MikeA57

?Geez, it's like crickets in here. I was recently given a 103 when I moved to a subdivision with a 12 acre lake. There's several things I'd like to do with this boat, but the most important one is, how to keep rainwater from filling up the storage compartments in the raised middle section of it? Yes, I know the obvious solution would be to cover it with a tarp when not in use, or turn it upside down (not an option in my situation). But, is there a way that anyone has come up with to seal those compartment tops so the water doesn't get in it? I have thought about getting some rubber seal material and place it around the top of the compartment, and then adding a latch to the top to compress the rubber between the top and the compartment. Can anyone chime in and let me know if they think this will work? If I wanted to try that, what sort of material would be one to try? Thanks for your help.

Hmmm, don't know what I did but restoring to defaults fixed the problem. Thanks. Mike Oh, and after doing software support on a DOS program umpteen years ago, I should have thought of that. But then again, one would think that in this day and age, if the user set the background to Blue that the text color would change to some other color than white. Or give the user the choice to pick background AND text colors. That's what we had to do with the program I worked with. Don't let the user change the background color to something that is going to change text box colors to the same color as the background. Are you listening Humminbird??? Just a suggestion...

It's at 7.520 and the current version is 7.530. I'm going to try to contact HB Support and see if they have any possible solutions for this. Thanks guys! Mike

So I took my boat out today to see if I fixed the leaks that I discovered the last time I had it out and also to play with my Helix 5. I found a stick bed that I wanted to mark so made a waypoint on it and later on I decided I wanted to rename it to make more sense. When I went into Edit mode on the waypoint the text box that contains the name was a white box and the letters were white too!! So I had to guess which direction to move the cursor numerous times until I found the right letter, then go to the next letter and repeat the same insanity all over again. There is probably a very simple answer to this, but how to I get the letters to be seen in the text box? You can see in the background of the attached screenshot that I finally did get the name changed but it took about 5 minutes!!! THANKS!! Mike

That is a 1448 and it looks like Lowe. I'very got one so I'm familiar with it. Super stable boat. I also agree with the others that say go with 1 TM. 2 batteries instead of 4 and you can go up to about 70 lbs of thrust on 24V IIRC. Look on CL for a good used one if you can't afford new. I put a 45 lber on mine and it pulls it plenty fast enough and I haven't had any problems with the battery draining early. That's a,nice setup in that picture... Mike

How did your tournament turn out? I used to go there a lot but since the Jap Carp have gotten in there I've just not had the desire to go. I've been wondering if it's still any good.

You can also go up to the Hatchie River north of town. There are a number of places to put a boat in. Check it out first though to be sure if where you are putting in is navigable. Depending on water level it might be a problem. There are some offshoots on it that you can get in, and some of them can open up into some real nice pockets with fish in them. In the summer, keep an eye out over your head for snakes that might want to hitch a ride in your boat!!! https://www.localwaters.us/find-local-water/find-your-water/hatchie-river/hatchie-river-tennessee-maps/ Oh yeah, and there's some lakes that you can see right off of I40 between Memphis & Jackson that you can get to also.

I posted this in the NE forum first because we'll be leaving from there but after 4 days and 30+ views I got no replies. I thought I'd post it here and see if anyone cares to offer some suggestions. Hey guys, been awhile since I've been out on this forum since I just don't have as much time to fish as I'd like. Anyway, my family and I will be traveling to the Sulpher Creek area of Dale Hollow the 2nd week in June and we're renting a houseboat for the week. I plan on trying to do as much fishing as possible so I've got some questions about that but I've also got some questions about the houseboat as well. First, our plan is to take the houseboat out from the Sulpher Creek Marina and park it somewhere and make it our base of operations, but I'm wondering where might be some good places to park that thing. Specifically, what places should I avoid? We'll just be there throughout the week so I'm not TOO worried about setting up in the middle of Party Cove, but you never know, especially since I haven't been there in 50 years. On the fishing side of things, what about licenses? Do I buy a KY or TN license and does it allow me to fish in the other state, or do I have to purchase both if I wish to venture over into foreign waters? What are some tips for fishing up there during the 2nd week of June? Deep, shallow, creeks, main lake, humps, points, grass, submerged bridges, buildings, roadbeds, etc.? I'll mostly be fishing for bass (LM & SM) but I'll also have a passel of kids with me too, so I'd like to be able to put them on some bream, redear, shellcracker, etc... Thanks guys! Mike

