Dabluz

I have one of those reels and 3 other similar ones. Great reels for heavy duty trolling. I use them mostly for deep saltwater ice fishing. I have used wire line, lead core line, and now use 30 to 40 lb braid on them for deep water fishing. Stay away from using mono or fluorocarbon line on them because when you reel in a big fish caught in 350 of water, the pressure build up from the elastic line can warp the reel beyond repair. I had a bakelite reel made by Penn almost explode from the pressure....lol. The other bakelite reel that I have now has 40 lb Tuf Line braid on it.

Last summer I bought some trailer hooks with those clips on them. The first 2 fish that bit were 2 small pike and they both wiggled around so much that the clip came undone. I still have 1 trailer hook with the clip. I'm going to take the clip off and use a small sleeve to attach the trailer hook to a jig.

If this is a lake that you have never fished before, look it over for a few minutes before cutting any holes. If anything sticks out of the ordinary, start there. It could be a small rock face, a big boulder with a different colour, a small island, a point of land, a stream or river that either flows in or flows out, a small bay etc etc. Yes, feeding brook trout are constantly cruising. I've often seen cruising brook trout in clear lakes while I was perched up on a cliff. They seem to revisit every 20 minutes. Anyway, the trout in this particular lake did. Chopping holes does scare them away but they are also curious so when the noise calms down, they come to investigate. I often catch brook trout in freshly cut holes. One big thing....never cast your shadow over the hole. Moving shadows mean danger for a brook trout. In the early morning, you can fish in 2 feet of water and get great results. I have often started in less than 2 feet of water and ended up in 40 feet of water by midday. This was in a lake where there were a lot of fishermen and there are smelt in the lake. Normally, there is very little food for trout in more than 20 feet of water. The fertile part of the lake is in less than 20 feet of water. Use very fine line. I like 2 to 4 lb test clear mono to which I tie a small extra high quality hook. For bait, I use just the head of a nightcrawler. I thread the hook 3 or 4 times through the skin of the worm starting at the cut and expose the point of the hook about 2/3 the length of the head in order to leave the head of the worm long enough so that it can move. I even push up the worm over the knot so that I will have no trouble penetrating the hook past the barb on the strike. I add no other hardware to the line and no sinker either. I slowly lift and drop the bait to bottom and then back up about 2 to 12 inches off bottom. If I want to jig, I use a good flutter spoon (without bait) or a jigging minnow or even a small jig tipped with nightcrawler. For very remote lakes where I have to walk in, I often use a very long thin branch about 5 to 7 feet long. It has to be very flexible. I drop the line to the bottom and tie the other end to the branch that is jabbed into the mound of soft wet snow from making the hole. If there is a breeze, I take a square of cardboard, cut 2 slits on opposite sides and slip the line into the slits about 1/2 way between the tip of the very flexible branch and the ice. I often add a very small BB sized split shot about 24 inches above the baited hook and I let the breeze move the bait.

With my old Lowrance LFP250, I can see my 1/4 ounce bell sinker in 20 feet of water. I haven't tried it in deeper water yet. I use it for smelt fishing and can even see when there is a smelt close to my smelt rig. The newer units today, do not have all that much more than the older units. Yes, they have colours but what is on the screen is actually what the computer inside estimates what is really happening. The human brain can do that just as well. For example, modern GPS units. Sure they are more sensitive. However, that "so called" improved sensitivity also gathers reflected signals coming from mountains, trees, buildings and actually induce errors. If you are not hiking in the Grand Canyons or thick Amazonian jungle, an old GPS unit works just as good. My old Garmin 45 (which had no mapping) could tell me on which side of the road I was driving when I displayed the recorded readings on my home computer. I used it in the bush for walking out of some remote lakes (without any trails) and I was always walking in my footsteps. It wasn't as fast as my old Lowrance IFinder Pro because it had sequential 8 channel reception while the old Lowrance has 8 parallel channel reception.

The line is the same size as other monofilaments having the same rated strengths and the same diameter as Berkley Sensation copolymer. If I ever run across a spool of this line, I will try it. It's probably expensive.....which is ok for a premium line. You pay for what you get.

12 lb test is pretty hefty stuff. I use 14 lb test Berkley XT for deep water cod and halibut fishing. Haven't had a break off yet even though I add a couple of dropper loops to the leader for added hooks. Put some 8 lb test line on the end of your rod and tie the other end to a fence post. Pull with all your might and you will end up having to buy another rod. Straightening a hook on a fish.....you won't get that if you use good quality high carbon hooks. If you are going to use a live or dead minnow, I suggest 2 single hooks tied tandem with a real snell knot. Add the bait so that the fish can swallow it head first. Expose the points of the hooks in order to get a good hook up.

