porkpie

I would look at the Humminbird Helix. I know some guys have had good luck with the elite 4 in winter, but I know of a few that have had all kinds of set up issues and inability to read jigs in deep water etc. My one buddy dumped his after a season, and he wasn't what you call inexperienced with sonars. Any of the humminbirds that are in use in my circle of friends have been plug and play for winter use, the only problem encountered so far had been one bad transducer. I have heard tons of good things about the HDS series from lowrance, and used them a bit on a friends boat, but a step up in price for sure.

I don't think your limiting yourself at all with humminbird. I've owned 2 recently, and still own one for the ice and as a portable. They are user friendly, the GPS is accurate and the sonar returns are excellent. Nothing wrong with the lowrance offerings though. I stuck a raymarine touch screen unit on my boat this time. So far i'm really liking it and I haven't found any cons as of yet. The ability to navigate with the screen is a huge bonus. That said, if I had to go back to a bird I wouldn't cry about it. As sinker said, there are lots of good options out there!

My boat came with a custom snap on mooring/travel cover. It's got great supports, and is a sweet cover, but I am sure if I left it exposed It would rot with the sun/elements etc, so I put a cheap cover that i bought on clearance at princess auto over top of it. So far so good. My duck boat/tinner has a cover that I bought at bass pro for $100 on sale 5 years ago. That one has been outside the entire time and still hasn't failed me. As long as they are supported well boat covers will last quite a while!

For $600 and tax, if it is a long term purchase, I'd go aluminum all the way.

If I had to choose between either of those units, I would go humminbird. I have used the elite 7 quite a bit on several boats. Nothing wrong with it, but I find the humminbird easier to use, and have had good service from my humminbirds, with excellent sonar quality and good mapping. I haven't used that particular bird The only problems I've ever had have been transducer related, and it's happened with both lowrance and bird. I got a new unit this winter, and I went out on a limb and bought a raymarine. Time will tell if it was a good choice.

Put bird on a ram mount, pull head unit off the bird mount, store the ram mount/ base unit with the trolling motor and keep a long Velcro cable tie to secure the base to the TM so it doesn't flop around. To do this you'd want to use a small 12 volt portable battery at the front for the trolling motor. Very easy to disconnect. I run my bow unit off of one of these anyway, to eliminate interference. Theoretically I guess you could attach a ram ball to the side plastics of the trolling motor and run it off that?

I have universal sonar In my new unit, so I just unplug when I pull the motor off. When I had a unit without US, I just unplugged the transducer cord from the back of the sonar and secured loose transducer cord to the motor with a Velcro cable tie. Worked for me.

Get out there, I won't even fish on a weekend. There has to be some benefit to shift work, and quiet launch ramps and few people on the water is one of them!

As a friend of mine always says ". It's only money, you can always make more". Nice boat!

Careful, they'll roast you for saying that!

I can't find a single person who admits to voting for the provincial liberals. Wonder why? My wife is a teacher and we still wouldn't vote for these sandbaggers.

Sure it would work, probably best for vertical jigging while stationary. Might be tough to stabilize at speed. Certainly would work well enough to mark jigs etc while stopped.

Sounds good to me!

Wait 2 weeks, birds will settle and the hunters thin out. We hunt private land strictly, and even so opening day is no big deal. Sometimes they are henned up. The last 2 weeks of the season always brings some spectacular hunting. It's not to late to doorknock now. We often cruise for new properties after a morning hunt, and do quite well. You need to pick an area, find someone willing to let you hunt, then don't screw it up for a few years. We have a ton of property because if good references from other farms, and we have a good reputation. That's my advice for what it's worth. We hunt with our kids now, so unfortunately don't have room for new guys. Best of luck with the season!

Everyone loves a coyote right up until it eats your mr. Fluffy. I have met several lovers of the noble yote, who invariably moved from the city to a more rural area, only to have mr. Snuggles the cat or fluffy the dog snatched from the yard In front of them and turned into lunch. Funny how they suddenly become fans of coyote reduction then, especially upon hearing your a hunter. Coyotes pose a minuscule risk to humans, but can pose problems for farmers and owners of small animals. Nobody will eradicate yotes, short of an A bomb. But a little hunting pressure never hurt. It removes the more bold of the local pack, and causes them to be a little less likely to wander into the barn to help themselves to the young of the year. I've met few stock owners that don't keep a .22 of some flavor behind the seat of the tractor, or in the truck particulary in calving season. They do it for a reason. Anyway, you'll never be able to explain that to the animal planet types.

I have copilot on the minn Kota on my 14 footer, I have a motorguide with a remote key fob and also a wireless foot pedal on my 16 footer. My minnnkota is not an ipilot unit and you can use the foot pedal. I have used nothing but the hand remote on either of them. I can't see a reason to. Maybe if I was a bass fisherman fishing slop??? I don't see myself using a foot pedal again any time soon, other than temporary if a handheld unit crapped out.

I agree with above. A decent spare mount can usually be had for $15 on sale at princess auto.

The entire insurance industry is as crooked as a dogs leg.

Yep, check tire shop. They moved them at our closest Costco as well.

Trout ponds of Waterford Ponds- City of Nanticoke rainbow trout, brown trout and pacific salmon open all year. Zone 16 exceptions. I know they used to stock the ponds with trout, but I'm not sure if thats still ongoing. All other zone 16 regs would apply I assume. I didn't see anything about a sanctuary, but its been a long time since I've been there!

If they actually worked, then yes. Reviews I've read say the noco unit sold by canadian tire is barely capable of boosting a vehicle. I can buy a rechargeable power pack for small electronics now anywhere from $5-$30 depending on what you want. So sure, I think you'd sell some, but only if they are proven to be able to boost a boat, car, quad or sled.

Quite a few coyotes have had bad encounters with me. I hunt a few beef cattle farms, and there is a shoot on site policy. One of the farms had a cavalier King Charles killed in the backyard of the farmhouse. Others have had calves killed. It is what it is. They are naturally predators, and we will naturally try to prevent them from preying on stock, or domestic animals. Coyote attacks on humans are extremely rare.

Now that IS epic!!!

You can count on the Fergus boys to come up with a reasonable solution..... lol.

Yes I know, and I'm sorry I used your post as an example, but every year around the spawn these things come up, and every year there are people who really think it would be a sensible idea, and they have no idea what they are proposing.