grubman

Anything mechanical is risky. The owner should start it up for you and let it run till it warms up and starts shooting out water from the cooling system. Ask when they last changed the water pump impellers, thermostat, plugs, had a tune up. Check the prop for damage, new props $80 and up. It's really hard to tell if outboards have been dunked, dropped in the water. 2 stroke engines don't like the water in the cylinders. You can't tell how many hours of running the engine's had. You might want to take it to a marina before buying, if the owner is willing.

Better brands that I know of, Johnson, yamaha, honda.

Good luck.

Hey trout,
Most of the people here have no problem lending a hand to fellow members. How can one learn without being educated? And that's what a lot of us noobs or veterans go on here to do, share and learn. There will always be disagreement amongst people, but hopefully, one can still learn from their disagreements. I mean no disrespect to you, just pointing out that what you are posting are neither helpful or educational.
Even stupidity has it's own rewards.
Steve

Well said. That is why OFF has always been such a great site. Thanks for pointing it out.

Top I don't bottom bounce fast water, never had so if I ever did I'd be using a pool cue of a rod just to get that hook set. What is it you're going after (did I miss it)? Braid, stiffest rod with a slow tip, heavy weights, 3 way swivels that's what I'd be using.

Hope to see what you've been or will be catching.

Another great pike. Looks like the cold is effecting it compared to summer pike that fight really hard and jump, that's just my guess.

Nice one, thanks for sharing.

Hey Log what's in your creek?...lol. Did you find any fish in there?

I tried the bead at the rouge river, but the rouge doesn't have much fish there, and have to give it another try somewhere else. Everyone was saying to put a 8-10mm bead on the line and use a toothpick or thread the line thru the hole twice to keep it in place. I got the beads from $rama, and probably should have used a red sharpie to "paint" the toothpick. Then you tie on your bare hook.

River, is this legal to use? You are fishing with a bare hook, even though the lure/bait is above the hook, it's still bare. This could be seen as snagging by the CO. Not all COs are nice and understanding, the ones I met have been, but I have heard horror stories about COs that look for a reason to pull out their shotguns on unarmed otherwise innocent anglers. They suspected, or just went off the deep end of authority and was ready to shoot a buddy of mine.

Hi all

Congrats to all who got their first trout or salmon this year. OFF members encourage others to pursue the great sport of angling. But I want to remind and inform everyone fishing the river and streams that, the fish are building their nest called a Redd, and laying their eggs. Here is a not so good pic of one from Google.

http://www.google.ca...gCg&um=1&itbs=1

It is important to limit the amount of wading especially in gravel bottoms as this is where they will most likely be. The Redd in the above photo is just visable as the lighter patch. The surrounding rocks have alge growing on it.

Obviously once stepped on those fertilized eggs will then be destroyed killing thousands. It is preferable to stay on the bank and wade only when necessary and to watch for redds with each step. They are the future generation of fish me and you will be catching.

Thanks all and good fishing.

Is it just where I'm buying from or has the price of worms shot up last year or the previous year? Some places don't even have 2 dozen anymore, they have 18 for the price of 2 doz. Corporate product downsizing in worms, are you kidding me? Going rate I've seen is $5/doz $7 for 18 worms, really getting up there.

So it rained a good 3 inches last night and I decided to get my own. Within 35 min I had 2 dozen. I was never able to get them by hand whole, but using hemostats (surgical clamps that look like scissors act like vice grips) I can gently grab them and not rip them apart. Then I put them in my Wonder Worm Box with the Wonder Worm Bedding, they'll stay alive for weeks if I keep the box in the shade and moist. I tried using a blue LED flash light but that scared them back into their hole so I switched to white LED. The red filter flash lights are too hard to see the worms.

From Canadian Geographic:
"a skilful picker to gather upwards of 6,000 victims — at $15 to $30 per thousand, depending on demand — in one session. The record, it is said, is 22,500 worms in one night, by one man, with only two hands."

From Yahoo:
"People often wonder how picking your own worms can help the environment. Worms most commonly come in a Styrofoam bowl with a plastic lid. Styrofoam is Non-Biodegradable and can take hundreds of years to decompose. If you can keep from using Styrofoam products, you can help to keep our landfills less full. Using biodegradable products will help keep the world a cleaner place."

