AKRISONER

On 6/9/2023 at 9:05 PM, SirCranksalot said:

Thx for the comments, guys!

I was a bit mistaken in my original post. One of my 8" chopping knives is a Henkel, prob bought from CTC as some of you have done. The other one is a Slitzer. 

AK---maybe you have identified my prob. I normally use a plastic cutting board. We have a few of them and often use 2 at a time. It would be a PITA to switch over to wood though in terms of use and wash up. 

The pic below shows what I use for sharpening. At the top is a 120/240 oilstone. Below that are 3 whetstones in 400, 600, and 1000 grit. I can get a very sharp edge using those----not just slicing thru paper on edge at a 90 deg angle but at small angles down to about 15-20 deg. I sharpen all the kitchen knives with those. Maybe I have become a bit compulsive about that.

The other thing that I may be confused about is the idea that chopping knives have quite a lot of curvature on the cutting edge. Maybe I got that impression from watching clips of chefs chopping vegs, but when I Google  'chefs' knives' or similar all the knives seem to have a minimal curvature at the point end just as mine have.

Honestly, if you aren’t cutting chicken and keep the board oiled, wash up is a simple rinse with water and you are done. I never use soap on my cutting board. The oil basically makes it none stick. 
 

I legitimately have not sharpened my knives in over 6 years, and you can come see for yourself they are razor sharp.

I’m gonna let you in on something I learned from experience. It requires discipline but I can promise you it works.

6 years ago…(wow I can’t believe it’s been that long)

I was freshly separated from my ex fiancée and I needed to purchase a knife set. Knowing how much I hated dull knives I set out to purchase a set and selected a set of mediocre Henkels from Canadian tire. I think one step above the bottom brand, nothing fancy but they were on sale. Being a bachelor and having bought an apartment that I was now funding entirely myself I made a vow to take care of my knives as best as I could.

6 years later, my knives are as sharp as the day I bought them and the reason why is simple,

1. never cut a single thing on anything other than a wood cutting board. (Chicken being the only exception, use a plastic cutting board, don’t ever use those stupid ceramic ones)
 

2. hand wash your knives with a brush and soap

3. Never put your knives in the sink. 

that’s it. When I notice they seem to be getting more dull than razor sharp, i hone them, and they immediately go back to like new. I swear to god my knives 6 years later are dangerously sharp.

On 5/20/2023 at 5:36 PM, DanD said:

The biggest thing with ethanol fuel is that it loves absorbing moisture, which we all know. My Honda 40hp had three carbs on it. If that motor sat for anymore then 2 weeks it was a complete dink to start. The fuel in the carbs (less then an ounce per-carb) are open to the atmosphere (all carbs need atmospheric pressure to function) and the ethanol fuel would go stale that fast. If I drained the carbs after using the motor for a day of fishing. The next time I would go out, I'd use the primer bulb to refill the carbs and that motor would start right up. I did also use Seafoam in every tank of fuel. The fuel in my sealed tank would stay good because I made sure that the fuel tank cap was actually working and sealing the tank when there was no draw from the motor. In other words a bit of prevention and a regiment of maintenance is all you need to deal with ethanol fuel. A lot of onboard fuel tanks have a fuel tank vent that is open; we've all seen it at the gas stations, where gas would spill out the vent when the fuel tank was full. That fuel in the tank is exposed to the atmosphere, depending on how humid it is that fuel can go stale if not used right away. We don't see this problem of stale fuel in the automotive industry. Emissions standards (no hydrocarbons are allowed into the atmosphere) require the fuel delivery systems to be completely sealed. It is called the evaporative emission control system (EVAP). This system works only with fuel injected motors. They don't need air pressure to atomize the fuel and can have sealed systems. At the end of this long post all I can advise is keep the fuel, you're using away from the air as much as possible...

Just a side note and a bit of humor. My neighbor next door to me at the trailer park, buys a 2 gallon can of gas every spring. It's nicely sealed not to spill in his  car. He opens the can, puts the pour spot on and fills his lawnmower; but leaves the gas can open for the rest of the season. A few weeks later he doesn't understand why the mower is hard to start and if it did start, it ran like a bag of crap. I'd go over drain the fuel tank and carb and then put gas in from my sealed can. Two or three pulls and it starts and runs like new. He doesn't understand why his fuel is bad. "I'll never buy gas from that place again" NO buddy seal you gas can!!!

