Fisherpete

Steal all of Andrew's downrigger weights and melt them down. He won't mind...

So I got the boat all ready for action today, and hooked up my fishfinder which has a voltage meter. The voltage on my starting battery was 12.1V, and within 10 minutes of having the fishfinder on was down to 11.7V. I've had it for 7 years, Motomaster Nautilus AGM, it's been flawless but I'm guessing it's probably done. It did something like this one day at the very beginning of last season, fishfinder kept cutting out and the voltage was low. I gave it a charge when I got home that day and it was fine for the rest of the season. I charged it a couple days ago just to make sure it was topped up fully. Thoughts? If she's dead, any suggestions for a new battery? I'm leaning towards getting the exact same AGM, which I think is $319 or so. Are they that much better than the normal marine starting batteries? Almost triple the cost...

LOL - actually laughed out loud at that one!

Hit a local creek yesterday for a few hours and caught 4. They are in there, just not super stacked up yet. Hooked and lost two nice bows also - one was a 10+. Was nice to fish open water for the first time this year! Thanks for the help guys, appreciate it.

Not sure about the bowfishing restrictions Jer, but I do see guys doing it for carp every year at my cottage on Rice... The one guy brings a huge plastic barrel with him in the boat and hunts until he fills it - he makes dog food out of it apparently!!! Pete

Are the image files on your phone bigger than the one you posted above (which is only 241.87kB)? Make sure you use the original full size file to minimize pixelation. How large were you planning on going? Colour adjustments are not part of resizing, but if you wanted to bring out certain hues in the picture that is certainly possible. Even Windows has some photo enhancing tools which make this simple. Nice pic by the way. Pete

Thanks again guys! Heading to a local creek this afternoon for a peek.

Thanks guys, I might go take a peek tomorrow.

Any of the river fishing folks seen suckers yet in the creeks or rivers? Time to start building my cutbait supply for catfishing! The dew worms were out in full force on my lawn last night, the timing of that and the suckers in the creeks is usually pretty close... Thanks Pete

If hacksaws had gill plates and tails this never would have happened...

Cool video, some funny momens for sure! Glad you got the camera back. Constructive criticism - I take it the gentleman was not an expert at handling muskies - needs to be shown how to pick them up by the gill plate without having his thumb ON TOP of mouth - recipe for disaster!!! Fish would likely not have been dropped and pics could have been taken faster. And removing twin ten without pliers... yikes...! Brave! Cheers Pete

Henry Ngyuyen works for Legend (Barrie area) and is a member of this board - send him a PM or call him at this number I have a 2010 Pro sport and have some plans as well for deck extensions - let me know what you find out please! Legend Boats 1 (705) 431-9622

Dave if you call fishing world and they have what you are looking for at the right price I can help you out - I'll be heading that way (Dunnville for cats) quite a few times in April and May. Just send me a pm and let me know. Pete

SAIL carries St. Croix - not sure about that specific model of Premier though (which is an excellent choice by the way). Try and get them during their 15% off sales - which are often. Pete

I would guess the boat itself weighs a bit more than that - my brothers bare bones 14' Legend is 325 lbs... Most of the 14' utility boats on the Princecraft site are also listed over 300 lbs.

Actually all the electrofishing boats I have seen ARE aluminum... Very similar to the one in that picture...

Hi Dave, Before I start - what is your intention for muskie fishing? If you intend to just fish for them once in a while, few hours here and there, the NaCl can get the job done for you. You would find it quite a bit better than the C4 for muskie fishing, especially with the power handle, but if you try throwing big blades for a full day with it you will be sore... if you intend on fishing muskies hard and often - read on! As Dax (Pigeontroller) mentioned, the NaCl is a great reel for high speed retrieves - such as burning smaller bucktails and lures, or picking up slack line quickly when using jerkbaits, glidebaits, big plastics and the like. You need one of these reels in your muskie arsenal, pair it with a short stiff rod (7' or 7'6" to maximize lure action on jerkbaits etc.). My favourite rod for this is the St. Croix Legend Tournament "The Jerk" which is 7'6", XH fast 3-8oz. They are pricey however at around $350, but there are many other rods with similar specifications to this one that will do the job just fine. The Compres that others have mentioned are quite good at their price point. What you want for bringing in big blades is a reel with low gearing, such as the Abu Garcia Revo Toro Winch, which is 4.6:1. They cost around $330 new. I prefer Shimano reels, and they offer several with the gearing to do the job including the Tranx PG (4.6:1), Calcutta D (5.1:1), Calcutta TE (5.0:1)(now discontinued but awesome) or the Calcutta B series (5.0:1). The B is the most affordable at around $250, the D is around $450, and the Tranx is $600 but is an absolute beast in every way - designed for hardcore muskie anglers. As for a rod to pair with a cranking reel - minimum 8' length (I personally prefer 9'), H or XH action, and able to handle lures up to 8oz. Compres are again quite good in this price range. If you get a rod that meets those specifications, you will accomplish several things - better hooksets, better casting, better figure 8's, and able to handle a wide range of lures including big plastics up to 8oz (which in bulldawgs is the magnum size). Hope this helps - and welcome to the obsession! Cheers Pete

Join us Andrew. Come to the dark side. It is... your destiny.

Current rods and reels have guides and rollers that are braid safe. When braid first came out years ago this was not the case. I have never experienced issues with the line floating - especially with big heavy muskie lures attached to the business end! Pete

80lb or 100lb Powerpro 130-150lb floro leaders - 12" for casting, 18"+ for trolling I would go with a minimim 8' rod, heavy action Couple spinnerbaits Couple bucktails (twin 8 and 10) Couple cranks (9" Grandma is a good start) Couple top water (Top raider) Maybe a couple big plastics (tubes or bulldawgs) That will get you started

Nevermind the underwater business Jer. Get one of these bad boys! OH WAIT - you would still end up underwater...

Only if you eat them. Raw. And whole. LOL

Thanks guys - I will try those options. Cheers Pete

I have an older Navionics chip - which is standard SD card size Hotmaps Premium Canada SD/PREM-C4 VO1.19 My Lowrance units all take micro-SD cards - do I have any options for exchanging my older chip for a micro-SD version? Either through Navionics or a retail store? Or does anywhere accept trade in towards a new chip? Can this chip be updated as well to reflect most current available map data? Thanks Pete

Yup happened here in Whitby