Tim Bromund

Dan,

I went through this in 2003 on my 86 Thompson 252 HT (24 foot), we ended up replacing the floor, stringers all the way up to the cabin, motor bunks and a complete transom replacement. At that time, instead of carpeting the floor again we had a fiberglass washdown deck put in (basically layers of fiberglass cloth saturated with west system epoxy applied over the 3/4" plywood and then painted with an anti slip paint).

My motor bunks were completely rotted and the motor had settled almost 2 inches from where it should have been. A lot of work and plywood went into the rebuild (7 full sheets of 3/4" plywood) along with lots of West System Epoxy, but the transom is now 2 1/2" thick instead of the single sheet of 3/4 that was there originally and the boat is better built than when it left the factory in St. Charles Michigan. Weighs a couple of hundred pounds more also

I had it done at a shop here in Buffalo. I can't really recommend them so I won't say who it was. The work done was fine ( I was there once every week checking on it and saw the whole process) but there were a number of other issues with the place that would keep me from sending anyone else there.

If you're turns into as big a job as mine was, you may want to consider having a boat repair shop do it. I would not have wanted to do this one myself. It wasn't cheap though (something around $6,200.00), probably put more into it than the boat is worth, but I figured, now it is good for another 20 years.

Tim

As always, I'll be heading out of Olcott again this year.

Tim

you can fish 2 rods in the lake proper on the Canadian side. Once you enter the river (inside the mouth) it goes back to 1 rod per person.

Tim

I had the Fish Hawk along with my Lowrance LMS 350A and didn't have any interference issues. I mounted the transducers on opposite sides of the transom and (one of the tips in the FH install manual) on the fish hawk 'ducer, I angled it so that it follows the bottom edge of the boat rather than straight up and down. That way it would still receive the signal from the probe but was less likely to have issues with the Lawrance transducer. I had this same config on 2 differnt boats and it worked fine on both applications.

Tim

when there's a good mud line out there, smithwick rattlin rogues absolutely kick a$$ off the boards. Overall, my best board stick is the orange/gold j7 jointed rapala.

tim

Similar to Shellback. My last 4 have been Dodges (1995, 1997, 2001 and 2005) and they have all been absolute tanks for me. I put on a lot of miles and use em pretty hard and they have never let me down. My current one is an 05 2500 quad cab deisel 4x4. I got it on Aug 27, 2005 and rolled 43000 over the weekend. No issues at all, only put a new set of sneakers on it and regular oil changes/maint. I trailer my 24' Thompson Hardtop (approx 8000 lb on the trailer) just about every weekend from colden NY to Olcott (approx 120 mi rounds trip) and it barely even feels the boat.

Tim

Remediation Project Designer for an Environmental Consulting Firm. Primarily Asbestos, Lead Based Paint and Mold Remediation. Most of my work is involved with Public School Renovation Projects. Been in the Asbestos business for 16 years.

Tim

I REALLY try not to think about this, but off the top of my head:

7 rigger rods

2 wire divers

2 power pro divers

2 mono divers

1 2 color core

1 3 color core

1 5 color core

1 10 color core

1 200' copper

1 400' copper

1 thumper rod

15 spinning/noodle rods of various configurations

3 fly rods

6 ice fishing jigging rod/reels

12 or so ice fishing tip ups

next will be the center pin/float rod I'm trying real hard to talk myself out of buying.

.......... yeah, it's a serious sickness, but I love it.

Tim

Whether the Commissioner has a major influence on policy decisions or not, Grannis is the Manhattan turd that introduced the bill to ban trapping in NYS and I don't want him anywhere near the DEC.

Tim

Here is an e-mail I received from Rich Davenport (I believe from ECFSC)

FYI,

With the recent news of Gov Spitzer nominating Alexander Grannis to head the NYS DEC, many sportsmen across NYS have mobilized, using this very grave threat to Outdoors Conservation and Recreation as our rallying cry to unite, and uniting we are!

Below is a letter that has been forwarded out by a fellow sportsmen. Since the confirmation process requires a vote from the NYS SENATE, we need to contact our respective Senators and express our opposition to confirming Mr Grannis. We must act soon.

If you do not wish to use the letter found at the end of this message, you may use the one that I sent in as well, or craft your own.

Dear Senator ;

I write this to you over my grave concerns regarding the nomination of Alexander "Pete" Grannis to become Commissioner of the NYS DEC. Considering his well-known record of being against trapping, hunting and being anti 2nd Amendment rights, this nominee would do severe, if not devastating damage to the vital, and extremely lucrative industries hunting, trapping and fishing represents to NYS, industries which through tax revenues and conservation fund contributions, buttress NYS ability to protect the natural resources the Department is charged to protect. Through his own political agenda, this ability would be crippled. The people of NYS deserve much better.

