Canuck

Shotgun? Use slugs or just not a hunter?

I lived in Sudbury (Garson actually) from about 1975 to 1981 (yes I'm that old). The problem for visitors to Sudbury is the highways go through the areas worst damaged by the nickel smelting before they put up the superstack. Its a lot nicer now since when I lived there, but it is still greener away from the highways. If you like the outdoors, Sudbury is a great place. There is good fishing all around. The north branches of the French river are not too far away as is the west end of Nipissing. Short drive up 144 towards Timmins gets you into some fantastic areas too. Lake Wanipatei is a big body of water near Sudbury with reasonably good fishing. Winters are pretty cold so make sure you buy a good snow mobile and enjoy it! If you live on the outskirts of Sudbury you will be able to snow machine out your driveway and go as far as you want to. It was a great place to live when you are young.

Not Dolly Varden, they are Bull Trout. They are in the char family, like Lake Trout, Brook Trout and Arctic Char. They're a species under threat in Bull and Alberta so having a day like you did is pretty good. (I was in Alberta last month and learned this from some people who live there). That is some beautiful scenery out there. You're a lucky guy to be living there.

A bit late in posting, but finally caught a decent Georgian Bay salmon. Was caught August 25th in the Hole at the top of severn sound. Just shy of 20lbs, which is really big for Georgian Bay in that area. Nice healthy fish and not skinny like most have been in the past few years. I have basically stopped trying for Salmon for the last two years, but had a guest up for a visit and thought we'd give it a go. I'm glad we did. Tried again the next week with no luck but sonar showed that there were a few there. Maybe things are picking up again?

The Line 6 Pod Studio is awesome. There is a cheaper simple version without some of the features of the UX2. You download added amp models and setups for them that sound amazing. Basically you get the ability to play just about any amp/equipment/pedal combo you want with full adjustments. I highly recommend picking up a set of powered monitor speakers to connect to your PC and Pod Studio. These are really good (really good price too) and stand up well to playing electric guitar through: http://www.mostlydigital.ca/product/H77973/Hardware-Speaker-Speaker/M-Audio-Studiophile-BX5A-Deluxe-Speakers/&sort_and_order=score_desc&currentRecord=22

I have run all sizes of boats over the years and there are a lot of careless drivers in the cruiser crowd. I boat GBay and my current ride is a 34 ft sea ray with my fishing boat being a 11 ft RIB dinghy with a 8hp Yamaha. My big boat throws a big wake so when I am passing near smaller boats I drop to idle speed. At least half the other cruisers out there do not slow down. Driving the big boat you really have to be 100% paying attention at all times. Visibility is OK when on plane, but there are lots of blind spots. This guy in the article made a huge bonehead mistake. The boat that got hit was a pretty big boat. I can't believe the cruiser driver would not have seen it unless he was not paying attention at all. Thank god no one was hurt. One thing that I should let everyone know though is that when running at night, a cruiser has MUCH less chance of seeing you if you don't have the proper lighting. In a cruiser the driver is usually looking through glass or vinyl windows. At night it gets a lot harder to see a boat/canoe if they are without lights. If you fish at night, get yourself a portable light on a pole or something from BPS or Cdn Tire. And carry a flashlight and shine it towards any boat heading your way at speed at night in case they don't see you. And one last comment. Lots of small boat drivers and especially PWC drivers do zip in and out around you when you are driving a cruiser. That is the most stupid thing you can do. A cruiser is NOT able to turn or stop on a dime. If you cut quickly in front of me, I can't avoid you. Also, my boat is a huge blind spot for you. I have personally seen two separate times when a PWC or small boat has cut around me only to realize at the last minute that there was another boat on the other side of me coming the other way.

Anyone confirm that Tornadoes significantly damaged Midland are?

Are the lakers still the fin clipped stocked fish? I used to catch them a lot in the same area and would keep one or two for the pan. I caught a few that were 10lbs plus and they were released. 100% all were fin clipped.

I used to downrig this area a lot a few years ago when there were some salmon around, then not once last year. Is it worth trying again? Are the fish numbers still virtually zero around the Georgian Triangle islands and the hole off Beausoleil?

In that area its highly possible that the cottagers would not have a boat. Quite a bit of that shoreline on the mainland near Christian Island is not protected enough to have a dock. Its big water and in a NW wind there are a lot of large waves. Just awful to have two young kids lose their lives over a small lapse in judgment. But for the grace of god.....

I get wicked fall ragweed allergy attack. What I have found works the best is the following: Aerius pills Opticrome eye drops (non prescription) but they are a pain because you have to put them in four times a day, but they do work. And most important: Flonase prescription nasal spray once a day. This works WONDERS. Its a nasal steroid spray and there are other brands. It completely gets rid of the stuffed nose and itchy pallet. I mean gonzo, completely. No problems. Its a wonder drug for sure.

Costco has some awesome prices these days. The older technology 720p sets are pretty cheap. HD Cable is only based on 720p anyway (1080i, not 1080p) so you don't "need" 1080p unless you watch BlueRay and even then I am not sure the difference is that important. I have a 720p Pioneer plasma and a Samsung 1080p LCD and I like the look of plasma a lot better. The new Samsung LED LCDs are pretty nice though. Too much money right now, but really nice.

