Yankee_Bassman

If you only bent the coupler, you can get a new one at West Marine, or a similar marine supplier; the coupler should be bolted on to the trailer tongue. Unbolt it and take it with you to get the correct sized replacement. Shouldn't be more than 30-40 bucks.

How about we guess Raul's weight (assuming that's him in the picture)....holy cow, dude....eat a sandwich....(lol)...I wish I was that slender...I'm a lot closer to the Chief in my Avatar......

There is less than zero chance of that happening up here in the politically correct great northeast. We go to a lake association meeting every summer, and listen to the Eastern Mountain Sports crowd cry about large gas motors, and the state maintained boat launch. Some people can't seem to comprehend that there's room for everybody, if everybody respects each others' needs.....unless they want to have an open season on jet-skis.....i could get behind that.....I'm fishing a lily pad clogged cove a few weeks ago and slaying them with a horny toad, and some yahoo on a 65 foot 10,000 Hp jet ski comes flying in, does a bunch of spins, and takes off again....Ok, maybe it wasn't that big or that powerful, but it might as well have been.....grrrrrr......okay, I'm done venting....

Sometimes I think northern fisherman refer to any unidentified baitfish as "shad".....I know the guys on my lake refer to them all the time, and I asked a Fish and Game guy if there were any in the lake, and he told me no....

How big/heavy is your boat? How full? Is that hour at full throttle? There's no question that those old motors burn a LOT of gas, but 5 gals. an hour is an awful lot of gas, unless the boat is way underpowered. Another factor can be waterlogging. If it's an old fiberglass boat with foam below the sole, the foam could be waterlogged...at about 8 lbs. per gallon, water weight is significant, and the old foams were like sponges. Is it well-tuned? Are the carbs clean, fuel lines tight, gaskets good, etc. ....

I'd like to hang plastics too, but am skeptical about how well the adhesive will stick to old dirty carpet in a 10 year old boat.....the compartment lids are aluminum, and I'm not crazy about bolting thru the tops......if it works, it looks like a great system, though....

There was a story on the news the other night about a bass fisherman in Vermont catching a 9" Oscar....the F & G people weren't happy. They said that populations have been established in Florida that have taken over the waterways where they're established. Those thing are eating machines. My weirdest catch happened when I was about 8. I was fishing off my dock, and my dad was up on a ladder painting. I went to cast a big old Heddon River Runt...remember them? As I brought the rod forward, it stopped, followed immediately by the most pitiful howling ever heard.....I turned and saw my Beagle's ear standing straight out, with four out of six of the trebles buried.....I started screaming, my dad almost fell off the ladder trying to get down to see what the Hell was going on....neighbors came running....dad had to drive 50 miles round trip to a vet to get the hooks out...the dog wouldn't come near me for weeks, and never set foot on that dock again....I also had a bat tangle in my line while fishing cut bait for striped bass with my rod in a spike holder.....cut that line quick...that bat was not happy......

I don't know what tournament rules require, but I made a portable livewell for my old skiff as follows: I took one of the really large Igloo coolers and two small bilge pumps. One pump is attached to the inside of a 2 gallon (approximately) plastic pail, using hose clamps thru slots cut in the side of the pail. I epoxied a brick to the inside bottom of the pail for weight, and drilled a bunch of holes as well. A rope attached to the pail loops over the stern cleat. The pail lowers over the side of the boat and pumps fresh seawater thru plastic tubing into the cooler. I used a cheap spring clamp to hold the hose on the cooler side. The other pump sits in the cooler, and pumps stale water out thru plastic tubing I dropped over the side of the boat. Both pumps are hooked to a good sized deep cycle battery. The way it worked, I'd fill the cooler with fresh seawater, catch mackerel, pollock or pogies for bait, and throw them in the "livewell". While we're traveling to where we want to fish for stripers, I'd pull the empty pail on board, put the hose that removes the stale water in the cooler, and run the pump, so that it recirculates and aerates the water. When we'd get to where we were going, I put the stale water hose overboard, pump the cooler down a little, and bring in fresh seawater by hanging the other pump in the pail over the side of the boat, tied off to the stern cleat. I didn't pump fresh water in constantly, just every once in a while, while running the "recirculator" to aerate the water the rest of the time. It really isn't as much work as it sounds, and kept 90% of the baitfish alive and active. It wouldn't have held legal stripers alive, I don't think, for long, but I'm sure it would have kept smaller species alive. I only used it for baitfish, but I'm positive it would work for bass, except maybe in the hottest parts of the country. On really hot days, throw a bag of ice in the water, or a couple of partially full frozen 2 litre bottles. I got the big cooler for $5. at a yard sale; the two pumps, tubing, and wire were about $70., and I bought a new battery for the boat motor and electrical, and used the old one for the livewell system. Buying one new would probably be about $85. Sure beats 1,000., and you can remove the system in 2 minutes if you aren't going to need it. Everything, including the battery, stores inside the cooler when not in use. I gave it to a friend when I got rid of the boat, and as far as I know, he's still using it. YB

