lew

Are you for friggen real ??

I did the same thing thing Mike, put a Beckman pen on a Frabil frame and got the best of both worlds.

If your gonna use a gripper to control a big fish close to the boat Mike, try and get one that swivels rather than a solid one. If the solid one is locked onto her jaw and she starts to thrash...which she will... there's every chance you could snap her jaw bone whereas the swivel should just spin without hurting her. Same as holding a fish up with a solid gripper, all sorts of bad things can happen to her when she tries to break loose.

Thanks once again boys Our daughter had invited us out for supper last night...Chemong Lodge in Bridgenorth)....and when we arrived a bunch of our friends were there also for a surprise party. Fun way to cap off 50 great years.

Some things never change Rob LOL And congrats to you too on your Anniversary

Thanks all, the well wishes are much appreciated. And Paul, 50 years ago I WAS young

We got married in '66 and spent out 1st year in an apartment in Scarboro and payed a whopping $125 per month in rent. When I joined the Fire Dept in Toronto in '68 my starting salary was $5200 a year and that was pretty decent money back then. Dad bought a new Chevy pick-up in 61 for $1800

.....this beautiful young lady said "I do" and for the last 1/2 century I've been telling her it was the smartest thing she ever did. It's been a blast and now we're on to the next 50

Same here Wayne, 11 more days and we'll be celebrating our 50th anniversay and every day is still a blast.

Cast-Away, yes the ship was open to visitors in Halifax but it was so darned packed I didn't bother standing in line to board her, although if it wasn't so busy I would definitely would have. To go on a cruise though, they're booked weeks in advance. Jesse, I love the Maritimes and was station in Halifax in the 60's when I was in the Navy, but have gone back a couple times since then. Always great memories after visiting the area.

Morning boys, the Mrs. and I have been away on a 17 day drive through the Maritimes. We visited some great spots and I took a few pictures of some old sailing ships that I thought some of you may enjoy seeing. This one takes people out from St. Andrews NB to watch whales in the Bay of Fundy This ship was in Lunenburg NS and owned by a group of folks from Holland who basically just sail around the world. They just returned from the Carribean and were getting ready to sail back home. Floating museum in Lunenburg This old girl is the Picton Castle also based in Lunenburg and travels the world teaching folks how to sail. It's normally white but has just returned from Europe where they painted her black for some movie they were making. There was a show on TV a few years back about her trips and some may recall hocky player Bob Gainey's daughter fell over board from her and was killed. Up in Halifax this beauty takes folks on sight seeing trips. Canada's most famous sailing ship is definitely the Bluenose and the Bluenose 2 is an incredible ship to see. She's normally based in Lunenburg but we missed her there as she was sailing to Halifax but we timed it perfectly and saw her there. Diane and I were sitting in a waterfront restaurant when she came into harbor and I got this picture thru the window. Doesn't get much better than that. Absolutely gorgeous ship Here's a couple pics of some Right Whales we spotted in St. Andrews. Evidentely there's only 3-500 left in the world so it seems we were very lucky to spot 8 of them this day and even though it doesn't appear in the pictures, we were actually only about 200' away when these ones surfaces and we could actually hear them blowing the water out. Beautiful to watch them surface, blow out the water and breath for a bit, then raise their monstrous tails and dive straight down.

Morning boys, I'm currently sitting in a hotel room in Drummondville Quebec and once the Mrs. gets up we'll be heading to Fredericton NB then onto Nova Scotia and PEI. Anyways, just to clarify, there's absolutely nothing wrong with me and I'm healthy as a horse, infact most days I still feel like I'm 18. I just lost the passion for fishing and have no regrets about packing it in and selling all my gear. I'll still be doing all my normal trips up north with good friends from this board but fishing won't be at the top of the list. I'm off to find some breakfast now and get ready to hit the road, we've got a long drive ahead of us. Thanks again, your a good group.

