Raycaster

Basic Athletic timeline: <20 yrs old - play every sport possible with the body always healing within 24hrs. <30 yrs old - play Slo-Pitch until the wife isn't impressed with the parties. <40 yrs old - Golf until the back and wallet aren't impressed anymore. Present - Fish, Fish, Fish until only trolling and jigging is possible. Future - White sneakers and Black socks playing lawn bowling.

Just an update: Hit Sparrow Lake Sunday morning and I had 2 pike and 2 bass before noon but my buddy had no luck. Left at noon and hit Balsam while the weather unloaded on us. I'm usually on Balsam first week of July and had trouble finding the usually weed beds. Whitecaps stopped any real venturing and I was only able to quickly unhook some OOS bass. The temps dropped to 65 in the lake and between heavy rain and wind we didn't have a lot of luck. Thanks again to all suggestions, much appreciated.

OK, Sparrow lake for starters! Time to look for a launch and motel and Tim's. Again thank you for help guys, I'm more than happy just out fishing but my friend gets out maybe 1-2 a year and is hyper...

Thanks for suggestions guys, appreciated.

Was hitting LSC Sunday Monday but weather says no. Looking for suggestion in Kawarthas (better weather) to catch and release as many PIKE as possible. I have a friend that has the patience of a 5yr old and just want to keep him happy. Was thinking Mitchel/Balsam/Buckhorn but I had a neighbor say Beech Lake was worth the extra hr drive North. Not really looking for monsters, basically quantity over quality. Heading out from Hamilton. Thx ahead.

I feel like a teenager decking out his first Honda Civic but after climbing up the front of my pontoon trailer to load and unload I keep seeing those beautiful new pontoon trailers with the steps built in to the front winch assembly with the blocker pads. Wondering about the cost and availability (Hamilton area) of picking up one. Yes I could have one done for me but if the price isn't too bad then I might be obliged to open the wallet instead. Any pointers to site or shops would be appreciated. Of course if someone has blueprints I might just fire up the welder too...

When I first saw the demo a few days ago I thought it was pretty cool but kept thinking of it hitting into things trying to follow you. Obstacle avoidance would push up the cost for sure. The faq says that there is a button to halt the unit and hover if you feel a collision about to happen.

I'm wondering if this will be the 3rd year in a row I get pulled over on Balsam. The past 2 years being the slowest boat on the lake I'm an easy target while the sea-doo's try to break the water speed record around me. Maybe I'll bring an extra coffee out with me while I'm floating around Ant Island...

So you could use the vexilar almost as a real time viewer for the go-pro if it was mounted right beside the vexilar camera? I thought the video would be a lot darker without lights, were you deep? Very Sunny day? BTW, did you use normal coaxial cable in your go-pro underwater hack or special coaxial cable? Sorry for the onslaught of questions but REALLY interested. Thx for the info

Awesome video, would it be possible to mount the gopro with the vexilar to compare? With the real time feedback on the phone I assume there is a transmitter on the boat relaying the video from underwater? Thanks for the review.

I was about to throw out a 18' dolphino pool when a light bulb went off (a cheap one). I cut the blow up sides off and had it ready for the fall. The vinyl is pretty thick so I just used a couple saw horses and threw the tarp on top. The pool uses heavy bars on each side to stabilize and it did the trick through the winter. I also zigzaged rope around the bottom to prevent the wind causing problems. Works great! BUT... Its a bi$%^&ch to take off as its pretty heavy and stiff in the cold. Might be coming home with me this year when I find a spot in the backyard for it.

1) I'd like to get comfortable with LSC and hone my planar board skills. 2) Help my buddy catch his first musky, he's driving me crazy. 3) Become a better Fall fisherman, being skunked every Fall is embarrassing. 4) If I happen to find my favorite rod/reel I left at the bottom of Balsam last year.... well I'd be a happy camper.

Big thanks to Mike for spending some time with this "musky newbie". Man, I had to get out of there or I would of badgered him all day. I felt like Columbo, " just one more question..." Also thanks out to the Bondy crew for setting me straight with planar board information. Jon spent a good 20 minutes explaining the LSC technique of trolling for the big boys. Pretty amazing being able to talk to the "Pro's" and realize they really do want to help and still enjoy the sport. Lots of great people there and anyone thinking of going should definitely run down asap.

