Minuteman

Son and I got caught this summer on an electric only lake when one came in. Still had the little jon boat and as we are trying to make it to the dock, the battery went. Had enough juice to make it to the shore and there was a trail to the dock about 3/4 mile away. I beached the boat, but the lightning already was on us. My son ran to the vehicle and I had no real choice, but to stay with the equipment and try and get under the smallest set of evergreens. I was more angry at myself for getting caught like that with my son than I was scared(and I was scared!). When the storm stopped I realized I wasn't the only one. The trail had been filled with hikers and bikers who started to appear out of the woods. My son came back and we had to unload the boat on the shore and dump about 50lbs of water out of it so we could paddle back to the dock. With the new boat, I always have spare battery power.

Anyone ever use CRC or other brand boat cover waterproofing? My cover has no rips or tears, but water does seep through. I think it is the original Tracker boat cover. The boat was always in a garage and I think the cover is just "dried" out. I plan on getting a Tarp for when the boat sits outside for long periods, but I want to use the regular one for trips and such. I didn't want to ruin it by applying something I shouldn't. It is a type of cloth, canvas, I think. thanks bill

AaHaa, mine is close. I sometimes tie mono leaders on my braid and I usually have to break out the bifocals for that. Too many times I've made the snip on the wrong "tag" after making sure the knots are smooth and tight. Aarrgghhh!!

The 9.9 is off to the side and the 45 is centered.

Reel Cool!

Here is what's on my 17' Tracker boat for just such an occasion. Pushes her along fine.

Since I've only had my own boats for a little over a year, I have one from many years ago with my brother-in-law and I. I'll have some better ones soon, I'm sure. 1981 We got to the cabin in the Poconos and unloaded with an hour or 2 of sunlight left and decided to put the 12' Applebee and cruise the lake for a bit. It got really foggy and dark and we had no idea where we were at. We started cruising the shoreline looking for a ramp or any kind of landmark. Finally we saw the glow of an RC Cola machine and figured we must be near the park area down from the ramp. We felt relieved and shut the motor off and decided to fish along the bank on the way up. When we shut the motor off to use the trolling motor we heard this strange noise. Took about 2 seconds to realize it was water running over the dam right behind us. The next morning I walked down along the bank and it was then that I saw the soda machine and realized just how close we had been to going over the dam which was about a 30' drop into the rocks below.

Ordered the breaker from Cabela's. I was hoping to find something local, but even the Boat shop about 20 miles down the road only had 50A fuses for TM's. The only place I forgot to call was Dick's Sporting Goods. The only thing wired to the Deep Cycle battery besides the TM is the console battery gauge.

Looks like I need to check for one of these. Cabela's $6, although I'll trace the wiring today and see if one isn't already in there somewhere, possibly on the wrong set of wires.

The other day I posted how the boat had the batteries reversed when I got it. Deep cycle was to starter and accessories and TM was connected to the Starting battery. I'll have to check tomorrow , but I wouldn't be surprised if that fuse wasn't meant for the starter/accessories battery. Maybe, the correct TM Circuit Breaker is on the other battery line. I have to call the previous owner and ask about the radio antenna that he forgot to give me. I suspect when his son and him got newer boats they swapped batteries and got them reversed. I've wanted to inspect all the wiring this winter, but maybe I better start now.

Have a Motor Guide 46Lb Thrust 12V. We were on an electric only lake tonight and the TM died about 10 minutes out. We only would've had an hour fishing time till dark so I checked the obvious connections while we made our way back to the dock and then headed home so I'd still have some light to check everything with a multitester. Wasn't getting any juice up to the front plug. A fuse near the battery was blown. It was a 32V AGC 30 Buss fuse that was blown. That didn't seem right so I checked the manual and it says it should have a 50Amp Circuit breaker at that location. Of course MotorGuide gives a part number to order one from them. Shouldn't there be something I can pickup at RadioShack or WalMart that'll give me the same protection? I'm sure I yanked some wires cleaning the back compartment and installing battery boxes yesterday, so I just have to find the short. The TM worked fine when I tested it outside the boat later on.

I caught a 7Lb 8oz 23 years ago on a nightcrawler from the bank in a private pond. That started me into mainly Bass fishing and I really can't remember the last time I used live bait. I finally came close to topping that this year with a 7Lb 1oz on a crankbait which I consider my PB "legal" tourney rules type Bass. I'm certainly more proud of that one, since I was targeting bass specifically at the time. Strange but, I have never caught a 5 or 6 lb bass and maybe one 4 lber besides them 2 7lbers. My son has a few 4 and 5lbers that he caught while fishing with me.

I kind of figured that radio, lights, etc, would be just like on a car and hooked to the starting motor battery. I should be good to go then. Both batteries test fine, so it appears nothing went wrong. The previous owner and his dad both bought newer boats and I'll bet they just did some battery swapping with this one and maybe got them in backwards.

