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Fantastic work Bernie, your friend has some excellent talents !!

My 2005 Safari pulled my 1650 Crestliner with no problems at all, infact I'd hardly even feel it behind the van. When I bought the 3000 + lb. Skeeter package last spring though, the Safari would still pull it on level ground OK and the stopping wasn't a problem either with the trailer brakes, but it got to be a bit of a struggle on long steep hills. The Safari has a pretty strong engine but definetely has it's limits. Now that I've purchased the new F-150 with the 5.4 engine everything's gonna be good. Not sure of the weight of your Ranger combo HTHM, but I'm guessing around 3000 maybe ?? If your full sized van is a V-8 you shouldn't have a problem.

Not necessarily so with everybody Bob, I smoked for 30 years and have now been off them for close to 20 years, and I won't allow anybody to smoke in my boat, truck or especially my home. It's got nothing to do with laying crap all over anyone and my sense of pride for kicking those filthy things is for me alone and as for withdrawal, quitting never bothered me so I'm certainly not ugly about it. The plain and simple truth is that now, the stench from 2nd had smoke makes me want to puke so I'd just as soon not be around anyone who does smoke. I've certainly got nothing against smokers and have NEVER suggested anybody should quit, I'd just prefer you don't do it in or on anything I own. So to answer the original question as to whether smoking affects your fishing success, I guess the answer would be that yes, in MY boat your success would be VERY poor

I'll agree with all the others Chris, that's some pretty impressive work. Very nice indeed !!

Yup, makes you wonder eh Raf ?? One of the best musky reels on the market yet they don't make it available to all fisherman. Course if you guys would learn how to cast properly there wouldn't be a problem

I used a gold BG 7000HS for 2 years for jerkbaits and it was a decent reel, then one day on a cast a metal piece snapped off inside and ruined the reel. Trouble was I was leaving on a week long fishing trip in 2 days and didn't have time to get it fixed, so just went to the local tackle shop and picked up the red 7000. Never did get around to fixing it and it's still sitting in the basement getting dusty. For quality musky gear, Shimano is definetely the way to go.

May help you get some answers if you let us know what area you want to camp in. Ontario is a pretty darned BIG place

Talk to anybody that knows anything about quality boats and you'll always see Crestliner listed as one of the better aluminum boats on the market, but I don't ever recall seeing Legend boats on that list. I'm not knocking Legend, just stating a fact.

For burning large musky baits, or working jerk / twitch baits like Double D's, Suicks, Sledges or even your Magnum Dogs where fast line take-up is required I use a 7000 Abu. It's a big reel with a large spool that takes up line incredibly fast, but with the power handle it's basically effortless. It's especially good for cranking large double bladed cowgirl type baits, infact I've got a couple with double 13 blades and you can crank them all day long with no problem. Abu doesn't make the best reel on the market anymore and all of my other musky reels are Shimano, but for this application their pretty good, although I don't know if their available in left hand crank or not. As I said above, it's a big reel, but not un-comfortable to use and I often use it all day without any problems. It's matched to a 7' 6" heavy Compre and makes a great combo. I have no experience with the Diawa but this is just something for you to think about.

Happy B-Day Bernie and all the best to ya !!

Ya got that right Spiel, my 1st boat, waaaaaaaaaaaaay back in the day, was a 6' wooden punt with a 3 HP motor, but boy, did me & my bro, eddyk, ever have some great times in her

He who turns the other cheek, prolly gets beat up alot.

Not many things purdier than sunrise over soft water Or moonrise either

Your right Jer, Shimano in P'Boro is a great place to deal with and their service is 2nd to none. I dropped off a Calcutta 2 years ago that wouldn't engage when I turned the crank and they fixed it up within 24 hours for FREE. They've also replaced a couple broken rods without question. Excellent product and excellent service !!

Not being an ice fisherman Cliff, I'll take all the warm weather we can get Actually, we've had a very tame winter down here in the Smoke so far this year with almost no snow, infact I've only shovelled maybe twice and both of those times was only an inch or 2 and even now there's only a couple inches on the ground. I'm heading to Peterboro this morning to take care of some business then stopping into the local dealership to purchase a new snowblower & riding mower for my up-coming move north, but right now I'm thinking maybe I'll just order the mower and leave the blower till next year.........wishful thinking I spose

That's a great story and good to hear that everything finally worked out OK for ya, even though it took 9 months. I've usually found CTC a good store to deal with, infact a couple years back I bought an item from them and FOUR MONTHS later it went on sale for $50 off. I took my bill down and they never even hesitated in refunding me $50 + tax.

C'mon Wayne, I'm ALWAYS happy when you & me are fishin together

You having a booth this year TJ or just doin the tourist thingy ??

Your boats coming along beautifully Brian, lookin forward to seeing the finished product.

Incredible job on those flies Spiel, very easy to see why the fish grab those things

And you DO make quality musky baits Art, that's fer sure !!

Back in the spring I was at a seminar in Peterboro Jos was giving about setting up and operating Lowrance marine electronics and I couldn't believe the knowledge the man has about these units. Couple days later I was out on Pigeon Lake and was trying to set-up a couple of the things on my GPS that he talked about, but couldn't figure one of them out, so I called Angling Outfitters hoping Jos was there and could help me out and explained that I'd been to his seminar earlier in the week. Turned out he was gone for the day, but the employee I was talking to said he'd help me out, even though I explained I'd bought the unit elsewhere, and infact had never even been in their store before. He spent 15 minutes on the phone explaining how to do the set-up and told me if I had anymore problems, to call him back and he'd help me again. Fantastic service to a total stranger and not something you'd ever get from a Big Box or even alot of the smaller shops for that matter. Angling Outfitters seems to have an excellent reputation from those who deal with them on a regular basis and it's easy to see why.

hmmmmmm, I haven't been to the show in a couple years and was planning on going on Monday, but if it's that bad perhaps I'll save my $$$$ and do something else. Sad the way these shows have been going downhill in the last few years. After the last couple Sportsman Shows I said I'd never waste my $$$$ on that one again either.

Sonny was a great guy, an asset to this website, and will be missed by many, and it was our honour to offer a bit of assistance to you and your family Jennifer.

Yup, the rear wheel drives are nice trucks, but not very good in the snow as you have zero weight over the drive wheels. Get yourself FOUR winter tires and put them on dedicated wheels and your set to go and then just switch them up in the spring. Winter tires are different than all seasons as they have a different rubber compound that stays flexible when the temps get very low and give better traction in the snow. Now, if your interested in 4 nice 16" polished aluminum wheels for the truck, lemme know