A couple of great things happened this weekend that has brought back my “Canadiana” so to speak.

First GSP brought the UFC welterweight title back to our great country by kicking yappy’s butt on Saturday night… nuff said!

Secondly, I finally got out on the water for a bit of a fish. A couple of buddies and I took off Crappie fishing in what is in my opinion one of the latest/longest waits for the ice to leave in a long time. We headed out to Percy’s Reach which you’re allowed to fish before the “last Saturday in April” rule.

I couldn’t believe the weather; the truck read 23 degrees c!!! When we arrived, the water temp was at about 48 degrees and by the end of the day it rose to just over 50. The fishing was ok but we caught mostly small fish. As the day went on, we started to figure out where the bigger fish were. Although we didn’t slay them, we probably caught 20 -30 fish… and with the beautiful weather, man I couldn’t complain. I think my 2 fishing partners for the day Scotty Too Hottie and Zinger were pretty happy. Zinger was here on an extended weekend from Edmonton and he couldn’t have picked a better one. A heat wave here and a snow storm there! Add to that the fact that he had never previously caught a fish, I knew he was in for a good day. To make this day even better, Zinger actually caught our first fish; way to go bro! He also caught what I think is a Golden Shiner (see picture). Man that baby is pure protein for a big Largemouth; now I see why chartreuse spinnerbaits were invented.

Our best baits were chartreuse/white and pink/white tubes under slip floats with 4 or 6 pound line. We could actually see pods of fish cruising near the surface but most of them were small. Our biggest fish came from isolated areas. I really don’t think that water temp was an issue on this day; it needs to get warmer before the big females really get aggressive.

The biggest surprise of the day was the flooding that was taking place all around us. As you can see from the pictures, it could well turn into a disaster if the levels get any higher. There were police, firefighters and search & rescue personnel everywhere! There were even big trucks carrying around cases of drinking water for the locals because their drinking water was contaminated. Hopefully everyone and their belongings will be ok.

Thanks to the 2 guys that fired us a couple of eaters, they filled the meal out perfectly

Off to a Catfish shoot; I’ll update you when we get back.

Man this is a crap time of year, especially for a bass fisherman. The ice is still on most lakes yet the air spews the smell of waiting gamefish.

Just pulled my boat out of storage and have to clean it up, top up the fluids, add my new GPS on it and probably get it to the marina for a spring tune-up. It usually takes me a full day in the spring to meticulously fine-tooth-comb “ol’ Pro” but time goes by quick listening to tunes from the truck, suckin’ back a couple of coolies and maybe puffin’ a Cuban!

Our new Princecraft for the TV show is also in and being prepped at Central Outboards. Can’t wait to cut the shrink wrap on that baby! A bit of work there too with electronics, rod holders, tweaking etc. We ordered it with a Verado. We had one on one of our deck boats and they really are a sweet motor. Very slick and apparently now, very close in performance to the “speedy” 2 strokes. The hull is a 198… pure fish’n machine my friends! With a little 9.9 Bigfoot beside the Verado, we be rockin’

Also I’ve slowly been re-stocking the tackle boxes… man what a chore that is. Replacing lost/broke/used-too-much baits is more like a job than a hobby. It freaks me out when I go into something like a Senko box in the spring and see just how many empty sections there are. Did I use that many baits??? Obviously so! I’m also going to use some of the newer baits on the market and hopefully be able to give you a report later in the year. For anyone living in the Oshawa/Whitby/Ajax area or to the east, if you haven’t heard of “The Rock” (Rock & Reel), check them out, they’ve got a great supply of gear for a small place. You can also grab lunch there. It’s right across from the Oshawa Shopping Center.

I’m waiting for the ice to leave on some of my Crappie spots. Believe it or not, Scugog is one of them. There are some really nice slabs in the Bog, it’s just a matter of finding a spot that the “fish mongers” with buckets haven’t raped and pillaged yet. Unfortunately still to this day, some people have the need to keep everything they catch and it shouldn’t work that way. When I go Crappie fishing I consider who will eat the fish; my wife, 2 little kids and me. 10 – 20 fish max will fill our bellies and probably for 2+ meals. Shame on the guilty culprits.

