singingdog

I have been running a Cuda 168 in yak for the past 2 years. It's starting to give up the ghost (display is going on me), so I am looking to replace it. I fish mostly small water and use the finder to find structure, not so much fish. I do a fair bit of open water trolling early in the season. I don't see why I would need to see the bottom accurately in anything over 60' of water. I would like keep it under $200 and don't want a portable unit. A couple of questions: Is there any reason to look at a dual-frequency unit? Why or why not? Is a color display that much easier to use than a grey-scale? What's your best-buy below $200?

Thanks. That's what I got the diving smelt for, but haven't hooked-up with it yet.

OK, I must be doing something wrong. I bought the smelt specifically for lakers...are you using the diver or the shallow runner? I assume you are trolling it? Thanks for any feedback.

Not in my experience. The finish is nice, but they don't run as true as often as rapalas.

It looks like a sharp shinned hawk. A redtail has a "waistcoat" of dark streaking across it's lower breast and does not have the barred tail that this hawk has. It's probably checking out the other birds in your yard, looking for something to eat.

Do us all a favor and get a 4 stroke. 2 stroke outboard motors are small pollutions machines, both in terms of emissions and (more importantly) in terms of the amount of oil they are allowing into the water.

One of the best tackle shops in the Kawartha/Highlands area for sure.

Mike you should seriously look at that Fenwick that smalliefisher is selling: great jigging rod (don't let the "walleye" label fool you) and a good price.

Another vote for this approach....that's why I love jigs for early brookies: much easier to fish around logs and rocks without hanging up. I spend 90% of my time casting to structure. There have been many days that we don't get hit if we aren't casting to withing 1-2' of the bank. My buddies dad, one of the best speck fisherman I know, casts mepps black furys right onto the bank and tugs them in.

Great advice. The only thing I would add are some small jigs: bucktail or marabou. I do really well with spring specks on a minnow imitation bucktail, or a black/olive wooly bugger pattern on a small jighead.

I went out for a quick troll on a local lake-trout lake. The ice went out on this lake on April 1st, it's a classic laker lake: deep and rocky. I loaded up the yak, tied on a pink Xrap, and started paddling toward a couple of islands. About 40' out, I figure out that my bail is open and the Xrap is still on shore. I reel in, pleasantly surprised that I don't snag on shore and start to paddle....bent rod. "Crap" I think, I'm snagged on the bottom. Nope, I'm snagged on a feisty, 16" smallie that hit in 4' of water. I bring it in, release it quickly and think "That is very strange, what are the odds?" Pretty high, apparently. Over the next 1.5 hrs I caught 6 smallies, all in less than 10' of water, all fighting and quite active. Local "wisdom" says that the smallies will still be lurking in deep holes, waiting for the water to warm up. Has this happened to anyone else?

It really depends on the lake and the boatlaunch. Kashagawigamog is mostly open, Head will probably be open by the weekend. I have been kayaking on Mountain for 2 weeks, but it's easy for me to get on the water. The boat launch on Horseshoe is free of ice, as is much of the lake. Kennesis is mostly still tight to the shore, with a few open spots where there is current. Feel free to drop me a line with specific lakes, and I can go look for you.

I was psyched for trout opener...on Dec 31st

Have you tried a dropshot rig on those deep-weed eyes? A heavy weight with a fluke or a leech imitation above it works well in that same situation.

Nope, I would not pay to belong to the site (but I still think that TV is free!). I don't see how the ads reduce the "professionalism" of the site....we aren't customers, we are freeloaders.

