staffman

We caught chain pickerel or grass pike in the small creeks when we were young, so they have been in Ontario waters for years. They are usually much smaller than the one you caught.

Buy some tackle tamers at your local tackle store or Lindy leader holders at CT.

Welcome  !

I don't move much I fish the same run all day long. No fish ,well maybe they will be there next time. If other anglers crowd me out I sit down and watch them hoping to learn something and when they move then I start fishing again.

Your pain will go away if you follow FF suggestions.

As others have said start with 200 yds of dacron backing. It is lighter than mono thus making your reel lighter. Many anglers like myself use the side cast instead of the Wallis cast and compensate for line twist by placing a swivel above your float or as I prefer use a slip float with beads and float stops above and below the float. Islander reels IMO are hard to learn to Wallis cast on so I'd encourage you to side cast. Any mono will do to fill your reel. I use fireline crystal on one ,I use Ande tournament on one and Raven on another. I prefer 10 lb. testin mono ,but I use 8 or 6 lb. when it comes to fireline. If you have a kite store near you you can use kite string as backing. Start up is more important than spin time with centre pins. Reels with longer spin times are better for Wallis casting IMO. Islanders come from the West coast where they employ the BC cast. Enjoy your reel and don't let yourself become discouraged when you use it. Time is your friend.

I have owned both Islanders and Kingpin reels and I would always select the Kingpin over the Islander. Not all Islanders have a good start up, but all kingpins do. Islander uses Nylon parts now for the clicker wheel and the centre hub that houses the pin, where as Kingpins are made out of quality metal parts. The clicker on a Kingpin is much stronger than the Islander's clicker. Centerpinangling is the Canadian service and warranty centre and therefore if something were to go wrong with your Kingpin you can get it serviced in the GTA and save shipping charges. The person with the Kingpin reel for sale is a stand up guy and would fix your reel likely for free as long as you owned the reel.

Glad to see you were successful FG !

The egg loop knot is generally only used when you are fishing chucks of skein.

What happened here ? We do not name rivers let alone post pictures of them. Where are the Mods. when you need them?

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The second bait dangling in the water might be considered ,by the MNR folks, as fishing with two rods.

Who is responsible to teach regard and respect ? I say it's the up to parents to teach these values and the rest of us to reinforce these value when we see littering going on.

I would find a rocky beach area, then turn the stones slowly and catch the crayfish hiding underneath. Smallmouth cannot resist a live crayfish.

I would recommend that you phone the MNR in your region and ask where they stock brookies or creeks that contain them. You may be surprised at the amount of information you receive from them.