Parting words...

Is this my last post? :-(


I'd like to extend a very heart felt Thank You, to any and all of You readers out there who have ever come to any of my blogs and shared some of your time with this little ol' outdoorsy dude! I've been thrilled to have been able to entertain you! Also, your various valued comments have got me through many rough society days in the past! Peace to all of You. I will miss Y'all! :-(
...Where to now?

Cool Contest News...

Time for some Hot News...

I was just recently informed by Sherri Russel, boss lady, over at She's So Fly... that I have won her latest neat contest! Oh WoW! Like, I'm speechless!......Thank You Sherri for providing such a fine opportunity for me to score so nicely on your site! :-)

I've only known of Sherri for a short while and yet I have come to respect her already as a fine Outdoors teacher. This woman Loves to get other Women involved in our beloved sport of fishing. And, she does it in a real cool way too. Yup, she teaches other ladies to Fly Fish! How cool is that? Go have a look at her blog and I'm certain that you will be as impressed by this woman as I am. :-)

Speaking of Cool Contests...
My fellow blogging slash fishing friend, Wolfy, over at Flowing Waters... is right now, running a fantastic Free Bass Fishing Tackle Give Away contest and it's open to everyone! I'm tellin' you right now, you won't hardly believe all the great stuff he's gathered together for this contest. Here's a sneak peek at just a wee bit of this Big Bass Tackle Stash, at Wolfy's.
Hard stuff...
Soft stuff...
So there you have it. Go get yourself signed up like I did before it's too late. You don't want to miss out on the chance to haul away this pile of awesome bassin' gear, now do you? :-)

Cheers!

Eyes on the Jock...

Jock River Secrets...
I just had to share this cool fishing link with y'all after an hour's touring of this fine site this a.m. If you like Fly Fishing and you live around Ottawa, you'll Love what the folks on this forum have to say! This particular entry was crafted by Todd B.(Site Admin) over there and as you can see by this sweet "Eye" picture, he knows what he's talkin' about! :-)
Todd's Fly "Eye"...
So, head on over there and be prepared to learn a pile of powerful information, that You can put to real good use, anytime in the future...
Eyes on the Jock...
Oh ya, and don't be shy about joining this Awesome forum either, these folks are People persons too! :-)

Later,

Remembering Bob Jones...

Jonesy on the coast...

On paying attention...

This is a post about outdoor observations basically. Many years back when I considered myself a very competent fisherman of the day, I had the privilege, while working at Laurention Trading Post in Ottawa, of meeting and befriending, and then fishing, with the legendary Robert H Jones of British Columbia.

Way back then Bob was living in Ottawa at Uplands Air Base with the R.C.A.F. and he fished for everything around here. He was a Master Fly Fisherman and Fly Tier and that is how he started out making lead head jigs, on a semi-commercial basis, for friends and the PX. Bob's the Man that took me under his wing and shared freely many, many tips and tricks with me to do with jig makin' and jig fishin' as well. Anyway...

Being the lighter of the two of us, I was positioned in the bow of his Sportspal canoe for ballast and he manned the stern and the little trolling motor. I faced the front with Bob behind me, using little jigs that I had made through Bob's excellent coaching. Now, these jigs were very similar to Bob's. The thing is, he started out fishing me right off the bat. He was up to his twenty third Black Crappie and I had managed five. I decided that something was really wrong here and asked if I could go ashore to water some beautiful Day Lilies that were growing near the bank and looked a little on the dry side. When I climbed back into the canoe I changed my seating position so that I was now facing good ol' Bob, so I could watch his every move. Now if you know this Master Angler, you'll know that he has more moves than a snake and is twice as smart as your average bush guy half his age.

Well, we started off kind of slow like and after about ten long minutes I finally lured a very aggressive Crappie to the side of Bob's "Tin Goose". I made certain to whoop it up a little and tease Bobby that his charm must have worn off and that now the Kid, would show him a few tricks. Time to grandstand maybe? :-) I then tied on a floating/diving, customized, micro-crank-bait to capitalize on the hard hit I had received. By the time I had landed my sixth fish with a bonus Large Mouth of around 2 lbs thrown in, poor ol' Bob had only managed one undersized Perch. He grumbled a little for a few seconds then fumbled around in his pack for the tie breaker he had hidden there. You see, he had to 'fess up in order to get back in the game and even try to catch up to me, now that I had such a rockin' lead in HIS canoe. Chuckle, chuckle. :-)

He told me it wasn't actually his charm after all that had caught all the fish earlier. :-) Nope. What Bob had done while I couldn't see him was ad a little piece of smuggled dew worm to his jig. Gilding the Lily, we used to call that. Sort of a semi-cheat way/manner of getting results.

As young kids in our pre-teens, we always thought the biggest trip of all with this cool fishin' stuff, was to actually trick, hook, play, and land, a real fish on nothing but an artificial lure made of wood, plastic, metal or hair and or feathers, yarn, wool, string, or that you built your self even. NO BAIT ALLOWED. We simply called that real Sportsmanship.

Of course, not to miss out on the fun, there were other times like when we went for 'pout in the early evenings, that we used nothing but bait. And then we tried ALL kinds of live or even partially alive or even fresh dead, live bait. That is just how a few of us cooler budding fishin' dudes felt back then and it has simply carried through my whole life.

