fishingisliving

Walleyes have been cooperating so far on the St-Lawrence. Usualy I write the post first and pictures after.. but we all like pictures.. so here they are first: Fished 3 times since the opener, and have been catching every time. Fishing with different friends each time, different conditions but I cannot complain so far. I even had a chance to go up north and catch some Landlocks, which has become my new favourite species! They are picky fish I have to say and not the easiest thing to get, but once they hit, man are they rewarding, great fighters! Anyway just wanted to share some pictures.

They got the coolest footage with that one, I dont think they could of even paid you to get you to "want" to do that for the movie. the little ones(this was a big little one ) are the worse for unpredictability I find. but imagine that would of been a 54 incher ? in the cold fall... with frozen fingers while she thrashes around.. Good job Jamie!! You would not of had that problem with a gaff tho... ;-)

I just purchased a Broil King SOVEREIGN XLS 90 it has stainless cooking grids, anyone have recommendations or tips to preserve and clean before I start beating this puppy with Beef fat?

I am in the same place right now. My grill is only 5 years old and paid 600$ for it. But I think I grill a lot, I use 5-6 BBQ tanks a summer and another 1-2 in the winter. (I think the winter use has put my BBQ in early retirement, something to do with drastic temperature variations, from really hot to really cold and vice versa) One thing I do not want to pick up is porcelain grill with low quality burners. The second you get a crack in the burner your flames get messy and your heat becomes uneven. And my porcelain grill cracked after the third winter season. Anyway, maybe it's just not ment to be used that way. But I was talking to a chef in an upscale steak house and he was suggesting I pick up stainless grill, or cast iron. I would say, regardless if you spend 400 or 2000$, I would put the money in quality, not quantity. Get a good quality grill, quality burners that are distributed evenly to ensure proper heat distribution accross your cooking platform and allows you to control and have mild-low heat on one side and searing heat on the other, and nevermind the side burners and other accessories. just my opinion.

Hey everyone, a friend of mine has pulled out an old outboard from the depths of his garage. He got the engine ages ago and never bothered to use it, I guess he did not have a use for it. It's a 1973 6hp Johnson. it actually started and runs, but realized there is no water intake for engine cooling like most outboards. Since I am a young man and not sure of how engine mechanics worked in 73, I was wondering if anyone knew how these outboards stayed cool? Just air? anyway if anyone knows I am really curious to find out.

muskies are two for one, they often hold a small walleye in their stomach. but without gas, trolling would suck... sure you can row.. but last I checked your boat does not row easily at 5mph

Awesome!! I want one!

The economy does not scare me.. I am just sad when I see people making fear driven decisions.

Saw Charlie Moore show once, the entire show he sat on his front steps, talking about how cold it was fishing for strippers. When he finally hooked a stripper(with 5 seconds of boat footage) the camera came back to him talking on his steps.. then some guy is crying because he cant go fishing with him... then his wife says she doesn't like the cold.. and tells us to buy his book??? then he is on his steps again.... then commercial! YES!!!!! "..Hi! Billy Mayes here, with the hercules hook...." ".. would you drink this stained water?.. why would you, but you are breathing it every day.... you have nothing to lose so call me" ok back to charlie sitting on his front steps... BAH!!!! Bring on the TARPON TOUR!!

It's hard to tell, some days the noise will attract them, some days it wil not. fished in 2 feet of water and we turned the ice into swiss cheese with gas auger.. and got plenty of fish, while others were drilling all around us at odd times with gas augers as well. IMO, if you position yourself strategicaly for the species you are after and your tip ups/flags/jigs are where they should be.. it's a matter of fish feeding or not. Someone once gave me crap for running over to a tip up that was being bit, because he said the running on the ice makes a lot of noise and vibrations under the water...??? Who knows, but I will not tip toe over I can promise you that. when fish are not active, and you let your baits sit there quietly they will come up and look at it for ever without biting, and in those circumstances sometimes a bit noise, or a bounce of the bait will make them react and bite. If anything, when you go into a bay and wish to have peace and quite and jig, then ok a noisy auger can be a bit annoying.

tested it out again yesterday, prime 3 times full choke after 6 pulls there was no sign of fire.. that really bugged me. turned off choke 1 pull it fired, then stoped full choke 1 pull .. it started then put her at half for 30 seconds took choke off and she was ready to go. I have Crappytire mix in there, not HQ synthetic stuff. so I'm sure it could be better. tournament coming up this weekend, I will be paranoid all week and have nightmares that she doesn't start again.. Does honda make augers? ;-) I used to use a small 15 or 20hp honda on a wood splitter... minus 35 and it took two fingers to gently pull the cord and it always started.. I am no mechanic, so I guess I should educate myself on the whole thing and make the proper adjustments, knowing about this stuff is good knowledge anyway as you use it for lawnmowers, trimmers, and all sorts of little engines. But I'm happy the auger runs once it gets going. Also like it was mentioned, the way it is carried while it runs has direct impact, if I tilt the wrong way it will stop instantly. So carrying it gas tank angled down she runs fine.