The GoPro Studio software is actually amazing. I use Adobe Premiere/After Effects etc. but besides needing to convert the input video to cineform avi the Free GoPro Studio Software is more than adequate especially for slo mo effects. A 200 lb. power magnet... hmm.... my son has a old metal detector hanging in the garage.. hmm... How far would a normal man go to retrieve a mid-range $250 reel? I do have a friend that scuba dives too.. Man, I have to get a life! MrSimon did you post any video from your underwater gopro pole adventure? Could always mount a GoPro off a trolling cannon ball too but less direction aiming control.

I used it for snorkeling in Tampa and the quality was great. Just wondering about Balsam's water visibility at 12' with healthy weeds. Might need a 12V underwater light since I'd be tethering anyways. Or I could just wait patiently for a awesome ofc member to pm me about possibly lending a Vexilar FishPhone camera for a day or 2...

MrSimon, darn, was actually thinking of running down to Princess Auto and grabbing a cheap pole to mount the camera! Just thought it would be fun playing with and my kids might get a kick out of it. How was the video quality at 10'? Just wondering how dark 10' down in Balsam with the weeds would be and if I could see the bottom.

Mr Simon did you use normal coaxial cable? I have 100's of feet of cable but they seem to use the RG174u stuff? 10 - 15' depths are what I hope for but concerned about visibility and the need of a high power light. Never heard of the loop function - thx - will look into that, probably good as a dashcam util also.

Just got a Hero 4 Silver and happily collecting gadgets for it. (Boy, if only I had a 3d printer!). Tried building a few DIY attachments like a short handle. Saw a nice cannonball idea today I might mod a bit. I really want to try the underwater wifi hack this summer. Rumors of someone losing his favorite reel last year in Balsam... Looking for high power , cheap, cheap, cheap underwater light probably also as Balsam ain't St. Clair for sure.

Thank you for the story, smiled the whole time.

James, I'm no expert but find LSC like most big lakes, its all in the weather and boating smart. LSC is big and not much protection out in the middle. If you have a small boat scout ahead and decide either Mitchel Bay side or Belle River.... not both. On water everything looks so close but your 25hp will tell you another story.

Every year I try to bundle up against the sun fishing and have started wearing long sleeve t-shirts and a rolled up towel around the neck. I've seen video's of the cool young guys wearing complete camo setups which I assume offer great sun protection but damn I'd suffer huge abuse from relatives worse than a sunburn if I tried that! Any suggestions for reasonable priced UV protection wear for fishing? There a few shirts at Sail that looked ok but again pretty much on the flashy side for this old fart. Don't need to look like I'm in the National BassMaster Tourney... Thx ahead.

Thank you for all the replies, I knew the forum was a great place to ask. The idea is many years off and having rented all over for many years I kinda knew the general answer already but the re-enforcements help.

A lot of the members are close with resort owners and have been around a long time to see the ups and downs so I thought I'd post the question here. Retirement is a few years away but I always wondered if semi-retiring by purchasing a resort would be a fiscally responsible idea. I do know it would come with a lot of hard work with probably zero fishing but I've seen resorts further north going for the same price a some luxury single cottages. I also know most renters don't want to drive 5 hours either... I'm a trades guy and could handle the majority of upkeep etc. but what I'm really worried about is the taxes/insurance/licenses etc. Its the bottom line "money spreadsheet" I'm interested in. Are most resort basically just hard work and a break even situation? Thanks guys, yup know the maintenance problems, just would like some "Ballpark figures" on costs and pitfalls. Scare me all you want, hurt me with the truth!

I'm with you Liverelease, worth the drive just for the chance of sneaking a few spots out of him...

Everyone wants justice but isn't that secondary? Having social media point out these offenders and provoke citizen action will hopefully "spawn" future safeguards or at least broader attention. Fines/jail-time won't do much but all the negative attention may prevent future abuses and speed up responses. Sorry for the pun, just wanted to lighten the subject and tip to the positive side of things...