Gerry

Tell me what you're driving, boat wise, so I'll recognize you. I'll be in the white Ranger.

In answer to Dave, your tournament of 6 fish would also need to have a no-cull rule because, as you say, the 7th fish puts you in violation of the law. The law is clear, you now possess 1 fish over limit even if its for a few seconds. This is why all major bass tournaments have a 5 fish limit, the 6th fish caught and culled doesn't put you in violation.

Mountain Home Lodge has new owners this year or last so can't speak to their business manners. The place was good (nice cottage) when a friend stayed there some 10 years ago. I'll be on the south end of the lake from the 20th to the 30th of August.

The fishing has been good this year but the water is quite low....down 3 feet from normal levels.

Where are you staying at red Cedar?

I've got a Honda 3800 electric start, remote start, and it runs my AC fine on my 39 ft Golden Falcon. I've had the Honda for about 6 years now but it replaced another Honda 3500cc that caught fire and destroyed itself .....it was about 8 years old. I've seen/heard the Kippors running and I'm impressed at the low noise, my Honda seems louder.

Bridge, I probably won't be on the lake until sometime Sunday....gotta get the dock ready, etc.. So you're at the north end of the lake while I'm at the south end.

Wayne, you need to hire some help. Heck Lew isn't doing much these days and he can even put out the fires!

Bridge, where are you staying?

One week late but finally, I get to cut myself loose from the office for a bit of R&R. Anyone on the road for the get together, honk if you see me.....black F150 towing a white Ranger. I might pop in at Lakair sometime on the weekend to say hello.

Buffalo dumping grounds.

HiTeresa,

I also grew up in the French River area. Welcome aboard.

The wife and I went through something similar. We paid a handsome price for what we thought would be a mattress to last a very long time only to realize after 3 years that it was terrible. It sagged badly and became quite uncomfortable. So, after experiencing a very comfortable sleep at a Hilton Hotel we decided to buy the same mattress, it's the sleep number bed. It's pricey but after 4 years I have absolutely no regrets. The wife likes a softer mattress while I like a firmer one, and with twin beds not being an option for wifey this was the only choice.

Yup, had that happen to me on a 1996 Johnny 4 stroke....laid it on the wrong side which caused a hydraulic lock. Had to tear it done to clean out the oil that had moved into the top portion of the cylinders. Once I found that out I never placed it on its side again. But, in your case that would be a problem. You might have to build a special cradle to fit in your ATV trailer so that it stays upright. Hey, Wayne can make one for you!

Wayne,

Hope that wasn't one of your customers or a plane that you worked on.

PLane crash

Scotty's are what I have, with auto stop.....they perfrom very well.

OK, finally got a report to give you.....wifey was having too much fun at the lake to call me! Anyway, the water levels have risen a bit but are still quite low. Can't get to some places on the lake and plenty of 'new' hazards. Apparantly, the fishing has been good.

They will nest in wood softened by a water leak and getting rid of them without finding and fixing the problem is futile. I went through this about 10 years ago, I paid handsomely for professionals to spray on 2 occasions and they still returned. Finally, while renovating a washroom we found the nest where they had bored into a 2x4 behind a shower wall. The shower itself had been showing sings of leaking which is why we decided to renovate. We ended up having to cut out the the stud (2x4) placing it in a pail of water and taking the whole thing outdoors. Never had a problem after that but before this we had been battling them for 3 years.

I hear its very low. I'm going up in a couple of weeks so I'll report when I get back. Actually, wifey is up there visiting her mom and she is supposed to go to the lake on the weekend so I'll get a report from her.

Very tragic indeed, and it didn't have to happen. My condolences.

I agree that the new law might not have prevented this individual from ignoring the law and meeting his subsequent demise. But, and a very BUT, isn't doing something better than doing nothing? A new law making the wearing of PFDs would create awareness and might have prevented this drowning. For we "more enlightened people", the new law would have no adverse effect...... it would certainly not make us remove the PFDs!

I always wear mine when the main engine is running. This is a rule in tournaments and I just got used to it. I think it is a good idea and long overdue, but only for boats under a certain size, like 22 ft or so. Lets face it, we all said the same when seat belts were made mandatory.

If you're fishing the Great lakes, electrics are the only option. Imagine hooking into a 30lb salmon and he decides he wants to take you to Toronto and then at the flip of a switch he turns and head towards Rocehster....you and your partner don't have the time to be fidling with cranking a manual downrigger. I had manuals (way back in the 1996) and that was a big mistake. I currently have Scotty Pro Packs and they are sweet. As for making small (tiny) adjustments, the Scotty's make those at the touch of a button.

I'm with Dutch, the 31 series offers the most amp hours and this what you want for trolling motor applications. Trojan, IMO, are the best but they are heavy. Also, the link about battery info is a good read to properly understand how the various types of batteries work.

Battery Info

Trojan Batteries

Long term parking lot B is $50 US a week, I think......they raised the prices a bit as of April 1st. They have shuttles to take you to the terminal. Easy and as convenient as using the Park N Go (or whatever they are called now) across the street.

Lew,

It's from Bigfoot. Here, someone got a pic of him doing it!

Whenever I'm asked for advise by a newbie (and yes, I was one once too) I always say that before taking the boat to the ramp for the first time, they should go to a ramp with the sole purpose of observing. I also say that it if you have an experienced partner it should take less than 1 minute to launch and less than 3 minutes to pull out. I stress that it's important to not impede others from using the ramp if you are not yet ready and to vacate the ramp as soon as possible. If you don't have an experienced partner then take the time to teach that person some of the basics of backing up and/or in handling the boat.

I agree with the other poster in offering assistance to those who are new to the game, but I do so mostly in educating them (in a polite way) about 'ramp ethics'. Sometimes it's maddening to put up with people who don't care to learn, it's also quite humorous at other times.

Why pay $100 to see a live comedy show when you can have as much (or more) fun just sitting at a boat ramp for an hour or so. Have a look at these clips: