flechero

It probably was, I never looked for a website & Haven't been out that wat since we sold our lake property almost 5 yrs ago.

Your motor is plenty! My first boat was a 12' Lowe jon boat, my first motor was 20 lb thrust and it worked fine... eventually I upgraded (several times due to theft of trolling motors > ) I ended up with a 40lb thrust and it was awesome. I think you'll be surprised at how good it goes. Just be sure you have a GOOD battery and it is fully charged before each trip... paddling bites!!!! (trust me!)

Last time I was in there, they didn't have a web site, just the giant 8' bass cut out from a full sheet of plywood and hanging from a tree! ...lol I haven't been there in about 5 years. I'll have to check out the website just for "old time" sake.

Good fish! Even us "southern boys" can appreciate a 6.5 pounder! We don't get one of those everyday... even at Fork. I'd be sure to talk to you local taxidermist, the reason being that the glass mounts are more of an art project, meaning it's a little different skill set than the guy who does skins and animals. I think if you talk to a few, you'll see by the way they talk about it that they are one or the other. basser89- I'm glad you posted that link, I wouldn't have even thought of bass pro... but since it's a replica there wouldn't be a need to go drop it off! ...lol The prices are very reasonable, I think! One other option you might want to check, google: lake fork taxidermy (I think it's in Yantis proper) and talk to them about prices and such. Those guys probably have more experience with glass mounts than anyone. Congratulations again! And let us know if it turns out to be a lake record. -keith

Start with what Chris suggested, if that doesn't fix it, you can check it with a multimeter of almost any kind to determine if your wires are no longer carrying enough current. That is a definite possibility, I have the new wiring for mine sitting in the garage waiting to be installed. ...lol

If you post a pic of the front area you want to deck, you can probably get some specific ideas... I have no clue how a Terry is laid out... but have done a fair amount of floor, deck and customization on smaller boats as well as some glassing.

Brad, Sorry to hear that, I can sympathize with you though, been robbed before also. Do you have a prop shop in the area? If so, that is where I would start. They can help you decide about what you need but more importantly, with a credit card for deposit, many of them will let you take several props out to the lake and try them to be sure you end up with the right one. Most also have a good inventory of used props at a discounted price. When I lived in Dallas, I took my SS prop off every time I returned from the lake... they go like hotcakes. (not to mention unload all rods, tackle and gear- what a pain, especially if I was just going out for an hour or two) Have you looked into a boat storage? Around here there are tons of them. I have a 12' x 30' (garage style) with lights & electricty, the facility has high fence, gate, security cameras and a manager that lives on site... all that for $70/mo. And it's located 1/2 mile from the ramp I use, on my way to the lake. It's worth twice that, if you get to fish after work sometimes.

Bob, I've not seen one on a jon boat but have a friend who runs small fiberglass boats in the 14-16 foot range. He has put them on each of those boats and they made a huge difference! He gets on plane very quickly and can hold it a surprisingly low speeds. In certain applications they can be great, and I woud guess yours might be of them.

Chris, Thanks for taking the time to post this! Your post answered several questions I had about tubes and was a good read to boot!! -keith

I can't help you with Hummingbird products specifically since all mine have been Lowrance (or Eagle). The GPS mapping data comes from software you purchase (seperately in many cases) so if you have to buy say Navonics then you'd have the same mapping data in your unit, regardless of brand. As far as side imaging goes, lowrance used to offer it before being sued. My old X-55 has the sidefinder and I used it for years. I'm sure the technology is better now, the X-55 had a limited range (maybe 50-60 feet to the side). It was fun when fishing docks, you could scan under the dock to see if there were fish under it. But like any shallow or close range sonar use, it wasn't very effective in increasing my catch rate. It was a much better tool to use in finding brush piles that had been planted under docks. "if I were to choose to RAM mount the Humminbird on the console, what would you put on the bow" If you mead what kind of mount, I use a low profile, Johnny Ray swivel mount on the bow. I do get interference when using both graphs, however, I have both transducers in the back of the boat, I think this will be solved when I get a trolling motor mounted transducer for the front graph. I don't think you want to get 2 gps units, I don't know if they will interfere with each other but you could buy a super nice unit for the bow without gps and get a lot more for less money. I don't think you need gps on the bow... but if you think you do, just put a swivel on the ram mount. Hope this helps.

No problem, we agreed on almost everything but didn't word it right from the start.

Agreed... either sweep if you have sharpened them yourself or pop a good one after you feel weight. One thing to add, I have seen literally hundreds of people continue to set hook a second and third time to "be sure" of a good hookset, but all that does is enlarge the hole and make it easy for the fish of a lifetime to spit your bait. Like Raul & LBH said either is fine but commit one way or the other and stick to it.

If you use a traditional life vest you don't need that. I leave the lanyard hooked to my vest and when I stop to fish, the vest comes off and stays in the seat w/ lanyard still attached.

A transom saver is very cheap "insurance." I wouldn't go without one.

