Tag: Toronto

Categories
FISHING

The Right Angle RA-3 Fishing Tackle

What every tackle box should have.

Quite a few of the items on this list are overlooked by rookie Anglers.  When filling your tackle box things like additional line, hooks, floats, weights, and lures, are obviously included.  There are quite a few other items that are often forgotten.  In this Post I’ll provide a list of items I don’t go without.

First of all if you intend to use lures, and fish for a variety of species.  I would add a package of quick change leaders to your tackle box.  Being able to quickly switch between different types of lures can be key to landing a trophy fish.  When fishing with friends it allows each of you to try a different presentation.  Then you can quickly switch to whichever lure the fish are striking.

The next item I won’t leave home without having it in my tackle box is Needle nose Pliers.   If you don’t currently have one in your tackle box.  Stop reading for a moment, and go add it in now!  You can thank me later.  If you’ve ever experienced how difficult it can be to unhook a Bass after it’s swallowed your treble hook.  Then you’ll understand the importance of the Needle nose Pliers.

Another important item to include in every tackle box is a textured rubber glove.  Some fish species are particularly difficult to hold.  Having a glove handy that you can slip on is so much easier.  Being able to get a better grip without having to squeeze the fish with additional force is extremely important.  Especially if you intend to catch and release like I do.  Too strong a grip will seriously harm a fish, and in most cases make a successful release unlikely.

Something I currently have in my tackle box that I didn’t include before is barbless hooks.  I won’t fish anywhere new without having a few with me.  I’ve also filed down a few of my favourite lures to make them barbless as well.   Experience has taught me that certain areas only allow barbless hook fishing.  Whether it’s local regulations, or because certain species are spawning.  If you didn’t include barbless hooks in your tackle box, your day is over before it even began.  You don’t want to miss out on a great fishing opportunity because you didn’t have a few hooks.  Trust me, it happened to me once.  I watched a kid land a 2lb Salmon on a section of the Credit River I had planned to fish.  If I had even 1 barbless hook that could have been me.  I’m never going to let that happen again.

The previous items were my absolute must haves.  There are a few other items I’ve added to my tackle box that aren’t absolutely necessary but worthwhile.  I have a small Flashlight because most of my fishing trips begin well before daybreak.  I keep a pair of Scissors in case I lose a leader to a snag or need to add a drop weight.  Cutting the extra bit of line after you tie the knot is much easier with Scissors than my teeth.  The last item I always have is a small package of tissues.  That’s right, if you fish in Canada you will deal with rapidly changing temperatures, and weather conditions.  Tissues come in handy for any number of reasons.  I almost always use at least one.

Add some or all of these items to your tackle box.  It will definitely make your next Fishing trip much easier, and more enjoyable.

Categories
GAMING Uncategorized

The Gamer in me GL-3 Rec Room Toronto

First impressions of the Cineplex Toronto Rec Room

Cineplex Rec Room just opened up in Toronto.  They took over the space that used to be the Leon’s Roundhouse Location.  It’s on Bremner across from the Ripley’s aquarium and Skydome.  Yes I still call it the Skydome.  Shit most people I know still do.

When approaching the Rec Room, you can be forgiven for mistaking it as a night club, or strip joint.  The first thing you’ll see is two guys that look like bouncers.  They are fully decked out in the typical tuxedo style garb, waiting to greet you from behind the rope line.  My first thought at 3:20pm on a Friday was am I dressed too casual for this place?

Now I know a little bit about the Cineplex Rec Room.  From my understanding it is just another version of a Dave & Buster’s.  So really their shouldn’t be anything wrong with wearing shorts and a collared T-shirt.  Still for just a moment I thought I might be denied entry.  Thankfully I wasn’t.

