verado

About 15 years ago I was fishing on Erie on a flat calm day about 2 miles out. I noticed a V in the water coming straight at me that turned out to be some kind of water snake. I had a 17' Lund at the time with a small rear boarding platform that was parallel to the water. That damn snake was determined it was crawling up on to my platform and I knocked it away several times with my paddle. It was very aggressive and kept coming back so I finally got the hell out of there.  Possibly, being that far from shore, it was tired or drowning but believe me, there is no room for snakes in my boat.

Good only for casting reels, not spinning.
For a spinning reel, line needs to come off the spool in loops the same direction its being wound on a spinning reel, or you end up with line twist.
I always drop the spool in a boot, lying flat,  and mount a spinning reel on a butt section of a rod with the top butt guide held above the boot to reel on line, and hold the line section in front of the reel wrapped tightly in a rag to create tension as I wind it on.

Massassauga rattlers have been in the wainfleet bog forever. As a kid, my mother and aunts used to pick blueberries there while my uncle stood guard with a .22. Over the last several years, a few have been spotted at our Crowland Trap Club on Misner Rd. I remember in the 70s-80s buying peat for the garden from a firm that operated next to the bog. I was warned by the operators that the odd customer had received a rattler in their load. Years ago we rented a cottage on 6 Mile Lake in Muskoka and the owners told us the rattlers were quite common in the area.  We saw one on the dirt road another just off the porch. Apparently they are endangered ( wouldn't bother me in the least) and there is a severe penalty for killing them. There is a sign in the 6 Mile Lake area that states a $30,000 fine for killing one.

Docks are in at Crystal Beach as of this morning!

Went up to the land yesterday to build a shelterlogic car port. 
The night before topped up all fluids, added air to “NEW tires”, washed it etc. making sure it was good for the 5hr drive. Around Mississauga kinda start noticing the back end swaying back and forth a bit.  I’m thinking it just the weight in the back of the truck or the snow and ice on the road.  My truck is always clunking and clanking so I didn’t think too much about it. Next thing I know we’re in Peterborough and the rear tire blows at 6am. Lucked out Canadian tire was 8min away. Towed there waited an hr for it to open and 3 hours to get seen. 
Had tire instock and was covered under warranty since I bout them at CT. 
got north and walked the land, had a beer and enjoyed the quietness. 
Didn’t get the car port built, dropped it off and brought garbage home. 
long day with 12hrs of driving. 

Fished the lower this morning from 7-11. Good viz. boats catching a few and a couple shore anglers catching. It was cold and hard to keep the eyes cleared and reel from freezing up. Using braid didn’t help. We caught two bows and a brown using bags and corkies. 

Lots of sunbathers on the beach and in the water today at Crystal. Looked more like July

Lots of sunbathers on the beach and in the water today at Crystal. Looked more like July

I'm leaving for Shining Tree (Gogama) Grouse, fishing and possibly bear. Looks like it is going to be a great week.

I'm leaving for Shining Tree (Gogama) Grouse, fishing and possibly bear. Looks like it is going to be a great week.

True that, I don't, but I've hunted for over 40 years and I'm well aware of the type of ammo that the police use. Putting a bullet in that deer to end its suffering, again in my opinion, should have been the way to go. 

Erie was on fire today.  Finally ended up with 10.  Was out from 1 - 4:30.  Had to travel a ways to get them

Went out yesterday and dodged thunder storms. Kayaking was alright but kinda tricky sometimes with gusting winds 40+km/h.  Managed one 17” walleye and a rock bass drop shoting dew worms.  Nothing trolling cranks nothing on top water. Wanted to try that channel that goes around the dam but the winds were too crazy in there. Was a great day out 
 

