solopaddler

Over the years I've busted countless Rapalas and other lures in a variety of different ways. Never once has it ever crossed my mind to send a broken lure back to the company with a letter LOL! Each to their own but there's no way I'd ever cut it as customer service rep. I'd be telling everybody to suck it up and get lost. They're generally great lures but not indestructable. If you must bounce lures off the bottom try a Luhr Jensen Rock Walker. That's what they're made for....

FYI but I just spoke with Mike Maynard at Hastings marine. He said that in order for my prop to make any difference at all I'd have to get one with a much smaller pitch (around 9"). He said it would slow the boat down, but at top speed the motor would be revving way too much and working too hard. He said they only put props like that on pontoon boats that never really go fast and that I'd just be wasting my money.

I would have loved an '09 with the speed control. It basically boiled down to A. buy the motor I really want and not be able to pay for daycare for a couple months. (the kids can fend for themselves, right?) or B. buy something a wee bit cheaper. Tax in the one I bought was almost 2 grand cheaper than a brand new '09.....

It's an '07 and was slightly used so it's only a "new" motor to me. Already broken in.. I think it's a 3 cyl engine, I know it has 3 carbs. You sound like you know your stuff. Regarding the trolling plate, when it's up and locked in place should the motor be trimmed a specific way? Reason I ask I took the Happy Troller off my 25hp and tried it on my 40. With the plate up and locked the motor laboured a bit to get up on plane and the torque on the motor was unreal. I could see the transom bending with the force. Also when I tried to engage the trolling plate it wouldn't drop down even when I gunned it in reverse. I believe I know what you're saying about your trolling plate. I'm guessing when yours is engaged it's at a 45 degree angle rather than a 90? I've thought about that myself but first I have to get the damn thing to work LOL!

That's something I never thought of thank you! Naw I'm pretty happy with the 4 stroke bud. It's a great motor, eventually I'll get the trolling speed figured out. FYI but the trim tab trolling plates rise automatically when you give the boat a little juice. If they actually do work they're by far the best solution... They may indeed end up being part of the solution. The prop pitch and idle adjustment will help too I'm sure. Give me a call later will ya?

I already have a motor that'd work as a kicker, a 2hp Honda. I'd prefer to keep things simple though...

They're really sweet I know but only available on the new fuel injected '09 models. The one I bought is an '07 and not fuel injected, it has carbuerators...

Hey bud I did call Nauticus, shockingly they guaranteed me they'd work. The thing is as mentioned I'm going roughly 5mph at the slowest speed. If the boat is only slowed 35% that won't be enough.. Also I'm personally not sure about them. Unlike a trolling plate which is mounted right in front of the prop these are mounted on the corners of the boat. I can't possibly see how they'd slow the boat down as much as a trolling plate.

The trolling plate on my old 25 worked absolutely fantastic. I considered installing it on the new motor but it didn't fit properly. What I was thinking (after I arrived back home) was maybe I can simply adjust the idle. Or maybe just loosen off the throttle linkage on the tiller handle... I've got a bowmount electric but I do a lot of trolling and being in the middle of no where and off the grid that's not the answer for me.

Holy cow Roy, really? That's amazing. As mentioned I didn't have my gps or fishfinder with me to measure my speed, but I figured I was going roughly 6mph at the slowest speed. At one point I threw a 5 gallon pail behind the boat on a rope and it still didn't troll slow enough.

I happen to have a 25hp Yamaha 2 stroke for sale, would be perfect for your boat. Check the classifieds....

I had an incredibly busy week last week. Over the winter my dad and I designed a railway system to haul our gear up the hill to my camp. We had taken the rough plans to a welder buddy of mine to construct and last Thursday morning it was finally ready to be picked up. Not a huge neccesity for myself, but my dad is 73 and it's getting tough for him to unload the boat when he's up there without me... So anyway after picking up the rail system I immediately hit the highway again and headed for Hastings. I had struck a deal for an '07 40 horse 4 stroke Yamaha with Hastings Marine. Great people to deal with btw, Mike Maynard at Hastings is a stand up guy. If anyone's in the market for a Yamaha I'd highly reccomend giving them a call! Neither myself nor my pops have a vehicle large enough for that load so we rented a cargo van loaded 'er up and hit the hwy at 4am Friday for the long drive to the camp. Upon arriving we installed the new motor: Man is it sweet. Didn't have my gps with me, but the boat is super fast now! Even with a load she gets up on plane instantly and just skips along. The railway system was a bit of a chore but we got 'er done. Here's a picture from the bottom looking up: It runs 50' from the end of the boat dock up the hill to the sunroom doors. There's a black box at the top that houses an electric winch which pulls a huge custom built cart up the hill. We tried it out a few times and the damn thing works great! Now my question: The new motor is too fast to troll with and I need to slow it down. I'd really rather not have to use drift socks so I was looking at these: http://www.nauticusinc.com/nauticus_pro_troller.html Has anyone had any experience using them? They say your speed will be reduced up to 35%. I'm not totally sure if that will be slow enough as I've got to get the speed down to at least 2-3mph... Would love some feedback before I take the plunge. Cheers, Mike

Wow Cliff I feel for you buddy. Remember last year around this same time? About a week after we moved into our new house a storm rolled through and knocked an 80' pine tree over in our backyard. De ja vu all over again.

Very, very sorry to hear this happened Wayne, condolences.

Well after talking to Jay (Troutologist) he says there's a cabin out there we can use. Plus he's got all his gps waypoints from guiding there... Sounds like a no brainer to me buddy fuel barge or not. (Plus if Jay comes I get to fish with two guides )

Well it seems you found your campsite. You won't get a nicer more kid friendly one than that! Looks a great time. I can relate to the weather and bugs you described, I was up north at the camp the same week. (Buy a screen tent for next year. )

Some pretty fantastic photos there. Your better half looks happy in all of them, that's a huge bonus. Lucky man.

Well done TJ, another great trip!

Actually I've got major stuff planned for at least the next 5 years. Don't know if I'll be able to do it all but I can dream.

I noticed the deals on the XML rods today myself. Also good prices on the XMLTI rods. Not quite as cheap as you've mentioned, but still very very good prices. Problem is they won't ship the rods surface, only air and shipping is $40. Even with the expensive shipping it's not a bad deal. (I ordered a 71/2' 2PC XML rod rated for 4-10lb test. I needed a new live bait rigging rod for walleye, couldn't resist. )

All factors considered with Joanne being the main one, the later the better dude. Besides I wouldn't mind a few bug killing frosts.

Amazing stuff buddy, looking forward to joining you up there next year! In the meantime see if you can suss out where the big girls will be in late August. That would be a better time to go, no? (What freaks me out is the amount of lakes around Great Slave on that piece of map that shows your route, almost more water than land. Looks like some incredible canoe country.)

Nice healthy bass. Your father in law looks happy.

That there's a walleye chop son. Nice little pike though.

Nice shootin'! The spec's that douG caught just a bit north of there in the spring were every bit as colourful. I think it's just the forage in the lake... Beatiful fish you're lucky to live up there!