisitive, individual, wild and coming right at me with hands raised, questions to ask, stories to tell and things to show, it is exhausting stuff and my hat goes off to teachers who do this day in and day out for our children. During our visit the kids learned some Cree words, heard some northern and nursing stories, and were taught a little about CPR. Then it was off to meet Doug and that was equally great. An exceptionally nice dood. Two walleye openers this year, division 18 and 15 are a week apart. Plans to hang out for a day with friends up in 15, for the 18 opener I just slipped out a short while to get a fix. This spring the eye fishing is a little off-keel. Wonky weather and water temps could be to blame? Maybe it's water snakes eating up the supply? But seriously, of all the fishing in the past month, the eyes have needed the most work to get results. No skunks but an almost happened... and so even though the fishing has been tough, rather than quit and sell the gear it'll just require more time and fine tuning. Gotta respect the eyes around here, they're often a serious challenge. 　 In preparation for summer trips I usually hit the vice on a couple rainy days each spring. This year so far, about 30 smaller 1/4-ounce bucktail jigs have been tied, a couple big 5-inch & 1-ounce laker jigs have proved tasty, and more inline bucktails will need to be finished. Sniffing laquer to dizzy, sneezing from fur and feathers, and this season swatting skitters in the garage, it'd almost make more sense to maybe try and jump on some wagon to a couple ProStaff deals rather than suffer the work hazards of producing things for myself. That said, when I peg giant speckles, pike, or lakers on one of these hand-tied creations, it'll be worth it. Continued...

Hey guys, new to the site. I've been out a few times this year and have only caught a few little perch and some sunfish. I've been to lake eugenia, waldemar fishing the grand river and the Orangeville reservoir. I am wondering if you guys know any areas around Orangeville ( 1-1.5 hour drive ) that I could try for some bigger more exciting fish. I dont own a boat so shore fishing is my only option unfortunately. Thanks for the help in advance.

If I'm out of line on this, please someone tell me but this really bugs me. My parents have owned a cottage in the Kwarthas before I was born and our lake is fortunate (after this weekend I'm thinking unfortunate) enough to have great bass, walleye and muskie fishing. With the long weekend and walleye being open there were a lot of people on the lake. As a rule, I have a couple of spots that I like to hit up for a walleye but if I catch a bass I won't go back to that spot until after bass opener (call me a little neurotic but I don't like bothering or hooking into spawning fish) There were a few spots I saw people fishing, rocky shoals and weed beds in <4 feet of water where I knew all they would catch are bass but I kept my mouth shut as, they are just trying to have fun and probably didn't know where to target walleye. What really really got me was, on sunday afternoon, a guy with a a bass boat worth more then my car, comes trolling by all of the docks on our side of the lake, tossing what looked like a spinner bait in and around all of the docks. Now, again, don't judge a book by its cover, but this guy looked like he knew all too well what he was doing and all he would have been doing is pulling spawning bass off of their nests. Has it got to the point where people just don't care anymore? The mentality of 'I'm going to catch the fish I want, when I want and unless I get a ticket I'm going to keep going?' Don't get me wrong, I like keeping fish for dinner as much as the next guy, but I would really like it if, when I have children or grandchildren, I can take them out to catch more then just White Sucker an Carp.