Raycaster

I logged in no problem at home on my tablet but once on the water with no data I no longer had access to my account. I will try to replicate it turning the wifi off at home but currently installing OPENCPN right now on tablet. Hope everyone is right and I screwed up.

Out on Lake Ontario Sunday I decide to turn on my tablet with navionics to check contours. I have a paid subscription and have had the navionic app for years. Navionic forces users to now pay yearly for features most wont use. Yes, I don’t have to subscribe and I can use old maps but Navionics conveniently disables Raymarine sonar integration also... THIS WAS NEVER A PAID FEATURE to begin with! Anyways, guess what? The boating map now requires DATA for you to login! So without data it is non functional. Navionics kindly allows me to start a “free trial” if I wish though. Yes I can hotspot from my phone but that is not the point. What are they thinking? Piracy protection? Selling our user info? I dont get it... Im so angry. Ok end of rant.

Thanks for the help guys. Maybe trolling in tight with dipseys will be plan for the day.

Just started fishing Lake Ontario mid summer and while still a beginner was hoping to hit Bronte area this weekend. Don’t mind getting SKUNKED (Im good at it), but is there still fishing action right now? I usually troll between 100-175 fow with the down-rigger and maybe a dipsey. Any help appreciated, thx.

I have been lucky enough to be out with Ian a few times. Yup, he’s awesome and knows the lake 100%. He has a good youtube channel with lots of good info too.

I have never stayed at the Provincial Park but with covid thought pitching a tent overnight might be a neat idea. Looking at bringing up boat for just 1 night. Probably a cold night but do able. Anyone done this? Any insight appreciated.

I have a small Raymarine 4” Fishfinder that works great and purchased it with the thought of just using a cheap “ 10” tablet with it. It works together with Navionics but there are many glitches and I find I don”t need 75% of the navionics features I pay for yearly. The problem with navionics is that everyone says you don’t need to pay for updated maps yearly (which is true) BUT they remove options (that originally were FREE) like being able to co-exist with my Raymarine unit. Still not sure if I will buy an external gps for my iPad(no real gps included) or just buy a android tablet (Samsung Tab A 10”). I have played with OpenCPN on my laptop which is free but looks like there is still a need to purchase the “good maps” for comparable use like the navionic app. Being a geek I could see myself putting 2 tablet side by side - 1 with mapping (OpenCPN) and 1 with Sonar from the raymarine unit. I would buy a “headless” sonar unit if cheap enough with side and down image functions. I know alot of guys will laugh at all the unneeded electronics but I enjoy it and its <$500 comparable to $1000s on pro setups.

Awesome, I was hoping they weren’t sold out.

Ancaster

I’m a little slow today misfish, shingling roof is killing me! BTW, forgot how crummy photos are rendered on forum sites! My images were tack sharp but look muddy here...

misfish, I think mixed low lighting (tungsten/florescent etc.) plus the need for high speed shutter plus the need for good timing makes indoor gym shots tough. Trying to get a good action shot eg. volleyball spike/block in a old high school gym really pushes a starting photographer with "starter" equipment.

I took a course at a local college a few years back and it really was beneficial. The course was “dry” BUT the instructor set it up that studentS were required every week to complete a photo assignment. Eg. macro one week and motion blur the next. I’m a geek so I had YouTubed ever tutorial for my camera and had watched them all. I was a “know it all” until I actually had To do it! Sure I know how to produce an image at night with trailing Car light lines, BUT now I had to prove it. It forced me to put my knowledge to practical Use and actually read the manual. This was a huge eye opener and humbling but forced me to truly grasp the topics. The other learning I can’t stress enough is to get out there and practice in all lighting. Everyone can take a great picture outdoors in cloudy weather but what about sports shots in a dark gym that needs high speed? Being able to go in manual mode and adjust on the fly aperture/speed/iso/white balance is harder than it looks. Also, learn the basics of photoshop. These pics from Marineland and African Lion Safari.

These are $1.50 at Dollarama and work great for tarps or boat covers. Saw the 4 pack at Sail for $8 so a decent deal. Its in the camping stuff.

Unfortunately life has got in the way with a “small shingle problem (12 bundles)” for the house so I may be delayed trying out the trim theory.

LostChild, the color is aged but tan/brown seems to be a trim guage wire. I have left them unattached as the engines has been running perfect. Every bit of logic points to them being connected together but until I see a tech give me the ok I will leave well enough alone. The trim Control on the engine and on the throttle work 100% and I dont have a trim guage on my console so I black taped them apart.

Update. Took a peek and drilled a 2” circle in the storage floor. 1) Foam not saturated. 2) Floor frame makes it almost impossible to remove and fix any cracks. 3) Removing engine, flipping hull over and aluminum brazing any Hull crack is the only real option. The thought of removing foam to get at any cracks is a non-starter. Do able but so is building an Egyptian pyramid. The boat only had a few cups of water in it after a week in the water, not enough even to use bilge. The epoxy patch seems fine for now and if needs yearly touchups its acceptable. The main problem of the lean is probably as most have mentioned caused by the console and fat driver on the right side in a basically oversized jonboat. The cutout is being properly fixed with marine adhesive and rivets.

