guffins fisherman

I can't remember a Fall that was this consistently warm. I only saw ice enough to effect my hunt once this season. That was the day before Thanksgiving. The funny part is, I set up in water, and picked up in ice. My 10 year old thought it was pretty cool to watch the ice grow across the water. I didn't pull the trigger that day, but it served as a great scouting day. I saw where the birds were able to land, so I set up there on Thanksgiving morning and had my limit in less than an hour.

We need some fresh birds to come down. I hunted my honey hole Monday AM and saw a good number of mallards, but they were having none of my small decoy spread. What is here, is so leery and educated that hunting them is a waste of time at this point. Unfortunately, the weather does not look conducive to facilitating the migration at all for the northern zone at this point.

Not speaking from experience, but everything I have read is that the Etecs are lighter than 4 stroke, but still perform like one. I am sure someone will chime in to the good or the bad, but at least the conversation will be had. Just a thought.

A few more days in the blind, some more mallards. Myself and my buddies have been whackin' em pretty good this Fall. We actually took a couple Teal too. Lots and lots of Mergs, but we pass on them, so we don't scare off the mallards.

Thanks, Kevin. Days like today keep me going through the doldrums days.

Finally, some migrating mallards came to town. I was solo, but could've had 3-4 guys limit in the 45 minutes I did. I had to stop shooting and just watch the birds work the spread and drop in. Best hunt this season by far. I saw some widgeon come in too.

I had a feeling that may be the case. Thanks.

When winterizing a Merc 5.7 IO, is it best to change the engine oil in fall prior to winter lay-up, or in spring prior to first splash? At first, I thought fall so as to have fresh, clean oil in there for the winter. Then I thought it best to change it out in the spring so as to drain out condensation that may have formed during the winter temp. fluctuations. Any thoughts?

At the risk of splitting hairs, I said raise the switch, not the pump. Quite often they are separate units. A check valve could work too. Never tried.

The pic to go with my previous post.

Myself, my 9 year old, my year old lab and a buddy hit a marshy creek in eastern LO on Sunday. Not a ton of birds, but still had fun. Ended up with one drake Mallard, a drake Woodie and a pair of Ringnecks.

Where you located?

Elevate your float switch an inch or so. You will have a little more water in your bilge, but it will most likely make room for the backflow out of your discharge hose.

That is Ontario.

Yea buddy.

You have a PM.

I run both the walleye boards and the tx-22's. The info on the Blood run tackle website is really good and spot on. The walleye boards are really flexible as to their use, while the tx-22's excel in other uses. For instance, like everyone else has said, you can adjust the weight on the walleye boards according to what kind of weight or line is behind them. Whereas the tx-22's excel in really slow applications such as spring walleye due to the fact that they float upright and are very light acting on the line. For example, just the other day I was running long leads(260-200) with 30lb mono trolling deep choppy water for walleye. The walleye boards with the weight forward ran perfectly, while the tx-22's were having trouble getting out to the side of the boat.

You have a PM

Gotta love it when fishing is a win-win, and all parties are happy.

Due to adding 4' and doubling the HP on my boat, I am selling my trolling bags in order to upsize them as well. They are 33" across sitting flat, and probably about 22" across full of water. For reference, they took my 21' Trophy/125 Merc down to 1.5 MPH SOG at just above idle. I am asking $40 each, very minimal sun fading is the only wear I can see. Pick up in Watertown area, or ship at your cost.

Matt

X2 on the bags. Nobody wants buckets banging off the side of their hull, nor do you want them or their wire handles anywhere near your prop. I run mine the same way the others stated, 2/3 down the side of the boat. Attach them to your bow cleat, or to your spring cleat. Run a tagline to keep them at the side or just under, and to retrieve them and off you go. Off the back is a BAD idea. Tangles with your fishing gear, tangles with your prop are inevitable.

I searched and searched for the same boat, but I knew they would all have the "doghouse." That layout is hard to come by but there are a few out there. I just bought a Proline, tried to look at a Pursuit and had the one listed below as my third option. A bit out of your age range, but no too far:

http://watertown.craigslist.org/boa/5113393267.html

I have emailed the CL posting below twice with no reply. I am interested in looking at it, and fast. If anyone has any info, or contact info they are willing to share, it would be appreciated.

http://syracuse.craigslist.org/boa/5088656660.html

I saw a boat once where they cut off one end of a full-width swim platform. They remounted the bracket that holds it up, they cut off enough to make room for the kicker to be mounted conventionally, and still had room for the cooler, etc. It may be a radical idea, but it might just work. Just a thought.

Put a tag line on it, and hook it to your stern cleat.