JPD

The next picture is of the cap being done. The clear coat is done and they are now spraying the gel, in this case it is Malibu Blue which is Black base with Blue metal flake. The raised sections are the lids for the livewells and the storage compartments which will be cut out afterward. The big two step box in the middle is the seat section and floor of the boat. The rod ramp runs along the side of the passenger seat (right side of pic) to hold his or her rods while not using them. More to come as days progress... JP

Since there was so much interest in Louis' post on the making of his new Bass Cat Pantera II I thought I would give everyone a better look at the manufacturing of a bass boat from the Bass Cat plant in Mountain Home, Arkansas. If some find this spammy I apologize but I find this stuff incredibly interesting as do others. This series of pics will be of the production of my new boat. The start date was yesterday, April 21, 2010. I will get as many pics that are different than Louis' so you can see some of the behind the scenes manufacturing... The first pic is the actual mold of the boat, no, it's not orange..lol That's the mold that they use to make the hull section. you can see the striping taped out and they have already sprayed the black bottom gel coat in. Bass boats are actually made inside out, the clear goes on first, then the gel with flake, then the glass is layed in. This is the very first step. Of course there is a releasing agent that is used on the mold to help them get the hull out once cured.

Right time, right place is the key with any bait on the market. The thing you get with Live Target is a multi faceted design that really help with light refraction. When I was filming them underwater this showed very well. Even though they are not crazy bright colors, they reflect a lot of light and really catch your attention. It also doesn't hurt that they come with some of the best components on the water like Daichii hooks. The Crawfish Crank and Crawfish Trap has performed really well for me as has the Smelt as a jerkbait on the Great Lakes and some Northern Lakes that have herring and emeralds in them. They track very well and recover even better when they bump obstacles, right out of the box, no tuning needed. Before anyone decides to say something... I'm not sponsored by them but I do buy and use them, so this is not paid advertising, just a happy customer. JP

Sigma 10-20 mm. Great price and great quality. Just be sure to leave some room around the edges since with wide angles you can get vignetting and distortion if you try to fill the frame at 10 mm. Another good choice is a Canon 10-22 but costs a lot more. Both have Image Stabilization and Auto/Manual focus settings. The other thing you will need when you go to a wide angle is a good flash like the Canon Speed Flash since the built in one will leave shadows along the bottom of the pic if you are in really tight. JP

Typically in open water situations fluorocarbon or mono are the best choices with 10 to 15 lb test are the most common depending on a few things. The only time I would ever recommend braid is when fishing heavy weed areas and you need to get the bait through but this can also be accomplished with fluoro since it has far less stretch than mono if you use 100% fluoro and not the coated lines. Braid will cost you fish unless you are fishing with a limp noodle for a rod and if you are, casting it will not be much fun. My choice would be fluoro and 12 lb would be the starting point. JP

If epoxied into your hull you will be getting hull temp which after some time on the water will be pretty close to the water temp. You will be lacking the quick response of an external water temp sensor however. You can get a external temp sensor for your boat: TG W - Temperature Sensor that works with the 580. it will be from $20-30 and can be hook up with the "Y" cable.

Simon, the smallies will be staging deeper. If water temps are still high 30's to low 40's look from 24-40 feet of water on rock piles or sand rock transitions as they will use them as lane ways and holding spots to the shallower water as the temps warm up. Smelt color tubes and hair jigs are great but you have to fish them really slow. Drop shot and jigging spoons will also have their time and place. Don't bother with reaction baits like cranks and jerks if they are still in the deep water... the bottom contact baits will win 95% of the time. Fish breaks in front of spawning flats which will be 4-12 feet of water with scattered rock. These areas will load them up when the water is in the high 50's to low 60's. They won't be far away from there before hand so concentrate your search efforts to deeper water in front of these spots. JP

I guess none of you have ever tried Taramosolata then? Great Greek traditional spread that involves Carp roe. I don't really eat fish but his stuff is amazing... Eddie's Steakhouse on Yonge just North of Steeles gives it to you as part of the pre meal snack with garlic bread to spread it on. Mmmmmmmmmmm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taramosalata

Considering it comes with a limited lifetime warranty I would say you did great! Awesome starter rod. As you get more and more into it you may want top go longer and lighter but that rod will do a lot of great things for you, especially compared to a 5 footer! Enjoy JP

Good to hear Jer, sounds like they charged for it though... typically I see them for 115-125. That rod will do quite a few things well.

