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congrats MR & MRS Fleetwood on your first new born!! like mentioned above nothing can be more inspiring than the brining of a part of you and a part of your better half into the world. Cherish every moment as soon you will be saying "it only seems like yesterday we brought you into this world" Again congrats to the both of you PAP

I saw my first robin yesterday first he was sitting on the front rail of the boat then he hopped off and starting eating snow? No water I guess. Your right the groundhog probably committed hairy cairy with the site of one more snowflake

X2 Paul!!!

Last Friday I spent 3 1/2 hrs moving snow with tractor blower and a little loader bucket to find 10"s of ice under the snow, tires and blocks froze solid. Today I was able to get the blocks out and all the ice away from the tires, really melted fast, this week going over wheel bearings, seals and breaks. Hopefully a good waxing yet, in a couple of weeks fire the old girl up and if no gremlins found a home should be race ready!!! God I can't wait to do this, after buying this boat I had one problem after another and two back surgeries I've been on hold for 3 years, not hell or high water is going to get in the way this year, even my daughter asked if she can go, I said absolutely chickadee. I don't know if it's the daylight savings time or what but I have endless energy, of course for my kind of stuff. On a side note I went through more gas this winter clearing my driveway than I did last summer mowing grass, that's just wrong!!! This Tuesday evening into Wednesday morning they are calling for sleet and freezing rain, and a friend of my wife's is a weather predictor for the farmers almanac and he claims up to a foot of snow on the 14th&15th of March, this year he has been spot on with the forecast as the amounts, we really didn't get a lot at one time but 3-4"s every Sunday into Monday that has accumulated to the 23"s in the yard and 3ft a long the sides of the driveway. I'm going to say the end of the 3rd week of April for us eastern side guys, I hope I'm wrong, might have to put in at B&J Bait and run the river out into the bay if Henderson is still locked up. I don't like the state launch at Chaumont for my boat, I'd rather make the run fuel is cheaper than a new prop. LOL. Either way I hope it's soon this has been a looong winter and we all need a break from being cooped up for 4 months. Hope to see you guys on the water soon!!! OHH one more thing what channel are you guys on mostly, I remember something about a LOU channel did that ever pan out, thanks guys. PAP

Yea, they are unique looking to say the least!!! Pretty damn scary looking if you ask me!!

Awsome Larry, that's a major mile stone accomplishment, maybe you will be on the next River Monser show, would be cool to see you on tv, just to say, HEY I know that guy!!! Wish the best for you!! But can't wait till spring unil your back home safe and fishing our hometown waters. PAP.

Yea how about that!!! To my wife SALE means buy, so I do the same just tell her it's was on sale!!! Like you said we are both happy, especially when I take the kids fishing, she goes shopping, life is grand.

Well let's see here, my first tast for walleyes was when I was 11 years old, my uncle Skip took my cousin, myself and three others to Canada for the first time, we stayed in old rustic cabin on lake Bidibie, just north of Maniwaki at that time it was dirt road, that was 39 years ago and I became a walleye "JUNKIE". At that time $300.00 got the job done, then as time went on my dad acquired enough vacation time to go along with me, I remember the price climed to $1000.00 with the fuel being the main factor and the price per man also increased as did everything else, after about 5 years fishing Bidibie($1500.00) we flew into Lake Osullivan, where we met the owner Ted Barklow, we struggled at first, then on day 2 Ted took all us kids 4 of us went with Ted down to Smiths Bay, were Ted educated us kids on how to jig for walleyes, we filled the boat and I'll never forget that day. The men were all jaw dropped when Ted told the guys we didn't do well, then us kids held up our stringers and I never saw my dads eyes so big, that night was a blast filleting fish till midnight. We continued to go to Osullivan for the next 20 years.($20,000) after that we went to a lake Pourtincourt for the next 10 years at a grand per man, but the fishing at that lake was nonstop all day you could catch eyes. It was a Great Lake to fish. ($10,000) then we fished the Gwan or something reservoir. For 2 years we did fare at that body of water the problem with the reservoir was it was huge and the eyes migrate like Erie. We got hooked up with a guy on the western basin of Erie who owned a marina called Lamberjacks, right across from him was Turtle point Marina, that might ring a bell to some on here and we went there for 5 years ($5000.00) we also bought a place in NY on the Perch River, then we needed boats that's when my dad bought a 18ft Troller Boat, I think they were built in Ohio and the list goes on and on. I'm probably around $10,000 a pound for walleyes, but my experiences through out my time with my dad and the guys who are no longer with us, no amount of money could ever replace those times and memories, now my dads been gone for 7 years and my uncle Skip is 73, I have 2 daughters that love to fish off dads boat and I hope I can do for them as my dad and uncles did for me, my one daughter caught her first Black River Bay eye two years ago and my other caught her first LakeO smallie on the same trip. This year both my boat and my body is ready to search for eyes. I don't think I feel sorry for the $$$ I spent over the year fishing, I know some guys put that much $$$ up their nose and have nothing to show for it other then jail time or can see their kis on weekends only. I hope my kids get as addicted to fishing as I did!!!! Like mentioned above if you spend moderately and over time it's not so painful as all in one big blast, but if you can do it that way then buy all means go for it!!!! Well that went a little longer than I intended but there you go folks. Looking back I wouldn't change a thing, tight lines and please be safe. PAP.

Awsome story, I'm sure you will not be alone on trips anymore, I have twin girls just turned 10 in Feb. and 1 is always asking, dad when our we going fishing ?? Congrats to you and your new fishing partner. PAP

That was just one of the problems, I purchased the boat from a guy from NJ. Who only ever used the boat on Oneida, then his fishing buddy passed away and he lost interest in fishing and parked the boat in a barn all covered up for 18 years. The boat had 474hrs on the meter and everything looked great very clean, he fired her up and it ran for about 1/2hr and the oil pressure was good and the heat gauge was reading good. But the problem was the guy never put RV antifreeze in it and to make a long story short I never saw anything like it the motor rusted so bad from the inside out, all I used was the block the crank and rods and Pistons. New heads new cam, lifters, pushrods, intake, exhaust manifolds, risers, new shutters new boots both shift cables and exhaust and after two installs and removals of the engine we finally got it, ohh the thermostat housing and water pump, now she's purrs like a kitten but really hauls a$$ a couple of up grades to the ignition and camshaft and good set of aftermarket heads. I really learned a lot Via my wallet LOL but we are good to go now!!!

I wish I would have waited another six months and got a 9" screen. But you know what, I'm happy with what I have and at the time it was a big achievement for me, so I don't do the old should of could of thing, be thankful for what you got and go with it. You can drive yourself crazy with this stuff.

Les will know, he's a wizard when it come to identifying spoons, he helped me out when I bought a bunch of old spoons at a garage sale.

My story is very similar to yours Rich, having 16-18fters I thought I knew enough to purchase a boat on my own, boy o boy was I wrong after a year of repairs, motor even though I heard it run and it sounded great, the shake down test on a local lake told a whole different story, over heating within the first 10 minutes, after pulling the motor twice I finally got it but the season was to far gone. But this year my boat and I are ready to make the 250 mile trip to LakeO. You have a very nice boat and should be proud of it!!! Mine is a 1982 Sea Ray cuddy with a 350 I/O. Would like someone to do the top and curtains up there, they seem to have way better prices then around here.

Two questions, how many miles, and does the Cougars ride 2 people decent, would be using it to take the kids back to the top of our sleigh riding hill, it's far to walk back to the top. Thanks for any info.

Congrats Les, way to hang in there buddy!!! Really nice trout by the way!!! With a little luck we should be able to float our boats soon, yea right!!!