For the best info anywhere on binos, check out Better View Desired. It is birding focused, but explains all the different designs and their pros and cons. It gives you "best buys" at various price levels. A quick primer: 8x42 means that the binos magnify the view 8x your normal eye. (anything over 8 is of limited usefulness). The 42 is the size of the objective lens (lens farthest from your eyes). Divide the two #s (5.25 in this case) and you have the binos theoretical ability to deliver light to your eye: theoretical because lens quality will affect this. A 10x42, all else being equal, will magnify more than an 8x42, but deliver less light to your eye. More $ does not necessarily mean better binos. Porro prism binos (the ones with a "kink" in the tubes) are far easier to make than roof prism binos (the ones that have straight tubes). Because of that, you can get super-high quality porro prisms for far less $ than an equivalent quality roof prism bino. The main reason to go with roof prism binos is that they can be made completely weatherpoof (no condensation). If you pick up your typical pair of porro prism binos and turn the focus knob, you will see that the eyepieces actually move up and down. Every time that happens, outside air is being pulled into the insides of the binos, potentially causing condensation on the lenses and prism. Good roof prism binos have the moving parts inside, which allows for a totally sealed bino. No outside air means no condensation. The last thing most people consider is fit. If binos don't fit your face, then they are not a good deal at any price. If you can't bring them up to your eyes and very quickly get a good view through the eyepieces, then your going to have tough time using them.

That technology has been available ever since hand-held GPS units were available. A good hand-held GPS with maps will do everything you describe (except send a text and update onto Google Earth automatically) without paying any fees and without having to go home and check your computer to access the information. If you had a map-enabled GPS unit, you could get all your information immediately. Instead of finding out the next day that you had been next to a good looking small lake, you would know it immediately and be able to walk over and fish it. Imagine if they enabled the GPS feature of the SPOT, while keeping the the text and Google Earth features as well. Imagine if they let you enter the text you wanted at the time, instead of limiting you to a text message that you had to select before heading out: that would be a useful device.

For what you describe, the SPOT could be very useful. I have several issues with the SPOT, but for that kind of remote "Hey, I'm OK" checkup, it's useful. Be aware that It often increases worry, as opposed to reducing it. Several tripping camps used them last summer and were deluged with parents who were worried because they hadn't heard anything for 6 hours If they would reconfigure the SPOT so that you could use the GPS as a navigational tool, and enable the text function so that you could choose what to write (instead of a pre-written message), the SPOT would be a far more useful device.

I feel your pain. I went through the same learning curve (did we all?). Try and develop a casting motion that has NO quick changes in speed....no "snaps" in either the start-up or finish of your casting stroke. The breakthrough for me was to think of a baitcasting cast as more of a lob than a throw: like you are throwing a ball to a kid that is learning to catch. Later on, you can learn to put some heat on it. Keep your thumb on the spool all the time while you are learning. You won't get much distance, but you will learn more control. The tape trick is a life-saver.

Well, since flouro isn't invisible, you could shorten it down to 0" and have really good castability.

The first decision is whether you want a sit-on-top or a sit-in yak. They both have their advantages. Almost anyone that fishes from a yak a lot eventually goes to a SOT: they are just nicer to fish out of. Ask most folks that have been yak fishing for awhile and they will tell you not to buy a special "angler version" of a boat. Usually, the only real difference is a couple of rod holders, and they are often mounted someplace other than where you want them to be. It's super easy to outfit a boat yourself by adding the rod holders, and any other accessories, exactly where you want them. Good advice about trying a boat before you buy it. I don't know anyplace that carries Pelican boats that offers a try before you buy service.

Be careful on the ice up here. Anyplace that has current is melting out much faster than normal.

Krocs and Little Cleos are almost all I throw. The Kroc comes in a killer rainbow pattern that works well in this area.

Agreed. The fisheries folks in south/central Ontario seem to think that our bass are far more fragile than their northern cousins in Quebec, Wisconsin and Northern Ontario. The bass season here is ridiculously short. 24/7: keep up the good work. I love the fish pics, but have never understood the draw of ice fishing.

I only have second-hand info. Lots of folks down south have been fishing the carbonlites since they came out. The consensus seems to be that it is the new Compre: lots of performance in a very reasonably priced rod. The warranty doesn't stack up against other companies very well, but the rods are getting good reviews.