Dan...

 

A very specific question for myself, so sorry to the OP for the hijack…but would my high pressure direct injection two stroke be sealed? Don’t know how much you know about the Yamaha HPDI engines

On 5/19/2023 at 8:52 AM, akaShag said:

OK guys, I used up all my testosterone making babies, growing hair all over my body, and learning how to hunt, fish, and shoot.  I did not have any left over for learning how to fix stuff.  Like, I might be able to check the oil in my outboard, but right now I don't think I have ever removed the cover.............

SO>>>>>what can a non-technical boat owner do to protect their outboard from the ravages of ethanol?  I did have a fuel/water separator in my big water boat, for the stern drive motor.  Should I have one installed on this one?  The motor is a fairly new (2020) Yamaha 40 hp 4-stroke with very low hours.  And is there an additive I should be using, all the time, to every tank of Shell High Test?

Advice would be appreciated.

Doug

If you are running gas through it regularly you won’t have much of an issue, it’s when the fuel sits that it starts collecting water and corroding stuff. Four strokes are nowhere near as bad as two’s but if you are letting the motor sit for over a month I’m going to suggest putting stabilizer in all of the gas you use. It’s effectively all you can do now that they’ve gotten rid of ethanol free gas

i personally just run ethanol free as much as humanly possible, so sometimes in the middle of summer when I’m doing a lot of hours in the boat it’s not as much of a worry, but I’m sure to load up with marine ethanol free gas at curve lake every time I’m in the area. At the end of the year I try to ensure my last tank of gas is totally ethanol free and stabilized 

19 hours ago, Rattletrap2 said:

Spiel, I am with you on this! When I bought my new Yamaha 4 stroke back in 2017, the Dealer made it very clear that i should not use anything above 87 octane. He explained the reasoning and it made perfect sense, but I am old now and cannot remember it well enough to repeat! LOL I was told by a very good marine mechanic that worked on my old 1987 Mercury 2 stroke, that i should run premium non-ethanol gas in my last tank of the year. That reason was just to keep the ethanol out of the carbs over the winter.

Id you’ve ever had the pleasure of rebuilding/cleaning a carb you’d be blown away at how bad ethanol sitting in the float chamber can corrode and destroy your carb. 
 

I always wondered if it was just hearsay or preventative to a point, and then I learned to take a carb apart on my old Suzuki and I was blown away at the damage done by ethanol

17 hours ago, Weeds said:

Thanks for input guys. Looking forward to getting out. Has a tilt trailer too. Watched a few videos, looks like it could be advantageous occasionally. I think I’m kinda of small water (but hopefully big fish) fisherman at heart.

Don’t underestimate your tin rig. I fished Georgian bay in mine for years. Pick your spots, watch the weather, get navionics for your phone or pick up a cheap helix 7 and use it as an ice flasher in the winter. I navigated the disaster that is the water around pointe au baril for years exploring and never once hit a thing.

17 hours ago, Weeds said:

I only have one fishing buddy so I figure I’m adequately powered. Rest of the time I’ll be fishing solo.  Maybe a few more ponies down the line at some point might be nice.

build a little casting deck out of plywood and carpet...a bow mount TM and youve got yourself a fishing machine. 

Some days i miss the simpler times running my tin rig.

Any plans to up the HP? My 15 two stroke was fine with 2 people and some gear but really started to suffer with an extra body

Lol these guys really want to kill the ICB, even funnier is they are trying to kill our motors when electric options aren’t even on the market yet. 

10 hours ago, CrowMan said:

I wonder if it's some kind of pre-spawn mating ritual....they all get together in one spot to mix it up and keep the genetics strong by selecting the best partners. Just like a high school dance...all the  boys on one side of the room, the girls on the other...figuring out who's gonna hook up with who...quarterbacks and cheerleaders get first pick.

..or I guess these days it might be the equivalent of swipe right, swipe left...lol

Apparently it’s something related to them turning their metabolism back on, feeding and getting ready to do the dance. Water temperatures are obviously highest in the shallows turning them back on after hibernating all winter.

