(='_'=)

well, my current reel is geared at 6.2:1. So maybe i can use that one for worms, and get a 5.0:1 to use for crankbaits.... i would like to purchase just one rod and reel right now, and keep using my current rod for a while... so ill start looking for a 6'10" for worms... so, whats the difference between fast tip and moderate tip?? i would like to learn how to worm fish, any advice??

i am a new fisher. right now i am using a 6'6" MH rod with a quantum baitcasting reel for everything.... but i think i would like to have at least a dedicated worm combo and a crankbait combo... i have been doing good with crankbaits with my current setup, butt not a single bite while using worms, so i thought i would look for a worm setup... i found this link: http://www.bassresource.com/beginner/selecting_rods_reels.html anything else you could add?? what would be a good setup for worms, without spending a bunch?? or should i keep using my current setup for everything?? thanx!!

i did a search, and now i believe the "box" is called the bilge of the boat, hence the name bilge pump.... today i went fishing, and we didnt have any water inside... i would turn on the bilge pump, and after 4 or 5 seconds, the box (bilge) was empty. we didnt have any water coming in either... but, now we have no way to fill the livewells... we catch and release, so that wasnt a problem, but in a tournament, we will need the livewells.... i will post a couple of pics and see what you think... thanx!!

hey. we have a new (to us) bass boat we are fixing... the boat is really old, around 1975 or so, but it floats... first we fixed the motor, and have been going out fishing a couple times.... this is our first bass boat, and in fact, the first bass boat i have ever been into.... im a mechanic, so fixing the motor was not a problem.... however, we have a lot of issues we need to correct.... first of all, we would like to know, where is the aerator pump for the livewells?? we picked this boat from a small town where people fix things with whatever they can... so, we dont even know where to start.... on the boat, theres a button that says Bilge... i understand this is the pump used to take the water out of the boat.... however, we noticed that this bilge pump would fill the livewells... today we began removing loose cables and things to see how it was connected, and we found something that i belive is not correct... on the lower part of the boat, besides the plug, there is another hole.... well, they connected the bilge pump so it would suck water from the lake through this hole, and into the livewells.... i talked to a friend, and he told me this hole should be connected directly to the livewells. should a pump be installed there??? because we followed his advice, and conected that hole to the livewells, and the bilge pump, we left it there to remove the water from that space, and conected the hose to one side of the boat.... is that correct?? also, why is the boat getting so much water in?? is it only because of the waves that reach the boat when we are going at full speed and then stop?? there is this small box where the plug and the other hole are, that normally fills with water.... but sometimes water will go higher than that, reaching the battery and the fuel tank... once i even had my feet wet while driving.... we hope that now we have the bilge pump in the box, we will stop having that problem.... but that brings another issue... should we be monitoring the box, and turn on the bilge pumo when it fills?? because im sure we will forget sooner or later.... the boat is not broken... i know because once we had the water up to the fuel tank, and we didnt remove the plug for 2 days... it didnt leak at all.... and, regarding the same box, i have another question.... the sides of the box have this small holes, like 3/4", and i have nothiced that both sides fill with water as well.... i thought those were flotation panels or something like that, but, they have the hole, and they fill with a lot of water.... i know these are a lot of questions, but i would appreciate any help... english is my second language, so im sure im not using the correct terms.... please bear with me... thanx!!

hey marinetech, pm sent... thanx!

thanx, ill read the articles and see if thats what i was looking for...

so, should i recharge the battery even if its not discharged? i thought this damaged the batteries and reduced their life... thats why we used it until it discharged... and i disconected it to store it inside so it wont get stolen... for how long should i recharge it the first time?? and the next times??

thanx!! ll, i believe my motor doesnt counts with a charging system... its an old johnson, from mid 70s, 85 HP.... and, i used the boat wednesday, saturday, and sunday, but i disconected the battery after each use... on sunday, after some time on the boat, the battery discharged and we couldnt start it... fortunately we had another battery, so we just switched... but the one we were using supposedly is dual purpose...

well, i did a search but couldnt find what i was looking for, maybe didnt use the correct words... so, the battery of my bassboat is discharged.... we havent used the trolling motor at all, but we have been skiing, so the battery discharged just from starting the motor... its a new battery, this is the first time it discharges.... so, for how long should we charge it?? and at what setting?? should we use fast charging, or slow charge?? the battery is dual purpose, it has 2 sets of posts, i dont remember the brand, but i believe it has a yellow lightning as logo (stowaway??) thanx!!

i will, thanx!!

thanx. this is a really old (mid 70s) bassboat we are restoring... it was abandoned in a fishing town with no way to get spare parts, so its fixed with whatever they had in hand... the bilge pump actually feed the livewells.... so, there is no way for me to tell if the cylinders are the original ones... so i cant look at the book, but i can take a look at them and even remover them from the boat to inspect them... so that oil you mention, Dextron ATF, do you have the specs?? is it motor oil, transmision fluid, or what it is?? because i am in Mexico, and i havent seen that fluid around here but if i know what other uses it has, i can find the equivalent... thanx!!

hey. i suspect my power trim cylinders are in need of fluid... what oil should i put in them? do they even have a way of refilling them? or are they sealed?? i haven taken a good look at them.... thanx!

thanx. i activated the Trim lever, and it appears as if the pump is working. so i believe maybe the cylinders need to be refilled with fluid. What type of fluid do they use?? and how do you put it in?? i like to do most of the work myself, im a mechanic and have done some work on small 2 stroke engines... but i have never worked on a boat before, thats why i want to learn... and btw, english is my second language, so please if im not making myself clear, let me know... i have some trouble with technical slang...

