cart7t

I agree with northgabassfisher. If you're going to basically fish rivers almost exclusively I'd slam a jet drive on that thing and quit worrying.

We've talked about these in about 2 different threads. Most of the guys that own or have owned them either don't like them or would never own one again. I happened to own one for around 7 years. The pluses: Nice variety of removable TM mounts available. Flat foot pedal negates the need for mounting a PRoTray type recessed foot pedal assembly. The long control cable allows you to control the boat just about anywhere in the boat. Now the minuses: The turning speed of the motor is way too slow. If you need to make emergency 180 degree turns to stay off rocks, avoid docks or overhangs this motor isn't the one you need unless you reach down and manually grab the motor and turn it. If you fish open water most of the time it's no big deal but for most other fishermen, the Power Drive just doesn't cut it for this reason.

The unit he was showing you had GPS capability. It can be a nice feature, especially in the dark or if you're trying to get somewhere in the fog. Also, finding offshore deepwater structure is made a whole bunch easier. I accomplish the same thing with a handheld GPS.

I've been fishing recently with Needemp. My former partner has a bad back and can no longer make it much more than an hour or two in a bassboat. I used to fish with my 17 year old son but work and his social life has put fishing on a backburner for now. My wife sometimes goes out with me, not as much as she used to. Arthritis has seen to that.

That's quite likely a SS prop that's teflon coated.

Porpoising is most commonly caused by hull design and weight distribution inside the boat. In effect, it's a instability where the prop thrust is no longer capable of holding the bow up and the stern falls down into the water, the prop thrust then picks the stern back up and the process keeps repeating itself. Those doelfin type devices to solve the problem but they can add drag at the upper end speeds. 4 blade props can help the problem on larger HP motors. Before putting a fin on try redistributing the weight in the boat and see what happens. If you're not having a holeshot problem that may all that's needed. If not, those fins will solve your problem a lot cheaper than a SS prop.

You'll probably find in the summertime that that point is the thermocline. A good LCD depthfinder can see that as well as a sechi disk.

The boat ramp campers really irk me. Even when there are signs posted it never fails. Ma, Pa and the kiddies have set up camp and are swimming, fishing or both. When I pull up to launch or take out, the looks on their faces is ridiculous. Like I'm interrupting their little day on the lake. : Bass fishermen (or anyone else for that matter) who questions and in some cases, try and preach that you don't need a $30 - 40K bassboat capable of 60 + mph to fish out of. Most of us that own faster, nicer bassboats are quite aware of that. In fact, most of us didn't start out in that type of boat but were johnboat fishermen or bank beaters. None of us need to be preached to. We certainly don't ridicule anyone who doesn't own a nice boat. Whether it's pure *** or just the need to preach, I don't need it, I heard enough of that from my Dad in my early years. People that wait till they're about to launch their boat before loading their gear into it which ties up the entire ramp. Of course the dufusses also spent 10 minutes backing and jackknifing the trailer in numerous attempts to get it in a position to launch it in the first place.

There's a world of difference in the low end, low pixel count models vs. the higher end units, high pixel count models. The quality of the image for starters is vastly better on the more expensive ones. I recently spend a day fishing with a forum member that had a low end unit on his dash. I was surprised at how poorly it did resolving even standard bottom features. In reality though, both low and high end units basically work the same but the higher end units normally have some bells and whistles on them the low end units don't. Some are useful and some are just there for flash. As for their usage, take the owners manual out on the lake with you and mess around with the thing. Go through all the functions till you're comfortable with it. Like I said, many of those features on the high end units you'll never use and some you will.

Well I plan on fishing the weekend series or the bfl. Cart7 I also tried to find the champion you told me about its not on there site. the nearst champion dearler is like two hours away. So it might be hard to compare the boats. That model is brand spanking new and has just now hit the dealers floors along with the 210 which came out around boat show time and a couple other models.

What difference does it make whether he's fishing pro tournaments or not? Perhaps he just wants a nice bassboat. Sheesh. :

I have: Launched the boat only to have my tie line attached to the trailer break and then my boat drifted out into the lake. Once in July, I swam for it, the 2nd time in Feb. , had to wait till someone showed up an hour later to go out about 1/2 mile and pu my boat. Launched without the drain plug in. - about 3 times in 30 years. Had a person not familiar with the stick in a car I was pulling my boat with put the thing in reverse when pulling the trailer out after launching me. Got to watch my trunk fill with water. Had the trailer come off the ball once. Tow chains really work! Was in a friends boat. We were pulling into the dock, there was a low overhang at the dock entrance. I moved forward to help tie off and ducked to avoid the overhang. I raised my head when I THOUGHT we had cleared the overhang. Got knocked flat on my azz when my head hit it. Thankfully it hit the bill of my fishing cap. My second boat was new but the 115hp Evinrude OB had an occasional glitch in it. Sometimes, even though the boats throttle assembly indicated it was in neutral, it wasn't, it was still in drive. While you're not supposed to be able to start the boat in gear this one would. I started the boat once with the cold throttle lever at full and turned the key. The boat instantly launched 1/2 way up onto the dock!! I jammed it in reverse and got it off tearing a hunk of dock off in the process. My buddy, who I nearly hit jumps in and we took off. The problem was eventually fixed thank god.