1 hour ago, KraTToR said:

Great report! To be hones I saw "Bass" and went WTH? So I checked the regs and low and behold in FMZ 7, Bass season is open all year I'd didn't realize that this was a thing in Ontario..lol.  Learn something new "almost" every day.

I think you should give the regs an even more thorough once over for bass, youd be shocked at the opportunities available to you closer to home than you think!

Crow we were talking to one of the scientists from Queens University last week at the NGTA bass anglers meeting and he described seemingly what you came across with those smallies. They have done tracking studies and have noted that on one of the first calm hot days of the year seemingly the majority of the largest bass all go shallow together at the same time to the same place. Pretty neat stuff.

On 5/7/2023 at 10:07 AM, KraTToR said:

https://omfishingsinkers.com/tungsten-sinker-c_117.html

Have a look at these, maybe we can pull together a group buy?

These look exactly like the ones i purchased from a company out of the states called "heavy metal tungsten" they dont seem to be around anymore. the photos literally look identical to the stuff I have in my terminal box right now.

The Drop shot, flipping bullet weights and nail weights were great. No complaints at all.

However the shakey heads and anything with a weed guard were complete junk. The screw ins and weed guards literally fell off constantly. 

You guys are making me sad, something on my 06 seemingly breaks every trip I take lol

my spring routine is simply blowing out the engine fogger letting the motor run for a bit to clean it out and then putting new plugs in, checking my tire pressure everything else was done back in the fall.

I did an electronics overhaul this winter but that was finished in February, but I have some tweaking to do, small gremlins with my trolling motor transducer not appearing on my marine network. 

ive been out twice this year, I’ve had to completely replace my drain plug, one of my taillights literally vanished somewhere between Virginia and New York 

Replaced all of those and noticed that left rear corner marker is toast, not to mention my trailer brakes need a total clean out and bleed, maybe more…and then noticed my bunks need replacing.

I mean it’s all minor stuff at the end of the day, as long as the hull and more importantly the outboard are singing, I don’t complain!

Saturday was a gem

Count me in if you figure anything out

At minimum you should be able to catch a whack load of bass and like on effectively any lake in Ontario that has em.

may just need to adjust your approach dependant on the time of year.

My old bear cash is 15 years old, at the begining of the pandemic my parents moved permanently to cashes obvious favourite place in the world, the lake. Me living in a condo at the time thought it would be best for him to spend some time up there while we were locked down down here…cash has never come “home” 

he’s my mom’s daily bush walk companion (gets her up every morning to make sure they both walk), bear deterrent (treed a bear last year) both of our neighbors also had bear break ins last summer, we haven’t seen a single sign of a bear on our property  and all around class clown. 

cash loves the boat, and loves swimming with anyone who will go with him. More importantly though, cash loves when my niece comes up to visit him, he follows the kids around all day and will not leave Ashley’s side.

been a few weeks since I’ve been up north but I can’t wait to go for a walk and a boat ride with him when I get up there!

21 hours ago, captpierre said:

Heard on FB that is the word. 
Of course just after I bought my Terrova. 
🫤

I don’t think it will be for all models immediately.

it certainly is starting with the ultrex though, they have to, there’s 3 competitors in the market that have brushless motors and two of them have had them for 4+ years. 

the terrova line is ready for a new Gen model, and probably the ulterra too. The problem you unfortunately are running into is that the demand for the terrova is so extreme still that there’s not enough supply of them, hence absolutely 0 discount on buying a terrova even though a new generational model is due to come out.

By the way don’t be too sad too quick, have you looked at the price of a Garmin force? I’m willing to bet the new brushless terrova will be $1000+ more than the current.
 

Holy shikto

41 minutes ago, BillM said:

You need to figure out what they're eating.   Was out on Gbay on Sat and the magical depth was 65-75.   We jigged up some nice fish in over 100ft of water as well.   All fish were on steep transitions.    We got them on everything.  Flutter spoons, body baits, vibrados, etc.    Mark a pack, toss on the spot lock and we'd have 3-4 in the boat in no time.   Rinse and repeat.   Back out this weekend. 

Can’t wait to get up there…one of my favourite times of the year for fishing…and the weather this weekend…holy cow

That might be your cracked lower end from freezing…😕 hopefully not

Also, don’t forget to throw some grease on the gear shaft when reinserting it up into the top end, it will make your life a hell of a lot easier!

