Raycaster

Drain hole. I will look into the helicoil info, thx.

Just went to finish a oil change on my 2003 Mercury 25hp and as I went to snug up the oil drain plug it stripped! Didn’t crank on it or anything, just wanted hand tight till I could go grab my torque wrench for exact specs. The last thing I want is the boat in the shop for the winter under repair or the hefty bill with it. It was a SIMPLE oil change! Done it many times! Got a Nipissing trip in a few weeks. Ft%#$k. Has Anyone here solved this in past? Quick research - longer bolt, extra washer, insert threads, rubber bolt, gunk. Anyhelp greatly appreciated,

Heading up to Lavigne 2nd week of September and its been over 10yrs since visiting. Cache Bay was SUPER thick but awesome and wondering how its changed over the years. We were barely able to get a boat in last time and had to deweed the prop every 5 minutes. We will be hitting the usual spots on nipissing (and not destroy a prop again) but Cache Bay was were we learned how fish in weeds BIG TIME!

I agree on the sizes as this is the first year bringing in the “babies”. South Bay has been a bust so far so West Bay tomorrow and then the provincial park area. On another note, didn’t take a picture but one of the pike had the “black dot parasites”. Looked like a healthy young 16” pike and the black dots looked natural. Looked it up and its a common parasite problem that doesn’t seem to affect the fish. I was just about to toss back in when the dots caught my eye. They look so natural and kinda blend into the pattern.

Up on Balsam I came across a location that I have been crushing the pike. The location features 6-9 fow with heavy weeds and Looks ideal for pike. So after 3 days I have totalled over 20 pike (around 8 hrs total) in the hot location BUT they are ALL under 18”. I have yet to catch anything worth filleting. My question is…. Have I just been extremely unlucky or is this a typical situation that young separate from older (bigger) pike? Or is it simply the fact that the younger are easier to catch? Thx ahead..

Looks like a easy enough piece to make but might be better served to just replace with full sets. Thx guys.

Thx guys.

Got this boat last year used and it has 2 fasteners secured that I assume are for bumpers. Can’t seem to find the matching connectors online (getting old). If anyone uses them and can point me in the right direction I’d appreciate it. Thx.

I’m getting more comfortable on Lake Ontario and have been seeing success with Salmon/trout trolling but its time for Balsam for a few weeks. I guess I’m in the 1% of guys really targeting Pike. If a wally.bass or Musky come along thats great too but I enjoy Pike. South Bay and Ant Island is my usual go to but have started patrolling the shores to Coboconk. Any success stories recently on Balsam would be appreciated.

Picked up from Sail today, sales rep tried but without receipt SOL, I get it… Trying Rapala Canada but doesn't look good so far.

I have a cheap Rapala Trolling reel that has a broken spool. Bought it for under a $100 a few months back at Sail the receipt is long gone so Sail tried but basically SOL. Only used 3 times and when It seemed “locked up” yesterday and unusable so I took to Sail for a look. They were great, took it apart to see the plastic spool had cracked and the line just wedged in. It worked great last week so this is a surprise. I think it has landed 1 12lbs salmon but nothing huge. Sorry to make a big story out of a cheap reel but just wondering if anyone has tried warranty stuff with Rapala Canada and if its worth it for this “economical” reel. I will probably fire off a email and maybe check if I can find a replacement spool. Thx ahead.

I had 2 sets of windows sills at the back of the house that needed replacing after the majority of bricks cracked. Either the house shifted or there was never enough slope for drainage. Anyways, I had left over matching bricks from converting my 2 door garage to a single...( to get my boat in of course ). Well I replaced all the broken bricks and tired to keep as clean as possible but there is a "glaze" of mortar from my messy job covering most of the bricks. I tried washing with a hose and soft brushing it off after the bricks dried but there is still a glaze. Do I have to just keep repeating till its gone or do I have to use acid? Soap? Any help appreciated..Thx ahead.

I took my remote apart originally to look for damage and it appeared flawless. No water, no corrosion, no burnt parts...perfect. Instead of replacing I finally hit a site that mentioned the dimensions are slightly different and the contact areas don’t 100% match. The positive pad varies in size etc. I took out the digital calibers and found this to be true but never seemed enough to cause contact problems but switching different brands with slightly different forms did fix my problems. I found it was hit or miss and $$$ wasn’t a factor. It could be cheap sunbeams or expensive energizer, the exact form design was the ticket. Find 2 that work and put the spare in the tackle box!

Im with Dave on saving money but last year my remote was acting up (turning off quickly, not connecting etc.). Some sites were saying that the different brands have slightly different dimensions causing some remotes not to work properly.

Headed out of Jordon (water low so launch process was sketchy and slow) but I was the only one there so no hurry. Water was a little choppy to start but smoothed out at 10am for a perfect day. Started season losing the downrigger ball right away so dipseys and shallow water it was... One day I will tell the story of when a first mate reads you the water temp 57F instead of the water depth 35ft... I was given the old Walker downrigger last year so the line needed replacing anyways. I headed south and zigzagged 40ft to 70ft and the sonar was empty most of the day. No fish, slight sunburn but overall a good day considering what its like out right now.

First launch of season, any tips? Its my 2nd season on Lake Ontario and still learning the ropes. My plans are to stay shallow. Any help always appreciated.

I think most guys look at their wallet to see the biggest possible! I was guilty.

I think the “ballpark” quote when looking for a trolling motor is 2lbs thrust for every 100lbs of boat weight. Please don't quote me on that... You wont be breaking speed records for sure.

And then you have to factor in boat size, wind, current.

I 100% agree with Fisherman too. I went down the rabbit hole trying to figure out the math and was shocked that it didnt even come close to adding up. There is a youtube or 2 of electric small boats zooming around but they have roofs with a dozen panels. A small trolling motor can draw over 30 amps easy...

Update: Got a email from FlexAFab"The order has been cancelled". Waiting on Parker Plastic estimate, thinking it just might be too small a project during covid when every company is scrambling for kiosk screens etc. May give P & A Plastics a call to at-least order the material as it may end up being a DIY in the end. Boats not going anywhere anyways so no monster rush, still have a 3 level deck project going in the backyard so I'm a little busy.

If you are getting really bored.... pick up some prime lenses! I have been out of the dslr game for awhile but I always remember my 135 Prime needing zero photoshop time. For hockey or baseball the 400 4.0 rocked too.

Thx Dan, sent a quote request Friday so hopefully they will get back to me next week.

Its a fairly simple DIY project but $300 or so for a decent replacement isn't bad. Hopefully Parker Plastics will get back to me...

Thx guy, will inquire now. Only 1hr drive, perfect.