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My 8 year old daughter takes her on fish off the hook. Not to mention the fact that she even baits her own hooks when she is fishing with crawlers or shiners. Does his thong show when he bends over to pick up his Loomis Rod?

When you have the trim all the way down, you will not get any bow lift. You are pushing water with the hull instead of floating the bow. Start with the trim all the way down, and then as the boat begins the roll over to plane, start giving the trim a few bumps until the the front begins to "float". You will also pick up a few more MPH after trimming up. You will know when it is right the steering will become "neutral". You may have to trim close to all the way up to achieve top speed, or it may only be half way. Each boat is different in this respect.

There is a trade off when using the Tikki Stick compared to the Senco. The Tikki , as already stated is not as soft. You do sacrifice some action, but it is made up in durability. I use the Tikkis more than the Sencos just because they are more readliy avaliable in my area. I have caught fish on both, and have confidence in both.

A wet cell battery is battery that has a liquid form of eletrolite. (Just like the battery in most cars.) Most of the "wet" batteries have caps that you can remove to refill the electrolite level with distilled water when boil off has occured. They can be either deep cycle or cranking. Gel batteries are a sealed form of battery that has the electrolite in a gel form. It is totally enclosed and is "maintenace free". You can not add any thing to the battery as it is sealed. Also it will not spill out unless the battery is ruptured. AGM or Absorbed Glass Mat batteries are batteries that have the electrolite in a gel form, but it is absorbed into a fiberglass matt and then spiral wrapped with the lead plates in each cell. You can run this battery upside down and it will never leak nor do damage to the plates or cells.

You can also use a turkey baster to check for water in the oil reserve as well. Since the oil will float, the baster placed all the way to the bottom will pick up the water and leave the oil in the tank. Take a few samples from different locations in the tank as the water may be in different places depending on the amount of water present.

I also have a 19' f/g boat and I would not last half of a day with a 12 volt 40lb t/m. Depending on the water you fish, you would not be hurting to go with a a 70-82lb motor. I got the 70 pound and still find myself wishing I had went with the 82lber. I can get through a 8 hour day of pleasure fishing ok, but in a tournament I find myself a little too slow at the end of the day. If it is windy, then it happens way too early in the day for my taste. The higher your voltage, the lower your amp output will be. Higher voltages will do the same amount of work with less amps, which in turn will allow you to have more time with the t/m in the water. Amp draw is what runs your batteries down. If you stay with a 12 volt system, you will have more staying power with two batteries as opposed to one, but still not as much as the 24 volt setup.

The way I am fishing my pond is a little strange, but it has worked well for me. I will take a walk around the pond and mark where the fish are located. I use a reference point beyond the nest on the opposite bank. I reccomend a good pair of polarized glasses for the locating of the beds and fish. Now I will wait for 10-20 minutes without making a cast. This allows the bass to pul back up on the bed hopefully forgetting that I walked through a few minutes before. I keep a very low profile and move in a crouched or even crawling posistion when ever I am approaching the pond to begin fishing. From this posistion I have a very hard time locating the beds thus the marking of the beds with a cross reference. I have 3-4 rods pre-rigged with a lizard, wooly-hawg, a tube bait, and a senco. I will occasionally have a trick worm as well. The lizard and wooly-hawg are the only things that I have any weight at all on. I am using flourocarbon line and throwing past the bed to one side. I bring the lure slowly back to the bed at an angle so that the line is only crossing the bed just as the lure reaches the bed. I alternate between the lures untill I provoke a bass into biting. I have spent as much as an hour stalking one bass untill it hit. If you have a little bit of patience, the bass will become more aggressive in a few more weeks. The other thing too is that they are a few bass that will hit a horizontal drop shot as well. Just leave it in one place for more than a few minutes at a time. I had some cast that lasted as long as 15 minutes. The Other thing you can try is a jerk bait if you have enough depth where the fish are staging. If not you can use a rod tip high technique that will help prevent the lure from diving when you twitch it forward. You are in the same phase that I was in about 3 weeks ago. The bass are probably not as interested in eating as much as they are in warming their eggs in their bellies. I did not notice your location prior to writing the first part of my post.

