lew

Fortunately I've got central air in the new place but I looked at my wife at one point yesterday and she had icycles on her eye brows, so I spose I didn't have it set quite right

Gonna be another sizzler but it sure beats shoveling snow in February. Have a goodun everybody

Thanks for the fish'n tale Will, it made for a great early morning read !! Good times had by all from the sound of things.

Thanks for that picture nuker, it really put's the low water levels in perspective. I'll be on the West Arm for a week in July and then another week in August, but unless things change big time, it looks like I may be bringing an air mattress rather than my boat.

Alot of the times when you see a fire like that, with the extremely heavy black smoke coming from the roof, it's actually not nearly as bad as it looks and is nothing more than tar and asphalt roofing materials that are burning. Infact there was a similar fire on top of a hi-rise in Toronto just a couple weeks back. Lotsa fire, smoke and great photo ops, but relatively easy to extinguish and often with very little $$$$ loss. Not saying fer sure that's the deal, but that's the way it appears to me from the pictures. Be interesting to hear the whole story once you get the details Drifter.

With the exception of one pickeral trolling rod & reel combo, everything I own is Shimano. Their products are excellent and their customer service is even better.

Just to clarify, there were no other boats in the area and myself & the canoeist were the only 2 boats in sight. When the paddler saw me approaching, she was still on the edge of the channel and stopped to let ME pass, but seeing as there was nobody behind me and I didn't want to take ANY chance of causing her and her son grief I motioned for her to go ahead and cross safely. When the yahoo in the tinny approached from behind he had a clear and unobstructed view all around and could have gone a dozen different ways to keep everybody safe, but instead decided to take the most direct route available and that was almost over the stern of the canoe. Absolutely no need to do it other than the fact that he had NO concern whatsoever for the safety or well being of the people in the canoe. I agree 100% that small vessels, or anyone for that matter, shouldn't be blocking or impeding the flow of traffic in a channel, but that definetely wasn't the case here.

Atta boy Corey, awesome catch

Actually this guy was probably in his late 40's, early 50's and was certainly old enuff to understand what he was doing.....at least you'd think so anyways.

With yesterday being such a nice day my wife and I decided to put the boat in the water and go for a spin for a couple hours. We ran up Clear then cruised around Stoney then headed for home again. We were coming south in the channel thru Hells Gate just below the Church On The Rock and there's a lady and small boy in a canoe heading across the channel just ahead of me so I put the boat in neutral and waved to her to pass in front of us. She waved thanks and proceeded across and just as she's about 60 - 70 feet in front of us here comes a guy in a 14' tinny wide open and heading right for us. I assume he's gonna pass behind me but nope, he goes right between us and the canoe and just keeps on flying and disappears behind the islands without a clue as to what he just did, infact he never even looked back to be sure they were alright. The lady and boy in the canoe both had a tight grip on their boat as they bounced in his wake and I thought for sure they were gonna tip, but fortunately everything turned out OK and they continued on their trip. I spose maybe it's not a huge deal but it just shows how easily accidents can happen. This guy had absolutely no concern whatsoever for the safety of the lady and child in the canoe and didn't even take the time to look back as he flew past them not 30' away. That's the whole story and I just felt like passing it on, but I'm sure every one of you has seen similar things on the water. Be careful folks, specially in smaller boats, there's some real fools out there that we have to share the lakes with.

We just assumed your were still sitting in Timmies

That's a slick set-up Rob and should work well for your pictures.

The exact reason I mentioned earlier in this post that I made a bunch of photocopies and had them laminated. Just another government mess we've been forced into

In May of '99 we fished Red Cedar Lake just north of North Bay and the water there was also down several feet, infact the ends of the docks were hi & dry and if I remember correctly I think they told us the water was out about 50' from the normal beach location. I used to have some great photos of the water levels but their lost somewhere in the vastness of my puter never to be seen again

I took my test at the Sportsman Show when they were 1st introduced about 10 years ago. I didn't need it but figured what the heck, it was only $20 so let's giterdone. As I've always understood it though, with the fact that there's no central registry system to keep track of things, if the company that gave me the test no longer exists and I happen to lose my license, there's no proof anywhere that I ever had it and I'd be forced to take the test over again and pay whatever the current fee is. Over the course of a lifetime I'm sure I'd lose it somewhere so I had a bunch of color photocopies printed up, then had them all laminated. I carry one in a waterproof bag in the boat with the rest of my required documents (which never leaves the boat) one in my wallet and another copy in each of my tackle boxes. I personally think this entire thing is nothing but a sham and a waste of $$$$ and does very little to ensure boat operators know anymore about boating saftey than they did before writing the test.

I WOULD be out in the boat Ernie, 'cept the "real" fishing doesn't open for another couple weeks yet

Jeeeez, I forgot all about this post, and thanks again everyone for your comments Yes Gerritt, that's Clear Lake & Twocota, I don't have any apple trees, but I've got a couple maples that are spaced perfectly for the hammock. Norm, the trees are right beside the new up & coming garden so I sure hope Mr. Bruin doesn't like carrots or radishes

I didn't write the article guys, I just posted the link

Well, 1/2 ways anyhow Wayne, until it sprung the inevitible Cracker leak and went to the basement

If it's the Nashville BPS your heading to you may want to change your plans. Evidentely they received alot of damage from the recent flooding and lost most of their inventory. Supposedly shut down until around next Christmas.

People come and go from these boards all the time for many different reasons and I couldn't even guess how many great members we've lost from OFC over the years. Some leave quietly and just slip out the back door while others make a big deal of it and write long rambling good-byes. Some come back after awhile and others are never heard from again. Sad to see some leave and good to be rid of others.

I was wandering thru cyberspace and came across this comparison for tow vehicles and thought it may be an interesting read for anyone with a truck for a tow vehicle or anybody in the market to buy one in the near future. http://www.trailerboats.com/output.cfm?id=2497141&sectionid=318

Steve, I spoke to the boyz from Trojan Tackle at the Musky Odyssee last year about making me up something to sit on top of the tow pole and they said they could come up with something but it would cost me about $150 They do excellent work at Trojan but I like to putz around and try to come up with things on my own. I already had the tow bar & spare DownEaster sitting here, so all it really cost me was the $10 for the dock bracket. If it works that'll be good, but if it doesn't for whatever reason, I'm only out a couple $$$$ Be good to see what you come up with for your new boat.

Headhunter, that tube is actually solid aluminum and built for towing water skiers so it'll be more than enuff foor my application. It's actually surprising how heavy it is, probably close to 10 pounds. Alumicraft, that's also a great set-up you have and very similar to the one Dax made up for his boat. Do you have any issues with the plastic rod holder while dragging very large baits ?? Be good to see your custom camera mount when you get it done too. I also used a Ram Mount to rig a camera holder but just bolted a cheap plastic bowl to it. I used a U-bolt to hold the Ram to the grab rail. With the Ram it's very easy to point the camera any direction, then just set the timer and drop the camera into the bowl. I seldom take fish pics anymore but it's nice to know the holder is there if I ever need it.

Thanks folks Larry, I know exactly what your saying and had the same thoughts myself but I'm pretty sure it'll work with no problem. The rod position is easily adjustable left to right and up and down and where it is now is just where I put it for the picture. Anyways, it's just an experiment and we'll see what happens. Dax, definetely enjoying the garage and with over 1000 sq. ft. there's plenty of room to store the truck & boat plus use the workshop too. You rod set-up is basically the same as mine, any problems with it sofar ?? And Wayne, the garage is propane heat, should be nice for putzing around out there all winter long.