Anyway, back to Mr. Jones being able to spank me that first hour or so. Because I failed to add a simple hidden factor (observe/pay attention/make note) into the equation and didn't have the opportunity to see his manner(style,method,etc)of fishing,I was definitely at a disadvantage and he was just soakin' in the ol' Top Dog feeling, that a lot of folks like to express on their fishing trips. :-)

We both had a real good laugh over the whole thing and talked at length about the morals and the general love of fishing, that we both share. What rules do you want to make when it's your turn to show your kids or your friend's kids how to go about fishing? Sportsmanship has always been a big word to me and by showing others how You think the thing should be played, you are making it better for future generations of folks who love to fish, are good at it, and share it with their loved ones.

The main moral of this little blurb here to-day is of course, Observe,observe and observe. :-) Then, put all the here-to-for unknowns, into the known categories and the odds are GREATLY increased in your favor for a successful day on the water! Pay attention to everything. Little details, are important when fishing.

Sadness arrives...

Robert H. Jones - Beloved Friend...

The Epilogue of this old story of an old friend of mine, is that I just heard the other day, by a chance meeting on the Rideau Canal,through our mutual friend Grant Hopkins, that our beloved friend Bob Jones, had passed away in October 2008! Man! Was I floored or what? :-( I felt like I had just lost a brother. When Grant went east and I went west, from Dow's Lake, all I could think of were memories. Times that Jonesy and I shared that wonderful canoe of his and spanked an awful pile of fish together. And what about the times when we fished the little bay/creek at the second bridge in Kars, for Black Crappies in the spring? How many hours did we spend in his basement on the base at Uplands, tying jigs and talkin' tackle? So many good memories of a really, really good man, saturated my little brain, all the way home on the bus. :-(

Here's a link or three to some of Bob's legacy, so You can know this Legendary Fisherman a little, even now, after he's gone.

Outdoor Writer - Bob Jones...

Fly Fishing...

Best In B.C.

And finally, this one, to Bob's own article about an old Outdoor Friend's passing...

Remembering Bill Macdonald...

My deepest condolences go out to his wife Vera and Karen his daughter and to Bobby Jr. his son! We miss him over here too, my friends...

Why Blog...

Why do you blog?
Over the last few years I've been asked that very question a fair amount and posted this little blurb, to do with what blogs are and why I'm into them. Maybe it will answer a few of the questions you've had too? Maybe this little blogging piece, will encourage You, even, to build Your own little blog? Now That would be Really cool. :-)
Why do I Blog?

Adding a little bit more here too. Blogs are a really fine way to communicate with others. Strangers and friends alike, are all fair game. Blogs can really help you locate old and new friends. Anyone can blog. No diploma necessary. You just need a simple phone connection to put out beautiful blogs. Are you an artist or a poet or a singer, or maybe a collector of some type of Cool stuff? What better way to show off your skills and talents and all, than on your own blog? Never before in the history of Mankind, have people been able to communicate with other people, so easily, about what they're doing. All of my blogs are FREE too, so that should open a few more doors to those of you who thought that it must cost big bucks to put up a pretty spiffy blog, eh? :-) See, I told you this bloggin' stuff was Cool!

Well if all that's not enough to get you charged up about blogging, then here's something else for you. Now, bloggers can even add a Twitter button and a list of their most recent Tweets too, right on that blog. I have met a number of very fine people through Twitter already and I'm enjoying the quick interactions it provides, with links to pictures, or news or vids or anything, pretty well.

How about your Facebook account? Wanna spread it around the web a little? Yes sir, can do! The new Facebook widget hooks right up on our blogs, seamlessly, to spread the word around the Blogosphere too, even!

Or maybe you have a lot of pictures, stored electronically say, over on Flickr or Photobucket? Bloggers just have to add a little link, with a picture or three, right to their blog and Poof, everyone goes to their photo streams. :-) Too easy!

I'm constantly learning about more ways to personally use the three or four of these powerful Internet tools together. It all good folks. ;-)

Anywho, Thank You for popping in to-day and I hope You have a Super Day out there! :-)

lb

Fishing the light stuff...

Concentration time...
We're Perchin' it...

Here's a look at some of the small stuff that I use, for the small stuff. Oh ya, and that's a Loonie coin in there if you aren't from Canada. :-)

Ultra-lite Artificial Lures...
A Rocky Jr. Panther Martin & Dardevle Skeeter
and I never leave home without these if I'm goin' Perch Jerkin'! :-)
A pair of F2 Flatfish
However, after like an hour, I took out my trusty pocket knife and went to work on this unit, hoping to get at least one or two bites from Somebody, Anybody. ;-)
Customizing again...
Well sir, on the second flip I had five or six Perch following this little tweak but they all seemed very spooky and nervous. I figure there was a Musky or fat Walleye milling around in there close by and that would explain a little of the non-action I had been gettin'. Anywho, on the third flip I slowed everything down another notch to let my hacked Senko glide longer between short slow pulls and Boom. Fish on!
Perch action... Well, to save face, I managed to catch five or six more of these colorful fish in the span of an hour or so, once I got onto the productive lure slash technique that they were sort of interested in. Another fishin' work-out. :-)
Heading out after Perchin' I came across this cool birdie boy but unfortunately he was standing in the fading light in a brushy area. Great Blue Heron
Not really a good combo for photography but what the heck, doesn't cost much to try. Maybe I'll catch him again another time, in better lighting and closer to me.

All in all, it was another fine Outdoorsy experience and more proof to me that it's Good to be Alive! :-)

Take care.

Female Anglers...

More Lady Anglers...

