iabass8

42# Fluoro on everything

Do you think a sponsoship automatically equates to free rods? Spoiler alert, it doesn't.

No

It's been said 10k times and will be said 10k more. Take the boat to a certified mechanic and have them inspect the motor AND Lower unit top to bottom. (compression, leak down, spark, voltage, etc) That's really it. You're spending 10-25k on a boat...don't cheap out on a 100-200$ inspection if you aren't capable yourself. If it checks out, take it on the water and drive it for an hour. Hull inspection is easy. Just check for damage, leaks, cracks (make sure transom isn't cracked or cracking) and make sure everything works. If it checks out, you're good. Motor is your biggest expense.

You're going to need to post a video or the sound or describe it better. "A weird noise" can mean a thousand different things. As much as you don't think it was what was suggested or want it to be anything besides a battery, it sounds like it is something aside from the battery. (hard to say without hearing it) A weak battery will more times than not just sound sluggish. I can't recall every hearing a bad battery create a high pitch squeal or whine. I have heard a high pitch squeal / whine before and the person drove on it and the motor seized. However, like the post above said, you should make sure nothing is making the motor bind. It doesn't matter if it ran okay last time you were out or 500 times prior. It could be anything from the drive shaft bearing to a magnet in the flywheel to a lost cylinder. However, 12 v or lower than 12v is a dead battery. Hope it's just a battery for you.

Get the biggest boat you can afford. Dont settle on small storage and a larger motor. I would persinally rather run a 115 with 8' rod lockers and lots of tackle storage than a 150 with rod lockers that can only fit 7' rods. Theres plenty of guys around here on the river that run the tx175 and are fine. The 190 will be more than adequate and you can get some awesome electronics with that 5k. Look into the merc extended warranty as well. They come new with a 3 year full warranty and you can get an additional 5 years if platinium (mechanical+electrical is platinum . Gold only covers mechanical) . Not sure what the price in your motor would be but the 150 4 stroke is 1340.00+ tax through merc. No brainer for me. You can probably find it cheaper through other dealers. the only time i can see a larger motor being advantageous (over 115) is on the mississippi when we launch at the top of the pool at its almost always a 20 mile race to the lower 1/3 rd of the pool. I dont know how fast a tx190 /w a 115 would run but i would guess 45(ish) . Youll be fine. Get a power pole with that tin and youll be golden. Upgrade to a 24v trolling motor and get a 3 banker charger, too. Theres your 5k

The Z-6's rod lockers are too short for my liking. I believe they only fit rods up to 7'. If you're spending that kind of money on a boat, get one that fits all your rods in the locker and don't settle. If your budget is 35k, look at the Z18. I just sold my old ranger for a 2016 Z18 /w 150 4 stroke.

I fish a lot of river pads. Get in the them and start punching when the sun gets high. Current is your best friend. Look for any vegetation that has a mixture and some current.

Boat and fishing shows over the winter are your best bet to find the boat you want. Over here on the eastern part of the state on the Mississippi we have ALOT of dealers and ALOT of dealers that sell tin Lowe/Alumacraft boats. That is the most popular brand name for the tin boat walleye fisherman in the area. Start looking east from Des Moines and start in Iowa Falls, Cedar falls, Waterloo, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Davenport, Dubuque, Burlington, Cabelas in Prarie Du Chien has the Ranger RT188, and so forth. There's more boat dealers in those cities than you could need. I prefer glass over tin but would choose the RT188 over the Z6 for the longer rod locker. I had an older glass ranger that had 7'1 rod lockers and wanted bigger every day. I do like Nitros though. My new boats the 2016 Z18 150 4 Stroke. The Mississippi gets a lot of pleasure boaters all up and down the river and glass makes it effortless and my body isn't sore going 20 miles up river to the weigh in through barge and yacht wake. large tin boats do okay but the smaller ones can get beat up if you're out in heavy river traffic. Central Iowa lakes shouldn't be a concern for you though. I've seen the 2015 red RT188 on the water. It's a sharp looking boat and if I was on your budget that would be the boat I would get and I would feel comfortable in any body of water (aside from the great lakes) with it. Your only enemy in a tin is wind. Wind throws tin boats around and glass is easier to use in wind. I do not know if that's true for the RT188. I've never fished in one. Only seen them.