(IMO) The faststrikes are probably the most dependable motor that Johnson ever made. The Fict motors were the ones that were crap. That is the motor that drove OMC over the edge into bankruptcy. My stock 150 is turning around 165 hp. I have been very pleased with it so far. Starts easily without smoking alot. Runs strong and runs pretty quick, for the boat size that I have. I was running 56 GPS on a 19ft Javelin with full t/x load for me and my partner. Hoping the jackplate I just put on will get me a little closer to 60. If you want to spend the extra cash on the motor, you can get it built and it will turn 205-210 hp. It runs about $1500 which is just a little too rich for my bank account right now. You can pick up 10-15 hp by just having the exhaust ported and adding carbon reeds. Runs close to $600 for the latter upgrade.

I know that my charger will do the same thing. If I remember correctly it goes through 3 cycles before going to green. First brings the battery to apx 14 vdc, then equalizes the battery, then goes into float mode. Float mode being the stage with the green light and is where the constant trickle charge is applied. The equalization mode is where the battery is subjected to different amperages to "cook off" particles that are attached to the plates. This can last as long as 1-3 hours depending on the battery. The process would start from the beginning if the charger looses power.

If I am fishing bedding bass then I will definatly throw a bluegill swimbait. Simple fact is that bass hate bluegills during the nesting phase. They eat eggs and fry as just about everyone knows. I may not hook up with the bass with the swimbait, but it will chase the lure and become so mad it has to bite something, makeing the catch with a jig or tube easier. The swimbait ticks 'em off and the smaller lure hooks 'em up. All this specululation will get you nowhere. There are plenty of reasons for either or to have happened. If you just wait a little while, then it will come to light in the end. So relax, go fishing, don't get so worked up over something that we were not a part of.

Lowrance X-125 will be more than enough for your applications. Plus you willl have money left to spend on more tackle. For the money IMO it is one of the better graphs that you can get.

Do you have a volt/ohm meter? If so check for voltage at the reciptical, and first point of contact in the foot switch. You should see where the leads from the t/m plug tie in with the switches for the t/m. Check the wiring by simpily disconnecting the wiring from the battery and and unplugging the t/m. Place the two leads from the v/o meter to the two battery leads and check for a short. The meter should read OL. (open line) If there is a low value number, zero or a beeping sound then you have a short in the wiring between the battery and T/M. It could be in the wires or the reciptical. Next use the v/o meter to check between the plug and the first point of contact in the foot pedal. You should be able to unhook the d/c feed from the pedal and read an open line. If all of these check good then you may want to consider sending the t/m in for repair.

If you take the measurement from the top of the bow to the waterline, and then add 20" you should be alright. That is the way that I set mine up and never had any problems. If you feel the you are going to be fishing allot of rough water you can always go with a longer shaft. If your measurement comes out to be 24" to the water line then you 20' add on would make it 44", but it falls between two shaft lengths, then go with the next size up.

It is best to repack your bearings at least once a year. The bearing buddy was designed to allow you to place grease in the hub to replace what is lost/broke down during normal wear and tear from driving, and also to help keep water from entering the hub assembly. That is part of the reason that the BB has a spring inside. It will keep the interior pressure higher than the outside pressure applied when the trailor is submerged. Some hubs also have a grease fitting on the back of the hub. The rear mounted grease fitting and the bearing buddy is by far the best design that I know of. It will get the grease to the back bearing without forcing grease out of the rear seal.