So it's nice to see that there are other writers on the net who share my Love for Women who just Love to Fish. This is a nice piece I'm glad to share with y'all about women who fish. Taro Murata does a fine job of sharing his Love for girls who love to fish. Here's the link to his kind and encouraging words...

Girls Fish Too...

Oh ya, Taro's wife knows her way around a fishing rod and she's a pretty good bass lipper too, as you'll see in the linked article. ;-)

Go Lady Anglers!

The four Twittery things...

Twitter Rules!

I wrote this little blurb back in June of this year on my other blog but I know that tons of people missed it, so, here it is again. :-) It is Not really out of date either. As a matter of fact Twitter is even Way more powerful now than it was back in June, when I started plugging it! :-)

So with You and Twitter hooked up to these three other T's, You'll Really be gettin' the word out these days. Did I mention, it's all Free? :-)

Four Twittery things...

Showing live links to our pictures, on Twitter, is Very Cool! Go for it.

later,

Toronto singer Taylor Mitchell dies in Cape Breton...

I'm heartbroken this morning...
Here's a link to the post I did this morning about Taylor Mitchell on one of my other blogs. I didn't know her but I followed the link to her Facebook page from the original article on Canada dot com and was inspired to write a little about this fine young woman. I read where she was becoming such an awesome role model at only 19 herself. I'm Not embarrassed to say that my eyes were watering as I checked out her wall. ..

Toronto singer dies in Cape Breton coyote attack...



R.I.P. Taylor Mitchell! You are totally missed by those you've left behind. Even folks like myself, who didn't even know you Taylor, are deeply saddened, by your far too early departure from this life. You have moved a lot of people, little Lady! Peace, my little sister of life. God be with you...

Cast Your Line: How We All Got Started....

Presenting - ReelWoman...

To-day I'd like y'all to meet my new Fishin' friend, Tammy, AKA the ReelWoman.

Tammy, the ReelWoman...

This fine little fishin' filly hails from Jersey and now she even blogs about her Love for fishing! Now, she may be a little new at it, but I'll tell ya, this little lady is truly going strong. :-)
So my friends, go meet up with this cool Jersey Girl to-day and maybe You can make a new fishin' friend too.
Cast Your Line: How We All Got Started.... Oh ya, don't forget to leave a comment in there for her too, would ya? You see, as a fellow blogger, I Know just how much we LOVE to have folks comment on our stuff. ;-)

Go check her out...

lb

How to catch Walleyes...

Meet my good friend, Walleye Jack...

A nice Eye or what, eh?

After knowing and working with this man for over a year and a half, and talking a lot about fishing during that time, especially fishin' for those tasty Walleyes, we finally got an opportunity to hook-up last week-end! My man Jack skippers a beautiful and very sea worthy Lund which we fished out of on the Mighty Ottawa River quite a number of miles downstream of Petrie Island. I'm sworn to secrecy as to the precise location that we fished but just know that we fished current and you may be on to a similar pattern...

Anyway, we landed Channel Cats, Sauger, a Small Mouth Bass, a Mooneye and certainly our share of Walleyes for the pan at home. After a futile start on my part with quarter ounce jig heads that were way too light for the rate of current flow, that Jack likes to fish, he offered me a 3/8 oz jobbie along with a choice of brighter colored soft plastic bodies. I went with white thinking they wanted something they could see easily in this off colored water. The difference in weights changed everything. I could definitely "feel" the little bumps as my jig touched down on the hard bottom areas. The dash mounted Eagle unit showed a few scattered fish just off bottom at 28-30 feet, so I started lifting my rod up about a foot off bottom, then back down again, slowly swimming that curly tail in the current. Bonk! Bonk! OoooRa! Fish on!

Turned out to be this nice eater Waldo that fell for that little combo! Sure tasted fine the next day @ suppertime! :-)

Eater...

So from then on it was a matter of slip-drifting, hovering, side-gliding and other cool boating stuff, that my friendly Walleye stalker buddy used to keep us into some kind of action pretty well the whole time we were out there. Of course I don't want to forget to mention here that we juiced our jigs up pretty good with some lively Emereld Shiners and had some healthy dew worms held in reserve as well. Bait is Very important out there if you want fish for your table. Trust me on this one, as I am a die-hard artificial lure guy 97.7% of the time. Truth is, I can only handle being skunked for so long while my mentor schools me in landing fish with bait. :-)

To add to the fun, our first mate Art, the Trout Guy, pulled in a Sauger and this feisty Channel Kitty, his first one ever!

Cat Man Dooo...

Man, this river is a great place for variety of species too. Jack told me between bobs in the waves and swells, of catching quite a number of Sturgeon, especially in the winter through the ice. Next thing you know, this awesome little fish that seemed to fight hard and fast, like a trout, belted my shiner and after a goodly tussle and a jump, came aboard Captain Jack's sweet fishing vehicle for a quick "Pentaxing" session. Here's a close look at this Mooneye, a very interesting fish.

What big eyes you have my dear...

Here's a link to a great write up about this trout like critter from a fly fisherman from Alberta. After reading what Rolf has to say about their willingness to take a fly, and if You happen to be a Fly Fisherman, You just may want to check into this Silver Streak that lives in the Ottawa too. :-) Rolf...Fly Tyer...

Anywho, good times were most certainly had by all and we did catch plenty of fish on the dependable old Ottawa River, thanx to my man Jack.