I have experienced that as well, cleaning the area of snow, and moving quickly between holes is key. but sometimes its just cold and it happens, so we have to break off the ice that builds up here and there.

Best fishing video ever! :-)

Thanks for that! I tuned it just right, and she no longer has any problems. It takes about 6-10 cranks when she is cold, with full choke. when she fires, I leave it on full choke for 5 seconds, or if I hear she had enough. then I set her at half choke for 30 seconds then I set it a no choke so she idles and warms up for a few minutes, then I am good to drill!! Carrying it can also affect it, not to mention if the intake valve on the tank is open you can have gas leak out, but my problem was that she would stop 2 seconds after I would let go of the gas, straight or side ways didn't matter. Very happy to say that the carb adjustments seem to have fixed the problem, i will bring a screw driver from now on when I go fishing as I was told by a mechanic that those adjustments need to be done from time to time. Thanks Sinker!!!

I am bringing my brand new Jiffy Stealth STX 3HP 10in to the shop after a few weeks of use, I have to start it after every hole. It really will not run unless I give it gas, and still if often stops on its own. I have gone through the whole maintenance manual to make sure there was nothing I could not tweak or adjusts, the oil/gas mixture is exactly to specs. Anyway I hope I dont have to make too many trips to the repair shop, specially considering this is brand new. It's quite a workout, when you are prepping for a tournament and you have to drill 15+ holes to get setup that require a restart each hole. Plus the restarts are not instant.. they require the choke to be on like as if it was a cold start again, even after I have let if run for it to warm up by giving a bit of gas, otherwise it simply doesn't run. Anyone else out there have issues with theirs? Did you ever get them going properly?

Good ones!! If you dont mind my asking, were you jigging deep or shallow?

the big replica. Youtube link

Dave Mercer's Facts of fishing would be close to it. Dave is all about the excitement of fishing. If he is fishing for small walleyes you see him pull up small walleyes, if he is catching big lakers.. then you see the big ones and the small ones. I dont pretend to know what goes on in the editing room but this show feels like it is showing legitimate times on the water and the fish are not trophies at every cast... it has a very realistic feel to it. But so did Saving Private Ryan... :-)

I am big fan of beef, dry aged beef! I am treating my family to a dry aged Prime Rib Roast this year slow cooked to medium rare perfection "au jus" sauce on the side... with garlic n' cheese patatoes, buttered Scallops, fresh greens and a few bottles of Barolo. this meal makes me forget about the gifts... What are you cooking for the big holiday meal this year?

True indeed! Damned if you, damned if you dont!

I think there are good points on both sides of the coin. Without a doubt a WR fish will continue to spawn and will continue the big fish gene in the waters it lives in. In the case of musky, a 55 inch fish that weighs near 60 pounds, does not mean it only has 1 year or 2 to live, it can live to 57,58 inches long who knows it could have 4-5 years left of great spawning potential, for a fish to reach that girth at 55+ inches long that means the fish is healthy and does not have any problems feeding, which normaly means it will live longer. Remember, it is very easy to cause post release mortality of fish that size and age if not handled properly so would it die anyway if released after a fight, getting netted, unhooked, picked out of the water for a few photos (in a WR case you would think MANY PHOTOS, its human nature to do so), well there is a good chance, who knows. So keeping the world record which can be examined and studied, because maybe it would be dead after being released anyway does not seem that bad, but would it really be studied or just put up on someone's wall? My personal opinion is that most giants we see caught in the fall (not taking anything away from anyone because these are fish of a lifetime) weigh at the most 55-58 pounds and when they are caught by experienced anglers they know that if they kill the fish and bring it to a certified scale they would get there to find out they are still 5-10 pounds, shy of the world record so why risk it? But if you want to keep your trophy and have it on your wall that is every anglers own decision to make as long as it was done by the laws of the fishery.

yeah, monster. Jodi knows how to do it! what a fish!

The only Aluma dealer in my area (well.. with a 2 hours drive) is switching to G3boats. That solves that issue for now. Unless the boat show this winter proves to be usefull in enlightening me of a new Aluma dealer. this thing looks damn spacious (as some have said it was in the posts)

Looking more at the alumas and I notice the driver's chair is very close to the middle.. Is the tiller handle adjustable at all on the new motors?

The alumacraft is becoming very interesting. The size, weight and beam combination on the Navigator 175 is very tempting. There are some dream tillers out there, but if I could afford these I would be having a different discussion... imagine 60mph in minus 5 degree november evenings and no windshield... there goes your tan. Ranger has a killer setup this year as well. 20 footer.