burleytog

That makes sense. I fired up ye old Humminbird flasher this morning just for kicks. My FF (Humminbird PirahnaMax10 portable) x-ducer was on the other side of the boat. Got a ton of interference. Went from reading 18' to reading 370'. Shut off the flasher and back to normal. BTW, does anyone want or need an old Humminbird flasher? My only problem is that for every trip to a lake where I can use my OB, I'll make 4 or 5 trips to an electric only lake. Guess I'll have to start throwing the charger on the cranking battery every few trips.

That is a headscratcher. I was going to suggest zip-tying the x-ducer cable to the shaft, but then you're going to have a cable sticking out somewhere. Other than just doing that, I haven't a clue. :-X

cart7, I've got two props. Both are a bit chewed up. If I was running big lakes quite a bit, I might think about a SS prop, but since I'll be running WOT maybe once a month, I'll stick with the stock aluminum. FWIW, I dug out the spare prop today and looked it over. Found the specs on one of the blades. 11 1/8 x 16 Now I just need to install a tach so I know what the motor is running at WOT.

Had to put my (bigger) deep cycle battery in the boat today, so I took some time to look some things over. First, there are three things running off the cranking battery. One is the flasher, don't know what the other small wires go to, and then the outboard. Should it be that way? I would think the flasher/fishfinder should be running off the TM battery rather than the cranking battery. Second, I'm going to order a fishfinder this week. Should I run the new electrical wires, or can I just splice into the existing Humminbird flasher power wires? Third, when I install the fishfinder, should I put an inline fuse between the graph and the battery? If yes, what size would you recommend? I plan on using the existing transducer cable to pull the new cable through the boat. I can do the new wiring then as well, shouldn't be much of a problem, but if the existing wiring will handle the load, I'd rather just leave it there. Thanks...

They look exactly the same. I downloaded the emulators for both (well, the Lowrance X97 since they didn't have the X96 on the site) and they seem quite similar. After playing around with the emulators for a while, I really like the 320. Like the price too.

If you had to choose one, which would it be? I'm leaning towards the X96 just because of the name. But the price on the Fishmark320 is almost too good to pass up.

Was there a good connection between battery and motor? I've never noticed a drop-off in the performance of my motor when the battery is a little drained (down around 60% according to my charger). What are the numbers on the battery you bought?

Can I just use auto wax on a fiberglass boat?

75/25 sit/stand. But I've always either fished from the back of the boat or out of my jon.

If the motor ran for over an hour without stalling or overheating, you got your $ worth just in the outboard. JMHO ENJOY! Ronnie I told my dad the same thing. That motor is easily worth $2500 or $3000. A new 60 or 75 HP outboard will run you a good $7000 or so. I would be surprised if the motor has more than 40 or 50 hours on it. It is an 89 model and the original owner had it for a year or two and barely used it. The second owner fished it quite a bit for a couple of years, then just stopped fishing. The guy I bought it from fished it two or three times a year over the last 6 or 7 years. In fact, I was worried that the motor wouldn't start since it had been setting for so long. But it fired right up on the first try. Just need to get a service manual for it. I'll probably get a water pump rebuild kit while I'm at it. Had a good stream coming out at idle. LBH, this is my first big boat. I've been running a jon for a good while, but nothing like this. I've picked up on some things here and there on the net. For the most part, I will barely be running the outboard as the lake I fish most is electric only. The other lake I regularly run is no-wake lakewide. I have to drive an hour and a half to be able to open the motor up. Which I plan to do when I get off work next week. 8-)

I guess that would be a good place to start. ;D

My local WM stocks the Minn Kota Endura 36 lb. thrust transom mount for $199.

Anyone out there put these things to the test? I'm thinking about getting one as a space saver, plus I would be more inclined to wear it all of the time. Are they one time use only, or can they be reused after inflation?

I've got around 60 or 70 bags of plastics. Keep them in two smaller tackle bags, organized according to type and color (organization doesn't last long once I get on the water though). I have given thought to storing all of them in 3700 series boxes, but it is much easier to just keep them in their original packaging. Just takes up a whole lot more space.

