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The young'ins will be so busy texting each other, AIMing, chatting and talking to each other on their cell phones, not to mention playing with all the Kewl electronics on the old guys boats they'll never have time to pick a rod up.

Deans has been making covers for Champions for years. As far as I know, they still have the templates to make a custom cover for your 184. http://www.deanstop.com/

Precisely. The thread that brought this whole thing up was one where the thread poster wanted to communicate with more members. That original thread post was so badly written as to be almost unreadable. Why would anyone want to try and communicate with someone who doesn't take the time to express their thoughts in a coherent way? Main Entry: com·mu·ni·cate Listen to the pronunciation of communicate Pronunciation: \k[ch601]-[ch712]myü-n[ch601]-[ch716]k[ch257]t\ Function: verb Inflected Form(s): com·mu·ni·cat·ed; com·mu·ni·cat·ing Etymology: Latin communicatus, past participle of communicare to impart, participate, from communis common more at mean Date: 1526 transitive verb1archaic : share2 a: to convey knowledge of or information about : make known <communicate a story> b: to reveal by clear signs <his fear communicated itself to his friends>3: to cause to pass from one to another <some diseases are easily communicated>intransitive verb1 to receive Communion2: to transmit information, thought, or feeling so that it is satisfactorily received or understood <two sides failing to communicate with each other>3: to open into each other : connect <the rooms communicate>

My first truck was a '74 Chevy 3/4 ton work truck I got 28 years ago. I guess they called it a work truck because I was always working on it. My second was a new '85 Ford 1/2 ton. 180k miles, reliable. Traded it in on a 94 Ford Supercab. I didn't care for the ride on that one and traded that in on a '97. Ran that one to 180k and traded in for my current truck, a '99 Supercab. I've had it nearly 3 years now. No problems. 106k miles on it. General maintenance and it's good to go. There's a junk man that frequents my work pulling metal out of our dumpster. He drives this old, beat up early eighties Ford supercab PU pulling a flatbed trailer. I'll have to ask him if he knows how many miles he's got on it. It's easily got to be 500,000. He drives that thing everyday.

My last set of TA highway style tires were the Goodrich brand. I got a touch over 70k miles out of them!!!! That said, they were OK tires in snow and wet. The best tires I've ever owned were Dayton Timberline HT's. Got over 60k out of those but the handling and traction on those was excellant in all road conditions.

Whoa.. Hold the phone here. You have a girl friend? You mean you're not married and you drive a minivan???!!!

im 2 lazee 2 bothur makin mysef sound gud to u guys so i dont care if u can unnerstand what im sayin anyway r u all goin to aim me or r u not cuz i wanna talk to sumone about what u r doin later aftur while ok?

Looks more like a connector used for plugging into a power strip on the front of a boat. Just cut the thing off and install what you need.

I just looked up the specs on a 2000 Plymouth Grand Voyager mini van. It's max rated trailer tow rating is 1674lbs. thats braked! That 176XT, fully loaded will easily surpass that. Not to mention the fact your van is old. I wouldn't even think about towing a boat that large with a vehicle that old which isn't even rated to tow something that big to begin with. I would seriously consider looking at aluminum boats.

Yes, excuse us old codgers. I'm afraid the stuff our generation is made of wouldn't work out in your world. Where ever that is. :

Thank you Mr. Bucket of cold water.

A rainbow trout swimbait in Oklahoma? :-?

I'd suggest looking into those smaller OB's made for sailboats. You could hook up your steering and throttle and still be able to run the boat from the drivers console. As for the power? I'd rather have a 9.9hp motor on my 18 1/2 foot Champion pushing me around on a windy, 10hp lake than a trolling motor. It's a shame Illinois can't see the light and allow those 10hp lakes to be no-wake/unlimited HP like Missouri. It was explained to me that they tried that and there was too much abuse but honestly, the wake thrown by a typical john or semi-V with a 10hp motor is far worse than an occasional abuser of the rules. Just write tickets.

Keeping this on topic. In reference to the original thread starters question, It would seem he's not an experienced boater given the questions asked. That said, the responses to his questions were appropriate. Bringing up gatorbassman's project boat is a completely different matter. Gatorbassman was well aware what the ramifications of not adding the flotation to his boat were.

That 15 year old mini-van has how many miles on it? Sorry, even the entry level 176 Stratos is going to be too much for a 15 year old vehicle that was never really designed as a trailer hauler to begin with. Get yourself a real tow vehicle and then a boat.

Stored the boat for winter with about a 1/4 premium tank... as of last week, I added 3/4 premium to it... Since then I'm down to about 1/2 tank or a little less... Was the gas treated for storage and how long has the gas sat in the tank since you last used it? Gas was not treated. About a 1/4 tank left in it when I stored. Sat for roughly 2.5-3 months. Since then, I filled it up completely, and am down to about a 1/2 tank. Think all the bad gas has been run out of it? I would be concerned with bad old gas mixed with the new gas along with water in the tank.

Here's a rod with a trigger

Sorry to hear Shimano hasn't released its Spring collection yet. Anyone know what colors everyone will be wearing this spring? Sure wouldn't want Burley getting busted on the lake by the fashion cops.

There's nothing wrong with using the same rod for both T rigging and C rigging if you're on a budget. If you're looking at All Stars you'll probably want to go with a Team All Star, model TAS 846C. It's a MHVY/Fast 7' rod.

That's a good reel for learning on. Tie your practice plug on, reel it to the tip and then push the spool release thumbar. Adjust the spool release knob on the handle side under the star drag until the lure drops to the ground and then stops. You might want to turn it a slight bit more when you're first starting out. I'd also suggest turning the mag brake control to maximum when you're starting out. Then start practice casting. You'll increase you're distance as you become more familiar with the reel and as you start to back the mag brake control off.

Stored the boat for winter with about a 1/4 premium tank... as of last week, I added 3/4 premium to it... Since then I'm down to about 1/2 tank or a little less... Was the gas treated for storage and how long has the gas sat in the tank since you last used it?

How fresh was your gas?

I've used a couple Castaics that I had up for sale. The Insta-gage switch was interesting. Of the few reels with flippin switches that are left on the market, the Castaic is probably the best of the lot.

Pump clogged? Impeller broken? How is your LW configured?

Just a little note of interest When the Rams built their practice facility up by my work they put up a earthen bunker around the outdoor field to prevent unwanted eyes from watching the plays. The only way you knew they were practicing was seeing an occasional football go flying higher than the top of the bunker. Then a new, multi-story hotel was built across the street. Guess what? The Rams caught somone filming their practice from one of the rooms facing the field. They never said who it was but the team immediately erected a massive, retractable screening device along that end of the field facing the hotel. When you drive by it looks like you're going past a golf driving range.