porkpie

I have the MKA 21.  My terrova is a 2015 model, and it works great.  There is always a tiny bit of slop when you have a removable plate, but in my opinion the convenience factor is worth it.  I like that one because you pull the pins and it pops right off, it’s lockable as well.  Great setup.  I can’t imagine it wouldn’t work with the current terrova?  I have had the slide in aluminum version in the past.  It works fine, just not as slick as the composite one.

12 hours ago, siwash said:

It's a 2013. Getting weary of buying used stuff!! But no way am I dropping $3000+ on a new one 

So do these things have a good service and parts support/network? 

I’ve mentioned it before, but I’ll say it again. The motherboard for those older ones is no longer available.  I just confirmed this with aikmans.  I’m repairing mine at the moment and brushes and seals etc are available.  Motherboard not so much.  Not a problem unless that main component goes on you.  You should be leary of buying used stuff by now.  Unless you have the ability to walk away from deals when something doesn’t seem right, you should probably stick with newer stuff.  They have the terrova with the mini remote for sale for $2k plus tax at cabelas.  I’d buy that before I spent $1800 on an 11 year old electric.

8 hours ago, siwash said:

the boat I just picked up has an older MK Powerdrive.  I've heard the heads can be replaced to make the spotlocks.  Is this correct? 

The motor in the photo that you have displayed in your other post of your new boat can’t be upgraded to a Minn kota ipilot head unit.  Only the black V2’s and upwards can be.  I’ve “heard” of some V1 conversions but I’m not sure how reliable that is.  Yours is pre V1, or basically the original MK bow mount.  For the money people are asking for used, I’d be looking at a 2016 plus MK.  As I’d mentioned in a previous post, my MK is in Aikmens for repair and he mentioned to me that anything other than the latest gen MK’s he’s been told motherboards have been discontinued.  

I would put my 5K away, and save another 5K for next year.  I’d take up river fishing for smallies and salmon and trout for a season.  Then I’d find a 16 foot bare hull with a 30hp 4 stroke and put a flat floor in the front if your that type of angler.  I spent my first 7 or 8 boating years in a Lund SSV 16 with a 30.  I did all kinds of fishing out of that boat, caught all kinds of fish, and towed it all over the province.  Did a lot of down rigging out of it on big water too.  I would not invest in one of these old tubs.  I’ve watched too many guys at the ramp on various opening days praying to no avail that their motor would turn over, or that they wouldn’t have some other problem.  And then they try the home repairs because marine mechanics are expensive.  I’m a frugal guy, have 3 kids, one I’m putting through university, and 2 more to go.  I understand the need for budgeting, but I’m far enough down the road that I don’t waste my money on crap anymore.  My time is valuable, and when I want to go, I want to go.

I don’t thin powerdrives are as bad as a lot of guys make them out to be.  They certainly pull you around.  The pedals have been notorious for crapping out though.  What a lot of people don’t like is the release mechanism.  And it’s really not that bad, it just takes some more dicking around than a terrova does.

I'll first go into reliability.  I have had one Motorguide Xi5 gps head unit crap out on me.  Motor worked fine, but GPS died 6 months outside of warranty, fortunately it was the one and only time I've ever had an extended warranty on anything (bass pro) and they made it right.  I've also killed a Minn Kota Terrova GPS head unit.  That one wasn't under warranty, and I got lucky with a Canadian Tire clearance deal when they were still carrying the ipilots and I replaced the head and remote for a few hundred, otherwise the repair would've been in excess of $600.  My Terrova is currently at Aikman's Sporting goods getting the brushes and seals replaced because it sounded like someone wash beating on dog squeaky toy with a hammer every time I turned it on.  Minn Kotas, even the Terrovas aren't bullet proof by any means.  I've had many issues with pedals, head units not turning, replaced a board on one once etc on Minn Kotas over the years.  They all have issues.  The Xi5 was a pretty sweet motor for the 3 years I had it.  The replacement got moved on with my old boat.  I guess if I had to pick it would be a Minn Kota.  However Aikman's just told me that the last gen pre Bluetooth the motherboards have been discontinued now.  Keep that in mind when buying used.  As for your boat, a 55lb will work, but yeah wind will occasionally be a pain in the butt.  If you troll a lot and use the motor to steer, you'll kill even a group 31 after about 6 hours. Flat dead, and the more you do that the shorter lifespan of the battery.  I used to get about 2, maybe 3 seasons of heavy use on a 31 series with a 55lb thrust on my 16 footer with constant trolling.  If you can swing it weight wise, I'd try to go 24 volt.  Just my 2 bits.