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It's the wind and waves for me ...makes for a bumpy ride in my 16 footer ...trying to stand up setting  lines and landing fish can be pretty tough sometimes in a small boat when There's couple foot waves or worse...takes driving around looking for fish out of the equation because you can cover much water driving at 10 mph and the ride back is and hour or more depending on  how far out you fish...your back takes a beating ..you use all the muscles in your legs to stay on your feet when it's rough ...IL fish in the rain any day without lightning....I bought my my first boat at 16 yrs old and it was a 14 ft tinner with a 9.9..I wouldn't  listen to anyone about going out alone on erie..I got caught in 6 ft waves white caps and a thunderstorm for over 4 hours I layed down in the bottom of the boat with my life jacket on just drifting  from in front of port all the way down towards  the river to windmill...I don't mess with lake erie..several times when it was supposed to be calm I towed my boat down and never even launched it because of the flag blowing hard enough in the wrong direction..be safe gents...we spend more money trying to catch them then we would buying fish lol..but ya the temptation to go out is always there
 

Hot gluing a seed or a corn kernel to the trap trigger also works good. Gets them to pull on the trap.😎

Smerch, I think it's time we met. If you would like to try for walleye one day on Erie I would be pleased to enjoy your company. You have to bring the worms.

Smerch, I think it's time we met. If you would like to try for walleye one day on Erie I would be pleased to enjoy your company. You have to bring the worms.

You mean it's a pain in the a$$ getting old ?  lol But on the other hand I'm lucky to be here at 80 and still being able to fish locally .
BTW , my female god is also 80       

Smerch, I think it's time we met. If you would like to try for walleye one day on Erie I would be pleased to enjoy your company. You have to bring the worms.

The morning paper carried an article about a young man receiving a seven year sentence for drug dealing in Niagara. This Brampton resident was 19 and under surveillance when stopped in his BMW!!! Along with $40,000 in drugs, he had a loaded Smith & Wesson pistol in his pocket and a loaded Glock on the floor of the car. Did he have a restricted PAL and the proper ATT to carry? Did he go through the rigorous vetting and other restrictions required for the rest of us. That sentence should have been for the gun charges alone before the drug possession was even factored in. It is so frustrating when I listen to Trudeau and his trained monkey Mendocino spout all the nonsense how they're keeping Canadians safe by not allowing you or I to legally buy, sell or transfer our target pistols while allowing this travesty to continue. A few life sentences or deportations just might cause some of these thugs to think twice. As it is now, it is just the cost of doing business.

You're absolutely right Tyler, although I have never chartered a boat here, it is nice to be a guest and not have to worry about trailering, launching, bait , tackle, fish cleaning etc. At the end of the day I'm tired yet now I have to load the boat up, bring it home, clean it up and hopefully clean the fish. It's a pleasant change to have it all done for you. The biggest thing, like you say, is seeing how the pros do it. We're never too old to learn a few new techniques

You're absolutely right Tyler, although I have never chartered a boat here, it is nice to be a guest and not have to worry about trailering, launching, bait , tackle, fish cleaning etc. At the end of the day I'm tired yet now I have to load the boat up, bring it home, clean it up and hopefully clean the fish. It's a pleasant change to have it all done for you. The biggest thing, like you say, is seeing how the pros do it. We're never too old to learn a few new techniques

No kidding ..... $500 is almost a weeks pay for this pensioner . Many now have 6 figure incomes and can afford many things that I have dropped over the years , like going to  restaurants , sport/music events ect. Our main thing now is to eat well and forget the night life we once did when we both worked. And we don't really miss it at all . 
Enjoy the charter fishing Its-abt , I hope to see some photos of your trip .   

Charters are expensive. Your definitely paying for the experience/knowledge part of it. Is 6walleye really worth $200 a person? Definitely not but if you learn how to drive a boat, rig lines, read a fish finder, new techniques etc than that’s where the money is well worth it especially if you have a boat and your new to the game. 
sometimes it’s just nice to get out with buddies and have a nice day not worrying about anything.  
you gotta pay to play……

You're living in the past Smerch. A lot of these charter operations on Lake Erie charge between 400-600 per person for a full day trip with a 20% tip apiece on top of that. Just check the websites for those who operate out of Sandusky in the western end. 5 of us chartered a 44 foot twin diesel sports fisherman in Mexico this past winter. There was a captain with his 2 adult sons as crew. They were very efficient, we caught about 8 fish altogether (20-30 pounders) and the charge was $1000 plus we gave about a $200 tip