Fishing Rhino

The sand is a great idea. The trailer could also be blocked up so it's not resting on the suspension, then the chines could be supported by blocks between the frame and the chines. One thing I know for sure. I'm glad I don't have to do it. In my younger, and poorer days, I might have eagerly tackled the project. The key word being "might".

These came with my new boat. The walkthrough person thought they were sheaths to protect the shaft on the trolling motor. At first glance, I knew what they were. Where to get them, I have no idea, but someone here must know. The boat comes with a Motorguide trolling motor, but could not find them on their accessories page. I even did a brief search but couldn't find a thing. The larger, shorter piece is 7" long. The other is 20.5 inches long. They told me that they do not allow you to adjust the height of your trolling motor. But it occurs to me that all you have to do is determine the highest you will will run the motor, and cut off enough of the longer piece to allow you to do that. Run the motor deeper, and pop that piece back on. Pop it on as close to the motor as possible while still allowing you to run the transducer cable in its groove, and the one for the top near the control head, and you can easily take any slack out of the cable or to give it extra cable when you lengthen the distance from the control head to the motor. Somebody obviously makes these since they are extruded. Looks like they would be the perfect solution to the question posed at the start of this thread. And no, I do not want to sell them. I just did another search, and came up with the application for a patent on these "trolling motor cable covers". http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20080293314

Correct. If you see the hull start to lift off the bunks when you take up some strain at the chine, back off until the hull sets back on the bunk.

If all goes according to plan, one week from now I should be in Southern TN on I-75, not far from GA. Possibly in northern GA. Should arrive at my daughter's home no later than 9:00 p.m. Will crash 'til who knows when. On Wed, I'll likely run over to Gville to finish breaking in the motor and for some fishing, then back to her home. On Thursday, more fishing. Return to Gville early Friday morning and remain there for a week. Got the Humminbird 898 installed and running Everything passed on the self test. I'm really getting stoked now. One body to complete for a customer. Will take two half days on Thursday and Friday. Mow the lawn. Take care of the few things my wife wants me to get done before I leave, and I'm a free man for the next ten or eleven days. Looking forward to seeing old friends and meeting some new ones.

Do you have cross members, or just stringers? In any case, get some jacks and support the hull at the chine. If it's just stringers, when you cut out the old pieces, the loss of stiffness could allow the hull to sag around the bunk. Use something like a scissors jack that cannol leak down like a hydraulic jack. Don't lift the area off the bunks. All you want to do is take most of the weight off the hull in that area where you will be replacing the stringer.

One piece at a time. If you clear out all the punky wood, there will be nothing left to ensure that the hull keeps its shape.

If the existing foam is a concern, you can get a two part mix that turns from liquid to foam. Don't know how much work time you have before it "fizzes", but the info should be readily available by searching the internet. (two part foam floatation) Here's one. http://www.uscomposites.com/foam.html

I wish I had looked at it a while longer. I could have cut an inch off the bottom and ended up with the carriage bolts on the bottom and the oval head machine screws on the top. It would have been flush with the step in the side of the console. It does keep the cables out of harm's way, and they are supported by that step. I did turn it on after connecting it to the power with a fusible link and a 3 amp fuse. It did acquire its position within 28 feet in spite of having a ceiling, roof and some overhanging trees in its line of sight. Next time, if there is a next time I'll probably mount it as you suggested, below the deck.

Can I borrow your Popeil Pocket Fisherman?

I used the ball mount on the other unit. It had the 2.25" diameter balls. They are available here and there, but nationally, they are on back order until April 15th. It was a nice unit, but the Ram Swing Arm I got cost forty dollars less, and it is rated to support 60 pounds. The downside to the mounting bracket is that it is a universal mount. It can be clamped to a vertical tube and has a variety of holes and slots. I used oval head machine screws 5/16" at the bottom, and 1/4" carriage bolts for the top two fasteners. The upside is that until I get the bow unit, I can loosen the pivot at the console and swing the Humminbird 180 degrees to face the bow, should I want to. It is available with a mounting bracket that can be attached to horizontal surfaces.

Mostly, I use the GPS for two things, returning to waypoints that have been productive and for finding places of interest on unfamiliar waters, be they coves, points, shoals or whatever. I do plan on getting a bow unit, but not right away. Need to recover from the cash layout for the new boat, the 898, and countless other odds and ends. I guess satellite transmissions vary according to their types. I'll lose my XM station if trees or buildings are in the line of sight from my antenna. Rain and snow shut down the satellite tv signal. I know I got some satellite signals and a fix when my other boat was in the garage, but it would show transmissions from more satellites when the boat was moved outdoors. It's just me being anal about optimizing anything, in this case the Humminbird puck.

I put it on the bow because the instructions stated that it should have an unobstructed view of the sky. "To optimize performance of the GPS receiver, mount it in an area that has full exposure to the sky. The effective area of reception is 5 degrees above the horizon." You are correct about the built in error. If I drop shot over a school of fish, the guy in the rear has the advantage.

