SlowPoke

Nice report Rich, it sure beats what I did today - which amounted to nothing but organizing tackle & waiting for parts for my Tahoe.

It's merely a guidline to help you with spool capacity. You could go 100yrds of 30lb braid (8lb mono dia.) if you wanted to. -Brian

I thought the same until I visited BP at Great Lakes Crossing. The staff was friendlier, store was cleaner/more organized and many of the prices were better than Cabela's in Dundee. The Vaughn BP store is nice enough but is "level two" compared to the Great Lakes Crossing location. -Brian

That wouldn't have happened on a rivited fiberglass boat! Is your buddy okay? -Brian

"ABSOLUTE WORST DAY" - You ain't kidding! I'll spare you the "You should have done this and that" blabber and wish you the best of luck on your next trip. -Brian

Yeah but we saved that guy in the plane that was stranded on the island over the winter! LOL!!! -Brian

Had a great time out there and it's always a thrill to see someone get their first or personal best! I have 50lb mainline on my muskie trolling rods but I had to equip 3 people. I had to use my salmon reels for 4 of the rods. When the rods fired for fish 1,2&3 I grabbed the rods, thumbed the spools, set the hook an set the drag. On fish 4, the breakoff, Theo grabbed the rod. He naturally reels left handed and had the rod in his right hand reaching over the reel to adjust the drag with his left and.... snap. It may have been tightened to quickly or, what Mike suggested, a "death roll". Sometimes when muskies hit, they can roll themselves up the 48" leader into the mainline and 200lb braid wouldn't help if it was in their teeth. I've landed several 30+lb fish on 30lb PowerPro without any problem and in fact, I wish my 46"er today came on that reel instead of blowing up my 50lb linecounter! -Brian

Those snickers will become shivers in mid-september. Pack for four seasons, that'll get you through 'til lunch! -Brian

What Bernie was suggesting is that the TV speakers become the CC (Center Channel) from the receiver and your main speakers are still your main speakers. Some TV's have a CC input and an option within the settings to enable this. Works very well. When I set up my basement HT I was shopping for a CC speaker and connected in this manner until I found the right one. Never did buy the CC setup, it was that good. Gerritt has the proper solution, now you just need to work on those mains. -Brian

It's work for me twice; once at Bronte, once at Southampton. It's failed me several times. If you're on shore or on a pier, chase the fish. When you find yourself, as I did, at the end of the pier, open the bail or free spool. Sometimes a fish will let up thinking it's free and may even return to where it was when it hit. Think of it as a "what do I have to lose?" situation. The worst thing that can happen is the inevitable ping when you get spooled. The second worst possibility is that it spits the hook but it's better than losing your rig or getting wet! The best thing that can happen is you can pick up a hundred yards or at the very least, turn the fish. -Brian

Great report Emil. I'm glad the tent is holding up so well. I remember all the trouble you had to go through to get it! Some super photo's as well. -Brian

Well done guys!

So, you're not a big fan of Ontario Land Transfer Tax either? LOL! -Brian

Do you have a seperate oil tank for that motor or do you mix with gas? If you mix your oil and gas then Cliff is probably on the right track. -Brian

Great report and congrats once again Ryan, some nice fish too! When selling or tading in a car, many of us have often said "I'd rather give it away than accept that offer". It's not too often you find a person so generous and thoughtful to follow through. Well done Dave. Ryan, be sure to be at Dave's side when he tades in his boat! -Brian

There probably isn't a "perfect" boat that will handle all applications... An inboard/outboard with a swim platform will be hard to mount a kicker motor for walleye and wouldn't be a great option for bass fishing. A typical walleye boat will have higher sides and more difficult to get in and out of from the water. A bass boat is great for bass but not much else. I don't have a make/model in mind but I think you might want to consider a deck boat. http://www.tahoesportboats.com/boat/?boat=2697

