SlowPoke

Wow! Nice weather, nice lake, nice fish! I bet you were pinching yourself to see if you were dreaming. Thanks for the report. -Brian

Hmmm, I just don't see 3-4 hours labour for installing the helm. I've never done a rotory style (just rack/pinion)... there must be something I'm missing or he's charging $200/hr!

I suspect the toughest part of the job will be installing the steering cable - this might be the biggest part of the $300 quote. Your cable might be fine and useable with the new helm. -Brian

I'm not an Abu fan but I'll defend their casting ability - no need to remove the guide provided you have a nice arm/rod/reel/lure match. It was fun watching muskiestudd casting a Rattlin' Spot halfway across the river with an Abu 7000 on Saturday. Comparing a Calcutta to an Abu is analogous to comparing a Tekota 600 to a Penn 209 - The Abu/Penn offer function and dependability while the Shimano reels add refinement to the mix. Fisherpete, the CT200GTB is a very nice reel but chucking and jerking big baits is going to be hard on that reel. I think Clive (mepps) would be the first to tell you that the Calcutta 200 is a great reel - he has a lot of miles and landed a lot of monsters on his but a dedicated muskie reel, it ain't. -Brian

Are you thinking about Randy Quaid? Nice report Chris, that looks a lot nicer than the swamp we were talking about! Hey, are you flossing for baby bass with 80lb mono?

As a matter of fact, I said "let's troll for walleye" and that's why Chris had the Riplin' Redfin and the Snoopy rod out. We had a good time out there and I especially enjoyed pointing out all the center console boats since Chris enjoys poo-pooing mine! He's a tiller guy . We saw more center consoles than anything else out there. After coming off the lake, we explored a couple coves... nothing. We spent some time casting in the river and saw some surfacing but no takers. It was close to 1PM and began trolling back to the ramp when Chris picked up the first one. It was nice to beat the skunk. -Brian

The Curado 300 is unchanged for '09 - good luck finding one under $100. The Citica is far too small for muskie fishing. Not enough spool, not enough stopping power. It may do fine for incidental muskie catches but I'd never recommend one for a dedicated muskie setup. -Brian

Don't sweat it Cliff, that's bigger than my personal best too. Way to go Bly, if it was any bigger it'd have antlers! -Brian

All good points except the "Hope you don't have the plug on the outside" guy. Another thing to keep in mind is the livewell intake and outlet lines leaking. Before filling up your boat in the driveway - plug the intake and drain holes and fill up you livewell(s). Watch for water collecting in your bilge area. Sometimes those light plastic lines can crack from freezing with water in the lines and deposit water into your hull cavity. If they are leaking, get them fixed if you use the livewell(s) or just put plugs in when you're on the water.

I like both the Curado 300 and Calcutta 400 - I don't own either yet but I've used them. If I had to choose right now I would break down fishing style a little more. Curado 300 is very compact and light with a high speed retrieve. I'd opt for the Curado if I intended to throw mostly inlines and spinnerbaits with a 7'-7'6" rod. Calcutta 400 is bulkier and slower but a great jerkbait reel on a 6'6"-7' rod and doubles as a trolling reel with a built in clicker. The large spool picks up slack fast enough for jerkbaiting but it's not as fast as the Curado for burning baits. I don't think you would be disappointed with either but one may suit your immediate needs better than the other - I know I'd be happy to see either under the Christmas tree this year! -Brian

Not that there is anything wrong with Suzuki but I've found part availabilty and service to be much more difficult to find than OMC/Honda/Merc/Yamaha. They do have a growing dealer network so those issues may be shrinking.

Great report Joey! I wondered if Chris snuck away for the weekend, things were pretty quite here in London. That's a pretty rare photo of Roy without a hat on! Glen told me that Roy even wears his hat in the shower... I'm not sure how Glen would know. hmmmm I'm sorry I couldn't be there, it looked like "all y'all" had fun! -Brian

Front wheel drive wouldn't be my first choice in a tow vehicle but you should be fine on good ramps. You run into difficulty on ramps because the vehicle weight is shifted rearward resulting in less than normal weight/traction on the drive wheels. If you're smooth on applying power, you'll be fine. Spinning the tires, you're in trouble. A little tip for front and rear wheel drives when getting ready to pull out (loaded or empty)... -Apply the brakes and put the transmission in gear. -While in gear and brakes applied, increase the engine RPM slowly to a point where you believe the brakes are the only thing keeping you from moving forward. -Very slowly ease up on the brake and ride them until you are free from the ramp. Do not increase the throttle while easing off on the brakes. If you do not have enough throttle to move, re-apply the brakes and try again with a little more throttle than last time. What this does is control the amount of power to the drive tires to prevent spinning. It also tricks the differential/transaxle into believing both drive tires have traction and will apply power to each drive tire evenly. Some differentials/transaxles will detect one wheel spinning faster than the other and incorrectly think you are turning a corner. When turning a corner, keep in mind the wheel on the outside of the turn will be spinning faster than the wheel on the inside of the turn. Power will be applied to the 'outside wheel' (the one without traction) and the 'inside tire' (the one with traction) will not receive any power. By riding the brakes, the differential/transaxle thinks you are going straight and both wheels have traction. This is also a great tactic when stuck in snow or on ice. -Brian

Fishing BOQ shoulden't be much of a problem. Even if you wander a ways from the ramp, you're never far from shore. Pack accordingly. If the weather blows up, beach the boat and wait it out until you feel safe to return to the launch. -Brian

Nice looking fish Terry! They almost look anodized!

I'm glad you were able to break in the new rod! They're a great rod for the money and the best part is, you can snap off the top three eyes and shoot pool with it. -Brian

I would think Sturgeon Falls would be a little closer... by about 100 kms.

Very nice speciman Bernie, I'll bet it was a pleasure to work on! I think that Firebird would make it to Barrett Jackson - it's only 2400KM to MIami I just saw a pretty rare bird two days ago... an orange 1973 SD455. Rare enough that I think it might be the one a friend of mine owned in Oakville about 20 years ago. Had a few hair raising rides in that car! -Brian

Great post, congrats and welcome! It's unfortunate that you didn't get a picture of your first muskie but maybe you'll have a chance to catch it again! Solo fishing is tough - the only thing I can say is to have everything ready and within reach when the opportunity of a photo presents itself. A very large pen net would make landing easier and allows the fish to revive in the water while you get your camara and snap an in-water shot. -Brian

The $79 price is actually for the HotMaps chip. The X-15 price is not shown because it's sold out.

Well done Beats! I was just talking to another London OFNer tonight about some Thames spots... I really have to get my butt out there! I'm surprised you got into some fishable areas at all. I saw the Nith and Grand rivers overflowing and like chocolate milk tonight. -Brian

And I thought it was for the 'staff discount' That was a great post Roger and another example of how a little time and effort from our lives can make a memory of a lifetime for someone else. -Brian

The lake is probably going to be a mess tonight following all that wind and rain but your area might be the best best for clear-ish water. Follow the channel heading south until you hit 8-10 FOW, hand a right turn and start exploring the drop-off while heading west. Keep a close eye out, it can go from 9' to 2' in the blink of an eye. -Brian

Have fun Jo and leave some for the rest of the gang! -Brian