Wymen

Thanks for all of the feedback folks. I was thinking something by Peche Island but I agree, if its a busy day there is going to be a crazy number of wakes. I also have a small trolling motor on the back, so hopefully that will help. BTW, do you know if there is anyone in that area that rents boats? Wymen

Hey There, Anyone know how fast is the current on Detroit River? I was thinking of doing a canoe trip but could only find a single access point. Is the current slow enough to be able to paddle back upstream to the access point? Or should I do more research and try to find another access point further down stream?

Got the same type but in a HT. Lebarons has them for $150 but they are on backorder which means it could arrive in June. Regarding anchoring it down... Unless its windy, i dont bother.. but you gotta be careful because winds picked up fast on Simcoe and blew the damn thing over when we were fishing inside. must have been a sight to see - us chasing the damn thing and putting it back up in the wind.. I have no problems with the ice anchors. They hold like a charm. Just a pain to drill in. I agree with the other suggestions, that a Clam is the most convenient, but when you dont have a sled to pull it out, every pound counts. Mine is about 22lbs and with all my gear Im probably pulling 50-60, and thats already hard work. I cant imagine pulling 100lbs+ with a clam setup. BTW pop up is easy. It takes a while to get used to the takedown. Take my advice and do a few take downs at home, or else you may find yourself like me fumbling and cursing in the dark trying to figure out how the f* every bends back together... No fun at all, when a squall kicks up... The other thing Id get is a blunt spade. Rapala makes a good folding one. The reason is that the snow and ice you put on the flap of the base of the hut tends to freeze - especially when you have a heater running in the hut. Ive had some days Ive struggled just trying to dig myself out. Wymen

Hey there I'm planning on buying a boat next year and I'm looking for storage options. I live in mississauaga so I was wondering what my options are? I'm also interested in hearing how the rest of you city folks store all of your toys. I want to get an atv or sled for the hard water season but storage is the common issue. Wymen

Hey Guys, I'm fishing Balsam for walleye later this week and I just wanted to double check the slot limits for walleye. Zone 17 says, 35-50cm, but there is an exception for Balsam for none between 37-50cm. Does that mean that the exception over-rides the regular rule? B/c it doesn't make sense for both of them to apply - a range of 35-37cm?? Wymen

For flies I use a wool pouch. The wool wicks the water out. It should work the same way. Wymen

So I picked up a St Croix Legend Extreme ML spinning rod for walleye fishing. Paired with Power Pro braid tipped with Flurocarbon, I can feel everything! I have a St Croix Legend Tournament M spinning rod and it seems like there is a world of a difference. What I was wondering is if I'm going to feel that type of sensitivity if I move up to a MH casting rod. Or will the sensitivity lessen due to a stiffer rod? Wymen

If you want St Croix gear, JBs Fishing Depot is where you want to be. http://www.jbsfishingdepot.com/ Wymen

Nice.. Maybe I won't have to wait until Humminbird releases a portable sonar with down imaging in color... This just opens up a lot of options..

Hey Guys, Just wondering if any of you have made a "boat mounted" fish finder /w a transom mount transducer portable? I'm figuring get a 12v gel battery for power. A heavy duty suction cup for the transducer mount. Some sort of wood frame to mount the battery and unit to. Am I missing something? Wymen

This towing issue has also been concerning me and I'm still on the fence. I have mid-size passenger car, but it does have 4 wheel drive and I have concerns if it can tow a 15' or 16' boat /w gear and I'm trying to keep the weight <1200lbs to be safe. Tow rating for my car according to european specs is 2500lbs.. North American specs does not mention a thing... Dealer says a light load should be ok... (whatever that means) Same concerns as what a lot of people have mentioned. - Tranny & brake wear due to excessive load. - traction and power when launching IMO short drives vs long trips shouldn't matter. The various parts of your car are still getting damaged. It should be more along the lines of how frequent you plan on towing the boat. If its once in a while, the damage will be minimal. But if its frequent, even short trips will start to show damage. Wymen

Keep in mind that some rental facilities will require a license. The 15 point checklist puts the responsibility on the business renting you the boat, making them liable for your actions. I'd figure that businesses renting boats on larger bodies of water with higher HP boats will want a license. IMO There are a lot of idiots on the water and I don't think a 15 point checklist will sufficiently educate people.

Saw some of the "discounted prices" - they look awfully close to LeBarons every day pricing. Its one of those holy crap, that's how much margin CTC is making, moments. B/c you gotta believe that they are still making money on these sales.

