cart7t

Most halfway decent prop shops can get you in the ballpark on a standard prop. If the thing has been worked, that's a completely different matter.

Here's a little article http://www.blackdogprops.com/6.html explaining why you'll never figure out the pitch of that prop on your own without taking it to a prop shop.

No, you didn't get that good of a deal if you bought this for recharging a trolling motor battery. Deep cycle batteries require the slow charge mode, not fast charge. In essence you bought a 2 amp battery charger for charging your battery, I wouldn't want anything less than a ten amp and for what you spent you could've bought one.

:-? Your link leads to a Dc-AC power inverter.

Seriously, that photo was taken within the past few weeks on Erie. You don't really want to get out in that at all but certainly not in anything under a 20 ft boat. Unfortunately, 20 footers need big motors to push them and big trailers underneath them. For only $10-15k, you're going to be stuck getting a fairly old boat in that size range that may or may not need repair.

You're gonna wanna get a big boat!

As I recall, both of those boats were being made by the OMC group. HydroSports is no longer making bassboats though. Very similar hull designs. The 295 is probably a little better laid out floorplan wise but that is opinion only. Take a look at both and get them on the water to try them out. You won't see that much difference in the 7" length difference between the two as far as rough water ride.

Out of curiosity, what's the HP limit there. Seems to me a 1000 acre lake should be open to any boat just with a speed limit.

This place has a pretty extensive listing of clubs in the bi-state area. http://www.mwbt.com/bass_clubs.htm

I get those many times a week. Go to Ebay, log in and check your messages. Ebay and Paypal will contact via the message service AND your registered Email Spoofers and fishers only go after you through your email account.

What Matt said. Wind blows Plankton into the shore and the baitfish follow. Also on the plus side is the choppy surface which breaks light penetration into the water and add the silt and mud all stirred up and you've got the ingrediants for some great fishing. As much as I hate fishing in the wind I always wind up picking windy banks to fish.

Mine has absolutely nothing to do with fishing. Back around 1997 I was inhabiting a couple Open wheel racing forums. I needed an email to join up to one of those forums so I went to hotmail (it was brand new at the time) and registered under cart6, the cart part standing for Championship Auto Racing Teams and six for my driver of choice at the time, Michael Andretti. Unfortunately cart6 was taken so I got really creative and chose cart7 : Anyway, I've posted under that handle for 9 years now on several racing forums like offcamber.net and Howard Dolans racing forum. I also use cart7 at 2 other bass fishing forums I post on besides here.

He said he would be roaming around... not sure what that means but a rule of thumb I've always adhered to, especially in rural areas and out in the woods is.. If you hear banjo music RUN!

Chargers are not known for their speed. In fact, they're one of the slowest boats out there. It has nothing to do with the hull design or that the boat is flawed, in fact it has to do with the fact that they're a much heavier boat than most others on the lake. Charger still uses a wood transom and those suckers have a 4 inch thick transom! That's a lot of weight right there. There hull construction is sort of old world too though it's a very solid boat. The weight is part of what makes the boat ride so well in the rough stuff. The sacrifice is slower speed. The 496 is a 20 1/2ft boat. I think they rated it for all V6's. If you're looking for a boat with well thought out storage, a great rough water ride but don't care if you're at the back of the pack on tourney takeoffs then get a Charger. If you want more speed but still want rough water handling get a Stratos or Champion. If you want to go fast, get a Blazer, Bullit, Stroker or Allison. Just know you have to know how to drive those boats.

Speed and good ride don't necessarily go together. Charger makes a great boat. They've been around since the mid 70's. I bought a new one in 1978. Their interior storage is well thought out with every square inch of space properly utilized. An outstanding rough water boat but a little on the slow side. If that 250 opti was on the back of a 595 Charger, the boat was unloaded, very little gas in it, the proper prop and setup, along with the right chop on the water and a stiff tailwind, I suppose that combo could scare 80 on a GPS. I doubt it though.

This thread reminds me of an old story that happened on time when I was in this bass club. We had a tourney at Lake of the Ozarks, long known for it's night life. A some of the guys went into town for some drinking and maybe to get lucky. The next morning one of the guys was nowhere to be found. He had told his partner if he wasn't there to go out without him (The boat was his!). Sure enough, his boatless partner wasn't sure what to do so he asked us and we told him to take out his boat and fish just like he said. As we were floating around in the cove waiting for the takeoff time we hear car horn blaring in the distance getting louder. Here comes the guy hauling butt down the road to the resort horn blaring. He pulls up to the dock and gets out, still without his pants zipped or buckled. Quite a scene. ;D

Great. : Due to changing jobs this is now the 2nd forum get together I'll have to pass on. No vacation time. uggghhh.. What a shame, pulling the Champion to Fork was doable. Hope you guys have fun.

