Whopper

I don't plan any trip around the wind. As far as the east bite the least deal...., well I know about ten people that proved that one wrong last Sunday. Go Fishing period! lol Lew we were typing at the same time

Good report Jason! Been there done that with the trailer thing so I know how ya feel. Glad you had a good time! Whopper

Don to answer your question about cost for winterizing, here locally (Southwestern Ohio) it cost anywhere from $85 to $150, and for that you get the engine fogged, block drained, oil changed and outdrive fluid replaced. I do my own cause I like to tinker with it and besides my time it probably cost me $35.00. Cheers Whopper

Here's a link to a report from last weekend. looks at the pics and you may be able to figure out the program http://www.ofncommunity.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=10530 Good Luck! Whopper

You'll get more room inside a 17ft boat with an outboard than an I/O and you can run the outboard in much colder weather because you won't have to worry about water freezing up after you pull it out of the water, where as an I/O you'll have to drain all the water after unless you have a closed water system that has anti freeze. Another advantage is depending on the size of the motor is that I/O's do not like to troll at low speeds without some modifications. Fuel I don't know about, I probably get better fuel consumption out of my 4cylinder 130 horse Volvo Penta I/O than I did with my 75 horse outboard on a smaller/less weight bass boat. My next fishing boat will have a 4 stroke outboard

Thanks for the kind words folks!

Jeesh Lew go ahead keep rubbing it in will ya

LOL Ah young grasshopper welcome to my world Cheers

Great report FHR! Bluefish are my fish of choice for catching off the piers in FLA. Although they don't get as big down there as they do up north they are great fighters. I had a 3 pounder about five years ago try to remove my right thumb while trying to unhook it, it was like a pitbull. I never kept them for table fair until someone asked me to keep a few for the BBQ, bled them right away and kept them on ice, fired them up on grill a couple hours later and they were delicious. Thanks for sharing! Whopper

Good Luck DK! May the fishes be with you Whopper

Well finally found the time to put our report, first of all I would like to thank everone in attendance. My son and I had a great time and hopefully we can do this again. Pulled in to Lakair Thursday morning the 16th about 6:45am and was greeted a few minutes later by Lew. Lew had a nice campfire waiting for us. Set up camp and off for a couple hours fishing. I was really anxious to have my son PJ experience the West Arm of Lake Nipissing and what it had to offer. The first morning fishing session was kind of slow and I wasn't on my game missed the first three bites and had a pike bite off, my son had two fish on (bass) in the first fifteen minutes and lost both, come to find out he had left the hook protector on his spinnerbait After a couple hours we went back to the campground to greet the Mistyriver clan and to get a nap in. Next trip out on the water my son and I took Corey with us to hunt some fish, things started a little slow but then I managed to put about a 30" pike in the boat then shortly there after Corey says I've got one. Turns out to be a first for my boat ever, Corey cry's out "It's a musky" too cool. I help him land the fish and I get the honors of the release. I can not believe at this point I do not have my camera in the boat, the dam thing has been attached to my hip for the last two years None the less it was a nice small ski that was well marked and was off to fisht another day. Friday weather was real interesting, got ran off the lake three different occasions with lightning, thunder and rain. Friday afternoon also brings Cory, Heather and Jess to the festivities, great to meet them and hope it's not the last. Next up it was Corey's younger Ben to share the boat with us. Ben is like the engergizer bunny and handles himself well with a rod and reel. Ben has a small problem though his rod tip keeps coming off so it's rod repair 101 and I show the boys how to repair a rod right on the spot, ten minutes later and the rod is as good as new. Had a good time with Ben in the boat even though we had a little mishap that I'm still try to recover from Saturday bring a couple more people to the dance in form of Raf and JP. It was great seeing them again and they were awesome with the young men of the group. Who's says this guy never smiles JP putting on a casting clinic at the dock for Corey and PJ Saturday also brings Don & Ruth Fast forward to Sunday, I get the pleasure of having Jim fish with me on Sunday morning and after some great advise and finally listening to Cory (as you can tell Cory I can be a little stuborn at times ) Jim catches his first ever sheepshead. I was a little reluctant to net the fish for him because I told Jim it's kind of like the banana thing, at Erie we don't like the sh..head slime while fishing for walleyes and at this point I didn't need any bad luck if we were going to boat some fish. Well the exact opposite happened Sunday ended up being out best day on the water. While fishing with Jim I caught numerious walleye and a few perch that were returned to the lake. Back in to get my son for the catching because at this point he had not landed a fish and that was my whole goal of the trip. Sunday was an awesome day spent in the boat with my son and kind of made the trip for us. One of a few slot walleye I caught that returned to the water My son and I had twice had doubled up on the walleye er "pickeral" then a little double on some small perch on the same rig. PJ and Corey with few small walleye and some perch for a snack. A few senic pics This trip was more than a quest to catch fish, it was a chance to spend some quality time with my son, to enjoy the great outdoors, to spend some time with long distance friends and to meet some fine new people. We ate well, the beer was cold and the campfires were warm. Again thanks to all that share this experience with PJ and I we had a blast Cheers Whopper PS A special THANKS to Kevin & Leslie! They run a very nice lodge/camp, one of the nicest I've had the pleasure of staying at!

