Jigger

Nice catches man. I had to re-read the post as well. Good looking pike, what lures, structure, water temp? Thanks for sharing.

Congrats on the pb Cliff! You sure do have the fever !

Thanks again folks! Fishin'Devil, I'll be dropping you a line soon about that prop. Thanks for the offer. Entropy, I had the run-in on Twelve Mile Lake. Pretty sure you know the lake. Jen, I was totally in disbelief that I'd hit something. I literaly shouted "WHAT?!" In 60fow, couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. No ripples showing anything there. I even looked for whatever it was afterward but couldn't find anything. Oh well, no use cryin over spilt milk. Just have to deal with it now. Everyone else, Thanks for the kind remarks.

When I started this project, I aimed for the general Trout opener as the finish date. Well, I didn't put it in the water until about 3:30pm on Saturday, but got it done! Thats the Good. Drowned lures until about 5pm looking for some lakers, to no avail. Water temps were hovering between 39-41F. The next day saw a drastic improvement in air temps and that helped elevate the water temps to 47F and climbing by the time I got off the water and had to head home. Although the water started warming up, aside from a couple of real lazy follows the action stayed the same. El Skunko for the weekend... could be maybe it was a week early? Ice was slow to go out, will try again next weekend. Thats The Bad...well there is one more Bad, but it goes under the ugly category. Overall, the boat performed well. Before I did the reno, the boat got on plane in about 7 seconds. Now it takes roughly 8. In fact taking the weight and distributing it in the back as well as the front makes it feel much more stable. Some pics before The Ugly... First time down the ramp this year... Dockside... Like I said, the fish weren't biting so I wanted go for a spin and opened it up. Was going full out over 60fow when it happened...THUNK! The Ugly. That WAS a new prop It must have been a partly submerged log, there was nothing on the surface... Well I guess thats it. Thanks for taking the time to read, you guys gave good motivation! See you on the water!

I think it depends on if you have carpet or not. The PT board breaks down quality carpet in no time. If you're short on cash go with the PT. If you've got marine carpet back there, you might want marine grade ply down as well. I just finished my "el cheapo modified" with floor sheathing and indoor/outdoor carpet. But plan on getting the marine grade carpet and ply in about 2-3 yrs. Get what you can afford, or more to the point, how often do you want to do the job?

Thanks guys. I did some work on one of the doors tonight, I'm really starting to get pumped! I'm making the push to have it ready to hold some lakers this weekend. Theres still a good bit of work to go, but I've got until Saturday morning so I'll work on it at the cottage on Friday night if I have to. Thanks again. grt1, its a 1997 14ft Laker model. Entropy, I get such a great feeling(as I'm sure the rest of you do!) when the boat gets on plane the first time... Yeah, I'm really exited! Glen, its just regular 5/8 floor ply. Fishindevil, I didn't want to botch anything. The material was too expensive to mess up

Nice cats! I'd love to tie into one that size!

Wow, that was quick guys! If you look in the last pic, you can just see the edge of the support angle there. 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 angle. Theres still a some flex because of the span, but the only one I need to reinforce is the side wher the seat is going. Thanks again!

Those things look great! The frog will be a killer!

Well the overhaul continues. I haven't had time to do much lately, but the warm weather and open schedule yesterday gave me an opportunity to get thing going again. Pulled out the decking and carpet and got to work. I did have time the other day to install a bilge pump. Instead of poking a hole through the hull, I just ran it in the raintrough... Sorry no pics with the electrical but the batteries died and I just wanted to finish it. Heres some pics of yesterdays fun... I'll spare you the cuts and glue and staples and just give you the look from the bottom. I didn't want a seam on the front deck so I got a little brave and tried it in one piece... The rear deck... I used a couple of CrazyCarpets as runners to get the rear deck in place. Also pre-drilled an access hole for the fish finder cables to go through... So heres where its at right now. My wife says it looks like a magnet. Perhaps a good name for the boat? Theres a visible ridge where the two deck sections meet, that will dissapear when it gets screwed in... So there it is at this point. I wanted to carpet the doors today, but I left the trowel out overnight and its not useable. So I've got it soaking right now and will get to cleaning it off later. Hopefully I can get the doors done tomorrow and then all thats left are the seats and trolling motor. Thanks for reading, I hope you have as much fun following this little adventure as much as I am writing it.

