Bernie

Sorry Jedi but I disagree. Been there with big tires. The big wide tires distribute the weight over a larger area. This might be OK in sand. But in snow or worse yet in slush it acts like a big snowshoe and doesn't allow the tire to contact where it needs to. I discovered this years ago where I had tires like yours on a 4x4 and a buddy with tall narrow tires in a 2wd blew by me on the lake with ease. His narrow tires were able to penetrate down to the ice surface and reduce spin in the loose snow. In snow there is no comparison to snow tires....period. There are several good brands that work well. Yes, they tend to wear faster but I will suffer that fact for safety.

Take the advise of those who know. Absolutely no comparison to a good snow tire. When you install tires for a living and have the opportunity to test them you understand the difference. What gets me sometimes is the lack of thought of drivers in the stopping power and handling. Yes, an all season may get you going but is it going to stop or turn? Snows for me!

Good posts guys. Allowing fish in the slot is defeating the original purpose of releasing them. Unfortunately this system will not work in the present situation. Shorter seasons or as Solo suggested a complete closure to ALL to allow fish stocks to rebuild. This won't happen either as the tourist operators depend on fishing seasons to operate. So what is the solution? Dang if I know. Years ago the season was closed through the winter and ice fishing wasn't allowed. Perhaps alternating closing seasons winter/summer? All I can honestly tell you is at the present pace, regardless of any biologists "expert" opinion (sorry), is that no one will have anything to catch in the near future.

As one who has been on the lake all my life I can say that at the present pace of fishing, be it netting or fishermen, the fish population in the lake is just a mere fraction of it's former self. It cannot sustain the pressure. Yes, there are those that are catching fish but try it without a depth sounder or a GPS. Personally I would never buy a pickerel. To each their own I guess.

Agree fully here Solo.

Oops...Yep they are Mudzillas. I only put them on in the fall for hunting. I have another set of rims and tires for the rest of the year. I had a set of Super Swampers before these Zillas. They were OK but the Zillas are much better. My Traxter gets used daily, pushing cars in the shop, snow plowing, and even occasionally commuting from home to work. I'll throw my opinion in on the best machine. The 800 Outlander. Although the 400 is usually enough for most.

I found these tires worked very well. My old BRP traxter isn't a great trail machine but man does it pull. I ended up breaking trail for the group and I was also pulling a trailer. The key for a tire that works in snow is deep and open lugs. Smaller patterns and the snow tends to stick on the tire not allowing the tread to do it's job. Chains do not work as well on this type of tire though as the chain stays below the lugs more.

Mike. My opinion on a casting deck in a 12 ft is too much. It may make your boat dangerous. Also defeating the purpose of a 12ft which is supposed to be light to carry into backwater lakes, rivers and ponds. I agree on a 2 stroker. If you can find a Johnson/Evinrude 9.9 would be ideal. Excellent power to weight ratio and very good reliability. If you insist on a casting deck, save your coins a little longer and get a 14ft.

I'm with ya there Kinger.

Thank you for that Camillj. Well said.

A classic post Terry. Looks like a great trip !

I operate an auto repair shop in a small community with many good customers. My house is only a block away and the cottage is only a 20 minute drive. No traffic to contend with. Life is good. My son recently decided to give it a try as an apprentice as well. I'm as happy as can be with that.

I bought a so-called quality Quantum spincast....once. I'd sooner use my cheapest Shimano, it was smoother and easier to use.

Whoever pays the biggest bucks. Now if the Maple Leafs owners would do the same.

Good morning Lew. It does look like another beautiful day shaping up I am fortunate to wake up at the cottage everyday. but still need to go to work today. Next week off on holidays to get a little fishing in.

If you compare quality for quality, feature for feature and horsepower for horsepower you will find that most boat brands will be very closely priced. Lots of competition in the marketplace has made it that way. Do your shopping carefully, write down what each boat you look at has for options and standard equipment. Don't forget to ask about warranties. Also look at the reputation of the people you buy from, you may need to have it serviced in the future.

On my way across tonight I took a different route to check the placement of local rocks referenced to the Lowrance GPS map. That's when I noticed that a complete island was way out of place. Kinda makes you not trust it. So really it's pretty much useless to get the Platinum version for here anyway. There must be something better out there, guess I better get a Garmin.

A couple years ago I navigated to Lakair with ease on the Garmin with the actual map style chart on it. It also has the map of the west end on it. Mapsource I believe is the brand name of the chart on the Garmin. I would like to get a chart the same as what the map shows for my Lowrance. I don't care if it looks pretty, it just needs to be accurate.

I have the platinum version for Nipissing on my Lowrance and really don't care for it. I have a hand held Garmin Rino that has the actual paper map on it which is much more accurate. Does anyone know if there is a map available for my LMS 522c the same as the Garmin ?

The guys have given you good advise. Also be a good idea to look for a kinked fuel line. Definitely a fuel flow problem. I'd bet on a plugged carb.

Water is 2ft lower than average for this time of year and dropping due to little rain and evaporation. Caution will be needed as there are rocks that are normally covered well enough. You should still be able to navigate easily in a small boat.

I'll trade you some venison for some of that salmon.

Whoa ! Nice fish Rizzo. Looks like it would have put up a good fight.

Thanks guys. Gerritt, we fished that same spot in May a few times. No need to mark it. 27 feet of water. We got a few earlier in the week in close to 40 ft. I also heard guys have been catching them in 6 ft in Fish Bay. Strange. O ya....Joe, no sheephead were caught.

Hi gang. On vacation this week and been out a couple times and catching a few, no skunks. After supper Karen suggested we go out for a while. I hesitated, thinking after the storm went through that the bite would be off. But the lake was calm and would be a pleasant evening on the water. I picked one off on the first cast, missed one on the second one. But Karen tied into one, her biggest ever actually, in only a few minutes. Just shy of 26 inches. Then a couple of casts later she gets one in the slot, back it went. She lost one at the boat a couple minutes later but picked off one more before we left. We headed home after an hour with 4 pickerel. The osprey was waiting for the leftovers. All in all a very fine evening.