blue pickeral

Most boat upholstery/top/cover shops can make one up for you. Had one done for my boat for around $600. If you check a few marine supply catalogues, there are some ready made ones available from which you pick the size that fits your boat. A full cockpit cover that you can stand up under will be more expensive.

They are great protection from the sun and the rain.

Followed advice here earlier and purchased Lowrance HDS 5. Really pleased with it:

-easy to use for complete noob

-GPS - track your route, mark fishing holes

-sharp color screen image even in bright sun for 'middle aged' challenged vision(for the money your friend could probably wrangle HDS 7 - larger screen)

-expandable - map chips, 3D add ons, network with other sonars, etc.

-lots of built in features that come in handy.

Best price when I was shopping was at Radio World and when extra rig was needed, RW had it to me in one day.

Found a picture for above description:

Looked for pictures of the one I built but couldn't find them so will try to describe:

-cut and laminate two pieces of 3/4 inch plywood - preferably marine grade - dimensions high and wide enough to suit mounting your OB.

-get two pieces aluminum sheet - 1/8 inch I think, cut to width of block above and twice the height.

-fasten to wood block so that extra aluminum sheet fits over transom.

-use 4 lengths of aluminum 90 degree corner pieces 1 inch and fairly thick, drill and bolt to outer edges of your addition and then drill and bolt through transom.

-drill and bolt a few extra holes through the transom and your sheet metal.

If you're out for a drive by Ft. Rae, stop at Stag River, hook up a rusty nail to a piece of string and catch pike all day...no slime on the NWT pike and good to eat.

Found this little tool works well on a number of things including reading and clearing codes:

http://www.scangauge.com/

In accordance with what Bernie said above, check a few internet sites specific to your vehicle for similar to vehicle problems.

For instance, on Toyota Corollas 2003- 2007, an easy to replace $7.00 gasket on the throttle body fixes a 'running lean' code. There might be a Tech Service Bulletin available - ECU software update etc. - that will solve your problem.

Mean no disrespect to anyone, but have seen no evidence of this myth that 'some parts dealers will scan your codes for free'.?

Have a look at U Fab, Smith's Falls, Ontario

http://u-fabboats.com/

why a baby seal?

Because when you are hunting food - basic sustenance - you aren't choosey. Any meat keeps you alive for a couple more days. Cuteness doesn't enter the picture. Yes, there are stores, but the prices are often five to six times more than we pay in the south due to food being flown or barged in.

As for the ulu knife, best chance of getting one would be in Iqaluit. Largely an Inuit tool. Try contacting someone up there who can check the Northern store. Picked one up at the Hudson's Bay store years ago, but HBC has been sold. Often locals will make them out of scrap sheet metal. Great for cutting up pizza.

Nice trip!

Got my 'flame' suit on - pretty impressed with the Bass Pro Shop 'Bionic Blade' (I think) picked up on sale a few weeks ago.

No idea who makes them, but landed a large pike first day of the season with little trouble.

Have an old car battery powering HDS 5 all day. A 'top up' charge can be maintained by a Canadian Tire solar panel on sale for about $10. (won't charge up from zero though)

Had 3 Nissan pickups - from 1989 onward to 2000 - and they got progressively worse each time. (kept giving me good deals on each one)

Will never forgive that company for manufacturing electrical connections to the fuel pump of three different metals. Add electricity and connector corroded with fuel pump shut off without warning. Connector inaccessable in fuel tank.

Stuck in blizzard for hours.

After market parts rare, OEM parts expensive, service departments the worst I have ever dealt with.

Get the Toyota.

Doing a search on youtube for bait caster, using a bait caster, etc. will bring up a series of useful videos. Get free software called Youtube Downloader and you can save the videos to your computer for later viewing. Found them particularly helpful along with garry2r's advice and others from this forum.

More and more women are joining the trades....set out a community college course calendar for the first available carpentry program with the date circled. Place it next to Oprah's magazine....forget the name...where women are constantly affirming themselves....

Last year, used Mr. Sticky's Poly Bonder to glue piece of 1/2" Starboard to aluminum transom. Glue held well, no screws, until end of winter, when expansion between materials caused the plastic to pop off.

The piece I had on was not flush with the surface of the transom and needed bending with a heat gun. I believe the piece would have stayed on if this was done.

This year, went ahead and drilled two holes in the hull(with starboard in position) below the waterline, used 1" stainless steel bolts/washers/nuts with 3M 5200 sealant, (tightened nut against hull-bolt head inside boat) then used Mr. Sticky's Polybonder on the starboard holding further with 2 extra nuts on the protruding stainless steel screws.