thanx... i guess i will need to fix the power trim soon then... can that also be the cause why, when i was in reverse, the motor lifted?? because the power trim didnt hold it in place, and its easier to lift the bow than to push the boat?? action/reaction??

well, yesterday i finally got out to test out new (to me) bass boat.... i had never been in a bassboat before... we got this boat one year ago, but the motor wasnt working, the transmision was blown, and, i had to leave the city for 6 months... so yesterday we finally got it all together and went for a test ride... at first, when we accelerated at max speed, the front part (bow?) would raise a lot, making it difficult to see.... it ran at a decent speed, not fast, but not too slow.... and the rear of the boat was almost at water level.... then suddenly and without us doing anything, the front part lowered, leveling the boat.... with this, the speed increased greatly.... we could see that we were barely touching the water with the rear part of the boat.... i noticed that if we decreased the speed, when we increased it again, the same thing would happen, at first the boat would raise the front part, but after a little while it would lower and gain a lot of speed.... the boat is a very old KingFisher bassboat (thats what the tag says), i think 17 feet, with an 85hp Johnson from around 1977.... the trim cylinders are not working properly, we have to fix them.... when we tried the reverse, the motor lifted, i believe this is due to the trim not working.... so, what could be causing that?? it it normal?? or what can we do to lower the front sooner so we gain speed soon and when we want it, and not when the boat decides to level itself??? thanx!!

thanx. i have those very small zip ties, ill try with one... if that doesnt works ill look for copper wire...

good morning... i bought a couple of jigs, and on the first cast, when i retireved it, it had the skirt hanging from the hook... i put it back again, threw it again, and the same thing happened, the skirt came off to the hook. so i changed lures before loosing the skirt... what can i do to fix it?? super glue it in place?? use a smallr O ring to hold it in place?? thanx!

thanx. i believe i found one locally, i have to pick it up and check if its the same... if not, ill post the pic.... thanx again!!

i just did that marinetech... the tube was correctly installed.... but the impeller is blown... one of the arms is cut at the middle, and another one is held by a tiny strip of material.... so i have to replace it.... do you know a good source for impellers?? its a johnson motor, 5 HP, old as dirt.... it was my grandpas motor, and he passed away 15+ years ago.... im not sure of the year, i looked for the plate but couldnt find it.... the owner of a fishing shop told me its a big impeller, he had some but they were too small... i will have to check for the year to get the proper part number, but meanwhile, do you know of any online stores to get it?? sponsers of this site would be better, even if they are not the cheapest, it would be good to support the site.... thanx!!

i already fixed the carb issue.... last weekend i had to pull the choke in order for it tu run... without the choke, it would stop... with the choke, it would run, but very slow.... so i fixed that.... i also changed the transmision oil then.... and now, this weekend, the boat was runing without the choke, at normal speed.... but after a little while, it stoped, and i noticed the white smoke and the frying pan sound.... and unfortunately, i dont remember if it was peeing before....

i guess it is, since it has some small holes on the back of the vertical shaft's case (sorry i dont know the name for that). if its not water cooled, then how does it cools?? and how can i tell??

thanx, thats what i was thinking also.... my motor is really old, but maybe i can find the manual.... im used to taking apart and rebuilding small engines without a manual, as i have been doing it for some time now and all of them are pretty much the same...., but i had never opened the transmission..... i will have to take it apart and pay more attention....

thanx. so since the pee holes were not peeing, the cooling system is not working properly.... and i didnt see the impeller... here is a picture to show what i took apart. sorry, english is my second language, so sometimes i have toruble understanding technical words.... so, heres the pic... the red circle shows what i took apart... the long blue line is the shaft i removed... on the upper part it had a couple of washers of some sort, and a spring... i struggled a little to put the washers where they belong, but i believe i put it together properly.... the small blue line on the bottom is the hose i saw, which i believe now is the clooing system hose.... does it has to enter the small plug in there?? i think i put it inside the plug but im not 100% sure.... or maybe i did but it doesnt goes there.... thanx!

well, i also took apart the lower unit, and i saw the vertical shaft and a small hose... is that the hose that goes to the pee hole?? i took it apart to see how the cooling system worked, but i didnt understand it, so i just put it back together.... now that you mention it, i remember the small hose.... and i think maybe i didnt put it in its place.... could that be the issue??

well, so i changed the transmission oil yesterday on my old johnson 5 hp motor. it had a bad retainer, the one that seals the entrance of the shaft to the lower unit. and since i couldnt find it, i used some o rings, hoping they will hold. also, i couldnt remove the lower bolt to put the oil in the unit. so i had to put it on the top hole. sometimes air bubbles would come out. so i poured oil in it, then closed the hole and moved the motor a little bit to get the entrapped air to come out. i put oil in it until it was comming out from the top hole. today, i went fishing to a small lake close to my house. suddenly i noticed the motor was smoking. the cylinder area was really hot, it sounded like a frying pan, and it was smoking bad. and suddenly, it stopped. we let it cool for about 1/2 hour, and then it turned on again. after about 5 minutes, we had the same thing happening, the heating, and then stopping of the motor. when i saw the smoke, i also noticed that no water was comming out of the back cooling holes.... does this has anything to do with the oil change?? last weekend, the motor would turn off when i pushed the choke... it would run, but only if choked.... so i cleaned the carb and checked it on a water bucket here at home, and the same thing happened, if choked it would run, but when i pushed the choke, it would stop. after that, i changed the oil, without messing with the carb again. and today, it ran fine, i used the choke only to start it, then pushed it and it would run perfectly, until it began heating. thats why im thinking it has something to do with the oil change. thanx!