My main lessons learned or should I say, re-learned? Heavy jigs in heavy current and white or fire-tiger in deep, dark water. Oh ya, and ALWAYS slip some real bait on those fall, deep swimming jigs, if ya want some nice Eyes like the fine catch shown at the top of this piece.

On another note... This was the Best Birthday I've had in a long time. Thank you Jack and Art, for making it so. You guys are too much! :-)

A Mighty Muddy MIssissippi River Bass...

So for all you boys and girls out there in the Ottawa area that fish our Mississippi Lake and river, and think we fish under tough conditions up here sometimes, check out this pic of Rich and what the muddy Mississippi down south, dishes up for him... Makes you appreciate our usually much clearer Canadian Mississippi waters, eh? :-) Man, are these guys good or what! ;-) lb

MIssissippi River Pool 2 19" bass | TweetPhoto

Muddy Water Bassin'

Go and see what Rich is up to lately on Twitter... HellaBass

Enjoy your day, y'all! lb

Outdoorsy webmaster for hire...

Ads and offers...

Here's a link to a Free classified ads place where I presently have a number of free ads posted. Go and have a look at them to see if there is something there that may interest you.

Free Ads for you too...

Also if you like the way they set up these free ad pages, then get yourself hooked up too. It's all free and really quite easy to do too. :-)

P.S. Down at the very bottom of the ads, you'll see my most recent notice about being for hire, by the hour. I don't think I have to tell You that you'll be getting more than your money's worth, by having me at your beck and call, for a few hours.

Yes sir, that's right, you read correctly! It's like, well, like I'm Your one on one, personal trainer, for all of your Outdoorsy stuff to help get You better, faster and keep it all affordable while we're at it! So, Do Not be shy about letting me know if You need a little help out there. :-)

Thanx for visiting!

lb

Canadian Tire Special...

As seen on TweetPhoto
This shot was shared via AddThis too.

I simply Love the smaller size of this cool new unit and how it fits easily into any of my pockets or this great little leather pouch. :-) Sure was nice of Canadian Tire to put this kool little boy on sale too, just when I was at my weakest. :-) Who could pass this up for under 5 bills, I ask ya?

Testin' time...

Worked out real well while being tested so far on my back adjustment screws as seen here and the pliers on this puppy are some kinda awesome as well! This is easily the smallest, coolest and neatest Multi I own, without a doubt. :-)

If you've read any of my stuff before, you may probably already know then, that I've now included this outstanding chunk of gear, in my basic EDC... :-)

Thanx 4 checkin' out this post to-day!

lb

My Inspirational morning...

A Marvelous and Loving Woman...

Mildred Norman Ryder

After Not blogging in here for quite awhile, due to MANY reasons, this web-news of a woman, now deceased, got me really charged up! You see, Mildred was truly a Woman among Women and I regret not hearing about her sooner. The saying "it's Never too late" came to mind and so, I knew I HAD to share this awesome woman's tale with anyone and everyone in the freakin' world, that wants to be and or Needs to be, inspired. I KNOW that You Too, will feel something strong towards this amazing woman after slippin' over to this link Introducing, Peace Pilgrim... and finding out who she was and what she did!

Mildred's whole lifestyle inspired this little ol' Outdoorsy blogger So Much, that it got me out of my funk and I added a link to her stuff and a wee blurb as well, on three of my blogs so far, with plans for a mention on the fourth one right after this. Oh ya, I'm also going to Tweet about this amazingly wonderful woman next after that. :-)

The one and only, "Peace Pilgrim"

So a large THANK YOU to Mildred for what you've done for me, even though you have already passed this way. Your thoughts and followers are STILL out there. Thank You for being.

Your Friend for Freedom,

LarryB

P.S. Please feel free to "Pass It On" and get more folks out there, into seeing the light and feeling the warmth this Very Cool Lady created. Thank You, my fair reader, for being in here to-day. I'm really, really happy to share a little of my life with you! :-)

Flickr: My little Photostream

Cool Custom Cranks...

Cooly Crankers...


I've been puttin' these fellas through their paces for a number of years now and they plumb spank fish where other plugs, simply can't go! Go custom, or go home, I used to say, back in my spunkier days. :-)

Have You got a Photostream at Flickr that I can go and check out too? I'd love to see what You find interesting enough to capture in a time frame for all to see and enjoy...

Here's a link to my Fishing related photos over on my Photostream, @ Flickr, where this latest picture proudly resides now. :-)

Fishing related captures...


P.S. Please, don't be shy about leaving your comments on anything over there on my little photostream. It's now the actual gas that keeps this ol' outdoorsy motor runnin'... :-)

Yours in the Outdoors,

lb

"Sprout Your Next Meal" by Dorothy Cady

Sprouts and sprouting...

Just found this fantastic website. It's the BEST place I've ever visited on the net, to do with the real nuts and bolts of actually living simpler, smarter and of course, healthier, into our retirement years, for less money than You would think... :-)

Also, I've talked a little about the benefits of putting fresh sprouts into your diet before in my blogs, so this link from Homestead, will help You get Your very own Sprout Garden growing, easy like. :-) Think of it as, your vegetable garden without all the waiting, weeding and all the dirt! Enjoy!

"Sprout Your Next Meal" by Dorothy Cady

Here's some that I enjoyed down by the river the other day. I call this shot, Sprouts on the rocks... :-)

Trout fishing lessons...

Forest Life...