I've been using a bunch of different braids in the past years....starting with Gorilla Braid. It did a fine job. I tried Spiderwire after that and found that the plastic coating could get rubbed off and leave that portion of the line thinner and very limp. I then got some Mason Tiger braid in 18 lb test. Great stuff but real hard to tie properly. It's like a Fireline with a braided coating. It's very limp and casts great. It can wrap around the rod tip easier but the great casting cancels that small negative point. The only braid that I did not like was the Remington braid. I now have Tuf Line on a few baitcasters and it's a great line. But the Tuf Line that I have does not have a coating to render the line less limp. There are at least 3 kinds of Tuf Line on the market. I still have my first Fireline on a spool for spinning. Still going great after more than 10 years. Still my favourite line in all sizes under 12 lb test. I use 4 lb to 10 lb Fireline on a couple of spinning reels. For those who like monofilament, I recommend clear Berkley Sensation. I thought it was a monofilament and then recently noticed that it's a copolymer. Now I know why it's a bit harder to cut with my teeth. I use it in 4 lb test only. It is very similar to Berkley XL as to how it acts but does not have as much stretch as the XL. I tried Silver Thread in 6 lb test and 8 lb test and was very pleased. Mustad ULight in 6 lb test has been great for jigging walleyes. I will try the 6 lb test Mustad Thor real soon because the 330 yard spool came for free when I bought the 330 yards of Mustad ULight for 6 dollars. I have been reading about Nanofil lately and about 80% of the people who use it just rave about it. It's the exact same size as Fireline so don't fall for the hype that it is thinner. Of course, lines like Nanofil or Fireline have memory but, that is only in strengths above 10 lbs. The problem of why some people like some lines and others hate them is the fact that they forget to say in what size these lines are. Another thing is that some manufacturers do not label their lines the same way. Fireline is over 2 times stronger than what is marked on the box. That's to compensate for the knot strength and shock strength. A no stretch line has way less shock strength....just like a metal chain in comparison to a metal cable. Braid has a bit more stretch than fused line....maybe 6% compared to maybe 4% for Fireline or Nanofil which is similar in construction. One line that I will never use as a main line is fluorocarbon. I've had real bad luck with that stuff. I've tried Vanish and Seaguar. On top of that, fluorocarbon that has been stressed, stays stressed (damaged) while monofilament springs back. The Sensation copolymer has surprised me. I tried copolymer line a long time ago and did not like it because it was too stiff or too large or too much memory. I guess that is not true of some of the modern copolymer lines. When buying lines, wear your glasses and read what diameter it is. Sure Stren Original Clear is strong but it is also larger in diameter for the rated strength. Premium or tournament lines do break close to their rated strength. That's why they exist....people want this. Cheap lines are often less consistent in quality throughout their entire length. Stren is one of them. High quality (more expensive) premium lines are much more consistent....ex.; Tectan Premium. I want very thin, clear, very strong, less stretchy line.....lol. It does not exist.

I have the LFP240 and an LFG460 Bluewater. Both work great. The LFP240 is good to 120 feet and the LFG460 is good to 60 fathoms (360 feet). Yes....your unit is 12 volts. You can even download the owner's manual for it.

I also have a Cardiff 101A. It's a good reel. I use it for walleye. It casts great and looks great. It's a round reel and some people feel that grabbing a round reel is more comfortable than a low profile reel. However, the Cardiff has a recessed reel foot so it's very low on the rod. I use 18 lb braid on this reel and when well adjusted, I don't even have to feather the spool with my thumb in case of backlashes. It casts 1/4 jigs and swimbaits very well. It's super smooth and the instant anti-reverse is flawless. The brake is very smooth. I paid 60 dollars for mine....less than 50% of the original cost. The only problem is that I now prefer baitcasters with the handles on the right side. But, only the 101A was on sale.

Another lure that I would try is the Rapala Jigging Minnow. Yes, they are expensive and yes they have been around for decades. The reason they are so expensive is the fact that they are popular and if they are popular, it's because they catch fish. Another lure that merites a good try is a flutter spoon. This variety of spoon is ultra thin. It has a lot of action in the water. Ok, it's a pain when the water is deep because it takes so long to reach the bottom but in walleye depths, it's worth a try. Sutton makes a great flutter spoon but the company no longer exists. There are imitations but I have yet to try them. Mooselook also makes flutter spoons. By the way, flutter spoons are also expensive....lol.

