fireandice

I've seen the jet drive's in action... very impressive. If you don't do the conversion, at least get the prop fixed. Chunks or dings in a prop may look plenty usable, but if it's not balanced well and true, then you run the risk of prop vibration which in turn can eat up bearings,shaft seals, etc. on your lower unit. Much cheaper to make sure the prop is in good shape. As far as the guard's you're looking at, they look kind of cumbersome to me. I think the basic skegg guard is probably not a bad idea, but it's not near the contraption that you're looking at. I also don't know too many people who fish good water that still have their skegg in one piece that's not bent or broken at least a little bit. Occupational hazard I guess.

Thanks anyway Madhouse. That's my life story... A day late, a dollar short. Murphy's Law and so on and so forth :

Thanks Madhouse. That's what I'm currently trying to do. I was just hoping someone on here had one laying around... sort of like the two finders that I got for free from a $$$ bass buddy of mine who has to have the latest and greatest. He was ready to throw away this X65 Lowrance until I saved it from the trash bin.

JBH, thanks man. I may have to do that if I can't find one cheaper. That's a pretty good price, but I was really hoping to find a lightly used one on here for not much $$$. I just missed a new one on ebay yesterday for $26.00 shipped!

I am needing either of these transducers new or used. I'd prefer the puck style PD-WBK but I'd also accept the transom mount HS-WSBK. I'm on a tight budget but I'd like to try and find one. I'd buy one if we could come to an agreement on price. Thanks guys.

I don't find it anywhere in my KS boating regulations book, but it is a very good idea to have one. I'd especially reccomend it if you're using a gas powered motor and have fuel on board. If you're only running off of a trolling motor, I wouldn't be nearly as worried, but it's always a good idea to have the battery securely mounted and in a battery box. Just a dad being cautious. Just go pick one up at O'Reilly's or Wal-Mart for $10 and be safe and make dad happy!

Good info. from all of you. Thanks for taking the time out to help me. I think I might try that local marine dealer first for used ones, and if they have none, then try ebay and such. Also good info on the tutor mode. I had never thought of that. That may be what it's showing me, but the connection is good and tight. I think I just need to try another transducer and see if that solves my problems.

I'm trying to test a used fish finder in my swimming pool just to make sure everything is okay. It's a Lowrance X65 in pretty good shape, but I think the transducer lead may have a short in it. I hook everything up and it starts scanning fine with the 6ft. depth of my pool, then I move like 1/8" and it goes haywire and all of a sudden, we're in 28 feet of water with tons of bottom structure and fish everywhere, I move again, and we're back to the featureless 6ft. flat bottom of my pool. I messed with sens. settings and stuff for about an hour and that's my only conclusion. The transducer may be sufferring also because it was a thru-hull mount with epoxy and it didn't come off real clean, so the guy took it to his wire wheel on his bench grinder. I think he may have went a little too far and got past the casing a bit. Does anyone have any idea's on whether or not my diagnosis is making any sense? I'm pretty confident that I have a bad transducer. I just can't see spending $50 on a new one for a unit this old. Maybe put a wanted thread on here for a good used transducer? We're on a low, low budget here. Spent all my money on the boat, don't have much left to buy accessories!

With what little info. you have so far, I'd guess that he probably has either a dead battery or a bad battery/starter/solenoid connection. These can cause a repetitive clicking sound when you turn the key. I'd start there and try to get a good deal on the boat as is. But then again, the owner may know this already, and may just not want you to hear the boat run at all. Buying a boat can be a very bad experience if it's not checked over carefully and knowing what things to look for. If it were me, and the boat weren't an absolute steal and if you're not a serious boat expert, I'd try to get the owner to agree to have it checked out at a local marine dealer and run a compression test, check lower unit fluids, tilt/trim fluids, etc. I'd say in 80% of boat deals, this could save a tremendous amount of money and hardship. By the way, 50HP sounds pretty sketchy when you're talking about a boat that probably weighs about 1400-1600 lbs. I'd say at least an 85HP would be more suited to that hulls needs. See if you can find an outboard size reccomendation tag on the interior of the boat anywhere.