Trout aren't easy...
So last Saturday my new fishing friend Arthur, picked me up @ about 4 bells and we headed out to the Calabogie area. I was happy to be part of his new canoe testing and glad to go along as ballast too. :-) After a work-out getting the canoe in the water, at the first lake, we got blanked by the Specks that are supposed to be living in there. :-( Now that's with Art using worms and me sticking to my artificial lures, like always. I'm kinda stubborn like that. ;-)

So, we packed up then and with just a few stops for a breath, we managed to get back up the hill to the vehicle. Soon, we were headed up the road to the Rainbow Trout lake where I was real glad to see an easy launching spot to make up for the harder one earlier. :-)

Well, after an hour or so of tossing live worms and lures at those Rainbows, buddy Art sets the hook on his first ever Rainbow Trout! Surprisingly enough this particular 'bow did not jump out of the water like most Rainbows are prone to do. But a 12 or 13 inch Rainbow, feels real good in the hand, even if he's a non-jumper! :-)

I tossed some of my favorite stuff like a #1 silver Mepps Aglia spinner and a Dardevle Skeeter as well as a #0 Panther Martin spinner, and even an F5 Rapala, all to no avail. Finally, I got one "bump" on an old silver #0 Olympic spinner, but didn't get a hook-up. :-(

The jagged rocks and tall, thick conifers along the shorelines of these little lakes, so reminded me of my own home waters of Sudbury, fishing them as a kid, so many years ago now. As I looked around it was like touching my roots sort of, if you know what I mean. I noticed that there was much activity in the shallow waters along the shores of both lakes. There were lots of tiny minnows about an inch long and many little schools of two and three inchers, swimming about too. I lost track of how many little Crayfish I spotted moving among the shoreline debris and lots of two plus inch long crawdaddy's too. I eyeballed three or four frogs of various sizes, and a snake over two feet long, not positively ID'd but looked kinda like either a Water snake or a Milk snake perhaps. This thing swam underwater far too easily and was going after one of the frogs when I spotted him. Unfortunately, I broke one of my own basic rules this trip and "forgot" to pack my camera along, so, no snake pics for the blog... :-(

As we headed back to the launch site, I took a few last casts right to the edge of a massive glacial boulder sitting in fifteen or so feet of water. If ever a spot looked "trouty" this big boulder was it, and yet, not a single strike to my best presentations.

We started unloading our gear and bringing it to the vehicle when Art tells me he's gonna let another worm soak, off this nice lookin' bit of launch-site lake-shore, while we finish getting the gear stowed. "Sounds good to me!" I call back from my perch on an old stump nearby, while taking in all of the beautiful scenery. Not even two minutes pass and Art walks over to his pole between loads to the SUV and says, "I think I've got a bite"!

"ALRIGHT", I fire back, as I jump up and head over to the action spot myself to join in. Wow, a real nice lookin' fish flashes below the surface about ten feet out from shore and buddy is cheerin' while I'm whoopin' and this fish is pullin' and splashin' every which way but loose. Being as this is a Trout lake, in that pretty clear water, we both got to see everything happening, live. Man, what a rush that was, to even just SEE all this stuff going on! :-) Can you imagine how Art must have been feeling through all of this beautiful action?

Well, after a little bit of fancy dancin' and possessed with a strong desire to win, my man Art, grasps this lovely Rainbow Trout around the bod and holds it up where I can see that's it's probably pushin' a bit over the two pound mark, or nearly a kilo if you do your calculations that way. ;-) A really fine fish in anybody's books, I'd say.

He then asks me if I'd mind if he took one more cast and of course I said to go ahead, so he did. He puts the rod down at an angle, sets a rock on the butt section to keep it solid and then calmly lights up a smoke. We talk a little, while I follow suit, about that sweet 'bow he just landed and as we look over at the propped up rod, it's tip is doing a little two-step. A second or three later and my Trout guy is reeling in another freakin' Rainbow. This one is around a pound and it didn't jump either. Strange. So you see folks, it pays, to make that "one last cast" now doesn't it? :-)

Final Score from two lakes: Art, the Trout Guy, 3 Rainbows... LarryB, the web guy, zip!

Yup, as for little ol' me, unfortunately, I had to wear the skunk button on the way home. :-) The main lesson I should have learned on that outing was, Use Worms For Trout! The proof, again, was that even my friend Art, who had never caught a Rainbow before, spanked me good, by sticking to Dew worms for these finicky critters. I should have baited up and took a few more last casts... :-)

lb

P.S. Trust me, the next time Art needs ballast, I'm using worms and that's all there is to it! :-)

Presenting the Minnow Rap By Rapala...

Rapala - Strikes Again...

Rapala has come full circle, as Al Linder so aptly says right here in this great video of the new deadly Minnow Rap! In case you didn't know it before, Al has been my Fishing Hero for many, many years and it's just awesome to still see that eternal fire in this man, when he fishes or speaks about fishing. His excitement shown over pretty well all fishing stuff is absolutely contagious and he can rekindle your own personal feelings about what Fishing can do for You too... :-0

I know you'll enjoy seeing my man almost laugh with glee over the numbers and sizes of the fish they were catchin' on these hot new Rapala balsa baits. :-)

So what'cha waitin fer, check it out...



I think I may have to track down a couple or three of these sweeties myself in the next little while. ;-) That's if there's any of these deadly lookin' suckers left, after this vid gets shared around the web by more cool folks like You and I, my brothers and sisters! ;-)

Cheers,

Senko - Ain't Nothin' Like the Real Thing

World Class Fishing Lure...

