Nalod

Congrats Bud! --Joe

I heard from a guide on Chautauqua that their bite was slowing down earlier this week...

Larry (mostlymuskies): One day on Braddocks, and Chad will have me beat in numbers for my entire year. haha!

Today is the day that BlueEye dreds every year...the day he turns another year older. With the baby on the way, his friends begging him to fish more, and the thought of possibly starting to get grey hair must really be giving him nightmares at night! Happy Birthday, Chad. I hope you have a fun day and get some great gifts (preferrable some new lures and things for your boat)!

Welcome to LOU, Scott! --Joe

I cannot reccomend anything on the stern-mounted trolling motor (I have a bow mounted one), but I can say that I really like duralast marine batteries from Autozone. When you are picking out a battery, I always went with the motto of buying the battery with the most amount of cold cranking amps that you can fit in your boat...I ended up going with the 800CCA for both of my trolling motor batteries. The charger I went with is the Bass Pro XPS 5/5/5 (three bank) charger. I have my 2 trolling motor batteries along with my 1 main battery all hooked up for charging. I was going to buy a promariner when I was looking, but then saw great reviews on the XPS -- and even better, I saw a sticker on the XPS model that said it was made by promariner. Last, I have never trolled the big lakes with just my trolling motor. I always thought that I could if there were no waves, but am not sure I would be able to get my proper trolling speeds off of the trolling motor with any chop on the lake (other than always going with the waves so you have the speed of them helping you out). For comparison to what you are trying, I am in a 17'5" tracker deep-v with a 80-lb thrust minn kota terrova 24v trolling motor. I am normally casting and usually running at a 3 speed (out of 10) and getting it to about .7mph (on an inland lake though). With these speeds, I am able to get about 4 solid days of fishing before I need to re-charge. Hope this helps a little with your next purchases. Let me know if you want to know anything more than what I mentioned above... --Joe

I ended up going to the boat show here in Buffalo yesterday and talked to a marina selling my manufacturer. He said that buying a replacement bracket was slim because they probably stopped making replacement parts (wow, it is only an '06 boat)...He is going to look in his computer for the part when he gets back from the show. In the meantime, I am going to try the glue ideas by finding a way to glue a washer to the bottom of the mount. I am thinking that if I can get it to hold, it may resolve the broken screw holes. Thanks for the ideas guys! They are all greatly appreciated. --Joe

Hey Don, No, I have not tried to contact the manufacturer. Great idea though...and it will be the next step I take! I think the bracket was broken when I purchased the boat (used) a couple years ago. I think that I just never noticed it until the speaker fell out on me when I was on full plane! I tried to "rebuild" the plastic to get it usable again, but just have not had any luck. It is pretty mutilated! Hopefully the manufacturer has one they will ship/sell to me...or some ideas for my next steps. I agree that I really do not want to purchase a new speaker just because of the mounts! Thanks for your thoughts on the topic! --Joe

I have 2 speakers in my boat. Each speaker has a plastic ring that goes around the speaker that then has 4 screws that screw through the plastic ring into the wall. I noticed that one of the rings cracked around the screw holes and will no longer hold in place. Does anyone know where I can buy one of these rings, or do I have to buy a whole new speaker? Thanks, --Joe

Happy Birthday Larry. Have you ever actually received cigarettes as a birthday gift? I know it would be the perfect present --Joe

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope you all had a great day and enjoy the upcoming new year festivities! --Joe

My niece asked the other day to see the "Fishing Website". I was excited thinking she wanted to read up on some great posts...but she just wanted to break the Christmas lights. Oh well... --Joe

Fisherman72: I figured I would add a little to what Chad said. You mentioned in your latest comment that you would prefer a spinning outfit. When I started pike fishing, I was using a 6'6" Berkley lightning rod with a pflueger president spinning reel. It had 20lb braid with a 6" steel leader. As my lures got bigger, I upgraded to a stiffer ugly stick (I think it was a 6' heavy rod with reinforced guides) and a bigger pflueger reel. I had 50lb braid on this reel with a 50lb flouro leader. I really liked this setup, but never felt that the rod was stiff enough. It would do the job, but I felt that it would flex too much when I was jerking a bait. My next step was to a pete maina rod/reel setup (baitcaster - 6'6" rod and 5.2:1 reel). It took me a couple trips to feel comfortable with using a baitcaster, but I caught on quickly and never looked back. The baits were easier to work and also gave me the opportunity to use even larger baits. Today my shortest rod in the boat is 7'2". I am expecting to retire this rod soon and be at a minimum 7'6". I use the baitcaster for almost every lure I am throwing (with the exception of tossing around smaller sized bucktails where I will use the old Berkley lightning rod setup). So...it is tough for me to recommend a spinning setup. I know people that use catfish rods for the extra stiffness, but I just never went that route. Hope that history helps a little... --Joe

Just figured I would post a quick reminder to everyone that anyone in a boat less than 21ft must wear a PFD after the 1st of November. Good luck fishing! --Joe

Excellent fish. Congrats to Adam...and to you old man. You just got one more person addicted --Joe

I am getting very excited for the next couple weekends... Oct 6 - Chautauqua Lake Musky Tournament - cost: $40 per person. Paid prizes: 5 longest fish and the person with the most fish (40" limits). Profits from this tournament go towards the baitfish fund to pay for extra minnows at the Prendergrast hatchery. Oct 13 - Waneta Lake Musky Tournament - cost: $25 per person. Paid prizes: 3 longest fish. 100% payback tournament with trophies and photos. This tournament is a memorial tournament for Mark Troy. I will be be at both tournaments and look forward to seeing everyone! For more information: http://www.nymusky.com/#!/2012-chautauqua-waneta-musky-tournaments/ --Joe