Bob Lee

Love my Sevylor. The owner before me put a carpeted wood floor in it and I've made some adjustments to the bench seats (IE: replaced them completely with supports going to the floor, added bass seats and rod holders, etc). What has already been said about the setup and teardown I will echo myself. And bear in mind that if you get one that's canvas covered, as mine is, everything weighs about twice as much when you're hauling it back to the car waterlogged. But there are days when the ability to float in 3 inches of water comes in handy!

1,500 x 9mm Luger 40 x 9mm Hollow Point (shot 10 to test) 750 x 12ga 00 Buck 24 x 12 ga Centurion (shot 1 to test) 4,000 x .22LR This is just off memory. I didn't realize I had so much until I was cleaning out the closet two weeks ago and it just kept coming. I couldn't even count the number of BBs and .177 pellets I still have - but that number will be dwindling when my Nephew gets old enough that his mother will let me give him the Crossman. I had a few hundred "dove" rounds that I gave to a guy at the range last weekend.

I had a great experience with a WCO this year that I'll share because I'm feeling chatty. When TN was stocking trout in the stream near my home, a WCO stopped by the stream to check Licenses and see how everyone was doing. Walmart had given me the wrong license (a county fishing license instead of the Trout Stamp I had asked for) at the time I purchased my state Hunt/Fish. Even though it was my fault for not having checked what I was buying the WCO was extremely forgiving about it. He could see I'd bought them at the same time - obviously an accident. There were several other folks there who had just seen me catch my first trout (my first time fly fishing, too) and he checked everyone's license. He had watched me release the fish, but he turned a "blind eye" to my illegal fishing and asked what luck I was having targeting "bluegill" with my fly setup! I went straight to Walmart and got the stamp issue resolved. I was really impressed, because he could have easily written me a ticket as I was clearly (and by my own admission) in the wrong. But I think he recognized it was my first time fishing and my gear was obviously all new - so he went easy on me. He stopped me again the next day and asked to see my Trout stamp (didn't ask for my normal license, since he'd seen it the day before). Showed it to him and told him I'd gotten it fixed. He stood there for about half an hour giving me pointers on which flies to use and how to fish them and even told me other places that had been more recently stocked in the area where folks were having better luck. Great guy, very understanding and very professional. I have seen him a few more times (he likes that creek because a lot of locals fish there, and I like it because it's about 300 yards from my front door) and he's always professional and helpful. I've seen him write a few tickets, but they were always for repeat offenders or folks with huge stringers and no license at all. He threatened to "tase" a guy he'd caught on three consecutive days without his license - but I'm pretty sure he was just joking. I keep meaning to take down his name and try to somehow contact his superiors to give positive feedback, but I never remember when I see him - and I'm not sure that there's even an official process to do something like that. I've never even been checked at any of the other places I fish, but they're small electrics only lakes.

Took the words out of my mouth.

The $25 Coleman didn't even inflate air mattresses to a comfortable pressure. I returned that as well. I'll pick up one of the Sears pumps and give that a whirl (pun intended). Thanks for your help, guys!

Thanks for the replies guys. I'll take a look at the one from Sears - I'm headed there tonight anyway for a new shovel. I'll look at leaf blowers while I'm at it. I'm curious how it works to actually connect it to the valve. I've got some serious boat *** QUAKEnSHAKE. Dumb question, but my boat didn't come with an instruction manual when I bought it (used). What PSI should I be shooting for? Some of the pumps I've seen have had gauges to test it but I've never actually used one. I just go by "feel" and by the wrinkles in the canvas cover. If it is going to be tough/expensive to get a battery powered pump to do what I need, I may stick with a cheap air mattress pump to do the heavy bulk then switch to a hand pump to finish to the PSI I need.

As I've posted a few times before, I have a little Sevylor Fishmaster that I take out on a few Electric Only lakes here locally. Great boat, though the setup time can be killer. Right now I'm using an Air Mattress inflater that plugs into a standard household wall socket and it works admirably - saving me the hours of pumping that occupied my first trip out. But now I've been fishing another local lake (Marrowbone, for you Mid Tenn Folks) where I don't have easy access to an electrical outlet at the boat ramp like I do other places. Do you folks know of any good battery powered or recharable units? I had a battery powered mattress inflater from my camping days, but it didn't get me the air pressure in the bladders that I like to see. Am I stuck "hand finishing" with a manual pump or is there something better out there? I'm looking at this: Walmart Tire Pump but I'm dubious that it'll actually get me any more pressure than the mattress inflater is. If possible, I'd like to keep it under $30 if I can - savin' up to get the Jon Boat trailer fixed.