Ben, I wasn't trying to say it was a bad idea. Only that it will cost some money and will change his set up... it might improve a lot maybe just a little, and of course that is also subjective. You made a great point about the prop... which I also tried to make. A good prop will do a lot. Maybe enough to satisfy what he wants his boat to do, maybe not. You obviously believe its a good idea to go with the jackplate and a new prop and I might agree, but not until I had answered some of the questions I posed. (as I'll mention in a minute) I was only suggesting that he look into those factors, as he may not (since he didn't specify) be looking to get all possible performance out of his boat. Also he didn't say how much $$$ he was wanting to spend. All I did was encourage him to look at what the cost was vs. what the benifits would be. Once he knew those it would be an easy choice, either way. I'll use myself as an example of what I'm saying... I went through this very decision back when I got my boat.... Even with the jackplate, I was going to need a new prop. Good props are not cheap and neither is a jackplate set up. I wasn't wanting to spend all that money to get a little better top end speed if I didn't need to. So I took a rep from the prop shop and 6 props to the lake & ran all of them... The right prop did all I wanted... for $425 (back in 1994). Had the prop alone not done it, I would likely have invested in the rest. But I didn't need or want to absolutely max out what the boat could do since my livelyhood doesn't depend it. I felt that 60mph was enough, for me, and just a prop did it in my case. Sorry for such a long post, just trying to explain properly.

On bass (and most other fish) it is much easier to leave the skin and meat attached by the tail, that way you have the fish to hold onto when you fip the fillet over and slide the knife betwee the skin and meat. I finally found a link to the way I'm referring to. I think it's easier to go through the ribs, not around them. I always seem to cut a finger when going around. This method doesn't work well with big fish, the ribs are tougher. A sharp knife is key! http://www.iowadnr.com/fish/fillet.html Sorry I can't help with panfish, never cleaned any.

If you only care about fuction, take it off th boat and clamp the shaft (the whole motor) vertcally in a pipe vise and use a pipe bender - with caution. I've done that twice with good results, only a few scratches from the vise. Depending on how bad it is bent, a shaft replacement may be in order... if you are comfortable doing the work yourself, the shafts are not real expensive.

I agree with all of that. Keep in mind though, they have an unlimited budget and need every last mph to use in promo material. It's like a race car, thousands of $$$ spent to gain fractions of a second. Don't get me wrong, if I hit the lottery, I'd have all my vehicles and boat decked out... or I'd just buy new ones already decked out! A guy has to dream, right!

Considerations when you make the decision: Do you need any more speed tha 62mph? (I'm not suggesting you don't, just asking if you think you really need more) Wiil your handling change? It may get better or may get worse... you turning at speed will change... how much, I don't know. Do you need more low end power? Will ther be a significant enough change to justify the cost? Will you also have to change the prop anyway to maximize the effectiveness of the jack plate? High end and low end can be changed pretty dramatically with only the prop change. I think you will have an easy decision for or against, once you look into those questions. If you end up getting it, please post back woth answers to my questions... I have an idea on each of them and would like to see how close I was. Thanks.

It depends on the boat, weight and balance of the trailer... I don't have them on mine (19' champion w/ 175hp) and don't think I need them. I have pulled other people's boats that I think SHOULD have had them. If you are buying a new boat, you will lake test it first so pay attention to the feel and watch in your mirrors while on the way to the lake... other than that it's a guess or someone elses opinion. I feel a big difference with a full tank of gas (40 gallons behind the axle) in terms of bounce... it bounces less w/ a full tank on those crap roads leading to most ramps. Just remember that will be one other maintenace item on your list, and expense down the road so don't just opt for it because you can...

Matt_fly Have you heard about any of the "little fish" tourneys? It's kind of neat, and for this exact reason. They are becoming more popular in Tx... Normal tourney rules (except big bass is changed to little bass) and some are 1/4 the money, others no money, just charity... only legal fish under the slot (if no slot, usually under 17")can be weighed. I fished one last year that had a big bass pot and smallest bass pot... I won the small pot w/ .97lb ;D (in fairness though, I only missed big bass by .3lb) They have volunteers to clean/fillet the fish and all meat goes to either needy families or a food kitchen for homeless people. This was born out of the neccessity of fisheries managers to control populations. Catch and release is a great thing... but in some cases it has actually been too successful. We as the foot soldiers of the fisheris managers need to be aware of local trends and regulations... and help out when needed. This will help improve our fisheries. -keith

You musy have forgotten you were also using a G.Loomis rod! ...lol

I'll probably get flamed for this... and I don't even eat fish! ...lol I have talked to Tx parks & wildlife staff as well as biologists about catch and release and always get the same response. Lake limits are established for a reason, some fish need to be kept. Keeping smaller fish will help almost every fishery... the exception being fish kills, new fisheries, etc. The biologists I have spoken with agree that to grow big bass you need to control the little bass populations. Little ones eat a much higher percentage rate per pound, than large bass. It's how they manage the lakes. When populations are high so are the limits, when they are low, the limits get lowered or sometimes temporarily halted. Just like deer tags or turkey tags, etc., etc.. I'm 100% against keeping a trophy fish- photo,weigh, measure and release- the replica mount will look better and last longer. Slot lakes are ideal and fish under the slot are what should be kept, if you keep any. Now, having said all that, how many bass have I kept in the last couple years... NONE. But when asked to bring some home for friends in the past, I have kept small ones and would again, with no regrets. To the original poster- if you ended up with thin small fillets on a 16-17 inch fish, you either caught a really skinny fish or missed a lot of meat. We should be more worried about people keeping and killing illegal fish and people polluting our waters than a few legal fish kept for a dinner. Final thought: Stay within the laws and respect the resources that the Good Lord provided... and if you keep a few for dinner, don't forget the blessing, those fish were not there by accident!! -keith

L_B_H: you may be low budget, but you are high class! What great idea to direct winnings to a charity.

These days - recreational. The same question 10 years ago would get a totally different answer from me. When fishing became work instead of fun, even when winning, I almost quit altogether. (I had a weekday job, didn't need another on the weeknights & weekend) Luckily I only took a few months off and just quit tourney fishing. I still fish a few team events every year, but only with a close friend or brother.