Fishing Rhino

For 300 or 400 dollars, you're not likely to find one that will show you the log twenty feet below, unless you pass directly over it, and then you will not know if it's a log or a boulder. But, you will know it's definitely structure, cover, or as I prefer to say, transition bottom. A portable hundred dollar unit will do that for you. The larger the screen, and the more pixels, the better the definition will be on the display. My opinion, there is no need to spend a lot of money on your first, basic machine. I have found plenty of fish, correction, fish holding bottom on my 99 dollar, portable, Eagle Cuda. Water temp, and a few features that will allow you to fool around with the display, such as speed, sensitivity, etc. You have a 14 foot jon, but don't say if it's powered by a trolling motor, outboard, or oars. Power source is consideration. My 99 dollar unit uses 8 AA batteries for power, And I run it continuously. Must get at least forty hours of run time on those 8 batteries. For around 200 dollars, you can get a nice unit with a rechargeable battery, and a larger display. My buddy has one, and the picture is much sharper than the image on mine. He got his mail order from Cabela's, and it included a tote bag. If you want something that will show you the logs, rocks, depressions, and other bottom features you'll need to go with a side imaging unit. But, you're talking close to a thou for the small screen. For starters, I'd stick with something like my buddy's unit.

It ranks right down there with the Tour de France. What is it, a two week bicycle race? Nothing against those who participate or enjoy those two sports. I gave up on professional sports and their pampered, privileged owners and players whining about how tough they have it years ago. I'd rather watch golf or tennis. Individual sports where, aside from endorsements, and appearance fees, the players get paid according to how well they play in a given tournament. One thing that puzzles me is the retirement of Lorena Ochoa who retired at the peak of her game. More power to her.

I've fished with guides twice. The first time in March in Georgia, and the second time in May on the Pickwick Road Trip. Though the fishing was not up to par in Georgia, it was not due to any fault of the guide. They just were not biting. Those things happen. At Pickwick, though it was not a killer experience, catchwise, I still felt I got my money's worth. When it comes to gear, some guides provide everything, but will allow you to bring your gear, or at least some of it. Guides are like everyone else. They have their own personalities and quirks. Some will be very free in sharing info which you may use in the future. Others, not so much. Guides depend on two things to survive. Production and word of mouth. Most long time, established guides are able to make a living because they will cater to their clients, but also put them on fish. In the end, it's a matter of contacting a number of guides, if available, communicating with them, and selecting the one that most likely will accomodate your wishes if practical and possible. It is my opinion that when visiting unfamiliar waters, if one is going to enlist the services of a guide, do so early on. While it is unlikely they will tell you all their honey holes, they can tell you what the fish are doing, where they generally can be found, and what they are biting. Like everything else in life, don't entertain unrealistic expectations, do your homework, and you won't be disappointed.

You too? LOL...Well at least I learned that beavers do not eat fish. There are so many thoughts running through my mind right now, and none of them fit to post on this forum under the present rules.

A couple of eye bolts through the 2 X 4, a ratchet strap and fairly good size wheels (small bike size) should be all that's needed. Small wheels are difficult to roll over lumpy or soft ground. Find your balance point on the "carriage" and snug it down with the ratchet strap. Good to go.

The only days that are not successful are those when I'd rather have been at work. I've yet to have one of those.

You may be able to find the springs, but it will necessitate a boat and a depth finder. My favorite pond is 6 - 7 feet deep away from the shore. The depth varies very little until you pass over a spring. There are at least three of them. The depth at those three springs is 9 feet, and the diameter of that depression in the bottom is maybe 30 feet. The reason a spring is likely to be deeper is the upwelling water keeps the "hole" dredged. The question that interests me would be, what is the oxygen content of that spring water? If you get an opportunity to chart the bottom, do it very slowly. A small depression can go unnoticed at faster speeds.

The bait monkey is pizzed at me. I haven't bought anything since returning home from the road trip. On the other hand, I spent heavy getting ready for the Pickwick outing.

