Raf

here's a couple of things i wrote several years back, still relevant i think http://muskie.fishn.ca/articles/start-muskie-fishing.shtml http://muskie.fishn.ca/articles/muskie-rods&reels.shtml

dont kid yourselves, any lb fluoro can be bitten through. pike & muskie teeth are serrated like razors. the odds of it decrease as you go up in lb, but it can still happen. you want 100% bite proof, use wire. i still use fluoro, primarily for blades, but use wire (single strand bicycle spoke stuff) on my jerkbaits and coated multi strand on trolling leaders.

perfection loop is the knot you want if you don't want to crimp.

jokinen's 'less than thrilled' to be joining the leafs. i can see why but this may be his last chance at resurrecting a career. he will likely get close to 20 mins a game in toronto in order to 'showcase' him before the deadline and if he can produce (and is not dealt by the deadline) may be a able to drive his relatively low value up given he's a UFA this year. he was playing 3rd line minutes (if he was playing at all) in nashville.

big dog and tasteless hunting decals on your vehicles. a set of 'testes' hanging off your hitch couldn't hurt either.

unless you're on a plowed ice road, there's way too much snow on the lakes right now.

yes you definately have to live a little Lew. I don't think a night out once in a while hurts too much, its the mcronalds a coupla times a week or timmies and a bagle every morning that adds up quick and can be avoided.

marshmellow treble

either go with the lighter and more expensive optimas or get a 12v 55 pd TM it'll be more than enough to push a 16' tinny around. you can also try moving your batteries around to see if it helps. i would think group 24s wouldn't last very long.

pretty sure my DC is a 31 but maybe a 29 series from walmart -- bigger than 27 in any case. strictly deep cycle. been happy with it.

if nobody's watching the games either on tv or in person, who are the corporate sponsors advertising to and why should they continue?

all mfgs will have issues, even my 4 year old (praise) yamaha had one. i still think it's a fine motor warrantys are nice but they are not much good when you're out on the lake stranded or your vacation gets ruined due to a motor failure.

Ours is about an 1600 ft backsplit, we have a NG furnace that's about 9-10 years old and supplement with wood stove (bush cord per winter) for heat, NG stove. We keep it at 69/73 night/day, she jumps to 75+ when the wood stove is firing. Water heater is electric as is the dryer. Our gas bill is $60/month (equal billing) hydro is about 130 a little more in the summer when the AC is on hydro also includes our water/sewer. I will be replacing the water heater and maybe the dryer with NG units if retrofitting them in will be cost effective (lines are already in basement so it should be). Windy days definately make a big difference in our place too.

30% just brings the prices inline with everywhere else. Sweeten the pot or pack up your crap and head for the border target. I have a feeling they will do the former the closer we get to D-Day.

turnaround time likely varies with how busy they are. i've dropped a dinged prop off on monday and had it ready for the boat friday in peak summer.

you were definately jigging over a US nuclear submarine.

5-10 cms coming down at the end of January.. stop the press!!

There are shoals, points that are not even mapped. Its not an issue of water levels. Look at the 1ft contour map of pigeon lake for instance.

the 1ft contours seem to vary from not even close to poorly accurate depending on where i am fishing.

i too use about a 3-4' fluoro or wire leader when trolling. braid will get chewed up by rocks/zebra mussels, especially if you're making contact with bottom frequently -- that's the type of trolling i do where i fish. if i were open water trolling like they do on st claire i would propably shorten them to 2'. i personally wouldn't use mono but others do and have no issues so...... i don't see the action of a 8-12" bait being affected by a stiff leader material at all. we're not trolling little rapalas.

Not read the article before but it pretty much matches my experience with top waters lures. peak time for me has been aug-to-mid-sept i gave up on wtd lures a long time ago for anything but showing me fish. if nothing else's working and i haven't moved a fish, i'll put one on as a search bait knowing full well the odds of hooking one are slim but at least i will get her address -- one thing a wtd topwater is great at is showing you fish. i can come back to that spot and fish it with another lure and catch that fish -- this strategy has worked more than once. 'wait for the weight' before setting the hook. it's easy to yank the lure away from the fish when all hell breaks loose on the surface.

its a good deal unless you plan on networking them

no problem Flex, hope it works out whatever you decide with. Dundalk is the highest point in southern ontario, many of the rivers originate in the area (saugeen flowing north, grand flowing south) and only about 100-120 kms from downtown TO.

dundalk is 525 if you want to stay close to gta.

I'd listen to Bernie, bring it in sooner than spring -- unless the place also services snowmobiles, then it won't matter much