I love watching fights and was in martial arts for the better part of 10yrs, but with what happened to Cro-Cop...I don't know if I can watch anymore. I thought the high kick from Rashad Evans was brutal. This one takes the cake. I thought right away that Cro Cop was dead. Good thing hes not but its only a matter of time and I don't know if I want to see that happen.

Hey Entropy, my inlaws are down for a few days and said that the ice was still on Twelve Mile but that it was sure to go with the next couple of days being pretty warm. Should be gone today or tomorrow by the sound of it.

Welcome back man! looking forward to some good reports.

Very cool link, Hooket! Thank you.

So fluoro is the goods. I'll have to pick some up... Crimp, or tie and glue? The ones I have are tied and glued. We had two of us pulling on opposite ends as hard as we could and couldn't break it, is there a benefit to crimping the line, or is that a matter of personal preferance? I just figure that if your leader gets a knick and you need to re-tie, crimping might take a bit more time? Thanks again guys.

Its been awhile now since people started using different leader materials and I was just wondering what everyones favs are. What do you like/dislike about different materials. I bought a titanium leader...once. Thing cost me $15 or so. Couple that with a $15 bucktail snapping off on a bad backlash and I haven't bought another leader like it since. A friend lent me some homemade Fluoro leaders, #100 test, but I've yet to get a "ski or pike while using them. I've never had a problem with the steel leaders, but if the fluoro doesn't get too many negative comments, I'll buy some components to make my own. Thanks guys. Take it easy.

Good idea, if more than a little overdue. There shouldn't be prizes or special days to do this, though. Common sense and respect for the environment you use should be an everyday thing. I know its not... and I don't know which tribs you were at, Photoz, but I was at Oshawa Cr. two days ago and there was Garbage everywhere. Fishing garbage, Timmies cups and cig butts were the main attraction. Made Lews thread look like a pristine park. The fishing related garbage gets me the most. Worm boxes, hook containers, LINE . And then people wonder why landowners are reluctant to give access to their lands? PUH-LEEZE. Alot of the items are from people that know better. Premium litter, I call it. Gamagatsu hook packages, Pinky power worm containers, you know, the good stuff. If the guys who are buying this stuff can't get it right, they're not going to set a good example to others. Sorry for the pessimism, I've seen this issue long enough to know its not going to stop. Even if it does get cleaned for a day. Something else just occurred to me, for those of you going out. If you happen to get an inclination to go INTO the stream, creek, river to removew trash, be careful not to damage or disturb the redds or the fish using them. You may have the best intentions, but you'll do more damage then good. I know, it's common sense. But so is picking up after yourself.

Those Quantums are pretty sick. My buddy bought one at the fishing show. Almost got one myself, in fact was choosing between that and the Curado and ended up saving some cash and went with the Shimano Citica instead. Its a fantastic reel! 6.2:1 gear ratio, 5 Bearings, 9.9 oz, smooth casting, overall great reel. Don't have anything bad to say about it. It doesn't have the pricetag the Zillion and the Curado do.

Congratulations Rick!

I think the Sabres would have been the best match-up for the Leafs... Oh well, I think the Pens vs Sens could end up being the best series in the East. Good Luck to all of you. At least I can watch hockey stress-free now

A great way to end a season... I bet Gary Bettmans phone is on fire right now... Why not just flip a coin and not have a season. NHL lost a good percentage of viewers with no Montreal and no Toronto, and NO GUYS, no matter how hard you want it to be Ottawa will NEVER be Canadas team. GO CANUCKS!!!

Sorry Trophymusky, I thought you wrote that the team that wins will DEFINATELY, not DEFIANTLY be the favs to win the cup. My mistake.

Its too bad your hockey sense isn't as good as your fishing sense, Naturally if you followed hockey, you'd realize that the Sens have no clue when it comes to playoff hockey...And the teams that are gunning for the cup are in the west. Emery has no shot. But good luck to your team, nonetheless.

Agreed with Charlied and SlowPoke.The three point system has to go... and Koivus slewfoot should've got him at least 2min!Have to say that even though I'm a huge Leaf fan, I'd rather see the Habs in the playoffs than the Islanders. GO DEVILS! And a big HECK YEAH!!! to the Maple Leafs and fans out there!!! Once you're in, anything can happen GO LEAFS GO!!!