Canuck

Its been manny years but my wife and I went to Cozumel on a diving vacation. We still say it was one of the best vacations we have had. We were there during some kind of carnival. I think it was Feb or March. We walked around town and to and from the hotel without ever feeling unsafe. I did a charter there as well. Too long ago for the name to matter. We did a half day trip With 4 of us on a big center console with tower. It was about 35ft. . we went outside the reef and trolled. We got barracuda and blackfin tuna. It was pretty rough even though shore was visible. The tuna were a lot of fun. Unbelievable fight. A few got taken by sharks as we brought them in.

I would recommend a Stern saver. They sell them at Bass Pro and other places. I used them to install transducers on my current and last boat to avoid drilling holes. They work great. http://sternsaver.com/

This is pretty crazy: https://files.ontario.ca/rabies_surveillance_and_control_08_28_2019_english-large.png Looks like there is a lot of Raccoon strain rabies around the Hamilton area. Or maybe this is normal?

Two riggers on Lake Ontario for sure. You can run two rods per angler so with two riggers and two people you can run 4 rods. Two on the balls and two stackers. Then add a couple of cheaters and you really cover some water. But you risk a big tangled mess if you hook a big screamer.

I bought a Daiwa BG2500 after reading on line reviews. Best value in the price range you we’re saying.

For my Chief smoker, I find that with fish one pan of chips is enough. But I leave the fish in the smoker for the full time. Less is more. For pork ribs they are lightly seasoned with a dry marinade overnight of a bit of sugar (not much), salt, chili powder, garlic powder and black pepper. I smoke one pan of chips and smoke for about an hour. Then into the oven at 275 for another 2 to 3 hours covered in foil to keep the moisture in. Finish on the BBQ to get a nice crisp. Sauce on the side at the table.

Lead acid batteries will fail much earlier if you leave them partially charged for any length of time. They should be charged back up full every time after you use them to get the lead out of solution and back on the plates.

Here is a killer smoked trout dip recipe. Flake/crumble up the amount of smoked trout you want very fine. Then add a 50/50 mixture of sour cream and mayonaise (enough to get a dip texture - i don't measure things). Then add some lemon rind zest and a dash of hot sauce and some ground pepper. Mix it up and let it sit for a few hours in the fridge. Eat it on thin slices of baguette or crackers. You won't have leftovers.

Growing up we had a 12ft Sears Aluminum boat that we put on top of every car we ever owned. It was a heavy solid boat and very wide so we had wide roof racks. It was not a one person operation to get it on the racks although I did it a couple of times but was worried about dropping it on the paint. That tinny had a LOT of slime on the bottom over the 25 years we owned it. As they say in the offshore salt fishing, that hull could raise fish!

Same one I have. Save the cardboard box for winter use. You put the box over it to keep heat in. You can buy replacement drip pans and chip pans (chip pan is Stainless) from them on line. I did and they are cheap. Another tip is to drill a small hole that exactly fits a meat thermometer so you can monitor inside temperatures. Enjoy!

Here is my chantarelle risotto with scallops and shrimp. Great way to use them. Their unique subtle flavour goes great with the scallops.

That’s what my wife says each time I come back with them! LOL.

Chanterelles only grow under oaks around here. If you had someone show you them in the ground first hand you will see how obvious they are.

This is the first year I have tied Chicken of the Woods. Very strange and interesting. Picked young they are great. If you fry them up wiht garlic powder butter and pepper they taste and have the consistency of chicken breast with a faint mushroom taste. Fried some up and made a fantastic "chicken" pizza with them the first time.

I am relatively new and I stick to the ones that really do not have poisonous look alikes. Once you know what chanterelles look, feel and smell like, there is no risk of mistake. But you need someone to show you.

With the hot weather and the rain they are popping up in large quantities and growing fast. The bugs I don't think are keeping up. There were good sized ones yesterday in spots where there were none at all three days ago. Its a great year for them. Not sure how long the season will last, but I am going out every evening after work (and getting eaten alive by mosquitoes - Its a good year for them too!)

Great year for summer mushrooms. Got another nice batch of chantarelles tonight and a nice chicken of the woods. Tasty treats.

Vegetarians are also buying them (probably looking for something that tastes good!). I have tried the A&W burgers as well as the Beyond Meat ones on a home BBQ. They are pretty good, but no where near as good as a real home made beef burger. Sort of like the Licks veg burgers that were popular when Licks chain was a thing. They tasted pretty good, but not as good as the real burgers at Licks. I would like to think its just a fad that will come and go because people will catch on about how high fat and sodium they are.

I was in the States and my BIL wanted to pick up some Beyond Meat burgers (vegetarian wife, my sister). They are lot cheaper in the stores there so I picked up a couple packs to try. They are full of saturated fat and sodium. No cholesterol but lots of fat. I doubt a nutritionist would say they are any better for you than a real burger. A chicken or turkey burger would probably be a much better choice. Here is the nutrition label:

Bumper crop of gobies next year i expect with bass pulled off the nests. Lots of bass egg fodder.

They called one evening when I was at home in the kitchen. Said my computer was sending data and messages out and needed to be fixed. I told them to wait and I would go get it. Then I listened to her for a few minutes and told her that I would make sure it would never happen again. I took a cookie sheet out and threw it on the floor with a crash and banged it around a bit. I told her I had smashed it and it would not do it again. There was a pause and then she hung up. Probably did nothing, but my wife and I had a good laugh. I have done the same thing with the duct cleaner call centres and my duck call. Its pretty funny when they try to explain that they don't mean "ducks' they mean "ducts" while I am yelling at my wife to keep them quiet while I am trying to talk to someone about getting them cleaned.

have bought from these folks for my Sea Ray. I bought a few latches, some locking others not. They have a few different kinds. Not local though, but the prices were not bad (shipping is a bit high though) https://www.searay-parts.com/category-s/966.htm

It is so strange that the surface water temps can get into the mid 50s when the air temperatures have barely gotten there and there has been almost no sun this April/May so far.

Its not the dead of winter, so why is this coming up for discussion now? I grew up most of my years in Northern Ontario. They are Pickerel or Dore up there. When i go to Metro or Foodland, they seem to call them Yellow Pickerel too. Americans call squirrels food, so I am not taking any guidance from our American friends.

Maybe but 5200 does not stick well to polypropylene. The stern saver has four large threaded holes you fill with their thick epoxy then tape onto the transom. The glue setting in the threaded hole gives a mechanical bond. It won’t come loose. IMO you can’t go wrong with the Sternsaver.