Fisherpete

I will gladly captain a team again in 2012! (Weeeeeeeeee are the champions, my friends... we'll keep on fishing till the end...!) The tourney is a blast! Here's my two cents... OFC signs should stay in, and so do the bonus inches. If you forget the sign, your bad! Let your team members razz you about it! And it is not hard at all to send in the pics to the OFAH Angler Awards program... they seem to have worked out some of the bugs on their site. If somebody else wants to take the lead on running the tourney, I might be able to help in some capacity - but hopefully somebody steps up and runs it just as well as Brian did. Pete Proud Captain of the 2011 Champions - The Screamin' Reels Almost proud Captain on the 2010 Runners Up - Rippin Weeds

Canadian tire had the ones that fit my Honda

Sounds good... send me the pics and I'll get them to him.

Will do Rizzo... probably heading out tomorrow.

How many plants are there Cliff? I may know a guy who would be interested...

I have the same unit Rizzo - and am going to try what you just said about using the L. Ontario setting vs the Southern Ontario setting. I have the same results as you regarding the contours... zooming in does not help. A bit dissapointing after seeing the 1 foot contours on a HDS 5 in one friends boat, and on a Humminbird 597 in anothers... but is this the chip or the unit... good post! Hope there is an answer (if not, I will be changing chips)

Wow, what great fish in this post. First time I have seen the pics from many people's avatars... After seeing all those 50"+ beauties, these might seem small by comparison... but here's 4 of my best, all fall Kawarthas fish. 45" Sept 2004 46" Sept 2011 47" October 2009 47" October 2009 (caught fishing alone) 48" September 2010

I picked up the same unit this spring... you won't be dissapointed.

Between the new baby, unrelenting work schedule and a move to Whitby, I have not had nearly as much time on the water this summer as last year's 108 musky season. Less than twenty have found their way into my boat this year, although I did put my friend Pat onto his PB 48" in June. My last four trips, all to the same go-to lake, have resulted in skunkings. Last summer, I was only skunked four times THE WHOLE SEASON. No joke! Mid June to late October! I had began to doubt my musky whispering skills... I don't usually like to fish on weekends, but the weather forecast looked great, and after a 60+ hr work week, I decided to get on the water with my bud Patrick and relax. We both finished work around midnight Friday, headed from Toronto to Whitby and picked up the boat and gear, and took off to the lake. We arrived a bit after 3am, quickly unpacked and hit the sack. Aspirations of a 6am starting time quickly disappeared as my head remained buried deep in the pillows. I finally woke up at 11am, rustled up a big and greasy breakfast, and we were off. The lake was busy with what appeared to be a bass tourney... and the bass seemed to be on! We saw a bunch of nice fish landed as we headed from spot to spot. There was absolutely no wind, which left the water crystal clear - too clear - we could see bottom even 12 to 14 feet down. A few hours later, Pat broke the ice... fish on and a nice one - his PB pike at 37". Soon after I finally broke my musky jinx and landed a feisty low 30's fish whick was released at boatside without ever leaving the water. We were now at the spot where I landed my PB last September, and I felt a twinge of excitement... on my first cast, fish on! But again, not a big one, and a water release. At least the bite was on... now if only we could find some with size. The remaining four hours of daylight produced nothing. It was getting pretty dark, and as we trolled back to the launch, Pat's rod went off... and by the scream of the clicker, it seemed to be a good one. As soon as he picked up the rod, he confirmed that: "This one is heavy Pete!" Big headshakes and bulldogging ensued... and just as the fish got close to the boat it surfaced, shook it's big head, and out came the hooks. One powerful thrust of it's tail sent it rocketing back to the deep. Pat got a pretty good look at her, and estimated her to be a mid forties fish, and thick. The obligatory moment of silence ensued, as we reset the gear and continued on. "Damn" was all Pat said a moment later... "Yup" I replied. That was it for the day. Still, 2/3 with a bonus PB pike was not too bad of a half day on the water. If that big one at the end had been landed, it would have been a good day. Day two once again saw a late start, as sleep and food trumped an early start. We got on the water around noon, and there was a nice chop on the water. It looked promising, and it delivered. Less than 5 minutes after launching, my rod got slammed with a solid hit. This fish fought by a champ, and as I got her close, I realized that it was a good sized tiger muskie - only my second ever! As she slid into the cradle, mouth wide open, Pat yelled "HOLY CRAP PETE! THE TEETH ON THIS ONE!!!" and he was not kidding. This specimen boasted the most vicious set of teeth that I have seen on any pike or muskie. There was a DOUBLE row of main teeth lining the outside of the jaws, and even the smaller teeth on the front were nasty. What a predator! Check out the pics! She measured 36", a PB tiger for me, and had beautiful markings along with her savage weapons. Day two was looking up! Things went quiet for a bit, but then we trolled a stretch where Pat caught three muskies in 40 minutes! Again, nothing big, but the fast action was fun. Our next location was where Pat caught his PB this June, and it took about 15 minutes of trolling before my rod doubled over. I had forgotten to turn on the clicker, but heard the rod groan from the hit! I keep my Tekota's drag almost locked down, and this thing was peeling drag like crazy! As soon as I pulled the rod from the holder, the adrenaline started pumping. This was a good one. She stayed deep, and made several powerful runs. She did not approve of the boat, and tried to dive under it... luckily my 8' rod helped keep the line away from the hull. I saw that she only had one hook in her, right in the tip of the snout... so I decided to give it a shot, and we cradled her even though she was still a bit green. YESSSS!!!!! I shouted out as a summer of sub-40 inch frustration came to an end! She was not a happy camper, and strong as hell, and it took both of us to hold her down in the cradle. The one hook was in solidly, so I cut it with the Knipex, and hoisted her up for a quick pic. 46" of beauty ski! To my Team One teammates - I'm sorry... I honestly didn't even think about the tournament sign when we were handling her. It wasn't even far away in the tackle bag, but I just wanted to get her back in the water ASAP after the unhooking took a bit longer than I like. That was the last fish for the weekend... but not bad, 7/8 for muskies with a season best 46" for me along with a PB 36" tiger, and Pat's incidental catch was a 37" PB pike. The boat is slimy once more, and sick as that it, it makes me verrrrry happy!

