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I recently bought a 16 foot princecraft. It came with a 25hp Johnson 2 stroke tiller. The boat weighs 575lbs according to the princecraft catalog. Add batteries gear etc and it's probably close to 750lbs. Add myself and a passenger, now well over 1000lbs. It actually scoots along pretty good. Getting up around 25mph on the GPS. Hole shot is not great. And in order to get up on plane quick, I need to have weight in the bow (fill the livewell or get buddy to sit up front) The boat is rated for a 40. So I'm at 62.5% of rated maximum. A 30 would put me at 75% and if I could find a 35 I would be at 87.5% So, my questions... Will I notice a big difference going up to a 30? Or am I better off to be looking for a 35 or 40? Thanks for any input you can offer. I'm very happy with my new rig. Not looking to be the fastest 16 footer on the water, just looking to boost performance a little.

I bet a worm under a slip float set at 40 ft would get a fish sooner or later.

Mepps spinners. Rapala husky jerks and x-raps. Brown, green, white, grey tube jigs and grubs. Spend $100 on a variety of the mentioned baits and you will have a good start. Bass aren't super picky. Big ones are harder to catch consistently. I've never fished Baptiste but I imagine that working shoreline structure and the edges of weed beds would be your best bet for action. Good luck and have fun on your vacation.

Gbay giant. I applaud your dedication to sharing the facts regarding medical use. Please forgive me for commenting on recreational use. But I have read a few posts in this discussion that offend me. I am not addicted to weed. I am a 40 year old manufacturing technologist and have been a recreational user for the last 22 years. I am not a "loser" and people that know me would agree that I am successful. Cigarettes, coffee, fishing. These are things that I am addicted to. I've gone weeks without weed and suffered zero withdrawal. I'm sure I could quit cigarettes and coffee too. But any time I've tried, the urge brings me back. Quit fishing? Never gonna happen. Lol. I know people that are drug addicts. They feel the need to be high all the time. At some point in their lives, they all experimented beyond the herb. If they continued using "hard" drugs, I doubt they would be able to hold down jobs. These people are able to keep thir urges in check by using marijuana. They know that the high isn't the one they are striving for. But it satisfies the urge and allows them to stay above level. One of these friends educated me on his addiction and it really helped me understand how hard drug users function. They rarely have money and holding down a job is a reality that they soon give up on. Recreational use allows people like me to relax and chill. It allows people with strong addictions to get a high that satisfies their addiction and helps them forget about the high that they were craving.

I fished there years ago. We stayed near Hunters narrows at white birch point camp. We never had much luck fishing for walleyes during daytime. Sundown was when we would get into them. The few walleyes we did catch during the day were caught downrigging for Lakers. 25 to 30 feet down on 3" spoons. Back then our walleye fishing was heavily reliant on live bait. Worms and leeches. We would typically anchor and jig next to the boat. Lots of known sunset hotspots. I'm sure you have noticed boats stacking up late in the day. We did find a few spots of our own back in coves. But always seemed to do better when we joined the masses in the community holes.

I don't think you need g3 waders. Freestone are about half the price. Dry them out after every trip. In two seasons grab another set. Keep the old ones as back ups. Breathable waders are very easy to repair. Unless it's the boot foot. The neoprene booties and seams on simms waders are very durable.

If I were targeting LM away from shore I would be looking for weedbeds. Good ones will have edges that end where "open water" starts. Smaller isolated patches close to the big beds are prime. Without sonar it will be tough to find all the weedbeds. Shallow stuff will be obvious. Deeper weeds should be visible if you are wearing polarized glasses. Keep the boat moving slowly while you pick apart a big bed. Keep scanning for the smaller isolated patches and pitch your soft plastic when you see one. Don't forget to let a bait like a Senko sink all the way to the bottom. They aren't a great bait for covering water. But if you put it near a hungry bass and give it a little time to investigate you will have success. You should always have a moving bait on at least one rod while fishing for bass. Swimbaits squarebills topwater chatterbaits jerkbaits crankbaits and old faithful spinnerbaits will all work to cover water and allow you to relax a bit. Pitching plastics and staying patient is tough some days. So mix it up and have that Senko rod ready to go at all times.

The water looks gin clear. I can't even imagine how crazy it would be to hook up with such a colourful fish in water like that. Good for you bunk. Photos and memories are great but the experience itself is the best part. Something tells me there will be many more char experiences shared. You sir are ruined. I can see that being very addictive.

I do a bit of summertime wet wading in some local rivers. Waders are not an option unless I know I'll be in the shade the whole time. My solution to keep gravel out of my boots and protection while walking through long grass works very well. Quick drying pants. Neoprene socks. Wading boots. Sponge chord. The sponge chord is pretty much a stretchy foam string. Once I've got my boots on I tie the sponge chord around my ankles to keep my pants secure to my boots. No sand or gravel in my boots now. No leeches either. If you don't have sponge chord you could likely use a piece of string with the same results. I like the chord because it has some stretch and seems to really grab onto my pant legs. Tie up once and forget about it for the rest of the day.

Take a photo of your broken bracket. Post it on this thread. You may get some insight as to why it happened as well as possible alternative solutions.