Thanks for the write up.  I feel like I’ve got several good years ahead out of my current batteries, but it will be nice to see how these things hold up as I’ll be looking at lithium for my next set.

I’m done with goretex.  I wear the Helly Hansen rubber suit now.  The new ones are even a bit stretchy.  I stay mostly dry unless water runs in somewhere (sleeve) etc.  The way I look at it, if it’s wet enough for me to wear a rain suit, it’s generally cool enough to wear the rubber suit.  When it’s crap out I’m usually wearing base layers, my under armour cold gear stuff and the rubber suit just seals in the flavour. Your mileage may vary.

I typed a big response and it seems to have disappeared.  
stormy launch is pretty good but I’ve only ever launched a 16 footer there.  You can generally get a dock unless it’s super busy weekend.  
I believe bass, pike and walleye open same weekend in May now. Double check though  because I’ve been fishing opening in the kawarthas for 30 years so I never make zone 11 until a couple weeks later.  The bass thing is only a season or 2 old I believe.  Plenty of smallmouth, particularly on Nip.  Read zone exceptions, I haven’t been on stormy for quite some years.
yes it will be buggy then. 
Restoule is an awesome park, we’ve really enjoyed our camping there.  It would be shortlist if I where to take up camping again.

I’ve camped there end of June during the week and it was reasonably quiet.  Weekends will be busy like all the provincial parks!

Nippissing is close with excellent fishing and is worth a day trip.  Launch at the end of Lansdowne in Callander you’ll probably be able to get a big bass boat in.  No problem with 18 foot deep V’s.  If not, premier st launch in north bay can be a bit dicey for bigger boats depending on water level.  But the marina has an excellent launch.  

22 hours ago, LostAnotherOne said:

Crazy stories.  What would you guys recommend for ice fishing outfits?  A lot of times I've been going out there hasn't been anybody else out there with me.  Not sure if anyone would be able to hear me.

I have also been wearing a Striker suit for the last 5 years.  I'm very happy with it, and I use it for spring salmon trolling, pickerel jigging and any late fall fishing also.  Very flexible suit with good buoyancy.  Don't forget your ice picks as well.  They are expensive but at this point I'm not putting a price on my life.  

1 hour ago, Terry said:

Yeah needle nose pliers 

Yep.  I’d buy the refillables in a heartbeat if they where readily available.  All I can find on Amazon is the little 1/4lb torch bottle.  Next time I’m fishing down in the US I’ll have to check out the depot.

Oh there is a way to vent 1LB cans when refilling, it’s just sketchy @F

6 hours ago, lew said:

I'm sure everyone has heard about the recent nonsense in Toronto where the so-called powers that be have actually banned tobogganing in 45 parks because someone may get injured sliding down a hill having fun the way kids have done forever.

Tough to even comprehend how some of these people made it to adulthood.

Good grief… no I hadn’t heard that.  Life has gone weird.  I don’t envy the poor b@$stard that has to enforce that.

If I need to be rescued I expect to be rescued.  If I’m getting a bill, I want everyone who drives in a blizzard, smacks into a tree skiing, required an open water rescue during boating season,  slips on a banana peel, or gets lost in the woods to foot the bill for their rescue.  Life isn’t bubble wrapped and crap happens.  And it happens in many different pursuits of happiness and it often puts emergency services in harms way.  It’s certainly not restricted to ice fishermen.

Bummer about the camera.  Nice pics!

Scratched my itch yesterday.  Ice was wet but still decent.  Here’s hoping for a flash freeze and it will be great out there!  Perch tacos for lunch today!

