sauce

I find the direction my body is facing makes a difference. Trolling, my body is facing the side of the boat. I turn my head to view my course. On plane, my body is facing my course. Running chop with your head turned 90 degrees is not fun. Surprised no one has suggested this one.... Any time above trolling speed you really should be tethered to the kill switch.

I have a 40 E-tec. Over 300 hours on it now. So my warranty is over. No problems so far. I'm happy with my 2 stroke. If I was in the market to upgrade my current rig I would definitely consider E-tec/ G2 for power. But I would be buying used. I wouldn't feel good about the warranty on a brand new motor being honored on a discontinued brand. It's a shame that no manufacturer has stepped in and bought the brand. A lot of people really like their 2 stroke outboards. It's a tough choice to decide which 4 stroke is best. Yamaha Mercury Suzuki are all great 4 strokes. As far as 2 stroke oil goes, Evinrude has 3 grades available. XD30 XD50 and XD100. XD100 is recommended and also the most expensive. XD100 is NMMA certified TC-W3 oil... If you do a little research, you will find that there are other brands that make equivalent TC-W3 oil. Obviously you would void the Evinrude warranty. But IF the supply runs out, there are options.

Try to find a couple of 3-4' farm poles. 4-6" diameter would probably be good. Lay them next to each other along shore where you plan to beach. Once boat is off trailer, maneuver your boat to your logs. Lift the bow and shimmy and pull until you feel your rig is secure without damaging it. On hard ground the logs might roll. So don't turn your back if you aren't tied off lol.

I'd suggest you study the solunar charts and plan to be on your best spot(s) throwing confidence baits during any peak times. The rest of the time just cover water and conserve your energy/ intensity for those peak times. Maybe search for a few new spots to add to your peak activity milk run.

16 feet and under go with a tiller. A 16 foot tiller will have almost as much open space as an 18 foot side console. If you are planning to fish off the bow at all then get a bow mount motor. It might cost more up front but a 24V setup will provide plenty of power and less likely to drain your batteries during a long day on the water.

I wonder if the Petro park gates are locked yet.

My observations show that it's actually the opposite in southwestern Ontario. I catch walleye with leeches on them at the end of the season in March. I have never caught a walleye with a leech on it in the summer. I've found leeches on my waders after trout fishing in April. Never happened in the summer on the same river. There's a certain trout stream I won't fish without waders. The strain of leeches there find you fast. Leeches like cold water. I'm pretty sure they seek it out, along with blood! I think the OP's fish came from deep water way below the thermocline. Probably very close to bottom. And probably not very far from a depth change and some significant weed growth.

Leeches.

With the 17, I was able to get RPM to just over 5400 tilted to the verge of porpoising. Recommended RPM for my engine is 5700-6000. Switched to 15 and I'm maxing out around 5750. I can really feel a difference when I'm cruising at 5000 and open it up all the way. Fun! I had it out on Wednesday. Found out I can plane out at 15 and then cruise at 12. 2500 RPM. Getting my RPM closer to the recommended range definitely improved my motors overall performance.

Don't get too caught up with # of blades. Find the prop that allows your motor to reach "peak" RPM at WOT. Whether it be 3 4 or 5 blade. Pitch and # of blades will change hole shot, stability and top end speed to slightly different degrees. Your motor and hull will influence each other differently day to day based on weight distribution and wave conditions. When you are out of the RPM range you'll notice one day your 3 blade will feel perfect but the next it will feel like it's pushing water and not moving the boat like it should. If you are under powered or over propped you will really notice when trying to maintain cruising speed in chop. But I don't think your rig is under powered. I went down from 3 blade 17 pitch to a 15 pitch for my 40 HP etec tiller. Hole shot is now truly amazing. I'm on plane and cruising at 25MPH in under 10 seconds even in chop. Top end speed at WOT is 2 mph lower than before but RPM is right where it should be for peak HP. I can back the throttle from max RPM to about 90% and cruise 2mph under my max speed. The extra 300 RPM I gained by dropping from 17 to 15 makes a world of difference when running close to top RPM. Before I could reach 31mph but only hitting 5400 RPM on flat water, I could never even get close to WOT in any kind of chop. Now I max out at 29mph at 5700. And I can maintain that pace in chop no problem. 5400RPM gives me about 27MPh and 5000 around 25mph in most conditions. So I generally cruise at 25MPH around 5000RPM and maintain tight handling and instant throttle response. 5000 would just get me over 25MPH on flat water before I switched. 5000 in chop wouldn't quite get to 25MPH and it was actually scary to hold onto the tiller arm LOL. Now a full tank lasts forever and the engine never works hard, even when loaded and running at WOT. Now all 40 HP is available. How much of my 40 was I getting with the 17 pitch?? Main thing is no matter which prop you choose, make sure that you are in the recommended range for RPM at WOT. If you aren't able to get to peak RPM at WOT then anything else is an experiment that makes your engine work harder and burn more gas. You would probably get the all around performance boost you are looking for by dropping down a pitch. Unless you are already hitting peak RPM. But I have a feeling you aren't. A 90 that's over propped wont be able to achieve 100% of it's HP. A properly propped 90 will have all of it's power available all the time. Tiny increments in throttle will push you further back in your seat and make your passengers giggle. Maybe your rig is set up near perfect and you are just striving for the ultimate sweet spot. I hope you keep this thread updated with your impression of any changes you make. Hopefully you find that sweet spot.

Find some thick sicks. Boots one size larger than "proper" fit. Layers of socks will most likely restrict circulation. The $50 kamik insulated rubber boots and socks with "thermal" or "heat hold" in the name are what I wear. Like others mention - dry the liners after use. Also, don't let your feet get sweaty on your drive to the lake. Running shoes in the car. Damp feet in rubber boots will stay damp and therefore cold all day.

Don't get caught up with number of bearings. Rigidity in the gears is what matters. Which is why a stradic is such a good choice. I'm sure other manufacturers have reels that are as good or better. But adding extra bearings can't make up for flex and play in the inner workings. (Don't trust quantum or okuma spinning reels) If I ever stray from my loyalty to stradics, it will be to upgrade to a sustain or maybe try one of abu or daiwa's higher end reels.

Have you thought about belwood or conestogo lake? Both have bass pike perch crappies and walleye. I have been out on Belwood in strong wind and it only gets choppy in the open middle section. Both lakes have lots of protected shoreline to fish if the wind is howling.

Bass on the lake for sure, good water within a few miles east and west of the river mouth. River is very stained, not ideal bass water. Some backwaters along the river channel are clearer and might be good for bass, haven't tried myself.

Grand river below dunnville dam. 8 or so miles of river to fish. Lots of sheepshead and enough walleye to make it worth fishing for them. If you are into catfish, you can catch bullheads and big channel cats. You also have access to Erie. Best part is that you can always fish the river if the lake is too rough.