HTHM

Cliff, it would be my pleasure to go fishing with you, but we will take YOUR boat

Next thing you know, the banks are gonna get jealous It is time to look at alternatives, I agree.

I made the mistake of saying to my wife I would like to go again soon. SWMBO gave me a look that indicated the subject had better not be broached untill a reasonable amount of time has passed..... That being said, I will be seeing you again this season! Just ask Beans how unreasonable I am....To be able to go out with a pro guide caliber fisherman is high on my "want to" list. Thanks again for Sunday.

welcome to the board, pull up a chair and let us know about your fishing fun.

So the story continues........ After the long talk with Beans, I was off to Garry2r's. Finding his place was as easy as pie. I listened to my GPS this time Arriving there Garry is at the side of the road, having just pulled in from a day of fishing. The usual introductions and social niceties take place, and then the education begins. I brought out my tackle bag and Garry goes through it, at my request, and tells me what each and every lure and false bait is and how it should be used. I think if I retain even 10% of what he explained to me, my fishing success will improve 200%. I have to explain that he was lecturing for at least an hour and a half, and did not have very much repeated information. This man is amazing in his knowledge of angling and angling techniques, however that aspect of him is overshadowed by his warmth and hospitality. We of course shared the story of Beans ending up as crayfish bait, and his rescue I still did not see the humour in the situation, as clearly as he and Beans did, however Garry helped me to come around on that point as well. Then two other people showed up, Muskie Striker aka Andy k, (a former member of the board) and a friend. Well the conversation started to flow, increased to a current, and then increased to a raging rapid. We laughed and sang and had a wonderful time together. Around 2 am we finally got to bed with promises of a 6 am rise time........ So at 10 the next morning, after a leisurely breakfast, we are off to the lake. We will call it lake "F" ' because I forget the name. Garry and I have a good launch, he teaches me some very good procedures to follow and we are off. I have never been in a bass boat before and this is a BASS boat! 150 hp on the back and man did this thing fly! But that is not the best part, the best part is when we are using it as a casting platform. Being used to 14' narrow beam boats I was amazed at how stable this boat was in the water. I had no problem standing and casting, try that in a 14'er. Then the education continued, Garry taught me what to look for in terms of STRUCTURE and COVER, and the difference between them. The day was overcast, windy and cool, due to that the bite was not the best, however I did manage two OOS bass, and Garry pulled in a 14" hammerhead in 3.5 hours of fishing. Being new to using a bait caster Garry gave me a few tips and off we went. By the end of the day, my backlash rate had improved 300% and I was casting without any brake, into and with the wind. As we all know, there is always a price to be paid for lessons learned and knowledge acquired, my price was a brand new perch pattern deep rapala. So if you are ever in the north Kawarthas and you find this lure, I want you to enjoy using it. So here we are, I meet three members of the board for the first time, ruin a mornings sleep for the wife of the first one, make an attempt on the life of the second, and nearly get skunked with the third. All in all, a heck of a weekend. Who wants to go with me next Sat

If, ................if I decide to reinstall the seat it will be anchored to the floor of the boat and not exceed the gunnels as the center of gravity is far too high with the seat mounted up on top of the bench seat.

