lew

I've thought about it Mike but the B&B I always stayed at is shut down now because of illness and I can't find anywhere else in the area to stay at. There was that big truck stop / restaurant that I stayed in before but that's gone now too. I remember there was a motel not far from you but you said it could be bad spot.

Slightly off topic, but 15 years ago my bud and I went out one evening to cast for musky. Nice little 2 acre bay we usually did well in with some lily pads, bull rushes, pencil reeds and rocky points on either side. We'd only been there a short time when a guy pulls up to us in a camouflaged boat and told us we had to leave the area RIGHT NOW because he wanted to back up against the rushes and shoot the ducks that came in and they'd be scared off with us being there. He didn't ask if we'd do him the favor by leaving, but rather ordered us out of "his" spot. I told him if he'd have asked us we'd have gladly moved on but because he ordered us out we now had no intention of leaving and continued to cast even though we'd already covered the bay. He sat in his boat watching the ducks fly past us and finally left as the sun set and then grumbled to us about being in-considerate morons. I told him to have a nice evening and hopefully his next time out brings him better luck.

I'm kinda surprised too Mike, I thought for sure there'd be more folks interested in joining you for a day. Mikes a fun guy to fish with and definitely knows his way around the local waters. Him and I hooked up for 2 days a couple years back and had a blast, boated a few muskies and just generally had a great time. Take Mike up on his offer and you too may just hook in to one of the legendary 2 tone St. Lawrence River muskies Or even one of their smaller cousins

Excellent picture Bill, really nice. We had a good view of the 1st 30 minutes or so then the clouds moved in.

That's a good idea too fisher and perhaps I'll do it.

In 2005 I bought a new Safari van that came with Michelin LTX tires. Very next day after taking delivery I had a 2" drywall screw go thru the sidewall. I called the dealership assuming it had a road hazard warranty on the tires and was told "Nope, every things covered 'cept that". They gave me a discount on a new tire but their expensive and it still cost me a lot. Pretty sad considering they only had a few miles on them.

Just goes to show you don't need a big $$$$ boat to catch a fish Congrats to your family Rick, that's outstanding !!

Thanks Roy and good to hear everything worked out well.

Mike, call Gagnons in Oshawa and see if they have any left. 905-725-5798 If not, call Chris at the Shimano warranty center in Peterboro and he may have a number for you 866-491-529 As said above, when I called Shimano they transferred me to their California office and that's where mine came from. Funny too as it cost less to have it shipped from California than Oshawa. Just be sure they send you the one for a TE as they sent me the wrong one I I had to exchange it in Peterboro. Lots of messing around but well worth it. If for any reason Peterboro has one but can't ship it let me know and I'll go get it and send it out to you.

I use one for really big blades too Mike, certainly not in the same class as the TE but I good strong reel for cranking very big stuff.

This is the one you want.

I ordered mine from Shimano in Peterboro but I think you can get them from Gagnons in Oshawa. Just be sure you get the one specific to the TE or it'll throw everything off balance. Shimano made a mistake and sent me the wrong one so I just drove down to their place off the 115 and they gave me the correct one.

Good idea to loosen those wheel lugs at least once a year and re-torque them just so you know they'll loosen up when you need them to. Lucky you found out now rather than on the side of the hiway.

Thanks, I'll try that.

Your pictures are always so darned clear it's unreal and that's a great shot of that plane. I see them low over my house sometimes too but my pics never come out anywhere near yours. Course I spose I'd need to upgrade from my little point & shoot Oh well, it's good enough for me.

I've got a power handle on mine and it makes all the difference in the world.

Pretty sure your gonna find that's the absolute best musky reel you've ever casted with Mike . It's so darned smooth you won't want to use anything else. I've also got some CT's that I used to keep rigged with baits for change ups but now I just switch baits on the TE instead. LOL

No sense spending big bucks on tires if you can get away without them

I've got a swing-away tongue on my trailer and carry and extra retaining pin in case anyone decides to wander off with mine.

20 odd years ago my wife had never caught anything bigger than a sunfish. Early one morning while I was out in the boat she took one of my fish'n poles down to the dock hoping to catch a pickerel and surprise me for breakfast. On the 2nd cast she hooked into a 43" musky and landed it all by herself. Unfortunately she couldn't get the hook out and the fish died. We had a friend who was a taxidermist and mounted it for her and it's still hanging in the garage. She still tells the story to anybody who'll listen

I with you Shane and am sure happy I don't live in the same world as some of these guys.

I also carry a small set of booster cables in the boat so that if the starting battery dies...which it did this summer...it's easy to get a boost off one of the deep cycles. Also a good idea to check the lug wrench for your truck wheels and see if it fits the lugs on your boat trailer, because they often don't. You don't want to be sitting on the side of the road with a flat tire on your trailer in the middle of no-where with a wrench in your hand that doesn't fit.

Actually Phil I was hoping you'd volunteer to come up and do it for me LOL

Thanks boys, the jobs all done and everythings working perfectly. I contacted the manufacturer this morning to verify my bulbs were indeed dimmable and they checked and said yup, your good to go. Went into town and bought the dimmer and it took 5 minutes to change everything. As mentioned above, I've changed many switches over the years but never swapped a switch for a dimmer when there was a 2nd switch involved and wanted to be 100% sure it would work.

I agree with you absolutely 100% Simon and have always said the exact same thing. I lived in Toronto for 60 years and never once did I ever feel threatened, harrassed or even worried about walking anywhere in that city. My wife worked downtown at Queens Park for 2o years and took the subway and she feels the exact same as I do. Listening to some folks talk about the need to be armed for protection you'd think they live in Bagdad or downtown Afghanistan. I read alot of different American boards and the guys talk about how they carry their handguns in the truck when their out driving around and many of them even carry the guns in the boat when they go out fishing. I just couldn't imagine having to live in that kind of fear. And no, that's not anything against my American friends on this board as I've talked to them about the exact same thing.