We received a phone call late yesterday telling us that the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) will announce this afternoon the postponement of the 2011 Trout Opener until further notice.

Rumored for days, the announcement will be made formally this afternoon by Deputy Minister Kant Halpmeselv at Queen’s Park. The Ontario Federation of Anglers & Hunters is arranging a rally next Friday April 8 on the grounds of Queen’s Park to protest this announcement and ask the government to reconsider. A copy of the report upon which the decision has been made was prepared by Water Keepers Canada and angling groups are up in arms over this decision…

Or maybe it’s just April 1st… Come on! You didn’t really… did you ?

[NOTE: We are having a member appreciation day for members of Trout Unlimited Canada in the store tomorrow. All current members of TUC will be offered 15% off* their purchases and if you are not a member representatives from TUC will be on hand to sign you up... And this isn't part of an April's Fool prank!]

*Discount applies only to items not already on sale

Our Boxing Week sale is on December 28-31! Up To 50% off ! All rods & reels are a minimum of 20% off! All fly tying materials 30% off and all gift items are 50% off!

NOTE: Only while supplies last!

We launched our current website just over 2 years ago and have been kicking ourselves ever since. Although the site is secure and it has a lot of great information, as soon as the site went live we realized there were some systemic problems that were not user friendly and needed to get corrected. Unfortunately, as is the experience with many businesses getting online, the horse’s arse we hired to do our website turned out to be one of those people who over-promises and under-delivers and he walked away with our money saying, “Too bad for you – sue me if you like”. We were left with a website that is so difficult to edit solving a Rubic’s Cube looks easy.

Over the last 2 years as we have been asking our customers what they want to see, interviewing website designers and getting quotes on what it would cost to get the site corrected (and I have to admit I was appalled that the quotes ranged from $1,500 to $48,000!). It is probably fair to say that website design is still in the ‘wild west’ of business because you encounter companies who focus on the sizzle but never deliver the steak and there is no uniform or ‘industry’ pricing. Well, after 2 years of frustration and a handful of false starts we finally found a group that focuses on the steak – and has the track record to prove it.

We have been inundating Ruth and Joel with your feedback and suggestions for the last couple of months and think we have come up with a site that is going to put some smiles on some faces – most importantly yours. If we can get the information requested by Ruth to Joel and he can get the last few pieces of code done this weekend, it looks like the first phase of our new website is going live early next week. After 2 years of false starts I have to admit hesitation in stating this but the Beta site they have walked us through is looking great. The second phase of the site will be our the ecommerce section and we are hoping to have the basics on line before the end of the month.

So, keep an eye in the next few days – and please let us know what you think…

[Moderator's Note: we should point out that the service provider for our blog has been excellent - it is the knucklehead we hired to do our main site that we would like to have drawn and quartered!]

This note is from the category of ‘jumping the gun’ just a bit but what the heck. Snow hasn’t yet fallen in Toronto and here we are already talking about the start of the 2011 season. Let’s just put it down to anxiousness and a burning desire to get back out on local trout waters… or just being a bit nuts.

One of the signature fishing shows on the Southern Ontario calendar is the Toronto Spring Fishing & Boat Show. Held in mid-February at the International Centre near Pearson International Airport, this show is one of the rays of hope that winter is nearing its end so while you are thinking about it, put the dates on your calendar.

By the way, you can click the following picture to get a larger, easier to read version…

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of every year Canadians are asked to pause in memory of the thousands of men and women who have sacrificed their lives in the military service of our country. Many of our soldiers are currently in Afghanistan because the citizens of that country walk in fear and the efforts of our armed forces make us all proud to be Canadian. We encourage everyone to pause today and reflect on the daily sacrifices made by our armed forces and their families and to be thankful for for the safety and security we enjoy as citizens of Canada because of their efforts.