VA-Cal

While fly-fishing late one evening, I caught a flying Bat on my backcast. When I started the forward delivery, and felt the tension, I thought I had snagged something. Just as I turned around to see what it was, the bat hit me in the back of the head!! Talk about "FREAKIN' OUT ! !" Cal

Don't know about Iowa, but here in Virginia, any Crappie of 15" or more is a "Citation" Fish . . . if you're into that sort of thing! Really NICE Crappie!!

Consider mounting the 2-bank charger in the same space as the 2 batteries, or an adjacent storage space. That's what I did with my Fisher. I have 2 batteries in the bow storage area, to power the TM. When I want to charge them, I simply unplug the TM and the FF, and plug in the charger to an extension cord that comes from my garage. Just remember to unplug the extension cord when it's time to move the boat!!! Cal

As far as brands, nowadays one is about the same as another . . . IF PROPERLY MAINTAINED!! Buy the best battteries that you can reasonably afford, to start with. You can always upgrade the next time around! As for MAINTENANCE . . . get a good 2-Bank on-Board Marine Battery Charger / Maintainer, such as Pro Mariner. When you return from a day's fishing or boating, plug it in and forget and fuggaboutit 'til it's time to take the boat out again! Cal

I've been using a MK30 and a group 24 (I think) Deep Cycle Marine battery on my Bass Raider 8E (usually there's 2 of us at +/_ 230# each), and I can troll on "1" or "2" pretty much all day, depending on how much "2" I use! Cal

I have a 1974 Shakespeare Wonder Craft 14' FG boat (made by Moody). I don't know how much it weighs empty, but it's heavy. I had my neighbor sit on the tongue of my trailer, while I tugged the boat backwards off the trailer. When I had about 1/3 of the boat hanging off the back roller, I had him ease the tongue of the trailer up in the air 'til the end of the hull rested on the ground. Then we pulled the trailer out from under the boat almost all the way. We lifted the bow enough so that we could push the trailer clear of the boat and esed her down to the ground. I then rolled her over to do some hull repairs. I intend to roll her back upright for some interior repair work, then I think we can lift her onto the first roller, and I can winch her back on to the trailer. Sounds like a cluster&^$, I know, but I didn't have any other way to do it! There's another guy on this board (Btech) who has the same boat as me, and he did similar repairs, and a complete hull paint job, but I don't know how he handled getting it off the trailer. Hope this helps . . . Cal

A small jon boat with oarlocks and oars sounds like a viable option! Cal

Let me preface my response with this . . . I'm no expert, but . . . I recommend that you purchase a designated "Cranking Battery" for your motor. You can connect one of the FF's to the cranking battery, and if the FF is equipped with a battery monitor function, this will keep an eye on your Main / Cranking Battery voltage. Connect your trolling motor and the other FF to a dedicated TM Battery. This way, the other TM, if so equipped, can monitor the TM battery voltage. As for running both FF's at the same time, I can't think of a practical reason fopr doing this. Assuming that one FF is located at the helm, and the other is located at the bow, by the TM (assuming you have a bow-mounted TM), then there is no need to have both operate at the same time. Besides, I think that they may even interfere with each other if running simultaneously! Not knowing just how your boat is set-up, these are my practical suggestions. If you have some other arrangement on your boat, the basic principles still apply - - - run TWO (2) separate batteries, and don't run both FF's at the same time! Hope this helps . . . Tight lines, Cal

And don't forget a grease gun and grease for your trailer bearings, as well as a good quality tire guage for all your tires!! Cal

Artificials: wet fly's, "Joe's Flies" w/Spinners, in-line spinners, bettle-spins, small spoons, grubs, and tiny tubes Live bait: small red worms (not night crawlers), wax worms, crickets, live hellgramites Tight lines, Cal

I've had some experiences with rather large Brown Trout in Penn's Creek (PA) that are minnow chasers. They usually lay up in undercut banks on the outside of bends, mostly around tree roots and such. Any 20# or 30# test braid that has a diameter less than 8 lb mono, tipped with any of "minnow imitations" will solicit strikes . . . not many strikes mind you, but when they hit, you'd better be hangin' on!! Tight lines, Cal