Incredible assortment of fish there Ben! Some real beasts.

Hi Krawler, I have an extra wheel lock and tongue lock available, you can take both for $20 if you want them. They served me well keeping my boat safe over the last 5 years in my driveway... I'm moving next week and my new place has a double garage for my boat PM me your number if interested and we can set it up.

I bought my Legend 16' Pro Sport from Henry last summer. I got great service from Henry, and love the boat. Wide open layout and TILLER lol... Perfect for all my Kawartha adventures. Big enough to be pretty stable in rough waters, but can also take it into some pretty heavy slop without a problem. For the price of the boat and trailer, it was a no-brainer (kept my Honda from last boat).

Hey Roebag, The "this" that you are referring to was referring to your thoughts on the transom saver not being required for boats with under 60hp engines, nothing was meant towards you personally! Just trying to help a fellow fisherman out here... this has nothing to do with slamming anybody. All I was trying to say is that in some applications, for some boats, I think a transom saver is a necessity. I firmly believe that not having one installed to support some of my heavy Honda outboard's weight contributed to ruining my Tracker after only 3 seasons. Sorry if you took it the wrong way - not sure why you took it so personally! "One other problem is your boat is hanging out passed the back of the trailer. I like to have the trailer supporting the boat right under the transom." This was also the case with my Tracker trailer/boat combo... the boat hung past the bunks by about 6 inches when I bought it, and I adjusted things to make it less... but with the boat as far forward as ir could go, it still hung past the bunks by 2 or 3 inches. Also probably played a factor here.