Most of the spill was actually on a rubber mat that I have over most of that side of the garage. I'll flush it with water and some baking soda (I keep several boxes in the garage to put out oil fires) and probably just pitch the rubber mats. They're cheap anyway. I'm most concerned with what to do about the battery, though. Is filling it with distilled water going to dilute the sulfuric acid and limit the battery life? Should I just be looking at getting a new battery and scrapping this one for the core charge?

Apparently while I was working in the garage last week I knocked over my Trolling Motor battery without realizing it. So it sat on its side for about a week, dripping fluid over the "boating corner" of the garage. Thankfully, none seems to have gotten anywhere near my inflatable boat (phew!) but the battery is now just over half empty of fluid. Should I plan to buy a new one, or is there something commercial that I can buy and refill this? I paid about $80 for the thing a year ago and I've gotten a lot of use out of it since then, but it seems an awful waste of my fishing budget to buy a new battery if I can somehow save this. While I am at it - any special considerations I should take while cleaning up the spill on the garage floor? I do some ironwork/blacksmithing out there so I'm a bit nervous about the flammability of the spill.

Sure thing! Every time I've thought about taking those pictures it's been raining and disgusting here in TN so I haven't gotten to it yet. I'll be pulling the boat out to put the new numbers on the hull this weekend, I'll snap some pictures of the floor, then. Solid setup that I love - and I can't imagine it was difficult to fab. I've made a few minor modifications and repairs to it since I bought it, and it has been fairly easy.

I have a Sevylor FishMaster: http://www.amazon.com/Sevylor-Fish-Master-Person-Boat/dp/B003KG3WRY I recommend it over the Fish Hunter, because it has a canvas "shell" over the air bladders that, I feel, helps protect it from sharp rocks. I've even had hooks bounce off the canvas, and I really believe it has saved me from patching the boat on more than one occasion. I bought the boat used, and the previous owner had built a floor for it. I'll try to take pictures tomorrow if the weather clears up. it is a plywood sheet, cut to the shape of the bottom of the boat and then cut in half (for easier transporation). He put foam pipe insulation (the long black tubes from Home Depot) around the outside of the plyboard and covered the whole thing in outdoor carpet. He even mounted bass seats on pedestals where the bench seats had been. Where the seats attach, the plywood floor is doubled up for strength. I removed the rear seat and put the bench back in to give me more floor space to stand - and I'm able to stand and fish without issue. I'm a big guy at 6'2" and about 270lbs, so I'm pretty impressed that I'm able to stand up in it. If you read my other posts lately you'll see I have nothing but great things to say about this boat. The only suggestions I'd make: 1.) Get a good anchor. The boat is light, so wind pushes it around. 2.) Get the Trolling Motor Mount. 3.) Get a battery powered inflator. The air mattress types don't work. I use one that plugs in to the wall now, and it is a pain, to say the least. But this: http://www.amazon.com/Ryobi-Cordless-Function-Inflator-P730/dp/B001NJ83I8/ref=sr_1_cc_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1298600236&sr=1-2-catcorr Is on my short list of things to buy this year. Hope this helps you! I'll try to get pictures of the floor tomorrow if it isn't storming.

This has been at the forefront of my mind since I got both feet on terra firma. All the things that could have gone horribly, horribly wrong. I'm certainly grateful that the day was just "bad" and not "Disaster".

I fish out of the Sevylor FishMaster jon-type boat. The material looks very similar to your second link. I've dragged it over rocks - run it full-speed into stumps (I didn't see it!) and had fish come loose right beside it and had the hooks bounce off the gunwal, and never had a leak in the air bladders from that. HOWEVER - I did have to patch two leaks over the winter when some gravel got between the protective outer "Hull" and the air bladder inside. Put two tiny pin-***** holes right where the rock had been. I have nothing but nice things to say about my Sevylor - and their customer service is really great! When I got the leak, I called them to see if they had a recommended patch method - they overnighted me their patch kit for cheaper than I could get one from the store (about $6 as memory serves).