LED's require very little current to operate, but they too should be "switched" in order to conserve on battery drain. Way2slow is right, "RED" is the only color that will help to conserve your night vision. Any accessorie lighting should be mounted below the gunwales and should be focused downward towards the deck. You'll find that most LED lights have a narrow field of focus, so this is important. A fairly bright RED LED aimed right at your eye will wipe out your night vision for 15 to 20 minutes, just like white light! I fall your accessorie lighting will be LED's, then your wire guage can be smaller due to the smaller current draw . . . probaly 16 ga. would be plenty, unless your boat is over 24' or you have an excessive number of LED's. Regards, Cal

Ditto what vicdotcom said . . . flycasting is a subtle artform, and once you get the hang of it, you'll discover a whole new world of fishing challenges! I'd recommend a 4 or 5 weight rod / reel / line combo. Line should be Floating, Double Taper. This allows you to get twice the life out of the line by simply reversing it on the reel once the tapered tip starts to show signs of wear 'n tear! Panfish can be skittish at times, so you should use knotless tapered leaders of 6' - 9', size 4X, 5X or 6X. Lures, as mentioned by others, can be poppers, almost any dry fly pattern, and quite a few wet flys and even streamers work at times. My favorite is a rather non-descript deer-hair bug tied on a #10 or #12 light wire hook. Deer hair is hollow, and when treated with a good fly floatant, can stay bouyant for hours, and can withstand the ravages of those tiny teeth! It doesn't take a big cash outlay to get the basic gear and get started (under $150 if you shop smart). . . but watch out . . . if you "catch the fly fishing bug, it can get expensive!!! Best of luck, and tight lines, Cal

A year ago I would have had to answer "NO", but now . . . 2000 Fisher 17 Avenger Pro SC w/Merc 75hp ELPTO & MG 40lb TM 1974 Wonder Craft by Moody w/Wards 7hp (A "Work-in-Progress") 2006 Pelican Bass Raider 8E w/ MK 30lb TM If only I had enou8gh time to use them!!!!!!!!!!!! Cal

Fredericksburg, VA here . . . Just got my 1st real boat, and trying to work out my schedule to get some fisshing in soon. Cal

Multi-Species Boat: Fisher 17 Avenger Pro SC Merc 75 ELPTO MG 40# TM on Bow Eagle Silver Striker 600+ FF on Bow Lowrance X-38 FF @ helm Length: 17'-6" Beam: 7'-8" Weight: 1275 # +/- "A work in progress . . . :" Cal Fredericksburg, VA

She's lookin' really spiffy now Brian. My similar project boat has been on hold due to weather, and the fact that I found the "boat of my dreams" for big water. I still intend to fix mine up though, and I'll keep you posted of my progress. I may still have some questions for ya too! Regards, Cal

Check out "Carver Boat Covers" (Google them). They make boat / model specific covers, and they are more reasonable than most others. I just bought one specifically designed for my Fisher 17 Avenger Pro SC w/Bow TM. It fits GREAT, and it's shedding water like a duck's back today!!! Cal

Hi y'all, I'm Cal, and I'm new to this forum, and to boating; but not to fishing. I'm working on an old 14' Shakespeare cored FG hull and want to frame out a flat floor (over the original, once repaired) and some storage boxes (Rod locker, tackle, misc.). Have any of you done something similar? How did you bond the framing to the glass hull? Epoxy/filler epoxy? glue? mechanical fasteners? All info is appreciated, and I'm looking forward to following Btech's renovation, as we have similar boats. Tight lines, Cal

Hey Brian, Boy, am I glad I finally figured out the registration process for this BBS!! I finally got to look at your boat pics. I've got a very similar looking Shakespeare boat; according to the VA Title, its a 1974 Shakespeare Wonder Craft 14B. The main differences I can see are: * Yours is a side console rig, where mine is a tiller model. * Yours has steps up from lower deck to front cooler box and deck, where mine has sloped floor and bow deck is flush with gunnales/rub rails. I'll get some pics of mine on here this weekend maybe. So far, I've stripped the old (dry-rotted) indorr-outdoor carpet from the hull, and wire-brushed the remaining fabric hairs from the hull. I still have to remove the adhesive so I can do some serious crack repairs. Mine is showing numerous cracks in the inner hull (probably from stress and flex over the past 35 years!). I look forward to tracking your progress, and then reporting mine as well. I also look forwar to more indepth communication with you about our boats, if you up for it, that is. Regards, Cal