BassChump

Late last summer I bought a nice 16 foot fiberglass bass boat with an 85 horse Chrysler on it. They guy was showing me how well it ran when I pointed out it wasn't pumping any water. He shut it down and said he didn't have time to fix it and thought it was a big problem. He gave it to me for a $1000.00 because of the bad impeller. 17 bucks and a half hour of labor and it has run perfectly since. Just tear into it and I am betting you'll find it is much easier than you might think. Mine was. It was intimidating at first glance but it turned out to be very easy with regular hand tools. Good luck with it.

Hi and congratulations on your new boat. I have had several boats but bought my first bass boat late last summer. I can tell you this. Nothing you do will help you more than installing the boat guides. These are nothing more than a verticle pole on each side of the trailer that guides your boat on the trailer no matter how crooked you drive it up or how much the wind pushes you around. I've had a couple of boats that didn't have the guides and they were always a pain to load if the wind was blowing, water currents or even an unlevel or uneven ramp. Do yourself a favor and get these as soon as possible. You'll be much happier with your boat. GUARANTEED!!!!! I hope you have as much fun as I have with my first bass boat and good luck.

Central Oregon coast here. Bass country. I'm lucky. Plenty of fishing here. Lots of lakes, rivers, streams, bays, etc. New to bass fishing but having lots of fun so far. 8-)

Hello and thanks for your message. The accident actually happened 5 years ago but she didn't pass until march of last year. With work, taking care of my 80 year old mother, etc. my time is kind of limited but I want to make sure and have a little spare time now and then to have some fun with my daughter while I still can. She is now 15 so I figure I have at best 2 more years before dad is a putz in her eyes. I have taken her out on the boat a couple of time last year before it got too cold but we didn't catch much so I'm really looking forward to a little warm weather and some good fishing. WOOOOOHOOOOOO!!!!!

Thanks for the response. I'm hoping to get a good fish finder for less than $200.00. Is that realistic??? I know there are cheaper ones but usually you get what ya pay for. 8-)

Hello, I'm relatively new to bass fishing. Bought a bass boat 6 months ago on a whim to spend some quality time with my daughter. Lost my wife in a car accident last year and I just want to go fishing with my daughter. That's my story in a nutshell. Now my question. I have a 16 foot bass boat with a foot operated electric trolling motor up front. I have an inexpensive hummingbird mounted near the steering wheel but I want to put a decent fish finder up front. I don't want to spend a ton of money but I want one that works for me. I don't think I need GPS because I'm usually fishing on familiar water not usually more than 40 feet deep. Coastal lakes in Oregon primarily. I'd like the transducer up front somehow. Perhaps mounted on the trolling motor???? I'd also like a fish finder that detects cover. Underwater stumps, brush, rocks, etc. I'm guessing I wouldn't need the side scan stuff as I fish a lot of shallow water and drop offs and it's far too expensive. Probably a dual beam unit???? I'm thinking of a permanent mounted unit but would a portable unit be better?? Is the monochrome screen better or the color screen????? I'm no pro so I just want to have a little fun with my daughter before dad isn't so cool to her any longer. Bass would be cool but we will be fishing for whatever is biting at the time.. Trout, bass, even bluegill. I want it to be productive to keep her attention. I'd rather catch something than her be bored and talking on the cell phone. I'm sure you folks know what I mean. Any suggestions???? Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

Gee, thats a great suggestion. I wouldn't have thought of having one up front and another at the wheel but it makes perfect sense to me since that is where my butt would be when I'm fishing. I don't know how wide the cone of the signal would be but I'm assuming it gets wider the deaper it goes. Is that the case????? Does anybody know how wide the signal would be at any given depth????? Hmm. This is getting more interesting by the day. lol That now brings up other questions in my head. Do many fish finders also tell you water temps???? Perhaps different temperature layers at different depths?? Not sure how it would do that but at this point, I know nothing about that kind of thing. How would I mount the the transducer on the trolling motor?????

