Over the past few months I have become a member of the North American Fishing Club. You read things here and there around the Internet about the club being a scam. I can see why people may get that impression, but with my experience it has come with some surprises.

When signing up for the club I was looking for a cheap subscription for a fishing magazine. On top of the magazine your are open to test products and get extra from the website.

The part that people may think is a scam is that they send you products at no cost at all. I have received patches, swivels, line, and slip bobbers. On the other hand they do send you products that they expect you to purchase. So far they have only sent books. The first book I received was a walleye book. The information in the book was a great read since I am a large walleye fishermen. The price of the book was roughly 10 dollars. After purchasing the book they sent me a free fillet knife. Of course the fillet knife was nothing special, it was free none the less. With the knife they sent another book about fishing that I am not interested in. I have returned the book and do not know if that is the end of them sending me products.

Yes all the stuff is not your top of the line products, but they are free. This trial period has worked out and I will continue to be a member. Hopefully I will have the opportunity to test out some of the products.

Local pond

A nice 3 pound bass. Caught on a wacky rigged senko.

Dick's Sporting Goods - Coupon

A must for all shoppers at Dicks. This coupon gets you $10 off $25. Although there are many exclusions on the coupon there are still plenty of uses for the coupon. For fishing merchandise this is a must have since it does not take much to get to $25. Remember all you have to get up to is 15 dollars and the remaining purchase is basically free.

You can find this link permanently added to the left side of the blog.

Second Trip to Canada

Over June 26th thru July 4th I got the pleasure to fish Eagle Lake in Ontario Canada. For the second year in a row our lodging was at Birch Dale Lodge. The planning for this trip had started a few months back when we planned out our week at the All Canada Show. As we were planning our trip we found that our fly out price had significantly rose. With this knowledge we got the idea to do a second trip to Wilderness. Wilderness is a 4x4 Truck adventure to a lake that has no pressure at all since everyone has to drag a boat on what some people would disagree is a road. Ernie to owner of the camp is the only one that has the rights to keep boars out at the lake.

When working this out the owner of the fly out service came buy again and said he could match his price from the previous year. Now with all this running through our heads we decided why not just do it all. So that is what we did.

June 26th - left for Fort Frances Canada
June 27th - finished the last leg into camp and some afternoon fishing
June 28th - plan was to be on Eagle Lake, but we were blown off
June 29th - Wilderness for Walleye
June 30th - Fly out - Brome Lake - easily caught over 150 fish
July 1st - Lake Trout Fishing - came up empty, but was able to put together a shore lunch
July 2nd - Wilderness for Northern
July 3rd - Eagle Lake - mayfly hatch the previous night made fishing tough
July 4th - Drove home

Another successful week in Canada. Conditions were rough with high winds and cold weather, but could not complain. Anyone who has the opportunity to fish in Canada you will have a blast. Make sure you treat yourself to shore lunch.

You can catch some pictures and videos from my first and second trip in the slide show.

New Setup - Shimano

After some solid research It was time to upgrade myself with a new complete setup. I had determine that I was going to pick up the Shimano Crucial spinning rod and the Shimano Stradic MgFB Cabela's has the reel on sale from 229 to 159. Currently you can get the plain stradic from the same price so of course I am going to get myself the better product.

When looking through the Crucials I was looking for a Walleye and Bass Stick that would be a great option for all presentations. I decided to go with at 6'6" Med, Fast Action Rod. At this price point I don't think there is any rod that can compete. With Fuji's Alconite guides, grade A cork, and super light weight it was a great find. Loomis and St Croix rods with the same specs were all at the 200-250 price range and dramatically heavier.

The decision on the reel could not have been any easier. To get this real at the price point being offered I could not weight any longer and neither could anyone else. The only size available was the 3000. Normally the 3000 would represent a larger reel, but for the Stradic the only difference is a deeper cut spool. I had my mind set on the 2500 hundred, but the 3000 also has the ability to interchange spools with the 2500 if needed. With this slight hiccup it got me thinking possibly to wait and spend more money on the new Stradic that is coming out that is all carbon fiber and looks amazing, but didn't want to put down any more money.

I can't wait for the reel to arrive since they were sold out in the store and hit the local fishing hole.
spinning reel. Better yet