Just had to share this awesome piece about quite possibly THE best soft plastic lure in the whole world! If You like to fish for Bass, then you've just got to know about the amazing Senko, Killer stick-bait!

Senko - Ain't Nothin' Like the Real Thing

Oh ya, don't be shy about hooking up with them for their free EZine, filled to the brim with Bassin' related stuff. They are a solid 10 in my bass fishin' books to be sure! :-) lb

The Canadian Storm...

A Super Service for all...

First off, I have to say that this entry is yet another little departure from my regular Outdoorsy flavored bloggin' fodder, but I really just wanted to help a few of the other folks out there on a tight budget, like myself.

I've always just wanted and or needed, a regular dial up connection to the web for my style of Inter-netting, so that's exactly what Storm provides for me, in aces. Let me also just say right here, right now, that these folks are totally Affordable, with a capital A! Oh, and if you want Faster, they've got DSL too or how about Wireless for like fifty bucks a month! :-)

There's a Storm a brewin'...

I knew for years that these guys were really good, but Man, I'm glad to report that now Everyone knows it too! :-) This Consumer Choice Award Cool award is so great to get in such an already busy marketplace.

I've been with Storm for a number of years now and I am Very glad to say here, that they have simply been Awesome in all regards. They've walked me through a problem or two, for instance, while talking to me on the phone and little ol' me typing on my keyboard, what they were telling me, all live. Next thing you know, problem solved! Woa, fast, efficient and talk about being great @ teaching other folks how to fix stuff and especially newbie dudes like this little ol' Bushguy...

Storm not only knows computing inside out and backwards, but they are also The most people friendly geeks I have Ever had the pleasure of meeting and dealing with. :-)

So my friends, if You are looking or know someone else who is looking, to get hooked up with The Best Internet Provider, in the whole Ottawa area, Storm's Your best bet, bar none! :-)

Go check 'em out right here...
News Releases | About Us | Storm internet

You never know, You just may want to switch over even, for any one of many reasons...

Chow 4 now,

Sean Gibb & His Large Mouth Bass...

Meet the Gibb's...

Sean Gibb and a Big Bass...

Down at Dow's Lake last week-end, young Sean Gibb seen here with his proud dad, showed me how to hook a real nice Large Mouth Bass, off the dock! Yup! On the first cast, with a little straight shafted spinner, this fine Largie turned that little fishin' pole of his, into a high-tech, horse-shoe shaped piece of throbbing and bucking life! Splash, crash, smash, biff, bamm and more splashes and finally then with a deft grip by dad and a teeny bit of coachin' from yours truly, Sean soon had the biggest fish of his life, in hand.

I'm positive that the memory of that toe-to-toe bassin' battle, will be stuck in this little boy's mind for quite a while! :-)

I was thrilled to be lucky enough to be there when it all happened. Grateful that I had packed my little Pentax along in my handlebar bag too. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words and this one is no exception. Also, I have to say that this little fella remained calm and cool throughout the whole thing. I personally know a few adults that would have been flippin' out, fighting a fish this size, but not our boy Sean. No Sir-ree Bob! Thumbs Up to You Sean Gibb, ya done Reel Good Son! :-)

I'm looking forward to perhaps meetin' up with the Gibb's again one day, down on the docks...

later,

Field work...

And now...

Milk anyone?
More Milkweed blossoms to harvest for my next couple of evening meals. Thank You again Mother Nature!

And a few feet away, in the tall grass, resides this familiar and well loved, common little Field Daisy. She Loves me, she loves me not. She Loves me, she loves me not... :-)

Daisies aplenty...

Did You get over to Twitgoo yet? :-)

L8R

Go go, TwitGoo...

TwitGoo, is Goo-o-o-d...

So, I've told y'all about the cool folks over at Twitpic.com before and just how easy it is to submit your pictures with your Tweets, right? Well here's another Cool Twitter related photo submission place, that I've been field testin' lately too. I really like it equally as much as Twitpic. :-)

These two pics of an Oyster Plant just hit Twitter a few minutes ago, through the use of Twitgoo. Go take a boo over there and then maybe you'll like them enough to hook-up with them too, like I did and do. Then You can Goo too. :-)
Twitgoo pics by larrybourgeois...

You can click this picture to see it closer and larger, if you want...

A Radiant Goat's beard...


Now check this out.

I turn about 35 degrees, with the sun at my back. Same time, same place, yet This particular Goat's beard, or Salsify (or Oyster) plant is totally seeded out and waiting patiently for a breeze to spread it's seed. It's at the end of it's life cycle for this year already. Boy oh boy, a plant's life, sure is a short one, eh? :-(

Makes ya kinda glad you're Not a plant, eh? :-)

Cheers,

ESPN - 20Qs: Rick Clunn

Presenting Mr. October...

Rick Clunn

This is a link to an interview with one of my very favorite Bassin' Hero's, Rick Clunn. ESPN - 20Qs: Rick Clunn You can learn quite a bit from this legendary Bass Man! Rick is still the Only man to win Four BassMaster Classics, ever! :-) He's a real thinking fisherman with a knack for finding bass, anywhere he goes too. Folks who know him well, call him Mr. Consistent! :-)

later,

Tackle Pics...

I LOVE Lures!

This happens to be my most favorite "walk-the-dog" lure! This particular finish is a little scarce but still as DEADLY as the day I first threw it. It's kinda like a fore runner to the now well known, Lazer Lures. :-)

Spooky!

You see friend, light does indeed attract fish and this wild finish here on this Heddon Spook is something that fish are most definitely attracted to. Not just Bass either. :-)

Cool Lures...