I'm particularly satisfied with the mounting of the GPS puck at the bow of my boat. My prime consideration was to have it where it would have a clear view of the sky. That meant it could not be mounted near the console or the motor. The configuration of the console eliminated the possibility of mounting it at the console on an antenna extension as I did on my Z-7. One of my fishing buddies was always teasing me about having the puck mounted on the two foot mast. In my defense, there is a reason that Humminbird provides a threaded flange which can be bolted to the puck to do just that. I settled on installing it at the bow, on the panel for flush mounted sonars. The problem is that the surface is angled so the sonar will face the bow angler. My solution was to make a disc out of black gel coat impregnated with small pieces of mat torn from scraps. Fortunately, the cups I use for spraying gel coat were the perfect size. Poured just over an inch of black gel coat in the cup and catalyzed it. Then the small pieces of shredded mat were pushed into the gel coat with a paint stirring stick, and pushed around until the mat was thoroughly distributed in the gel coat. Once cured, the cup was peeled away, and what remained was removed using a belt sander clamped to a table top. The boat was levelled using a long level on the front platform. Boats rarely sit level on the water. They may list or sit down by the bow or stern. Since a boat is dynamic, and not static, it is not necessary to be absolutely precise when tapering the disc to make its top level. I used a short mason's level, and as long as the bubble was between the lines it was good enough. After the disc was tapered to be level, it was hand sanded, including hand sanding a radius on the top edge. A hole was drilled in the center, and the two mounting holes were drilled. The threaded flange that came with the unit was used to drill the two mounting holes. Here you need to pay attention. The mounting holes on the puck are at each end of the HUMMINBIRD name. For a neat install, keep that in mind before you indiscriminately drill the holes. The thin edge of the disc will be toward the bow, the thick edge toward the stern. The holes should be at the sides of the disc. Once finished, the puck got sprayed with flat black prior to final installation. For installation, a small bead of black silicone was applied near the edge of the bottom surface. The puck was then set in place using bolts to get it in proper alignment. Just enough pressure was used to cause the silicone to bulge out at the edge of the disc. It was then allowed to set up before finally bolting the entire assembly together. Because the silicone is glossy, I got an artists brush, sprayed some flat black onto a piece of cardboard , then painted over the glossy black. Three angles of the "trial fit". The finished install. To layout the components that mount on the fiberglass surfaces, I covered those areas with masking tape. It allows parts to be moved around without damaging the gel coat, and can be marked when the final location is determined. Some hints about drilling through the gel coat. Use a small drill to make the initial hole. Then, use a countersink bit. Countersink the hole until the diameter of the countersink is just a tad larger than the hole you intend to drill. It will eliminate the problem of gel coat chipping and fracturing that will otherwise inevitably be caused by twist drills. For the larger holes, use the paddle type bits that have a spur on each edge. That spur will cut through the gel coat without fracturing it. The masking tape will also help in that regard, though by itself it will not prevent the chipping of the gel coat. Here's my finished project.

Wow, whoulda thunk it. Even a compartment for spaghetti.

Hey Unc', I've been thinking about you with the Road Trip coming up and all. Haven't seen you here lately. Was worried that something had happened to you. Glad to see you're still alive and kicking.

OUTSTANDING! A flashy, reverse brindle boxer?

I'll never forget that fish. Your old man was whooping and hollering more than me. Your dad not only reminds me of Shelby Stanga, but also the alligator hunter who say choot 'em, choot 'em. What's interesting is that was my biggest fish of the KY trip, and a smallmouth was my biggest fish of the trip at Pickwick as well. Uncle Leo topped that smallmouth at Pickwick by a half pound,

Simp's dad. Met him at Pickwick two years ago. Fished with him at KY Lake last year. He doesn't quite look like Shelby Stanga (Swamp Man), but he's every bit as boisterous and outrageous, a laugh a minute guy. He won't make it this year. For that, he's on my sh.. list.

Two weeks from today you're gonna regret that.

You are more than welcome aboard on any of those days.

As it stands, I have open seats on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. I'm there for the duration, arriving Friday, the 20th (around daybreak), and leaving the following Friday, after fishing, and spending that night at my daughter's in GA.

Mike, how are we doing boat wise?

Nice!

There are locals who "smoke" waters with which they are familiar, but struggle outside of their element. There are a few ponds I fish that make me feel like a pro but get on unfamiliar waters, it a whole 'nother story. There are a lot of excellent fishermen around, but only a tiny fraction of those have what it takes to meet the expenses of tournament fishing. Think four to five bucks per gallon, probably more at the marina where the pros will fuel up. Some pros will make a round trip of several hours to get in a couple of hours fishing where they expect to do better in a much shorter period of time. Sixty, seventy, eighty and many more miles are not unusual distances to travel one way. Multiply that by three or four days in some instances. It will keep you awake at night. Towing and maintenance of the boat and tow vehicle is prohibitive unless you are independently well off or have sponsors willing to foot your bills. A number? I wouldn't even hazard a guess.

You only "need" identical batteries, if you hook them up in parallel. Otherwise they can be used as they are. If I were using two, I'd hook them in parallel, and charge them both when I returned, rather than running one down, and then switching to the other battery. A battery should be charged as soon as possible when it is run down. Bad things start to happen when a battery is at a state of discharge. In parallel, the first battery does not reach such a state of discharge. By starting with one and running it down then switching, you'll soon end up with two unequal batteries.