cranks bait

I love the auto pilot. My big motor doesn't troll down slow enough. So I use the bow mount. I forgot about the auto feature and was constantly playing with the pedal. Then I remembered and set it and forget it. I trolled for about an hour on auto while sitting with my feet up. Life was great.

My first boat was a modifies jon. It was in my price range and had good storage and decks for casting. Small enough to be easily pulled and stored and beached at the cottage, although I never did.

My boat now is a deep v. It handles the rough water amazingly well. I don't get bounced around in it any more than glass boats. I'm still able to beach it. Use a smaller motor and still get good speeds. Can also tow it easily without having to get a bigger vehicle. And I still have great storage and casting decks. It also won't get as beat up by the ice come fall for duck season.

Pike are fun. They are on fire down my way. I'm always giddy when I get one, as I am sure you were as well. I don't think your pike was too small, you just have to hold it closer to camera like everyone else to make it big

Nice other species as well. That eye looks like a good size, especially for being a fluke catch. Good to see no fish or fishermen were injured in this report. I too thought you were lipping the first pic.

I have that exact model on my boat. The auto pilot is great. I also like the long cord so I can sit in the back of my boat and "relax". I'm still getting used to the electric foot pedal. I much prefer the cable steer but that could be because that is what I am used to? It's not bad enough that I want to get rid of it. Not a huge fan of how it stows and deploys, you have to get right up over it. Make sure you have a safety strap running from the head of the unit to a cleat when towing or bouncing all over the water. I haven't had any problems with mine, but have heard stories.

I also cannot get over how long the batteries last. They seem to go forever.

Welcome to the board.

The Larry is a terrible fishery I've come home several times with nothing. There is lots of great fishing possabilities here. One place I can recommend is Caiger's Resort. It's on the 1000 Island Parkway right on the river. Has docking and a boat ramp. There breakfast (at least the one I had) is very filling. It puts you right in the heart of good smallie, largie, pike and musky. Your boat will handle most of the river conditions very well.

It's a pretty easy job. Don't replace with a cheap one. It won't pump out fast enough for you. Make sure the hose connections are the same size as well that way all you have to do is unclamp them at the pump and not replace the tubing.

I opt not to go with a float switch as I have had to replace three pumps in the last year from them getting stuck on when bouncing around. My boat now has an external one that all I have to do is connect the wire when it's sitting in the water over night. Other than that it is always manual.

The hardest part is learning how to do a headstand on your boat while making your arms bend about five different ways under the floor boards.

You are going to get a lot of different opinions here.

I personally use 20 lbs Power Pro on my spinning reels and 50 lbs on my bait casters. I do not use a backing, I just use a piece of electrical tape to hold it on the spool, never had a problem.

As for leaders. I use a 6 inch titanium tippit when using jigs for pike. I do not use leaders any other time. I tie directly to the lure or ring. I have never had a break off. I have caught plenty of 10 lbs pike and 4 lbs bass. I also fish the St. Lawrence River. Very clear water. You can easily see bottom at 30 feet.

Are you saying Wayne that the paint on my Lund will not last forever? And then I actually have to repaint it. Too much work, I'll just stick to fishing.

Tremclad!!, Bwah ha ha!!!

I bought the one that was all blue from CTC a couple of years ago. I left my boat on an electric uncovered lift for the winter with just that on it. It worked great. Just had to remove the snow so that it didn't build up too much. I've also used it to just cover the boat in monsoon like conditions. My boat was dry until I trippped and dumped the pooled water inside it. I do not trailer with it on.

All in all, yes it is a good buy.

If I am lucky, I'll be going out my front door and about five minutes up river in my boat. Although opening day weather usually is windy cold and rainy so I wimp out?

I looked at those two exact boats. I leaned heavier to the Sylvan just because of the space. Ultimately I ended up with a Lund Explorer as it had what I wanted more.

Both are decent boats. Go with the one that you want to fish and play out of. Get as much power as you can. You will be able to use less gas becasue the motor will not be pushing as hard. Plus you will always want more.

Id try it but not enough room in the oven to get comfortable

And even harder to keep it lit!

When I took my 4 year old nephew out he always used a weighted hook with a twister tail. It was easy for him to handle and only one hook to deal with. Worked with all kinds of fish. He's now 6 and likes to use a spro frog as well or poppers because he can see the lure working.

Take your kids with you and let them pick out some stuff. They will get more out of it if they get their own tackle.

I myself have an array of tackle to use. For pike I use spinners and husky jerk. Walleyes I use jigs and origional rapalas on a bottom bouncer. Bass I use top water, tubes and senkos. For all the gear I have, I don't really use much.

I would be there in a heartbeat. I just wish they were closer than six hours away.

I got a breif glimpse of Dave at the Ottawa show and thought he was great. I wanted to dive into the pool after his lure but I couldn't get close enough to do it.

Ohhh that's just dirty!!

How bad is it when you have to make you cop car look like a cab so you can give out few tickets.

I remember few years ago there were couple supt up cars that cops would drive around and nail street racers, cant blame them for that really but the cab trick is just dirty lol

When I lived out west the cops used to have ski racks with skis in them on top of their cars?

As for checks? I haven't seen one. Must be one of the three lies, I love you, the checks in the mail, and I won't c.... can't repeat here.

If you go to the bigger one it will use less battery power, in theory because you will be at a lower setting. Also the resale would probably be better on a higher power motor?

I have the Matrix 97. Not too sure what you are asking here. All you have to do is plug the GPS puck into the unit. It will set itself and all that jazz. As for marking way points and stuff there should be buttons for that or use the menu button?

I too use the Nautalis smart charger. Got it around this time a couple of years ago on sale. It works great for all batteries. I now have on board chargers, but still fall back to other uses with this charger.

Wow, you're not just trying to make out with that thing, you're doing a reach around. Nice fish. Dave Mercer must be drunk all the time, cause he's always kissing his fish! Wonder how his wife feels about that?

Get the boat out? I've been on the water for the last three weeks. Didn't catch anything (till yesterday). Caught this nice 8 lbs beast using an ultra light rod and lure going after perch. Had no fight whatso ever. Felt like a bunch of weeds coming in. Water is 36 deg.

I have the 70 lbs for my 17 footer. I can easily get a long weekend out of the batteries under heavy use. The steering takes a bit to get used to. I like the auto pilot and the long cord. I can sit at the back of the boat and steer, it's great.

Don't be scared of the long shaft on the deal above. You can set how deep it goes in the water. For the rough days it's nice to be deep.

I've always fished out of my boat. I'll take a break and take my nephew tubing, but then it's back to business. Even when I am a safety boat for the triathlon, I get some fishing in before hand.

I don't fish when I take the Glenora ferry though. They troll too fast.

Hey Mike.

Welcome to the area. Can't really give you any ideas where to go for a vacation, but I can say the 1000 Islands are amazing to fish. Hit me up if you ever want to get out. Sundays are usually best. As that is the only day I have off. I have a nice stable boat to fit lots of people so that is not a problem.

Offer is open to anyone else as well who wants to go out.

Chief cook and bottle washer!

Been a nasty wet cold day here. I only have Sundays off to get a full day in. I decided to bail as I didn't want to deal with the high wind and rain. Opted to go to the local tackle shop. Lucky for me they haven't got much stock in right now.