BassnChris

My wife want to go EVERYTIME I go fishing. In my previous life back in the day I just fished with my buddy and wife (different wife) never wanted to go. I miss fishing with a buddy................my wife and 9 yr oid son always wants to go with me. When they are with me I feel like I have to 'worry', for lack of a better word, about them more than I do when fishing with a buddy. Hard to explain or put into words. Oh well. I have heard from many guys that they wished their wives like to fish with them. On top of all that.....when I want to buy something fishing related, I have to buy 3. One for me, one for my wife and one for my son. Gets kind of expensive. It is nice not to have to find a buddy everytime I want to fish.............but I do long at times for the days of yesteryear when it was just me and my buddy.

NADA is your friend. http://www.nadaguides.com/Boats

I just upgraded my finders this winter. I ended up going with Lowrance HDS 7 touch for the console and an HDS 10 Gen 1 for the bow. It was alot of dough and I am still recuperating from the expense. Here is why I did it. The HDS 7 touch came with the structure scan built in and the transducers too. So, anything HDS after that could be networked and use the structure scan component and transducer of the HDS 7 touch unit. Then I stumbled onto the HDS 10 Gen 1 at Bass Pro the day they marked them down for clearance to $999. Originally I had a Humminbird 597 ci HD DI that I bought last spring. I was going to add another one at the bow. Then I thought about the networking part. So I had almost decided on the Humminbird 798 I think (because they are networkable). But I would have to have a Humminbird hub/switch and cables to get them to network. Then I explored the structure scan of Lowrance a little more and decided on Lowrance. I was going the most economical route and start with an HDS 5......but then needed to add structure scan. I lucked out and had some unforseen bonus income from fantasy football winnings and a couple of other (legal) sources and decided to splurge this one time and bough the HDS 7 touch online with structure scan and then stumbled onto the HDS 10 Gen 1 while visiting the local BP to play with the HDS 5 Gen 2. If I were you I would buy the most I could afford without putting a bind on my financial situation. Just try to think about where you want to be in the future as far as your electronics go. Maybe spend a little more and buy just one of the better units and get by with it and one of your old units until later when you can afford to buy another better unit. My experience has taught me to get what I want or I will not be happy in the long run. Sometimes I have to wait a bit longer to get what I want. Some things I can cut corners on and be happy and others I can not. Sorry to say you kind of have to make those decisions on your own. Good luck

Congrats.....................now the fun really starts! Forgot where n OK you are exactly.........have to give me a shout sometime and maybe we can go fishing.

I would listen closely to what Wayne has to say.....he knows his stuff.

Personally I would prefer the larger screen at the bow..........because it is farther away from my eyes than when I am sitting at the console. But that's because I have old eyes.

Always enjoy looking and admiring a classic...........maybe because I have become a classic!

Finally made the modification to removable seats. Went from bench seat to 3 seperate folding seats. We'll see how we like them pretty soon I think. Now the third fisherman can move around a little easier on a level deck area with a step vs. walking on seat cushion. Still kind of tight for the two rear fisherman.........but wife still insists on going fishing with me and not letting me have a guys thing. Oh we'll could be worse. At least that's what they say! Before Removed bench seat Added level deck area Added carpet Added grommets One chair in 3 chairs in

Yep. Welcome aboard.....lots of info and friendly helpful folks......even the ones not from OK! ;-)

Welcome. There is a lot of info here and everyone is giving in their knowledge.

I think I would keep the one you have here. But that's just me.