Hey guys, been awhile since I've been out on this forum since I just don't have as much time to fish as I'd like. Anyway, my family and I will be traveling to the Sulpher Creek area of Dale Hollow the 2nd week in June and we're renting a houseboat for the week. I plan on trying to do as much fishing as possible so I've got some questions about that but I've also got some questions about the houseboat as well. First, our plan is to take the houseboat out from the Sulpher Creek Marina and park it somewhere and make it our base of operations, but I'm wondering where might be some good places to park that thing. Specifically, what places should I avoid? We'll just be there throughout the week so I'm not TOO worried about setting up in the middle of Party Cove, but you never know, especially since I haven't been there in 50 years. On the fishing side of things, what about licenses? Do I buy a KY or TN license and does it allow me to fish in the other state, or do I have to purchase both if I wish to venture over into foreign waters? What are some tips for fishing up there during the 2nd week of June? Deep, shallow, creeks, main lake humps and points, grass, submerged bridges, buildings, roadbeds, etc.? I'll mostly be fishing for bass (LM & SM) but I'll also have a passel of kids with me too, so I'd like to be able to put them on some bream, redear, shellcracker, etc... Thanks guys! Mike

Found this in the specs listing: Pressure-treated floor & decks w/limited lifetime warranty Is this normal for these type boats? I thought they had moved away from having any wood in the boat? Or am I thinking of just in the fiberglass models?

Just curious about using plywood for the back floor... What thickness are you going with and how much will it weigh with the plywood compared to if you had used aluminum? Was it cost or availability that stopped you from using aluminum? That thing looks great!! Congrats!!

Fixed the G3 HP error. I'll try to get War Eagle in there as well. I know that Sea Ark and Xpress both have 21' versions of their boats, but I didn't put them in there. Worried a little about how big this thing will get if I try to put everything in there.

Most spec sheets on the boats I listed don't show livewell capacity. Wish they did as that is an important consideration. I would also have liked to put the max rod length in the rod box but that wasn't available in the spec lists either. I'll try to add them and repost the list.

No I'm not trolling. No, no one is forcing me to buy them. It's just that $20, (or $25, $30, or more) to pay for a lure just seems crazy to me. The fact that others buy them just encourages these manufacturers to continue this bad behavior. If you don't feed the bear he will move on down the road. (Or just eat you...) I figured this was going to invite some remarks but that's OK. I guess it's just that I look at a $20 bill in my hand and figure that I've got better things I can do with it than lose it at the bottom of a lake. Now, the rant is over...

$20 for a crankbait???? You gotta be KIDDING ME!!!! This trend where baits keep getting more and more expensive is just pricing real people out of the market to fish. Yeah, it looks nice; REAL nice but all this flashy marketing, videos and pro's "adding" their names to products which jacks the price up so they can get "their cut" is just stupid. But then, in my mind paying $20 for a single bait is just stupid too. I think I'm just gonna quit bass fishing and go back to crickets and a bobber under a nice shade tree...

Hey guys, I know that there's a lot of interest on this site about aluminum bass boats (ABB) that all the major manufacturers seem to be coming out with and I'm interested too. I don't have the money right now but I will so I thought I'd put together a little chart that listed the most common ABBs and their specs so it could be viewed and kind of see everything in one place. I hope someone finds this useful if you are in the market for an ABB. I started to inlcude a base price for them but the first one I went to get the price for listed the boat separately from the motor, trolling motor, trailer, etc. Others seem to have a packaged deal that included all of that then you could add additional options. EDIT: I updated the comparison page adding deadrise, livewell capacities, max rod length and storage length where I could find it. Thanks for the suggestions!! Mike

I've not had very good luck with my Curado's. First one I had the door to the magnets wouldn't latch right after a few months. Don't get to fish much so by the time I realized and returned it to BPS they didn't want to take it back and give me another. They did though and now I'm having the same problem with the 2nd one! It's way too late now though to take it back. I like the reel other than that though.

Went by WalMart this evening and picked up a few things for the tackle box. I got some Senko style baits, a few of their $1 buzz baits, some flukes, spool of 12 lb Big Game line, some lizards and some hooks. Brought it all home to integrate into an already bulging tackle bag and I remembered that I had meant to look for a new box to store my hooks in. The one I've got has too few compartments and is just too small. I did a search on the topic of hook storage and followed a few links. (Some of them leading to here.) In my search though I ran across this box and I think it would be dandy for storing hooks. Problem is, Each compartment opens up individually. I've never seen one exactly like this anywhere. Does anyone know where I might find these? If I can't find them, I may just get one of the double sided boxes that WalMart sells. http://www.walmart.com/ip/Plano-Medium-Double-Sided-Organizer/16351085?action=product_interest&action_type=title&placement_id=WM_Home_IRS_Spot_1&strategy=PWVAV&visitor_id=82756402367&client_guid=d1bd319c-2b55-4491-b72f-5ad5fbad2f09&config_id=6&parent_item_id=16351085%2C33956368%2C20628109%2C31906376&guid=29762f93-8bd9-4470-947f-75a2f1f5f794&bucket_id=irsbucketdefault&findingMethod=p13n