Once inside my suspicions were correct.  What I had expected to see was all there.  There were a lot of interesting games.  Many of the titles were familiar to me, but they had quite a few new games as well.  They had a pretty even mix of Video games, and games of chance or skill that earn you “tickets”.  Similar to Dave & Buster’s you need to purchase credits in order to play any of the games.  The more you buy, the better the value.  So my buddy Weber and I just pooled our money and purchased a single reloadable game card.   They have taken full advantage of the newest technology.  Instead of receiving a magnetic strip swipe card.  You are instead provided with a small tap card.  Not only does it transfer credits to play games.  It also keeps track of the number of tickets you win.  I’m torn between loving the simplicity of it, and missing the satisfaction of watching machines slowly spit out ticket after ticket when you win big.  Another point of concern with the tap card is it’s ability to pay for a game without you even realizing it.  Depending on your height, if you keep the tap card in your pocket and lean against a machine.  You could accidentally pay for a game.  I witnessed the same guy do it twice while watching his friend play one game, as he leaned against another.  Of course I helped out the best way possible.  In order to keep those credits from going to waste.  I stepped up and played each game so that he wouldn’t be disturbed, and could continue watching his friend play.  You’re welcome.

The main area has a long bar which serves an indoor lounge, as well as an outdoor patio.  Having that outdoor space is a huge bonus in my book.

Rec Room bar

There are two restaurants, one fast food casual, and one for dining in.  The first thing that really caught my eye when I walked in was a 6ft Pac-Man machine that two players can actually play simultaneously!

Playing together to clear each level actually required a fair amount of teamwork.  Shouting orders to one another to keep ourselves alive, and splitting the level into his section and mine was absolutely key to winning.

Giant Pac-Man

There are quite a few competitive games at the Rec Room.  The most popular of which was Super Mario kart.  It was so popular in fact that we didn’t actually get an opportunity to play it.  This was the first issue I had with Rec Room.  In comparison to a Dave & Buster’s, the Games area is much smaller.  It won’t take too many people before it’s packed.  Now it was opening week so you would expect a slightly larger crowd.  Still 4:00pm on a Friday shouldn’t have you waiting to play every popular game.

We decided to try our luck at a few of the ticket games while waiting for some of the more popular games to clear.  Something I noticed right away is the large number of Progressive jackpot games.  The highest of which was over 3000 tickets!  The temptation to try and hit the jackpot was very high.  With all those tickets you can have a swag buying spree in the swag shop right after.  I couldn’t help myself so I gave it a few tries.  On my third attempt, wouldn’t you know it, I timed that game absolutely perfect.  Well almost perfect, and walked away with squat.  Whoever wins Zombie arm owes me 24 credits.

One of the attractions I was most interested in was their virtual reality experience The Void.  The opportunity to experience what it’s like to be a Ghostbuster zapping ghosts is just too good to pass up.  Well unfortunately I did.  First of all it isn’t easy to find when you first enter.  Weber and I got so caught up with downing beers, and playing the newest version of Cruisin U.S.A. that by the time we were done.  The line up at The Void was just too long for us to wait.

Now would I recommend that you visit the Rec Room and experience it for yourself?  Definitely.  I’ll be back soon and next time the first thing I’ll do is try out The Void.  If you plan on going I would suggest picking an off peak time, or planning on staying for quite a while.  Bring a few friends along, and if you find a game you like.  Stick with it until you’ve had your fill.  You might not get back on it again if you leave.

Categories
FISHING

The Right Angle RA-2 Guelph Lake fishing

Would I consider myself a professional Angler?

 HELL NO!

 I don’t enter tournaments, own a boat, or have ever purchased high end equipment.  I would consider myself an enthusiast.  My wife loves fishing almost as much as I do.  She never fished as a kid growing up so she’s still learning.  Every catch she makes is full of excitement for her.  We live in midtown Toronto so we are always looking for decent shore fishing spots in, and around the city.  We have found a few.  I’ll share them with you, along with what we caught in this blog.  Over the summer we take a few day trips out of the city to fish as well.  This year we are adding  Peterborough, Sandbanks provincial Park, the Bay of Quinte, and Minden to our list of places to fish.

Our first drive out of the city this year was up to Guelph Lake.  The Guelph Lake Park and Recreation area doesn’t open until 8:00am so we began our day at a great little spot I know of.  It’s only about 5 minutes from the Guelph Conservation area entrance.

