JohnF

I haven't had any sleds for years but this thread is bringing back great memories. I put myself thru university working in a Skidoo shop, then after my university years worked for the eastern Cdn distributor of Rupp products. Those were great years. I got to ride some very cool (and fast) sleds and didn't have to pay a penny for 'em. The fastest stockers were probably the Rupp F/A's from the winter of '75. My last ride was the day I exploded the track showing a local Skidoo F/A rider that his sled was in fact NOT the fastest thing ever to run on snow. Fortunately he had already conceded defeat when the track let go. Dunno how fast I was going at the time but it was an exciting ride at the end. It looked something like this. I had to find pics on the 'net as I have nothing at all in my own photo collection. The sled I really coveted was Gene Bloom's factory Mod 440. Saw him race up at Ironwood Mi. and smoke the other factory guys driving bigger sleds (Cat, Polaris, Motoski, Blizzard, SnoJet etc) and he did it with a high mounted engine against the new low front mounted angled engines. I think though that the best thing Rupp produced for trail guys had to be the Nitro II sleds. They were very fast for F/C sleds but considering that they were the same engine as the SnoTwisters of the day it stands to reason. We ran them pretty competitively against F/A's back in those days with only a minimum of cheating involved, but then the F/A guys were no doubt cheating too. Again a borrowed pic . All this talk about hard water sledding got me thinking about the good old days when we occasionally ran the sleds on soft water, sometimes not very far, but it was fun. There used to even be competitions for distance. I never did that. It had to be very hard on the sleds to get dunked hot. There was a guy up in northern Ontario who was pretty well known for it, I think his name was Frenchy Cloutier, from Timmins. And speaking of racing, do any of you from the French River area know any old racers by the name of Haas? They were fun to watch. They'd show up at OSRF races in a converted school bus with a wood burning stove inside. Seems to me they were Blizzard riders in those days. JF

There's a tire reef in L.Erie near Pt.Dover JF

With all that gore on his face ya shoulda had him holding a headless fish carcass. JF

A couple of observations. Sinking the ships as artificial reefs means that they will continue to be used and appreciated for a long time, and with no further upkeep required. It's interesting to see how fast the sealife moves in once they're situated. Before they were deliberately sunk they were quite thoroughly cleaned of oil and grease so as not to add too much contamination to the water around them in their new resting places. As for the pop cans they make excellent hidey holes for little octopi. Responsible divers often pick up human detritus but tend to leave the pop and beer cans and bottles(or at least lift them gently) in case there's a baby octopus inside, and there often is (at least in the Caribbean and off Florida's coast). I seldom have come back from a dive off the eastern coast of Florida without a handful of fishing line. It's actually surprising though how little garbage one sees on the bottom in the ocean, considering the human propensity for littering. JF

I've always had a suspicion that Hemingway was writing allegory, not necessarily the Christian reference usually attributed to the book, rather a more mundane reference to life in general, the frustration we've all encountered at times, and in this case the life long frustration that a poor Cuban fisherman might have experienced. It's about the success, even glory, that dangles just out of reach for a lot of folks. JF

But none of them look like they've just been "sacked". JF

OK. So supposin' I know of a really good spot but have no clue how at this time of year (Victor knows where I mean). Plus I have a brand spankin' new 13' Quantum I'm dyin' to try out and why not on the carp? So how do I go about it - baitwise etc? Is it the same deal as carping in the warm weather - seed the area with maize etc? JF

My first thought was that the new pose should be called the "Kicked in the nads" pose. Methinks the old one is more becoming - and the fish look bigger. JF

Now I feel guilty about how little I paid for mine. JF

Sure. And sometimes our wives even let us use it on our own. JF

That first one was not a good thing for a person with a heights aversion. My sphincter is seriously puckered as I type this. JF

Have a great winter, and throw Buck off the boat once for me. JF

Back in the day the first thing we checked when that happened was the belt. If it's worn there may not be enuf width and it's slipping when the primary and secondary drives are fully compressed. Look for black rubber buildup on the clutch plates and measure the width of the remaining belt compared to a new belt. If everything seems okay there then I'd look at the bearings on the top of the secondary drive next. JF

