ChrisAW

Actually, you're right. I was pulling the wires out of it to replace them with the correct size, and I found that they were attached to the breaker, hiding behind the plate that the trolling motor plugs into on the front of the boat. Which I know is not the right way either. I also seen that it was only a 40 amp, which is well low of what it should be. I went out shopping for the 60A breaker today, but I think the only places that will have it were already closed. So now that I found that out, I'm a little less worried about it. I should have it fixed and back on the water this weekend!

I bought a 14' Procraft bass boat this weekend, and I've been going over the whole thing checking things out to make sure its ready for the water. I dropped it into a friend of mines pond to check for leaks. While waiting for some results, I decided to drop the trolling motor in and get used to the foot controls since I have never used one before. Only to find that it will cut out and back in during use, BUT, only under load. When ran out of water, no matter which setting, it will not cut out. I also noticed the wires getting warm when I checked to see if the plug was loose as well when it was in the water. I had the battery tested beforehand, and it passed fine. It was also for sure at full charge, it was on the trickle over night before being installed again and used (TM has its own battery). Some diagnostic work checking for possible shorts or what not, and reading the manual, I found that the previous owner installed it incorrectly. He used 10g wire to attach it to the battery, when Minn Kota suggests 6g wire to extend the leads. He also did not use a breaker. Now, I plan to fix this for sure, but I'm mainly looking for a second opinion on whether or not that is the cause of power loss, or if anyone else experienced the same issue (doubtful, but can't hurt asking.)

Its definitely been painted, as I can see white in some area's where the paint flaked off. Most everything on the inside of the boat seems to be a custom job. Its very well done, but I can still see where it was all glassed in and such.

Thats what I was thinking as well. Whoever did any of the work on this boat was very good with fiberglass, and they took their time. It looks like it could have came from a factory, no edges or anything.

Thanks a lot for the info! I measured it and it is 14'1.5". Makes me wonder about the transom being a "custom" item, and if it can handle what the originals could. I'll probably do some prodding, check things out and do some bracing to make sure everything is in good shape before I think about putting a motor on it.

It does appear to be a Whaler now that I'm able to do a little looking around. Something like mid 70's. Heavily modified it seems. I'm having a hard time finding anything about a 14' model though, they all seem to be 13' or 16'. I'll be checking for numbers tomorrow but I doubt I will be able to find anything. Doing a leak check as well. I'm mostly curious as to what how much horsepower it can handle. Transom is solid as can be, but I have no real idea as to what kind of forces are included with boat motors. I'm a 4 wheeled land lubber kind of guy thats into fishing, never had the chance to own my own watercraft until now. If anyone can find more information on this boat so I can start looking for a motor, please let me know!

Wow it does have a pretty similar hull.

I bought this boat today for $500, and other than the chipped spot on the front, its in great condition. No rotting wood under the fiberglass or anything as far as I can find. Just need to get it in water to make sure there are no leaks. But I'm curious if anyone may know who the manufacturer of this boat is? Its 14', fiberglass. Thats the extent of the information I have. I want to see if I can find out the max power rating of it when I go to buy a motor for it.

It really depends on the lake you're fishing. Some lakes, clackers were they only thing they would hit, other lakes they would produced nothing. I would say keep it around. If all else fails, go for the clacker.

You're the helpful kind, aren't you?

Ahh, that makes sense. But, I did wash them off, and I threw them in an empty bag that had some kind of scent oil in it. Not a real nasty smelling type, but atleast something that wasn't cutting oil or whatever it was.

I bought some cheap stainless weights that ended up being pretty poor quality, burs around the hole and all this. I didn't even care enough to clean them up, they were just cheap and I ended up throwing them in a drawer where some of my other un-used tackle ends up. But now, the rest of my quality weights have the smell of machining oil on them, and I figure that can't be a good scent to have on my lures. I feel I need to wash them off, but I can't imagine soap being a good scent either. What would some of you do here? I was thinking wash them off, and then throw them in an old empty bag from Yum or something, just to give them some kind of bait like scent instead of oil, soap, or human.

The link doesn't work for me. But seems like this guy must have invented fishing looking at how many people he's after : Edit: Links working now.

