MrSimon

Thanks! I booked with Skycroft on Opinicon for a week next August. Looks like I can lock through at Chaffey's and have open access to Indian, Clear, Mosquito, and Newboro. I'm looking forward to the trip already!

Thanks. I looked into Murphy's Point. Seems like a nice provincial park. My only concern is I don't see dock space. I'd have to launch the boat everyday, which isn't practical with an RV. I found a really great looking campground on Opinicon called Skycroft. That's first on my list right now. Any feedback on that place? Also, how is the fishing on Opinicon, Sand, Indian, and Newboro lakes? Mostly just looking for numbers of bass and pike to keep the kids happy.

I'd like to take my kids on a camping/fishing trip next summer and I'm curious about the Rideau area. It does look fairly crowded, but there certainly is a ton of water to explore. We are taking a motorhome and are looking for a nice campground to stay at. I'd like something where the campsite is at least somewhat private ..... with access to plenty of water to fish. Mostly we are interested in catching numbers of bass and pike. Any suggestions?

Looks like a great first boat. Congrats! You can absolutely remove the front aluminum hood and replace it with flat carpeted wood. Use good stainless hardware and bolt it in place to the gunwales. For the trailer ... slide the front bow arm forward a foot, lengthen the bunks a foot or so in both directions and go fishing. It won't be ideal, but it will be safe and support the boat better. Don't forget the basic maintenance items: Service the motor - change lower unit oil, replace impeller, replace spark plug, spray some cleaner through the carb, check the fuel lines, check the fittings on the tank and hose, and use non-ethanol gas if you can. Service the trailer - check the barrings and hubs (replace or re-pack if needed), check the bolts and hardware on the leaf springs for cracks or excessive rust, fix up lights, check tires for wear or cracking, properly torque the lug nuts, and put just a bit of grease in the coupler Service the hull - check for leaks, cracks, or loose rivets and replace or repair. If you keep up with the things above, that set-up will last you forever. Literally.

Yup, another happy fisherman here with a 16' tin tiller and a 24V 80 Terrova on the front (40HP Honda on back). I love it!!! I buy really good batteries and can troll all day for two straight days before needing to recharge. My Sylvan has one huge compartment under the front deck that easily holds two batteries, a charger, and a bunch of other stuff.

There are plenty of apps on your phone that will allow you to create a nice video. You can splice clips together, add transitions, add music, and add captions. The phone apps are usually pretty basic, but they do work and you can upload directly to YouTube. Doing all that on a phone can be tedious and isn't for everyone. There are a handful of free video editing programs you can download and use on your PC or Mac. If you have a PC that isn't running Windows10, I recommend the free version of Windows Movie Maker. It works well, but is only available for pre-W10 operating systems. You can also buy entry level stuff for around $60, or more advanced programs for $$$$. I use Wondershare Filmora on my PC. It cost about $70 and I really like it. It's fairly easy to use and works fine. I don't use it to it's potential, but I'm happy with it. One important thing to know .... it can take a LONG time to edit and build a nice finished product, depending on how much post-production you want to do. For beginners, it's not very intuitive and there will be a learning curve. Also, video editing can really tax your system. Lots of memory, a fast processor, and a bunch of patience is definitely needed.

