Patio

Maybe Hummingbird might have an explanation.

Good photo, great fish. A fish like that could win a tournament.

Hi Ron

I've been to Wisconsin and very much enjoyed the area. Haven't fished there yet. Being from Ontario Canada the rules are different. Not entirely sure but I think we are only allowed 4 hooks per line and max 2 lines/rods per person. Our limits may differ from yours also. Strange thing is we may be fishing in the boat next to yours and the numbers game is different. Thanks for the info. I to will be making a larger spread, within limits.

Patio:D

Hello Ron from the island

I was up your way last month fishing for trout/steelhead in the Manitou River. We soon discovered how ill equipt we were for this sort of fishing. Now we have a couple of float rods and reels to order in addition to our boat equipment. The weather was a little of everything, snow , rain and sunshine. Trout were being caught with roe, but nothing for me. What part of the Island are you from?

This is exactly the kind of information I have been looking for. I'm new to boating and fishing. It can be over whelming with all the different advice/opinions. A couple of new reels ,rods and my wife and I are good to go.

Thanks again

Hello Buster 107

We have the same boat. Mine is a 1995 221V. I have been thinking about a rocket launcher also. Here is one that I like. http://www.fishonsports.com/140propackage.html

Let us know of your decision.

I'm in the process of overhauling the trailer.

Keep posting.

Patio

West Marine has a fine selection of coolers.

The pictures posted here don't really show the great clarity on the ipad itself. I think Garmin started distributing this app during December 2012. There also is another Garmin weather app ($4) that I downloaded. You can layer it on top of the Chartplotter. You have to have wifi or your cellular data plan activated. Many marinas , your favorite coffee spots etc. have wifi.

A free app is Active Sailor with a great deal of free boater info. All the information is entered by boaters themselves. Marinas, fuel, dockage, hazards, etc. Just like the Garmin maps you download all the info to your computer. If you find something new of interest or that is not accurate, you can change it.

Just tap on an icon and the info pops up.

.g

Here are a few pics of downloaded Garmin Chartplotter software ($40) on my Ipad with cellular and GPS capabilities. A relatively inexpensive alternative to the dedicated chart plotters. St. Clair River and southern Lake Huron.

Zooming in.

Zooming in a little more.

An icon of a boat would normally be centred on the page but my Ipad is at home approx. 50 miles from the water.

What do you think?

Test

Check this out.

http://www.great-lakes.net/envt/water/levels/levels-cur/stclairwlc.html

Greetings

Today my son and I thought it might be a good day to trailer the boat and bring it home to prepare for winter. Starcraft Islander 221V. Our port is in Sarnia Ontario. I left the marina and the canal out to the St. Clair River had mud flats on both sides approx. 5' out from the normal edge. It was like navigating down a 30' wide creek 5' deep. Not so bad. I motored around to a neighboring marina to use their their ramps. Big mistake. With the high winds and low water levels I ran aground on a mud flat not 200' from the ramp. As soon as my depth sounder hit approx 3' I trimmed up and dropped anchor. The wind did the rest. I took my bimini side windows down to stop acting like a sail. After some time my son and I ran a line to the dock at the ramp and entered the water. It was thigh deep. We waited for the wind to change and you could see the water rising on the mud flat. We managed to free the boat and with bystanders helping on the dock we walked the boat back to the ramp. When I was grounded the channel marker was next to me lying sideways in approx 2' of water. I will admit to my inexperience with this ramp and approach , but maybe it should be shut down or better marked. A couple larger boats made it through to the ramp after we docked. They needed help at the dock because of the high winds. No apparent damage to the hull. The boat is slightly higher and drier in my driveway. Be careful out there.

Patio:no:

This has been in my area news for the last few days. Many thousands of dead fish are washing up on the Lake Erie shoreline , Canadian side.

Check it out here.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1250979--tens-of-thousands-of-dead-fish-rotting-on-lake-erie-shore

Pat

Hi Jason

Great looking rocket launcher. Is this something you made? If not what brand? Can you buy parts and assemble a rl of your own design together?

Pat

Hi Jason

Where did you order the stainless steel rocket launcher from?

Good idea, functionality and looks good. Add a couple lights and yer good to go.

This pic may help explain.

My nav lights are in a chrome housing mounted directly on the for deck.

Patio

Hi Frank

Thanks for the welcome. I looked quite some time for a hard top. The ones I found were beat or more $$$ than I wanted to pay. Nice boat you have there. I hope to catch half the fish you have. Continue your success.

Patio

Thanks for the quick responses. After reading your suggestions and seeing your avatar (Paulywood) the idea occurred to me that I may be able to relocate my bow nav lights up on the bow stainless steel railing just above the proposed location for the anchor. Simple enough.

Flyman013, what brand of electric anchor winch do you have and are you satisfied with the quality and operation of the winch?

Good ideas.

Patio

Hello

I have been reading and learning quite a bit on this site. My wife and I are new to boating and fishing. We have just purchased a 1995 Starcraft Islander 221V. Inboard 4.3L mercruiser and 15 HP kicker. Learning how to drive/handle a boat this size and outfit it also. We looked for several years at different sizes and makes of boats. We wanted a safe larger water boat that was capable of handling southern Lake Huron and the St. Clair River waters. The decision and purchased was made.

Question:

I would like to place an anchor on the bow. There is a an anchor rope storage place up front but no where for anchor storage. I was thinking of an electric winch and anchor storage right on the bow with controls to deploy and retrieve at the helm. But this is where my navigational lights are. Even if I place the anchor off to one side at the bow the anchor interferes with my nav lights . Any thoughts?

Thanks

Patio