I don't agree with this Roebag... today's engines, especially the 4 stroke ones, are quite a bit heavier than the previous generation of 2 strokes. This extra weight definately places extra stress on the transom of a boat while trailering. Trust me, I know first hand. I had a Tracker (2005) that sustained damage after only two years to the transom area and to the supports that connect the transom to the floor. I always trailered it with the outboard in the down position 100% of the time. My outboard is a 30HP Honda 4 stroke that weighs 175 pounds... the whole boat (16' Tracker tinny) only weighed 330! That's a lot of weight on the last few feet of the boat (which was rated for up to a 40!) On my new boat, a 16' Legend, to avoid a repeat of the Tracker disaster, I bought a transom saver... the whole point of the transom saver is to transmit some of that weight downwards into the trailer frame when you hit bumps, rather than placing that stress on the transom. Yes Trackers are not the best boats... and that may have contributed. I also think that specific boat should have been rated for a 30, not a 40... Maybe even only a 25 if it is a 4 stroke... And yes if you have a two stroke on a well built boat like a Lund, Legend, etc. you should be fine... But for the $50-100 that a transom saver costs, it is well worth it to add in my opinion, especially if you run a 4 stroke. (I see a Honda 4 stroke in his pics above)

That's it, I'm moving to Ottawa. Mr. Thorpe, sir, are you hiring? Awesome fish man, just awesome.

Wow, amazing fish Larry!

Frabill makes an amazing product called the "Hiber-Net". I used one while catfishing the Grand with Steve Piggott in his boat... net retracts totally inside the handle, and handled 20+ pound cats no problem. Great space saver on any boat. LeBaron had them last time I was there. I have a Stowmaster, one of the BIG ones, and it is great for musky, but it is so big I would not use it for anything else. I picked it up at JB's. Here's the link to the Frabill site. http://www.frabill.com/hiber-net-578.html

Bleach is cheap, and works well. If there are any mildew spots or stains, use a Mr. Clean magic eraser. Just went thru this with my cooler on the weekend... put it away damp a few weeks ago with the lid closed. 'DOH'

9 days on the water. 2 hardcore fishermen. 100+ hours fishing. 4 muskies. 30" 48" 32" 37" (caught in that order) Yep, muskie fishing can be tough. The consolation? My buddy Pat, who has been fishing skis with me for 10 years, beat his PB by a mile. He had been stuck at 38" since 2007. He now stands at 48", tied with my PB from last September! We also caught TONS of other species while fishing for the skis... pike, bass, walleye... but as the saying goes, they are all just bait My 37" Pat's 48" A few other of my catches from the past week... watch out for Team One...! 32" salmon 32.5" carp

Wow Steve, now I see why you were looking forward to that trip so bad! That is some amazing water to fish, and some even better fish! Congrats on those PB's, three spectacular and VERY well-fed fish! My turn next... on holidays at the end of the week for 11 straight days of fishing... woooohoooo!

My brother Will lives in Hamilton and does really nice carpentry work... he is pretty booked up, but you could try him anyways... let him know that his brother Pete referred you from the OFC fishing site. Will (Hoffmann Construction) 416-896-8916

I have the Motorguide wireless... it is quite easy to stow and deploy, but not really a one handed operation. Maybe once it breaks in a bit more... or maybe I am too gentle on my stuff LOL...

I added a Lowrance Elite 5 with GPS (not the DSI) to my boat this spring... absolutely love it so far. It was a bit over the $500 price you quoted, but mine came with a Navionics gold map chip as a bonus... ($598.45+ taxes @ LeBaron). I had looked at the same Humminbird as you, as well as the Lowrance Mark series, but when I saw this unit, I had to have it!

Funny you just mentioned the Escape headrests... I just got a 2011 Escape in March, and know where my 3 rear headrests are? In my garage in a milk crate LMAO! Got really tired really fast of having to remove them to fold those seats down... and now I can actually see something in my rearview mirror as well, they are in the sightlines pretty badly.... I can only imagine how bad it would be for a shorter driver than I! Your Civic should pull a full sized bassboat with NO issues Henry!!! What are they rated to pull, at least a bag of groceries, so long as there is no potatoes in the bag... hee hee hee... a friend of mine has an older 4runner and loves it, he had a ridiculous amount of kms on it and it has never failed him.

Nice one Greg! First esox of the season goes to you...