KawarthaAngler

Yup ... it sure is nice when she starts up first time in the spring like it ran the day before. This spring startup for me had some added anxiety. I made the BIG mistake of forgetting to take my boat plug out when I put her into storage last fall. Even though I double tarp the boat .. both tarps were garbage and let water in. The result ... lots of water was in the boat (actually ice at first ...so I had to let it thaw out). My Fish & Ski boat has a 100L tank under the floor and I'm pretty sure she was completely under water. I was pretty pissed at myself. She always is put away in the fall with a full tank of premium and stabalizer. But still ... could water have leached in somehow since the boat is 10years old? I don't have (at least not yet) a water/fuel separator ... so I put a container of 'water remover' in the gas and crossed my fingers. Yesterday she started right up and for my run around the lake she didn't miss a beat. 2007 75hp 4-stroke Honda.

A boogie board! SWEET

I like to get on the water first thing once the ice is out and when the flooding happens a few weeks later because sometimes you find good stuff. One year I got a brand new adult life jacket and another I got a brand new water noodle. Another year a rain barrel floated up to my dock but it was my neighbors from a few doors down so they came and claimed it before I grabbed it and put it next to my shed. But as I was fishing last night off my dock for the bays crappie and blue gill ... I was fishing at times around a part of a dock that floated in ... looked like a 2x10 approx 8' long. Those are certainly the dangers to watch out for not just early spring, but all the time.

Spring of 2017 the Trent Severn flooded in many locations. I'm on Buckhorn Lake and it flooded (flooded is open to interpretation ... some areas flooded bad, others were just much higher than normal). Anyhow ... in my backyard (where we walk and I cut the grass) the water had gone up so much that the part that is lowest had approx 3 - 8 inches of water. I couldn't believe it but there were schools of bluegill that would come into the super shallow, warm water ... on my grass. If I walked down towards the flooded spot they would all scurry off and go back to the deeper water of my small bay. It would create quite a splash in the shallow water. It was quite funny. Well ... I made it my mission to fish in this 3 - 8 inch of water and catch one ... just to say I did. It took a while ... but I caught one with my ultralight. Makes for a good story when I'm down at the water with someone and I point out where the fish were and where I caught it. Right up in my yard where I cut the grass by the fire pit! P.S. This was the only time I've seen my neighbors dock which sits on a crib ... float away.

That is just too cool ....

I agree with Akrisoner. They are a different beast and not for everyone. But if you want to give it a try, there's certainly nothing wrong with that. I follow a couple YouTube channels that do reel reviews and if wanting to try a very well regarded, low cost baitcaster, consider the Piscifun Torrent: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0719GVW56/?coliid=I2IIW5A3L2OGT6&colid=LBQQL8ITDL73&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it Or a common brand name used ... they can be had pretty cheap sometimes. But that Piscifun has gotten a lot of positive feedback for being non-mainstream. Put 50lb braid on it and match it to a medium heavy action rod (maybe a 7' to 7'6") so that you have a great crankbait/jigging/spinnerbait/frogging/chatterbait rod. Keep the lighter spinning for lighter baits such as tubes, worms, skipping under docks, etc.

I know. I looked at the Amazon link. Sell your spool on Kijiji for $50 and consider it a good experience.

Wow. That's a great deal. 1500 yards for the price of 500 yards. Put it on Kijiji ... shouldn't have a problem selling it.

Got an email courtesy of a new MNR e-mail newsletter update service. Looks more like a license/card change than anything else. Details -> https://www.ontario.ca/page/get-outdoors-card#section-7 Items taken from the email newsletter: Updating our fish and wildlife licensing service This November we're making updates to our licensing service. Our goal is to make it easier for you to buy fishing and hunting licences. A couple of exciting features in the new service include: A single version of the plastic Outdoors Card. (Hunter accreditation will no longer appear on the Outdoors Card; it will be tracked in the new service.) A Licence Summary that lists all your valid fishing and hunting licences.The Licence Summary can be printed from home but you also have the option to store it on a digital device such as your smartphone. Future regulation changes Next, we're making improvements to some fishing and hunting rules. Fishing regulation changes will come into effect in November 2018, and hunting regulations will change in January 2019. Here are some things that will be different for hunters: In 2019, game seals will be replaced by "tags". You'll have the option to print your tag from home, making it easier to prepare for hunting season. Plastic see-through luggage tag holders can help protect your tags from the elements. Reporting rules for hunters are also changing. All hunters who are issued a tag in 2019 will be asked to submit a report whether or not they hunted or harvested an animal. This new mandatory hunter reporting will replace the current mix of hunter/harvest reporting and voluntary hunter questionnaires.