Science is the same as religion. You personally observe what little evidence you can with your own eyes .... then you get the opinions of a bunch of other people (both living and dead) ..... then you make some assumptions about the data, run some tests, and draw a conclusion. Or in most cases, you just choose to believe what someone else is saying. Science and faith are identical. Evolution vs. creation .... climate change vs. no climate change .... what's beyond outer space .... is there life after death? We. Don't. Know. We are incapable of knowing. We simply do not have enough data. So, we guess. People tend to have really strong convictions in these areas and spout on about how 97% of scientists say this, or that, or whatever. All we're doing is choosing to follow the beliefs of others. That's not necessarily bad, but we should recognize and admit that our convictions are based in faith, and not fact. Its interesting that throughout history scientists have been wrong more than they have been right. Its also interesting that some of the greatest breakthroughs in astronomy, mathematics, geography, and medicine have come when a few individuals went against what everyone else believed was proven fact. How would you feel if the government created a bill that said, "97% of theologians believe the end times apocalypse is coming in the next 75 years, so we are going to tax the people $7 billion to build anti-demon weapons". That's the EXACT same thing as saying they'll tax the people to fight against global warming. Maybe demons are coming, maybe they aren't. Maybe global warming and climate change exists and will destroy the planet, maybe it won't. Now, with all that said, I strongly believe that there are plenty of observable and measurable real-time environmental impacts from pollution. I support the government using legislation and tax payer money to reduce pollution, both at the individual and corporate levels. But don't tell me I have to heat my house with expensive electric heaters because your precious scientists think my gas furnace is killing the planet.

5200 and other sealers will usually work, but it's messy and not a permanent fix. I think it's better to identify any leaking or loose rivets, drill them out, and replace with aluminum blind end pop rivets with just a dab of 5200. Have any cracks welded. Especially with a small 12' with no floors and things .... it will be easy.

That is an incredibly insightful post. I wish more people understood this. More and more, America is becoming split down the middle ... morally, politically, culturally, behaviorally ...... and interestingly, the boundary of that split is often urban vs. rural. Lastly, it's also interesting that the large majority of American gun-toting, flag-waving, ammo-hoarding, second amendment cowboys (and yes, they certainly do exist, in large numbers) live in areas with low gun-related crime rates.

The idea of home inspector sounds like a neat option. Your construction experience would certainly be helpful. I kind of disagree with the "do what you WANT to do" concept. I pay more attention to job stability, benefits, location, stress level, pay, work environment, and things like that. As long as a job has all that, it doesn't really matter what exactly I'm doing .... as long as it's something I don't mind and am qualified to do, I'm happy. I've never had a true passion for what I do. I don't need to. My true passions lie outside of work.

While I do agree there is a difference in hull quality across brands .... I personally only care if the hull is dry, has the layout/size I want, and is inexpensive. I think buying a new hull is a waste of money. The motor on the other hand ... I'll gladly pay up for a quality motor that runs great and is the max allowable HP. Motor problems are WAY WAY more prevalent on the water than hull problems.

From what I've seen, Legend is kind of middle of the pack. I'm a really big fan of Alumacraft. I feel you can get Lund level quality at slightly better prices. I also like G3 boats, but they are hard to find the further North you go. Even if it seems that a used boat is hard to find .... it can really be worth it to keep looking. With some patience, you can usually find a set up you like at a LOT less than brand new prices.

I know that the pike fishing on the Big Larry isn't as good as in years past, but they can't be all gone, right? While driving down the TIP last weekend from Brockville to Rockport I noticed tons and tons of bays with great looking reeds (Butternut, Browns, etc). The water looks really fishy. Does anyone fish there regularly? Any decent pike fishing? How about largemouth?

I'm one of the many who has benefited from Mike's helpful suggestions .... we had the best trip ever based on his recommendation. We all know he is working really hard to make his passion his career ..... and personally I think posting incredibly helpful and entertaining posts/reports is a great idea. It puts fun content out there for the public to enjoy while simultaneously bringing attention to him as an angler/guide/coordinator. Sure seems like a win win situation to me. And let's face it ... there are a handful of guys on here who regularly post YouTube videos that are monitized (myself included) .... again, that's also a win/win. Folks get excellent fishing content to watch/read and the owner gets a buck or two in return. I think it's great. And all of this generates traffic for the forum, which I assume is a good thing. I just don't see why anyone would complain about any of this. If content on the forum is designed to benefit or entertain the users, then who cares if the poster gets something in return.

There was a thread like this a month or so back. It was very enlightening to me as a US resident who fishes in Ontario a few times per year. I went out and bought all the required equipment for both my boats. It cost a few hundred bucks, but that's still cheaper than a single ticket. Besides, having more safety equipment is never a bad idea.

