Today was the first day of the Toronto Sportsmen’s Show, and it’s also the first time in years that it was not at the Canadian National Exhibition. Unfortunately, I ended up walking all the way there with photographer friend in tow, only to be greeted for some kind of flower show. We hopped on the streetcar back up the Queens Quay to nearly where we’d started and headed to Toronto’s Metro Hall.
Once there we obtained our admission stamps since the passes were unavailable at the time. It was almost 7PM at this point and the convention closes at 8PM, but we managed to get in and explore the first section pretty well. Unlike the previous years CNE, Metro Hall has broken up the convention into multiple rooms/buildings. If you’re going to the convention get a map immediately! Without it you might get lost or frustrated, and this convention is all about fun, so get a map!
While we were there we covered may of the booths and products we’ve discussed recently such as Koppers Lures, Quantum, Storm, Abu Garcia, and if I had more time I could have completed my boater exam! It was probably a very fine example of the phrase, “a kid in a candy store.” I’ll post more stories and photos tomorrow, as well as tweeting the event tomorrow after work.
Sorry for the low resolution photos, these were taken with my iPhone. I’ll have some real photos tomorrow!
One set of new products we haven’t touched on yet are the new fishing lines coming out. There are quite a few new hybrid lines, fluorocarbons, and even some new technology coming to traditional monofilament lines. Berkley, the makers of Trilene, has some new products that fit just about every one of those categories.
Berkley Trilene TransOptic is the first line of its kind, offering hi-visibility line above the water that goes totally clear below water! As Berkley puts it “YOU SEE THE LINE. FISH DON’T!” The proprietary transition technology is activated by UV light making the light appear yellow/gold in sunlight.
Trilene XT is now available in red! Why would you want a red fishing line? Well first you need to understand the properties of light and how it relates to penetration underwater. Red is the lowest wavelength of visible light and is the first colour to disappear under water.
Berkley is also introducing their new 100% fluorocarbon- professional grade- Trilene. This is supposedly some of the strongest fluorocarbon lines made to date, referred to by Berkley as the “ULTIMATE fluorocarbon fishing line PERIOD!” I don’t know if this will replace my favorite fluorocarbon line made by Seaguar, but there is only one way to find out.
The new Storm Kickin’ Stick is yet another fine example of a hardbody swimbait. The Kickin’ Stick comes in 9 colours and three sizes (5″, 6″ and 8″) all fitted with rattles, slow-sinking buoyancy, and quality VMC hooks. Guaranteed to perform for all applications and will only set you a back about 10-13 bucks each.
Check out this video of Dave Mercer catching a musky on his very first cast! Unfortunately the video is not available to embed, though I could probably copy the html code and embed it here anyway. Instead I’ll send Dave an email and hope that in the future we can post his videos here directly.
That’s right the US managed to keep their lead on day one to complete the two-day World Ice Fishing Championships. This is the first time the USA has managed to snag the victory and it couldn’t have come at a better time or on a better lake.
Team Results
1. Team USA
2. Team Poland
3. Team Russia
Individual Results
1. USA – Mike Boedeker
2. Sweden – Folke Andersson
3. Poland – Tomasz Nysztal
Obviously, the USA contingent had the home advantage as some members fished Boom Lake last year in the North American Ice Fishing Circuit (NAIFC) competition. They all knew how crappies, perch and bluegills bite. The European contestants had never seen these species until this weekend.
After Sunday’s weigh-in, Mike Boedeker of Lansing, Mich., figured he was in contention for the bronze in individual honors. He had eight fish, all crappies, on Sunday. He used a Fiska glow jig both days. He fished with the USA team last year in WIFC competition held in Poland. The typical target fish were golden shiner- and smelt-type species, he said.
Myron Gilbert, a USA team member from Brooklyn Mich., was understandably ecstatic about the win. No matter where the other teams finished, he said, they will all remember the warm reception Rhinelander gave them. “They were big-eyed” after participating in the downtown parade and seeing the thousands of well-wishers, he noted.
His key to scoring fish was to keep moving when there was no bite for a time. It’s not unusual for him to drill hundreds of holes during other tournaments where power augers are allowed. USA team members shared information gained from pre-tournament fishing the areas immediately around the zones when power augers and graphs were allowed
The aquarium in the Dubai mall has sprung a leak! This enormous tank holds 2 million gallons of water and over 33,000 sea creatures. The leak started spraying out sea water into the mall through a crack in the 30″ clear acrylic walls, no idea how the crack happened though. A representative from Dubai’s civil defense force says it’s no under control and being fixed.
Why do I get the feeling that once Dubai goes bankrupt it’s going to turn into some kind of Bioshock style wasteland. Well, without all the 20’s flapper and fountainhead undertones..
While I have had some troubles finding the time to post, this morning before I went to pick up my car from the shop, I transcribed another of Micheals great recipes. This was the very last of our Marlin, you can expect some Yellowfin Tuna recipes next, and hopefully another recipe from a friend in [...]
