cart7t

IMO, those Bill Dance combo's are cheapies. Go ahead and epoxy the reel to the rod. Regardless of what happens in the future to either the rod or reel you'll have a perfect excuse to go buy better equipment. Those BD sig combo's aren't high dollar nor are they designed to last that long anyway.

Welcome! I'm not sure what a Pinnacle reel is but as soon as I find out I'm sure I'll have lots of questions.

dem jonnyroudes is guud moters and dont let the snow stop ya jist shovel that sucka off an take some pichers pronto so wees can see it ok

congrats on the new boat i really remember when i bought my first bote i was reelly reely excited like im sure you are hope you get it going for spring and look out for soft transoms they can get you if you dont watch out and hey how about some pix if you dont mind wed reelly like to see it

I don't think that rod was a year old. I got it from Simmons sporting goods on Ebay.

http://www.allstarrods.com/as_warranty.html

Weather can be really unpredictable in Alabamba this time of year.

Sad news. Only a year older than I. One of my favorite captains on that show.

What happens if it's a political issue concerning fishing?

I see Jeff Bridges is back but what about Cindy Morgan?

The way this winters going you may want to pack an ice auger and some mealy worms.

Check into your states eviction process while you're at it. The wife and I thought about doing a rental deal on a house we used to own but X-nayed the whole thing when we found out just how long tenants can exercise squatters rights before they're forced to leave.

Could you get Blaine an autographed hat? He really, really wants one.

A numbers matching, '69 Boss 429 went for $300,000 at Barrett-Jackson last year. You had to pull the motor to change spark plugs!

We slew 'em on that jetty. Most everyday I picked up at least a couple keepers just fishing off the gangway to the dock.

If it's the newer PQ, then I'd definitely get that.

Look over that transom very, very carefully. Procrafts of that era were known to have transom issues due to rot.

There have been a number of threads here about the power drive style TM's. The vast majority that have used them (I owned one for 6-7 years) don't like them. There are some applications for the motors that make sense, especially off shore applications but as a day to day bass fishing trolling motor you're much better off with a cable steer motor. Shame though, the technology has a lot of potential it just hasn't been refined for what bass fishermen really need.

I had a similar boat. I took the middle bench out and put a floor across the bottom. I put a pedestal base about midship and used a standard fishing seat on a basic 11" tall pedestal. Even with just that, the boat was way too unstable. Redo the benches and fish out of it that way.

PQ, better brakes, way cheaper even when not on sale. SX, overpriced. PQ, no doubt about it.

Those Tahoe Q5's and 7's are NOT Fish and ski boats. They are a ski boat that got a pedestal seat base stuck into the front of it along with a TM with a removable mount. They are very unpractical for fishing out of. I would suggest, if you can't talk your family into getting a real bass boat, to look into actual fish and ski boats. While those are not the most ideal fishing platforms either, they're certainly better than either of those models.

I've been using them for decades and still do. I use them as jig trailers when surface temps are around 55 and below.

I can't tell much from your picture. Gelcoat that's oxidized can be refinished back to a pretty shiny luster using several different methods. Oxidation normally appears as a dull, chalky surface. You can get some idea if the boat is doable by trying some rubbing compound and attempting to polish off a small area. If you remove the oxidation and still have a smooth surface, there's a good chance the finish is salvageable. If you can feel the flake once you've polished down that area or you can feel the metal flake elsewhere you're toast. Re-gelling that boat would far exceed what it's worth. There are some cheaper alternatives you could try to put the shine back on but they're not long term.

I also have a 320C. No problems here. Great unit.

Furniture polish lacks UV inhibitors that the gelcoat on a boat badly needs for protection.