This is from an earlier post. I just cut and pasted it as I am too lazy to type it over. The way that I normally fill my livewells, is to start off with the drain closed before putting the boat in the water. Reason being is that I don't like to put the water from the ramp into the livewell due to the oil in the water from where the motors are warming up. After I have reached my first spot I will normally flip the aereator switch to begin filling the livewell. It will fill up for 30 seconds then shut off. I will not fill the livewell any more untill I have a fish to put in. No need in carrying extra weight around. I do not open the drain untill I am taking the fish out of the livewell at weigh in. Most livewells have an overfill drain that will allow water to flow out as new is pumped in. I have a timer that will run my main fresh water intakes. I use these whenever I am fishing. I also have a recirculator pump that I will run whenever I am making long runs on the lake with fish in the livewell. All this pump does is re-use the water that is in the livewell. Hope this helps. End of cut and paste. As far as just running you recirculator pumps only, that may not be the best thing to do. Reason being is that the fish that are in the livewell are under stress, and they will urinate, deficate, and vomit in the water. All this will cause the levels of both ammonia and nitrates to raise to an unsafe level for the fish to survive. Allowing fresh water to be pumped in will keep the water fresh and keep the Ph level close to neutral. Plus fresh water will have more O2 than water that is forced through the recirculator pumps. The additives are good to place in the livewell regardless of whether you use fresh water or recirculated water. You can always add a little more if you need to. A bottle of "Rejuvenade" will treat up to 500 gallons of water. The only draw back is that they do not say anything about maintaining the Ph levels in the livewell.

Baby oil. It will soften the vinyl and also remove minor acid rain stains. Wipe it on and let it set for a few minutes, then wipe dry. Then use a vinyl ptotectant. Also works well on vinyl boat covers as well. It will not remove all stains, but will suprise you as to the ones it will take off.

If you are buying a graph that has a "skimmer" or transom mount transducer, you do not have to buy a kit in order to get it to fit on the t/m. You do not need another transducer either. The metal bracket that comes with the transom mount can be shaped to fit the t/m. The only thing you will need to buy will be a dryer hose clamp from Lowes or Home Depot.

The day that I stop learning will probably be the day that I quite fishing. You will learn something new almost every time you are on the water. Somedays will be a refresher course that willl malke you say I knew better than to fish this way under these conditions. As long as you are learning you are still in the game. Once you stop learning, why bother even going.

I am having to get one due to having a bad back. A friend of mine has one in his boat and let me run the t/m on one of our trips. It made world of differece in how long I was abe to man the t/m without getting side tracked by my back hurting.

Here is a link to my birthday present. http://www.bassrods.com/products/flatfoot.htm

NC Divsion 1 Payout Schedule Paying 1 for 5 at %90 (Based on 25 boat field) $50.00 Entry Fee and $10.00 Big Bass: 1st $520.00 2nd $305.00 3rd $145.00 4th $95.00 5th $60.00 If first place also gets the big bass pot, you can add another $250.00 to the $520.00 for a total of $770.00. Not bad for 8 hours on the lake in a $60.00 tournament.

Midwest Sportsman NC Division # 1 Date Lake Ramp Times March 11th,2006 Lake Rhodhiss Rhodhiss Access Area 8AM-4PM April 8th, 2006 Lake James Black Bear Access Area 7AM-3PM May 20th,2006 Lake Hickory Wittenburg Access Area 7AM-3PM June 24th,2006 Lake James Black Bear Access Area 7AM-3PM July 15th,2006 Lake Hickory Wittenburg Access Area 7AM-3PM August 12th, 2006 Lake Rhodhiss Rhodhiss Access Area 7AM-3PM Entry Fee: $50.00 Optional Big Fish $10.00 Annual Membership Fee: $60.00 90% Payback at ramp 100% Payback At Ramp Top 30% Qualify For National Classic October 4th-6th 2006 Contact Info: P/M me if you are interested and have any questions.

Lowrance X-125. Best graph I have ever used for uner $300.00.

If you are going to be leaving your boat at motels or other public places overnight, it would be wise to have a removeable mount. Your t/m can leave the front of your boat in a matter of minutes if someone has a power drill and a 7/16 in wrench. It is not a good feeling to wake up expecting to fish a t/x and have to shopping for a new trolling motor instead.

I would try some of the cable lube that I placed a link to at BPS. If that doesn't help I would have to let a mechanic look the cables. If your steering is tight when the boat is trailored, it sounds more like the cables than a problem with the set-up. You may want to make sure that all the bolts on the motor mount are tight also. A loose mount could cause the motor to get in a bind when trying to turn the wheel. I am interrested in what you find out as my boat has an extremly hard pull to the right when taking off, and even after it is on plain and trimmed up. My steering however is still free when the boat is trailored. I checked my trim tab and it was way out of adjustment. I reset mine back to the number two posistion and I am hoping this will take care of my problem. I hope to find out next Monday.