Heading up to Wasaga to pick up the boat from it's winter sleep plus taking a washing machine home from the cottage, ours at home decided to blow a bearing 1 month before we move out and had to leave it with the new owners!

Depending what area you are in, try Bay City Marine in Hamilton. Clarence is a stand up guy with some of the best pricing around. 1 866 490 1222

Mike, don't put 12 lb fluoro on a spinning reel... it will drive you to drink! Take Steve's recommendation and run 15 lb braid with a 12-14 lb fluoro leader. Try to find a 7 to 7'2" tube rod that is at minimum Medium Power with fast action to Medium Heavy with fast or extra fast action. If you want to save some dough and get an awesome tube rod for the money look for a Compre 7' Medium, Extra Fast one piece. If you're looking to drop, go with a Cumara 7'2" MH. On the Loomis side I use the Mossyback 7'1" Senko spinning rod BSR852 MossyBack, it's a Medium with Extra Fast action. It's performed incredibly both in deep and shallow water. JP

Congrats, beauty fish there. Don't feel bad about the puking, I did it down South as well and I'm used to fishing 6 footers on Erie all the time. The smell of the diesel combined with the motion is enough to make most sick.

Had it in Angus today.

Stu, if you want to use Moose as a comparison to Bluegill limits why doesn't FMZ 17 and 18 conform to the rest of Ontario and have a 50 fish limit on Sunfish? I think that would be more valid. Your analogy makes me see that if I were comparing taking a Moose to catching my limit of Bluegill and if I went hunting Moose in FMZ 17, it would be equivalent to me being allowed 6 times the amount I am anywhere else, which is the case currently for angling opportunities. Does it seem fair now? JP

You're main concern will be with Reserve Capacity. MCA's past 800 are really only needed for the big 3.0 liter Opti's. Try to find something with 180 plus minutes of reserve for piece of mind. 3 Years for any battery, if used often is a good length of time, all of mine are replaced every 2 years. JP

Some great info was given to you DanielM, Medium Heavy Power, Moderate Fast Action for heavier cover, bigger baits and / or deeper diving cranks, if you are planning on throwing more tiny, shallower cranks go with Medium Power, Moderate Fast Action. The rod doesn't have to have glass to be the right action anymore, of you can find that action in a graphite blank it will be much lighter and more sensitive. I use as long of a rod as I can to get casting distance but 7' to 7'6" is great! A 6.3:1 will be fine but 5:1 is what most of the top crankers use and I would highly recommend fluoro. 12-15 lb test will work great even in weeds. The sinking properties of the fluoro with the less stretch factor compared to mono will really help increase your land ratio. Braid often times will not allow the fish to get the bait fully into their mouths and cause a lot of "skin hooked" fish which is every crankers nightmare since they throw the bait so often. Good luck with the search. JP

If your line keeps breaking by the reel, odds are good that you have a burr or a gap in your roller bearing. If the line was bad it would break in various places, not consistently at or near the reel. JP

Enjoy the hats guys... big thanks to Monique and TJ for peer pressuring us all into scribbling on them!

Wow... there's a change... I haven't fished there in 15 or more years but never knew that one... it's a bit misleading with the exception also saying Fall Extended season until Dec 31st. from Eglington to 407... does that mean it closes on Jan 1st? Also an exception from upstream of the 407... no fishing from Oct 1st to 4th Sat in April... why can't they define things a little better?

From 25 meters South of the old Mill dam all the way North is a Sanctuary until the last Sat. in April if I'm not mistaken. You can only fish South of the dam for now.

I have no problem with the Ad Bot, what's the big deal? So you have to scroll down one more reply to get to responses? Who cares! If it helps these guys make the board float I say go for it... since in reality everyone who's complaining about them put none of their free time into fixing, updating or paying for the necessary upgrades. I truly do appreciate the hard work that all the mods put in and will be more than happy to check out some new stuff from the bots when it comes up! JP

Happy Birthday Wayne!