cart7t

LOL. "Cracker Marine" Good one. ;D

Yes, just that wooden board needs replacing. 10 minute job at best. The bulk of the time you'll spend on that transom replacement is running to the liquor store over and over getting more beer while you scratch your head on just how to get to that wooden board and how to replace it. ;D

A '97 boat with an '89 motor? Hmmm. Possibilities. 1. The guy trashed his '89 hull but lifted the motor off of it and put it on a newer boat that had no engine. 2. He blew the motor that was on the Bee and found a cheap, older replacement. I'd have a pro go over both the boat and motor. Offer $2500 and go from there if you're still interested. Bee's were pretty good boats. Having that big of a disparity between hull age and motor age is normally NOT a good thing when it comes time to resell.

The secret: Weekdays Unfortunately, the lake is 3 hours one way from my house. The resort catered to large corporate, weekend outings. Many lake locals got their guide licenses just to accommodate the 2 resorts there that specialized in those corporate weekends. It was an easy $100-200 for 4-8 hours work. Most of the clientele would need a 1/2 hour primer on how to cast a Zebco 33 if you get my drift. How well I know. I've had a license for years and refuse to let it go. I have not had a paying customer in the boat in years and I hope I never have to resort to it to make a living. I do have a story about a customer's wife and no top, but I don't think I'll post it up here. Well if not the story at least the pictures! ;D

The secret: Weekdays Unfortunately, the lake is 3 hours one way from my house. The resort catered to large corporate, weekend outings. Many lake locals got their guide licenses just to accommodate the 2 resorts there that specialized in those corporate weekends. It was an easy $100-200 for 4-8 hours work. Most of the clientele would need a 1/2 hour primer on how to cast a Zebco 33 if you get my drift.

Let's see. I believe in my state you have to have CG certification. Certification in CPR. There's one or two more I've forgotten. You'll have to have significant liability insurance. Then tackle for your clients. Then there's advertising. What about your boat and motor? Clients don't want to spend money for fishing on an older rig that isn't up to snuff with creature comforts or not operating properly. I've had the opportunity in past years to guide part time at Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. In fact, the clientele would be fed to me from a local up-scale resort so advertising wasn't even an issue. That said, the start-up costs for everything above kept me from doing it. I couldn't see spending my weekends dragging newbs around anyway.

and all old enough to know better.

Do you buckle up when you drive? Seriously, my vest is on whenever the big motor is running over idle speed.

The biggest difference is that the transom tie down hooks are usually sitting much higher out of the water on a typical ski/runabout boat vs. a bass boat which sits very stern deep in the water.

They long ago created a reputation by ticking off customers with horrible customer service. While the build quality of their boats has always been questionable, it was the service after the sale that Tracker/Nitro/Tahoe has been well known for dropping the ball on way too often. I've had first hand experience with a couple friends boats to know NOT to buy anything made by them.

Nice fish guys.

I've pulled tubers behind my previous Champion many, many times. A standard ski bridal with the float attached to the transom tie downs worked fine. Had no problem whipping people from one side to the other. The rope only sort of drags through the wake but not bad enough to upset the enjoyment of a ride. Knee boarding is another story. If you have a rider that wants to cut across the wake he/she will probably complain of the rope being to low. You'll need a ski pole for that.

I never tried it but the winch gears would probably fit. Another thought is the 5.4 gears from a BPS Pro Qualifier. The PQ reel is machined the same as the Patriarch and I'm betting the gears from one of those would work.

The Avid Pearl is fuchsia, not pink. Knowing the difference between fuchsia and pink is not helping your case.

Excellent!! WTG Deb!!! Congrats and continued success.

I use old 35mm film cannistors to hold bullet weights. My spinnerbait case is a CD case. It works great.

Very nice.

Sounds like part of the plot for the next Bond Film.

Seems there's been plenty of clandestine operations going on behind the scene in Dutch Harbor. Deadliest Catch Production manager charged with cocaine dealing http://www.adn.com/2010/05/05/1265419/deadliest-catch-employee-charged.html

Word has it the KY lake RT guys were fishing a golf course...... from their boats! dick apparently was fishing in areas that according to his GPS graph, weren't part of the lake but dry ground!!

Well, obviously the chance of getting tazed didn't deter anyone. A fan ran out onto the field the very next night in Philly AGAIN. ;D

Once you go above the $150-175 price point the return on investment as far as light weight and sensitivity really diminishes quickly. You can find plenty of really nice rods in that $100 - $175 price range.

First you're oogling Kevin Shorts pink boat and now pink rods?

Not sure a 191 was made in '89. It's quite possibly a 184. If the inner wood structural support and transom are in good shape there's nothing wrong with a 20 + year old boat.... but.. Just like a 20 + year old car they are also prone to break down at just about anytime and they will break. If you just have $3000 saved up I'd suggest looking into aluminum. The last thing you want when you're on a limited budget is a boat that's gonna keep you off the water because it's nickle and dimeing you to death because of repairs. BTW, I'd be really leery of any OB motor as old as that second boat with a hot-rodded motor. That's just asking for trouble.

That would be a 201 Champion. One of the best driving/riding boats ever put out but your obvious concern is the condition of the hull stringers and transom. Champions are bonded cap to hull boats so even if you wanted to do a cap off resto (if it was needed) the job isn't a doable deal. The motor is obviously significantly newer than the boat as Yamaha didn't start making 225hp motors till the 90's IIRC. Have the thing checked over. If the boat checks out and the hull/transom is in good shape along with the gelcoat that's a good price. Keep in mind all those little things like electrical switches, wiring, pump motors, hinges, etc, etc that start failing on a boat that old. Expect to put some money into that boat if you buy it, things always seem to break.