Went out yesterday and I must say it walking was a lot easier than I expected. If you're boots are water proof and you have cleats you are gold! 1-2" of slush and water, some areas 3" of water, but there's at least 18" of ice. Walked out to fox island. Pulling ~50lbs of gear wasn't actually that bad. I think the water created some buoyancy offsetting the weight. Only downside was no whitefish / lakers for me. I think I got some rises but they weren't interested. The final draw was around lunch Sat when it seemed like I was in the middle of a motocross. Ended moving anyway from everyone to catch some dinner (perch). Sonar didn't mark anything at first, but once I dropped my swedish pimple down, the screen just turned red. Can you say active feeding or what! Drop hook down, bring fish up. All the perch coming up were puking mouth fulls of small 2-3cm fish things... looked a little more developed than fry... Around 4ish, everyone left... I went back 90FOW to try my luck again. Jumped 4-5 abandoned holes and couldn't mark a thing. BTW, I have to say thank you to the guy in the blue 8man hut driving that pickup truck who had offered a ride back. But out of wanting to at least get some exercise since I didn't catch fish I declined... Although I did regret the decision... (I didn't quite realize I came that far out)... :-) Nevertheless, I appreciated the offer!!! Wymen

Hey Guys, Any suggestions on where to get bait on the Keswick side of Simcoe?

I wasn't impressed about the service at Wilson's either. On the 3 occasions that I went in, it seemed like they have no clue what they are talking about. Kinda scary considering the cost of the rods.

Grey's GRXI is decent. If you're in Mississauga you should swing by With a Fly Tackle Shop and Angelo will take care of you. Keep in mind that you can't compare the pricing structure of bass rods and fly rods. B/c there are so many more people bass fishing (non fly fishing) they are able to mass produce rods which drives the price down. $200 buys you an awesome tourney series bass rod, but I'm not sure how much selection you're gonna get with fly rods. Keep in mind that decent line like Sharkskin is already gonna cost you $100... Like many of the other suggestions the best is to actually cast the rod. Sounds like you already have line and reel... so I would bring that to the store with you and do a few casts. that's the only way you're going to feel the rod.. BTW I picked up a smuggler (5pc) 8wt Hardy Gem and it complements my 4wt 3pc Hardy Gem. I love casting both of those rods, but for some of my friends those rods are slightly too slow. I also don't even feel a difference with the 5pc vs 3 pc but this rod is has spigot connections.

Hey Bill, I have almost the same finder as you less the GPS and I'm still not sure if I am reading it properly. Is the school of fish the yellow / green band in the middle or is it the clutter on the bottom?

Oh you're fishing all the way over there. I thought you meant east side of Cook's Bay. So I guess Cook's Bay is full of dinks.

Any suggestions on depth & access points on the east side of the bay?

How much more north? Innisfil Park?

So I've been fishing the Lefroy / Gilford area and I can't seem to hit any jumbo (12"+) perch. Is it just me or do I just suck? :-) I can pull in buckets of 5-6" perch but I can't seem to get anything larger. I've fished 35FOW, 42FOW, 48FOW. I've used moonshines, rapalas ice jigs, swedish pimples ranging from 1/16th to 1/4oz. I fish off the bottom unless I mark a school in the mid column. Any suggestions? By the way, does anyone know if winter perch pods consist of a variety of sizes and sexes or do they form pods of approx the same size? B/c I'm finding that all of the perch I'm hitting are males - which would account for them being small. Wymen

Just to give an update... I changed the blades and everything is like new! When I compared the new blades with the old blades.... I found that the old blades did not curve the same way as the new blades. Looks like the apex of the curve was flatten ever so slightly. With regards to sharpness, both were about the same. Who would think that something as simple as an auger contains such precision. I bet that angle was off 3-5° and it threw everything off. I doubt sharpening would have done anything. I think you would need to regrind the blades back to that angle for it to work properly again and I bet it'll require some pretty customized machinery to get the right curve and angles. With this said, I bet there was a whole host of things that I may have done to throw the blades out of whack. I bet if you drop the auger onto the blade any higher than 4-5" would compromise the blades. (just to give a benchmark of how much force is needed to warp the blade). Anyways, Thanks for all of the suggestions! Wymen

What do you mean the head? Is it the part where the blades are bolted on to? I had tightened the bolts before heading back out this weekend and the auger was pretty much useless. I ended up loosen the blades and it seemed to cut better. Is there any chance that I could have warped the part where the blades get mounted to? Wymen

I'm leaving sharpening the blades myself as a last resort, especially if I use a stone b/c I'm quite sure I'll end up damaging them. Looking at the blades it looks like there is a few burrs. I think I'm going to try re-aligning the edge with leather first (kinda what you do with the old shaving razors). If that doesn't work I think I'll move to a honing rod that I use on kitchen knives... The sharpening stone is absolutely last resort...