Stroker boats ARE NOT slow boats.

You and a gal under the covers sounds like opportunity knocking. Fishing in 45 degree weather with gusting winds sounds like your knees will be knocking at best. I'd tell the guys they'll have to muddle on without ya.

I've heard of plenty of guys just using the seafoam as a stabilizer and it's worked out good for them.

From the last photo of the front deck you may have some gel coat left to work with as far as the finish. I'd definitely invest in having that engine taken to a marine mechanic for a go over. If you can get that thing for under $2000 you'll get a nice boat if the floor, engine and transom check out. Here's just a couple approx. costs. Carpet - $200 - 220. Trailer - $100 (replace the bunk boards and those fender well liners!) Tires and hubs - Depends on the condition. New Goodyear Marathons go for $100 apiece, hubs for around $45 apiece. Switches and gauges - I can tell you from experience, the switches and circuit breakers will probably need to be replaced, hopefully the gauges are all ok - $50 Engine - $500 approx. (have the thing tuned up, water pump changed, fuel system cleaned out.) Steering - If this is old, if it's stiff or you're just unsure of it I'd strongly suggest changing it. A new Teleflex dual cable NFB system will run you around $350. Deck refinish - If the gel is still there I'd put your costs at under $50, if it's shot I'll go with $100. Trolling motor - That is an OLD Minn kota. You can pick up a new MK Edge series 70lb for around $530 at Cabela's or look around on the fishing forums this winter for a used one for less. Batteries - You'll need to replace them if they're not new. $200 for 3 at Wally World. Bilge pump - I'd replace it if it's old with an Automatic unit. $50-70 That's around $2k in additional investment to get the boat completely up to snuff. If you buy the thing for $2000 that's $4000 total. You could easily turn that boat around and sell it for that price. That was one of the more attractive color schemes of that vintage Champions.

I don't think I'd describe that boat as a steal for $1000. I'd say he's asking about all that boat is worth. Here's pretty much a breakdown of what the thing would go for if you parted it out on ebay. 1985 16 ft boat, Hydrosport with trailer - $500 1988 110 HP motor - $500 packaged together - $1000 to 1100. Now, if he was asking $500 and the wood and engine in that thing were in good shape, that'd be a steal. Approximate costs. On a boat that old that's showing it's age, you're going to spend twice that much or more fixing it back up into decent fishing condition. I can pretty much promise you, if you spend another $1000 on that boat you'll never get it back. Old boats, 15 years and older have a habit of breaking alot. Unless fixing and restoring older boats is a hobby like it is for me, you may start to get weary of having many fishing trips ruined or inconvienced by stuff breaking at just the wrong time. As for the boat itself, a Hydrosport, Mid 80's models were never a big demand boat. They were a rather shallow draft hull which sat somewhat low in the water, especially in the stern. You'll really need to look that transom over carefully. Also, a "couple" soft spots in the floor can mean a couple spots 6" to a foot across or a couple spots 2ft x 3ft in size. THAT is not a good thing.

Shouldn't you be on the bus going to school instead of out fishing?

There was this fish biologist name Loren Hill that had spent countless hours in labs with bass and he thought he discovered a way to figure out exactly what color of lure you should be fishing. He created this really snitzy color gauge with a probe you stuck in the water and it told you precisely what lure you should tie on so the bass could best see in the conditions you were fishing in. Lure manufacturers lined up creating a special line of lures that worked with his system. A couple years later, those color gauges were on the closeout tables along with the lures made for it. I see the color selector has been "reintroduced" to the next line of suckers. ;D Seriously, as has been stated, trying to take a wild gamefish like a largemouth bass and predict it's preferances so you can can it into a little chart so you can show up at a lake and tie on a lure that's going to stimulate a fish into biting won't work. You're much better off learning seasonal habits of the fish and the methods that will best take the fish for the conditions you're facing. I'm afraid it would take many years to compile something like you're trying to do that would have any accuracy at all.

I seem to recall this question being asked of the Pro's in Bassmaster a few times over the years and none of them ever thought it made a difference. Considering the wild color schemes of the wrapped boats the past years I really doubt it does make a difference.