Angler management

I hooked into a few last week for the first time, however never landed any. Saw countless ammounts of 5' beasts roaming around while pike fishing so i figured to give it a try. Only bait i got strikes on was a 6" white grubtail. Rigged it with a trokar size 6 swimbait hook, and no weight. All hits were top-water. Every fish i had on would launch out of water like a marlin and do a violent head-shake repeatedly until the hook was off. Now im not sure what i did wrong... Used the sharpest and strongest hooks and set the hooks like a baseball swing... Still remain a gar virgin...

I just bought a hummingbird 898 hd si and i cant believe the difference it makes. It seems a little harder to identify the fish for me but i am new to the system and lots of room for improvement on my behalf... However it allows me to see over 400' to the sides of my boat and identify the structure around me. Doing so, i can split the screen into 3 sections, and view the bottom with sonar, di, and si. And that way i can get much more information and detail around and under the boat, and have marked tons of fish in schools and individually as well as schools of baitfish. Got on top of a school of pickie yesterday with si that were 80ft. To the left of my boat, then switched to SI and pulled out 4 fish in 5 mins. Would never have seen this school of fish on the bottom without SI and probably would have cruised right by them... My newest and best tool!

No hst at sail this weekend, but make sure u stop by gagnons before u make the purchase, u might change your mind....

I already wrote this in a post about a week ago. Percy boom haven is a lodge just beside Campbellford, its a bay at the end of trent and holds crazy amount of pike. Definitely my fav pike waters. They also rent boats at $75/day with fuel included. Just a heads up, might want to call and make sure they have their boats ready to go because they didnt when i was there last weekend. Spinnerbaits take the majority of pike caught there. Look for weed beds in about 4-8 FOW and i guarantee you do great! Good luck!

Hahaha give it a rest guys...

Autopartsway.ca my dad uses it all the time...

I go to gagnons for all my needs. even though sail is right beside them with a larger selection, gagnons knows how to treat their customers and keep them happy. Ive even returned items after warranty expired and they still did exchange or credit. Also i would much rather support a small local business thats been around much longer then sail. Their pricing is even better on majority of items i have bought.

Really depends on the line, some of the new braids fade really fast, and some deteriorate shortly after their smooth-feel coating wears off. Main one im thinking of is "power pro slick 8". Really like the feel of the line, but it doesnt last me nearly as long as regular power pro.

Welcome aboard! Im from your area, but i dont really fish anywhere close to home. Closest place i go is port perry. As others have mentioned, there is a lot of ppl here that will help u out with any questions u may have. Easiest way to get answers you are looking for is to be specific on the questions. Great introduction, and dont be shy to ask any questions you may have. We are all still learning the art of fishing, so dont be intimidated by anybody here!

Thanx!! Gonna get me one for sure!

I have tried to find a swing to do the conversion but had no luck... Where can i find the hinge? Already tried uhaul and a couple trailer shops in the area. BPS also was no help... Why are they so hard to find??

I heard that the crappie were smashing on scugog yesterday... Might be a safer bet!

Agreed on princess auto!! Got mine for $40

Nothing wrong with asking for a good spot IMO, but asking for fish in a tourney is just pathetic...

Percy boom haven, in Campbellford is my favorite spring pike spot. It a part of the trent, and has many shallow spawning bays that are jammed full of pike. Not much shore opportunity, they do however rent boats for $75 for the day, gas included. You will have a blast! I have always had the best of luck using spinnerbaits and swimbaits there. Cheers!

Side console windshields make a massive difference compared to no windshield. Mine got ripped off and what a difference it made... Obviously it doesnt compare to full windshield for protection of wind and splash, but its much lower profile and doesnt get in the way of fishing like a full.

Going with vinyl this time around... Great idea though, never even crossed my mind!

Too bad a Ranger is $50k and up for a decent model... Im sure its already on the top of every fishermans wish list, but unfortunately out of majorities price range.

My biggest concern is maintenance... Needed to replace carpet in my aluminum legend this year, and had to take the interior apart completely to do so, literally down to the shell... Still in the process of putting the boat back together. They made it as if the carpet wasnt meant to be replaced ever! If you use the boat as much as i do, the carpet cant last more then 3 seasons... So every couple years u gotta rebuild the whole boat... Crazy! But i am amazed with the craftmanship of the boat. Puts Lund to shame!

Fishhound.com has the same deal, but you can actually pick the stuff you get to test. And its yours to keep once you write a report on what u think about the product. Also its much cheaper.

Ive never been much of a quitter... Welcome to our support group!

if your family consists of 3 people, thats pretty much where the limit is right now. If you fish as often as most of us here do, and have a family of 5 or more you can see what problems might rise. I doubt any of us rely on fishing for food these days, and with the populations we have, we would be screwed if we did...

Thats cool, cant imagine it being hard to find volunteers...

I was wondering the same thing...lol just didnt wonna sound like a noob. :s

Last couple years i have been going to rice lake and fishing crappie, however i cought more pickerel then crappie.... They are out of season there so its probably not a good idea. I was amazed at the size of them also, 90% were over 7lbs. And i fished off a dock... Think this year i might skip and go for some northerns!