Oh yeah, it's that two and half week period when so many Canadians pretend to give a crap about the "Modern Pentathalon" and "Synchronized Swimming". I can't wait for the opening ceremonies to celebrate the commencement of the quadrannual inquest as to why our nations athletes continue to underperform. We'll hear about underfunded athletes. We'll hear about poor media coverage. We'll hear about .... Three weeks from now, it will all be forgotten. I find it odd that so many people can become so passionate about sport only to suppress their emotions for 200+ weeks. -Brian

Most shops have a varsol tank for washing parts. If I need to dump fuel I'll take it to a truck shop and ask if they want some old gas for the parts washer. If it doesn't occur to them that they can use it instead of being reponsible for disposing it, they tend to decline. That's why I phrase the question "....for the parts washer". -Brian

Nice boat Rizzo, looks brand new! Lots of storage too - you won't have any trouble storing your auger and tip-ups in there! -Brian

Glad to hear the "weg" is doing fine! We've learned 2 things here today; A) When Dad says stay out of the boat, stay out of the boat. 2) Never let your bow line exceed the length of your boat. -Brian

We don't get a chance to get away as a family but when we do, we try to make the most of it! With the weather being so unpredictable we were hoping for at least one nice day to get to Canada's Wonderland. As it turned out, we had three nice days! We left London mid-morning and encountered some rain heading east. As we got north of Toronto, things were looking better but could turn at any moment. Rather than getting dumped on at Wonderland we decided to stop into Bass Pro to see if the storm was going to pass the area or hit us head-on. After a little shopping, it was conference time with the kids. I suggested that we could do Wonderland today and probably get 4-5 hours rain free or perhaps go Saturday or Sunday provided the weather is good. The girls decided on the 'sure-thing'. We weren't in the park long when my youngest daughter, Sarah, wanted to go on the first roller coaster we came to. My oldest daughter, Hannah, isn't quite so daring and I wasn't feeling great. Sarah couldn't ride by herself and we weren't falling for my wife's "I'm too short for this ride" trick... So off they went... Sarah loved it! My wife, not so much! Next up was something a little slower for Hannah. A Merry-Go-Round. Hannah then worked up enough courage to go on the Clockwerks ride with Sarah... We promised Hannah the "Wild Beast", an old school wood coaster, would be a good starter coaster for her... Boy, were we wrong! This was a thrasher! Fast and jarring to say the least but we survived. We decided to treat the girls to my wife's favourite, Funnel Cake... And then we were off to Hanna Barbera Land for some more slower-paced rides... except of course for the "Ghoster Coaster"! That's a wild ride for the kid zone. We made our back to the parking lot for a little rest and snacks and watched a massive storm to our south. It looked like the downpour was going to miss us but the wind really picked up and the temperature dropped. By this time it was about 6:30PM and we let the girls decide if we were going back into the park. We wanted to go to the water park but they were pretty exhausted and declined. I was glad they were as tired as I was but I didn't want to cut their day short. So, off to the cottage we went. The cottage belongs to my wife's Aunt and Uncle - Frances and Claude. It's better described as a beautiful century-old home on the west shore of Lake Simcoe and one of my favourite places to be. We don't get there often but it's always the highlight of our summer. We stayed up fairly late chatting and Claude and I put a plan of action together for fishing in the morning. All the forecasts were favourable, 2-3 knot winds and warm. This looked like the perfect opportunity to take a 15 mile trip across the lake to Thorah Island. We got up around 6:30AM and it was rather chilly. The cottage is somewhat shelted in a bay protected from north/west winds but it looked calm enough for a long run. Wow, were we wrong. Once we were a few miles out, we were treated to 3-4 rollers and white caps. We decided to press on. With some solid advice from another OFNer and a few adjustments given the weather conditions, we got on our spot. A solid west wind had us on a pretty good drift... more of a troll perhaps! We weren't there long before Claude landed his PB smallie... It was a nice fight with a few solid runs and I don't think Claude was prepared for this quality fish on his light tackle. I'm guessing it was 4-4.5 lbs. There's nothing better than watching someone get their personal best and I was with him last September on Lake O for his PB salmon and biggest fish ever. http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r307/Sl...le/DSC01217.jpg I plan to get him out for muskie this year! We didn't land another fish after that nice bass but had a couple interested candidates with commitment issues. With the wind really picking up we decided to head towards the cottage. We did the Fox shoal for a couple quick drifts. I don't know if it was to fish or an excuse to relax after 10+ miles of punding waves! I had a nice solid rip coming off the shoal but it was gone as quick as it hit. While Claude and I were fishing, the girls were enjoying the calm water in the sheltered bay... After a late lunch we decided to take advantage of the wind and go sailing. It was a perfect day to get the girls out. Enough wind to be fun but not enough to worry the girls... Packing it in... We enjoyed some dinner and the girls enjoyed the water some more. We took them tubing! What a blast watching them! A couple of drinks and good conversation into the evening and Claude and I decided to get a later start and fish a little closer to the cottage the next morning. A 7AM wake up call, a cup of tea and we were off to Snake Island. I think everyone had the same thing in mind because there was just a single boat when we arrived and within 5 minutes we had about 6 or 7 near us. Fishing was tough. The wind was up again but not as bad as Saturday. The drift was more like a troll but we watned to concentrate on key areas so we anchored. I threw tubes, jigs/gulp, spinnerbaits and nothing but a light hit on the black spinnerbait. I decided to try a crankbait and selected the Hammerhead Blue/Silver shallow running shad. I tossed it over a definable weed bed about 60' away and retrieved slowly across the weeds hoping for hit when it met the transition to sand and rock. Bang! A very solid hit and run but I was disappointed to see just a 2lb smallie on the end of my line. Well, at least I wasn't skunked! Frances was preparing brunch so we knew we had a limited amount of time on the water so we packed it in after the one smallie. Back at the cottage after brunch the weather was perfect. Sarah gave the new spinning rod a try from the dock. We decided it was time for her to throw the spinning rig and retire the Barbie spin caster... I lost another fish off the dock. It felt nice but not huge. The dock has produced a 5lber last year and another biggun this year with commitment issues. Claude has seen some brutes in the weedbed just out of casting range from the dock and I suspect they can be had when they come shallow for grazing on the crayfish. It was getting on in the afternoon and we decided to go out tubing again. Might as well use that gas before it goes bad! Again, it was a blast. Even my wife and then Claude got into the action! A little more back at the cottage. The kids improvised a 'slip-n-slide' from a floating pad. They had a lot of fun running and sliding into the lake from the dock and the breakwall... Sadly, it was time to pack up after dinner. It's always a memorable get together but this weekend was the best yet. I'm already looking forward to next year! -Brian

