dave524

Pretty much the same here. Long leads with a lure that dives off the cannonballs so the balls are above the fish for a stealth approach, my go-to lures are jointed Canadian Wigglers, either the 5 of diamonds pattern or the chartreuse/ green stripe with a 1/2 a dewey on the front treble.

Here's one I came across very recently, interesting that it forecasts winds up to a week in advance, not going to vouch for it's accuracy, haven't really followed to verify if it is correct, but maybe worthwhile to keep on hand, you have to backtrack a bit to find your locale. http://www.windfinder.com/forecast/grimsby

There's the webcam at Fifty Point Marina, of course I can see the lake from the end of my driveway, looks good right now maybe a foot waves http://www.fpyc.ca/webcam/default.php The worst thing about east wind for a few days, even if it doesn't get too rough is it pushes a bunch of warm water down in the west end and the fish go deep or leave the area entirely. If you are planning on going out and coming from a distance, my guess is you might plan a more easterly launch point Oshawa/ Whitby if convenient, fishing may be better.

There's a few out there, I saw the top 3 boxes in the Port Colborne 444 Derby were all 33 and change for 4 fish.

Fished Maitland a lot, just not this year. Good news is you don't have to go anywhere near the distance offshore to get 60+ feet of water that they do west of Long Point. 2.5 mph is fine and dipsies are a good choice. Not as many Bows as west end so I prefer worm harnesses and body baits rather than spoons, just set up and watch for fish on the graph or rods and work em. Best part if the walleye don't pan out you can always move inshore with spinning gear and tubes and get into some great smallie fishin.

Those are an old design barbless hook, those kinks served the same purpose as a barb, they were usually seen fly fishing.

I like the freezer pacs with the blue goo in them in my cooler, find they really do last longer than ice. All fish for the table go in a big cooler. Got a nice live well, the bench for the old centre console is a big aluminum welded box with a lift up lid/seat and livewell plumbing. Never had a fish in it, plugs in the hull at the inlet and outlet and the well is full of Plano boxes of spoons and other gear.

might get started here http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=158086

CTC sells them too, maybe you can get parts there?

For 20 to 40 foot depths, have you considered reels with 4 to 8 sections of lead core ? Good searching technique especially when run off boards.

aren't tillers on the left side?

30 lb Big Game is fairly flea proof, I'd go with that. I've only used the single strand Monel eons ago on reels with very large arbors looking like a clothes line pulley with handles don't know how it be more tight wound on a more conventional trolling reel.

What line is on your dipsey rods now? That single strand "monel" is not the stuff that the guys' use for wire dipsies, usually a seven strand 30 lb or a newer 19 strand that has got mixed reviews. If you've got braid now I'd run with that and hope the fleas aren't bad yet. Don't forget a twili tip if you do go wire, it don't do well with sharp bends.

Forcite???? got a light

Truth is , once the fleas start you'll probably be wishing you spooled up your diver rods with wire instead of braid

Do what Joey said or get one of the bibles like "Keating on Kings" There is more to it than line diameter, like speed and if you have adjusted to run to the side more you'll lose depth too. BTW congrats on the 196 Fishmaster, serious blue water tinner

X2 I fished there in the 80's , never seen so many gar in my life

I ran an 1981 18 1/2 Sylvan for almost 20 years, good hull never had any issues with rivets or leaks. The 90 should move it right along as I thought performance was good with that size engine on the bigger hull. Saw this video on youtube a while back, might give some insight into what you are getting into, there are 5 parts to it. Also this other link may give you a place to start with the engine. http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=158086 Edit: you might want to talk to Slowpoke, he had a thread on a Starcraft Mariner refit, did a great job on it.

Very nice used to fish Gull years ago and we would get the odd rainbow of 4/5 lbs. out of there too, don't know if they are still there. For big lakers in Haliburton, Drag has coughed up a few fish in the 30's over the years if you want to give that one a shot.

Some of the dace species have some orange/red on them, size and location that would be my best guess.

The specs , very nice, a most welcomed and beautiful native species. The Iris is a invasive Asiatic species, that is becoming more prevalent and not welcome at all. Like the dreaded purple loosestrife and hogsweed, it is an garden plant escapee from the popular garden ponds that are in vogue. edit: http://www.invasiveplants.ab.ca/Downloads/FS-YellowFlagIris.pdf http://www.saanich.ca/living/environment/pdf/invasive/yellow-flag-iris-alert-web.pdf http://www.thewildclassroom.com/biodiversity/problemplants/species/Yellow%20Iris.htm

Just to be different, I really do 90% of my fishing with only 2 outfits from mid April to Thanksgiving. First would be my rigger rod, a 10wt fibreglass fly blank built into a rigger stick with twist guides and a Ambassadeur 6500 loaded with 14 or 17 lb. test Trilene XT. Second would be my dipsey outfit, Shimano Tekota loaded with 50 braid ( later season wire )and a Shimano TDR diver rod. I really do use these 90% of the time as opposed to alternating for a total of 90% as they are both deployed at the same time

While I have no report on these as far a quality and durability, as a Great lakes troller I think these are probably the best design I have seen, will fish like a boat longer than the actual length, integrated toe holds along the gunwales , now why didn't some else come up wth that one long ago The 17 footer looks awesome for its size http://www.americananglerboats.com/boat-models.php?model=Osprey+162-172

I always have nailed a few bottle caps on the end of a scrap piece of lumber when I wanted to scale fish for a change, worked well for me

I'd get a 2 stroke for a main and a kicker. You need to watch the total weight hung on the transon with some hulls. Slightly less cost for a 2 stroker will help pay for the kicker, the fuel saving of trolling with it will pay for the rest, total weight of that combo will be close to a large 4 stroke. I came in once on the kicker from way offshore, teleflex steering cable broke while trolling on the kicker, disconnect the ez steer, 8 mph on the tiller of the kicker sure beat any other option alone out there