Here's Spooky in a group shot with a few other dazzlers, which fish have NO trouble seeing. The Bagley bait here in the foreground, was pretty flashy and life-like, in his day, but seems almost dull by to-day's, fishing lure glitter standards. :-)

Now, talkin' about glitter and glitz, here's a pretty face for ya. Just take a close gander @ the details on this fine little fishy's face folks... :-) Man, these lure manufacturers have sure come a long ways in the last few years, eh?

Awesome Finish...

I couldn't leave without zoomin' in on this fine little puppy too for ya, so You can eyeball this life-like finish, attached to one Very Hot lip-less rattle-bait style fishing lure. ;-)

Hot Rattle-bait...

Have a good one!

LarryB's Blog...: Marcia Rubin - Women's Bassmaster Tour Pro...

Lady BassMaster...

Just got time for a quick link to a nice blurb for Marcia, before I head off Fishin'! Enjoy!

LarryB's Blog...: Marcia Rubin - Women's Bassmaster Tour Pro...

Marcia & Hanna Rubin...

Future looks Bright!

AYA - Angler Young Angler

Kids and Fishing...
Well as you may or may not already know, I've been pushing for more children to get into Fishing for a lot of years now, because I believe it is something basic and natural that ALL children need. Doesn't matter where on the planet You live, Your children have nature areas near you, where fish live and can be pursued. :-) My own two children, Brooke and Lee, both held live fish just after they started talking. My delightful little daughter's 25th word, was "Fishy" which described and identified anything with fins and scales and gills, to her at that young age. :-) Her little eyes would brighten right up as her wee arm went up and out with fingers extended, so as to hold the little fishy by the lip. :-) Good Times! :-)

Anyway...

I just wanted to make sure and share in here to-day, what I believe to be The BEST way to get Your beloved children a super foothold in something Outdoorsy and so great that it could change their little lives forever.

My very own Super Hero and King role model in all of Fishing Land, none other than Al Lindner, has always been with this awesome program too and THAT ROCKS! :-)

So slip over there now and get Your children involved to-day. Here's the hyper-link.

AYA - Angler Young Angler

...On parting this morning, here's a picture of some 2008 Winners, courtesy of AYA, and they sure look happy to me! I'll bet Your Fishin' Kids would look REALLY Good in there this year. :-)

Fishing Rocks!

Chow 4 now,

Co-Angler….What do I bring with me???? | Peter Larmand Outdoors

Good Advice...

For all of my Bass Fishing readers and followers out there, I'd like to share this article with you, by my old friend Pete "The Flippin' Fool" Larmond, a well known Ottawa area Bass Tournament Angler, with a lot to give to this fine Sport. It's nice to have a seasoned pro tell ya where it's at

If You are lucky enough to get to be the, "boater" with a serious bass fishin' dude, you'll wanna follow Pete's solid advice here, to make sure you don't cause buddy any grief or make things even more complicated out there than they are already. And, of course, to let You and your Angler enjoy a great day with a little proper pre-trip planning. ;-)

Co-Angler….What do I bring with me???? | Peter Larmand Outdoors

Oh ya, Pete also just successfully ran his third annual Fishing Kids Charity event, for CHEO and has so far to date, raised over a thousand dollars for the cause. Thumbs up Pete, a super play for those kids! If You have kids and You'd like to help CHEO, through the fine Sport of Fishing, maybe You and Your children could hook-up with my man Pete for next year's event? He'd Love to have you. :-)

Tight lines...

Twitpic is Awesome...

TwitPic Forget-Me-Nots



If You use Twitter and like to Tweet, then you should look into Twitpic too. It's the New, Cool way, to share pictures with Your Tweets! Oh ya, like Twitter, it's also Free too! :-)

Here's another shot of these beautiful blue babies that hasn't made it to Twitpic yet. You, are the First to see it, before all the Twitter-ers out there get a boo. Now, don't forget, they are called, Forget-Me-Nots... :-)



Chow 4 now...

lb

WakeWorld -- Media Galleries- Dallas Friday

Photographer: Bill Jamison

WakeWorld -- Media Galleries- Dallas Friday


A great picture of a real Winner!

I just discovered this awesome Woman Athlete to-day and Had to share her with any of my readers who also recognize Greatness and need someone to look up to in life. This woman knows how to overcome adversities and seeks betterment in her daily life. She is a total inspiration.

My hat is off to this wonderful young role model of the female world. Google her if you want well over 4,000,000 hits too.

Dallas Friday Rocks & Rules!

Cheers, lb

M40 Project - 10 Cent Survival Knife

NOTE: All photo's are By M40 and can be seen even better on his Very Fine website...

This is the Best little Outdoorsy related Do It Yourself project I've seen in years...

M40 Project - 10 Cent Survival Knife

I saw this sweet idea before, a while back, and then I lost it with a crashed computer but I just re-found it again this a.m. over on the forum at SurvivalPodCast... and I simply HAD to share it right in here with You and my little stable of readers and friends. :-) Now, by following these great instructions, and fantastic pictures, EVERYONE can have his or her own, Hand built Survival knife, that lacks Nothing. You can easily add any sort of material, like rawhide lace for instance, and even including the world famous Duct tape or Gaffers tape, to the handle area for your own style of comfort and looks too... :-)



One thing not mentioned in this well known author's article, is the very Cool point, that this High Carbon steel hack saw blade knife, makes it a Super striker for any type of ferrocerium stick or fire stick, as I like to call 'em, which you may be carrying with you. The spot between the handle finger groove and the last section of the bottom part of the blade, is left un-ground, exposing the 90 degree (square) blade surface, to your ferrocerium (or whatever) rod, making a shower of sparks EVERY time. :-)

Cool or what?