If it's for bass and pike, you need a size 9 or even size 10 outfit because you will be casting large flies that are either heavy or wind resistant. I would even say that if you want to do a lot of fishing for pike, you could even look at size 11 or 12 combo. In any event, you will be disappointed in a size 8 outfit when you try to cast large bushy flies....especially if there is a bit of wind. Buy a good rod and a decent line. There are lots of good reels and get one with a large arbor made for size 9 or size 10 line. For backing, I like 40 lb test braid. To fill the reel, start by putting on the fly line and then add backing until the reel is full. Then, with a drill and an empty spool, remove the lines from the reel and refill the reel starting with the backing. With a double taper line, I make 2 set ups. One with a short head and the rest is oval monofilament shooting line. Monofilament shooting line lets me cast further.The other end of the double taper is used with smaller flies or floating bugs. With a backing of shooting line, you can shorten the length of the fly line because all you really need is the length of line that you are casting. The rest is just large backing. The problem with all this is that you will need some experience before you can figure out exactly how you want to set up your fly line. Too bad that there are no fly fishing shops in your area because most of them offer a few free casting lessons and have the experience to customize your set up. Do a bit of internet search on fly fishing. Some things to look for are how to tie the backing to the line, how to tie the leader to the line. I use a nail knot for both connections. Do not buy any of those flexible leaders that fit over the end of your fly line. My buddy has a fly fishing shop and he swears by them but almost every time I go to see him at his shop, there are guys who come in with stories of how the leader came loose from the end of their fly lines and they lost a salmon. Use the nail knot. Since you will be fishing for pike and bass, buy a floating line. Use big floating bugs. When you use a big streamer or tandem streamer, the streamer does not have to be very deep to catch these fish. If you ever want a sinking tip, you can add a short length of lead core line to the end of your fishing line. What I do is make a nail knot on the end of my fly line with 20 to 30 lb test mono. I then tie a perfection loop real close to the end of the fly line. If I want to add a leader or lead core line, I just use another perfection loop and I loop the 2 loops together. Leaders do not have to be long when fishing for bass or pike with big flies. 3 feet is all you need. Buy leader material or fluorocarbon leader material in 10 to 15 lb test (depending on the size of the fly) and add the leader using a perfection loop. I prefer using a mono leader because a perfection loop in fluorocarbon is a very weak knot. It will break at 50% or less the rated strength of the fluorocarbon. I would even say to stick with mono leader material....it's more consistent.

Wow....great deal. I'm sure that the old motor will work fine with just a bit of work. Compression test, new plugs, new oil, carburetor cleaning, gas filter and a good visual inspection. I have a few old motors and they are easy to work on and have no complicated parts. Even if you don't need it or want it, you can make a good profit with it. If it's beyond repair, you can make a profit just from selling parts on Ebay.

I'm lucky in the fact that I only have to go about 30 km north of Chicoutimi where I live and there are no more cities, towns or villages.....all the way to James Bay. Yes, if I go north east or north west, I will either end up in Fermont or Chibougamau-Chapais but north of Chicoutimi, there is nothing. After about 60 km, cottages are rare and there are a few lumber camps and outfitters but there is mostly free land. I like wilderness camping a lot and I don't have to go very far to be alone for a weekend. Using my GPS, there are thousands of lakes near the lumber roads and there are no trails to these lakes. During April and May, I can snowmobile to these lakes and do a bit of ice fishing for brook trout. I am always alone on these outings because no one I know wants to go. The fishing is usually fantastic. During the summer, these lakes are hard to reach because of the rough terrain, fallen trees, heavy bush. Fishing from shore is impossible because of the trees and brush over-hang the shoreline. The forest is too dense to portage a canoe. I like fishing alone. I even prefer fishing alone. Next best thing is fishing with my wife. Yes, a person alone could get into bad trouble when he or she is far in the bush but what better way to die.

That must be a pretty big creek. More like a small river? To me a creek is something that you can almost straddle and has about 1 to 4 feet of water.

