laker1

Don't how cold your winter gets but I store my rigger and sonar inside a warm cottage to protect them both. I have been told electrical equipment does not appreciate intense cold. And of course as already stated the drags should be backed off. Sent from my iPad using Lake Ontario United mobile app

I am a poor lake trout fisherman and I don't fish the Great Lakes. Sometimes I just can't buy a bite. And it seems to me at the start of the season your first fish is always the hardest one to catch, then its easy afterwards. Why I don't know but it may be something in their school mentality or the release of a fear scent or something. Guys go ahead and make fun of me but this is what I have found. My solution which may partially answer your question is to use cow bells followed by a minnow 2 - 3 feet with a small treble hook coming thru the anus, presented just over their heads when they are shown on your sonar to be 2-3 feet above the bottom. The minnow can 't spin so a couple of tooth picks are pushed thru the mouth to keep the body straight. I have also used a dodger followed by sucker meat but the minnow program seems to work better. They seem to always found near depth changes (breaklines) or rock - sand transitions. Usually though as the season progresses I switch over to spoons, but I only have success using the narrow canoe type of spoon which I think imitates smelt or minnows. I like silver, blue yellow and green and yellow in any combination. A yellow flutterchuk by Epinger can be really good fished shallower than you would think on a day with intermittent sun, rain and clouds - overcast etc. Line diameter seems to be a factor. Fresh 12 pound test seems to work best for me and I try to always reduce my swivels etc and to always use ball bearings. Line let back from my rigger is about 50 feet or shorter. I believe that my favourite spot has a couple of underwater springs and this is always keeps the water cold when the wind comes from the right direction. I am not trolling deep. I have been only going down 42 feet in most of my areas to again place my lure just over their heads. When trolling its usually slow 1.8 - 1.6 mph with lots of turns and sometimes I crash the bottom to wake them up. However there has been the odd time when I have sped up and caught trout, but its really rare. I have not really been successful using body baits but have not tried hard enough, preferring spoons. My largest fish have. always come on a spoon presentation sometimes presented six feet behind cowbells. A fixed slider above cowbells sometimes works very well. I have noticed that there are days when my fish have disappeared and I believe the fish in my area are heavily influenced by the wind and I believe that Lake Trout do travel near the surface at night to different areas. I have a friend who regularly catches trout on deep diving bass lures at night. There seems to be a migration of sorts from one area of my lake to a spot many miles away. There also seems to be times when they switch on and then just switch off. I have no explanation for this and don't understand it. Hope this helps and sorry to be lengthy. jim Sent from my iPad using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Alex, I have a Lund and had my dealer professionally mount a transducer board and then my transducer. I used to mount transducers directly onto aluminum boats but found myself over worrying about the hole drilling and how long the silicone would last. This worry and a blinding attack of sciatica caused me to reassess what I was doing. Now I just go fishing and don't fret about a leak or whatever. If I hit a deadhead I can easily replace , adjust or move my transducer. Four screws in and four screws out, no problem. I like using screws with Robertson heads. Good luck! Sent from my iPad using Lake Ontario United mobile app

I don't want to hijack this thread but this is close to what I hope to do. I plan on adding a deep cycle battery to work in parallel with my cranking battery and have my new cannon dt 10 run off the deep cycle with my accessories. In addition I would note that my cranking motor charges up the cranking motor from one side and when trolling the kicker charges the deep cycle from the other side when trolling. I am using a fuse block. Is there anything wrong with my plan to run these batteries in parallel to one another? Any and all thoughts would be most appreciated! Thanks in advance jim Sent from my iPad using Lake Ontario United mobile app

We bought a Lund Fury XL 1625 last year. Its powered with a Honda 60 and just flies. My wife loves it! The bow is configured for an electric trolling motor. I did not like the Attwood gas tank and had to have the fittings changed so we could connect with our other Honda engines. I also did not like how the bilge plug is supposed to be accessed from outside the stern- my preference is from the inside so you can run along and drain at the same time. We don't trailer so this does not suit us. The casting platform that folds back is kind of neat. Our color is black and this is a wee bit of concern because of the dark nights we have late fall on Lake of the Woods. The navigation lights are adequate but if you are in an area with heavy boat traffic you wish to customize and add some supplementary port & starboard lights and a second stern light low on the transom. The battery is really accessible which I like. The top is good and you can stand up while using it. I would suggest getting a fuse block installed based upon my prior experience with my Lund Pro Sport . The wiring harness got lot loose in heavy weather , started rubbing creating a short which traveled down to the fuel sending unit on the internal tank beneath our feet when my wife and I went out for dinner. There was smoke pouring out of the rear and I just shut off the engine in time! Because of this I don't have great faith in Lund's fuse system, GET A FUSE BlOCK in whatever you buy. Good luck, its really a nice boat overall. jim Sent from my iPad using Lake Ontario United mobile app

This is just a suggestion but you may want to rent a houseboat and explore Lake of the Woods. One company is based in Kenora Ontario and I think they include a tin boat to run around the islands. You will need a good map and gps to explore with. There is bass, walleye, pike and musky everywhere and in a few special places lake trout. On the lake you can find both solitude and gourmet restaurants. Good luck with your choice. jim Sent from my iPad using Lake Ontario United mobile app