I need a new fishfinger. I'm new to bass fishing so I don't have a clue. I just purchased an old 1984 Bayliner bass boat and I've had lots of fun with it. The fishfinder that came with it is an older model and the display is cloudy and it's time for a new one I think. I live on the central Oregon coast and this will mainly be used in the local lakes close to home. The lakes are mostly large coastal lakes. Very shallow, weedy with plenty of cover in the water. (logs, weeds, lilly pads, etc.) I'm far from rich so something price sensitive would be nice although I'm not against spending a bit more if it helps me and my daughter catch more fish. Where would the best place be to mount the transducer??? Should I mount the monitor near the steering wheel or since I fish from the front, would it be better to mount it up there someplace??? Can a guy get 2 monitors and have them mounted in each place running from one transducer???? Is that possible??? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I have an old Bayliner bassboat that I got cheap and it's been a LOT of fun. Probably the best purchase I've made in many years. I'm new to bass fishing but I live in the middle of some of the best bass fishing lakes in Oregon. I've got a lot to learn but it's been fun so far. It has a Mariner 628 RL trolling motor up front that seems to work as it should although I have never had one so I don't have a good frame of reference. It does what I need it to do so I'm happy. My question is this....... It has an allen type screw in the bullet housing a few inches in front of the prop. I unscrewed it to see what's in there and I didn't see anything. Is this for lubrication????? And if so, what kind of oil do I use in it????? Thanks in advance for all your help.

I'll speak for Roadwarrior and lots of other fathers with teenage girls.... WHO CARES AS LONG AS IT'S NOT SOME 16 YR OLD PUNK!!! ;D Very good point. She doesn't have the "boyfriend" thing going yet but I'm sure that's right around the corner. I have a feeling that 16 year old punk is going to have a bad time with dad. I'll be cleaning my rifle while asking him what kind of car he has, his GPA, what college he will go to, what his major will be, a full financial disclosure, copies of his car and life insurance policies, where they are going, what they are doing and telling him they ARE going to be back at home in 89 minutes and the clock is running. I'll also include the sentence, " I have no problem going BACK to prison". lol. Not true of course but it's a scare tactic. One thing my daughter doesn't know and hopefully she won't find here is that our cell phones have GPS. I can hit a couple of buttons and find where her phone is withing about 10 feet. That's a handy feature to have.

+1 8-) Especially, "When she gets bored, go home." Thanks for the wealth of information. Yes 14 is an interesting age but luckily, dad is still pretty cool to her. I think we are closer and dads "coolness" will last quite a bit longer because of several things. My daughter was in the accident that took her mother and we live pretty far out in the sticks so for the most part, dad is cool by the process of elimination. There just isn't anyone else around to let her know that dad really isn't that cool. lol. I have taken her out fishing a couple of times already and we both enjoyed it even though we didn't catch anything. Just or an hour or so and when she got cold, we went in. Yes the enitire point is to spend some good time with her while she is still young. That's the whole point of everything. The boat, fishing, time, etc. Catching is actually kinda far down the list but at some point, if we never catch anything then the whole idea wouldn't be any fun to her and that's why I'm here. Not much panfish around here but lots of trout, bass and salmon. I've been out on the main river in town lately and caught loads of Blueback. (searun cutthroat trout). Unfortunately when I took my daughter, we didn't catch anything but we pulled up to a cafe on the river and had a great lunch so it all worked out fine. We enjoyed ourselves and that's the point of it all. It's funny that someone mentioned her talking on the cell phone. The picture here makes one wonder what's more important. Talking to uncle Mike and aunt Francie or fishing. ;D

I just bought an old bass boat on a whim and I don't have a clue as to what to do, how to fish. Not only fish for bass but even fishing in general. I lost my wife in a car accident a few years ago and I haven't done a thing to enjoy my family for the last 5 years. I bought this boat so I could enjoy some quality time with my 14 year old daughter and I want to know what I can do to make her time on the water more enjoyable so she can have some good memories of growing up with dear old dad. So can you guys help me out a bit???? I live in Florence Oregon. One of the, if not the best fishing area on the west coast. We have great salmon fishing, crabbing, clamming, a great river that flows thru the middle of town but best of all, we have well over 25 lakes within 10 minutes of town. 2 of them in particular are known for being great bass lakes. Siltcoos lake and Tachenich lake. I have taken the boat out on a lake that is 2 minutes from my office and while I have caught a few small bass on the only lure I had at the time, I know it can get much better. Just a gold blue fox. I had a great time but I'm looking for my daughter to catch some fish and have a good time. We haven't done that in a long time and hence my decision to get the boat. It's not fancy but it works. It's just an old Bayliner but it does have everything the new boats has including the foot operated trolling motor up front. I got it really cheap because the guy couldn't get the engine to work correctly and since I'm a pretty fair mechanic, I took a chance and bought it with the intention of selling it and making some money. Turns out it was just a dollar part. I installed a new fuel pump diaphram and it runs great. I took it out on one of the many lakes around here and I'm hooked now but I am hoping to learn how to bass fish and have some fun with my daughter. Remember, we are as new to this as it gets so I'd appreciate any help.