Very nice! Deep and wide, tons of storage and very fishable. Keep an eye on the young fella on the bow. It looks like he laying claim to the business end of your fishing boat! -Brian

You'll quickly appreciate having the rod tip forward, you don't have to look over your should to watch it which means you'll probably have your eye on the rod tip more often to detect those light bites. -Brian

Well done Brian! I've been working on it as well. From a 46" at some point last year. In the last week, my wife picked 3 pairs of shorts from Giant Tiger for me. First pair, a 44 that fell off me. Second pair, a 42 that I could put on without unbuttoning. Third pair, a 40 that fits loose and I still need a belt. This is more encouraging than a scale. I was recently diagnosed Diabetic and I have been watching my food intake for sugar and carbs. Recording what I eat and when I eat combined with glucose testing really paints a picture of the effect some foods have on me. One thing I've learned, nothing good can come from a drive-thru. So far the weight loss has come from diet but eventually I'll reach a plateau and have to introduce regular excercise outside of my normal physical activity. I do dred the thought of going to a gym but I'm hoping it won't be as taxing at 270 then the 320 I started at. I have a long road ahead but I've already noticed more energy and less back pain. Oh, and chics dig me. I'm looking forward to it! I have to choose between addiction to sex and smoking? Where's my bic? -Brian p.s. Charlesn, I hope to gain 15lbs this weekend on Simcoe, 2 4lbers and a 3lber!

Thanks FB, I might head over there on the way to work! I hope they don't get cleaned out in the next half hour. -Brian