This department should be run by qualified Biologists and Habitat Managers, not career politicians, as our natural resources deserve to be protected devoid of political agendas.

I urge you to please deny your support to this nomination, and speak with your colleagues to do the same. We need a true conservationist running this department, not someone with a political agenda.

Sincerely

To contact your State Senator, you may go to the NYS Senate website at www.senate.state.ny.us. Go to the Members page for a complete list of senators. If you are uncertain of who your senator is, you may use the zip code locator found on the right side of this page. Each senator has their own portal site, using domain names as www.senatorrath.com, or www.senatormaziarz.com, or www.senatorvolker.com. Each senator's site contains a "Contact" link, which provides mailing addresses and their email contact tool.

Please act today!!! NYS wildlife, fisheries and our natural resources need our help, now more than ever.....

Thanks much

Rich Davenport

Yeah, I guess they just send it to those of us that spend far too much money there. Pretty, but really has a crappy selection in it.

Tim

oops, nevermind, I see what you mean the spring 06 results arent there

If you lclick on the leaderboard tab, there is a choice on the left hand side for past drby stats. This has all the past results

http://www.loc.org/derby/pastderbies/pastderbies.asp

Tim

In the home stretch to 40 (in June), so 39 at the moment.

Tim

Sorry Jax, the Simrad replaces a rotary helm. A Rack and Pinion needs to be replaced with a new steering cable.

Glen, the AP12 and 14 are the same mechanically, I believe the big difference is that the AP 14 has a digital display showing the compass heading it is locked onto. I thought it was worth the couple hundered extra bucks.

Tim

Yes, I've been there a couple of times for the Scotty Tournaments. Really nice port and the fishing is unbelievable.

Tim

I second the Simrad AP14 I installed one in my 24' Thompson last year, worked flawlessly and was pretty easty to install. The biggest PITA was replacing the steering cable. (Mine was a rack and pinion and the Simrad replaces a rotary steering helm, so I had to replace the R&P cable with a rotary one). I haven't heard of anyone that has a bad thing to say about the Simrad.

Tim

Richard, I believe that is Port Darlington, Bowmanville Ontario.

Tim

Scotties here all the way, used to use the offshores, but like the scotties better. I have used blacks on other peoples boats and really didn't care for them. No problems with em, I just like the pinch pad types with the leads on them better.

Tim

I have no idea what you guys are talking about. I have always thought that brownies were one of the better tasting salmonids out there.

They are absolutely my favorite in the smoker. I wish we caught more than we do.

Tim

Billy, I'm guessing its gotta be 89 or older. From what I know of Grady's after the 89 model year, they stopped putting I/O's in and only came with OB's

If that's true, Upgrady's ride is in amazing shape.

Tim

Adam, I always just buy mine at the Canadian tire Store in Fort Erie, about 5 minutes off the Peace Bridge..... Not that that answers your question at all

Tim

Dave Mull moved to Cheektowaga last year. From what I understand, rumore has it he met a woman from Niagara Co. Tourism at an outdoor writers convention a year of two ago. I guess it's going well. Or maybe he's just tired of catching those runt Lake Michigan Salmon and wanted to come over here where we catch BIG fish .

Dave Joined LOTSA this year and will be our March Speaker to kick off the LOTSA Semionar Season. In case anyone is interested, here's the rundown for 2007:

Feb 8, Pen Rearing and Cormorant Control Updates with DEC Personnel

March8, 2007 Great Lakes Trout & Salmon Outlook, Dave Mull of GLA Mag

April 12, T & S Fishing out of Wilson Harbor with Capt. Mike Johannes

May 10, Spring Niagara Bar Kings, Capt. Bob Songin

June 14, Buffalo Harbor Walleye, Capt. Doug Stein

July 12, Nearshore Summertime Kings, Capt. Chris LoPresti

The August Seminsr is still up in the air.

These are all Thursday Evenings at 7:00 at the Cornell Cooperative Extension 4H Building on Rte 78 in Lockport.

The Seminars are open to the public and free to LOTSA members, $5.00 for non menbers.

Tim

I set up 200' and 400' copper setups last year. I put the 200' on an Okuma Catalina 45 LC and that worked out fine. 300 yds of 50 lb power pro backing behind the copper.

I put the 400' on an Okuma Titus T20L Lever Drag and though I didn't have a chance to run the 400 much, that seemed to work out good as well, I believe I have almost 400 yds of 50 lb power pro behind the copper on that reel.

With all the negative you sometimes hear about Okuma I was a little leery about buying them, but so far so good on both reels.

East Coast Tackle has the best price in the Titus reels

http://www.eastcoasttackle.com/index.ht ... 71&B=Okuma

Tim

That was an original pirate 44 pattern.

Tim