Sun Fish

Officer, I was casting at that big pickerel over there! Didn't even know that was a bed!

As soon as the ice is off the water. Don't see any reason to wait other than inability to dress warm.

I have a 1995 Nitro 180 FS w/ a Mercury Tracker 115 two stroke and my tachometer is not working. I was troubleshooting it yesterday and was getting 12v at the guage(purple and black) but only .3v from the pulse (grey wire) which I know I should be getting 5v at. The guage zeros out when I turn the ignition but doesn't move at all once the motors running. I installed a brand new guage and got the same results so I ruled out that the tachometer itself is not the problem. When I put my meter on the cranking battery with the motor running I was getting very sporadic readings from 13v-18v which I'm not sure is normal as when you put a meter on a running car battery it's usually a steady reading indicating the alternator is working. The motor is not running smooth as it should right now because the carbs still have some fogging oil in them so not sure if that may be why the reading weres so sporadic. I'm not sure what next step I should be taking in figuring out this problem any help would be greatly appreciated.

Very nice, what water temps are you guys fishing?

I rarely fish for trout but I'm starting to take a liking to it while I'm struggleing to hook into another bass this season while the water is still cold. Caught a new trout PB today this guy was a CHUNK!

I'm also learning a new Humminbird unit, the 598ci SI. I was told and found true that Switchfire is not recommended for water less than 10' as it will show a lot of surface clutter and not be as useful as clear mode in shallow water. However when your in deeper water with switchfire on you can truly see your bait on screen when it's in the transducer cone which is really cool.

The bite is definately tough in PA. I got one on the 13th when the water his 42 after that 4 day warm stretch of 50's but since the temperature went back down and the water dropped to 36-39 no bass. However I was out this weekend, got skunked on Saturday but noticed trout breaking water Sunday evening at 6. I threw on an inline spinner and was nailing the trout as well as a nice pickerel that was lurking nearby. I'm thinking after this comming weekend the water will get back in the 40's and the bass bite will start to turn on again.

Sick rig there! I hope one day when I feel I can hang with the big boys in the tournament scene I can get myself something similar. Get him hooked on bass fishing and tournament fishing young and maybe the fund can legitimately be both

Who hosts the tournaments on Wallenpaupack? I was looking online for info on tournaments there and couldn't find much.

Ya but today was steady 18mph w/ very regular 30mph gusts big rollers and whitecaps. I am there a lot. It's a tough lake but can be very rewarding at times I do think I've seen a white Triton out there before. I was in a brown hydra sport most of last season now I'm in a green Nitro.

Yes it is, I live 10 minutes from it. I was out there for a short time today man was the windy nasty and the water crazy choppy.

If it's windy and the waters moving go with a heavier weight to maintain bottom contact and to get down there faster. Watching your line is a must, when the line goes slack after your cast you've hit bottom. I usually just lift my rod a bit every now and then or drag the bait along the bottom. For a jig I like to add in a double pump lift. If your lines slack all of a sudden picks up or you see your line move to the left, right or outward you most likly have a fish on even if you didnt feel the bite so set the hook. Hook sets are free

Caught this guy March 13th in NEPA. No reason not to be out there so long as you can dress properly to stay warm

Very nice boat TrapperJ, I was strongly considering buying one of those but decided to go with another used glass boat instead. I hope she treats ya well and catches ya a plenty. Please let me know your opinion on it's stability when fishing, especially with a partner on the back deck. Awee common guys, I've been out 4 times already here in the North East PA and plan to go out on my day off tomorrow, Thurs/Fri before work Saturday/Sunday after work with the long range looking even more promising for warmer weather Don't travel far if a small electric only lake is an option for you, the fish are still biting in the cold, just takes time, patience and most importantly dressing like your going skiing.

I also originally wanted a new Tracker Pro Team 175 last summer but ended up going used and very glad I did. You can get a much nicer boat for half the price of a new tracker. Even after buying a new tracker your going to immediately want to upgrade the trolling motor and fish finders which can cost an additional $3000 or more depending what you want. I purchased a 1995 18' Nitro glass boat over the summer with a 115 Merc on the back for $4500. I spent an additional $2000 on upgrading it's electronics and TM and now have a awesome bass boat Just make sure you have a mechanic check any used boat out before buying it.

First and foremost I'd go look at both of the boats before making the decision. I'm not the best person to ask but in my opinion I would go with the second boat if they are both in relativly similar good condition and the outboards check out alright. The first boat you are absolutely going to be wanting to upgrade the electronics which will bring you over the cost of the 2nd boat. The second boat being tournament ready w/ the HDS-8 & 5 w/ Structure scan you'll be set with great electronics and probably not a desire to upgrade for quite awhile. I bought a 95 Nitro w/ crappy old original electronics and trolling motor for 4.5K. The cost of upgrading the TM and electronics up to my standard for what I could afford with a MK 70lb Maxxum and two Humminbird 500 series SI units were nearly half the price of the boat.

Most all of them are scams. They will reply with some story an an excuse why you can't go see the boat in person but they will guarantee a refund if you send the money via some way. Don't bother, I've e-mails tons of them and received the same scam replies every time.

It depends on how heavy the boat/trailer are.

That website is not legit. I'd delete this thread mods.

I highly doubt you'll hit 50mph w/ a 20ft glass boat and a 80hp outboard. I would guess about 40-45 is more realistic if it's set up right and running perfect but that may even be pushing it. But do you really want to spend 3-5K + weeks of labor on restoreing a really old boat or take that money and drop the labor all together for something like this.

It really all depends what your looking to spend and what you want. Down Imaging works fine in shallow water but as Wayne said you will not cover much bottom in shallow water due to the nature of the cone. If you have enough for a lower end Side Imaging/Down Imaging/GPS unit I would go for that in a heart beat, you can find one for around $700. I assume you plan on mounting it on the bow. If so I think it's a nice benefit to be able to see under your TM as well as under the back of the boat from your console unit all at once.

I'm not sure but that outboard looks like a Mercury Tower of Power from somewhere between the mid 70's-early 80's. If the motor is in decent shape and can be repaired I would go for it, why not it's free and a nice project for you to turn into what you want. If your going to have to repower it, I'm not so sure it's worth the drive. If your willing to spend 5K or more on fixing it you might want to just say forget it and look for a nice used glass boat. I just recently purchased a 1995 18' Nitro w/ a 115hp in GREAT shape for $4,500.

I wouldn't be to worried about hitting clay or a stump at trolling motor speed, you should be fine. However you may lose some performance due to the nicks in the prop or if a blade got bent. It's the rocks that you really have to worry about.

What did he do to repair the holes? I'll probably be needing to do the same myself when I swap out my graph this spring. I was thinking just fiberglass resin or patch from the inside. Well best case scenario the holes line up with the new transducer mount and I can just reuse them.

I just ordered a new one myself for the bow and plan on ordering a 2nd for the console by spring. I haven't used it yet just did a lot of research on the technology. I find it's the biggest bang for the buck with close to all the features and technology of the really expensive units. http://store.humminb...8ci_HD_SI_Combo MSRP is $899 found it for $763 http://www.imarineus...ideimaging.aspx You can afford two of these for just about the price it would cost to get a unit with a bigger screen to spin around on the RAM mount. If you don't care about side imaging if you wait until they're released in February Lowrance is releaseing the Elite 7 series which have 7" screens. The one with Sonar/DI/GPS is $699.