My weekend, a NF fishing report

[SlowPoke]

Went to the "uncle-in-law's" place on Simcoe this weekend for some ice fishing.

 

A view from the sunroom.. a little freezing rain overnight but clear for the most part

 

 

We headed out Saturday morning around 8ish... got a bit of a late start getting the sleds ready and hooking up the portable shelter to the Arctic Cat. We ended up tying it to the grab bar because we couldn't find the coupler.

 

 

Zoomed out to Long Shoal area which was about 5 minutes from the dock taking it easy and setup. Whatever type of portable shelter that was (blue, folds out, two seats room for three or four people), I was impressed... 2 minutes to setup. Punched 4 holes with an 8" Jiffy powered auger through about 16" of ice in about 4 minutes.... man this ice fishing stuff is easy!

 

And there we sat.

 

Jigging raps, williams, spreaders, meegs, bad boyz... nadda.

 

After an hour we moved, 3 minutes to pack up (lol) and zoomed over to BBP. Pretty busy there - portables, permanents huts, walkers, atv's, sleds everything but fish.. for us anyway. Didn't hear too much from the other guys either. We spent about an hour there and packed up to head back to the cottage.

 

We had to pack it in early because I had to meet someone in Bradford for 11AM... this is where my fishing trip gets really good. We met at the licensing office to transfer ownership on a boat trailer. From there I took the boys out for lunch (Uncle Claude) in appreciation of hosting my family for the weekend and Brad for allowing me to steal his boat.

 

After a stop at the bank and CTC we proceded to Brad's place in Newmarket to pick up the boat... Brad had it all wrapped and stored for the winter so I'll post a picture from when I went to look at it...

 

Starcraft MR180 - 18' Center Console, 75 Mariner, Shorelander Roller Trailer

 

 

Claude thinks my taking Brad out for lunch gesture really paid off... with the boat came a mint 6hp Evinrude, electric downriggers, electric bow mount, life jackets, oars, salmon spoons, two downrigger rods (one of them really nice - Fenwick "Riggerstik" twist rod with a Shimano Triton 300)... the list goes on. Filled the back of the Tahoe completely. Towed it back to the cottage for short term storage and will hopefully get out in early April for some real (softwater) fishing!

 

After my wife and daughters checked out the boat we took them out for a sled ride...

 

 

We got the Cat stuck and the Indy started running rough. By that time dinner was ready. Mmmmm "Fall-apart roast" as we like to call it... in the slow cooker all day served with mashed potatoes bows (pasta) and gravy. My favourite meal! Then I got to watch the Leafs kick some Ottawa butt, could this day get any better? YEP! I got to go to bed!

 

Sunday morning Claude and I got up to go fishing again but we never made 50 feet from his dock. We had left the stuck Cat stuck and the rough running Indy where they sat the night before so the first order of business was addressing that. The Cat was in good and we smaelled burning rubber. I don't know anything about sleds but my first inclination was to check the belt. It was fine, engaging but no spin at the track. Is there another rubber drive belt to the track or maybe the track was out of adjustment?

 

We decided to check out the Indy, cleaned the plugs and it ran well... really well. I was getting the skis of the ground and I'm 300 lbs.. sitting back in the saddle a little bit helped that! We tried pulling the Cat out, no luck. I was digging in with the studded track on the Indy. So, we decided to drill a few holes out from the dock and let the girls fish and they took turns riding with me on the sled. After a little while the Indy started fouling again... is this a cold spark (weak coil) or a mixture problem? Plugs were dark and a little wetish but not gummy and it seemed like one cylinder was kicking in and out but fine at wide open throttle.

 

We had a great time despite not catching anything.

-Brian

 

By the way, you sled guys are nuts! Had the 600 Cat doing 91mph (GPS) on the "Simcoe Hwy". Could have gone a little quicker probably but I was losing my nerve... rocking back and forth, getting air off footprints... made 185 mph on a bike seem tame. The sled-wheelies are still fun though!

[Handlebarz]

well I cant wait toget some slime in that nice shinny boatthere Brian.

 

 

Your weekend looks like it was alot more fun then mine atleast ya got out and had some fun before the warm weather takes away all the snow.

[Joey]

What a great weekend you had. Twas better than mine!!! Thanks for sharing.

 

Joey

 

Oh Ya, and nice boat

Edited March 12, 2007 by Joey

[Jen]

That sounds like a weekend full of memories... thanks for the report...

 

Re: sled guys being nuts... I won't ride one , there is no keeping up with those boys...

[carll2]

awesome report

sounds like the sled was either flooded or your running it too rich. change plugs and see what happens...sleds rock mine does 118mph top speed on gps lol.. nice sleds though the artic cat is my favorite

[ccmtcanada]

Sounded like a great weekend despite the fishing! At least it was mild enough that you didn't have to freeze off fingers and toes! Your boat looks awesome...makes me want the warm weather even more. I'm jealous of anyone with a boat....maybe in a few years I can afford one. Thanks for the detailed report...it was a great read.

[Uncle Buck]

Good Stuff Brian...

 

Sure makes up for the problems with the Jeep

[Bly]

Nice report Brian......sounds like a wonderful weekend. Guess it doesn't feel as bad not catching fish when you have 2 fun days like that AND get a boat with lots of extras! Thank you for sharing

 

 

 

bly

[Guest mistyriver1]

Great report Brian.