Is there any way to determine the pitch on a prop? The 65 HP Suzuki on the boat I bought could use a new prop (been chewed up by rocks just a bit). Looking at Suzuki's website, they list an 11.5x16 as the standard on the long shaft DT65. I'm wondering if that is what is currently on it.

Took it out this afternoon. That Suzuki will flat out fly. Starts great, idles smooth. Boat rides really well and gets on plane quickly. Trolling motor works much better than I expected. Was on the water about an hour and a half, no leaks. Wood is solid. Bounced around on pretty much every bit of the wood platforms, detected no soft spots. So I went ahead and wrote the guy a check. 8-) Can't wait to fish it next week. Hope you guys are ready for the slew of questions that shall spew forth from me. I'm going from a 12' jon w/ a 30 lb Shakespeare trolling motor and an Evinrude 4.5 HP outboard to this beast.

Fishing the river at work back in the spring. Hang a Rocket Shad in a tree, water was up and I couldn't get to it. Broke the line and wrote the lure off to the tree gods. Two weeks later I'm fishing the same stretch. Standing on a house sized boulder about 10' above the river. See something along the edge of the boulder, there's my Rocket Shad. The tree I hung it in was a good 20 yards away. How it got there I'll never know.

I just check their tongue. If the tongue has a small dark tooth patch, it is a spotted bass.

Didn't catch one, but found one. Little island on my riverfront land. About two weeks after a flood. Was out cutting firewood, saw a stick that looked...different. Waded across to the island, found a nice Shimano rod with a junker Garcia spinning reel. Rod was still in pretty good shape. Used it for almost 10 years before snapping it in half at the beach.

.The owner is in his 70s, just doesn't have the get-up-and-go to take the boat out anymore. He's the third owner, hasn't even had it on the water this year. Late 80s Glasstream with a 65 HP Suzuki on it. We're taking it out Friday for a test drive. 15', which is a little shorter than I would have liked, but I guess I have to take what I can get. $2000 is a helluva lot easier to swallow than $12K for a new Bass Tracker. Here are some photos. As you can see, it is quite dusty. But it's been kept in the dry. Carpet is in good shape. The metal plate on the front deck is from where the owner (he's a hefty guy) fell through the floor. Decking wood is still solid though. Needs a few minor odds and ends (winch strap, bow stop), and there are a few wants (new pedestals, new TM, etc.). But for the most part, it is solid. Anyone know anything about the company? Or anything good or bad about the motor? Looking forward to owning my first bass boat.

$200 for the motor $80 for the biggest Group 29 deep cycle that Wal Mart has $60 for a Schumacher SpeedCharge smart charger $15 for a battery box (helps when moving battery) $400 should have you set.

Photos taken with a camera phone are only going to be marginally better than a cheap (<$50) digital. Most people just consider the number of MP's a camera has and do not pay enough attention to the glass. Like Fish Chris said, stick with Canon, Fuji, Nikon, and Olympus. IMO, in that order. My recommendations would include the Canon SD450, SD630, SD700, Powershot SD600, Nikon Coolpix S5, Olympus Stylus 700, Fuji FinePix A500, Finepix F30. Those are all flat point & shoots. If you want to step up to a SLR-similar digital without spending megabucks, the Fuji FinePix S5200 can't be beat. Canon Powershot S3 or S2 are also good choices in this category.

The NL wildcard race is going to be something else. Don't know who I want to take it though. I pretty much hate every team in the chase. Don't know if I want to see Cincy or Houston in the playoffs though.

I wondered when you'd show up. 8-)

I know BPS has a decent selection of instructional DVD's, but I find myself wondering if there are any others out there. I'm specifically looking for something to help me with jig and worm fishing. A google search turns up nothing but saltwater videos. I watch the fishing shows on ESPN2 and TODC and see the pros catching fish on anything and everything. I go out and try the baits on my local lakes and come up (usually) empty handed. Only this year have I really started fishing lakes. I spent almost 25 years fishing nothing but rivers and streams, using only two or three types of baits. Now I start trying to fish worms, spinnerbaits, jigs, etc. and I think I'm just going through the motions. Basically trying to find a way to jumpstart my fishing.