Consigliere

Environmental stress DOES affect VHS...the more stress a fish is under the higher chance of contracting or succumbing to VHS. That is a fact.

What they said....every time.

Deep cycle is best for trolling motor only. Get the one with the highest Ah (amp hours) and you will get the longest run. Deep cycle need to be kept charged, you can't let them go or they will never charge back fully. On board charger is a good thing to have with them so you can just plug in when done fishing.

Wow a monster. A true giant pike. Nice catch.

That was the case up until a few months ago but the auto-update in Canada is standard now. Not concerned about giving up data since we are fishing the Larry/Big O....the data is out there at 1ft detail but some adjustments here or there may be interesting to improve accuracy. The Lakemaster sounds interesting.

Anyone know if this service is available in Kingston, Ontario?

Has anyone used capability of the Navionics+ system to update via personal sonar recordings yet? I've had the Navionics+ system since the first day it came out in Canada and uploaded a number of recordings last year but the capability to update with the recorded data wasn't available yet in Canada. It is apparently active for this year and I uploaded some recordings last night but was wondering if anyone else was using this. If so, have you noticed improvements in your data? The area I recorded on already has 1ft contours but some spots were not very accurate. Wondering if anyone has seen improvements by doing their own recordings. Suppose there is really no downside of recording and uploading all the time as long as you have unlimited data transfer on your internet connection but it does take some time and effort which might not be worth it if there is no benefit.

Mouth of the French at Georgian bay is a beautiful area. Bugs are usually not to bad there because of the exposure to the wind.

Seen the fishing heat up over the last week or so for pike in the spawning bays.

The issue I believe is that there are a couple layers of data on the card and the + player with the good detail sometimes is not the default the unit chooses.

You probably have to manually chose the chip from the menu...I had to do this with my 997C SI It's the Fish'N Chip layer/map that gives you the right contour detail. Mess around in the menu (Advanced Mode is likely needed) and find the Chip Option or something like that.

16fter with 2 adults and 2 kids will be very tight. I did it with a 17ft for a season but one kid was a baby and in the car seat (with PFD) most of the time and we only cruised, no fishing. You will be hard pressed to bring any fishing gear and do fishing on the boat with 4. For just cruising I would say 18ft would be minimum size for 4. Bring all the gear for the kids, food etc and room for fishing gear and you will be able to move around each other no problem. For BOQ it is not nearly as rough as the big lake but you will still definitely want a boat with a deep V type hull. This will give you stability in the water in those choppy days and as many in that area know boat safety is very key. Two experienced anglers have died in the last year being out in smaller boats when the weather came up quickly on them. Another sank a boat warrantied to be unsinkable. Not trying to scare you, but safety is key and you do not want to be out with your whole family and get into a sketchy spot. Some things to think about 1) How much will you trailer the boat? Will you ever get a slip? 2) How far will you trailer? 3) Will you ever head to the big lake? Salmon, etc. Primetime area for fishing in the summer and great family adventure 4) Will you ever be fishing early and late in the seasons when water is very cold? For this type of water I personally would recommend around 20ft boat. As I said, I used to run a 17ft and have gone up to a 23ft center console. It isn't ideal necessarily for family outings but it is mainly for fishing. I am currently working on some additions that will make it more family friendly. But we do go out as a family regularly in it (2 adults, 2 kids) and take other familes with us (4 adults, 6 kids sometimes). It is a great time but I do not trailer the boat, I keep it in the water from ice out to December. I picked it up from thehulltruth.com forum. This is the best place to find big water boats in my opinion. Best pricing, catch is you have to import it from the US (very simple, can help if you want). Other more local spots for big water boats is Lake Ontario United forum. Good luck, PM if you would like more specific info to this area.

Had lots of luck with spoons in Lake Ontario for lakers. Williams Wabbler has been the best spoon by far. It still has action at low speeds (<2MPH on GPS). Caught many lakers well over 10lbs with these. This time of year flat lining can be productive. We usually run two flat lines and two on riggers and a lot of days flat lines will outproduce the riggers this early/cold water. Key is to troll slow.

People interested in this should look at Roku. Best device I have used for streaming. I've used it to cut the cord at my house. Best thing is live sports is completely do-able and full HD quality for about $100 per season per sport. In fact, some of the services are better than paying for the Gamecenter/Super Sports packages because you have full DVR capability for EVERY game in NBA and NHL. NFL is also available but requires you to use the official NFL game center package and use a EU DNS service for $200 for the season. I've gone from $$150 a month to $40 and have access to every game for every sport I watch. Any shows I want to watch I downloaded to begin with so I continue to do that.

This lake is available on Navionics+. 1ft contour detail throughout. Best $30 you can spend on your Iphone.

The navionics + is amazing. There are lakes that are not on it (probably the same ones as before) but the majority of lakes in Ontario now have 1 ft contours. Well worth the $100 for the chip or $15 for the phone upgrade (or both). If your lake is not on it, you can record sonar logs of your lake, upload them, and then in a few days you will have a contour map that you can download. At least that is the functionality that comes with the chip.