lew

I wish I still had those pics Cliff, but it looks like I somehow deleted them. I certainly agree with the others though, that the fine was most definetely deserved, although the other adults should have ponied up their fair share of the money. It appears that Mr. Maude did his best to clean up, but in the end I spose he should have hung around to be sure the job was completed, rather than depending on others........"if you want a job done right, do it yourself" sorta thing. Best way to teach the younger generation, is to show them how to do something properly and explain why it's done that way. As mentioned by Photoz, if fishermen / campers / hikers / hunters / outdoors folks in general, keep leaving their garbage everywhere, one of these days were gonna find ourselves with nowhere to fish from shore or a place to launch our boats or go for a hike or shoot our guns. Nope, no pity for folks who leave their filth for the rest of us to pick up. Cudos to the CO's that followed up on this and tracked them down.....well done boyz !!

CC, I'm not a river fisherman at all, just never had any real interest in it, but I always enjoy reading your posts and hafta admit, you've definetely got those fish dialed in. Your always helpful to the newbies and willing to share tactics that work and that's what it's all about around here. After reading about your success and viewing your pictures, I was gonna take up river fishing, but darned if I could figure where your spot was from the photo's of the ice & snow Keep doing what your doing Scott, and don't worry about a couple guys who figure they own the rivers.

I use one on my 90 Merc in the early spring when I want to go real slow at night and am very happy with it, infact it almost slows the boat too much and I have to increase the throttle sometimes. I only use it for a couple weeks in May then remove it for the remainder of the year. I've used the drift socks and buckets to slow the boat, but found them to be a pain after dark, but have found nothing at all wrong with the plate. This one is the Happy Troller, which seems to be about the most popular, and just about everyone wanted nearly $200, but I picked mine up at BPS for $125 two years ago.

I happen to be the proud owner of one of gbfishers musky lures, as pictured above, and can attest to the fact that the man does indeed make exceptional baits !!

I'd say Terry is our resident expert on Shining Tree, he's boated some beauts from up there.

Given the choice, I'd always take Shimano.

Great shots Phil, specially the moose pics. Looks like a gorgeous area to spend a few weeks.

I'm replacing the bearings on my boat trailer this spring, infact I posted about it a couple weeks back, but have been seriously thinking of going with the oil bath hubs for awhile now. We used them on some of our heavy trucks at work and never had a problem that I was aware of. Pretty sure I saw them at BPS last year but now can't find them on the website and was just trying to get an idea of price on them......anybody know how much a pair would cost ?? I was talking to a guy in Peterboro 2 years ago that builds custom trailers and he said that Bearing Buddies are actually a very bad idea for most folks because nearly everyone overfills them and blows out the seals. He says the best thing is to forget about the Buddies, and repack the bearings by hand at the start of each new season.

I carry booster cables in my boat too, incase my cranking battery ever dies in the middle of the lake for whatever reason, I can boost it from one of my deep cycles, or I can use them to help a stranded boater, which I've been able to do a couple times.

A few spare fuses in assorted sizes, unless your new boat is equipped with circuit breakers. If cup holders aren't already built into the boat, you may want to install a few to hold your drinks......nuthin worse than hitting a wave and having your Coke spill all over the new carpet Always a good idea to carry a cell phone with you for emergencies. Congrats on the new boat !!

Very Very sorry to hear about your Dad, Vance. He definetly sounds like a man you and all of this country can be proud of.

Good to have you joining our little group Barnie, there's always room for one more.

Absolutely Peter, we owe an awful lot to those fellas !!

That's one car your definetely DON'T want to tailgate

Maybe I'm wrong in my thinking, but I've always thought that some folks put too much importance on fancy paint jobs, as I think it's the action of the bait, rather than pretty little painted fins and gills that attract the fish. The Rapala has been around forever with it's plain old paint job, and little side to side wobble, yet there are few lures in my opinion that will ever stand the test of time like it has, or ever catch as many fish. I've got old blue & white, and black & white Raps in my box that are probably older than half our board members, yet they still put pickeral in the boat every single spring. Same as my musky baits, some of the best producers I have are old beat up Suicks that I re-paint with spray bombs every once in awhile when they need a bit more color added to replace what's been chewed off....very plain and simple, yet the fish luv them. Fancy paint jobs like those found on the Lucky Craft look nice in the tackle box and I'm sure they work well, but I'll still take a Rap for 1/3 the price and catch as many fish........well maybe, anyways

First musky I ever caught 30 odd years ago came on a green Beno eel while casting for pickeral and she hit the 1st cast of the evening. I've still got that lure but haven't used it since that day. I'm pretty sure I've seen them in stores recentely, infact I think CTC carries them, but I could definetely be wrong. I haven't used one in years, but they used to be an excellent bait for both trolling and casting.

Thanks Mike, but all those numbers mean is I have far too much spare time on my hands in the winter months

I don't want to hijack this thread Marc, but that's both an interesting and scary thought and it'd be good if you could explain your thoughts on it as to what's happening to the populations and habitat. Over fishing.....pollution......virus ?? Perhaps in a seperate thread though whenever you find time.

Incredible pictures, that musta been one heck of a trip !!

You can ship them up here if you want Glen and I can get them all slimed up and broke in for you in time for Lakair

Beautiful pictures Northhunter, infact, it's hard tp pick out the best !!

Actually TJ, I consider chicken wings to be health food Some things, a man MUST have.

Thanks Paul, that sounds like a great spot and I'm definetely getting the itch. 55 pounds is an incredible weight for a 50 inch fish, it musta looked almost grotesque.......but I sure would like a chance to tussle with her some day As for the weather, it's raining here right now but is sposed to clear later and head to the low 40's and then be sunny and mild for a few days after that........finally.

Jon, that's the exact excuse ALL smokers use (used) to convince themselves they still want to smoke, it makes it soooooo much easier to keep on puffin even though ALL smokers truly want to quit. I know this because I told myself the same crap for years....everytime somebody told me to quit, I told them I didn't want to, because I just enjoyed it soooooo much, even though I was hackin up a lung at the same time I was extolling the virtues of ciagarettes. You've got it beat now Jon, the toughest days are behind you and it just gets easier from here on. What you need to do now, is forget about the smokes and get on with your life. Their a thing of your past and now it's time to focus on the important things in front of you. No matter how tough it seems, DON'T light one up or you'll have just wasted all that hard work and you'll be kicking yourself in the butt....pun intended. As I told you in the other thread, I quit in '91 after 30 years of smoking and hacking and telling myself how much fun I was having. As for the coffee, that's what I had the most trouble giving up. I went on a health kick back in the early 90's and gave up all the bad stuff.....smokes, booze, coffee, sugar.....and everything else I could think of. Even went out and paid close to $3000 for a bike to get back in shape. The ONLY thing that really bothered me was not having my morning coffee, so I went back to it, even with the blessing of my doctor. We both agreed that one vice out of many was a pretty good trade-off. You can stay off the smokes Jon, just as long as your convinced you WANT to quit. If you don't really want to quit........you won't. Good luck

Thanks Ernie, very generous of you, but she'll be getting a new one. I do appreciate your offer though.