SlowPoke

Nice going Emil, We needed you on Saturday... although we didn't have enough time on the ice, we struck out. Maybe next year we should hook-up. We'll get you out there and you find them. And if you don't find them.... hehehe

Went to the "uncle-in-law's" place on Simcoe this weekend for some ice fishing. A view from the sunroom.. a little freezing rain overnight but clear for the most part We headed out Saturday morning around 8ish... got a bit of a late start getting the sleds ready and hooking up the portable shelter to the Arctic Cat. We ended up tying it to the grab bar because we couldn't find the coupler. Zoomed out to Long Shoal area which was about 5 minutes from the dock taking it easy and setup. Whatever type of portable shelter that was (blue, folds out, two seats room for three or four people), I was impressed... 2 minutes to setup. Punched 4 holes with an 8" Jiffy powered auger through about 16" of ice in about 4 minutes.... man this ice fishing stuff is easy! And there we sat. Jigging raps, williams, spreaders, meegs, bad boyz... nadda. After an hour we moved, 3 minutes to pack up (lol) and zoomed over to BBP. Pretty busy there - portables, permanents huts, walkers, atv's, sleds everything but fish.. for us anyway. Didn't hear too much from the other guys either. We spent about an hour there and packed up to head back to the cottage. We had to pack it in early because I had to meet someone in Bradford for 11AM... this is where my fishing trip gets really good. We met at the licensing office to transfer ownership on a boat trailer. From there I took the boys out for lunch (Uncle Claude) in appreciation of hosting my family for the weekend and Brad for allowing me to steal his boat. After a stop at the bank and CTC we proceded to Brad's place in Newmarket to pick up the boat... Brad had it all wrapped and stored for the winter so I'll post a picture from when I went to look at it... Starcraft MR180 - 18' Center Console, 75 Mariner, Shorelander Roller Trailer Claude thinks my taking Brad out for lunch gesture really paid off... with the boat came a mint 6hp Evinrude, electric downriggers, electric bow mount, life jackets, oars, salmon spoons, two downrigger rods (one of them really nice - Fenwick "Riggerstik" twist rod with a Shimano Triton 300)... the list goes on. Filled the back of the Tahoe completely. Towed it back to the cottage for short term storage and will hopefully get out in early April for some real (softwater) fishing! After my wife and daughters checked out the boat we took them out for a sled ride... We got the Cat stuck and the Indy started running rough. By that time dinner was ready. Mmmmm "Fall-apart roast" as we like to call it... in the slow cooker all day served with mashed potatoes bows (pasta) and gravy. My favourite meal! Then I got to watch the Leafs kick some Ottawa butt, could this day get any better? YEP! I got to go to bed! Sunday morning Claude and I got up to go fishing again but we never made 50 feet from his dock. We had left the stuck Cat stuck and the rough running Indy where they sat the night before so the first order of business was addressing that. The Cat was in good and we smaelled burning rubber. I don't know anything about sleds but my first inclination was to check the belt. It was fine, engaging but no spin at the track. Is there another rubber drive belt to the track or maybe the track was out of adjustment? We decided to check out the Indy, cleaned the plugs and it ran well... really well. I was getting the skis of the ground and I'm 300 lbs.. sitting back in the saddle a little bit helped that! We tried pulling the Cat out, no luck. I was digging in with the studded track on the Indy. So, we decided to drill a few holes out from the dock and let the girls fish and they took turns riding with me on the sled. After a little while the Indy started fouling again... is this a cold spark (weak coil) or a mixture problem? Plugs were dark and a little wetish but not gummy and it seemed like one cylinder was kicking in and out but fine at wide open throttle. We had a great time despite not catching anything. -Brian By the way, you sled guys are nuts! Had the 600 Cat doing 91mph (GPS) on the "Simcoe Hwy". Could have gone a little quicker probably but I was losing my nerve... rocking back and forth, getting air off footprints... made 185 mph on a bike seem tame. The sled-wheelies are still fun though!

"... at 400 km/h the tires will only last about 15 minutes but that's okay, the gas will only last about 12 minutes" Nice.

LOL!!! People always get Roy and I confused... we're like twins seperated at birth. -Brian

Lew, The only potentially negitive feedback I can offer about the Civic is insurance. It may be negligable but worth checking into. Liability and collision will probably be comparable to what she is/was driving but she may see a bump on the theft side of comprehensive coverage. I would advise passing on the factory rustproofing and recommend a quality oiling every year... Civics have a few prone areas that don't seem to get coated with the factory rustproofing. -Brian p.s. I have finally found the best ever signature!

