mudcatwilly

I did mine the same way. You can sorta see it in the photos below. You just take one bolt out where the shaft meets the controller head, flip the head 180 degrees, put the bolt back in, and you're ready to rock. As for the mounting, I used a 1/4-inch steel angle iron about 4 inches wide by 4 inches tall and drilled 4, 1/4-inch bolt holes through it. It's best if you can put a flat metal plate on the underside of the bow with holes matching the angle iron bracket. That helps reduce the stress. If you don't use a plate on the underside, use big washers and put little rubber spacers between the washer and the underside of the bow. The spacers act as a cushion.

There's no substitute for more HP!

Some of you may recall me asking all these questions about my 1975 Lund trihull. Well, I've spent the past 2 months restoring it and here are some pics: A lovely shade of '70's burnt orange The custom black stripe is original That's a 1990 Suzuki DT85. Note the color match! Lots of body work More body work and tons of sanding. I have the motor painted here Stripped down the bow Lots of patching along the keel Here's the finished paint job! Fitted with Endura50 TM and moved the fish finder up front Installed a swivel seat and new carpet Painted to match my ride! The first bass caught in my restored boat Hope you liked the pics. If you have any questions about boat restoration, I can maybe help. I learned a lot on this project.

Three jigs I love: 1. Rodstrainer 2. Lunker Lures Rattlin' Jig 3. TNT Wadda Jig (Local to California Delta area, available by telephone order only, but these kill in the delta, look 'em up) Trailers: 1. Net Bait Paca Chunk Craw 2. Zoom baby brush hog (cut in half) 3. Yamamoto twin tail grub Colors: 1. Brown/Orange - clear water 2. Black/Blue - Anywhere, but especially murky water 3. Brown/Olive - clear water 4. Black/Red - CA Delta especially, but any murky water It's all pretty much personal preference and whatever you have confidence in, but I stick with what has worked for me. I love to drag the bait and feel every bump on the bottom, snapping the rod tip up every so often. I also like heavier jigs (3/8 up to 3/4 oz). To slow the rate of fall, I'll go with a heavier mono line and larger trailers. I want a trailer that floats, one, to slow the fall, and two, I want the "pinchers" to rise up to look like the crawdad is in a defensive position. My $0.02.

In California, every bass angler has chrome/blue back, chrome/black back, and some type of craw color. I've found that chrome/blue back works everywhere.

I've been bass fishing now for about 2 1/2 years and although I know I have a lot to learn, one thing that I know right now is that confidence in a bait is a huge factor in successful fishing. I have all kinds of baits it my growing box, but the one I keep going back to is the jig. I'll throw it every time out no matter what. I was fishing a jig almost exclusively a couple of days ago and I caught some bass in very different ways that led me to some questions. The lake I was fishing (in California) has steep banks and clear water. There is a variety of cover and structure. The spots I was catching bass in consisted mainly of laydowns and rockslides. The water temp was 55 to 56. At this lake, we're pretty much in full prespawn mode. In a couple of situations, I caught fish by hopping the jig down the face of the bank. I would raise the rod tip from the 9:00 to about the 11:00 position, pause a couple of seconds, and then do it again. The bass always hit it on the way down. The bites came consistently on points. Other times, I was catching fish by simply casting to a spot on the submerged bank, say 10 feet, and then slowly dragging the jig parallel to the bank, holding the rod steady and just dragging the jig using the lowest speed on my trolling motor. I was curious to know what techniques you guys like to use when casting jigs on steep banks. Is it more productive to hop the jig down the bank or drag it parallel to the bank or is it a matter of whatever is working that particular day? I know that jigs will always be in my arsenal. I just want to be the best that I can be at using them.

I've had a Johnson, Suzuki, and Mercury. I would rank them 1. Suzuki 2. Merc 3. Johnson. I have a 17 year old Suzuki DT85 two stroke and it runs very strong and requires very little maintenance. The only drawback with it is that it takes a little coaxing to start when it's really cold. It's loud as heck too, but I kinda like that. The Merc is good too, but she's in the shop every 3 or 4 years.

Mine is a hand controlled trolling motor and it's mounted just left of center too and it works fine. You just have to slightly adjust the way you steer the boat, but you'll master it in like 5 minutes. You have to be more specific about what kind of trolling motor you have (bow mount or transom mount).

I got a brand new Westmarine trolling battery and I hooked it up to my charger to top it off. The charger ran for about 3 hrs at 6 amps and the meter on the charger still didn't read "full". I have a three stage "smart" charger that is supposed to start at 6 amps, then drop down to 4 amps and then 2 amps until the charge is full. My charger stayed at 6 amps for three hours and then I just unhooked it. Do you have to charge a brand new battery or is it on full charge right out of the store?

OK, dumb question. I've tried to charge a 12v battery and my charger keeps reading "fault" and won't charge the battery. I didn't buy the battery. It came with the used boat I bought. It looks like a wal-mart cheapie. I pulled the battery out and grounded the negative terminal and it still won't charge. Is this a non-rechargeable battery? What is the difference between a chargeable and a non-rechargeable battery?

