icefisherman

Save yourself the time and hassle....go get a good used Lund or Starcraft deep V and be done for years...My 1700 Pro Sport fits just perfect with less than 1/2" on each side (had to remove one of the siding strips from the frame) and 1" lengthwise. And that is with a swing tongue (modified it myself) and under slight angle. two motors on the back. Double garage about the same as yours. Could use a bit bigger say....19 foot boat but hate to have to pay for storage and not have the boat available to me at any given time. Cheers, Ice Fisherman

Nope. Just no HST on the reels, no extra 20% off. Cheers, Ice Fisherman

OK just came back from the Etobicoke store....limited rod selection in the trolling department...they only had 1 (ONE) Shimano TDR trolling rod. So I bought it. Got some dipsy divers and downrigger releases...not bad with the tax free. Cheers, Ice Fisherman

Do they sell trolling rods?

Not that kind of security and not that kind of batteries Wayne ;-) Cheers, Ice Fisherman

Yep mine was great as well from new until now...but there is an end to everything I guess ;-) So the time has come to replace mine...and decided to do it with a 9Ah one instead of 7Ah that came with the unit. Hope you get some extra time out of yours. Cheers, Ice Fisherman

OK, spoke to the place in Barrie....they quoted me $32.80 for the 9Ah...James probably got the 7Ah for $25... Also spoke to the place in Hamilton (Acme) - thanks pics....they quoted me $28 + $6 shipping to me (not bad)...and also told me I can get it closer to home from a place in Mississauga called Battery Boys (close to Dixie and 401). Called them and they quoted me $32.95 but when I mentioned that Acme has referred me to them they agreed to sell it to me for the same $28 same as Acme, if I stop by...very good service from all places by the way...so I'll stop by in the next couple days and get it from Battery Boys in Mississauga so I can charge it fully and be ready for my next ice trip. http://bbmbattery.com/ps-series-general-purpose-batteries/2654-ps-1290-12v-9ah-battery-canada.html Thanks again to all for the info. Hope what I found helps others as well. Cheers, Ice Fisherman

Thanks James. Yes I've read somewhere about some place in Barrie and I guess this is the one...I was trying up until last night to figure out is it the battery or the charger...spoke to MarCum and when they heard it is my original battery and my unit is probably the first LX5 that came to Canada the guy immediately said it is the battery. Found few places selling them cheap but when you add shipping it kills the deal. If I don't find anything until your next trip back home I'll let you know and get one from Barrie. Stay warm up there Cheers, Ice Fisherman

Thanks Roy. Actually those guys would be perfect for pick up...but when I called them a minute ago they told me they only have the 7.5Ah and the 12Ah....not the 9Ah... 12Ah would be too big size wise and it will not fit at the back of the flasher ...and I want to move up from the 7.5Ah....so no luck with them.... Thanks.

Where can I find a replacement battery for my MarCum flasher. The original one was 7Ah but I'd like to replace it with 9Ah this time. It is 12V batery. Somewhere locally in West GTA would be great so I can pick it up. Thanks.

Well Bruce, Jordan was actually asking me about you and the smelt couple days ago. You probably have enough ice but wasn't sure if smelt are biting and when you are going. But yes if you are please PM me and we'll happily come to see you and refresh few memories ;-)) Cheers, Ice Fisherman

Long promised and overdue ice perch trip to Simcoe with the kids. And a nice change of pace for me from all those lakers lately. Went to new territory at Beaverton. What a long walk it was waooooo....over 6km in total...and good thing that Aaron from Canadian Trophy sport fishing was kind enough to give a ride and save portion of the walking. Took us a looong time to find them...in fact for the first 4-5 hrs we had only 1 (one) perch to show for...number of position changes...and finally after 3:30 the show has began/....lots of fish hitting and many were were good sizes too...The good old trick with dropping broken in half minnow down the hole worked as planned and kept them under us....when cleaning many of them were jammed with those broken minnows I dropped down the hole....Both boys did very well and I was just running the "back office" trying to supply to what got to be a very high demand between 3:30 and 4:30pm.... Kept 40 and just had an outstanding dinner....kids went to sleep 2 seconds after getting in bed....ha ha ha very happy with the fishing but even happier with the good exercise we all had. Good thing the snow was not too much and it was not only bare patches of ice....Only took me 1 hr to clean them with my new Rapala electric knife - not bad. Minnows did most of the damage with some caught on jigging rapala and Bento minnow. 25 fow. Couple shots for your viewing pleasure: Cheers, Ice Fisherman

Nice catch guys. Now WHERE are the whities this season ?!? Cheers, Ice Fisherman

Well is was actually wet in places with slush...had to check it and go slow to avoid slush beds. Some of them were with very thin ice and the spud went through on second hit. But in general where we were there was 4-5" of ice...not much different from last weekend. Cheers, Ice Fisherman

Another nice fishing day on Simcoe...and more lakers to be had...almost no trace of whities though...3 of us only had 1 white fish...number of lakers and some good ones too. Fish were there but not as active as hey were a week ago...Meegs did most of the damage today. Not sure it MNR still stocks white fish but this is second year in a row with very few whties been caught... Couple shots for your viewing pleasure: Cheers, Ice Fisherman

Yes Rick, Mine was one of the very first LX5 that came out...and it is still going strong on the original battery. Hope we can hook up and go chase them together again this winter. Cheers, Ice Fisherman

