digdug

Bigger can be better, but you need to answer a couple of questions about where and how you fish. 1. What will be towing the boat with? The bigger boats take a bigger tow veichle. 2. What type of water do you fish? Big open water, big, but not so open, for example Tablerock lake in MO, or smaller waters. I agree with the other posters though, I wouldn't go less than 17'. The 1st glass boat I bought, and the one I still have is a 1991 17' 11" Ranger. I bought it 3 years ago. It's a good boat, but a little short on storage area. I fish on Grand Lake in OK, Tablerock and Stockton in MO. For the open water on Grand and Stockton the boat seem a bit small sometimes. Both of these lakes have some long north-south strecthes and can really get rolling.

Here is are a couple of good rules of thumb for trim. 1. Once your up on plane trim the motor up as far as you can until, until porpusing starts. You need to take it carefully until you get the hang of how much trim your boat needs. 2. Once your up on plane trim the motor up as far as you can, until the motor is just shy, say 200 rpms, of red line. Once again you need to take it carefully until you get the feel of your boat.

I too have a 18' Ranger boat. Mine is a 91 model. I had to have a new cover for it when I bought it. Luckly for me, one of my fishing buddies owns and runs a canvas shop. The name of the his company is Malory Canvases. You might look them up in the yellow pages under Carthage MO. Ask for Dan, and tell him what your looking for. There are several types of covers and all can be good. The most expensive may not be the best, but the better materials the way to go. Some covers are beathable others are not . Both can be good, with the non beathable type hoods/vents have to be built in. I've had both. Good luck

Anyone remember Harold Ensley (Spelling!) - The Sportmens Freind? He did both fishing and hunting on his show. When I first watch his show, they were shooting it in 8mm camaras and Herold would narrate. As I recall Harold and Sam Walton were good friends... Virgil Ward, I can remember watching him, when I was just little kid. Gone Fishin'... Instead of just a wishin'.... When I was in college I used to work for a small tackle manufacture, late 80's early 90's. I can remember meeting and talking to most of these guys everyone has talked about and a bunch of people behind the scenes. There were so many crazy and silly things that went on behind the camaras.... and lots of things that they don't want you to know.

Unless I'm in extremly shallow water, I always leave the motor in water.

OK I know how you feel. I've been there. I've been married 13 yrs now and my wife loves to hunt & fish. In fact she has a bass & a deer on the wall and I don't have either. (What am I doing wrong?) I had a very serious girlfriend before I started dating the women that is my wife. She didn't really like to fish, but she would go with me. As we got more serious we discovered that we had different ideas about life, and we drifted apart. I hear several of the guys where I work talk about how their wife just doesn't understand why they want to fish or hunt.

I fish with mine on, I've never really thought to much about it. On the flip side of that, as a SCUBA diver I know the sound travels faster and farther in water. I can hear a small outboard underwater from more than a half mile away, and suffer from some major hearing loss. A large outboard can be heard from well over a mile away. I've never seen it effect the behavior of fish though. Also as a diver attest that Taylor is right. If you can find a big (small car sized) rock, a isolated brush pile, or a small chanel/ditch with depth change of 2 feet or so will really hold a unbeliveable amount of fish. I think that Mike may have a very good point about bodies of water that get heavy pressure. Maybe this could help explain why fish sometimes really change their patterns for no appearent reason on the weekends

What are the advantages/disadvantages of 3, 4 & 5 bladed props? I currently have a merc 5 bladed prop on a 150 XR4, on my 354 Ranger. I get about 55mph top end @ 5800rmp. The boat handles wells and the hole shot is good. This is my first bass boat. Thanks for your help and input.

Ranger 354, w/ Merc 150 XR4, five bladed prop, about 55mph.

I've had good luck with Merc over the last 23 years or so. That's what I would go with. Though I've heard many good things about Yamaha also, but I don't have any personal experience with them. Are you thinking about going with a four stroke or two stroke motor?

I haven't fished out of a tracker for about 15 years, but I agree with kegman1, they have come a long ways in the last 5 yrs. I buddy of mine bought a 185 2 years ago and he likes.

I make jigs and spinnerbaits also. I've thought about making a few topwater baits but haven't got around to it yet.

When I was a kid BPS was just a display in the Brown Derby packaged liquir store just a few blocks down the street. Now BPS is about 90 mintues away. I can remember when they first opened at the current location, back around 1980. I can still go there and spend hours shopping.

Where can a person buy good topo maps to use for fishing? I've got several topo bought at large sporting good stores, such as fishing hop spots maps etc. These maps give a good over view of the lakes and are good for navigation (sometimes), but topo details are pretty vauge or the scale is of no real use. Can anyone point me in the right directions? Thanks in advance.

Carbon steel will rust out very quickly. Yes, if you use stainless steel, you're "screwed". You normally only see stainless steel hooks used in salt water fishing, trotlines, and limblines etc.

As a fisherman and SCUBA diver, I can tell you the the hook will dissolve even if not ingested in a matter of a few days. The only exception to this would be if you were using a stainless steel hook.

Anyone had any experience with the Mercury Verado motors? I had a Mercury factory trained repairman tell me that they still had some "bugs" in them, but he did not give any details either, and did say the Verado would be a good motor after the bugs were worked out.

I've had 5 different Mercs on 5 different boats and I would buy another Merc. Never had any real problems. The only problem the I can remember was I had to have a starter replaced one time, but the orginal one was more than 10yrs old. I had a Merc repair man told me that the new Verado still has a few bugs, but he didn't give any details as to what the bugs were. I haven't heard that from anyone else.

been there before. i've been through 2 tornados while out fishing. the first one we all took cover in the tow vehicle and hoped for the best. it was the only place to go. the second one we ran the boat to a covered boat dock and then the waves and wind got so bad all we could do was lay down on the dock and hold on. i never knew a dock could move like that! man what a ride. luckily in both cases everyone came out no worse for wear.

fishinfool, when mounting a skimmer style transducer there are a couple of things to remember. 1. the tranducer must be level. if not, then you don't get a correct reading. 2. may sure that the skimmer will not be catching a lot of bubbles or turbid water from the boat hull 3. may sure that you seal up any holes you in the hull. Good Luck, & Good fishing

plexiglass will work well if it is not stressed to much. a better pick would be lexan if you putting in a large piece or it well catch a lot of wind..... Where to find it is another story, you might check with a sign maker, or a industry that has a lot of see thru guarding.

fishinfool, are you mounting the transducer on your trolling motor, shooting thru the hull, or on the back of the boat skimmer? All three methods have their +/- , pitfalls and tricks for mounting them.

Thanks for all the respones. I make my own jigs and spinnerbaits. I've thought about cranks and topwater but never had.

Yes, you simply put it back in place and retighten the knobs if needed.

This is the same question that I've asked myself, but I not ready to buy... yet. You should be able to find a good used 1997 - 2000 Triton, Ranger or Champion in that price range if you're looking at fiberglass. If you're looking at aluminum find a good used all welded hull boat. Make sure you shop around, there are a lot of good deals out there, but most are hard to find. Good luck and happy shopping