So the much anticipated weekend has arrived......I'm goin' up to the kawarthas to meet and greet some fellow OFC'ers. Big Cliff is first on the list. He sends me detailed directions....I have a GPS. Need I say more? Yes I do. I plug his address into the GPS, it finds it no problem at all. So up the 115\35 I go. I recall that I need to drive to the first light, la de da de da, I drive PAST the exit for 35 to Lindsay 'cause there is no light to be seen as of yet. When I get to the 7a exit I'm thinkin' (a rare thing for me), I didn't think I needed to drive all the way to Peterborough.....This is at 6:30 in the morning, Cliff said that he is up at 5 am every morning so I reluctantly decide to call. I wake up his wife, (an incredibly warm woman BTW), and she gets out of bed and goes to the top of the driveway into the shop and lets Cliff know that I need directions. (All of this time my GPS is telling me that I need to go back, but, NOOOOOOOO I know better because I remember the directions that Cliff gave me. Well to make a long story shorter, I managed to find his home, (nestled right on the shore of Sturgeon lake), and sat down to a coffee, while waiting for Beans, my fishing partner for the day. We laughed about my misadventures on the way up, and put that down to experience. Beans arrives, introductions are made, equipment compared, anticipation of a good day is in the air. The downpour had stopped, the sun was out, life is GOOD! So, off to the launch we go, the launch went smoothly, Beans is in my, (yet to be slimed), boat, with no trouble at all. I park the van and trailer, make my way to the boat, fire her up and help Beans into the dodge van captian's chair that I had mounted on the front bench seat of my 14' narrow beam boat. Now, a word about Beans.....Besides being one of the nicest and most worthy of respect men that I have had the pleasure of meeting, he is also an very experienced fisherman. He's gotta have 30+ years of experience on me. As well, he is a large man, in heart and goodnature as well as girth. OK here is the situation, an older, robust man sitting on a seat that is elevated 8 inches above the gunwales supported by a 10" circular base fastened to a fiberglass bench seat . The base is 12" high. Nothing wrong with that picture, right? So here we are on the lake; Beans has pulled in two perch, I am still waiting to get a bite. I ask Beans how he likes the seat, "It is very comfortable" he says. I am curious as this is the shakedown cruise with the new seat. I believe him and envy him as it does look very comfy. Beans leans back as he says this, and to my abject, unaldulterated, complete HORROR! he continues to lean back and back and into the drink he goes! I still have a vivid mental image of Beans' head entering the water, he completley upside down, still seated in the chair, legs kicking vainly in the air for some type of purchase, with a look of absolute shock and surprise etched into his face. Now at this moment in time I am thinking that I have killed him, he is going to drown, and it is my fault. So I do what any reasonable man would do, I panic. Thankfully he does not. Beans makes his way to the surface clutches at the side of the boat, and says something to the effect of " That was interesting", and I am thinking how the *(*%*)%((*#$%# am I gonna get him back in??????!!!!! Fortunatly there are two men nearby in a bass boat, I call them over and they CALMLY get us cooled off, well Beans was already cool, he was IN the water after all, and get Beans into a life jacket, haul him into their boat, and transfer him back to mine. They were the true heros of the situation, regretably we did not get their names. (So if you recognize this situation, and lurk the board, THANK YOU!!!!!!) If you are members here, stand and be counted. During all of this Beans is concerned for me, because he can see the huge impact that this has had on me. I am not doing well.... Need less to say, that was the end of the outing. Beans I owe you an apology, and thank you very much for your freindship that was offered despite my attempt on your life. Cliff I appreciate the sage advice given after this incident, and will take it to heart. So, do I need to say anything about ALWAYS wearing your PFD???? More about the weekend tomorrow and meeting some more OFC'ers

Shall I introduce you to some artistic friends of mine............

I would want to be a sunfish, because I would make children happy

bump

I wanna go with you one day....nice catch! Talk about a jumbo!

Is there a formula to calculate pounds thrust from an electric trolling motor to horsepower? The reason I ask is, I can get about the same speed from my gas motor as I can get from my trolling motor.

Nice catch! I hope to be able to do the same on sat. I have a real hankerin' for a fish dinner.

the big shiney one that I am looking at when I am shopping at my local tackle store.....because I think it's gonna be the ONE!

It is not too late to press charges, and I suggest you do, provided the facts are as you have stated.

WHy not buy one of the units that are being cleared out? Not the best solution, I know, but you won't lose your maps that way. Sorry to hear of your troubles.

try here http://www.correllconcepts.com/boat_conversion.htm

Fishmaster charters in Dunville

Why not wait untill you win the private tourney....I will be sending the winner a shadrap and from the way you're talkin' you got this wrapped up.

I bought corvalus 401 in BC and found that a left hand retrive is no good for me. Contacted Shimano Canada, and they VERY kindly offered to exchange the 401 for a 400, which is the right hand model. I was impressed by this to say the least. I have to cover shipping of my reel to them, however that is quite fair considering they are under no obligation to correct my purchase error. So I would like to publicly thank Shimano for doing this for me!

James bay

Welcome to the board!

You may want to stop here ( http://www.tscstores.com/pages/locations/n...newliskeard.php ) first and see what a new one would cost....rather than taking a chance on contaminates in your water. If you are showering with this you will be ingesting the water, and that needs to be looked at. Just my humble opinion

I ended up going with a seat base, cutting a hole in the seat, and attaching a presure treated peice of wood under to distribute the load. I will stick with the van seat for now. Three reasons: 1) $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ it was free and I am frugal 2) It is comfortable! 3) I store my boat indoors, so the moisture that will get into the seat beyond the silicone sealer should evaporate in time.

My boat is fiberglass construction, false floor, completely encapsulated seats. What I am trying to do is fasten a seat base to the first bench seat that is strong enough to carry a automotive seat, (van Captains chair with base removed), and me. I'm a large guy, so there is a lot of stress on the base. I was thinking of using toggel bolts and *PL premium* to fasten plywood to the top of the boat's seat and building from there. My concern with that is the load will be distributed over the small surface area of the toggels. Aproximatley 4 square inches. Once I have wood, I can do anything I need to. (Not meant as a brag, just my material of choice) There is no way of getting to the interior of the seat to put plywood underneath. I thank you in advance for your advice.