Over 4" where I was. Cheers, Ice Fisherman

Well, first ice trip of the season for the big boys on Simcoe. Great weather and the lakers were hungry and active...the white fish though was another story...all day have only seen 3 whities on the ice...very strange as other times no matter what I do I get lots of whities and can't catch a single lakers...today was the oposite...oh well take it as it comes I guess.... depth was 105 fow...spoons, Meegs and Rapalas all worked... Couple pictures: Cheers, Ice Fisherman

Well here I am too...had exact same problem as crappieperchhinter with the same error message every time I try to log on. With he help of Brian and Roy it seems resolved. Wondering how many others are in the same situation and can not log in to tell you their problem?!? Cheers, Ice Fisherman

I have two DieHard deep cycle batteries from 2005 on my boat....working like new to this day. No need to change them for next year.,..going strong. Cheers, Ice Fisherman

OK, Did a side by side comparison over the weekend with another Islander, swapped the spools etc. It looked like it might be the spool but the other reel has some (smaller) wobble itself so it is hard to say. In any event I took the reel and went fishing on Sunday and it performed much much better compared to before changing the bearings...It took me a while to get used to how nicely the reel was spinning when it was new... Spoke to Islander again today and we both agreed I'll keep using it as is and observe and see if bearing go bad again in the next year or so...then we'll speak again with Heather this time next year before warranty expires. She promised she'll take care of me should the wobble cause the bearing to go bad again. Seemed like a fair solution to me so I agreed. Now...time to put it to some more good use...need some good rain first though Thanks to all who commented in this thread. Cheers, Ice Fisherman

And you are most likely right Brian. At least it is the most logical conclusion knowing what I know now. I was just too much of a rookie when I bought it a year ago to notice it...it was my very first float reel, so I knew nothing about it back then...and it was spinning nicely and quietly so it didn't raise my attention. Until the reel became noisy, and I became more knowledgeable about that type of reels. And you all know the rest from this post. Keep in mind Islander had the reel in their hands for 2 days and they couldn't find any evidence of any serious damage, dropping, etc. Usually if such a damage had happened it'd show not just on one side of the spool but all over the reel... Just spoke with a good friend of mine in Milton who will let me do the experiment over the weekend swapping with his spool. Then on Monday I'll be ready to talk back with Islander and find a solution knowing what exactly is wrong. Can't believe the following though: Not only they didn't notice the wobble when the reel was new before been shipped out ....but they didn't investigate the wobbling problem further 2 days ago when they had the reel back in their hands...they sure have plenty of spare spools, tools and measuring instruments to nail down EXACTLY what is the problem. Instead I am left sorting it out myself now. Oh well... I guess I am the one most invested interest in it, so I'll do it. Cheers, Ice Fisherman

Thanks for the comments especially comparing with your own reel. This is what I am missing at this point...I need to have one well working Islander in my hands to compare this issue... To answer your questions...I have never fall while fishing the river never throw my reel nor sit on it...and had never opened it until last weekend when I was checking the reasons for the noise. And you are right...the wobble is more easily visable on the closed end of the spool....this is why I think it maybe a bad machining job... The noise was what started my deeper investigation into this issue and then I noticed the wobble... Can't say for sure if the wobble was there a year ago when I bought the reel...the noise definitely was not...so I didn't have any reason to look into it closer...again until last weekend. My logic goes like this.... Most likely the reel has this wobble since the day I bought it but bearings were new and didn't make any noise so I didn't notice anything wrong. It is definitely not normal for this quality reel to have its bearings destroyed to such a degree just for one year, and mine sure were all messed up (islander agreed)...now they've changed bearings with new ones, but the wobbling issue remains there...so I am afraid the same order of events will occur again in another year...i.e. my bearing will get messed up again but by then the reel will be out of warranty and I'll be stuck to replace them myself and this issue will keep repeating itself for ever....same as your car's wheels not been balanced...earlier or later it'll screw your wheel bearings... What could be done about it you asked...I asked the same question to Heather at Islander and she agreed we'll cross that bridge when we get to it...i.e. I need to do the experiment with a good spool from another reel and eliminate what is the problem...spool....or shaft...if it is the spool Islander will have to replace it...if it is the shaft they'll have to replace the whole reel with a new one as in both cases it is not my fault and the reel is covered with warranty. Plain and simple to me. Cheers, Ice Fisherman

OK decided to do two quick video clips to show the wobble. Had to use my RGB video camera and transfer it few times but it does show. Pay attention to the left side of the spool where it meets the frame and you should be able to see it. With such a high quality reel this sort of wobble should not be happening...there has to be something wrong with the pachining of the spool...but will try to eliminate the shaft as potentiol reason first. http://s28.beta.photobucket.com/user/chocho111/media/Islander%20reel/reel.mp4.html http://s28.beta.photobucket.com/user/chocho111/media/Islander%20reel/reel1.mp4.html Cheers, Ice Fisherman

OK Just got my reel back. Islander has replaced the bearing as they agreed they were no good. The noise has decreased significantly. The wobble though is still there...having eliminated the bearings as a reason for it, I am now thinking (and Islander agrees) it is either the shaft itself not straight of the spool was not machined very precisely. No way to know for sure...unless I have another Islander that doesn't exhibit similar problems near by...then I can replace my spool with the other spool and see if wobble is still there it is the shaft...if not it is the spool. Spoke with Islander again 2 min ago and unfortunately they didn't do that experiment while the reel was there. So I'll have to do it here... Anyone here who owes same Islander Steelheader reel and lives West of GTA (Brampton, Mississauga, Oakville, Milton)? Would appreciate if we can do a quick spool swap to eliminate one of the two possibilities. Please post of PM me. Thank you. Cheers, Ice Fisherman