The road 29 marker at the center of the picture is the spot.  The East side of the bridge is the better location but both sides will yield results.  Having a small dingy to get further away from the road is a real advantage for landing some really good sized Bass.  My wife and I just casted spinners and spoons for a couple hours from shore.  There are a lot of snags so precise casting is necessary from the East side.  If you can’t control your casts yet, then there are far more open areas on the West side of the bridge.   We spotted a few decent sized Bass breaking the surface about 30 feet further in from where we were fishing.  I hooked a Bass that immediately got under a downed tree and shook loose.  The time we spent there wasn’t for naught though because my wife landed a Smallmouth Bass.  Just a little guy,  but it was her first Smallmouth so she was thrilled.  We packed up, and headed over to the Guelph Lake Conservation area shortly after that.  It did not disappoint.  There’s a small dock a little ways in toward the island access in the Guelph Lake Conservation area.  We parked there, walked over to the dock and began casting spinners.  My third cast in I hooked a decent sized Largemouth Bass to start my day.  It’s the one pictured at the top of the Post.  My wife had a solid strike just a few minutes later but wasn’t able to set the hook quickly enough, and it got away.  It was about another hour before I landed another similarly sized Largemouth.  Already a good day by our standards.  The real celebration would happen another couple hours later.  Around 1:00pm I had worked my way a little further along the shoreline and found an access point where I could comfortably cast alongside​ the shoreline.  Maybe 25 casts later I got a heavy strike and set the hook well. Fish On!  I’m using an Ugly Stik spinning rod with 8lb test monofilament, and a size 3 Mepps spinner.  By the time I brought the fish within eyesight after working it out of some branches and reeds I realized that it wasn’t another Largemouth Bass. It was a Pike.  Not the largest Pike, or anything worth bragging about, but thrilling all the same.  My whole reason for coming out to Guelph Lake was to hopefully land a Pike.  I didn’t land a single Pike last year.  Not even a strike actually.  I’ve caught Pike in this area before, and there was a lot of talk of decent sized Pike being landed in Guelph Lake recently.  My day was a total success.  The wife was thrilled because she had never seen one caught before.  There’s something about the sleek lines of a Pike that just makes you think it’s a fast capable fighter.  Needless to say that my wife is now hell-bent on landing one herself.  We fished for another couple hours but the Pike was our final catch at Guelph Lake.

We took the 124 to Erin where our favourite little Pizza place is.  Whenever we are anywhere near Erin we will go a little out of our way to buy a Venezia Pizza.  Their signature pizzas are excellent.  There are a lot of great pizza places in Toronto.  What makes Venezia Pizza that much better is the crust.  Thin but not too thin.  Crisp without being brittle.  The taste actually adds that little extra zip whereas most pizza crust is just dull.  We took it to go, and made our way to Belfountain to try our luck at my absolute favourite fishing spot as a kid.

Favourite childhood fishing spot

At the corner of Shaws Creek and River roads there is an access that takes you down to the credit River.  I have never left this spot without landing a fish.  Usually a great spot for Brook Trout, we spotted a school making it’s way upstream.  We were casting Yellow spotted  Panther Martins upstream into the current, and slow retrieving them.  Basically we were allowing the current to carry the lures past the school, and just reeling them fast enough to keep them off the bottom.  Took about 30 minutes of casting but we both landed what I originally assumed was a couple good sized Brook Trout.  It wasn’t until after I posted a picture to the Fishbrain app that I was informed that they were actually Atlantic Salmon.  I was happy when I thought they were Trout.  Realizing that they were actually Atlantic Salmon made it that much better.  I’ve never fished for Salmon.  I was planning on fishing for Salmon later this year. There’s an area on the Don River that very few people fish that they’ve been spotted the last few years.

If you are serious about fishing, and are looking for places to fish.  I would strongly suggest that you download the Fishbrain app.  The community is very active, and like me aren’t afraid to share great fishing spots.