Pipestoneflyguy

That is so sad.....and so preventable... I always wear my PFD on moving water but tend not to on still water. I find the bulkiness hinders my casting, I know thats not a valid excuse but none-the-less I do it anyway, those with Pontoons/tubes prolly know where I'm coming from...(and I never wear it in the motor boat either) - Anyway I discussed this with the wife (after she saw the fishing trip pictures) and decided instead of trying to change my stuborn behaviour I am buying one of those trick inflatables - I guess in the end we decided my life is worth more than what I spend on a typical reel. Crazy but it took two years before I honestly assessed what risk I was exposing to myself to. Its amazing what I've spent on toys like the new spey rod yet I've walked by those inflatable PFD's numerous times and thought "Hmm those are nice but right now I'd rather have...." I suppose a discussion of auto vs manual inflators would educational....

Great Thread ! My dad only took me fishing once as a child, it was at a trout farm in Ontario, and the fee included our can of corn LOL (same thing with camping and a number of other outdoor activities, my dad is an exec type so these things were likely fatherly obligations that had to be satisfied at some point from his point of few) - although dad is not an outdoorsman I consider myself lucky that he was willing to go out and give these things a shot either way so that us kids could experience them He has never taken to fishing as anything more than an occasional distraction, its just not what he is all about, none-the-less my fondest memories include him flying out for my cold lake trip last year, he had a great time and he even let me give him a few fly casting lessons. He had a 5 way bypass this last winter so he couldn't make this years trip so last years memories are all that much more important to me now. For some reason, that we never really determined, he kept landing perch while the rest of us caught pike, provided some great comic relief.....

It was painful to see how much junk is still up in the hills when I got home LOL

It may be overkill but a 12 wt would make life alot easier with some of those 6 - 12 inch flies, I would choose a 10 myself but that said I would rather be over powered than under.

Many of my best spots were found this way - All those maps, google earth, etc etc are resourses everyone has access to so finding something trully untouched may be harder than one would think - for me the real thrill is finding some hidden monster in a place the no angler in his/her right mind would consider exploring. This leads to more than a few fishless days but if your into the hiking and angling for the pleasure of angling (not just catching fish) this is a rewarding way to go - It may seem hard to find secret little spots but trust me, its even harder to keep them secret once you do, LOL

Just got back from Wolf Lake - had a great time, I landed about 125 fish over the week but kept only a couple walleye (within the tag program) - no real trophies landed, seems the big fellas were still hanging out pretty deep. Here is a 7-1/5 lb'er I caught on my first cast, winning both the first fish and largest fish pools on the first cast of the trip.... Here is Tara sporting a truly wonderful "first fish ever" smile... If you wanna go catch fish non-stop this is a place worth checking out... Huge leech hatch this year - found lots of them on pretty well every fish landed, apparently same deal in Pigeon...

Saw a magazine (non-fishing) story about a rare platinum peacock (the whole thing was white,) would love to score some of those feathers/herl - anybody ever seen some for sale anywhere ?

Remember the rod is just a tool for adding flexibility and forgiveness (give) to the connection between you and the fish (essentially to keep the line from breaking from shock loading) with the lighter rod I just add the flexability with my elbows, arms and body. When a fish is on, keep your elbows bent and close to your shoulders, when shock loaded on a run and the rod is reaching its limit simply use your arms to absorb the load instead. It looks a little exagerated but its a better option than standing there with a busted rod LOL. I find by using this technique I can land the fish just as efficiently with the 5 as I do with the 7.

Thanks Ron - Figured it out....(so thats called an avatar, I'm not to savy the computer....)

Welcome aboard ! I fished The Ottawa River my last business trip out, was awesome fishing, landed a beauty Brown and lost a HUGE muskie or pike on a mad run, one of my best nights of fishing ever ! Can't remember the name but the spot was reccomended by a local fly shop, it is a bridge to Hull with three little islands (one is a park). Tons of nice riffles and runs plus a whack of pockets and deep runs all very close togther..... I love how you can be a KM from shore and still only be waist deep - can't wait for my next trip out. CYA

If you do hit wedge bring a variety of beadheaded chronies (black with glass and/or gold beads worked well my last time out) - slow retrieve and takes near the surface where what was working my last trip out, but from what I have read the pond can be pretty hit and miss though

Is it normal that I can't see my own profile picture ? - just wondering, as I can see everyone elses....I can see it on my profile page, just not the posts...

Caught a brookie out of the Horse with a full back I tied with my wife's cats backside under-hair (was outa black marabou) - also used fine brush (duster) hairs for antenea and tails for tricos and Baetis, not very classy but they also never crease or break like natural hair Ahhh yeah ...so what fly/pattern calls for wife's "curly hair", that is all kinds of nasty LOL

Pretty hot and sunny all day yesterday, revy mud started moving again by the end of the day, we expect the same weather today, luckily it is still close to zero at night so the water was clear this morning but by late day it will be dirty again and running high - chances are it will be dirty but from what I read that means you just need to change the way you approach your technique - see all the dirty water posts...

I caught a good 20-30 pike on my 7wt last year up at Ethel, mind you its an old Omni with blanks as thick as my fingers so it fairly tough but none-the-less I had no trouble landing a few decent sized fish with it - biggest issue was keeeping the bigger flies in the air long ebough to get a decent distance on my cast, get a stiff wind behind you and the fun starts (but put that hat on backwards covering the ears) - I did land a few with my 5wt (a softy too) no big problems landing them either, they just don't fight the way a trout does, once they are on their way to you just keep their head in the right direction and they'll swim right up, a long handled net will make a big difference. They will take one last attempt to run at seeing the boat / your legs / the net so be ready for it with extra tension on at that distance on retrieve and it will deter them from trying. Those toothy critter leaders are a great investment but if you are near reeds I reccomend picking up the toothy-critter tippet instead, once you hit a reed it coils the line which is nearly impossible to get out, with the tippet I run about 6 to 8 inches of it on a leader that will break before the rod giving me a fuse of sorts and if I hit a reed I have tons of the stuff in back-up (I still have a few feet from last years trip, I bought 1 pack of 15lb and 1 pack of 20lb) I found yellow / red clousers got me the most hits last year - and bring long handled forceps if you don't have a spreader - bring a few surface flies too - they don't always take them but when they do its a friggin hoot !

Hey Flytyer - didn't know you are a vet - one word: Thanks I've got a few in the family (and a great uncle lost in WW1) so my respect runs deep - I visited the new war museum in Ottawa this year, was an incredible day, great to see something in place which is truly comensurate with the sacrifices our veterans have made. One of my good friends served in Egypt in the 50's, his stories are fascinating and from him I learned that a country does not have to be in wartime for those sacrifices to be made.

Oops flytyer - I see you did the deed earlier today - my bad - Oh damn - was it Pacres - ahhh who cares - site looks great anyway!

You'll notice a difference - especially somewhere like Wedge pond - being able to cast to cruisers as you see them coming is what its all about... Mine are prescription so I get used to not being able to read my sat radio, my GPS, basically anything with an LCD screen

Way to break that cherry Birchy !