Bernie

The cherrywood looks like a nice rod . Shook hands with one couple times perusing the rod racks. Found them to be too flimsy for my personal liking. I think a couple weeks back Basspro had Lightning rods on special. IMHO they are a better working rod for walleye. Medium or medium light 6 or 6.5 footers seem to have a good balance of backbone and sensitivity and they seem to be priced right.

Nice catch there Hellfish..Gonna be good on the Team 3 Fin Chasers list as well as your BBQ.

On my way Joe.

I asked this question a few months ago when I first started ATF. This is what was sent to me. Ok, sign up at www.photobucket.com. Once signed up, you log in. Upload pictures to photobucket. Now once it is uploaded, there are 3 codes for that picture right below. If you want to post it directly to the post on OFC, hilight the tag/code then right click and finally go to your post and right click and paste. If you have more that one picture make sure you put the copied tag/code under each other. If you put the code side by side you will make a mess. Hope this will help you along..

O boy...Another Leafs fan to heckle.... Welcome aboard Bryce

Spark plugs last much longer in newer engines for a few reasons. Better quality oils, better fuel control(leaner mixtures) closer tolerances. Gasoline can create a coating on the ceramic at the tip over time that is a conductor of electricity. When the spark finds an easier path rather than jumping the gap it travels this coating. This coating is not always visible. If your type of spark plug is inexpensive and easy to change why not do it? Try changing plugs on a rough day with a t-storm approaching out on the water. Not fun.

A couple years ago was fishing with a uncle who swore he would never use braid either. I suggested he try my outfit to see what he thought. Now hes using braid. I find its great for the light bite days where sensitivity really counts.

I have to wait for almost 2 months before hooking into a pickerel up here . Nice catch of fish there Whopper, good for you!!

It felt and appeared like a braid Ben. Really didnt look to close at the box to tell me what its makeup was. Next time Im in North Bay I'll swing by Lefeves and have a closer look.

Has anyone tried or heard of P-line? Seen it the other day and the sales guy told me lots of guys like it. I felt it and it seemed a lot like spiderwire for limpness and feel. I decided to find out about it before purchasing.

Tried spiderwire but didnt cast worth a darn on my spincast. Once I started using Fireline no reason to look at anything else. Perhaps I should be a little more open minded and try something else as well.

Heres another way to look at it folks. As a business owner I pay taxes, in large amounts to our town office. These taxes support local roads, schools and so on. If you spend your money elsewhere local businesses suffer and die off. Consequently what happens is those taxes are not being paid anymore. So who ends up paying to continue support for your community? You do! Tired of your taxes rising? Hmmmm. Are you really saving money in the long run? Just a little different perspective to think about.

Very well done report Mike!! Too bad about the ice chunks and the lack of fish caught. Good day to spend with a friend like Glenn though.

Nice to see a report like that Joey. Good stuff Glad to see the reports with boats involved again.

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!!!! :lol: Funny stuff guys.

The weights in Lews pics look like the ones I use to balance some types of aluminum wheels. They should work very well, they stick pretty good to a clean surface.

Went to a sporting goods store downtown North Bay yesterday to buy some fishing line and odds and ends. To my amazement all they have is a few fishing rods, some reels and a few spools of p-line. Had a chat with the owner and says there is not enough in it to stock the stuff anymore. Sad really that the big box stores are taking away from the mom and pop businesses. Are all the local stores going to go the way of the Dodo bird? Ps...Ended up picking up a new Shimano reel but didnt buy the P-line because it looked too much like Spiderwire.

Great article!...Aint that the truth. So many people are unaware-even in our country.

Hasnt been my experience Mike. The lightning rod was more sensitive than the walleye class was and it held up great. Spiel would be the guy to answer that question. Also have a gloomis that is crazy sensitive but it suffers from being too stiff for walleye fishing. I use it for pike fishing once in a while.

My first decent feeling rod was a 6.6 Walleye Class Fenwick. But its demise was also breakage hooking up with a big one. Back then didnt know about replacement by manufacturer. Simply replaced it with a Lightning rod which also had great feel. Still have that one but its pretty rough condition. Thinking about using it for practice to give it the Spiel treatment. Presently my fav is a Shimano Crucial. Hope it stands up as well as the Lightning Rod did.

Hi guys. Based on what I see at our shop all engines made by the major players are good quality. Pick what you like and go with it. It all depends on what your needs are. None of them are infallible so not a bad idea to buy locally. If warranty repairs are required the dealer can look after you right away. Dont forget about the new injected 2 strokes-awesome engines and very reliable. Everyone has their preference. Most engines in the past had reliability issues from time to time and people get a bad taste for some brands. Competition has raised the quality to unprecedented levels among them all. I have used almost all engines available on the market over the years on many different types of watercraft. There is a reason there are so many options/ types boats and motors available-consumer demand. We are lucky to have these available to us experienced guys but to the newcomer it makes a decision very difficult. We see it at our shop all the time where a person purchases a new boat and a year later they are looking for something that suits their needs better. To keep the price of the boat down to make it attractive to a buyer some sacrifices are made. An inadequate horsepower engine is something most of us know already is the first thing. Oh geez...Im rambling Just a couple of observations.

Believe it or not grt1, it was all in jest.

No snow here at this time. Supposed to cool off next week but not sure of precipitation. Im only looking at temps cause I want the ice on the lake GONE !!!

Spiel, those are magnificent!! Would really love to be able to do that. Dug an old lightning rod up to practice on. Too close to summer to get into it now but will be next winters project.

Hi Gerritt. Never tried the oven method. I use a little chief as well. Maybe a little less wood chips or a different type of wood.. I really like using cherry or apple. Not as bitter.