forrest

Dan are you fishing for a "torpedo diver" response?

I hear Gagnon's also has a sale on with socks!

Yep, thats where I got mine!

Bass Pro sells the Lindy Drift control Original 50" for $63 without a bouy harness. Gagnon's is selling them with a bouy harness (bouy not in stock yet) for $45! I did not see anymore when I went back this afternoon, its a 4 day sale so I would think they would put more out later. Lots of 60" ones

Bass Pro also sells a 30" and the site rates it for the same size boat its $34 or so.....who knows if its just as good or better (?)

forrest

I don't know what type of fish they work on.

They work OK in hooking fishermen. I can't remember a time I saw a fish go after a snake. Maybe snakes are common prey down south(?)

Whats wrong with a good old Rapala or white twisty tail jig?

forrest

Trombly's sale this weekend.. Lindy socks are 1/2 price in 3 sizes.

Dang! Orillia is a bit of a drive though and at this time of year its hard to convince the wife that we are going on a family outing and "accidentally" come across the sale

I did get a couple of Lindy Original fishing socks...50" with a bouy harness @$45! Could I tell the diff between drift socks at this point, not likely (I hear the more expensive ones can be smaller and to the same job).

forrest

We couldn't find the 5.....I'll let him know...thanks

Goo Gone

By far is the best I have ever used.

forrest

So I went to Gagnon's sale today. By 9:10 the parking lot was packed! Most stuff is on the website.

Picked up a couple of drift socks, I only saw 2 of the advertised 4 sizes and I have to go back for the bouys, luckily I live close. At $45 I cannot complain.

Power Pro line was $10.99 for 150yrds (10, 15, 20, 30 and 50lb I think. no 6lb).

There were lots of those canoing water-proof bags (15$ for the small ones, I think it was $75 for the monster size)

A buddy picked up a rod, some line and a Frogg Trogg rainsuit for $45, "regular price $89" or something. He told me it actually retails for $55.

The self inflating mattresses for $29 are about twice as thick as a comparable therma-rest mattress. I saw lots of people buying those.

Its hard to tell if something is a good deal there unless you know what your buying and I do not think it would be worth it to travel very far unless you knew what you were going to buy.

The sale certainly brought people in but most were there just for sale items, when the other items are priced noticeably higher than the competition why buy anything but "sale" items?

There were things I just didn't need so I did not bother. Anyone else have a take on the sale?

forrest

OK...thanks guys.

I will buy 2 and buy big.

I have heard guys say thing use ikea bags for their canoes. I have never used one but I expect the Ikea bag is pretty close.

forrest

I am planning on buying a drift sock for my 16' tin.

How big do I get them. If I get 2 to I downsize or do I keep it the same size as if I would buy one?

forrest

I will be picking up a Lowrance Unit from Angling outfitters and it was explained to me that a 4' antenna will give me about a ten mile range... but an 8' will provide around 25 miles... quite the improvement!

 

This unit has DSC :thumbsup_anim:

http://www.lowrance.com/en/Products/Marine...Radios/LVR-250/

G

OK...this is my last word on this. Get the antenna that suits your application. High waves and a long antenna(high gain) do not mix so in certain situations Gerrit's 25 miles could actually be 5 miles. And that 4' one will still be 10 miles. See a dealer.

forrest

The set up in my boat works quite well (IMHO), I was actually asking the question for my father in law he has roughly the same boat with different brand radio and antenna and cannot get the same reception that I do. He was wondering if he could make a change other than the longer antenna to help.

Check the connection from radio to antenna (common culprit of bad reception)

Have someone look at antenna to make sure it is correct

check for good dc to unit (for transmission only)

bring head unit to shop to check for proper power output (for transmission only)

The unit could also be not as good as yours....check the specs

forrest

Hey Gerritt,

Looks good so far, keeping track of the budget for the rest of us?

What type of boat is that? Are you making a front deck?

forrest

Don't really know why you "need" a VHF amp, I've got a older Uniden MC1010 with an 8" antenna and have no problem going 12 miles with that.

I think Fisherman hit the nail on the head: Taper, why do you think you need a more powerful radio?