Like several guys here I have been a navionic user since the beginning. Early adopters have gone through many ups and downs, including Navionics “version updating” requiring purchasing the same app multiple times. Still to this day I swear the original app from years ago was the best. Navionic is again “updating” and soon will require you to login online etc. My cell coverage sucks and can just imagine the headaches this will cause again. Yes the new versions have some nice features but it still clobbers you with dumb stuff like constantly asking to updates maps while on the water etc. with limited data. The notification wont go away and takes up 25% of the screen. This is a typical Overkill procedure that you just put up with. At least it doesn't clobber you with addon ads like it did a year or so back. A nice new feature is only 1 license is required for your android and ios device. I have a android phone and ipad on board. Remember iPads are useless unless you teather wifi on the boat or have a iPad with gps (only cell enabled ipad). Keeping the iPad out of sunlight and having a power supply (usb cigarette lighter Adapter etc.) make the iPad quite usable. Navionic still clobbers me on the iPad disabling paid features because my Raymarine unit does not have a updated navionic chip. I use WiFish on my iPad for big screen but because of the non-updated unit chip things are wonky. ANYWAYS, after all the rants I still use the navionics app as it works ok and $35 a year is ok for the piece of mind it provides (most of the time). Many people here love the app and I don’t want to step on their toes but I sure have a love/hate relationship with the mobile app.

Awesome David. The lake has kinda shut down for us, even this morning just a few baby pike and small bass. South Bay has been a ghost town which was our “go to” for sure pike action. As you said with 76 degrees surface maybe 12ft + for anything worth cooking. Also spent an hour over at provincial but first timer and was chasing weeds beds in to the middle of the lake. The mounds of Grand towards South Bay were marking Wally for sure but no takers. Will try again tonight solo.

I too love the 5 fillet approach but to me it works better with larger pike as the top of y bone is tight to the shoulders on small pike. A large pike for my non-surgeon hands is perfect to perform the “ 5 boneless filet” pike technique. I know veterans can get 2x as much meat off than me but when you only filet 10 pike a year the 5 filet way is simple quick and no hassle.

On Balsam this week and really just targeting pike and bass so far. Cant complain about the action but besides a decent 3lb bass all the pike really small. I have caught over 15 “snot rockets” so far and only kept 3. 1 Wally 17” that got tossed back off Grand Island. South Bay pretty quiet along with Ant Island but shores to Coboconk busy. The provincial Park is next target. I know a lot here don’t target pike but we usually go for quantity over quality for a big fish fry on the weekend. Thursday or Friday will chase the wallys...

If anyone is still looking just msg me and I will send the amazon link. I was able to order on Amazon for 43.70 (taxes & shipping included) and arrived in 2 days! I will try to keep dry for sure!

BillM, I actually have 2 old downriggers on “permanent loan”. 1 has a head on it missing parts so the wire jumps out and I only have a 3lb ball so the units have been kicking my butt so far. I had a ball running 50ft behind the boat at 2.2mph and wire jumping off and the wire singing so loud I had to ABORT the downrigger trials. The ball was so light with a flasher I couldn’t even tighten the lines properly for a nice Rod arc. I swapped parts to get 1 unit working 100% and a 10lb ball is on its way. I’m very close to getting it fine tuned ready for action. I have to adjust rod holders in the boat also but very close. My last concern is the wire seems “loopy” and should be replaced also. The wallet slows down the fixes but it will get done. I have a second release to stack 2 lines so I am close. If stacking with a 15-20 ft to difference to avoid tangles would you have the first line deep (eg. 70ft where I saw huge marks) and 1 line above thermocline (eg. 30ft)? Every video keeps repeating to find 42 to 48 degrees and setup there but I have seen Huge arcs at 70. These arcs are big and show nice thick profiles with colouring compared to the usual thin arcs above.

Misfish, you read my mind.

Just wondering, does anyone use the "Off Shore Tadpole Magnum Diving Weight OR36". They seem to be able to get down to 50ft etc.

From what I have seen from other older boats is that the Expanding foam Injected eventually will become saturated if soaked for a long time. I am not 100% sure on my boat frame but most are sectioned off for strength underneath. This is all speculation as I have not seen any build pics or info. I may take a peak in the winter as shifting everything in the boat to the left side still doesn’t level the boat even with a full live well, 2 27 batteries and 80 minn Kota on the left side. I do realize the boat is shallow so even if the foam is soaked on the right side it shouldn’t be a huge weight but given there is only one console and starboard has a wider gunwale the boat would have a natural starboard tilt especially with a 200lb driver. If bored I may cut a bit in the winter for a peek. Secondly patching the front right hole inside would be reassuring for the next year.