TLBassin

Fingers crossed or not you got a GOOD deal. You could scrape the boat off in parts and get that plus some. Hope all does well with it and good luck ;D!

Thanks for all the help everybody. Two more questions. Do you replace the trim oil? and how to do check to see if all the water is out of the motor? I have a 96' 150 Johnson Fast Strike.

How do you spray the fogging oil into the motor? and where can I get it at?

YES YES, I know this is early for asking this question and I definately do not wanna be thinking about it, but I have too. Seeing how I am a college student and live 3 1/2 hours from home, I really do not have to much time to fish anymore, and especially since deer seasons in too. I am thinkin that I will take it out another time or too atleast before October is over though. Ok heres the question, how many of you winterize your boat yourself, or do you let the dealer do it. If you do it yourself what are the steps to doing it and how to you put her up for the winter. Also Ive herd both, leave the tank full of gas and leave it empty, I know that it will need stabilizer, but what is the best way to leave it? Thanks everybody!!

I was going 2-3 times a week, until gas went WAY up. With the lake being a solid 30 minutes away, making it once a week is doing good around work and other things. Right now I just cant afford to go as much, but one of these days, Ill be out there all the time!!!! ;D

My partner and I were fishing yesterday and our home lake has been way up, but now has dropped back down to normal, falling about 2 feet. Anyway, normally as the water falls, I slide deeper with the fish. But this weekend all the shad were up in the coves in MASSIVE schools. They were movin around like they were being chased at times. They looked like they would in the fall when they move into the coves and creeks. We fished them and could not catch a thing. We matched crackbaits as close as we could to them and also threw other lures, lizards, buzz, spinners......Nothin. Do yall have any advice on how to fish the schools and what to use. Thanks ya'll

OK....In my opinion and my experience, I would trade the front for the back ANY day. (and no Im not crazy either). All the times that I have fished from the back of the boat I have tore the boater up and number/quality wise. Now that I have my own boat and fish the front, I get tore up by the guy in the back. Since I like the back so much, I get my non to run the trolling motor and let me fish the back, and waaalahhh, I get more fish. IDK what it is but I know I have more confidence in the back. To me when I fish the back my mind is solely focused on fishing and fishing only. When in the front i have to worry about running trolling motor, whats ahead of us/where to go, and the fish finder to make sure I am not going to shallow.(I have learned to do it all pretty fluently, but it still aint the back) Thus breaking alot of my focus and not catching as many fish, I believe. Things that I used from the back where C-rigs, cranks, and jerks!! GOOD LUCK!! ;D ;D

If the thought of gettin stuck still makes u afraid to grab them, u can use a hand towel or soft glove to grab them until you get used to doing it. MAKE SURE ITS WET WHEN U DO IT THOUGH

1-10 sounds pretty good to me, lol. Being the HUGE water bug/lake person that I am, not only do I fish all the time, I like to ski and wakeboard. Thus knowin how you guys feel,and myself about being washed out, I always take extra precaution when I am around fishing boat skiing and wakeboarding. But the one thing i cant stand is jetskis doin spin outs right beside the boat or aimlessly riding when there are millions of other gallons of water out there to do it in instead of beside my boat. I think that they need designated coves on lakes for certain things only, like fishing and skiing coves.

Im sure it has happened to all of us, esp those with boats. Here recently it seems like all I have done is shell out money on fishing (and not on things that I chose to spend on). Had to buy a new motor, tire blew out, replace lost lures(which is not as bad), fix a rod, etc, etc, etc... After this Ive had people tell me that the two best days in a mans life are when he buys his boat and sells his boat. I LOVE fishin and my boat way to much for that to happen, but are any of yall in this same rut too???? :-/

Speakin on this topic......I also use oil that is cheaper. Being a college student, I can hardly put the gas in the boat and go on a regular basis much less pay $30 for oil (thats a day plus some on the lake in gas). This past spring at the BPS Spring Classic, I bought the Citgo brand (which BPS was featuring, and is TCW 3) and was on sale by the case for $9. $9 for 4 gallons of oil cannot be beat, and so far I am pleased with it too.