My $.02. I bought a 1975 Lund last year with a 1990 85hp Suzuki that runs well. I paid $2000 for it and I've put a bunch more into it, none on the motor. Assuming you're doing everything yourself, here is the list of stuff I've bought to fix mine up: Marine epoxy $60 Topside Paint $120 Engine paint $50 Upholstery $300 new trailer jack $40 new trailer tires plus spare $110 marine grade wire and connectors $100 trolling battery $100 rope $40 custom decals $75 sandpaper $30 brushes/rollers $30 boat cover $90 trailer wiring harness $30 boat saftey equipment (fire ext, horn, etc) $50 80 plus hours of labor and a sometimes irritated wife. As you can see, it adds up, and I don't have any motor problems...yet. The trailer alone is worth $200 if its in good shape. Go for it if you have the time. I'd invest a little money and get the motor checked out by a shop before you buy though.

I have a Minnkota Endura 50 and I need to splice the black and red wire leads coming from the motor and run them to a 12v battery (about 15 feet of total wire length). The trolling motor will be the only thing hooked up to the battery. Questions: 1. What gauge wire would be recommneded here? I've heard 6ga, but that's hard to find. Can I get away with 8 or 10ga? 2. Should I put a breaker in somewhere near the battery? If so, how many amps? 3. Is there anything else I should be considering before I wire this thing? Thanks guys

I have a Minn Kota Endura 50 (50 lb thrust) on my 15-ft fiberglass with an 85hp motor. That trolling motor is plenty for me. My $.02, find out how much motor you need and then go one motor higher.

If you trick that thing out to fish from, I want to see pics. I've thought about doing that myself, except I don't own a jet ski.

If you are going to throw down $300 to $400 for the sea eagle, then you're probably better off getting a canoe. I spents weeks researching before I bought. I finally settled on the Pelican Navigator, 13.5-ft canoe. It's easy to transport and it only weighs about 50 lbs. I always fished alone in my canoe, so the weight was a big issue. I would get the lightest possible boat/canoe/kayak you can afford. After pulling my canoe up and down some difficult trails to get to the water, my one regret was that I should have gotten a lighter canoe. You'll know what I'm talking about the first time you try to launch that thing by yourself.

I did the math. There's about $120,000 worth of motor on that boat and 2,000 hp. That's $60 per horse in case anybody cared. But I digress, big thumbs up to the guy who even had the stones to come up with a motor configuration like that. It looks like there was a contest to see how many motors you could put on the back of a boat before it sinks. How would you like to be the guy who has to give that thing a tune up.

I hit a submerged rock at about 25 mph. Luckily, it only hit my prop. The prop was torn to shreds, but I was able to get back to the launch (about a 15 minute ride). Being a first time boat owner, I simply put a new prop on and went on my merry way. A few trips later, I noticed a stress crack in the lower unit case near the prop. I took it in to get checked out and it turns out that I bent the prop shaft. One new lower unit later, I learned my lesson. Get the prop shaft checked to make sure it's not bent. If it is bent and you keep driving the boat, it could eventually tear up your lower unit (gears, case, etc.). You probably didn't damage it at 5 mph, especially if you have an aluminum prop, but get it checked anyway. It's worth the $50.

I am going to buy my first trolling motor today. It's a Minn Kota Endura 50, transom mount. I am going to mount it on the bow of my restored 15-foot tri-hull. I know I have to make a seat for it to mount on the front, but I have two questions. 1. It's a 36-inch shaft and my boat sits pretty low in the water, but it looks like I may need to slide the shaft down a little just in case. Is it possible to slide the shaft in the transom mounting bracket or is it fixed? If that doesn't make sense, I want to make the length of shaft between the mounting bracket and the tiller a few inches shorter. 2. How do I flip the actual motor around so that the tiller handle and prop are both facing aft? Day one questions, I know, but I've never had a trolling motor. I figured I better get one because rumbling up on the fish in my 85hp 2 stroke didn't seem to be the best way to catch fish. Thanks

I am restoring an old 15-foot fiberglass trihull and I want to mount a trolling motor on the bow. I am probably going to get a transom mount motor to do this because a really nice foot controlled motor would probably be worth more than the boat. The bow of the boat is to thick to get the transom mount bracket to fit the way that it would if it were mounted on the transom. What are some creative ways that you guys have mounted this type of motor to the bow of a boat?

I have a 1990 85hp Suzuki outboard and I recently got what looks to be a stress crack in the lower unit gear housing. The crack is right where the prop meets the housing and is about an inch long. There are two hairline cracks that branch off from the main crack. What causes a crack in the gear housing and how do I fix it?

In Northern California, it can get darn cold in the winter, but water temps stay around 50 degrees. It gets tougher in the winter, but we can fish all year. You just have to slow down when it's cold.

At my home lake in California, water temps are 50 to 52. The water has been clear to stained. Most of the bass are holding in 25 to 40 feet of water, which can make it tough. Most guys like to drop shot worms or throw heavy jigs and pigs. When the water is clear and the skies are overcast, the ripbait bite can be very good. I use the Luck Craft Staysee deep suspending rip bait. It suspends at 8 to 10 feet and the bass come up to get it. When we get a north wind and high pressure, the bite shuts off. Mid February is better. The bass go into prespawn mode and start stacking up near ledges. That's when you can tear 'em up with a rip bait.

Fish it just like a worm.

I think the Senko changed the sport.

I like to match the trailer with either the dominant or the accent color of the skirt. For example, for a black skirt with purple accent strands, I'll use a purple trailer with black flakes or a black trailer with purple flakes. I think color is less important than action for a jig because I am usually using them in deep or off colored water. I'm really more concerned about water displacement rather than color. The less light penetration into the water, the less the bass can distinguish color anyway.