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We had a warning come over the TV last night . I was out side around 7 pm when the winds went wild and temps dropped like a stone. I was waiting for it. Just like that, the wind went nil. That is when you know something is going to happen. Nothing did, but I can tell ya, that had me puckered pretty good. Then I grabbed a cold one and said,what ya going to do if it hits anyways . I would sooner see it coming,then in my sleep. Thats just my new crazy way these days. LOL Yer still here posting JD, and got the lovely Ticha with ya.

without a doubt a buzzbait would be deadly for early spring pike. Theres usually a time in the spring that happens every year where the big pike are cruising shallow and slow rolled surface baits gets them fired up. We had such strange weather here this year that the bite went from being so cold that I couldnt get anything going because the fish were still wintering, to the water being so hot that the fish just moved the heck out. I honestly didnt get a consistent bite going until last weekend for the first time this year! Even then the biggest fish had already seemed to have moved off into their summer patterns for the most part. What a strange strange year...I have absolutely no clue what the smallmouth are going to be doing on opener. I imagine its going to be July off edge stuff this year vs the typical super shallow really funny top water stuff that ive grown accustomed to on opener. I imagine the mid day shallow sand flats bite will be gone by the time opener hits in zone 14. A shame because last year it was a riot throwing chatterbaits across 4 foot sand bays and just hammering huge smallmouth and even more strange big 5+lb walleye as well. How is that for a pattern though? Walleye in <5fow on at noon on bluebird sunny days on chatterbaits!

i cant count the number of times Pike have tboned small smallmouth and walleye on me lol. One time while jiggin walleye my buddy hooked into a perch and purposely fought it for a long time just to see if a pike would hit it and then it actually happened. The funniest bit was the timing...the MNR literally pulled up on him as it happened ahhaha. There was no problem but it was hilarious because you cant legally use perch as bait.

Always enjoy Bass opener on Erie if the weather cooperates! lol

Well with the weather today I wasn't about to do much outside, it was like walking into a sauna. I did move a bunch of bedding plants under the picnic tables to protect from the possible thunderstorms yet to come. Other than that it was out the back door to load the smoker and do the wood chip refill for about 5 hours. Did all the hocks that have been brining for over a week now, along with a large polish sausage and a garlic sausage that were just asking for more smoke flavour. Still had one empty rack so I put about 1/2 lb of paprika in a pie plate and placed on the top rack. Also did up another double batch of that asparagus soup, with leeks again. That was 8 more containers for the freezer and 2 cups left over for us tomorrow. Today's menu included a batch of that leek and fiddlehead cream soup that wifey did up yesterday. That soup is so good.

I have definitely gutted a few pike absolutely chocked full of small perch! They probably go down a lot easier than a big wide bluegill though!

Canadian tire specifically changed their nautilus line of AGM battery supplier last year to address this issue. The price of their batteries increased in accordance with this change. Prior to last year Exide was their supplier and was known to make poor batteries. I am not certain who makes their flooded lead acid batteries anymore as exide appears to have gone under. FYI Costco is now also now selling an "energizer" branded AGM made my Johnson controls thats really really cheap. Warranty is not as good though. Also, If you have having issues with that new of batteries its very very likely that you may have issues with your battery charger. My last set of batteries lasted 11 years 3 of them at the end of their life had me fishing them over 300+ hours a year. The key is to always charge the boat immediately when you get back and if they are flooded batteries, watch your water levels and ensure you maintain them by charging them every month or so through the winter while they are in storage. FYI AGM's are more conducive to deep discharges. So if you spend long days on the water an AGM is the way to go vs flooded.

Here’s a couple more pics of the boat:

Happens every year, the spawn does a number on panfish. Why the die off is so noticeable on those lakes is because the size of the panfish is substantial while the number of predators that eat them is low. The population and size of panfish in the tri lakes is absurd. There’s not many lakes with such an insane average size almost anywhere. You don’t see it as much in lakes with pike because they clean most of those up for you. I’ve always said that it’s a shame that the bass genetics in those lakes doesn’t allow for too many sunfish/bluegill eaters to exist. The biomass is there but the bass just aren’t big enough to be constantly chomping on those 8 inch dinner plate sunfish. it’s actually always shocked me that the musky don’t get even bigger chomping on them but I’m pretty certain 1. Sunfish aren’t as fatty as whitefish etc. and 2. I think they might be hard for muskys to hunt because they are fast and agile.

Cheers to the gentleman who decided to launch his boat in Port Credit Promenade Sunday at 12:pm noon on a bright sunny day. Such an amazing Sunday, Warm almost summer conditions perfect day for boating in the city. Once the boat was tied off at the launch ramp there was no better place to load your boat. Your right it was a very sunny day better head back to your car and get the sun top . We all felt sorry for you going again back to your car for the 3rd or was it the 4th time and as you lugged the 12volt battery that thing looked so heavy in the heat. I was worried you might have lost your boat keys as you kept going to your car and back looking through bags and cloths? Don't pay any heed to the yelling and shuffling as everyone tried to launch and retrieve boats around you. Yes it was me one of the boats doing circle's trying to figure out how I could dock on the only open side, I was going to wave but with all the boats doing circles I had to keep adjusting forward and revers. Not sure what the other boaters said to you but by your actions it must have been encouragement to make sure everything is perfect for your first outing of the year. Sure if 2020 had been different you might have had a chance to prep your boat in mid May but since the Launch only opened a few weeks ago we can all see your issue. Hope you got it all set as you were still tied to the dock as I left . Thanks LeXX

Finally managed to scoop something up! 2000 16’ Starcraft Fishmaster 160 with a 40hp Merc ELPTO of the same year. Has a couple older humminbird finders on it but both are working. So is the Minn Kota Maxxum 45lb on the bow despite being about 15 years old. Has livewell and bilge and vinyl floors and I bought it from the original owner. He gave me his original receipt and all of the paperwork and manuals from 20 years ago. Happy with the purchase and think I got a good deal. Now I need to fix a bit of the vinyl that is peeling on the back casting deck. Any recommendations on where I can buy marine grade vinyl for a decent price? Thanks again for all of the info and suggestions here. FF17