John Bacon

Ironically, they were still only 2 for 9 with men in scoring position last night.

Thanks, does it look like the one in the first link below; or like the 2nd link? http://www.lowrance.com/en-US/Products/Fishfinder-Chartplotter/elite-7-ti-en-us.aspx http://www.lowrance.com/en-US/Products/Fishfinder-Chartplotter/Elite-7-CHIRP-en-us.aspx https://www.google.ca/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=Hook+7

Is that the old Elite which are now Hooks; or the new Elite? I am interested in the Elite 7 TDI because it is the non-HDS unit that can control an Xi5

They were fishing a pond; not hunting it. This probably affects the bird watchers more than it affects the birds. There are lots of small ponds around where birds can stop for a rest. In fact, there are some ponds (which are inaccesible to people) less than a kilometer west of this location. The birds will just stop at a different pond; but the birders don't get to watch them. If this one particular pond is important to the migration; and if there is a concern that the presence of people interferes with the migration, then the pond and surrounding area should be offlimits to all people (including bird watchers) during the migration.

They don't usually have them at this time of the year. They get some in during the spring; one those are sold they get any more until the next spring. If you need a battery for this year, then I think that you will have to buy somewhere else. Walmart may have some.

Tall Pole may be TMI for this site.

Thanks, are you assuming that I have front wheel drive? My truck is a 4 x 4 Jimmy; so I assume that the rear wheels would have to spin a differencial (or at least one of them would).

Thanks, the rear brakes are disc. Is there an easy way to tell whether it is the parking brake cable versus the calipers? I am fairly handy, but I haven't worked on cars too much.

Extreme cold temperatures are not good for batteries; but, I think cool is better than warm for storage. Unless you have the battery on constant trickle charge, the plywood wouldn't make much difference to the battery temperature anyway.

Thanks, would that be the cylinders in the calipers? Or, would it be a master cylinder that controls all of the wheels? I think I can replace the calipers myself. But, I don't want to start replacing parts unless I am sure that they will resolve the problem.

Yes, I use it regularily. It didn't seem to make any difference on the left rear whether I had the parking brake on or not. I cannot remember if tried turning the right rear wheel with the parking brake on. Would the parking brake affect both rear wheels; or, do they usually only lock one wheel?

How easy should it be to turn my rear wheels by hand if the vehicle is jacked up with both rear wheels in the air while in neutral and the parking brake off? I am getting a rubbing sound when I brake or drive slowly in my GMC Jimmy. It sounds like it might be worn brake pads. However, I replaced the pads on all four wheels last summer and I don't put many miles on this truck. I tought that my brakes may be sticking, which could explain them wearring out quickly and causing a rubbing sound while driving slowly even when the brakes are not applied. I tried jacking the vehicle up today to see own freely the wheels will turn by hand. The front tires turn easily but will not spin freely. I can spin the rear left tire; but there is significant resistance. I can barely move the right rear tire; I am big guy so most people probably couldn't move it at all. Initial I thought that this confirmed my suspicion that the brakes were sticking. However, it later occurred to me that even with the truck in neutral I would still have to turn the axel, differential, and drive shaft, etc. and that this could account for the resistance. The left may be easier because it could freewheel until the differential locks. I would appreciate any thoughts or advice from those who have a little more knowledge of auto maintenance.

That's more myth than reality. I don't have a problem when storing my batteries on concrete. I think at one time, before battery cases were made of impermeable materials, there was a reason for not storing the battery on concrete. Modern batteries are are fine sitting on concrete.

If it is a seal battery then there probably isn't much you can do. If it was not sealed, and the water levels were low, then topping it up with distilled water would help. It sounds like the battery is reaching the end of it's life. I have had better luck with batteries from Walmart or Costco than I have had with the ones from Canadian Tire. But, completely draining a battery each time you use it will wear the battery down quickly. Your winter maintenance sounds fine. You may need to replace your batteries more often than someone who only uses them to position the boat.

That's not the way I read it. The chart indicates that Premium is 'Not recommended'. Premium Plus is listed as 'Better'; while DFI is listed as 'Best'. I would think that an oil listed as 'Better' as OK. However, if I had paid for a new 150 hp Opti, I would go with the 'Best' and give or sell the Premium Plus to someone a traditional two stroke.

What is considered a modification? Adding a track to the gunwhale could be considered a modification.

Oil injection does not mean Optimax. Virtually all 2 stroke outboards over 40 hp (and smaller ones too) built in the 35 years have oil injection. They are not all Optimax.

I think an Optimax requires low ash oil. I am not sure whether or not your oil would be low ash. Considering the cost of a jug or oil vs. the cost of a new motor; I would give it to someone with a traditional two stroke and buy the proper oil.

I don't know all of the locations on the lake. If you are fishing close to a quality spawning river such as the Ganny, then the fish are most likely wild and depend on the adults spawning successfully. I think a lot of the eastern tribs have wild populations. If there are no quality spawning rivers in the area, then you are probably catching hatchery fish.

If you are fishing the piers then you would be catching fish before they have spawned. Releasing them would give them that once in a life time (for them) opportunity to reproduce. The value of that opportunity to spawn would vary depending on location. The fishery in some locations is maintained by stocking and the fish would unlikely to produce any surviving offspring. Other areas have predominately wild fish so releasing them will definitely help the fishery.

Yes, pacific salmon (including coho and Chinook) just spawn once then die. But you can still catch them when they are getting ready to spawn.

I think there would be plenty of bass, pike, and browns around in addition to have a shot at some Chinooks.

You may have trouble if you are looking at it with polarized glasses. I found that trying to look at a console unit by peering over my shoulder from the bow seat would cause the screen to look black when I had polarized glasses. IF you turned around and looked straight at it, it would be fine. Mine was an older BottomLine unit. I am not sure if the issue affects all screens. But if the screen and your glasses are both polarized, it will probably have that issue. I would think that both the Scotty and Ram mounts can be flipped 180 deg. The Scotty unit can be set in 12 positions in 30 deg increments. The Ram may be able to give continuous rotation.

Scotty does have a few options that will work as well... http://www.scotty.com/fishing-gear-equipment/rod-holders/clamp-mount.htm http://www.scotty.com/fishing-gear-equipment/fishing-supplies/fishfinder-mount.htm

Not many lakers caught around Bluffers. Rainbows are usually out in the 'blue zone', which is the deeper water. You can try heading out to the 300' depth for bows. I caught my last Chinook in 50' at around 8:00pm. There should also be browns close to shore. There is a drop off in front of Bluffers where it drops from 80' to about 180' pretty quick. That may be a good area to try for salmon.