rhymobot

you guys are killing me with these jokes!

LOL!

Thought you guys might like seeing some pics. It wasn't me fishing but it was my bro in law and his family up at a cottage rental with pontoon rental on Cache Bay. He sent me the pics everyday and man was I jealous. Mostly two of them fishing but the other two joined in on occasion and landed a few too. In total it was 57 pike (34 for him) and a few LMB, SMB and a white bass. At first I thought it was a hybrid striper but upon closer look, I think it's a big white bass. Here are some of the bigger fish from their haul: Notice the spoon on this one. He's a big Pats fan:

guess i will have to try smallie fishing. on lakes that is. i catch them in the tribs of Lake O but what i really like is casting for LMB in weeds and lily pads. drop shotting in not my thing but then again i've never done it seriously before. i guess it's worth a shot.

Thanks for the suggestions. I like the idea of camping as I like being outside in the woods and near water. But have tried it twice and I just can't sleep! Both times got like 1-2 hours sleep. Anyway, I go to inlaw's cottage in Tiny west of Penetang on that side of Gbay. That area is great for beach and swimming but no fishing there unless you go way off shore. But I also have tried Penetang Harbour many times and it has those nice weeds and clear water I'm talking about. And I've done Midland Harbour a couple times. Since I'd be going up there for 8 days, and the area is very limited for small vessels like mine in terms of small or calm bodies of water, I thought I'd fish a couple times up Parry Sound way. And no kidding about Kawarthas for LMB. I have been to Buckhorn a few times. Might make it up there one more time this year. I was hoping that since Penetang and Midland Harbour have mostly LMB compared to SMB that other harbours or bays would have the same. Mind you, I have only fished right in the harbour and not too far past the marinas and closer to the open waters of Gbay.

Wondering if anyone knows some affordable places to stay for two people on the water that meet the following criteria: - can dock my inflatable for the day and use it on an off for a couple hours at a time - situated on calm bay or small lake that is suitable for my 32 lb trolling motor - if rates are really cheap for the room and boat then i'd def. consider renting a boat for the day so we could cover more water - gin clear water like Gbay is known to have. - good for LMB and pike with the occasional SMB - maybe 4 to 8 feet deep in most spots - nice tall weeds but not too thick that you typically find LMB in - hopefully some lily pads too - wouldn't hurt if it was picturesque too. it seems to me that parry sound is in the canadian shield with all that rocky landscape lining the shore and dotting the water with tiny islands. i never fish those areas but i assume as long as there are nice looking weeds there i should be able to use the same fishing tactics that i'm used to. Thinking of heading up next week. Mid-week is not a problem. If not, maybe some time in the near future. I see a couple places that are $115 to $130 a night. That sounds good. But have no idea if they meet many of the other variables I mentioned above. PM if that is better. Thanks for the input.

love the boilers hat. and love that fish. impressive. i just caught a similarly sized sheepshead. closest thing i've gotten to that fish you're holding. this is what my boilers hat looks like. and this is the kind of fish you settle for when you need to scratch the itch after a long winter. not quite as nice as the beast you got. lol:

based on walleye72's last post, it got me thinking about holding off of the new battery and trying something different for now. but ultimately, if a bigger battery gets me more trolling time, which i do a lot of, then the bigger battery is probably the way to go. i do like small river fishing. to be specific, a few sections of rivers i fish regularly don't have a lot of weeds and structure and are also murky so i can't see down. so i troll a lot. and i mean a lot. so ya, i've revised my needs now after a couple months of fishing since i originally posted.

you make some good points. i'll check out the amp settings when i get home.

So as someone suggested, I believe I will buy this higher capacity battery: http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/5/SportsRec/Marine/MarineBatteries/PRDOVR~0103199P/Group+31+Deep+Cycle+Battery.jsp?locale=en It is 20 lbs heavier but I'll make do. It's worth it I guess. It's $140. And it's strictly a deep cycle battery instead of a starting and deep cycle. But I have a standard battery box for my existing one and I've read on the reviews on CT site that CT doesn't have a more rectangular box that would fit this battery. Any suggestions on where I could get that and how much it should cost? I am in Mississauga, Oakville, and will be taking the 400 up north this weekend to Midland and Penetang. By the way, this is what I use to charge my batteries: http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/4/Auto/3/Batteries/BatteryChargers/PRD~0111525P/MotoMaster+Nautilus+Battery+Charger%2C15%2B10%2B2A.jsp?locale=en

Thanks guys. Looks like I got some reading to do.

ya. lol. too bad they didn't have those reviews when i bought it in 2011. and garage was not heated. just left it in the battery case on its own on a shelf. i was kinda naive and/or lazy with this. probably would have been more diligent if i was using this battery for a real boat and not a 12 foot blow up dingy. i will look into getting it tested and also into a conditioner.

Thanks for the idea. Do they test it for free?

nope. no idea how! don't know much about batteries. the battery I have is basically this one: http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/4/Auto/3/Batteries/MarineBatteries/PRDOVR~0102499P/Group+24+Starting+%26+Deep+Cycle+Battery.jsp?locale=en not sure how you check the water level on something like? maybe I can find that on google.

So I have gone fishing on my inflatable twice so far this year. Charged the battery with my deep cycle charger the night before until it read 90%. Both times it was working fine for first hour of on and off use while on the river and lake. But both times the motor was getting slower and slower until the point where I was just putting along barely moving and had to resort to rowing to get back to shore. Some background info: Bought the cheapest deep cycle marine battery from CT for around $100 + tax Have used it with my 30lb trolling motor for the 2 summers prior to this with no problems at all Always charged it while in the plastic carrying case and on top of a foot stool in my garage since I know concrete is no good Though the 4 times I charged it this year, I did it in the case but on top of only a rug on the concrete in the garage Past 2 summers I have left it in my car for weeks at a time so it has gotten lots of humidity Also left it in garage on a shelf during the winters I've tried charging it various times the past 2 weeks to fool around with it and I'd get it to 90% or FULL and then I'd come back next day to hook up charger and it would read LOW at first. Then I'd come back an hour later and it was at 60% and even after like 3 hours it was at 70% Is it dying? I just just got a suggestion from someone that I should get a battery conditioner for it. I had no idea what that was until I just googled it. Do you think that's what I should do? Thanks.

I like to fish a couple of local rivers like the Credit and Rouge in the summer for these two species. But do these fish head into Lake O during the fall and winter or do they stay in the river?

I like the Erie Naval Park down there in Buffalo. Went last year on the 2 ships and submarine and it was a real eye opener as to how sailors lived in those close quarters.

frugal but also lazy. after being on the water for so long and deflating the boat and walking all the gear and battery and motor and mount, etc to the car i am too tired for the rest of the details. would rather do all this stuff at home later on with a cold beer nearby. perhaps if i had a real boat where hooks touching the boat weren't an issue then i'd do that too. but often when i'm river fishing like in spring and fall i know i'm gonna use the same lures over and over again.

Thanks again. Got the wraps. They are much bigger than my BPS one, which sometimes didn't fully cover a couple of jerk baits I have. These ones can fully close over the lure. Also got the line spooler. Works awesome. Now I don't have to get someone else to hold the spool or hold the spool in between my toes using a pencil.

lol. great story.

what beauty. even with the crappy BB camera.

Great site. Thanks for posting it. 3 for $10 is very reasonable. My cousin is the opposite of me. He just got into doing CBAF tournaments and now has a bass boat and was also interested in these since he's probably gonna have 15+ rods on the boat at once between him and his partner. The other stuff on that link he'll probably be interested in as well.

i am frugal. not a hardcore angler. basically i have an inflatable with a 30lb thrust troller i got for free. i have 10 rods. all were no more than $25 on sale. all my braided line i got from china for $15 all in. for 300m. haven't bought a lure in 4 years (except a $5 spinner i bought from a local guy who makes them) because i keep finding them when i'm on the water or wading. my anchor is a 10lb dumbbell and the rope is from dollarama. anyway you see where i'm going with this. when i started out i bought a bunch of lures and accessories, etc including one of these BPS wraps. but there's not a big market for them so there's no incentive i guess for a company to mass produce them to a point where they cost only cents to make and therefore could sell them for 2 bucks a pop. for instance, if there was more of a market for them then dollarama could probably find a manufacturer to produce them and then sell at the store for $1-2 like their lures and $2 retractable rods. i'd like 3 more lure wraps. don't want to have to spend $22 to buy those 3 little things when i have so many other hobbies i spend money on! if i had more time i could probably come up with some cheap, crappy alternative with some material lying around in the basement like an old rain coat that'll never be worn again and then buy some velcro dots from dollarama and use crazy glue.

They are very useful when putting rods away in the car because you don't have to take off the lure which you know you'll be using again soon. I have one from BPS. They cost like $6.79. I saw two other sites and they are also over 6 bucks each. For something so simple you would think they'd cost like 2 bucks. Do you know where to find them cheaper? Hell I think a handy person could probably make them too. Cut some fabric into a square and either sew or glue some velcro on.

good to know. i too have an inflatable and was thinking of going there this sunday. is it a working reservoir? is that why the water level is so low?