Oh yeah....the directionality thing Terry and I were mentioning is rated as "gain". I think what Terry was stating is that all marine antennas have about the same gain/directionality.

forrest

CTCs all but useless online shopping has the minnow shad listed as a product.

forrest

PS...can you tell what I think of that site?

a real expensive radio will help a bit

but there are only 2 ways to increase signals longer antenna or increase watts

you can buy a vhf ampliflier

Not trying to step on toes here...have a radio guy set up your radio/antenna..do a bit of research first.

A longer antenna will generally increase the reception:

-Placing it at a higher point will increase the range (it sees over the waves)

-An antenna that is designed for a particular application will refocus the available wattage to a direction that another antenna will likely pick it up. For example you do not want your antenna transmitting to space, that just wastes wattage.

-signal loss between radio and antenna is bad.

-a tuned antenna (for length) is important

Any names for marine grade amps?

forrest

I am using a Uniden Solara radio in my boat with roughly a 3 foot antenna is there any way to increase the signal strength other than going to a larger antenna, or is their an antenna that will work better but can still be fairly compact.

For better reception you could double the antennae length. There are a lot of different types of antennas, some are more compact than others. Check out the guys at Radio World. www.radioworld.ca is their URL. It is hard for someone to diagnose without looking at it unless you completely incorrect match.

As for transmission: transmitting from a higher point on the boat will help remove interference from waves. If you have poor transmission and receive it may be due to corroded or poor connections from the radio to the antenna (bad crimp, water damage etc). Also if you have the wrong antenna length it could cause issues. Other than that you have to get a radio with a higher output.

forrest

You guys are great. Thanks!

forrest

Oh wise OFNers.....I need help with a prop problem.

I am new to motors and need a new prop. I have not had any luck on ebay and my local dealer (that has it in), they rhyme with "luck". So the luck I am having is not the type I want, have mercy.

My old prop will sit as a backup (once repaired) and I think I am looking for a Quicksilver or Black Max. The boat is a 2007 Mercury 4-stroke EFI...it is a 10 3/8 by 13 pitch (from merc site, I am not fussy)

Price is pretty important to me and I have no dealer loyalty established yet, I live east of toronto.

thanks!

Forrest

As for Mercury motors.....I think their front line people let them down. I went through a lot of unnecessary hassle even contacting someone to answer a question about service manual supplements. On top of that they ended up telling me 'we do not give a way free manuals via a voice mail' (?!???). What the heck does obtaining a supplements to an exiting manual have to do with buying a brand new one? I eventually gave up.

In total it took me 5 phone calls and 2 emails to get an answer.

The industry may be in a slow down but Mercury employees have to take some of the blame.

It is a bit sad to say but "lazy", "dumb" or "uneducated about their own product" or often words that can be used to describe a lot of North American employees.

forrest

It may have been said in this thread already:

A virus can end up on a site without the site owner knowing. It happens all the time.....the webserver becomes compromised and then it is open season.

Are viruses still kicking around...I thought malware was the thing to knowingly infect someone with?

forrest

PS: no, I would not send anyone from this board to a site that I knew had a virus

Before I give my reply I would like to know how much money is involved.

forrest

Almost forgot that its a 10-15 minute walk from those gates....not too far, be prepared for puddles and mud no matter what way you take. If you go this way you will for sure be able to find the entrance you were trying to get to when you ran into the fence.

Here is the google map of the entrance you were looking for:

http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&hl=en&a...mp;t=h&z=19

forrest

To the north west of that fence there is a road that goes to a dead end. There is a path that the locals take that goes down to the river and a bridge that will let you cross to the other side if you want. There are a lot of snags underneath the bridge and a deadly undertow. Don't take any chances when you fish off of the rocks.

The whole area is marshy so don't plan on going up river unless you have a canoe or other non-motorized vehicle.

If you go to highway 2 you can travel south on the west shore for a bit.

My usual access was via boat (from upriver) and foot from the west.

Does this sound right?

forrest

There is more than one way to access the area. Just because the parking lot is closed means nothing. There is also pay parking off of highway 2.

The rouge is a tributary of Lake Ontario so its open below the CN tracks, check the regs.

I do not know about the whats his name area though.

Anyone else?

forrest

As this or other reports said:

'The fishes flattened appearance may be due to being run over in the parking lot several times.'

forrest