done

Have heard much of the same but with the sealing of the wood. I have gotten conflicting answers to that question that were equally vehement on how much they believed it. Can't say I am knowledgeable enough to lean one way or another. My only thought was not treating it was way to easy to be the way to go. I have had a couple folks tell me though offline that they would use Thompson's on their deck at least. I wonder if maybe using thompson's on the top (weather facing) side and not the bottom would be a good middle ground. provide the weather proofing on the side that really gets hit with the rain and such, and allow anything that does get through to escape through the bottom. Similar to how you treat a backyard deck. Be good to hear some feedback though on some of you folks who have gone through these projects, particularly those who have had their boats out in use for a year or more to hear how they fared.

I have used these a lot when I lived in New York and since I have been in Carolina, you can barely find a place to buy them. Anyway, I ordered some spinners online and tried 'em out in Lake Wylie last year. I started hitting Brim and Bass like crazy. Whatever was going on that day, they loved 'em. However, at least around others I seem to be the only person who ever seems to even own any. So my question, does anyone else out there use them, have any opinions on them? I am particularly interested in the mid-deep running spinners.

Great rules man. I have been on plenty of board where they allowed the "other topics" types of board with no limitations. You want to be sure a message board goes from civil to horrendous, spiteful, flaming, piles of cussing hatred, allow religious and political threads. I do greatly appreciate the tone and civility from everyone here. It really makes this a great place to hang out.

While it did make me want to bore the image out of my brain with my Dewalt cordless, I would not say offensive.

I catch them in Wylie all the time. I have most success with live bait (usually night crawlers). Equally amounts of success on a bobber just off the bottom or on the bottom. In Lake Wylie, I have come across 2 "personalities", in how they hit. My favorite, grab the line and go. Almost set the hook themselves. The others, seem to nibble a bit, then slowly take it. They can be REAL fun though and huge. I don't much care for eating them but my bud does.

Did you use marine plywood? I am having issues find some around here. Probably end up with normal plywood and indoor/outdoor carpeting cause nobody carries the carpeting either.

Did you put any finish on the plywood? I have seen posts here suggesting not to do so. Just curious. I just about have the entire aluminum superstructure built on it. I really appreciate you posting this in such detail. I am actually, going to something extremely similar to mine. I am moving the battery forward though behind what is the middle seat since that space is not used at all right now and i could use the extra weight up there to help plane it out more with the 8 hp motor. I am also adding some extra flotation stuff under the parts of the deck that are not part of the storage area. I probably would not have thought of it if not for this post. What, if any superstructure did you use for the middle section flooring? I was nervous about just putting plywood down as is.

Dc did you see the post we had earlier on NEVER using pressure treated on a aluminum hull? It was on another thread, that was the other one I learned this week. Turns out that the chemicals in there will corrode the hull. So I was planning on using 5/8" flooring on my Tracker 1436 but I was not sure what I could use to seal it. Hopefully Wyatt's dad will see these posts. I am really curious on that.

Hey everyone, unfortunately i did not have my camera on me. I caught a catfish in Lake Wylie NC/SC border. It fought well and was REALLY aggressive, however a couple things were weird with it. First of all, both its dorsal spike and the spikes on it's sides were cut short, very close to what you the spike with the catfish in the tank at a Bass Pro. On its skin, where the fins hit the body and around the mouth were red sores. A few around each point i was talking about. Anyone see this on any other fish or have any idea what it may be? Just curious mainly. I got a few brim, other cats, and some Bass nearby without any issues with them.

Well this may be 2 things I learned that I did not know. So you do NOT seal the plywood you use for the decking on a boat? I was curious on that. What, if any, treatment do you/can you put on flooring for your boat do lengthen it's life?

I got the Tracker 1436 and it really is very stable for 2 people. You will likely need to stay sitting down, but it is not bad. I put a 8 HP 4 stroke on it and it flys pretty nice to where I want to go. The was actually a great thread from a guy building a deck onto his Tracker 1436 LW which I am in the process of partially duplicating. Also the Trackers got some reasonable process on them.

LOL!! I cannot imagine 12 years without a fight. I started dating my wife in high school, and we have been married 8 years. I think we get in 12 fights a week. Course I guess that depends on how you classify "fight". We have never gotten into a big ol' cussing, screaming match. Can't say we ever would. Plenty of "disagreements" though.