I have a 19ft. Stratos and on most any lake, I sure wouldn't mind having the 21ft. for storage and fishing deck size. Especially in a fish/ski combo. My 19ft. fish/ski really has no rod storage which is a little piece I gave up for being able to ski with the family. I'd think a 21ft. fish and ski would probably have full size rod lockers on it. Trust me, with the extra seating of a fish/ski, that makes the decking shorter. You can't have too big of fishing deck in my opinion. My ultimate fish/ski would be a 21ft. with a wide beam for rough water, a 150HP is about right unless you're a diehard tourney guy who has to get to his one spot before the others do. Just my two cents.

Way2slow- Thanks for the tips. I will check it again before I head out on the water. I had O'Reilly's run it through their diagnostic load tester and it said that it was at 85-90% of it's peak power. I will still check the spec. gravity before I hit the water. I had no idea it could do that to a rectifier and cause all that damage. I can't afford that, but I can check it over really well before I go. I just put it in place of one that was in it of the same size, but mine is a marine battery and the one that was in it was a car battery. Mine seems to be in a little better charged state and not so worn. The one that came out of it has some pretty worn places on the plastic from it being improperly strapped in. Don't worry... I'll take your advice and check it every time I use it. Thanks again.

Thanks Way2slow... now I feel better. Glad to hear from someone on this issue. That all makes perfect sense. I didn't know about the charge position and the charger that hooks to my plug in. Interesting stuff. I think I'm going to finish the season with these cheapo batteries that are in it for trolling, then get two new ones next season. I upgraded my cranking battery tonight to a better one that I had sitting on the shelf. It tested a little better than the one that was in it. I've kept it on a maint. charge over the last winter/spring. I've been cleaning terminals, resplicing corroded wiring, straightening out rat nests of wires for two days now. Mind boggling stuff. I just want to make sure I dont' have any bad days on the water if I can help it. This boat is kind of a wiring nightmare. It came from the factory with a generic wiring harness, so there's all these pigtails and plugs everywhere for accessories that a bass boat would never have like three fuel tanks, four or five bilge pumps, etc. Oh well, I'm learning. Thanks again.

Kind of new to 24v. trolling motor. I have a 1986 Stratos with a trolling motor switch that says, "off, charge, and run." I'm assuming I want it off when I'm not using it, charge when I'm charging batt's, and run while I'm using it? I believe my batt's are wired parrallel. They are wired separate instead of hooked together. I don't have an onboard charger so I've just been flipping the switch to charge, then charging them individually. Is this okay to do? It seems to work so far, I just can't afford to burn anything up. I'd also like to know how many of you use trolling batteries for all accessories and how many of you use your start battery. I've heard that trolling batt's can cause interference with some electronics.

A buddy of mine has them on his '03 Champion and one always works, one hangs up. I decided not to put them on my boat after seeing that. Pretty neat when they work, pretty frustrating/time consuming when they don't.

Thanks to all of you for the words of encouragement. I work with a guy who says that I always jump into buying things too quickly instead of looking hard for a good deal. I took his advice this time and he actually found it for me. This guy has like good deal radar or something. He's always finding a steal. I thought about selling her for a profit, but then what would I fish out of? I know it's going to be tough to find another good deal. Maybe if I can save up money over the winter, sell this in spring and add the two together, maybe even get a newer, sweeter boat! Then again... maybe I'll just enjoy it and take full advantage of the deal that I got! Tight lines to all and to all a full bag!

Thanks. Yeah, we took it to El Dorado on 1st outing. It did well, but very windy, and busy day on the lake. Just returned from fishing Butler Co. fishing lake a little bit ago and it did beautifully. I really love it so far.

Thanks. I have a small spot in the floor that's soft and will need some attention this winter when I get some more time, and I will probably replace the steering cables, but overall it's great. New seats, carpeting is in good shape. Solid hull, stringers are solid. Decks are fiberglass so they won't rot. Forgot to mention it's got a 6" jackplate also!

