biggill wrote:

I did the Firestone brand and installed it myself in my 2010 F150. It was pretty damn easy. Are you installing a compressor?

If not, I’d just do it yourself or find a buddy who’ll help.

I know you’re looking for an installer, but seriously, I gotta agree with these guys. Installed Firestones on a Chevy 1500. If you have a set of wrenches and maybe a drill, depending on the kit, you’re looking at a couple hours work. Less time than you’ll spend calling and driving to an installer.

I put an onboard compressor in mine and was able to do everything on a lazy Saturday.

Still available

That is impressive. I’ve got a 3 year old Brittany that can stalk a squirrel like a leopard and appears to accelerate just as fast. He’s still O for about 1 million attempts.

pm sent

I think the tongue weight is likely going to cause you problems with that compass, in addition to everything else that’s already been said.

I keep an old pickup as a second vehicle to tow and haul. If that’s not an option, I’d consider something better suited than the compass. I’m able to get mileage in the high 20s with my wife’s newer 6 cyl Cherokee.

Somehow she never gets better than 23 mpg

philtickelson wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Dutchboy wrote:</div>
Trust me, nobody on earth wastes more money then I do. For some of us I don’t think we realize just how and how much we waste. Thats what his budget teaches. Where each dollar goes.

Oooh, now here’s a competition I might actually be able to win on this site! I’m actually not too bad if you ignore what I spend at Costco, and lunch during the week, and fishing/golf, and fleet farm.

Apart from those I’m pretty responsible.

I could be a contender in that competition of you were too look at “percentage funds available to waste” instead of a $ amount.

My wife and I each keep an equal amount of our paychecks for personal spending money. The rest goes towards our budgeted, shared living expenses and savings. We typically redo our budget and come up with new goals after tax season.

Trust me… I waste every penny of my spending money
Trust me…this system allows me to have no guilt wasting those pennies.

buckybadger wrote:

Also keep in-mind that Costas glass lenses are only rated to 60mph as shatterproof.

Agreed, I don’t recommend them for soldiers, softball players or bikers. My daughter plays softball and I won’t let her borrow them on game day. But…on the lake, I’ve found nothing I like better.

“3. Increased DNR presence and enforcement. Yeah, I know. DNR cost money and that money comes from our paychecks, sales tax, etc. (I never said this list is 100% realistic). I’m guessing the DNR are overworked and overstretched, but in a perfect world they’d be able to catch more of these things and be a deterrent.”

This option is actually not that far fetched. The DNR only spends about 7% of their budget on enforcement, a number that I think would surprise many.

https://files.dnr.state.mn.us/aboutdnr/budget/fy18-19-graph.pdf

Love my costas because of the glass (non-plastic lenses). I’m hard too hard on plastic lenses to have them last. My current costas have lasted over a year, unprecedented for me.

A friend at work also bought his costas using a Health Savings Account, went the bifocal route and swears by them for line tying.

He bought them thru the eye doctor

Mud lines caused by river run off can also create “structure” to key on. Follow the edge of a mud line, keeping your bait in the correct temp. Here’s some satellite imagery that can be helpful.

https://coastwatch.glerl.noaa.gov/modis/region_map.html

There was too much cloud cover the last couple days to get good images, but you can look at the archives to see what’s been going on so far this year. Early in the year, fishing out of Duluth was difficult due to all the mud in the lake, we had to run to Two Harbors for clearer water and better success.

Careful, there’s something in that water that’s addictive.

Rather than structure, what you’re looking for is the right temperature to attract baitfish. Like biggill said, 48-54 degrees is the “structure” you’re looking for. That temperature might be near the surface, but this late in the year, you will probably need use you riggers, divers, lead line to put you down to the correct depth.

If you don’t have the tools on board to help you ID water temperature at depth, check in at the shops mentioned to find out what depth you should be targeting in the water column.

Here’s a couple useful websites for surface temp and water column temps out of Duluth.

http://www.d.umn.edu/buoys/

http://www.coastwatch.msu.edu/twosuperiors.html

I predict a lame halftime show and crappy commercials both aimed to please middle aged women.

I’ve only heard of this happening once, but it wasn’t pretty. A friend of mine had a trolling motor deploy itself at about 35 MPH last summer.

Not sure if it was user error (not tightening things down enough) or a malfunction, but the result was not good. Trolling motor destroyed and significant damage to the boat.

A stabilizer is some insurance in a chop or on the road, which is the only time I would hook mine up. I would have rail mounted mine if I could, but ultimately I had to mount mine to the vertical part of the front deck on my old Lund. I would mount it as close to the motor head as you can.

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The way I look at it, it’s a “letter of the law” vs “spirit of the law” thing.

I say go get ‘em. But I get to enjoy the show at your expense.

I used to be in your shoes.

There’s a lot of Federal employees that are actually considered contractors. A few even wear a uniform like I did. And no, as a “contractor”, I didn’t get back pay after the last shut down.

Serving was my pleasure, so I’m not complaining, just stating a fact.

“FWIW plow drivers revenge is usually leaving you with 10 times the snow in your driveway and/or an obliterated mailbox.”

Hell, they don’t need to be seeking revenge for this one. The plow played golf with my mailbox yesterday. I had to gave up one of my 5 gallon buckets, filled with sand, to hold onto my shattered mailbox post until Spring.

I agree, regular maintenance item I replace every couple years. Still have 3 left from the last time I picked some up.

I found it (the action bar assembly) on Brownells. Thanks fellas!

One of your buddies has to be screwing with you…

That’s disappointing. I went to high school with a guy that belonged to the family that used to own Strikemaster. Despite being in tax brackets that were universes and dimensions apart, he was a pretty good dude and the family took customer loyalty serious.

If they still owned it, I have a hard time believing they’d charge that kind of dough for batteries on a product they discontinued so quickly.

Hell, I’m trying to figure out what the new ownership is thinking.

Someday I’ll make the switch to electronic, but for now I’m going to stay with ‘ol stinky.

Somebody’s going to get a good deal.

I’m about 4″ shorter than you Crappie. I’d say I’m probably the tallest guy that should try to sleep the width of a 6 1/2 foot wide house. My old Yetti was 6 1/2 foot and I could just barely stretch out without having to curl up.

Maybe you could have them build you one, like SW eyes says, with a bunk that goes front to back.

Sleeping in a tent with a CO producing heat source is a gamble. If you don’t want to gamble, equip yourself to be able to sleep comfortably without the heat on. It’s easier than you think.

I’ve always kept mine in the truck bed with a topper closed up and a window cracked. It’s operated at -20 like that without failing, but I don’t like the idea of the breather freezing up and dumping oil all over. I may get the breather heater kit for insurance.

Joe, did yours spill oil?

Fishing Mille Lacs in the portable. Kinda slow; kinda cold today

What the hell happened while I was fishing? I love scotch! Unfortunately, now I’m drinking Dewar’s tonight.

Well, at least it’s not Famous Grouse. I wouldn’t clean carbonators with that swill.

Some of you guys need go fish some more.

This is on my shortlist of projects also. I’m curious what others have to say.