lew

You had an excellent day on the lake with quite a variety of different species...well done !!

Incredible way to start off your season and congrats on a great day on the rivers

Good to hear you got everything fixed up Cliff, even though it sounds like it turned out to be a rather messy job or you . My Merc actually has a warning label right beside the fill plug that tells you to leave the motor in the down position for servicing the fluid levels on the trim pump.

I've got a feeling this show could be a real hit with the outdoors crowd, Mike, and it looks totally different to most of the stuff that's being offered to us lately. I think it's a great premise to take the trips right from the planning stage and then follow them thru the entire process. Just bare bones camping, canoeing and surviving in the bush.....that's what it's all about !! I for one always look forward to your stories and pictures on this board and if your new show will be anything like them, it's a guaranteed success......best of luck with everything and I'll be looking forward to it fer sure

Go gettem Joe and best of luck to ya !! And even if you don't catch anything you'll see the best part of the day

Sounds like your in for an incredible day Dustin, and be sure to let us know how it turns out. Hopefully your dad ties into the biggest slimer in the lake

This question pops up about once a month and it's always the same, somebody will tell someone else they're doing it wrong because it's different than what THEY do. There IS no right or wrong way to do it !!!!!!!!!! Go to a store and try out a left hand reel, and if it feels good, buy it.......if it doesn't feel good, try a right hand reel, and if that one feels better, then buy THAT one. I've been using baitcasters longer than most people on this board have been alive, and I cast with my right hand, then switch the rod to my left and crank with my right hand. Spinning reels I cast with my right, but crank with my left. Am I wrong ??.....of course not, it works for me, so that means it's right for ME, but maybe not for anyone else, so try something different until you find whats right for YOU. Just do whatever the heck feels good to YOU and don't worry about what anybody else thinks is right.

I'm not sure Roger, but was that a shot ?? Basskicker, I don't know where you are, but I bought that mount at JB's in Etobicoke, for around $60 if I remember correctly. You can also get them at BPS but they only carry the smaller ones.

For anyone that may be the least bit interested, this is the bracket I made up to hold the GPS. It'll bolt to the left side of the consol (side consol boat) and then the Ram mounted on top will hold the screen just to the left of the windshield. Ya, I know.....who the heck cares ......Might give someone else an idea though.

Hookset, it zooms in to 0.05 / mile

Actually, it's gonna work out well as far as space goes. Robin made me a nice aluminum bracket that will sit on the side of the console, then I have a Ram mount that will hold the GPS on top of the bracket. It's all be measured and will be perfect. The sonar sits on top of the console. And douG, you actually taught me quite a bit over the years and it has certainly been appreciated, but I figured it was time now to catch up to the 21st century

I bought the Navioncs Gold XL-9...Great Lakes & Maritimes... for $240 at West Marine

I've used fishfinders for many many years, and always black & white, but have never owned a GPS, so when I decided to buy a new GPS/sonar combo a couple months back, I found a great deal on a monochrome unit thru Cabelas that was about 1/2 the price of the same unit in Canada, so I bought it but soon realised I shouldn't have. I've had it sitting in the basement for awhile now but everytime I looked at it, I kept telling myself I made a mistake going with the monochrome. I wasn't happy with the picture quality at all, and decided to send it back and go with a colour unit. I've never really been a fan of split screens either, so I went with a dedicated GPS and will purchase a seperate sonar unit to go with it. I went with a Lowrance Global Map 7200c......... Nice & bright with a big 7" screen It's new on the market and not in Canada yet but I'll have it next week sometime then I can get it installed in the boat in time for the Quinte trip in a couple weeks. Going with a colour unit is gonna be a nice change after looking at black & white for so many years. Most of my fishing partners have color so I figured it was time to catch up to them

Booster cables are a good idea too Mike. I haven't ever needed them myself so far, but I've been able to help a couple other boaters get out of a jam.

I never had the pleasure of meeting the man, but 44 is certainly far too young. Condolances to the family.

hmmmm, thanks, but no thanks....I'll take a boat in the middle of the lake anyday.....

Squid posted a story yesterday about a huge dog and it reminded me of a St. Bernard I had many many years ago, so I dug out the picture to post. His name was Tiny and although he was massive, he was the most gentle dog I've ever known and little kids used to ride him like a horse and he loved it. We never weighed him but he was HUGE !!! He's been gone since the 60's but I've still got plenty of fond memories of him. That's my dad sitting in the chair and the pretty blonde teeniebopper on YOUR right has been my Mrs for over 40 years. This has always been one of my favorite pictures.

Thanks Duber, let's hope the levels come up some more then before we all head down that way in a few weeks. It was so bad last year, the boats were practically sitting in the mud at the docks. Good link Cliff, thanks.

Hey guys, howz the water level in the Bay this year ?? When we were down last May it was quite a bit lower than usual and it was even tough getting outta the channel from our camp at Dorland. We had to trim our motors all the way up to keep from hitting bottom. Here along the Toronto shoreline, it's up about a foot from last year.

Lookin forward to it as always David, we'll be there every night as the sun goes down. Best of luck to you this season

That's scary stuff, best of luck to Dave and the hopes for a speedy recovery.

Golfisher, it's not so much for the fish, but to prevent line breakage due to backlash. Musky baits are generally quite heavy, and if you get a backlash while using too light line, it'll snap and you'll lose the bait, which isn't a good thing considering the price of them. Nothing worse than seeing a $50 bait sailing off into the sunset The heavier line also helps to control the fish and make her go where YOU want, not where SHE wants

WOW, very very impressive work keram !! Excellent paint jobs and good idea going with the thru-wire too. Can't wait to see your catch with BIG MAMA

Go with 80 pound PP taper, and just take it easy till you get the hang of it. Baitcasters aren't nearly as tempermental as alot of folks make them out to be and you'll get the hang of it in no time. When your casting larger musky sized baits and get a backlash, the 80 # will keep your line from snapping.

I only saw about a dozen at Ashbridges this morning, but I spose I was too early to see anymore, but some days the place is loaded with them. I forget the exact numbers, but it's something like 6000 that were culled down near Quinte a couple years ago, then I remember watching the news about a year ago and they were trying another cull in the same area, but the P3TA groups were in the water near the birds with canoes and nobody could do any shooting with them there. Never did hear if the cull went ahead after that.