Bought an '89 Tracker TX-17. Had set for almost a year, but was garage kept , winterized and in great shape. Some minor problems I knew about. Depth Finders are at least 10+yrs old and TM one just reads gibberish and vertical lines. Since I'll be replacing/updating them, I'm not too concerned. Console has a Flasher that works and the other Depthfinder works perfect with it. However, one thing I thought needed some immediate attention is the battery/fuel area. I get a little nervous with exposed batteries and wiring right next to my gas tanks. So I was putting the batteries in boxes this morning and I decided to check the battery gauge on the console and label the wiring. The switch picks up one battery, but not the other. Switched the wires at the switch and the switch is working must be the wiring for one battery. That is when I discovered that the batteries are reversed. Gas engines are hooked to the Deep Cycle and TM to the starter battery. Question: Can I just switch the batteries? The TM and Gauge are the only thing wired to the one battery. Do lights, FM Radio and other accessories go to the Starter battery? We had the boat out for a test run over the weekend and it started and trolled fine. We didn't use the 50Hp Merc because of HP restrictions on the lake, but the 10Hp kicker ran fine all day and TM also works fine (MG46lb) Thanks

I was out in my boat today for the first time and was getting familiar with using the trolling motor and pedal postion. My son was in the back "Air Hooking" a Fat Ika over my head every minute or so. He did this about 5x and I'm ready to tell him to knock it off and WAM he catches 2 LM and a SM from the same little drop off. So keep on jerkin', just make sure your partner is wearing protection.

Hey, I'm getting near 50 yrs and I just got my first real boat today. (17' Basstracker) After all the excitement and signing papers, wiring my vehicle, adding tow hitch in 100 degree heat, I feel like I'm 80 yrs old tonight. Come this weekend though, look out you young whippersnappers. In reality, I'll probably be so afraid I screw something up or forget something, I'll be sitting at the dock going over the checklist for 3 hours before I get in the water. :-[

Just today I picked up an '89 Tracker Pro-TX17' w/Classic50 HP and 9.9hp kicker motor( for HP limited lakes). Also has a 46Lb Thrust TM. The 100' weather breaks after today and it looks like a fine weekend!! This is my first boat other than a cartopper jon boat and I'll be asking TONS of questions on the site in the next few weeks. The thing is in excellent condition and was garage kept and winterized every year and the 9.9Hp is 1yr old and the 50Hp was rebuilt 3 years ago. TM is 1 year old too.

Found a fantastic spot last summer at a "shore fishing only" place near me. I couldn't believe other anglers were too scared to walk down the steep bank to get there. As I'm being very careful not to slip and slide down the bank into the water, I found myself standing right on an underground wasp nest. I'll bet the fishing is better there than I even thought. Got stung about 30x and had them up my shorts and down my shirt. Now that I think about it, if you ever find a nice spot and want to keep others away just scream BEES( or RATTLER) at the top of your lungs and run out of there. Maybe the word will get around and you'll have it to yourself next time.

I was thinking the other day about my situation with big bass. I've caught 2 bass over 7Lbs here in Pennsylvania(Green Lane and a private pond), but I've never caught a 4,5, or 6 Lb Bass here. I've caught one this year that was probably over 4, but we didn't know the cheap spring type scale was off by over 1lb so I didn't measure her for calculated weight. I just ordered an electric digital scale last week. I'd like to break that scale in with a 6lber this weekend.

If you are waiting till a 10 count to take up the slack that is the problem IMO. Most of my hits fishing that way take place in less than 2 seconds after splashdown!

If you post the brand and model I'm sure someone can help you with the settings. I have a cheapo one (under$100), but I still find it extremely helpful. Not only for locating structure, depth and underwater weedbeds, but it allows me to keep notes of water temp and where the fish are relating to the bottom on that day in the water. I always keep mental notes and write them out in my personal weblog after the trip. Without the depthfinder, I'd be just noting how many fish I caught at a particular spot on that day.

Modified my image link above, I don't know why it wasn't working on my son's PC.

Reminded me of this. The terrorist Catch and Release program.

If there is nothing else in the tank (or if there is) maybe you could also try embedding a hook in some kind of meat or something and see if it dissovles faster than a hook just laying or hanging in the tank. I really can't think of a way to simulate stomach acid, althoughI think MythBusters used soda on TV for an experiment of some type. Come to think of it, we could contact Mythbusters and have them do it. I know they wouldn't do it unless there is an explosion involved though ;D

If I could only watch one fishing show it would be Bill Dance. I think some of the new BASS shows are great, but BD somehow seems to know exactly what I'd like to ask a bass expert. As for fishing with him. I'd make sure I had lots of video and a helmet. I'd probably rather fish with the Lindners.