So, head over to M40's excellent website to-day and get ready to build yourself a simply sleek and very slick, and super cheap, survival knife, par excellence. Take a look around once you're there and get ready to become a fan or follower or whatever of M40 too, like I am. :-)

later,

lb

Another interest...

Some Small-bore Stuff...

177 caliber lead pellets...

So, in all this blogging for the last few years, I've never once mentioned that I have a pretty good interest in cool air rifles. I've owned two for years. I don't do expensive or fancy guns either. All they have to do for me is shoot fairly fast and hit pretty hard, depending on the lead you're throwin' and the FPS (feet per second) of the air rifle itself.

The ammo...

The caliber of the pellets shown in the photo above is 177 but I also have a 22 caliber rig as well. It shoots quite a bit HARDER than the 177 CrosMan and propels a heavier chunk of lead to boot. That awesome little single pump, is used mostly as a small game hunting unit, to fill the stew pot, when I feel so inclined, to add a little meat to my wild food harvesting. :-)

You'll notice the different types of pellets in this shot. I have all told about 19 or 20 different types or styles, by a good number of manufacturers. There's domed and pointed and hollow-pointed and flat, head shapes, and there are grooved and un-grooved skirts and the ones in the red box even have a plastic skirt and a steel head. Some pellets are definitely WAY better than others. Then too, some pellets are so poor, that they tumble every time you fire them. Tumbling pellets are NOT accurate pellets, as you may already know. :-( They need to spin, which is caused by the rifled barrel of the air-gun,in order to maintain a straight, stable trajectory and stay facing forward throughout their flight. :-)

Anyone else out there use an air rifle, or know someone who does? :-)

I taught both of my beloved children at a very early age, to know about air-guns. We used to hang aluminum pop cans up by their pull-tabs, on branches of shrubs and both kids could easily hit them every time up to about 40 or 50 feet. Now THAT teaches them more hand/eye co-ordination, than yer average video game. Besides, look @ ALL the other Cool related stuff they get to learn about and experience while out there. :-) Like safe gun handling, first and foremost. Learning how to judge wind direction and velocity. How 'bout, what kinds of trees and shrubs are we hangin' these recylable cans on? What kind of plant is that, that's twining it's way up and around the tree we're using to set up our shooting gallery? :-) SO many excellent things out there for my (Your) precious children to become wrapped up in, for good results. Not like in the city, all Rapped up in head-banger noise and gamed-out into total non-reality mode...

I've never owned a high-power rifle. I probably never will. Seems to me that low-powered lead pushers are about all I've ever needed and will ever need. :-) Of course, if the SHTF, I still have my trusty little 410 single shot and a belt full of mixed shells and a slug or three, to boot. ;-) (wink)

later,

Cool Fish Artistry...

Something Fishy goin' on over here... :-)

Sweet Sticklebacks...

Wanna see even more Very Beautiful Fish Art? Then just click the high-lighted link below, or, the main link, at the top of this post...

Thanx to my fellow Flickrite,Happy_Sleepy from my own home Province of Ontario, the whole electronic world, now gets to see some totally Awesome and Very unique craftsmanship as well as, Superb Photography.

Take a tour, if you will, over to her Photostream to-day, to get a pile of her vivid insight and views through her eyes. You Will be impressed...

:-) lb

Some Spring Signs...

YIPEEE!

The sweet little Crocus, is alive again...

Well friends, a lot has happened in the last two weeks and of course Spring has most definitely revealed even more of her lovely and refreshing self, to this ol' Nature Observer, since my last entry in here...

This spring, same as last year, the beautiful, yet unassuming little common Crocus, has been the first flower to poke through the ground in my local hood. Yup, this darling little toughy has been known to pop up right beside a chunk of ice or old snow even, in it's desire to seek the welcome warmth of our sun's powerful spring rays. Man, now That's determination and fortitude, if plants can indeed possess such qualities, which I believe, they can and do! :-)

White Water...

This is a view from about twenty five feet above the shoreline of the Wild and swiftly flowing, Petawawa River and there's No ice anywhere. She's free to run right now, if you're into the wild river, white water canoeing thing... :-)



I may get out this afternoon to explore my little spot up by Pinecrest to see if the Fiddleheads are starting to pop yet, if the weather holds up. She's pretty cloudy and really windy out there right now though...

later,

...

O.K. It's later, :-) (2:30P) and I've just come back from the Pinecrest corridor and the sun even managed to come out for a little while out there. :-) It's a good thing I had my trusty Titanium jacket on to-day because the wind was certainly quite chilling.

I had only been in the damp woods about 7 or 8 minutes when suddenly, Lucky ol' me found my first specimens of Wild Leeks, pushing their way upwards through the old leaves, in a tiny little, sun exposed spot about five feet across. They are obviously, JUST now starting to appear. Next week-end will be perfect if it's sunny at all this coming week!



I plucked a few tender samples, field dressed them easy like and then popped one into my mouth, right there on the spot. That by the way, is one of my tests for the BEST Wild Edibles. If I can eat it RAW, without any cooking or whatever, then it's at the top of my list for hunting and harvesting. :-)

Aren't they just a gorgeous little plant?