That's outrageous! Who pulled off the stunts after the pilot bailed out? LOL -Brian

I'm not an ugly stick fan but it seems you have your mind made up. For walleye a medium action. For salmon a heavy action. If you can't have both, a med-heavy 8'-9' rod will suffice. Definitly heavy action for dipsys and inlines though. I'd second HH's opinion on the TDR. I've landed many 30lber's on my med-heavy TDR and while it's a thrill ride I never had the uneasy feeling you get right before your rod snaps. -Brian

LOL, no lottery but not for lack of trying. I'll update your list... USED Truck (partial trade deal with my Jeep) USED Boat (Made the offer awaiting the answer) USED Muskie tackle New Survival Suit - I have a theory about this. I would have bought a used one but I couldn't find any in size 3X. My theory; all the fat guys sank in thiers. -Brian

Ahhhhh, that 'splains it. I've done a few portages in my day... let's just say that my screen name could also be "tailgunner". Equipment was never my issue, I dragged myself in last place regardless of whether I was carrying tackle or an outboard motor. -Brian

Yep, heading up friday afternoon and possibly stopping in at BPS and staying at my wife's uncles place on Simcoe. We'll be on the ice (sleds) saturday morning in the BBP area likely. I'll be wearing a giant red/black Helly with a black helmet with a stupid grin on my face. -Brian

Nobody deserves a Zebco Thanks for the info folks, that was a lot more helpful than the customer service lady over the phone! -Brian

All roller guides to the tip. Generally used for wire line. I plan on using it for lead core. I'll be looking for rainbows, walleye and salmon but will undoubtedly find sheephead. -Brian

I heard a radio ad for BPS last night.... trade in your fishing reel and recieve a credit towards a new one. I don't know all the details but I think the reels go to a local charity. Can anyone shed some light on this? -Brian

Great report! I have to ask, what bet did Dan lose?

Monday - Okuma Blue Diamond 8'6" Roller Rod Tuesday - St. Croix Premier Muskie 6'9" HF Wednesday - Cabela's "Master Fishing" catalogue & the Busy Bee flyer Keep up the good work Photoz (are you back to work yet?)

Oh crap! We've gone too far in conservation, now we're into the ice age. Thanks a lot David Suzuki and Al Gore. -Brian

"Next Monday" Market.... Change....... Value S&P/TSX -152.02...... 12,711.25 DJIA -63.69 ..............12,050.41 S&P 500 -13.05 .........1,374.12 Nasdaq -27.32 ...........2,340.68 You're a trailblazer Rick!

Now that's a great moonshot Dan! I'm glad my instincts were correct but I'm just a trial and error novice so I thought I should pose the question. Moonshots are tough enough without having an eclipse changing your lighting! -Brian

Good effort Dan, you still some nice shots. Sis's sleeping giant shot is nice too. Question for you... On eclipse3.jpg (for example) what would you have done differently? Your black is pretty black. Moon is yellowish. (mine are often yellow, overexposed LOL) Your camera likely has shutter priority but you used aperture priority. If I couldn't go full manual I would have went shutter priority. Should I be more concerned with the aperture for low light? my instinct tells me to leave the shutter open. -Brian

I just finished watching "Crank".... awesome! My wife usually sleeps through everything, she didn't blink! This movie is non-stop action, whacked out camera work, heart pounding audio and truly laugh-out-loud scenes and dialogue. Never seen anything like this. Watch this movie, tell me what you think and then watch it again... gotta go, time to watch it with the directors commentary. -Brian http://imdb.com/title/tt0479884/ Plot summary for Crank (2006) advertisement Chev Chelios is a professional assassin working for the West Coast crime syndicate. Chev's girlfriend Eve doesn't know what Chev does and Chev is planning to quit the crime syndicate so he can spend more time with her. But for Chev, things about to get very bad, when he learns he has been injected with a poison called "The Beijing Cocktail" by his rival Verona, which will kill him if his heart rate drops. Trying to stay alive and seeking help from friend, Kaylo and Doc Miles, to keep his heart pumping. Chev sets out to find answers as well as protecting Eve, and get his revenge on those who have betrayed him before the poison kills him. Written by Daniel Williamson

It could be a scam but it's probably a marketing scheme. As long as you don't hand over personal information or have to pay anything it could be worth your time to check it out. Terry is likely right... you may have to sit through a sales pitch for something. -Brian

Very nice Steve, that's the younger and sexier sister to mine! I had considered buying a newer one (probably just like yours) but I've been payment free for too long and squandered away the money I was accustom to shelling out for car payments. That "oh it feels so good not to have a car payment" feeling went away in about 2 months! It's going to hurt bad when I want (or need) to buy a newer vehicle.

Lockers are nice. Beware of that rear axle though (unless you have a rare YJ Dana 44). Dana 35's don't take kindly to lockers and big rubber. I assume you have 33" or 35" rubber? What kind of Locker are you looking at? -Brian

Thanks for the 'welcome' but I've been in the brotherhood of fine trucks for quite somrtime.. I just renewed my membership... As for the beater comment... perhaps a little harsh. It's our convenience vehicle - we could get by without but it makes life (fishing excursions) so much easier. Here is my 'burban... traded it for a '97 Astro. The Suburban didn't have enough seats for my wife's big babysitting venture... sorry, I'm still a little bitter about that.

This one is a beater Wayne, not a project... although... I'd like to put some better rubber on it! One of these days when I have a nice big garage I'll build a Nice CJ Jeep, from the ground up. You can still buy anything you want for those including frame and body tub. -Brian