lew

I've had a couple new Safari's Brian and their great vehicles. I used the 05 to tow my Crestliner and it did a great job but as you said, it was an aluminum boat and didn't really weigh that much, maybe 2000 lb. including trailer. When I bought the glass boat though it was a different story. The total boat/trailer package will be at least 3500 lb's plus everything else carried in the vehicle and it became too much for the Safari in MY opinion. I travel up to Nippissing several times a year and have to go up some fairly big hills and although the Safari did a good job of pulling the heavier boat on relatively level ground, I felt it was struggling on the bigger hills. I had the extra cooler installed when I bought the van so higher engine temps were never a problem but the 190 HP just didn't seem enough for heavier loads on long hills and I think it was putting a real strain on the engine and I felt it was over working it. If your gonna tow a heavier load any distance you may want to think about something other than the Safari but again, that's only MY opinion. PLEASE DON'T GO OUT AND SPEND 40 GRAND BECAUSE I SAID SO I got rid of the Safari and purchased a new Ford F-150 Super Crew with the 5.4 motor and 310 HP and it's all the difference in the world and I hardly feel the boat behind me now, even going up the big hills.

Good to see you back in the game Bud, that's a beautiful fish !! You shoulda let me know you were in the area and I would have met up with you guys over there. You still around ??

Well done workwear, she's a purty fish indeed !!

Thanks for the update on the water levels and weed growth Andy and good luck to you too next week in South Bay.

Plenty of big muskies in Nipissing Andy, they just don't come easy. How were the water levels, still about normal ??

Outstanding Simon !!

Excellent read as always Mike, really fantastic !!

All the best to you Richard

There's a good reason I don't ever use live bait Darren

I do something similar with my Double D's Steve, 'cept I eliminate the centre hook completely and then replace the front hook with one 2 sizes bigger. Improves the action IMO plus makes the neutral buoyancy better.

Thanks Jay & good luck to you also. Can't help you with the Upper but I know the water levels & weed growth were excellent in the West Arm in early June and I'm thinking it'll be even better now. Just hoping the BIG girls are hungry

Sorta like a bad dose of musky rash Larry, just means the fish'n Gods have been very kind to ya

Was really sorry to hear we wouldn't be holidaying together again this year John but Barb's dad's health is much more important and best of luck to him. We'll be heading back up again next year and I'll give you the dates when I know them. And Dan, too bad you can't make it either, woulda been fun.

I'm heading back up August 6 for another 2 weeks and just wondered if anyone else is gonna be there the same time ??

Nice when a plan comes together, specially when it only takes 10 minutes

Attaboy Darren, a very impressive fish for sure !! Looks like you've really got your boat rigged up nice for downrigging too.

There was a time not very long ago when I ALWAYS had a Suick clipped onto my jerkbait rod and got lots of fish on them. I got into Sledges a couple years ago and find they produce even better so my Suicks have been sorta semi retired lately although I still use them sometimes when I want to go a bit deeper over the weeds. In the warm waters of summer I like to work them very fast and erratic with short pauses in between and then in the cold waters of October & November it's loooong slow sweeps, again with pauses. As Raf mentioned, the best baits are the ones that have lost the paint and absorb water. Just kinda gives them a more natural appearance going thru the water. Their an excellent wooden bait and have been around for quite awhile and will probably be hear for many years to come. I like to weight mine to get them down deeper and if any one is interested it's very easy to do. Cut a section out of the belly and insert a couple small wheel weights Fill the holes with 5 minute epoxy and touch up with a bit of paint. Don't worry about being fussy cause the muskies don't care. It gets them deeper but the extra weight, plus the absorbed water makes them more controlable and easier to do what you want with them and IMHO just makes them work that much better.

Some great pictures there Rodwrap, thanks for that, but that guy is definetely getting a bit to close for comfort And Drifter, I hafta admit I was surprised to hear you say you've got cougars up your way...at least the 4 legged kind...as I honestly never knew they lived that far north. Thanks for the lesson

That's gotta be better than climbing 30' up and sitting in a tree stand all day Bill

Scary stuff Dave and bear sightings seem to be getting more frequent every year.

I've actually got a spot IN the house for you Brian and you'll have a choice of deer, gobbler and now even bear. Heck, you could get any of them right from the back deck

I've found several piles of bear droppings in the woods within 200' of my house in the last 2 months, a neighbor 1/4 mile away had a bear in his back yard recentely, and another neighbor down the road spotted one a couple weeks ago. Most of the homes on the road have wooden or fiberglass boxes at the end of the driveway to secure the garbage from critters until the truck picks it up, but this morning when we were driving into town we noticed 3 of them had been tipped over and one box was dragged 15' across the lawn. This afternoon we found a bear track right at the end of our driveway but I'm not sure how old it is. We had very heavy rain here on Monday but it's been warm and dry here the last few days and the clay is drying up. I'm thinking the heavy rain would have washed any tracks away and this was probably from just after that. The clay in the track is cracked too and I thought I'd post it anyways incase anyones interested. Not a good picture but it actually is very clear in person and the claws are very pronounced. Certainly not unusual to have bears in the area, but this girl seems to be hanging around alot lately.

Thanks again folks, I sent a link to this post to my daughter today and she asked me to convey her thanks to you also. They've now given her a mask to try out and it'll be interesting to hear how she makes out with it.

I told you they'd fix you up fast Dave, those boyz in North Bay give out some excellent customer service. Too bad about the $32 but I understand that doesn't buy many beers these days anyhoo

Dunno, haven't seen him/her in years but if their heavy set it could be either muscles or pregnant