I just got a Fast Strike and so far I love it, I put a thread on her about them, here it is...http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1143239987/0#0

What is the first thing that you throw when you get out on the lake and start fishing............... For me its a C-rig for sure!!!

Can anyone tell me where I can order a ventalation ring/blow out ring to put on my prop. I talked to the mechanic that I bought the motor from and he said to try that since there isnt one on the prop.

Not fishing with anything besides plastics, I AM A SOFT PLASTICS MAN...Ill fish other things some, but i dont not put anywhere near the effort into trying to make it work as I do plastics.... There just so fun to fish with!!!!!!!!!

Thanks guys for all the input and help....Ive takin it out on the lake everyday this weekend so far, and yes it is trimmed all the way down when taking off, and I dont begin to trim it up until it is on plane. I found that when washes out, especially when there are more than 2 people in the boat, if the RPM's get over 3500 when taking off. When there are just 2 in the boat it is not so bad, but will still do it some.

This is my first boat so I am not quite sure as to several of the things mentioned like the position on the jack part, if its spun, etc... What I can provide is it is a 150 Johnson Faststrike, and the "blow-out" occurs when the boat comes on plane. It is fine when down (starting off from idle) in the water comming out, but when the front end starts comming down and it gets on plane is when it does it (like the water just leaves the motor and I have to slow it down before it catches again). At mid throttle and WOT it is fine it seems to me, I have had no trouble in either area. The prop is a 4 blade SS Renegade Bass with a 25 pitch. The boat that its on is a Stratos 278 model. I believe that I am going to call the mechanic that I bought the motor from and have him solve the problem.

Just got another motor put my boat and when I hammer down on it, its like its "spinning out" (rpms go up and it goes no where). When I ease into it, it does fine. Is there a problem with the motor or is it how I am taking off or what????? Any help would be appreciated!!

Heres my .02 Take note of what everyone is saying about the MOTOR......THIS IS A MOJOR PART. I just bought a 95' 278 Stratos for 6900 a few months ago from a dealer on consignment, they went through the motor and checked out OK (Susposedly) and it started right up and test run great....Took it out the first time and everything was perfect. Second time out everything was great until I was comming back in and the motor threw a rod through the block, needless to say that was the end of that motor. It had an Evinrude 130 on it. So after being out of comission for 2 months and COMPLETELY MISSING THE SPAWN, I now have it back. I decide to up grade on power while I was payin out the money and bought a freshly rebuilt 96' Johnson 150 Faststrike. Set me back quite a few bucks. I had to pay for the brunt of it, but I did get help from the dealer, BUT STILL...... My Advice is MOTOR MOTOR MOTOR and when you test run it dont be a pansy on the motor, make sure its gonna hold and not stick you with a problem like happened to me. AND JUST BECAUSE IT IS COMMING FROM A DEALER DONT ASSUME ANYTHING!!

Not sure if this is in the right place or not but I NEED HELP regardless.....I have a pond that is a great one and the fish are starting to become of good quality,but............catails are starting to spread throughout the pond. I dont mind some in there but they have overpopulated and I wondering if there was anyway of control/killing them off??????????????? Any help would be appreciated

You take more time to clean and wax your boat than your car!!!! Fall guilty of this majorly, Ive only had the boat 3 months and i wash it all the time and it has had a detailed waxing. The boat is a 95 BTW. I have a 04 Jeep GC, i wash and all but not near as much as I do my boat!

Is there somewhere I can go to read up on these props or can someone give me some input on them. Lookin at a SS 4 blade 25 pitch. Thanks

I had a 16' Lowe Big Jon with a 25 Johnson on it and it was a good solid boat. It was the first boat I ever had experience with and it was pleasure learning my boating skills with it. It was a very stable boat with plenty of room for storage and for 2 people to fish out of. Boat would get right up on plan and was very easy riding. I was sad to see it go, but I upgraded to a Stratos ;D! Good Luck with the hunt.

I have a 95' 278 and it had a 130 V4 Rude on it and it blew........... Everyone Ive talked (mechanics) to do not favor the 130 because it was such a one of a kind and they didnt like it. But I have herd that the 120 was much better and dependable motor.

After futher examination, biologist find that the fish has been weighted down with sinkers!