Outdoors Ontario

Some of my most memorable moments while fishing were wading through thick cedar swamps in a pair of old sneakers, a pair of shorts, my favorite ball cap and some worms, a few flies and some small spinners in my vest. It’s truly amazing the size of fish you can find in a stream that disappears under log jams, or under vegetation. I’ve even had streams totally disappear and come upon them twenty or thirty feet away. What size of fish you ask……..well would you believe Browns in the 1 - 5 lb range in a stream no wider than 2 feet……specs in the 10 inch to 1 1/2 lb range. Most people drive by these types of streams thinking there couldn’t be fish in that ditch. I have fished streams in southwestern Ontario some of which lead into the Upper Thames River, branches of the Beatty Saugeen, small streams around Lake Huron, and quite a few around Lake Superior. If you really want to have a ball give it a try sometime. I have fished beaver ponds and small lakes and found unreal specs up to 3 lbs more than willing to snap the rod right out of my hand, I’ve had browns take a worm so hard, and pull so fast and with such force that I have snapped my ultra light in two …..not to mention that I wasn’t expecting that kind of a hit. Unreal moments, unreal fish, and memories……I can’t wait til spring………..!!!

This is a comical recollection regarding slot sizes. Ok, I’ve gone out and done it this time, I bought a ($3500) boat. Oh yeh I bought a motor ($1500) …and trailer ($1000) now for plates ($75) insurance ($250) , tackle, rods, fishfinder, net, oars, safety gear, floater jackets, fishing licence, cooler, gas for truck, docking fees, GPS, add another ($2500)You see where I’m going with this..well you will in a minute. I finally arrive at my destination, been waiting for weeks, launch the boat, go to a nice rock face and start trolling out from shore…….15 minutes first Lake Trout, perfect! Well wait a minute..it’s in the “Slot Size” can’t keep him, oh well maybe the next one…..back he goes. Ok I’m going to keep this brief, this goes on all day long, we catch measure and return to the lake over 15 Lake Trout. Do you think the Ministry knows that 99.9 % of all the fish in the Lake are within the slot size? Of course they do, will the slot size go up next year……of course it will…….does anyone keep fish in the slot size?……of course some people do……..do the majority of fish get taken through the ice when the Ministry isn’t going to be around checking……of course……Why when anglers contribute so much to the economy and to the resource will government not properly fund the Ministry Of Natural Resources, so that our Lakes and Rivers and our Natural Resources in general be managed properly. Come on, give me a break, I just contributed a lot of money to ensure, government got taxes and licencing, people were employed to manufacture what I bought………….this story has been witten a thousand times……when will government wake up……….probably after its too late, and everyone stops enjoying these sports, because there are no fish and even if you were lucky enough to catch one, you wouldn’t be allowed to keep it. Wake up government!