DRIFTER_016

PM me your address and I'll send you a few 3/16" stainless steel closed end blind rivets. I use a little 3m 5200 sealer on the rivet shaft before inserting to really seal it tight. closed end blind rivets

I have 2 huts right now. A cube that I use for early season walkouts and a 2 man Frabil flipover to use once the ice is safe for sled travel. Here's a couple of shots of the flipover in action. And the only shot I have of the cube so far. They work great as a washroom tent when winter camping too.

Thankyou all for your wishes and prayers. Bill, talk to Mike and see to it that we get together. There be some steelies that need to be caught.

Yep, I use them for ice fishing and spring fishing for pike and lakers. I usually just stuff them in freezer bags. I'm also going to start brining them using this recipe before tossing them in the freezer. I'll probably do it with these when I get back home at the end of the month.

Last Monday I got back from my annual 6 week trip to Alaska (report to come) and on Thurday my dad phones and tells me mom is very ill in the hospital and not expected to make it. I quickly booke a flight (I leave on Monday for Ontario) and call dad on Friday evening only to find out she passed on that afternoon). I made plans to get out for some fishing before heading to Ontario to help take my mind off things. Then this morning I wake up to a bunch of messageson the computer only to find out a good buddy died Friday night. I can't beleive I lost my mom and a good friend in the space of 12 hours!!! Well my buddy and I head to the lake this morning and finally things start to change. We head up the lake to do a little trolling for pike and lakers and plan to head to the river later and dip some ciscoes as the run is on and my bait stocks are running low. The north of the lake is where we plan to start and it was a good choice as we landed 4 lakers and about a dozen pike. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. Enjoy. Got Bait? Next stop Pearson Intl. Airport. I plan to hit up some steelies since I have to fly East.

Darned right!!!!!

Chevy Silverado 5.3L V8 EPA 30MPG Hwy.

Looks like it will just fine after looking at the specs. Go with auto trans and you get between 2,900#'s and 3,400#'s tow rating on the 2.9L I4 equipped model.

Go to Canadian Tire and buy a tube of Shoe Goo if you can't find any Aquaseal locally.

Yep they get that long. Here's a buddy holding a 50+ incher. And of course, the mother of all laker ice fishing videos!!!

Not early at all. I took these pics on Sunday. I use nothing but braid on my laker and whitefish rods. 15 and 20 pound Power Pro and run about 10' of mono or flouro leader material connected via a double uni knot. I have found it really helps in detecting very subtle hits when the fish are inactive. I've had fish hit lighter than whitefish that I would never had known were there if I had been using mono. It does tend to freeze up on the spool but it is not really an issue (you just need to strip line by hand when lowering your lure back down). It doesn't cause issues with lost fish because of this, it's just a minor inconvenience that I feel is offset by the better strike detection. I can't wait til next month for some early ice action!!!!

This little fellow was caught a few weeks ago in the Middle Kenai while I was in Alaska. Size was 39 7/8 X 23 3/4 and using the typical formula comes out to a hair over 28 pounds!!! Unfortunately it wasn't I who got to catch it.

It is not necessary to go out too far in most cases. I usually walk less than 2 miles one way on my trips. I hoof it on all my early season trips until the ice is safe for sled travel. I don't see why you couldn't use your bike as long as there is not much snow.

Or out in the blue zone on Lake O!!!

Not sure without seeing the motor.

Not if you don't totally disassemble them or change any of the throttle settings. Just unclip the links remove fuel line and mounting bolts (reassemble the same way).

Shouldn't have any gaskets to replace as the float bowl just seals with a rubber o ring. The reason for the incosistant issues is because you have a piece of crud in the seat or on the needle and sometimes it manages to seal and sometimes it doesn't.

It's not difficult to do yourself really. I had to do my buddies carbs on his 50hp Yamaha in the spring because he sucked up some water last year and left it. Carbs ended up with gelled gas in them because of this. He learned a valuable lesson as I saved him a ton of $$$$$. I had to strip them down and hose them with carb cleaner (I didn't bother to mess with the mixture screws)Removed the float bowl, float and needle. Reassebled and all was well. FYI Your problem sounds like you got some crud in the needle/seat if it's leaking the needle is not shutting off the flow of fuel. The chugging is because the cylinder associated with that carb is flooding and you're only running on the other 2 cylinders. So, pull middle carb, remove float bowl, remove float and needle hose needle and seat with carb cleaner and reassemble and you should be good to go.

Can't tell you about the Tri-ducer but my Marcum ice finder has a dual freq. ducer and works fine as well as the Lowrance LMS-350 on my boat that also has a dual freq. ducer.

No, the hydrolic pump is manual. Turning the wheel forces the fluid down the lines. Not really any different than a hydrolic floor jack or the flaps on a Beaver or Otter float plane (That ones fer you Irish )

Ask the dealer what helm is installed in the boat. It could be a No Feedback cable steering system. If it is it has a clutch which eliminates the torque from the engine feeding back to the steering wheel. It also locks the steering when you aren't actively steering. This is great when tending lines and riggers when trolling. If it is not a NFB system you likely didn't have the engine trimmed properly. Start with the engine trimmed down and as you get on plane start to trim up until the steering starts to feel more responsive. Best to do this with what ever system is in the boat as it takes pressure off the steering points of the motor. I generally rock the steering back and forth between 11 and 1 o'clock while trimming up. You will feel the difference as the motor hits it's sweet spot. Stop trimming at this point. When running in snotty weather it is fine to keep the motor trimmed down a bit to plant the front of the boat (keep it from bouncing in the waves while running) Hydrolic helms are quite a bit more expensive and can easily be hooked into auto pilot systems and can handle bigger engines with more hp.

Yep, a high volume self priming gas powered pump and 2" hose are worth their weight in gold when you are off grid or far from the fire hall (as long as you have a source of water close at hand).

Yep, sucks to be me!!!!

I used to hate those thick fog days. Didn't mind them so much running a couple of friends boats that had radar though. Granted the guy relly shouldn't be running flat out in the fog but it's not dangerous at all with the proper equipment (radar). We wouldn't run full speed but 1/2 throttal no problem (gives you more time to react if something shows up on the radar unexpectedly (log, floating debris of some kind). With good radar you can pick up a floating log over a mile away. Won't be able to pick up a planer board though.

Awesome!!!!!!!! Keep it up and resist temptation. And if you find yourself eating more (try good for you lo-cal stuff!!! (wish I had thought of that when I quit. LOL))