I've not posted very much on these boards - but I read them almost every day and have learned so much from them. I feel like I know some of you - and feel you will get a laugh out of my misfortune today. I fish from a Sevylor FishMaster that I have lovingly named the Sink-O-Pottomus. I've never had any trouble with the boat - I love it to death. It has a wooden floor (carpeted, very swanky) and a tall bass seat in the front with the bench in the rear. The short boat combined with an extra-long trolling motor handle lets me control the boat by standing behind the front seat - and the seat gives me something to lean against when I stand to cast. I love the setup - but today was my first time fishing it alone. Usually I have a partner in the back - just in case. So I arrive at my favorite electrics-only lake today and the water level is the lowest I've ever seen it. The lake doesn't have a boat launch, so I haul my gear to the water's edge and get my boat setup in record time. Air temps in the 70's, water in the 50's, I'm thinking "Sure, it is shallow - but I'll just avoid the rocks and play it nice and slow." It is nice and calm and cloudy so I'm excited to pull out some nice early pre-spawn monsters out of this lake. Hey, low water levels just means the bass are all concentrated into a small area, right? Launch my boat without issue - though I did get eyed up by an angry looking duck - get out on the water to the sound of applause from the casting docks. I had an audience! So I take a bow and reach for my rod. As soon as I take the sleeve off my spinner-bait rod to start looking for the Bass the wind starts to blow. I put the rod down, and reach for the anchor to try and salvage the situation. It hits the water and the wind picks up. Inside ten minutes my 15lb mushroom anchor is bouncing along the bottom of the lake and I'm careening toward the far shore. I had the trolling motor (50lb thrust) going all out - and I was paddling with all I had in me - and still the wind is pushing me backward! This lake is (if memory serves) about 65 acres. And with the water levels this low it is down to about 40, I'd say. I've been fishing it for about 3 years now, and I've never seen a wave.. now they're crashing over the front of my boat! Soon enough I'm stuck on a little rock island in the center of the lake surrounded by water about 15 feet deep - with no control of the boat. The wind and waves are just slamming me against the rocks! Bear in mind, the water was calm as glass when I launched! My anchor rope snapped (new rope, too. Guess I went too small) and my trolling motor flat fell out of the boat. I don't know what happened - the mount and everything lifted off the Sevylor transom and dropped to the bottom. To make matters worse, there's a crew of folks at the far end of the lake shore fishing who've put down their poles to laugh and heckel at the poor guy marooned out on the little rock island. At a loss for anything constructive - and embarassed by the growing crowd of onlookers - I looped some good stout rope around the tow ring on the front of my Sevylor, and waded over to rescue my trolling motor - it was in about 2 feet of water against the rocks, so no real risk or I'd have just left the darn thing for the fish. Once I had it on the "deck" I took 'hold of the rope and manually dragged my poor boat out into deep water. By the grace of God I managed to get myself back in - dripping wet and beet red as the "locals" are letting me know how hilarious it all was from their shoreline perspective. By then the wind had died down enough for me to limp my soaking wet self back to the loading area, deflate her and drag it up to the car. As I was packing up, the park ranger shows up. Apparently, someone called and told him there was a young guy stranded on the rocks in the lake. We had a good laugh - and I helped some young kids on the shore catch a MONSTER bass - but in the end, I didn't even wet my line. I will say this though - the Sevylor proved itself today. The guys on the shore were telling me it was the boat's fault - but I couldn't have asked the boat to do any better, given the bad situation. Wind is a weakness with inflatables - and had I known it was going to be windy I'd have left it on the shore. But the boat got hammered against rocks and literally dragged over gravel and I don't see any sign that it suffered any ill effects. I was really worried about pulling myself into it - I weigh 270 and I just don't think that I could have pulled myself into a 10' Aluminum Jon without it flipping over. The Sink-O-Pottumus didn't even bat an eye at it all. There was a young middle-eastern man that I did not get to properly thank, too. While everyone else was heckling, he rolled up his pants and took off his shoes (he was in his sunday best - there on picknic with his whole family) and waded out knee deep in the water to offer encouragement. If it weren't for him and his wife offering to call the Ranger - and even offering to SWIM OUT AND HELP - I probably would have lost my cool. What a day, eh?

I just bought my 5 year old nephew a Plano 4450 at Walmart for $14. It came with 2 3500 organizers that I used for floats and plastic croppie lures, and I bought a third for hooks, weights and hooked lures. This is basically just a smaller version of my Plano box that I carry on my boat, so it's fun for him to have a tackle box just like "Uncle Bobby". And when we're getting ready for the fishing trip, I can just take out the organizer with the hooks out and stash them in my bag until we're on the boat. This way he can "help" by organizing his own tackle, without me having to fear him sticking a hook in himself (or the dog, Aunt Amber, the neighbor's cat... for a five year old, the options are endless). At 7 and 11 this is probably less of a concern for your grandkids. What I liked most about the bag was it has zippers AND velcro keeping it closed, and the 3500s are latched themselves, so much less chance of accidental spills. Also there's velcro on the back that he can strap to his bike when he's fishing with his dad in their neighborhood creek, and when he outgrows it for a bigger bass bag, he can still use that one to hold his individual bags of plastics.