johnnyb

okay, well...if all you guys --and gals -- say so, then I will remove him from my bad books. I will chalk it up to good ol' fashioned bad luck.

Gonna have to wait and see...the lake my parents are on went completely blue last year in the Fall (3-mile, near Windermere) and everyone freaked out. I have no idea if this (the French) is the same kind of bloom, but the lake had great fishing this Spring, and there was no noticeable kill like what Scugog saw.

OKay...was all set to do some last minute muskie fishing on Scugog. My go-to guys at WestShore, along with ALMOST everyone else, already had their boats out of the water for the year, but the guy over at Island Marine was still open. I call him up on Tuesday, a full five days before I need the boat, and he says "no problem". I asked if I should leave my name and phone number, he says "no, that's not necessary..when will you be here?" I tell him Sunday, between 1:00 and 2:00pm, he says "definitely not a problem, I'll be here". Okie doke! We round up the gear, the boys, fire up the pocket rocket and off we go to Lake Scugog....a short hour and a half drive (or so) from Brampton. We pile out of the car, the marina is on the lee side of the island so it doesn't even look too bad out there and we are greeted with: "Oh, are you guys here to rent a boat? I only have one left, and it's broken" WOW! Good thing I called in advance!!! Ahhhh well..lesson learned -- don't leave it so late in the year; don't go to Island Marine; get my OWN boat! Rant complete.

what I love about my Shimanos is that they feel the same today as they felt brand new, 3,4,5 years ago. Gotta go Calcutta.

Usually the lighter, the faster, the more brittle. Depending on how much portaging you are planning on, that is obviously a factor, but if you're going to be paddling in "rough" terrain (ie. bumping rocks, logs, trying your hand at rapids) you may decide to sacrifice the light weight for something a bit tougher. Although a relatively thick Kevlar canoe should be pretty tough without being too heavy. Multi layer ABS is good too. I myself just picked up a Coleman RAM-X from Cappy Tire of all places. 15.5 feet, holds 800lbs, takes a BEATING, and is portageable by myself. Even has a cooler in the middle that doubles as a bench and some cup holders. Not TOO slow, but certainly not the fastest canoe around. Nice for recreation, but it does make a serious out-trip a little more work. No worries about damage though. Picked it up for $400 plus tax...was on sale marked down from $600 I believe. For the price and the amount of banging around it can sustain, it was a no-brainer. MAybe that's more than my 2 cents, but I hope it helps.