Last battery I bought was around $200.   At the time a lithium was $500-800 a piece. I agree you can probably get some AGM’s and lithiums close in price now.  And I’ll definetly look at them next time.  My new boat is a 2019, and the old owner was meticulous and replaced all batteries last spring.  It’ll be a couple of years before I’m looking for batteries and no doubt the pricing will be comparable. 

I’ve been to a couple of house fires that burnt to the ground as a result of charging batteries in the garage.  None of them where lithium at the time.  Any battery  or charger left on constant charge has the capacity for catastrophic failure.   I have used lithium for years.  One of my kids and I flew model planes for a few years and we charged lithium’s for 100’s of cycles . I even charged crashed batteries that had puffed packs outside while keeping an eye on them.  Never had one light up.  Millions of cell phones, iPads and other lithium powered devices are charged daily across the country with no negative results.  Every so often one sparks up and we get to lithium is bad.  I just don’t see that as being the case.  I’m sticking with lead acids or AGM’s at this point because of price and because I can still heft them.  When the difference price is negligible I’ll go lithium!

38 minutes ago, Big Cliff said:

These new regulations are becoming so complicated it's almost impossible to understand them. We have been trying to figure out FMZ 10 and the changes and even the boundaries. One of the places we fish is VERY close to FMZ 11 and the regulations are quite different but we can't find a map that clearly shows which zone we are in.  There are so many exceptions for so many bodies of water and a lot of it would be up to the CO to determin what's what. 

As far as transfering live bait between BMZs my understanding is you are not supposed to. 

Hi Cliff,

Here is a link to a zoomable copy of the FMZ legal boundaries if you have not already found it. 

https://files.ontario.ca/mnrf-en-2_0/Fisheries-Management-Zone-10-BB13.pdf

For sure nature is cruel.  It always amazes me how many people think wildlife die of old age.  Mainly killed and eaten in the most unpleasant fashion imaginable by some toothy critter, or freeze to death or starve.  I don’t begrudge coyotes their living, but I do thin them out a bit when I start to see them too frequently, when they become too bold, or  when farmer friends complain about livestock harassment or loss!

Nothing that 50 grains from the triple deuce can't solve.  You've reminded me to dust off my winter whites.  I had more than I care to see on the cams this fall.  If no one else does, the deer will thank me!

15 hours ago, dave524 said:

If you need to go that slow, why would you not kill the big motor and troll with the "trolling motor" , such a logical  idea

Precision trolling is an art.  Sometimes the trolling motor is the best option, sometimes bags, sometimes a bucket. Sometimes your reverse gear.  On the Great Lakes usually the best option is the main guided by the TM.  Sustained speed for multiple hours at 2mph or over is best achieved with the main or kicker.  Anything under that is TM country.  Depends what and where you are fishing, also depends on wind and wave conditions.  I troll almost exclusively on my bow mount on Nippissing for pickerel, 90 percent of my fish are caught under 1.5mph.  On Erie I use the main and the bowmount. as autopilot and to fine tune speed.  90 percent of my Erie fish are caught at 2.7-3.2mph.  On Nipp, I’m working bottom, on Erie mainly suspended.  
OP, it seems you’ve got a bigger boat now.  I’d definitely budget for a kicker on an 18.  You’ll find a world of difference if your intent is to spend a lot of time trolling.  When I stepped down to a big 16 last year, first thing I did was slap a 6hp kicker on it as the vast majority of my fishing is trolling.  Worth every penny!

On certain lakes for certain species of fish with particular feeding habits the camera can be very useful.  Especially if you’re looking for your target species main food sources  favoured habitat. My sonar won’t be that specific, and I’m too cheap to spring for live scope.

I had one, as others have mentioned, I would put it down just to find rocks and gobies.  I find them to be more of a nuisance than anything and I sold mine last winter. 

Yeah, they work good. I have 2 of em on my big boat, but I find depending on the size of your boat, the bucket is easier and cheaper.  They don't store quite as well though.