Old dog 417

Good job! Like many, I have only trolled flickers but that may change very soon. od

Same here! I use 15/4 Power Pro on my trolling rods and carry a pair of leather gloves as I learned the hard way a couple of times that it wasn't going to break or pull free easily. Wrapping around a cleat a few times and kicking the trolling motor on high is by far the fastest and least painful method free a crank-bait after other types of retrieval attempts had failed. All this time I've been curious if I was the only one doing it that way. Good to know. od

Hey Lifes2short.. Your fist pic gave me an idea! I have an ironing board gathering dust in the laundry room and evidently it could be re-purposed as a portable fish cleaning station. Squatting down to fillet fish isn't as easy as it used to be (the ground has gotten farther away the last few years) and that brings the work up to a comfortable level. Besides, filleting a day's catch has to be more enjoyable than ironing useless dress shirts! Congrats on your catching and thanks for the idea. od

And, no matter how many warnings we had or heard we just weren't listening....Had to try it for ourselves! Scary to think about! od

Now there's a logo that sends a message. Well done. od

👍👍 Well said. od

Ain't that the truth? The irony is...2 years old or 12 years old...things just keep happening and always when I least expect them. I think there are invisible gremlins in the lake water because nothing seems to go wrong with it while it's in the garage! 😉 od

Hey jbooth. I'm thinking of going this week...Any info to share from your trip? Thanks in advance...I appreciate it. od

Regarding service and items in stock at BPS I'm in full agreement with most all of the above comments... For items that I'm familiar with and are "on sale" at BPS I utilize their "Ship to Store" option. No minimum order amount (Yet anyway) no shipping charge, and the order is usually filled from the warehouse in a couple of days. They notify you via Email, then you go to the customer service counter and pick it up. I typically go in the morning shortly after opening and I'm in and out in minutes after providing my ID. Previous experience keeps me away during lunch hours and early evenings but after 8 PM is usually OK. I'm a long ways from being a millennial and I buy nearly everything online from various sources. My two major exceptions are hardware items and groceries. Walmart offers this same service on their website and you can pick up your items at your local neighborhood market at the service counter avoiding their slow checkout lines also. od

Paco, Thanks for the update and pics! It seems so wasteful leaving the courtesy dock in the rising water to become submerged thus increasing it's rate of deterioration. It was under water several months last year and nearly everything on it was loosened. As Paco pointed out.. a lot of large rock has been placed along some roads at Beaver that will impair road launching or at least increase the risk of lower unit damage so be cautious. I've often wished a courtesy dock was available at River Run ramp also but there's not one. I guess that's somewhat irrelevant now as it will be under water too. Has there been one there in the past? OD

I'd recommend good old JD green and yellow for durability but I'm awful partial to JD's. Lol. I noticed the combine's unloading auger in the background nearly touching the overhead door. They hang out a ways now days! Nice job on the trailer. It's gonna be a beaut! od

Good looking rig. The swivel attached at the hook to improve spin (twist) is a great innovation! Thanks for sharing. It made me "smile". OD

Great play on words! OD

I'm wanting to purchase an older mapping card for my Hummingbird 788ci HD. It's my understanding that due to the age (7-8 years old) of this unit that it has some issues running current mapping cards. The included maps just don't show enough as the contour lines are at about 10' spacing. I realize this is a long-shot but I'm in hopes someone may still have a card in a nonworking unit or leftover from one that's been sold. Looking for coverage primarily in the Midwest and of course,..I don't want to spend much on this occasional use unit. I'm in Springfield. Tight lines and close shots, OD

Good job! And, good hunting. Keep us posted as to how the hunt out of it went. OD

dnj21, I'm not sure of it's age. I bought a used 2008 War Eagle 754 LDV, 50 HP Merc, and trailer with the Avery blind included in the package. I assumed, but never asked, that the blind was about the same age. It came with the wind blockers and the camo netting but the netting was in rough shape so I decided to replace it. When the previous owner had attached the blind to the boat, he bolted the brackets to the rear pods and front deck making it narrower and shorter than I liked so that's why I did the modification. I purchased 4, T-rail blind mounting brackets and bolted the new blind brackets to them. This created two immediate benefits. Much improved inside head clearance and the blockers and netting were no longer sitting in the water when the blind was in the up position. I originally wanted to purchase just the sliding clasp from Avery since I thought it would fit my existing lift brackets but that wasn't possible. That's why I ended up with 4 new lift brackets as I'm in full agreement with you regarding how cumbersome the old ones were. The new ones turned out to be of a little thicker tubing (sidewall, OD was the same) and were a little pricey but slipping the clasp down over the tube end is so much easier with one hand than inserting a pin that I felt I got my money's worth! With the wind blockers, camo netting, and Raffia grass attached to the netting it's a little heavy to hold while trying to insert a pin. It's still not super easy but it's much better! I seem to recall the CSR at Avery saying the clasp style brackets had been in use about 4-5 years. I did a little research today and found that yours and my blind must be the 17'-19' model. The only other model offered is for 14'-16' boats. That info tells me that your proposed shortening could be as simple as moving the frame in closer and drilling new bolt holes. Let me know how it goes but I think you will be fine. BTW, my 754 LDV is a tiller model, 17' 7" long with a 54" bottom width and a 72" beam so it's probably very similar to your Grizzly. Sorry for my long winded response... Hope some of this helps, OD

This probably won't be of much help but I thought I'd share this... I extended and updated an Avery Quick-set blind last year. While doing some research I found that the support bracket latches on my older blind had been improved on newer models. The new models had a sliding clasp that was obviously easier than the old pins that inserted in the holes in the arms so I ordered new arms. In regards to the extending...my neighbor found 10 ft lengths of the square aluminum tubing at a local metal supply and I used those. Basically, I reused the factory corner tubing and replaced the side tubes with longer lengths and then gave them a coat or two of RustO'leum camo paint. The new latches made it easier to raise and secure the blind when alone and by extending a couple of feet I gained additional room inside. By the way, I had plenty of fabric to allow the extension which is something that needs to be checked first. I found everything except the tubing available through Avery including new camo netting. Based on my project, I can't think of any reason why cutting one down would not be possible. I wouldn't cut the corner tubes down unless absolutely necessary however. If the fabric overlaps on the ends seem too excessive a canvas shop should be able to cut and re-hem those. Good luck and good hunting, OD

Hey Mr Giggles, Looks like your refurb project is coming along very well and that's good but... none of the other pics on this post have a fine 2 cylinder specimen in the background. So,..is that a 730 diesel wide front with a cultivator mounting plate on it? Nice! Plus, it looks like it's still in it's working clothes and pretty clean at that! Thanks for slipping that in the pic. I don't want to hijack this thread but if there's a story that goes with the JD I'd like to hear it. You could PM me. OD

X 2 OD

Thanks for sharing your pics and report. Well done! od

Well done again! With 17 shorts the future of catch'n looks pretty bright! OD

Sounds like fun and you did very well! Were you trolling? OD

Way to go! Thanks for the report. od

Very good report. Well done and thanks for sharing. od

Nice set up with the stern mounted rod holders. It's obvious you've got the handle on long line trolling for...I was going to say crappie but your set up works for a wide variety of fish as shown in the video. I typically use 3 rods and have all I can handle with tangles etc so, watching you guys was an educational experience. Evidently, my 9' rods need to grow to 12'. Also, I've never tried snap weights. Do you have a recommendation for brand, style, to start out with? Lots of things to think about now. Thanks for sharing, od