When I was 7 years old (back around 1965) we had gone camping on the shore of Dale Hollow Lake and I hooked into a 3+ lb smallmouth. Got 'er in and my Dad said that we'd get it mounted since it was such a nice one. We put it in the basket and overnight it somehow escaped (basket had a spring top on it so we figure that there was some hanky panky going on, not the fish just escaping). I've wondered over the years whether it was an inside job once he realized how much it was going to cost to get that fish mounted. Sure wish we could have though... On a more recent note I went fishing at Pickwick a couple of weeks ago with my fireman buddy who is either at the firehouse or the lake and he caught this one about 10 minutes after I got out there with him. He'd been fishing all day, I didn't get there until late in the evening and we were going out the next morning. It wasn't a trophy but it was a nice, pretty smallmouth.

BassCody's thread on what Monofilament to use lead me on a quest. I had replied over there that a buddy of mine uses 12 lb Trilene Big Game almost exclusively and after posting that I did a search on that line to see what types/colors they make. I found the regular TBG, but I also found that they have Trilene Big Game Leader. I was surprised because when I looked at the strength of it (on the Walmart site http://www.walmart.com/ip/Berkley-Trilene-Big-Game-Fishing-Line-110-yd-Leader-Coil/21578470?action=product_interest&action_type=image&placement_id=irs_top&strategy=PWVUB&visitor_id=74899615187&category=0%3A4125%3A546956%3A111667%3A1079504%3A1079524&client_guid=ecd81f6a-e98e-4173-8a70-981f5fce655b&config_id=2&parent_item_id=16880447&guid=2bca8aa4-a66a-4474-bc5f-701df78e9237&bucket_id=irsbucketdefault&findingMethod=p13n) I found that they offer from 100 lb test up to 400 lb test. Does anyone use leader line that heavy for anything??? When I use a leader (which is rare unless I'm fishing with braid or I'm Carolina rigging) it's always the same or a little lighter than the main line. If I went heavier it would be because I didn't have anything else on hand. So, what are the guidelines for leader lines? What do you use in what situations and why? Is leader line specially formulated or what? What's the big deal about leader line vs regular line as leader line? Thanks, Mike

Nope, no braid and yes, drag was the first thing that I checked. I think the core issue is my son (16), and maybe his buddies, using it.

I've got a buddy that's fished tournaments for 40 years (and some big ones too) and he has 12 lb Big Game on almost all of his reels. He's got a few with braid/fluoro, but primarily it's all TBG.

I've got the above mentioned reel and it stopped taking up line. The handle turns but no line is put on the spool. I took it apart to see if I could determine the cause. I got the handle off and started diving down into it and I noticed a very small pin and an EXTREMELY small spring popped out. I found both of them the first time they fell out but the second time I lost the spring. I found an exploded parts view and it states that those parts are the Click Pin and Click Spring. I presume this is what makes the reel "click" when the switch is engaged. I ordered a replacement online but it is backordered until October of this year. My question is, do I need this spring? I never set the reel to click anyway (anti reverse??) so I'm wondering if I need it. Thanks! Mike

Being new to the sport (from what I gather from the other replies) I think a spinning rig would be best. You don't have to worry about learning how not to backlash with it as compared to a baitcaster. Start out with a medium rod, fast tip no less that 6' 6" and don't skimp too lightly on a reel. I asked for suggestions for a spinning reel here a few weeks ago and everyone suggested the Pflueger President which costs around $60. I love it (I got the 6935 model.) Also, don't discount a rod from a yard sale. You never know what you might find, but go early. Fishing stuff usually sells at first light!

Yeah, I guess I took things a little too literal. I guess the fishing reel police won't come out and arrest me for having 14 lb line on a reel that the mfr says is rated for 12 lb!! And like I said I planned on putting braid on it anyway. I may swing by BP this week and check out a 40. I'm sure they've got one on display. Then I can make a more informed decision. My next question is, do I need to put some kind of backing on the reel of mono or fluorucarbon before putting the braid on? This will be my 1st experience with braid so I need some schooling on it. If so, how much of what type? Thanks guys! Mike