That would have to be a Canuck border type who let you off on the duty & tax, wouldn't it? JF

Dude! He went skinny dipping with a failed politician. Anyone worth watching would have at least lined up a hot female pol. - Are there any of those? JF

Only for the moment. Soon there'll be Las Vegas fans to take over from us. They'll be losing money, not just hopes and dreams. JF

You're right, but then you're probably a lot younger than me, most are, and you haven't had all the years of disappointment and frustration. We'll all come back to the fold when they win a game though, whenever that might be. My problem is that I'm already into my 60's and they're on a pace to bury me winless right now. Us oldtimers know better than to expect perfection, or even a Cup, or even a division championship and a run at the Cup. We'd settle for one win in a row right now. JF

As a dyed in the wool Leafs fan I can answer you, honestly, in one word - theysuckbutarecertaintogetbettercuzthatistheonlywaytheycangorightnow Last night I was so frustrated with their abysmal performance that I changed the channel to a rerun of StarWars. At least Luke Skywalker is still a hero at the end of his 2 1/2 hours of tv time. Teeter Kennedy et al could probably come back to the ice and do a better job, even dead. JF

Not sure of the answer to your question but the idea of weighting a floating type lure to make it negatively bouyant seems the wrong route to go. Once it's negative it's gonna keep sinking unless there's something in the body design to give it uplift when moved thru the water column. These lures get their depth thru the down force of the lip vs the buoyancy of the body. Perhaps the best you can accomplish is to find neutral buoyancy for the lure with lead wire or tape (or even just heavier hooks) and then experiment with finding the right depth like you do with countdown lures. I do know that as a diver if I overweighted myself and did nothing to offset that I'd continue to sink. JF

Hey, you can hardly be blamed. After Dave telling that story I doubt if anyone will ever pick up a stray minnow bucket again, at least not without looooong forceps or a stoopid buddy. I can hear the instruction to unsuspecting (read non-OFNer hence untutored) buddies "Hey Melvin, ya wanna grab that floating bucket. Just get waaaaaay out on the bow, willya? Oh, and before ya bring it aboard ya might as well check to see if'n there's any minnows worth using - and just in case they're all gone bad and need to be dumped keep the pail well outboard. Saves energy ya know." All said as he holds his fishy smelling hand over his face - just in case. No offence, Dave, but poop is poop, even when it comes from celebrity bums. A rose by any other name doth smell as sweet - and vice versa. I'm from the festival city, hence the bardish quotes. JF

Think of it this way - How would you deal with a skunk in yer tent? Or an alligator in yer pool? It's hard to get any satisfaction outa being in the right while yer picking bb's outa yer butt. JF

So did ya recover the floater or has Mercer put the fear of Floating Minnow Buckets in ya forever? JF

If you're gonna go up there use the public bus system. It's excellent. You can run up and down the coast for peanuts. It goes right into downtown Cancun at the north end. I'm not sure why you'd wanna go there but it works, and they have very modern terminals at Playa del Carmen and Cancun. At the smaller places they drop you off on the highway and you have to walk in. Dunno how far it is from the highway into Pureto Morelos. I can give you a name of a guy I used to dive with who now runs a shop there. He could at least tell you how far it is from the highway. They say there's a very nice reef just offshore there. It used to be a fishing town but now it's all about snorkelling and diving. JF

I have a friend who lives in Akumal. If you can't get anything from the group here let me know and I'll get in touch with him. He's a professional cave diver (in case you want to explore some cenotes underwater) and he's a spearfisherman if you want to swim down 100 -150' on one breath of air and spear your dinner. He knows all the locals. In fact he probably taught some of them english at the school he runs. I'm sure Fred would have a good idea of who to hook up with for some long lining or flats fishing. JF

Me too! Garry (2R's) introduced me to the joys of frog tossing this summer and it was a blast. Hell, we even caught some fish. The one I remember most though was an average sized Rock Bass that sucked in a plastic frog - barely. The little froggy feet were just sticking out of his yap and he looked like he was gasping for air (except he's a fish). I said to Garry if it had been a real frog I was chucking it coulda stuck it's tongue out the basses' butt. Frogs and weeds are great fun. Bring it on! JF