I notice that many of the Lake O salmon in pics people are posting this year are looking a bit skinny. In past years the Lake O salmon looked nice and fat. A lot of them this year look thin to me. That was how Georgian Bay started about 3 years ago when the few salmon caught were really skinny. Then the population crashed. From those that fish Lake O, are they thinner this year?

Try two things. VHF radios draw a lot more power on transmit and not much on receive. You need to make sure your power wire feeding the radio is big enough to carry the current, especially if you have a long run from power to the radio. Next check the coaxial cable to the antenna to make sure it is not corroded or the connection soldering poorly done. Most marine VHF radios will receive even without an antenna connected, but they need a clean connection to an antenna to transmit. You can get an antenna tester that checks for transmit power, but its tough to buy one when you will only use it once every 5 years or so.

TomTom. Check out TigerDirect.ca and look at their refurb units. The 720 is the one I have. Mapping is nicer than Garmins.

If you want nice beach and warmer water I suggest trying to rent a cottage around Buctouche in New Brunswick. You wont get the trout fishing without driving inland, but the beaches and water are much nicer than NS IMHO

I guess i shoulda looked at the pic before posting. Its not a full transom I guess, just the top motor mount area. In that case, like other have said, seal it on all sides and bolt'er up and get fishing.

Maple is not the best. Its hard but not that porous so it wont absorb the epoxy or resin you are using to build it. ITs actually not rot resistant at all and rivet holes will bomb out. You can make it out of marine plywood coated with resin/glass cloth. Another more permanent idea is luan mahogany plywood. The 3/16 stuff from a building supply works well if you use a layer of epoxy resin and glass cloth between layers and build it up to the thickness you want. IT really absorbs the epoxy resin well. Then coat the outside with the same stuff and cut to size/shape. Seal the edges with more epoxy resin using it like paint. You should not leave the epoxy exposed to sunlight though so you will want to paint it after.

TomTom 720 for me. TigerDirect had refurbs over Xmas for a good price. Very easily customizable (like downloading all the Tim Horton locations from TomTom Home software) Maverick, have you enabled the Voice entry feature on the 720? There is a simple trick to turning it on (Search it on TomTom Forum). Once you do, you get the ability to "speak" your destination in just like the more expensive ones.

9.9 is perfect for a 12fter. 15 is too much IMHO

The coffee packages will put you in the poorhouse. A cost saving tip for you. Skip the latte and capuccino milk containers. Just blast 1/2 cup milk in the microwave till it just boils then use the Expresso pack for the Tassimo right into the milk in the cup. Tastes better, its hotter and almost free!.

Lake Ontario - Any east or north east wind is bad news. Anything over 15 to 20km will be really rough. North wind is ok. Basically if there is a lot of wind, stay off. Lake Erie can be a wild place on a south / southwest wind. Its so shallow it kicks up fast in a wind. I used to keep my boat in Bronte harbour and there is a free launch there. Not much parking for trailers though so you need to get there early in the AM. Absolutely have a VHF radio and a cell phone. You NEED a VHF. Don't even think about not having one. If you get into trouble it will be a boater that saves you, not someone you can call with a cell phone. I personally have both a fixed mount (longer range) and a waterproof handheld VHF in case I end up in the water. THe handheld has a GPS and DSC (means if I get in trouble and press "the big red button" I transmit my GPS coordinates to the coast guard along with my distress signal. You should also have a GPS. I have been out in fog on Lake O and you lose your bearings really easily. A simple handheld GPS is enough, but of course a chartplotter is best. They do make them relatively cheap and the combo GPS/sonar units are nice if you are on a budget or have limited dash space.

Get rid of Norton. It is a resource hog. Norton was the best 15 years ago but its horrible now. The kicker for me was when they started telling me my annual subsription was running out 2 months before. If they trick people into renewing every 10 months they increase revenue. pricks. You MUST run a Norton removal tool to get rid of it. Uninstalling it still leaves all kinds of crap behind. I use AVG free edition for viruses and so far no problems and no slowdowns. I like the free version of Advanced SystemCare for spyware removal and prevention. It is rated highly by cNet. It stays in the background and watches for spyware.

In the last depression population of Canada was 10 million and a large percentage were rural and a lot already lived off the land for some or all of their food. The lakes and fields/forests still had a lot of game to live off. We now are 30 million people mostly in urban areas and most without even a back yard garden. If it gets really bad, the cities will not be fun places to be, but neither will the bush. There just ain't that much bush meat left to go around. Nice to dream about finding a cabin on a lake full of trout that you could feed a family on off the grid, but: a) if you know where that lake is can you let me know so I can check it out for you ahead of time there are 29 odd million of us that will be looking for those places at the same time Anyway, lets drop this post and will someone post a 55inch musky picture or something? This is getting really depressing.

US based boating sites say that this is the best wax for boats but can't seem to find it anywhere in Canada. It appears to also be sold to aircraft supply stores. Anyone know if there is a place to get it here rather than order from the US?