As you people get out on the water, please let me know how you do somewhere on my blog area.

Good luck, be safe and enjoy the up-coming season.

I’m not sure if any of you tuned into our radio show a couple of weeks ago when we had Wil Wegman on. He gave us the rundown on this years Bass Masters Classic. Wil (as he does every year) sits in with some of the competitors as a press reporter throughout the event.
One statement he made on our radio show was about a day he sat in with Aaron Martin and how the fish were caught. Aaron sat over 40 feet of water and vertically fished Largemouth Bass. Now if that wasn’t amazing enough, apparently Aaron was fishing a culvert. I asked Wil how he knew it was a culvert and he wasn’t sure. I asked if Aaron used a camera but Wil said the competitors aren’t allowed underwater cameras during the event.
Maybe he used one pre-fishing??

I finally asked Wil that after experiencing multiple days in a boat with the absolute best of the best in the Bass world, could Canadian pros stay with, keep up to, hold a candle to the American heroes?
He said we could.
I have my opinion but I’d like to hear our fans first; gimme’ your thoughts…

Just got back from the beautiful country of Cuba; the wife and I haven’t gone south for 7 years so we were well over due! We packed the bags, left the kids and took off.

No, I didn’t do any fishing!

Our destination was Playa Turquesa near Holguin, a very nice resort if you want to get away from the major partiers etc. The food was good and the cigars and beverages were as you would expect, outstanding! The resort is huge and very clean.

I really love the Cuban people. Even if you travel to this great country and your resort sucks, the locals will definitely leave a smile on your face.

We have now been to Veradero and Holguin and personally we would go back to Veradero (they’re both great though).

We did a jeep tour one day and it was great! We got our own jeep, drove through the country side as well as towns, went jet skiing, horseback riding, pulled on an ox-driven wagon, stopped at some local sites and had a spectacular lunch at a cliff side restaurant.

Just a few notes:

While at Pearson Airport in Toronto I thought I would ask about getting Cuban Peso’s. The lady at the exchange place recommended that I buy Euro dollars and take them to Cuba that way I will loose less of a percentage when there. Sounded good at the time so I changed a couple hundred bucks (209 Canadian got me 125 Euro) When I got to Cuba (exchange booth at the airport) I got about 150 Pesos. The other Canadians that did a straight exchange of 200 Canadian got over 180 Pesos. Somewhere along the line I took it for around 40 bucks; not a lot but that’s 4 nice Cohiba’s I didn’t get to puff. Luckily I didn’t cash the whole wad in Toronto. The moral is just bring your Canadian $ to Cuba and exchange it at your hotel. They have the best rates and it’s convenient.

Do not rent mopeds from Via at your resort. We rented one, drove to the town of Guardalavaca only to have it break down 15km from our resort. Due to the lack of communication with the locals we couldn’t get ahold of our hotel however we did manage to get a cab. Leisa took the cab back to the resort, the Via rental people sent 2 guys back to get the moped and left me there waiting for yet another cab. I returned to the resort and asked buddy for my money back… including cab fare! He only wanted to give me back the money for the moped. Luckily the 2 Gomaz’s that picked up the broken down moped gave me the key to give back to the resort. I kept the key in my room safe until El Cheapo would cough up at least a bit more. Ultimately (with the help of a local travel agent) I got 1 cab fare and the rental back from him and I swear he wanted to rip my little head off (this dude was one of the biggest Cubans I’ve ever seen… hands like a gorilla and arms like pillars!) The agent told me that he also doesn’t recommend renting from Via; too many bad stories.

Aside from these couple of minor experiences the rest of the trip was great. We met a bunch of people and they were all fantastic. I couldn’t believe the people that came up and asked if I was the fishing guy… there was even a guy from England who watches the show. If any of you are reading this, the pleasure was mine!

To the rest of the readers, if you’re thinking of going to Cuba… go!!!