Sunfish is right on with look at them both and the electronics costing a lot. I bought my boat last year and this is what I learned......as far as for me......not you......you have to decide on your own. Don't limit yourself to two boats. Keep looking until you find the one that.....well floats your boat. Don't gt in a hurry and fall victim to the fever. There are a lot of boats out there and there will always be more. For me, if I had it to do over.........the finish on the boat would be one of the more important aspects....after the condition of the motor. Motor condition is first and paramount. Then the condition of the clear coat and overall contrition of the finish. The carpet, electronics,and everything else I can repair/replace on my own in my own sweet time. The engine repair/replacement is very expensive. The finish repair is very expensive......unless you are a good fiberglass man. The electronics can be expensive.......but you get what YOU want when you buy them, not what the last guy wanted. same with the trolling motor. I settled when I bought my boat......the finish is not very good at all. I have paid someone and it is better but not what I want. I added new electronics and a trolling motor this winter.....very expensive but they were what I wanted. The engine is good....knock on wood. Also, I would not ever buy a boat with dual console again.....you lose too much deck real estate. Now with all that said, understand I love my boat and I am very happy with it. I managed to move my storm saferoom out of garage and into backyard so I could put my boat in the garage while my truck sits out in the weather. I love my boat! Take all that with a grain of salt and take your time and wait for the right boat......do not succumb to the fever. Easier said than done, I know. Dang that boat gorilla.

Had wife buy new plugs last Friday .........just figured I needed to do that especially since I just bought the boat last year and do not know the history. Replaced the fuel filter today..........the longer opaque tube thing in this pic... Noticed I had hard priming bulb after just 1 or 2 squeezes and no fuel in the filter. Do I need to do something special after replacing the fuel filter? Disconnect the fuel build to sort of 'burp' it? And rdollar......I know.....just had to say it....;-)

This is what I was thinking. Bite Your tongue! not a portable tank...so that is not an issue. Plugs were all I could figure.........had the wife pick them up for me on Friday in anticipation.

I have not had a rodent problem.....I used the bounce sheets in all of the compartments this year. What I am going to do next year is fashion some type of shield at the jack wheel and on the jack stands I use to put the boat on for winter. Something like the anti-squirrel devices they use for bird feeders but bigger. I will post up some pics next fall when I do it.

If I went fishin' on my lunch hour I would get fired! Because I would not make it back to work until way after dark. ;-) Have fun and let us know what works.

Winterized 2001 Mercury 150 XR6 motor and boat by added stabil to fuel, fogged engine, then draining fuel tank, topped of oil tank and greased trailer bearings, tilt motor down and covered with cover and tarp and removed batteries. Sat outside 2 months then got it back in warm garage. Put batteries back in.....they have been kept charged. Today added startron in the amount indicated and went down and put in 10 gal of 100% gas....no ethanol. Got home and primed bulb , primed with key and started engine. Smoked like heck.....normal result from fogging. Got good stream of water and ran for about 2 minutes sputtered and died. Reprimed with key and fired up again......ran for 30-40 seconds with rpms running up and down by itself then died again. Could be starving for fuel but thinking it might be fouled plugs......will change them out tomorrow and see if that helps. Wondering......did I forget something before starting......did not seem like it?

That is what it looked like to me........that it was putting the energy into the boat vs the trailer. I believe I will continue to use the transom saver.

I am in no way a fiberglass repair guy. I was going to do some of these things to my boat as well. Finally my smarter brain talked me into hiring someone to do it for me. I lucked out and found some very close ( in my neighborhood) on craigslist with fiberglass repair experience and references and hired him at an extremely good price. That being said, there are a lot of how to's and videos on the Internet and YouTube inparticular that go over how to repair fiberglass. Be very careful and proceed with EXTREME caution if you decide to do repairs yourself. It might pay off to buy a junk fiberglass something or other and practice on that before going on to your boat? Good luck.

It was my wife's turn to host her bunco party.......so my son and I grabbed a Ron's chili burger and the off to our Bass Pro. I laughed out loud at the bait monkey and advised him I would absolutely not buy any bait or tackle. This fine and glorious evening! Then while I was not looking, his brother or cousin, the boat monkey sneaked up on me and made me buy a dang boat seat. That dag gum bait monkey was laughing at me all the home! Guess I can always blame my wife and her bunco gang of gals.

It appears to me that the locknstow performs about the same function as a transom saver. Is that right? Is one better than the other? Thinkin' about the long trip to Pickwick and back......plus Just curious.

Thanks.............that was very interesting......and helpful.

it is metal.........I'm open to modding it. I will have a better idea Saturday........I will have more time to in there and assess/look at it. this is what I think is in there (found this on another site) Bow to the left: Bow to the right:

Congrats pal. Looks like a very nice boat.........really nice boat.