bigbuck

Ahhhhhhhhh, spring in Ontario's northern wilderness......... I can't wait to see how bad the skeeters are in Honey Harbour and the black flies in Bracebridge this weekend. Thankfully, I still have some old school Muskol (98% DEET), I'll be taking a bath in it.

I'd jump on 5.6%. You probably will not find a better rate than that.

Great report from you trip to the other side of the Earth. China is definitely on my list of places to get to at some point in my life.

Great report Wayne!! Good to see that you were able to get together with the lads for some time on the water.

Deep frying, canola oil is best all around. Lard is the tastiest but not healthy and vegetable shortening is the biggest no no of all (think trans fats). Peanut is good but due to allergies you have to be careful who you use it around. Now deep fried in canola oil with some bacon grease..............

While the engine is running, pour some down the throat of the carb(s) uhtil the engine sputters and dies. Pour a bit more and let it sit for at least a half hour. Pour the rest of the can in the fuel tank. Start up the engine and be ready for a smoke show as the Seafoam and whatever gunk built up in the engine burns off. It is a great product to get intakes and combustion chambers cleaned up from the inside.

Catch some bigguns!!

Thanks Roy, that's a good one to bookmark for future reference.

I wear my inflatable all the time too and I always have more PFDs on board than I need. Mine is a manual, I heard that the auto inflatables inflate sometimes when stored in a very damp place.

Nice ride!! Enjoy her!! She'll get some slime on'er soon enough!!

Happy BDay Joey!! Enjoy, hopefully you get to go wet a line!!

Nice reel, you won't regret spending the extra bucks on a quality reel. I'd spool up with some cheap 12-14lb mono to practice with. Once you start to get the hang of it, then splurge on good line whether you go with mono, fluoro or braided. There is some good advice here. One thing to keep in mind is a nice fluid motion.

Buy yourself a couple of practice plugs (BassPro has them, not sure about LeBaron's), go to your local park and practice casting, pitiching, flipping, etc... I also learned how to teach my thumb by practicing while watching tv by letting the weight drop to the floor and controlling the spool with my thumb. People will think you're a bit nuts but once you master the baitcaster, there is no looking back.

Nice job Aaron!! You sure did some damgage tossing spinners.

When my buddy tore down his cabin on the Muskoka River, the old beams ate up a lot of carbide saw blades, the wood was sooooo dense and heavy. A couple of pieces in the campfire would burn all night long. Reclaiming some of the timber may be a good idea but may not be practical. You need to research this further with the township, hopefully you don't have any asbestos in there and there probably is no or next to none insulation.

Good luck with this project and keep us apprised on how it goes.

The fuel economy ratings on that vintage Xterra are pretty dismal. That is the same type of economy as a big Yuke or Suburban. I'd take the big fullsize V8 SUV over any of the Japanese made midsizes that come with a V6 if the fuel economy is comparable but that's just me.

The houseboat idea would be great. All depends on cost. As for Georgian Bay, I can direct you to a couple of options in the Honey Harbour area. Depends on what you want and availability. HH is decent because you don't need to leave the town to get anything, there is a liquor store and the Town Centre has groceries, bait, hardware, etc... The Delawana Inn would be great but it is kinda pricey but includes all meals. Lots to do there for the kiddies.

What Irish said. You definitely need to talk to someone in the township. If the old cottage is structurally unsound then they might let you tear it down or else have the fire department come over and do a controlled burn. All depends on what's allowed.

She is definitely a cutie!! Congrats there Gramps!! Get a fishing rod in her hands!!

www.fueleconomy.gov

It's a US gov't website that gives the EPA fuel economy ratings for vehicles that are current back to the 90's.

Toro, Lawnboy or Honda. You can't beat them. My dad still has his 20 year old Lawnboy self propelled 5hp and it is going strong with no signs of stopping. An oil change every couple of years, cleaning the air filter and the original spark plug. My Lawnboy is about 15 odd years old and it has cut an obscene amount of grass and only in the last year or so has it started to leak oil out of the upper crank seal. Besides that, it works fine.

Any shallow weedy bay in that lake should produce. Look at a chart of the lake and go for it.

You have my thoughts and prayers with you.

x2 on what Irish said. Better off to get a second opinion.

Canadian Tire puts their 'Intelligent' chargers on special periodically. Just hook it up and the charger takes all the guesswork out of properly charging your batteries for you. Deep cycles need to be charged differently than starting batteries.

One step at a time, put one foot in front of the other and keep on trucking. Good for you. I saw what alcoholism does to people as a teenager. It scared the beejeezus outta me. We'd overindulge once in a while but never ever became a daily thing. It literally sucks the life out of you. Now, a couple of drinks is more than enough for this kid, if I never had another drink, it wouldn't bother me at all and that's the way I like it. Hopefully I get to feed my addiction on May 2fer with the boys on our annual fishing getaway by catching a monster pike. I am a fishing addict.

It's the new reality that we live in. Big brother is watching. We have started up the slippery slope.