porkpie

Detroit River is sporty in April.

If you can find a nice mid sized freighter and put a 15 horse on it and bring extra props you’ll probably do just fine. It’d be easy to tow behind your big boat! I was on the Cheepas once when the natives dumped one running rapids though, so even freighters aren’t a foolproof system like with any boat and varying current!

Shooting rapids with a motorized canoe is done regularly. Most often with a flat stern freighter canoe and a 20hp outboard. I’ve seen natives do it in their bigger canoes. I’ve done it in a smaller flat transom canoe with a 5hp and it was sketchy trying to power up in smaller flows and barely enough. You’ll also need to carry at least one extra prop because inevitably you’ll hit rocks. I’ve spent some time in a canoe with a side mount outboard. Fine for smooth waters, no way I’d have gone up or down swift water with it, and that was a 2 horse Johnson. A modern heavy 4 stroke, no way! I did run a 3.5hp merc four stroke on a square stern 14 foot sportspal wide transom for a few years and that went pretty well and was very stable. Also darn quick, but they are set up to be slow, stable, dumpy boats and they aren’t meant for running rapids. Anyway if you do it let us know how it works out, but in my opinion you’ll need to stabilize or you’ll end up in the water with a side mount!

Your a bass guy aren’t you? Do it do it do it do it ??

Don’t bother with 211 either. Another Cage dive bomb.

I don’t vary much from shimano or Daiwa when it comes to reels. I’ve owned most other brands over the years and been disappointed by a number of them. I don’t buy quantum stuff. I had a couple of iron horse casting reels years ago and both failed on me. Fixed at aikmans and sold them. Your mileage may vary. I’ve been pretty happy even with the cheap shimano siennas that I use ice fishing and on my kids rods. They hold up pretty well for a $50 reel. Have a couple cheaper Daiwa spinning reels and they seem to keep on ticking as well. A Stradic is a pretty nice reel!

A Japanese company that is one of the largest manufacturers of outboard motors in the world.

I don’t consider that particularly high hours.

Jingle jangle.... hair elastics if it bugs ya! I keep a big pack of them on the boat from dollarama, comes in handy for lots of things including rod ties! I’ve always put the rods in below the reel.

Haven’t you rebuilt your boat entirely to your own specs LOL... I’ll re-phrase it. I’ve never met a less than handy legend boat owner that was truly happy.

I’ve never met a legend owner that was truly satisfied. Most often you can find a similarly equipped boat from one of the better brands for a similar price.

Congrats, but be careful it’s addictive. I’ve been dragging my boat down 2 plus hours each way every week for a few years now the fishing has been so good.

They are spiny water fleas. They haven’t been much of an issue this year because the waters been cold. By now they are usually a problem. They stick to braid like snot to a doorknob. You’ve been given good advice. They still stick to 30lb big game a bit, but not bad and easy to remove. The are a non issue with wire divers. Flea flicker hasn’t been available for several years now. I still have a bulk spool of 20lb.

That’s a deal. I did the same thing for my trailer brakes this year as well. They needed servicing badly and I couldn’t be bothered to muck with them. My local shop did the service and changed my oil (oil bath hubs) for $110 tax in, and no swearing on my part. I’ll be having them change out my bearings next year as well. OP, failed bearings can cause damage to the axle stubs. I had an old duck boat trailer that when the bearing went, I had to use a torch to remove the races, and had to sand the stub down to get the new one on. Predictably the bearings failed pretty often on the one side of that old rig. The upside was that I am now an expert in emergency roadside bearing changes. That said, if this is a heavy often used boat, I would have your axle checked by a pro shop to see if there has been damage. It didn’t matter to me for a duck boat that I used 3 months of the year, but for my year round use fishin boat I couldn’t deal with regular failures.

Im a troller, I’m at the back of the boat 80% of the time.

I’d give it a go!! Just bring your longest rod and some heavy slip sinker rigs so you can really bomb it out there. Erie is full of fish, it certainly can’t hurt to try!

Looks like fun! I’ll be in South Bay area for a week starting next Saturday. Can’t wait!!

Good score, my buddy has had the little chief for 20 years, still works good!

Facebook groups have slowed down forum participation for sure, but most of the Facebook sites are full of nonsense. Spot blowing has been going on since the dawn of time. In early 2000’s there was a steelhead magazine that blew up south shore Erie and Ontario fishing that was relatively unknown at the time. What can you do. New people is good, but if they just want location info, they have no plans to stick around. I never give location info other than to the occasional member through PM. Why would I give that up to this unknown quantity and his friends. No thanks. I am am always happy to discuss what works for me as far as techniques though, no real harm there! I’m not about to roast anyone though, you can always choose not to respond to spot hunters!

Ron Bankes marine in Port Rowan. Not cheap but they have been building and repairing boats for a long time.

It doesn’t taste too bad, I had to give it a try. I can’t say I’d ever buy another one though. I have no idea as to the health factor. We do home made burgers. Just meat, eggs, worstershire sauce and garlic powder. No filler. I no longer buy frozen burgers. The closest to that is we will sometimes freeze the fresh Costco 100 percent beef burgers for convenience, and use those if short on time.

Things have changed Dave. I’ve fished north and south shore Erie for many years. Spent a fair bit of time steelheading on the south side in the glory days. It’s always been a remarkable fishery, with some lean years here and there for both pickerel and steelhead. I’m not sure when your last trip to Erie was, but it’s gone from good fishing, to holy crap I can’t believe it! As I said, the good old days for walleye are right now for anyone wanting to get out there. 60 fish days are common place if you follow the fish and know what your doing. You should hitch up that boat!

It’s been that way consisntely for a number of years now. These are the good old days for Erie, for sheer numbers anyway!

Congrats to your son, that’s pretty awesome! Make sure he takes you out for dinner!!

There’s not much I can add to this, so as the kids say...... WORD!