I like braid that does not have any extra stuff to make it slip or render it less limp. Yes, the main reason that stuff was added to braid was the problem with tip wrapping. However, the thinner and limper the braid is, the further it casts. I have tried a bunch of braided lines and have switched them from spinning to baitcasting reels and back to spinning. Oddly enough, I have never tried mono on a baitcaster. Anyway, my favourite braid is Mason Tiger braid in 18 lb test. I get great distance with this line. Another line I like to use is Tuff Line....not the Ultra nor the XP or anything like that....just Tuff Line. It has no added substance to make it less limp. I don't have any problems with tip wrapping but I rarely leave enough slack line for this to happen. I have used Spider Line and I still have 20 lb test Power Pro on one baitcaster. They are both good. In any event, most of my braided lines are 20 lb test except for the 18 lb test Mason Tiger Braid. I have a 300 yard spool of Tuf Line (no additives) in 35 lb test (salt and pepper coloured) that I have in reserve. The only braided lines I have thrown away since they came out is the Spider Line and Remington Braid that was junk. I still have some original Gorilla Braid on a baitcaster and it works great. The only braided line that I have come across has been the Remington Braid. I think I paid about 4 dollars per spool on Ebay. I gave it away and made a few people hate braided line....lol.

It lasts about as long as the coating on SpiderLine.

Free.....easy.....????? I don't trust that kind of stuff. Bah!!!!

Ling are excellent eating. They are the only member of the cod family that live in freshwater. Don't forget to carve out the cheek muscles....they are huge and taste great.

Definitely go for the 9 weight rod if you want to fish bass with large bugs.

I've tried salted and unsalted smelt and have had better luck with unsalted smelt. I freeze the smelt by placing them on a large flat plastic tray....not touching one another. I place the tray in the freezer and about 1 hour later, the smelt are frozen hard. I then place them in a plastic bag and then back in the freezer. The smelt remain separated and it's easy to to take the number of smelt you want to use. I admit that when I added the salt, I almost immediately put the smelt in the freezer. Maybe I should have left the smelt in the frig for a day or two before freezing them and therefore let the salt penetrate more into the smelt.

Yes...that is a fast snell knot but I couldn't trust such a knot. I use 2 other methods for snelling hooks. One is like a uni-knot and the other is a new one that I have yet to test for strength. I use eyeless hooks a lot. I get them from Europe and they are simply fantastic. I may use a small tube to make a real snell knot but finding a tube small enough may be a problem. I have a hypodermic needle that would be perfect for line under 6 lb test. I could use a small nail like when I make a nail knot on a fly line but on a tiny hook, it would take too long to tie....too easy to mess up the knot.

I have a 14 foot Sportspal, pointed at both ends. For many years, I had a Minn Kota 15 (9 lbs of thrust). The motor worked perfectly and the lowest speed was a tad too fast for slow trolling. However, the max speed (10 km/h) was too slow for any long distance or against the wind. Now, I have a 32 lb thrust motor and it's just plain too fast for slow speed trolling. If I ever buy another electric motor for my canoe, it will have variable speed so that I can slow things up as much as possible. On top of that, I may even add a foot switch on one of the battery cables so that I can control the speed even more and also be able to troll in spurts. One thing for sure, a larger electric motor does not consume more than a small electric motor when you are just moving along slowly. A larger motor comes in handy in emergency situations.

1/8 ounce....is not utltra light stuff.....it's medium or medium light.....so a wimpy rod is not what you want to use with such lure weights. What you need is a very light rod (which helps detecting bites) yet a very fast action rod which will be stiff enough to make that 1/8 ounce jig move upward fast enough for it to bury it's hook past the barb. There are lots of stiff rods but they tend to be a bit heavier so they work ok for such thing as fishing in 300 feet of water with a 2 ounce jig. Yes....I do that too. The best I have seen (stiff yet light) so far is the St-Croix ice rod at around 50 dollars. Check out this rod before handling or buying another rod. I do not have a St-Croix rod. I do not have the money for such a thing.....I'm married. I make my own ice fishing rods with broken rods people give me. I try to imitate the St-Croix rod as much as I can. No....I can't come close to imitating it but close enough to make me happy enough. Maybe the St-Croix rod is too stiff anyway. I do a lot of icefishing for brook trout in the early spring and this is where a good rod really shines. I use 2 to 4 lb mono with maybe a maximum of 1/32 once of weight. Yes....the Fenwick ice rod seems pretty nice too but it's almost the same price as the St-Croix rod. Anyway, it is not as stiff which may be better for fighting a fish because the St-Croix rod is amazingly stiff for such a light rod. Almost scary.

I use a 2500 to 5000 BTU Coleman catalytic propane heater. I can put 2 one pound canisters inside it and switch canisters when one is empty. At 5000 BTU, a one pound canister only lasts about 3 hours. At 5000 BTU, the pop up is barely warm on a cold day. I still have to keep my coat on (unzipped) but the eyes on my rod do not freeze up. A 10,000 BTU heater would be better but a one pound canister would only last about 1 1/2 hours.