From Wormdigest.org:
"Worm picking 101

Amateur worm pickers might go out with just a bucket in the aftermath of a rain to see what they can find, and do pretty well. But real pickers, like Morabito, have tactics and equipment they use for the task:

* A good miner's cap or miner's headlight is essential, to free up the hands for picking while casting a little light down to locate the worms.

* A pair of good gloves (it can get slimy).

* A bucket with a handle.

Once you have these, the next dilemma is finding a good spot. Many local golf courses will allow pickers to go out on them; parks are also good. Anywhere where there is a large area of mown grass works well, Morabito said.

“After dark they start coming out and you see them with the headlight,” he said. “Sometimes when you go down to you pick them up you can get them right away, but the majority of the time they have their tails in the ground so they can scoot back in if they are disturbed in any way.”

When they see the light, Morabito says, they have a tendency to sink back underground. “You have to be fast,” he said."

From trails.com:
"Shine your light away from the night crawler once you spot it. Right before you try to grasp it, put the light back on it. Use your thumb and first two fingers to grab the worm as close to its hole as possible. Often you cannot determine where the hole is, so your best option is to grab the night crawler by its thickest end. Squeeze hard enough so the worm cannot escape and pull up on it. If the nightcrawler is all the way free of its hole, you will have no problem catching it. If it still is partly in its hole, you must apply steady pressure until it relents and comes out all the way. Refrain from pulling hard, as this will break the nightcrawler in half. Put the nightcrawler in your container, and continue.


Read more at Trails.com: How to Pick Nightcrawlers | Trails.com http://www.trails.co...l#ixzz24qyv7Yw3

There you have it, for all you fruglers, now if we could just get the fish to bite.........

an update from another board...

Thanks for the update. I was really dissapointed they did'nt win but very glad they are staying open for next year. 2012 will be challenging for them, I hope they find or raise the funds to keep operating. Maybe we at OFF could have a fund raising fishing outing or something. Just brain storming.

Thanks for posting the great news. I never knew I could also call crime stoppers, it makes total sense. Violation of the fisheries act/regulations is a crime.

2 pails of salmon eggs, that's hell of alot of salmon....the punishment is not sufficient, they should added another 0 to the fine. But atleast they caught him. One of these days I hope a judge decides to make an example of poachers and throw them in jail along with the key.

Hey Adam welcome to the forum hope you like OFF.

The big difference with a wading staff is that it collapses and you put it on your belt when you don't need it. so your hands are free. With a ski pole you have to keep on hanging on to it and that becomes a pain in the you know what. Also with the wading staff, if your standing in the river, you just drop the staff and it's on an elastic cord, so when you start walking again, just pick it up and away you go.

Collapsable is convienient but they only function in compression, if you use it to pull yourself out or get a buddy to pull you it will detach section by section. The bungiee cords inside are only strong enough to keep the staff closed, 3/16" diameter just like the ones in tent poles. A solid pole may be a pain but with a hook on the end you can push or pull yourself out, or someone can pull you out with it. Can't do that with a collapsable one the cord will just snap.

I would just like add a positive opinion of OFF. As you can clearly see I have not been a member as long as many of you or some others. But in the short time, I have gained so much knowledge and met and gone fishing with some great guys that I and they really appreciate this forum. I look forward to meeting even more people who share my joy of fishing, so I guess I have not come accross the problem ones that you have. I'am truly sorry how you feel about OFF. It's like that anywhere you meet people, some you like, tolerate or totally despise. Because of the internet's anonymity, it's lot easier to find all three.

I can only think of one not so pleasent experience with a post where most people were not happy with the poster's responses, myself included. I choose to ignore him and not respond. Let him shoot his mouth and big head off. I won't take him/them seriously not now not ever. This person has lost all respect from me atleast.

The ones I do respect seem like very decent guys, and those are the ones I want to go fishing with and talk to. The only way I would have ever made contact with any of them is thru this forum. OFF has been a very positive experience for me and the guys that I met so far, and I hope it will continue to be.