You don't necessarily need to spend a ton of money to get into musky fishing. You can probably pick up a new heavy action rod in the $100 range. Get a good reel. No matter what! Buying a new reel will eat up a lot of cash... But there's good deals to be had on quality used gear. Guys are always upgrading. Keep that in mind if you plan on fishing musky as a way to mix things up. You can always add to and upgrade your arsenal as you go. I would suggest having some kind of a plan for how you will net, unhook and release a giant if you manage to get one on the line. I don't target musky because I'm not equipped and I would feel awful if I killed one because I wasn't prepared. Your gentle release of the injured bass tells me you feel the same way.

If you are planning to pair the reel with a rod that's tip heavy then FJ for sure. I found it hard to find rods that balance with a CI4. Personal preference... I have 5 FJ's and 3 CI4's. Great reels. Worth the money. And if you can get one for a big discount, that's the one to buy. You won't be disappointed with an FJ on any rod. A CI4 should go on something extremely light to get the max benefit.

High capacity auto or even semi-auto rifles are not necessary for hunting. So why is a weapon like this available to anyone other than military or law enforcement?

I don't think it actually has built in GPS receiver. Probably uses cell towers to triangulate your position. As long as you have a data connection or WiFi, it will communicate with the towers and show roughly where you are. As long as you aren't concerned about using lots of data, it should work for your purposes. You just need to set your phone as a mobile hot-spot and connect the tablet with WiFi. I'd consider a dashboard or handheld GPS over using the tablet. But the tablet does have a nice big screen...

If you can find a place nearby that makes metal signs for businesses you could probably convince someone to cut a nice piece for you from the scrap bin. Likely made out of the same kind of steel they use for street signs.

I believe this past Saturday was February 27. Nice video though.

Looks like another winner for the rapala lineup. Got to hand it to them. Smart marketing. I have this feeling they will be great multi species baits.

I tried shore fishing on the grand river yesterday. Water was up and moving pretty quick. Out of the blue, a large flow of broken ice drifted down river. Something upstream must have let go. I can imagine it would be tough to paddle through a mess of ice like that. It's always sad to hear about a tragedy such as this one. This pair of kayakers were out trying to have a little fun on a nice winter day. One mistake or sudden change in conditions can quickly ruin a fun day. I suspect one of them got into a bit of trouble and the other tried to help. Please don't judge them. Look at the people in your life that you care about and consider how you would feel if you lost a loved one that took a risk and made a mistake. My condolences go to the families.

Not sure what condition the Thames is in. As of 2pm today, Nith river looks like a tims ice coffee. Grand is up and green color. I haven't ever put in much time on the Thames. I fish the grand a lot. So far just 1 pike in 2016. No walleyes yet. Will be interesting to see how the last few weeks of the season play out. I remember having a few good days on the grand just before the season closed 3 or 4 years ago. Edit to add: I'm heading out to a spot on the grand right now to see if I can get a bite or two.

I remember way back seeing pictures of a trout that had swam through a discarded six pack ring. The fish got stuck but didn't seem to mind. Eventually someone caught it and thought it would be a nice gesture to free it from the plastic. The cut/ scar that was left looked a lot like this pikes scars. If I had to guess, that pike has been swimming around wearing a plastic bag or with a piece of line wrapped around it. It recently freed itself and now has scars as evidence. No one will ever really know what happened to this pike. If it's over 30" long and escaped the jaws of something bigger?? Wow! How big is that something bigger??

Not the best time of year to target pike in your area. The best spots on the river will be frozen very soon. The spots you mentioned are all good. One thing I have learned is that the pike are usually close to shore in these areas. Large minnows under a float are probably your best bet for numbers.

Thick wool socks are the best ones to wear. The " toe grabber" foot warmers on top of your foot work pretty good. Don't tie your boots real tight.

I started flipping manually to eliminate "wind knots". Don't know what a wind knot is? It usually happens when fishing with braided line on a windy day. You cast, turn handle to close bail and the rotor turns winding line onto the spool. The very first wrap will sometimes end up with a small amount of slack that sticks out to the side of the spool. On your next cast, this slack will sometimes slip off the spool before the line laying on top of it. The end result is a tangle that may require scissors to fix. If you have 150 yards of line on your reel, you can empty it pretty quickly with a couple bad wind knots. My manual bail flip is almost seamless. When my lure hits the water my right index finger grabs the line and pulls it tight. Left hand taps the bail arm closed and then quickly pulls the line tight as I release index finger and move my rod into retrieval position. Haven't had a wind knot in probably 7 or 8 years. I imagine the other manual flippers here are doing something very similar to what I described.

I have had good experiences with all shimano reels I've used. My feelings towards braid on a spinning reel is go higher end. They take the abuse braid dishes out. If I were spooling up mono or flouro a symmetre or saros would be my choice

I love fishing. I love seeing pictures of big fish. I'd much rather be out there fishing than browsing the Internet drooling over someone else's pictures. Your reports / reviews are always loaded with good information and of course lots of pictures. Thank you for taking the time. If I had just purchased a lodge or fishing resort, I would want to have someone like you come for a week and review my operation. I somehow doubt you are being paid to visit these outposts. I hope you get a discount. I can't imagine funding your adventures. Whatever the case, you have put in your time and it's obvious that you are well respected in the greater fishing community. Keep up the good work.