I'd been retired from the Fire Dept. in Toronto for about a year so when I happened to see the fire on TV it caught my attention right away. When I heard it was a plane that hit the building I called my wife and while we were talking the other plane hit and of course right away realized it was no accident. My son was an iron worker and the day after the attack him and a bunch of his buds chartered a bus to get to NYC. Steel girders is what they worked on and knew more about than just about anyone so they hoped they could offer any assistance needed to move the steel beams to help find anyone trapped. They got to the site and found whoever was in charge and identified themselves but were thanked VERY much and told they already had more workers than they could handle. Lousy day for 1000's of good people, that's for sure.

Thanks boyz and also thanks for the offers of fishing. Not saying I'll never fish again but it'll just be very occasionally if I do. My bud that bought the boat and owns the amp says I can use it whenever I'm up there. And Matt, the jacket is yours, I'll contact you when I get home.

I mentioned awhile back that after 65 years of fishing, the last 40 odd years basically chasing nothing but muskies, I decided to call it quits and sold my boat and a bunch of gear to a bud up north that owns a fishing camp. I also listed a lot of rods, reels and baits on this board and was able to sell it all very quickly. I kept my favorite rod & reel plus a few more baits for another friend and he came yesterday and picked it all up. Only thing left is a Mustang HIT inflatable jacket ...MD3153...that needs a new canister but we're leaving tomorrow morning for Nova Scotia and PEI so I may list it here when I get home. Seems strange...and empty... in the garage now with no boat and no tackle after all these years but it's what I wanted to do. The last 65 years and I've fished with a lot of good friends and family, done a pile of travelling and have boated plenty of nice fish and best of all is so many great memories. My garage walls are full of pictures to keep reminding me of fun trips. I don't post here much any more but still enjoy reading the fishing tales and will continue to do so even though fishing for me is now just a spectator sport.

Heard on the news that a young girl was killed in Newfoundland yesterday when their car hit a moose.

Just got back from Nip last week.

Thanks Brian, haven't been back to Halifax to see my old stomping grounds from my Navy days for 50 years so I spose there'll be a few changes LOL

For anyone interested, I had these tires installed early this morning and after driving only about 25 miles I felt I'd made the right decision in going with the Michelin Defenders. Very smooth and quiet ride at 60 MPH and I think I'll be happy with them. Timing couldn't have been better either as I found a 1 x 1 1/2 inch tear in the sidewall of one of the old tires. I'm always real fussy with my tires and check them frequently but this tear was on the side facing under the truck and I never noticed it before. Gonna probably be driving about 3000 miles in the next few weeks so I'm sure glad I didn't have those tires on....whew !!!!

Yes, I'm definitely getting the alignment checked Ernie, something I always do when putting on new tires.

Thanks John, I was hoping you'd chime in with your price. I guess KalTire may not be the cheapest but I'm happy with $1193, specially compared to the other places I talked to. We've been following your trip on Facebook and it sounds like you & Barb are having a great time and hopefully the trailer is everything you hoped for. We'll be leaving on the 12th so maybe we'll pass on the hi-way somewhere LOL

I swap my tires back & forth twice a year and have always wire brushed them but a couple years back I started using anti-sieze also and it works very well. Never had a wheel stuck on a hub before but now it's even better.

I called the tire center at COSTCO in Peterboro 4 times yesterday and couldn't get anyone to answer a phone so to heck with them, I'll give my business to KalTire who answered the phone on the 1st ring and gave me a quote within 1 minute. They ordered my tires yesterday and hope to have them in tomorrow and if so will do the install on Saturday. That's the kind of folks I like to deal with.

Thanks Dan, IMO that road hazard is a big plus. Kal Tire up here has a very good rep and I think they'll be good guys to deal with. Gonna call them right now and get them ordered as the Mrs. and I are heading for Nova Scotia & PEI in 2 weeks and I want them on for the trip.

Dan, the Pirelli's I have now are P275 / 55 / R20 111s Dara, I like the 20's and don't find them too bad, but your right, my winter tires are 17 and they for sure are a bit smoother with the higher sidewall. Tom, yeah I shopped around and Kal Tire was cheaper than the other lowest price and $400 cheaper than the FORD dealer...which wasn't unexpected. I also like to deal with a company that specializes in tires unlike CTC or Costco. I always change my own tires plus my daughters for the winter and your right, I have plenty of space to store them as I have an upstairs loft in the garage and all 8 tires fit comfortably under the stairs completely out of the way.