I would go with a stainless once that aluminum breaks and it will break eventually. Too bad you've got a Suzuki, you can find used SS props on fishing boards for a half to 3/4 the price of new. You'll have a tougher time finding Suzuki props though.

Take a look at the new 183 Champion. Their new modular consoles have gobs of legroom on them. They'll outride that Ranger in rough water by a mile, probably keep up with it with less engine and you'll save a few thousand. Todd over at C&O marine just test ran a new one on a 150 opti, 61mph and the motor isn't even broke in yet nor had he attempted any jackplate, prop or engine height tweaks. I'm guessing a 2 or 4 mph gain once the engine loosens and it's setup right. The front deck on that thing is huge for a 18 1/2 footer and plenty of under console legroom. Ride and decide. Don't just look at a boat, take it out for a test run.

Wanna bet?

I remember 20 something years ago when PH and oxygen meters were all the rage. I never got into them. If you believe in them, more power to ya I say.

I'd be 98 years old then, pushing 99. I suppose I could then afford a really nice gold plated drool bucket, silk depends and afford to have some, young 20 something year old hottie mash up my food and spoon feed me. Of course, with my eyesight shot I'd be lucky to even see her.

Not knocking the Ranger per se but I doubt you'll be doing 70 with a 175. Rangers are known as one of the slower boats out there. Well made yes, but nowhere near the quickest. A comparable Stratos will easily outrun it.

Just keep angling it till you can get access to the storage with the motor up. Who cares if the head sticks out over the side?

I've thought about getting a couple for drifting points and dragging worms or c-rigs.

There are base model trim packages for color and then everything else is extra. How much depends on the manufacturer. Same with any electronics and or any other options you choose to put on your boat. It's all extra plus the cost of rigging. You can often work with the dealer on the overall price. As for when to buy? Now's a good time, once the boat shows start till around May-June is a really bad time as that's the time of the year most new boats are ordered. The manufacturers are swamped with orders plus marine dealers are extremely busy in spring and summer and may take longer than normal to get to your boat if there's extra rigging involved.

So where do you spend most of your time bass fishing? Deer Pointe? Talaquah? Seminole? Appalachola river system? My wife and I have toyed with the idea of moving to Pc.

Lessee, sell my existing ProV and pickup a used 175hp Vmax mid 90's for around $3500. New MK Edge 70lb TM. $500. Finish the front deck extension on the boat $100. 2nd Attwood SAS seat for me the driver $300. 2 new windshields from C&O marine $200. New aluminum modular trailer wheels and Goodyear marathons. $400. That covers my 5 grand. Of course, I've got around $1000 from selling my old motor and TM. Anti-reverse upgrades, ABEC5 bearings and drag washers for my 5 Ambassadeur Ultra Mag and XLT Plus reels - $120. Penn Roddy 351 spin reel and BPS 7' 2 piece Bionic blade for pier, jetty fishing. $100 Penn 209M reel and 6' Daiwa boat rod for bottom fishing. $100. Weight balancing kits for the rest of my rods - $70 Go through my worm hooks and revamp - $50 New Garmin dash finder with GPS - $500 That's about it.

I'd have to say....myself! I was interested around 7 or 8 years old, my 2 brothers less so. My Dad used to say hunting and fishing was a waste of time, partially because he never had a lot of success with it when he was younger. He took us fishing sometimes after I begged and I never figured out his resistance to the sport because he wasn't bad at it. Even it latter years he never wanted to go out and fish even though I was having pretty good success and had nice bassboats. I guess it just wasn't his bag baby.

Normally no. The previous owner should have installed the carpet over a solid floor. I would seal off those areas under the hull with exposed fiberglass with a refinish gel coat refinish kit. Overtons.com is one place that sells a bunch of refinishing stuff, so does iBoats. Then I'd try putting the drain plug in and filling the hull full of water with a hose and see if you can find any type of leak that way. After that, concentrate on any thru hull fittings and lastly, the livewell system if the boat has one.