Glad to see ya get out and enjoy yourself Cliff! I'd imagine it was pretty quiet in the boat with Norm Whopper

Thanks Pam good work! Joey, Paul and Pete thanks for all your efforts! Lew you have been dealt some very serious issues the past few years and you have somehow manage to remain a very positive and upbeat person. Thanks for being you. Not much I can add here, I told you how I felt last weekend my friend. Enjoy the painting you deserved it! Take Care Phil

Connie my freind what a good report! Glad to see ya had the "Bosses" to keep you guys inline. Sorry to hear about the special guest having to cancel, I was really pulling for them. Did you and Kyle miss Jim's pancakes? I miss them! The little man at the helm amazes me, what an awesome site! Tell the Mrs. I send my love Be well my freind Whopper

Great report Marty! Can't beat fishing with family and freinds. Catching fish with all of the above is fantastic! Thanks for sharing Whopper

Sorry folks about the no pic report, I will post another with fish porn for sure. Just to set the record straight my son and I had a GREAT time and we did catch some fish. I didn't let the idiots that don't respect other people on the water spoil our visit. I was just surprised of things that I witnessed came from other so called sportsman. Again I appologize on misleading anyone into thinking we didn't have a good time because we had a great trip and will probably return in the future. Cheers Whopper

Just received an email from the lovely Teresa at Essox Angler with some great news. I won a one-year subscription to the magazine. This is awesome news because my current subscription was up and I was just getting ready to renew it. I really enjoy receiving it, a lot of good info from a few of our fellow members at OFC. Thanks Again Teresa & Essox Angler Whopper

Just spent four days camping at Lakair and fishing the West Arm area of Lake Nipissing. Had a great time at Kevin & Leslie's place, top notch I tell ya. Spent the long weekend with some good people, Lew, Raf, JP, Cory & Heather, the whole Mistyriver family, Don & Ruth. Even had a visit from TJ & Monique. Lew had posted last week on the state of affairs on the water ways and I'm a little disappointed in the behavior of other boaters, especially other so called fisherman on the West Arm, more than just a couple times had people run way to close to my boat and fishing area. The icing on the cake was a couple other fisherman running over a buoy marker I had sent out for a reference point for a drift and the final straw was idiot that thought it was alright to circle the buoy and try to take it out of the water until I yelled at him to leave it the f.... alone. I really don't understand what this guy was thinking??? I wonder if the same guy would have went out of his way to pick up a piece of trash? Fishing was a little slow but picked up on our last day. Whopper

WP and Anglers are neighbors, stones throw from some good fishing. OBTW your gf is hoisting a very respectable crappie. Cheers

Good report! Rice is a fish factory doesn't surprise me that you had some success. I've had some of my best days on the water there. sharper I was wondering the same thing, awful familiar looking areas. Smokey don't make me come up and show ya how it's done

Roy I already have one and your right for the money you can't beat it. I really didn't need another but I'm taking my son up this week to fish for some toothy critters and I didn't want him to do without. Cheers Whopper

I'd like to thank a couple members Don (Deg) and his lovely wife Ruth. I asked Don to do me a favor and he went out of his way to pick up a rod and reel that KyleM had posted in the classifieds. Kyle, Don says the rod and reel are in excellent condition! Jeesh from the sounds of it I might have a problem getting it away from him What more can I say, another good deed performed by an OFC'er. THANK YOU! Don and Ruth and Thanks Kyle we helped each other out and good luck in Alberta. Cheers Phil

Serving time this weekend then mid week next week I'll be heading up north Good Luck Lew! Whopper

Excellent report! Glad you enjoyed a holiday with the kids. Thanks for sharing Whopper

Nice Ride Terry! Congrats