That's the where. Now the who .....

I've been curious about J Braid as well. I just assumed it was some 'made in china' generic braid that Daiwa brands as their own. Would be interesting to hear from someone at Daiwa where it comes from/who makes it. I know a Daiwa rep, I'll try to remember next time I see him.

Not selling mine ... but I have the Daiwa 7' ultra light and its a nice 'middle of the road' rod. Got it on sale at a place in the T.O. area that was closing shop a year ago.

That sounds unusual. Shimano use to have lifetime warranty, but I don't think they do now. I'm pretty sure if I brought that rod into the Shimano repair centre they'd do what I did when I broke a rod a couple years back ... ship it to their 'rod' centre and send me a new one ... no questions asked.

I've talked to people about braid line as well. More about LB weight and when to use, not use ... etc. I even talked briefly to Florida's Scott Martin about it at this years Fishing show in T.O. It really comes down to personal preference. And those that have more experience have stronger opinions about it. What I learned from experience and talking to hard core (and professional) anglers is when using a baitcaster reel, heavier braid is better because the line thickness matters to reducing backlash, line getting jammed tight on the reel and casting distance. So the general rule is at least 30lb line on a baitcaster with > 50lb being commonly used for these reasons. For a spinning reel, lower weight line is OK and again, just personal preference. Myself, I prefer to use 20 - 30lb braid on my spinning reels because I prefer the feel of the 6 - 8lb (mono diameter) line. I find anything less than 20lb to be too thin (my preference). When it comes to brand names of line ... I've been very happy with Sufix 832 and Power Pro braid. I recently got some SpiderWire at a really good price at the Bowmanville fishing show so this year my two heavy baitcaster rods that I use for punching thick junk and the lillypads ... they will have 65lb SpiderWire. I have found Power Pro and Sufix 832 to be quite pricey, where SpiderWire is more reasonable and I believe to still be very good. Because braid is expensive, I use basic Trilene mono as a backing on the spool. If you aren't familiar with this ... I apply 6lb mono to the first 1/2 of the spool, then I double uni-knot my braid to that and finish off the spool with the braid. So I get 2 reels spooled from 1 spool of braid. Since I fish in water that is typically 2 - 30 feet deep ... I don't need the entire spool loaded with expensive line. And last ... one piece of advice I was given ... take it with a grain of salt ... was if you go with too thin braid, when you tie it to a mono or fluoro leader the very thin braid (less than 20lb braid) can actually cut through the mono/fluoro leader because it is too thin ... making a vulnerable/weak spot being your braid-to-leader knot. Personally I think the knot is more important than this theory of braid being too thin.

I'm bias towards the Shimano line because I work in Peterborough and there is a Shimano repair centre 10 min drive from my work. So its a great local resource for me (should I need it ... which I have twice). But that being said, I've also purchased a few Daiwa reels these past 12 months and been quite pleased with them. But for rods, I've been happy with my Shimano's. I'd recommend the new Curado line. I have a couple of the Crucial rods (which is now replaced by Curado) and they are very nice. If wanting to spend a little less, I also have a Shimano Compre and been happy with it. But truth be told ... any rod that is over $150 will be a quality rod.

That's the same setup I use when dropshoting for Smallies.

That's pretty funny story. Reminds me of a story my parents told me about a new home owner in their water front community. This home owner bought the home all excited about the waterfront but didn't realize that this location is on the side of the lake that receives the wind most of the time ... thus guck in the lake will end up at this location. Because this home was next to a small closed inlet, the guck would get pushed in and build up. Thus his expensive waterfront had continual weeds blowing in (Kawartha lake) and next to his home was the deadend inlet that would just get totally plugged up and STINK due to so much guck/weed build up come mid summer. He complained to the community volunteer group that this was their problem and they needed to fix it. LOL I can't recall if this was their home or a cottage. But I'm sure if you asked my father he'd tell you it was their cottage and they are Citiots (his favorite word).

A real GPS system is ideal, for those that are going to use it regularly and justify the cost. My suggestion on the App for the phone or tablet was under the assumption this was a one time need.

What you are thinking of getting will do the job just fine. I have a 7'6 Daiwa ultra light with a 1000 reel. It's my crappy/panfish rod and works great.

if just wanting mapping ... you can use your phone. either a free app or I purchased the Humminbird navionics app for aprpox $20. It works great (if just wanting location and water depths).

Very intimidating.

https://www.theweathernetwork.com/ca/videos/gallery/viewer-freaking-out-as-ice-shove-destroys-their-lake-simcoe-dock/sharevideo/5770432878001/most_popular

I live on Buckhorn Lake. Just ask me and I'm happy to give an update.