I'm assuming you don't have power trim. If you don't, there should be a pin that goes thru the mounting bracket on the transom, which controls the tilt of the motor against the transom. There will be a series of holes in the bracket, thru which the pin can be placed. Get a friend to lift the skeg of the motor enough to take the pressure off the pin. (Don't trust the lock on the motor to keep it up; if it fails, you crush your hand if it's in the wrong place when the motor comes down.) Remove the pin, (some have a lever that flips down, some are held in with a cotter pin), and move it one hole up. This will cause the prop to be at a slightly higher angle. The bow plows deeper the lower (closer to the transom) the motor rides. Try a test ride. There should be some improvement; if it's still plowing, raise another hole, etc, etc. If this doesn't solve the problem, get the prop checked at a prop service shop. They can tell you if the prop is correct size; on those older motors, it doesn't take much damage to create cavitation, which robs the prop of water, and thrust. Also, motors that get stored off the boat with the motor's weight on the prop for long periods can cause a "set" to occur in the prop blade, which may not be noticeable to your eye, but throws off the symmetry of the prop and again robs power. One other problem that can cause plowing is not as common, but does happen. If the boat sat in storage for a long period of time, and wasn't properly supported, the shape of the bottom of the hull can actually change, and the boat will never ride properly again. Sometimes you can see the distortion with the boat on a trailer. Start with the simple stuff, though, and check the motor position. Let us know how you make out. YB

I've stopped using the clinch unless I can't tie a palomar for some reason (carolina rig for example). This website might help..... http://www.grogono.com/index.php Good Luck YB

LBH: Here's a great idea...you could make a list in order of who on the forum has the best job for fishing, and.....no, wait a minute, on second thought......

Thanks, guys. That website is under renovation, but says it will be back up soon, and some of the links look pretty good. I'll check it out this winter. Pictures will definitely not be available until Spring. I'm going to call Nitro, based on some old posts I read here last night regarding replacement skins being available for seats, for short money. They'd be a huge timesaver, instead of taking the old ones apart as patterns, and sewing new ones. I'm not optimistic, though, as my boat is a '95. Sure would be nice if they'd let you email them instead of calling.

I'm going to be redoing the upholstery in my new-to-me-this-year 95 Nitro 185 Fish n'Ski over the coming winter. I can see how to remove all of the seats except the backrests on each side of the front deck, in front of the windshields. Anybody got a clue? Also, has anyone recarpeted their boat? Does the old stuff come out easy? How did you remove it?

Are you talking about how to make it sit and idle in neutral while you start it, so it isn't starting in gear? If so, there should be a forward/neutral/reverse shift on the motor, probably on the side. I'd suggest you buy a Clymer or Seloc manual for it. Your local marine supply place should be willing to tell you the year from the serial number. Also, as NBR said, if you haven't been running on muffs or in a barrel full of water, you'll need a new water pump impeller; they fry in about ten seconds, and you'll blow the motor. If it hasn't been replaced lately, or you don't know, it's a good investment anyway, especially if the boat has been sitting unused. They dry out, and don't work. By the time you find out it's bad, your motor can be toast. It's not hard to do yourself with a manual, or it's not that expensive a job to have done.

My Humminbird does the same thing in less than 3 feet of water...did it work ok in deeper water? If so, don't sweat it.....

I pulled up two different crankbaits last summer while carolina rigging...neither had its trebles left. One had obviously been down a long time, judging by the amount of algae growing on it, but the other was still pretty shiny, with no growth at all. I've noticed, though, that alot of the red "bleeding" hooks are either nickel, or nickel alloy, or brass or brass alloy. i doubt these hooks will rust. I use a "catch and release" hook when wacky worming, which seems to have a smaller barb on it. I also use the In-fisherman technique listed above. I've only had a couple of fish where it wouldn't release, although I generally have to use needlenose, as I have short stubby fingers. If you can't get the hook with your finger to bend it down, pull the line gently; it does the same thing. It does help to have three hands when using this technique, though.

My approach wouldn't work for tourney fishing but here it is....I always have a topwater rigged, and a senko type, usually rigged wacky with an O ring.....other than that, I go by feel, based on what I see on and in the water.....there's one more thing though...I might "plan" to flip/pitch Gitzits or some other finesse bait under docks and moored boats, because that's where they probably are at a given time of day....but when I start, I might be too wound up from work to have the patience to finesse fish, or be too distracted by some issue bugging me to focus enough to "feel" a bite. In that case, I tie on a crank, or spinner, or some other reaction lure, and cast until I'm relaxed. That's why I'm out there in the first place, after all....once I'm in my happy place, then I start thinking about finessing them if that's what's called for. Some days, it ain't about the catching, it's about the fishing.....if planning and executing the plan is what helps you relax, I say plan away....if figuring it out as you go gets it done for you, do that....as long as you come off the water more relaxed than when you went on it, you've had a great day.

I sure do...I've owned both, and I'll never own another I/O; constant problems, hard to work on, (I do a lot of my own maintenance/repairs), tempermental, and you need a jillion special tools if you want to do it "right". This is like asking if blondes or brunettes are better, though...everybody feels strongly one way or the other, I think. What I really notice though, is you'll see a whole lot more old O/B's on the water than you will old I/O's.