Yep, and it occurred on the road trip to Pickwick. I was doing 40 - 45 mph, and had a cooler in front of the console. The lid ripped off the cooler, sailed over the console and whacked me right on the tip of my nose. I managed to trap the lid against my face, so it didn't fly off the boat, throttled back, set the lid on the deck of the cockpit, and pinched my nose to staunch the flow of blood that was pouring from it. Bassin Sergeant, who was with me, dipped a towel into the cold water in the cooler, and I applied it to my nose. We resumed speed, and headed to the next fishing spot. By the time we got there, the bleeding had just about stopped, so it didn't interfere with the fishing. Didn't hurt much that day, or the next. When I got home, it started to swell, so I had it checked. Not broken, but a cellulitis (skin infection) had resulted. A regimen of antibiotics knocked that down.

Mix and match? Use the two AGM for the trolling motor, and the wet cell for starting and electronics. Regarding the on board charger, how many banks does it have. If it's two, hook a bank up to each of the trolling motor batteries. The motor's charger should keep the wet cell charged. If it's a three bank, one to each battery.

Bow and stern lines are highly recommended. I have Yakima roof racks to carry my canoe on my truck. Very sturdy, but I still like the security of bow and stern lines connected to something solid. In my case, it's the snow plow mount in the front, and trailer hitch receiver in the back. Ratchet straps all the way around.

I had the same problem with my MinnKota Traxis five speed. It was under warranty, so the repair, which was the speed regulator cost nothing. I watched it being repaired. Just a matter of removing a few screws to remove the cover of the control head. After that, if I recall correctly, the tiller handle assembly was removed, the speed control unit was unplugged and slid off the shaft. A new one was installed, connected, and good to go. Just a screwdriver was needed for the repair, though it might be a good idea to have some electrical connectors and a crimping tool just in case.

Power loading. It occurs to me that most, if not all bass boats and their trailers are designed to be loaded that way. At the proper depth, you only need to be approximately aligned with the center of the trailer. The boat will then center itself on the trailer. Too much depth, and the boat may not center itself. Side beds may help, but you do not want the boat to travel down the road with the boat's high tech finish in contact with the side bunks. Chaffing can and will occur. I fish on a couple of ponds that don't allow power loading. It can be a pain at times to winch the boat onto the trailer. The bow has to lift considerably in the last few feet, and winching it is a struggle. Put the trailer deep enough to do it reasonably, and the boat can load off center, particularly when there is a stiff breeze blowing off and across the pond. In cases like that, I tie a line to the stern cleat on the windward side of the boat and have my buddy hold it centered against the wind while I pull out. Even then, there have been times when I've had to back it down to move the boat an inch or so one way or the other. Power loading, for me anyway, always results in the boat being accurately centered on the bunks.

No hunting for me, though most of my buddies do.

An underperforming asset? Sounds more like a liability than an asset. I don't know when that phrase was coined, but I first heard it when the Bank of New England was going down for the third time. It was in the 1980s, and townhouses were all the rage in this area of New England. The B of NE had been found guilty of laundering money and other violations of banking regs. In their eagerness to recoup their bottom line, they rushed into lending large sums of money to the big developers, just before the building boom went bust. They were left holding a bunch of notes that were worth less than toilet paper. What was once known as bad debts or some such other term became underperforming assets. Nothing more pathetic than someone trying to shine a turd.

Not being familiar with a hot foot, I had an odd problem with a single lever control that might apply. I could not get the throttle faster than idle in reverse unless I applied a great deal of pressure to the lever. Took it in and a simple adjustment solved the problem. Just a little bit out of adjustment caused the throttle to bind, but only in reverse. I'd quiz a technician about your problem. What is odd is that it only happens when loading it onto the trailer.

Fenders/bumpers. For those occassions when you want to lay alongside another boat or dock.

LongMike has a MinnKota I pilot that will do that, and he absolutely loves it. It will hold a position, or follow a preset course.

It's either a poor connection to the controller, or a faulty controller. Take the cover off the control head, and check all the connections. You can also temporarily reverse the connections to your battery. Turn the motor control to a forward speed. The motor should run in reverse. If it doesn't, the problem may be in the motor. However, I doubt that is likely.

