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Just got boat back from Wawa yesterday. If weather holds true I'll be going out. I would like to wish everyone good luck fishing salmon this year. Hope there is some nice catches. In fact I wish all success no matter what fish you all choose to go after. Please post any pic of salmon catches. Love to see them. Good luck all. Terry

Well I want to catch a longnose because I am trying to catch every species of fish in Ontario, and I haven't caught a longnose yet. (just the ones that can be caught on a rod and reel, I cannot see myself trying to catch any minnows, although there are people who fish for minnows). I do this because I love fish biology and really enjoy researching the different types of fish, their life histories and identifying them. It also provides a fun challenge to try and catch new things and explore new fishing locations. This all started when I destroyed my shoulder and couldn't play sports anymore. So, I needed a new hobby, and I really liked fishing. My dad always told stories about a weird "dogfish" he caught as a kid, and I wanted to see what they look like. So I researched them, found a few spots around my house where they could be found, what people catch them on etc. Then I went to try and catch one and it was a blast! So, I expanded that to other species like carp, catfish, bass. Now the longnose sucker is the fish I haven't caught at this time of year, and they are not anywhere around my house back home, so this is the best shot I have at catching one. As for why would you want to catch suckers in general, they are abundant, easy to catch, put up a decent fight, and taste pretty good (bones are a little annoying). I don't tend to keep many of them. I only end up keeping the smaller ones because I deep fry them to remove the bones, but the bones in larger ones don't crisp up as well. Apparently you can also pickle or can suckers, but I don't have the fancy equipment to try stuff like that. Anyway, hope this is a good response, feel free to think I'm crazy. This is something I find fun, and I will keep doing it so long as it stays fun.

Here's to my hunting Buddy . Sadly missed condolences to the family

I am shocked. My sincerest condolences. Great guy. Bruce

Here is my take on using artificial lures for lake trout. First we have to understand how a lake trout hunts. If you take a look at the placement of a trout's eyes on it's head. They are near the top of it's head much like a walleye. They usually spot their food source above them. Sure they can look down but they love to ambush from below. Now check out a salmon's eye placement. Their eyes are placed way down their heads which is perfect for horizontal hunting, almost like a pike. Adding to this, now, is water temperature. In the summer lake trout are in their preferred temperature zones in the depths of a lake. In the winter this changes and they hunt using the whole water column as the water is basically the same temperature..... COLD! Lake trout can be shallow, mid depth or deep. Now I just want to take a minute to dispel a common myth that lake trout will get the 'bends" when caught out of deep water while ice fishing. They won't if they are allowed to burp. When you catch a lake trout from deep water, when 50they burp, you will sometimes see big bubbles coming up in the hole. That's from the trout. Lure selection, White is a very common and great choice for lake trout. People think the trout can see it better, shows up better, etc. As I mentioned earlier white is a great choice because trout hunt looking up. And now I ask you........ What is the colour of every fishes belly? In my opinion, that is why white is a good choice. Silvers, golds, blues, black, and pink are my other choices. I talk to many people and they like to use a minnow, be it a sucker, cisco and for where allowed, smelts. These are all great choices. Two of these bait choices live and feed quite a bit of the time suspended. Suckers like the bottom. Many anglers like to hover their bait 1-2 feet off bottom. And yes you can catch trout this way. But try bringing that bait up off the bottom. If you are in 50 feet try suspending the bait at around 35-40 feet. I use this analogy, You are standing next to me. I point at a white rabbit in a snow cover field. I have to really point and describe to you where that rabbit is so you can see it. Now I ask you if you can see the plane flying over head. You see it pretty much right away. Same thing happens under the ice. I have caught trout right under the ice over 100 feet of water and they are usually pretty big ones too. Now back to artificial baits. You can use what ever you like it's pretty much all the same concept. Also electronics will enhance your game a 1000 fold as you can see where in the water column the trout are. I like to start jigging at 1/2-2/3 of the water depth I'm fishing. So if I'm in 40 feet I like to start between 20 and 30 feet. and so on. If nothing seems to be attracted I'll use the sit and wait. That means I won't move the lure at all. I can only remember once that a trout came and hit the stationary lure. But when you see one approaching your lure, start reeling the lure up. You can jig while reeling up. The most important thing is to keep moving away from the trout. Watch what happens. You just increased your odds on a hook up. Here's some lure tips. Try inserting a Hopkins spoon into a tube. Spoon action tube style. (I know Gussy wrote about this and it isn't my idea either. It's a bass tactic from back in the 80's!) Try vibrating lures such as a Zonar, Cicada and I can't remember the name of the blade bait but it's my new favourite and it's in the same aisle in DNR as the Swedish pimples. Rattle traps and Rattlin Raps work but I find that the sink to slow.. Anyways there's way more and I'll add a part 2 soon.. Roger