The town I grew up in, we never had USPS problems. Since I have moved to Gastonia, PLENTY of issues. Now my carrier, she is great. She goes out of her way to try to make up for the issues we have had. To my knowledge the Gastonia office I deal with has lost 1 piece of priority mail in its history, that was the title to my wifes car. A very nice lady found it in her front yard and called us. The person who sbs for our carrier, is a few sandwiches short of a picnic. When he is "on the job" we play this little game in our neighborhood where like santa claus, we drive around and leave presents for all our neighbors. We re-deliver the mail cause the dude can't read or something. Anyway, the good part is I have met most of my neighbors because of this. We have even complained, had the postmaster over here call my home yet the dude still has a job. Anyway...ranting over. I am sorry to hear about your loss here though. I can imagine I would be standing in the postmasters office with my face a deep shade of red if the same happened to me. Yeah FEDEX/UPS

Do you have any of those pics you can post. Maybe open a new thread on it. Really, I never would have even thought it. In fact, I would have leaned towards pressure treated to deal with the moisture on a boat. I Would be a good general warning to put out there for the newbies like myself. I know the local Bass Pro sold out on Tracker Topper Jon boats 2 or 3 times this spring and summer so there are a TON of them out there this year. I imagine a lot of newcomers like myself.

Thanks for that! I actually just googled it when you posted that. It makes sense but I would not have thought the stuff used to pressure treat would corrode metal like that. Wow! Learn something new every day!

That's a good review. If you don't mind ask you bud next time you are out. Bass Pro had a similar list of reviews. One dude lost his motor. The problem is, you have no idea how they were using it what the water conditions were, what they had on there, etc. I had to build my own contraption for mine, which I am not to keen on. If this guy would work, I would use it, IF i can get the 12 volt motor I use for trolling into it somehow.

They got 3 pretty consistant negative reviews on that puppy. Have you used it yet? I would be curious to see if you share their opinions.

I actually use a 12 volt Syvlor motor. I has the benefit that my bud gave it to me for free. After just buying the boat, any purchase I do not have to make right away, is good for me. I figured I would give it a try and after building a weird little contraption to hook it to the boat good, I gave it a go. Actually pushes the boat REAL well.

Just relaying from the marina I got my boat from, The guy there said you can use the riding mower ones. I have even used them as primary batteries for a small jon boat's little 12 volt trolling motor. The one caveat he threw in there was, they will not hold a charge as long (go figure) and they will die much sooner than would a full size marine battery. If you are using it as a backup, I would just be sure it will actually be able to perform the job if it is needed before relying on it.

yeah, I just got a Tracker 1436 jon (w/o the livewell).vPut an 8 HP 4 stroke on it and got a free trolling motor from my bud. I have gone out 3 times in the last 2 weeks, for 3-7 hours at a time and still have not burned through a single 3 gallon tank of gas. I am just going to gradually upgrade this puppy, put in a low deck, some swivel seats, a small bilge pump, etc over the next year. Hopefully, a fish finder as well. For now, the fun part is, I know the holes, everytime I go out i can see where the dudes with the killer boats slow down or stop and scope out the holes, so i am constantly adding to where I go. Maybe in a few years I will upgrade to a true bass boat, but for now, I am catching fish, having fun, and spending less than I do to trout fish in the mountains.

I got mine right on the floor with a pretty water tight battery box. I would need so much water in there to cause an issue that I would have other things to worry about at that time.

Just got it this summer. Tracker topper 1436 (w/o the livewell). Got an 8 HP 4stroke outboard on there. It moves. In the process of adding some floor boards and seats to it now.

Without revealing locations, just curious what anyone out there in Lake Wylie (tackle/Technique/Time of day-wise) is having luck with. Myself, I have been seeing more action in the early morning (6:30-8am) than any other time of day. Not much luck around docks, or anything close to shore unless it is deep, real deep.

Wow. That really blows my mind. Folks just don't see it as a business thing. They figure, he I fish with my buds, and such so when I deal with a business owner who makes fishing tackle, I can just saddle on up to him and talk to him like we're sittin' at a campfire. What you should do is find out what they do for a living and throw it back at them. Let's use IT for example. "Hey buddy, I like computers, I even hear yours are really good. I was wondering if you'd be willing to hire me to help build some web sites." I have plenty of "fun" clients, like beer companies, gun manufacturers, even Disney World, and some "rough" ones like coal mining firms, and construction. Not a single one of them does not take their business extremely seriously. They don't take kindly to unprofessional conduct. I guess the big thing to always keep in mind with sponsorships of any kind, is that it is a business transaction. You are asking a company to allow you to represent them. There is not a single intelligent company that will do so until then know who you are and WHY they should take a risk and invest in you. Maybe, once you land them as a sponsor and make them some major bucks, then you can call the CEO at home and say "Hey buddy, can you send me some hats and stuff." LOL!

Not too sure on that. My tracker is my first outboard. We had a mess of I/O when I was growing up. Probably am being paranoid by the chance of getting swamped. With the boats my father owned growing up, having a wave go over the side was never an issue. Actually, the times it is really a concern are when I am sitting still and get hammered by some dude screaming right near me in a ski boat. If I see 'em up front I can use the trolling motor to take the waves up front. Probably nothing a half decent bilge pump couldn't handle if it did anyway. Also, how is the stability with it? I know most folks on here highly recommend jon boats no less than 42" wide. I have found with mine currently if I am alone standing and casting is fine. If I have 2 folks on there, sitting is really better unless you have 2 REALLY balanced folks on there.