Just thought I'd let you all know that it does pay off to be patient and shop, shop, shop! I found this boat and bought it for $1900.00 including a custom cover. Everything works on the boat, and the Evinrude 150XP runs great. Just as I showed up, there were three other people that beat me to meet this guy at the house. The very first one put a hold deposit on it and said they'd be back in an hour with the rest of the money. Their financing fell through, and my phone# was the only one the seller had, because I'd already talked to him three times that morning, waiting for him to return from out of town. He asked me if I still wanted it, and I hauled booty to go pick it up. I'm pretty proud of her so far. Only been out once because I've been tinkering and toying with some things on board. Anyway, it pays to wait. I was particularly impressed with the other steal on here... the $2500.00 Astro I think it was. Awesome deal! That's my baby! Two livewells, good storage, 24v. trolling motor, sound system and all!

I was just wondering if anyone used hydrofoils on their bass boats. I just bought a 1986 Stratos fish and ski and it has one installed already. I have always found them great to help me get on plane on my older ski boats. My new boat is a 19ft. fish/ski w/150HP Evinrude w/ tilt/trim. It also has a Max Force jack plate. I'm not sure how to measure it but I think it's about an 8" jack plate with about a 6" set back. My prop is 14 1/2 x 19p. I don't really think I need the hydrofoil. Just thought I'd get some of your valued opinions or theory's.

Just thought I'd throw my two cents in. I just picked up a 1986 19 ft. Stratos Fish & Ski for $1900.00. It has Lowrance dash mounted depth finder, Evinrude XP150, Evinrude 12/24 trolling motor, 2 live wells, custom cover, and new seats. I'm pretty happy with my purchase so far, but haven't yet made it out on the water. I've been checking charging systems, onboard electronics and doing a little cleaning, but I noticed the bow and transom deck lids are all fiberglass so they won't rot. I do have a soft spot in the floor near the ski locker, but I don't think it will be too tough. I'm hoping not to find rotten stringers.

Only numbers of LM for me this year. I've been trying lot's of new places/baits and trying to up my game. I've been out with a couple of tourney guys and I see that I need to step it up if I'm gonna do any tourney fishing. These massive impoundments are way different than all of the farm ponds that I grew up on. Nothing over 4lbs. for me so far this year. They get much larger than that here in S. KS. I'll post if I catch a monster!

I think I've fished 'em all. Tiki Stiks, Senko's, Kinami Flash, and ***. The *** are the cheapest especially if you buy a lg. quantity. I have so far not found any one to be any better than the other. I think color and action play a larger part than squishiness personally. I've pulled bass clear up to the boat with all of these baits with no hook in the fishes mouth. I've yet to actually land one or bring one to hand without being hooked, but I've been really close. They're all good baits IMO.

Good thinkin' there fivebasslimit. I never even thought about the CB at night. That ought to call 'em in from everywhere. I've had pretty good luck with mine so far just swimming it like a spinnerbait. I tried the yo-yoing action and have caught a few, but most of the time I set the hook and there's nothing there. The thing has so much action that if I let it flutter down, and it tugs the line instead of hitting bottom, then it feels like a strike. Gonna take some getting used to, and I guess I haven't caught any hogs on mine yet either. But then again, the places that I've thrown it so far are notorious for large numbers of 12-16" LM Bass.

Just make sure that you check with the golf course owner! We catch hogs on a daily basis out of our little golf course hideaway. Dodging golf balls isn't much fun sometimes, but we have lot's of trees to deflect them. My opinion on the big bass thing is this: More fertilizer + nutrients going into the water = more plant life More plant life = more plankton and microorganisms for baitfish More + bigger baitfish = Golf Course Lunkers !

TrollGod... I've got three different techniques for jig-fishing that I've learned from experience and am still learning. Technique #1 Practice Technique #2 Practice more Technique #3 Practice more yet. This is a big bite bait that will change the look of your livewell, the weight of your stringer or the readout on the scale. I find it an excellent way to another site. I also find it very, very difficult or way less effective from the shore. Stay vertical. Stay in contact with your bait, and set the hook every time anything happens at all. The jig bite is the most subtle of any I've ever experienced. It can feel like, "tick." It can feel like, "gone." It can feel like, "log." The fish you catch will be impressive in size compared to any other bait. Just practice. Have patience and confidence that it will catch fish. Your buddy in the back of the boat may find a bait to land more fish... but I guarantee that he'll be switching to a jig when you are consistently catching fish 5-20% larger than he is. -----Signed, A true Jig-fishing believer