That might be ok if all ramps were the same pitch. But, they are not. A much better indicator is the fenders of the trailer. If mine are even with the surface of the water, give or take an inch, then the boat can be driven onto the trailer. It must be a bit deeper for the boat to float off the trailer.

Lard? My mother was a Canuck Yankee, and my father a Good Ol' Georgia Cracker. When they got married, my paternal grandmother taught my mom Southern cooking. No need to buy lard. Just save the grease from cooking bacon. If I recall correctly, before cooking fish, chicken or whatever in the bacon fat (lard) my mom would cook a batch of french fries. Cooking potatoes was supposed to purify, or clear the lard somehow. Potatoes were only required for the first use of the lard. Didn't matter to me. Never had french fries as good as those cooked in bacon fat. Same goes for fish and chicken. My mother, who was French, also used a lot of butter in her cooking. One of my favorites was "guttaw". Spelling wrong, but that's how it's pronounced. It was ground pork, spices and lard, plenty of it. There was as much white from the lard as brown from the pork and spices. Yummy. Was great in a sandwich or spread on saltine crackers. Here tis. Gorton (French-Canadian Pork Spread) By: Lil1 "French-Canadian pork spread for toast and crackers....This was my memere's recipe and so far I have never had any better. Very simple to make I guess from what I read, Croton and Gorton are almost the same, Gorton being the New Englander translation Enjoy" Ingredients 2 pounds finely ground pork fat 2 pounds finely ground pork 2 onions, finely chopped 4 cups water 1 teaspoon ground cloves 3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg salt and black pepper to taste Directions 1.Stir the pork fat, ground pork, onions, water, cloves, and nutmeg together in a large pot. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until the pork is tender, at least 1 1/2 hours. Use a potato masher to mash the pork mixture every 15 minutes as it cooks. 2.The longer you simmer the gorton, the better the flavor will be. Add water as needed to keep the mixture from boiling dry. When you're ready to stop cooking, let the liquid reduce as much as possible without letting it burn. Refrigerate the gorton overnight. Remove and discard the fat layer, or stir it into the meat for a creamier spread. My mother stirred it in.

I suspect the "grinding" you are hearing is the parking pawl is jumping the teeth on the parking gear. When you shift from park to forward or reverse, the gear may start to rotate before the pawl is fully disengaged. I had a car that did this. Sometimes on a steep incline, because the mechanism was worn, (and I did not set the parking brake) the pawl would jump out of the space between the teeth of the parking gear. Then it would "grind" as the car continued to move. "Park" should be used as a backup to the parking brake, not as the primary means of immobilizing the vehicle. It is all too common that some drivers do not use the parking brake, depending exclusively on the tranny to prevent the car from moving.

It will create a bit of back pressure, but I doubt it will do any harm to the engine. On many inboards, the exhaust outlet is underwater unless the boat is moving forward. I'm sure you've heard the characteristic, blub, blub, blub of inboards while idling at a dock, or moving in reverse. Two cycle engines are a different matter, but even they can deal with the exhaust being underwater, whether they exhaust through the prop, or an exhaust which comes out behind the prop.

You need to have it checked. Does it do it when on level ground? If not, set your parking brake before putting the tranny in park. Your owner's manual will give instructions about putting the transmission into park on inclines. From: http://www.everything2.com/title/how+to+use+an+automatic+transmission "In an effort to prolong the life our automatics and my arteries, let's look at the proper way to park an automatic transmission vehicle: Step 1: Locate a parking space. Step 2: Enter the parking space. Step 3: With your foot on the brake, engage the parking brake, aka emergency brake or hand brake. Step 4: If you are on an incline, slowly taking your foot off of the brake and make sure the car is not rolling. If it does roll, apply more force to the parking brake. When you know the car will no longer move, put the transmission in park. If you parked on flat ground, then you should need relatively less force on the parking brake. Just make sure you don't roll around. Step 5: Shop 'til you drop, knowing that your car is parked correctly. Step 6: Reenter your vehicle and turn the engine on while you keep your foot on the brake. Step 7: Release the parking brake and choose an appropriate gear with which to exit your parking space. Notice the peaceful silence as you slide the gear selector out of park."

Do an internet search for "vinyl seat repair".