It all depends on what you're towing. A small boat/outboard/trailer will be less than 1,000 pounds even with gas and gear. Any car can pull that safely with no issues.

My brother's Ranger with the 4.0L lasted him 250k miles with only the normal maintenance and repairs. It's a good solid truck with plenty of towing power. Down sides were terrible gas mileage and a relatively small interior. You might laugh at me, but if I were in your shoes, I'd get a V6 Honda Accord with 100k miles on it. Fairly cheap, reliable, efficient, comfortable, inexpensive to maintain, and plenty of power for towing.

Where did you camp? I was staying at Jaques Cartier State Park.

I'm sure your're right. I think it would take me an entire summer of fishing every day on that river to figure things out enough to catch 17+ pounds for four days in a row. Heck, maybe two or three summers. Especially if I had to be off the water by mid afternoon and never fish the evening bite, like the pros.

I've towed similar boats with 4 cylinder sedans, and it's just fine. I towed a 14' boat with a 15HP outboard and a week's worth of gear from southern PA to Canada once with a 1997 Nissan Altima. It did just fine. If you will only be doing occasional towing and using decent ramps ..... just about anything will do .... pick what suits your daily needs best, throw a hitch on the back, and go fishing.

Can you just try it and find out?

I fished both the US and Canadian side of the river. You have to have an Ontario license and card and make about a 30 second phone call before entering Canadian water. They ask you a few basic questions about your boat and intentions, then say good luck and have fun. If you plan on pulling on shore, it's a whole different story and you have to visit a check in station. What I took away from rubbing shoulders with the pros for a few days is just how good they really are. A lot of folks think that if they had the same boat and gear as the pros, they could be as successful. It just ain't true. There are sooooo many little details that have to be dialed in just right to do well at that level it's mind boggling.

No, I've fished that area a number of times. I found the best way to fish in current is to point the boat into the current and use the trolling motor to slow the drift down enough that you can fish vertical with a drop shot while drifting with the current. It's a pretty effective way to cover water and stay on good structure. Strong winds really test your batteries, but it works. The vast majority of the pros were most definitely fishing for smallies. The fish were spread out more than I've seen in the past. Shallow to deep ... rocks to weeds ... current to slack water .... and everywhere in between. They just weren't using any particular pattern, which made it really hard to find them in numbers. I saw the pros bouncing all over the place like ping pong balls. A few of them stuck to the same spot all four days, but most of them were running and gunning looking for bites. Everyone always talks about how deep you have to fish on the St. Lawrence .... some guys even talk about catching bass and walleye in 100 FOW in the shipping channel. They say things like, "the fish have gone deep to get away from the gobbies". I don't know, maybe that's true .... but all my fish came in 15-30 FOW, including the nice walleye and a ton of perch. Honestly, I think the fishing on the SLR is going to keep getting worse. Sure the gobies are a great food source for big bass and walleye, but they eat all the baby fish. No baby fish means no big fish down the road.

I was up on the river for three days during the tournament. It was neat to see the pros buzzing around and I got to fish the same shoal as a few of them for a while. I couldn't tell who they were though. I totally agree with the general consensus of the pros that the smallies were spread out, sluggish, hard to find .... but big. I caught three four pounders, a couple of 2.5 pounders, and a 27" walleye, but that was it. No small ones and they sure as heck weren't bunched up anywhere I could find. Frankly, it was really tough fishing. The heavy wind and strong current aren't easy to deal with. It's also such a dang big river that it feels like finding a needle in a haystack. It sure is a beautiful place to fish though! There were a couple of nasty thunder storms that rolled through in the evenings. PS - I did spend one day fishing over on Black Lake. It's night and day different from the River and I had a ball. I caught a bunch of perch, a half dozen nice bass, and about six million bluegill and sunfish. It was such a breath of fresh air to not fight current all day.

I bought some "Marine and RV Mildew Remover" from Cabelas to use on my pontoon boat seats. It worked really well. Most of that stuff is just bleach .... so it's important to keep it off stitching, and to wash it off with warm soap and water.