chowder

I've got 2 Navionics chips; the 2008 Gold charts w/ the free 'fishing chip' in my 5200 GlobalMap (can't run both @ the same time) and the 2008 Hotmap premium in my other Gps. The Hotmap premium is as close to 'dead on' as you need, very accurate on Ontario and the FLX and pretty affordable too. IMHO, The Gold charts are kind of overkill unless you are going to do a lot of navigation in unfamiliar water.

That is one of the best fishing pics ever! What a great expression on her face- it says it all! Great job! -Andy

There's two good times to go fishing; when it's raining and when it's not...

I like the albright, use a few extra wraps when you tie your power pro backing to the core.

My thoughts & sympathy are with you and your family, hang in there Richard! -Andy

Awesome! WTG Melissa ( and Jason ) -Andy

Super nice bow Sean! Your guy's must have been happy w/ that trip -Andy

dsco, from Masonville you'll want to shoot over to Lansing on the east side and launch at Myers, nice launch, pm me if you want further info. -Andy

Wow, 13' s!

What the heck is a 'shark week' fly?

Nice bow!

Way to go guys!

Just finished another 3 days of putting in another 4000 bales w/ the wife & kids on top of all the other chores associated w/ our 300 cows and quite frankly I'd have to say that old fashioned hard work and an old fashioned hard life is a little 'over rated'. I'd much rather be planning a labor day weekend that revolved around leisure activities than worrying about covering all the work that needs to be done. Moving back to a simpler era will not solve our problems b/c it certainly hasn't solved mine. Let's just remember our folks felt the same way about T.V. and the movies that we feel about video games, but they raised us the best they could. Not trying to be a fly in the ointment but constant change is here to stay and we can be great parents and citizens but neither one happens by standing around complaining, remember the sign in the weight room; no pain = no gain. -Andy P.S. don't be afraid to unplug the wireless and lock up the router - they'll get used to it but it will mean you may need to actually do something w/ your kids that they want to do!

Sea monster, bathing menace... nice job!

Sounds like Elliot & I are going to have to come over & try to give John a run for the money (I hope we won't have to resort to driving him onto the beach like last year )

WTG, nice pair of summer browns! -Andy

Congrats Mike & Todd, nice job!

Found big lakers to 12lbs from Myers to the plant on spoons/ ff in 250-350 FOW down 80-120 (1.9-2.2 @ the ball). LLs were thick on the shallower stuff but only a hand full better than 20", the skips hit everything we had down & necessitated frequent checks. Tossed back just one 17" bow. Very few of the lakers had much for stomach contents, conversely the LLs we kept were full of moonies. No browns today though we did work the skinny water from the camp to Rocky Dock for a spell. Truly a gorgeous day to be out. Mexico Bay Kings tomorrow! -Andy

Yaba-daba-doo! Awesome fish guys! -Andy

I started w/ Riveira duals and they porpoised and didn't pull, so I got a pair of Otters. The Otters didn't porpoise but they didn't pull very good w/ copper or at slow speeds w/ stix. I thought pretty hard about getting the 2cd keel and a couple things kept me from doing it; 1.) they were not cheap 2.) The material that Otters are made of make me nervous- All the original hardware kept loosening up and working thru the body and it seems like one false step from one of the kids and that's gonna be it for one of these boards (and they are not easy to keep out of the way due to the awkward shape) 3.) I figured if I was going to dump more $ into boards I might as well get something else and at least have a decent backup (the Otters) kicking around. I talked w/ a bunch of Erie charter captains and they all suggested the Aurora boards or Frank's (Amish Outfitters). At the time Frank was not making plastic boards so I got the Auroras. I really like these boards. They really pull, they don't porpoise, and I can retrieve them when I'm fishing alone at trolling speed (I do have an AP). I run them on my Islander w/ Big Jon planer reels loaded w/ Frank's, heavy duty Spectra planer line w/ Aurora shockers. I do use the Otters all winter in my 165 Alumacraft and it's nice not to have to handle wet hardware when it's 15 degrees out, but they flat out don't perform any where near as well as the Auroras. -Andy

Remember; if you are going to use a non-roller rod you need to put a twili tip on it. It's not a big job, just follow the directions that come w/ the tips. http://www.fishingrodstuff.com/twili_tip.html

I don't have any of the credentials that the above anglers have but I'll put my 2 cents in anyway since you fish out of a boat similar in size to mine; I agree w/ Glen & Has been, riggers are easy lines to set, change out (and clear w/ limited hands available), and a pair of short arm corner riggers that don't stick out too far past the transom really open up the stern of a relatively narrow beam boat. My outdowns have long arms.

WTG Mike! Looks like like you got a good crew too! -Andy

Nice job & great report! Thanks, -Andy

I'm no expert but by Sept 10th, I'd probably stick w/ Mexico Bay.