Prior to mounting, drilled through the Starboard at the appropriate place and put two bolts through so that transducer could be attached using nuts on the bolts instead of screws to the plastic. Can easily be removed for storage etc.

I was hesitant to drill any holes last year, but once knowing how the transducer was going to work in its position, decided on a permanent mounting.

Mr. Sticky's Polybonder is available from Pride Marine in Kingston, ON mail order from their website and the glue manufacturer has told me that their 'web bond' epoxy product will also work for this application and is available at Home Hardware.

CROWDS EVERYWHERE you want to fish would be my #1 negative.....I go fishing to get away from that now...but years ago when I was 15-20 years younger I did fish many Lake Erie Walleye tournaments with my partner Dennis...we place 5 years in a row in the Southtowns Walleye Tournament....but we put in huge amounts of fishing hours. We slept in our van for 4 nights while fishing out of either Dunkirk Harbor or Barcelona....11-13 hours of straight fishing did produce results so it showed hard work and LUCK goes hand in hand....but it took the joy out of fishing....we would launch way before daylight but still had to wait in line, sometimes as long as 1 hour to get the boat in the water...then at the end of the day it was a ZOO trying to get out of the water, and after all those hours on the water patience were frayed by everyone waiting.

 

Back in the hey days of these tournaments Southtowns Tourny would sign up 2500 anglers...that's a LOT of boats in the traditional hot spots trolling planer boards and downriggers. Fishing room evaporated quickly. Even though I still have all my tournament equipment I RARELY strap that crap on my boat anymore but rather jig or drift worm harnesses well knowing I will catch much less fish this way. But it's a LOT more fun fishing..

 

The good part of fishing a tournament is if you're serious about trying to win, it pushes you to the max and you learn and catch fish. It's a younger mans game and that's why you see mostly younger pro anglers competing.

 

Good Luck,

Bob

Thanks for your perspective! I do dislike lineups and crowds. Maybe best just to have a 'friendly' competition with my spouse.....

There is a fairly large Native population around Merritt....perhaps it is time they re-affirmed their hunting and fishing rights....lovely country around there.

I have fished many a walleye tournament when I was younger......and believe me....fishing is much better without tournaments.

Bob

To help pass the winter, I was actually kicking around the idea to try tournament fishing just for the experience and with no real ambition to win anything. What are some of the negatives in your opinion?

Investigate the new car buying plan from Automobile Protection Association:

www.apa.ca

They have no hassle pre-determined prices with dealers. You might have to travel to GTA though.

Just to try another tack...hire yourself out for a week at a time to various established kids camps. Bring all gear necessary for the kids and work your fishing school lessons into the established routine and other activities of the camp.

Not sure if there's an Alberta fishing forum but you could try Angler's Atlas for some drive to lakes.

Don't recall much fishing in the city...the North Saskatchewan river is probably full of floating propane tanks and dead livestock at this time of year....

Try Google maps and use the street level function at the junction of roads and rivers to get an idea of the terrain and waterways.

I Have a Merc 200 Optimax outboard. Is it imperative I use the Merc optimax synthetic oil or can I use any Synthetic injector oil? Of course any Merc dealer says I have to use Merc OIl . Thanks waterhorse

Ask the Merc dealer where the Mercury oil refinery is.

Filling the hub is one of last things I would do, you see the bearings warm up a little while rolling and it allows the grease to warm and flow in there. You fill the hub, the grease doesn't get warmed up, and although your hub may e full, you're starving the bearings of lubrication. That's why I got rid of my BB's.

Must respectfully disagree. Have had no 'flow' problems on both my trailers -boat/snowmobile- with the authentic S.S. Bearing Buddies as positive pressure forces grease into them. Have been dis-assembling wheels every two years for observation and using the same bearings for about 10 years with no visible damage.

All great advice above...one other thing to try....loosen slightly the very end of the fitting on your grease gun that fits over the grease zerk/nipple. (Not the set of threads that attach the fitting to the gun stem or hose)

This may allow better fitting over the grease zerk and grease flow into it from the gun. The fitting should 'snap' on to the zerk and stay there.

Would also echo above comments on starting fresh with the bearing setup for peace of mind.

I fill a plastic syringe (minus needle) full of grease and force into bearings. Also fill the hub of wheel with grease before placing bearings and installing on axle. Vital if using bearing buddies.

North of French River - pickeral

South of French River and U.S.A. - walleye

Uber Sophisticated Fisherpeople - Dore (making something 'French' sounding adds a touch of distinction and can generally be used to sell concepts to female partners - French windows, French dressing, French doors, French urinals..)