If you're not handy or mechanically inclined, I would personally go brand new if you're financials allow it just for the sake of a motor warranty and the ability to purchase up to 5-6 years extra for an extended warranty that isn't very expensive. Peace of mind for me. Deals can he found though and a well maintained motor can last your a lifetime as long as it was maintained properly. If you do go used, 100% make sure you get a certified mechanic check out the motor from top to bottom. I don't understand why people won't want to pay 100-200$ for a mechanic to thoroughly check out a motor but want to spend thousands on the boat itself. I'm on the side of the fence that would rather save and get exactly what I wanted rather than settling. If you settle you're always going to want something else anyway and will likely get it down the road at some point. You just need to evaluate the bodies of water you are fishing or will fish and get the appropriate boat for that. At 18k your choices for new are pretty limited but I think you can get a new ranger rt188 for around that. Trackers can be found for around that price as well. Every boat manufacturer has their own website. Look through the brand you are interested in and then look for them at dealers that are in driving distance. Good luck in your search. New boat shopping is fun.

No problem bud. PM me if you need the manual.

I used to have a 175 FastStrike as well. Great motor. If you don't have the 300+ page service manual for your motor, I'd recommend spending the 8$ for the PDF and printing it out. Saves you a lot of headaches. I think I still have mine but it was for a 1991. Might be the same manual. If it is, let me know and I'll just e-mail you mine. I've got a 2016 merc 150 4 stroke now so I don't need mine.

5 confirmed. 1 person hasn't paid but I know he's good for it. Just need at least 3 more. I'm sure we will get it.

Still need more people. Training camp starts soon!

I always thought the housing that the impeller goes in is considered the pump and the impeller is the star that is bent to put in that. Learn something new every day. I can't imagine a mechanic not letting you watch. It might take an hour tops

Muffs supply efficient water for the motor to run out of water but don't EVER rev the engine on muffs. It doesn't supply enough to cool at higher than idle RPMs. If you're impeller hasn't been replaced in 6 years then your water pump probably hasn't been replaced since then either. They should be done in pairs. Replace both the impeller and pump every 2 years for piece of mind. If you can drop the LU yourself the pump/impeller/gasket may run you roughly $70 (ish) and is a very simple repair. Marina mechanic cost will be 200$+.

st croixs MF is kind of in between the champ 733/734 in terms of power. Action wise they are pretty similar.

You need your reel cleaned and relubed. You also need to buy a new cast control knob or you wont cast efficiently. A "faulty bearing clip" doesn't cause that To fall off. The caps are threaded on and the only way for them to come off is if you remove them by backing them off too far. Go to YouTube and look up videos on how to clean your real or send it into the site sponsor here Delaware Valley tackle

Ishs phat frog live target spro poppin

Despite the guy in the fleamarket trying to sell his for 300 brand-new, 120 is not a super deal but its good. These were clearance for $100 I want to say five or six years ago. They go for around 150 on average right now

Change every 100 hours or at the end of year before you winterize, whichever comes first. I change mine twice a year. Once mid summer and then again when i winterize my boat for storage. If 100 hours came one month before winter storage time, I would still change it again right before I winterize it.

Awesome game. Glad james got a ring in cle

You savage. Well played

I believe the Sears Diehad 31AGM that is highly talked about has been discontinued. There's an equivalent to it now in another brand or it's been rebraded but I don't recall the name. Since going to a size 31 AGM 800/1000/205 cranking battery, I don't think I'll ever go back as everything on my boat is run off that battery except the TM. Never had an issue. For TM batteries, I use the size 29 EverStart MAXX from Walmart. The main reason being I go /w 100$ trolling motor batteries over a quality AGM like my cranking battery is there's a walmart almost everywhere and if I ever need to replace them traveling away from home I can walk in and swap them out in less than 15 minutes and be back out. I make sure they both have the same date on the sticker and replace them in pairs.

totally agree. The one that comes on the ones I've looked at was a decent 2 bank NOCO but I'm coming from 3 bank DualPro PRO on my old Ranger and will most likely never stray. Really awesome charger that's worth it's price tag.