GO PERCH GO..........haha

Ok I change the fish I want to catch.

Some guy is selling Nile Perch in the US. Anyone gotta swimming pool I can borrow for a few years til they get big enough.....lol.
http://www.cichlids....ead.php?2,16737

I only found 1 guy selling a Goliath Tiger Fish.
http://arowanaclub.c...?threadid=39544
Have one goliath tiger to let go cheap as com fail.

details are as follows
fish is 15" long
diet is mp, but accepts feeders & other meaty foods
defect is one eye jack(left eye blind)
price is $190 firm.
contact 82333659 for this rare beauty for a steal!
bring yr own prawn bag to collect

Does anyone know what he means "diet is mp"? What's the "mp", mostly people?........LMAO. The pic is good, it looks cute...lol.

Raise them then catch and release them......lol. Y'all know I'm j/k right?

Sounds like he'd be a decent guide for Rice lake!

He knows the lake and we gave him a hand lauching his boat. We got back so late, that we could not offer to wash down his boat properly. We cleaned what we could by flashlight, what a pain that is. Hopefully we'll get a chance next time to help him out some more to repay him for the great time we had.

It’s the last weekend of Sept., Frank and I wanted to go to Rice Lake Saturday. The dark moon was approaching, but weather conditions were not looking good, it rained all Friday and Sat morning it was still spitting. Frank put a post and asked if anyone else wanted to join us. We met up with John I, who has only been fishing for 2 years, and I drove us up. We contacted 313 who has a great boat and offered to take all of us out.

That whole morning was overcast and appeared gloomy. I had warned Frank and John to dress for very unpleasant weather. 313 was very optimistic of our chances and knows the lake, along with his great sense of humor, we were in for a good time. With my 20 years and 313 over 20 years and fishing for most of his life, we were sure to get something.

313 had set up planer boards for Frank and himself, while John and I trolled jigs and worms. These conditions should have been favorable for walleye, but for the entire morning there was no action. Then the clouds began to break up around 1 pm, this lifted our spirits so we moved towards the thicker weed beds for some bass. After many casts and lure changes, Frank nailed one bluegill. Three hours later, as we then drifted near the shore of one of the many small islands on Rice, 313 hit a hawg. As with many LMB, once hooked this one wrapped the line around a large clump of weeds. 313 tried desperately to get it into the boat. Our first potential fish, 313 fought the fish and weeds, but this time the fish won, this time. 313 was determine that we would all get something so we drifted until about 5pm when I hit a bluegill. Finally our persistence was beginning to pay off. Then John and I started getting large hand sized bluegills and pumpkinseed along a deep channel that 313 knows. After re-baiting with a worm, I felt a thump, “This feels too big to be a panfish”, I said to John. My 5’6” ultra light with 4 lb line was bent over as the fish kept fighting and I had to adjust my drag, John got the net and I pulled out a 1 lb-ish SMB. I think we all knew that the fishing was about to go ballistic.

As the sun was just at the treetops, 313 motored us back to the beginning of the channel getting us ready for some walleye action. 313 said, “You guys set up with white grubs and a worm!” We drifted over the channel and sure enough 313 hit a walleye. He hit 2, Frank got one, then John, this was their first walleye ever. We drifted over that channel 3 times, no hits for me and I was feeling left out. Then, 313 set us on the channel for a final drift, by then the sun had disappeared, with just the glow of sunset, that’s when I hit my walleye. We trolled back to shore, but nothing hit.

That Saturday we all shared our experiences, knowledge, and passion for fishing, had a lot of laughs and caught a mess of fish. John, Frank and I had a great time with 313 who just joined the forum. Thanks to 313 for taking us all out and showing us how to get the walleye, and John for thinking ahead with sandwiches . We all agree that if it was not for this forum we all would never had met and had a very good time fishing together this day.

Hope everyone likes the pics. No pics of 313 and fish b/c he was trying for us to get the fish. What a great guy, your awesome, thanks 313. Next time we go I hope to get pics of you with "trophies"!!!

Thanks O.F.F. for making us all fishing buddies.