It is a little scary for me to buy an $18 bait and head out to fish any of my local lakes here. They all hold Pike, and they seem to want to hit anything that crosses their path here. I lost a few baits to them last year, or I'm assuming they were pike. I did land a good number of them though, as well. I can just imagine it now. I'll throw it out, get a hit and set the hook. I'll see a pike come up, it will fight me one last time by the boat, my line will snap, and I'll sit down a weep quietly to myself for a few minutes.

I agree. I wish the price would come down a bit, because I would love to add a couple of these to my box. I might give one a shot and see what happens from there.

I picked up a Trio this winter, works great so far. Very smooth, and very crisp feel. Theres not even a hair of slop in this reel.

Seems easier just to be a little more careful with your gear, irrespective of price. Things like that are called accidents for a reason. Unless you bubble wrap your rods when you want to move and take a couple seconds to check your footing every step you take, you will probably never avoid it happening at least once.

I bought the Plano 777, mainly because all the bait boxes are removable. Being that I don't yet own my own boat, I needed a box to take on anyone elses, but I can also take them out of the box and put them in a backpack for shore fishing.

Hmm.. that shouldn't be too light. I've been using 1/8oz bitsy's with a trimmed zoom chunk. This probably weighs about 3/8oz. I haven't had a lot of trouble flipping them, but this is a little heavier than yours. This isn't a jig exclusive rod/reel, right? I was about to suggest that braid seems to make flipping with light stuff easier. Its more forgiving and doesn't want to un-spool itself like mono or flouro might when given the chance. Then, just tying on a leader will keep finicky fish biting. But retying lures so often with a general purpose rod, you'll end up retying that leader on the water a lot as well, and that can be an inconvenience. I guess for now, take it easy and learn the basics of pitching without any brakes, just using your thumb. Work at getting your bait into a small bucket about 20 feet away, and then start moving it out. You'll figure out whats comfortable for you. I personally found that I like my bait to be about half way between the reel and the first guide on the rod. I'll lift my rod just above or even with my head, pointing the tip down, then swing the bait like you normally would. This seemed to work the best for me, and when showing a friend of mine how to pitch for this first time, worked great for him as well. But the main reason I do this is because we are in a john boat, so we're too close to the water to have the rod down in a normal position. This is a good video, its close to what I do. But if you look at exactly 30 seconds in, that is about where my rod is from the start. It makes it easier for me to pendulum the bait and keep the line taut.

The SX works great for pitching. Its a quality reel at a very good price right now. I'd say go for it.

Well what kind of light finesse baits are you trying to pitch? Some baits are just too light. But I want to guess that you could be working too hard trying to get distance out of the pitching technique? If so, Distance isn't the real priority with pitching, its mainly accuracy and how it makes your bait entry quite a bit quieter into the water. Distance is what you'll be working on once you have it down. It also comes easier with heavier baits. If you're trying too hard, you might be getting slack line during the the initial swing of the pitch. When it goes taut, it will then pull your spool but also slow the bait down again and this will cause backlashes. Your line should always stay taut.

Hmm.. I've caught about 15 bass on my most productive one, and there's not a scratch on it. Maybe 5 or 6 at the most on some others, no problems with them either. The only one that has scratched paint or anything is one I caught a pike on last summer. :-?

I don't think Abu updates their site as quickly as they should. They still haven't listed any of the 2010 reels as far as I've seen, so I wouldn't look at their website for the proper information right now. But, I do believe Infini is the dual control, with centrifugal and magnetic controls. Edit: If the 2010 Reese real is anything like the 2010 premier, it does include their newest Infini Brake system. http://www.***.com/Abu_Garcia_REVO_Premier_Casting_Reel/descpage-AGRPR.html

How is it a form of fraud? Them taking my rod with a broken tip and replacing it? I called BP and asked if a broken tip was covered by their 30 day warranty, and the guy I talked to asked me what kind of rod it was and then told me it was. They didn't ask me anything about what happened, he just took it, asked for my receipt, I showed it to him, and he said "Ok, I'll be back in a minute." And came back with two rods I could pick from, that I'm pretty sure were both previously used and returned. But I'm not complaining, I was going to eat my loses and buy another one(which I have bought a second since then). THEY are the ones who replaced it, I didn't do anything other than hand it over to them.

It didnt get dual control, but the magnetic brakes were upgraded for the new model.