5 hours ago, BITEME said:

 

going forward if you want to drain in the fall fine but replace the oil you drain don’t let them sit dry

 

As mentioned above, this most certainly looks like a failed prop shaft seal. 
 

Just out of curiousity, what would be the problem with leaving the lower end without oil over the winter. Not that I’ve personally done it, I think one time my bottle pump broke so I was stuck for a day with no oil, but just curious as to why a sitting motor lower end that obviously still got a film of oil all over it would be damaged by sitting for a couple of months with no oil.

either way siwash, lesson learned, at minimum undo that screw at the end of the year, no matter what get the years gear oil the hell out of there even if it’s nowhere near as watery as this. Being fair this is some of the worst looking oil I have ever seen, that crank case was completely full of water as far as I can tell. You may get really lucky and have no other damage. My buddies merc used to leak water too not anywhere close to this extent but if you’re lucky the water didn’t expand and crack your Lower end. if you’re like my buddy you might get away with it for a year. 
 

this kinda stuff haunts me when I think about the fact my boat is used, who knows what kind of maintenance or lack thereof people do at the end of the year. I’m not as much of a nutcase to be changing my prop shaft seal every 2 years as referenced above, but I sure as hell change the lower end oil, fog the motor, change fuel filters every 100 hours, stabilize my ethanol free fuel etc etc 

hopefully worth it in the long run, high performance engines ain’t cheap in 2023!

2 hours ago, CrowMan said:

Looks like a great trip. Congrats on the PB !

I assume thats the Chickahominy. A buddy I did business with  down there lived in Jamestown. A few years back he took me out Striper fishing on the James...had an awesome day.

Curious, what were the water temps ?

Ya we stayed in chickahominy shores, I linked up with a guy from bass boat central that came out fishing with us for the day, he told us to that the river was fishing bear in the top end so we heeded his advice and stayed right in the thick of it. Chickahominy riverfront park was the perfect place for us to camp out. We hired one of their rustic cabins that essentially was a bunk bed and a double bed with a table, microwave and very small fridge. This gave us a place to hideout from the weather and get a good nights sleep in the cold. We’d then drive to Williamsburg to grab chow after fishing all day. 

apparently the guys down south don’t really kick their fishing season off until mid April and hence the river remained quiet all week. We only had 1 boat on a spot we wanted to fish the entire week.

Hey guys,

a bit of fishy pronz for your Wednesday viewing. 
 

the boys and I towed down to the James river for some warm weather and spring bass fishing. Virginia might be my new favourite state. There’s just something about spring in the south, the blooms on the trees down there are incredible. 
 

once again I love driving out of the mountains and entering the south to it in full bloom after driving all night. The sun comes up and it’s like you’ve been put into a Time Machine that jumps you from early April in canada to the middle of June.

we’ve done a few of these trips over the years prior to the pandemic, and finally got our things back and order and let’s just say the chick outshone santee and  guntersville by a country mile. The fishing was damn good, the river was quiet, the scenery was beautiful and the barbecue was delicious. We will be going back next year for sure

weather the first two days had it hit 30 degrees with a breeze and a bit of cloud cover just beautiful out and felt so good to be in shorts again on the deck of the boat. Then a big front came through and it dropped to 8 degrees with wind and rain, that didn’t seem to stop the fish from moving to the bank.

our last day we managed to sack up a 20lb limit, now that’s an indication of how things are working down there. Our first time on a tidal fishery, on a new body of water a simple spot tip from a friendly local at the tackle shop pointed us to the right area, once we caught a few we realized the pattern and from there it was just find areas of the river that looked and had the same features, emerging submerged pads, amongst hard docks/wood structure, right near the channel drop off, cast till you catch, find the fish, knows there’s a bed somewhere hidden in the muddy water, and work work work the area. 
 

picked up a new personal best for myself and my first 6+lb fish. I was getting the big ones on an evergreen flat side in pre spawn magic. A pain in the butt throwing it into pad beds that I can’t see but every third cast I’d manage to rip through the pads clean and sure enough, hammering away at it proved to get the bigger bites than the finesse worm presentations.

lil bit of language in the video…viewer beware!

I livescope em and then cast and bounce bottom with vibratos…put a hurtin on them every spring