Here is a shot of my nephew Cody (wifes side) with his Scugog monster. Actually the story is pretty cool. Cody was going ice fishing with his cousin Justin to Simcoe… no wait… Quinte… ah hell they ended up on Scugog. I asked them if they had gear and of course they said yeah, but when I asked them specifics “actually we could use those”!!!
I sent them off with some rods, reels, a tip up, a sled with the essentials and oh yeah, my power auger. I thought that was quite ironic since they’re both big, young, strong oxen that could spin a hand auger through 9” in seconds but hey if it’s got a motor and it’s young dudes that your dealing with; “that’s frikkin’ awesome, we’ll take it!”

The wife, kids and I were out for the day and all of a sudden the cell phone rings, Codie’s nearly in hysterics and he sends us a picture of his Muskie. Freaked him right out, he loved it! You got to like the youth and camera phones, they (phones) take s#*$$% pictures but at least you have a record of the day. When I went out as a young lad, you had to bring the crappy little camera, make sure film was in it and then wait 6 months before you had them developed. He caught the fish, took the picture and we were looking at it before the fish probably knew it was released!!!

Anyways, I think a great message can be read into on this blog. Here are 2 young guys, Justin an avid angler and Cody an occasional angler loving our sport in the dead of winter. My point is if you get the chance to help someone (especially kids or young adults) out with gear, advice or anything, go for it. It will ultimately bring them or keep them into the sport we all love.

By the way, their going out again this weekend! Good luck you pair of punks and don’t screw up my auger…

I found some old emails that I thought were pretty funny and would share with you. Anyone taking offence… lighten up!

RED SKELTON'S RECIPE FOR THE PERFECT MARRIAGE
 
1. Two times a week we go to a nice restaurant, have a little beverage, good food and companionship. She goes on Tuesdays, I go on Fridays.
 
2. We also sleep in separate beds. Hers is in California, and mine is in Texas.
 
3. I take my wife everywhere.....but she keeps finding her way back.
 
4. I asked my wife where she wanted to go for our anniversary.
"Somewhere I haven't been in a long time!" she said. So I suggested the kitchen.
 
5. We always hold hands. If I let go, she shops.
 
6. She has an electric blender, electric toaster and electric bread maker. She said "There are too many gadgets, and no place to sit down!"  So I bought her an electric chair.
 
7. My wife told me the car wasn't running well because there was water in the carburetor. I asked where the car was.  She told me, "In the lake."
 
8. She got a mud pack, and looked great for two days. Then the mud fell off.
 
9. She ran after the garbage truck, yelling, "Am I too late for the garbage?"  The driver said, "No, jump in!"
 
10. Remember:  Marriage is the number one cause of divorce.
 
11.  I married Miss Right.  I just didn't know her first name was Always.
 
12. I haven't spoken to my wife in 18 months. I don't like to interrupt her.
 
13. The last fight was my fault though. My wife asked, "What's on the TV?" I said, "Dust!"

I just read an article on the dangers of heavy drinking....
 
Scared the s*#@ out of me.
 
So that's it!
 
After today, no more reading.

WHAT DO DEER THINK?

Ted Nugent, rock star and avid bow hunter from Michigan, was being
interviewed by a French journalist and animal rights activist. The
discussion came around to deer hunting. The journalist asked, "What
do you think is the last thought in the head of a deer before you
shoot him? Is it, 'Are you my friend?' or is it 'Are you the one
who killed my brother?' "

Nugent replied, "Deer aren't capable of that kind of thinking. All
they care about is, 'What am I going to eat next, who am I going to
screw next, and can I run fast enough to get away. They are very
much like the French.' "

The interview ended at that point.

Here is a cool link showing someone has way too much time.

It’s been a while since my last blog and for that I apologize. Not a whole lot to talk about this time of year so I’ll ask a simple question.
How did everyone do at Christmas? Did you score any great fishing gear etc?.
My wife actually surprised me with a new GPS fishfinder combo. I’d been complaining about the one I was using (old technology) on my personal boat and was going to eventually get another one but she beat me to the punch. It was actually an awesome gift idea.
My biggest problem is going to be transferring all my data from one unit to another brand unit. I guess it will be a good winter project.
Anyone else score?