Ski213

If they are truly hairline then they are most likely just stress cracks in the gelcoat. If that's the case, at least from what I've seen, they are pretty normal and not anything to worry about. I have a 98 stratos and it has them in two or three places. One on a console where somebody over tightened a screw and one on each side of the gunwale behind the seats. If yours are above the rub rail and not at the transom I wouldn't sweat it much but thats just my opinion. Might be worth getting somebody who is reputable and familiar with glass boats to actually put eyes on it though. Be good for your piece of mind. Gelcoat is kind of to glass boats what a paint job is to a car. It's for looks but also to protect the fiberglass. If water can get into the actual glass it can create problems.

If you lock the motor you're negating the transom saver. Maybe you could take a ratchet strap from the lower unit around the trailer where the transom saver lands to hold in in tight to the transom saver so it won't bounce around. And welcome to the forum.

This is a little inefficient as far as catching fish but maybe pick a spot where you know there is a tree or brush or whatever there. Make a cast and retrieve slow enough to keep it above it. Then cast again. Get it a little deeper. A little at a time till you're ticking whatever is down there. Maybe that will help you gain that "feel". As Jiggin' said you're gonna get better with practice. That's a fact. Working into the cover slowly might reduce the cost of learning a little.

Have a CMC hydraulic plate. Last week the night before a tournament I was just going through checking everything out. When I hit the switch it went up to a point (about an inch from all the way up) and the motor started freewheeling. Plate stopped going up. Below that point it would go up and down fine. Day after the tournament I grabbed some oil and added a little. Didn't take much and then it would go all the way. Couldn't get the particular Allen wrench I had to the check plug so I waited till the next day to do that. When I went to move the plate it moved but it was real slow and jerky both up and down. Filled it on up to the proper level and its still doing it. It seems like as you mess with it it gets better but as soon as you let it sit its right back where it started. I went through the CMC troubleshooting stuff but this isn't quite any of the problems they describe. Anybody else run into this?

Ha! This brought back some kind of buried memory I have. I don't remember all the specifics, maybe I've subconsciously blocked it out. I attempted to make a jump from a boat to a courtesy dock. I don't remember why I had to jump but I evidently felt the need. I remember it being a good distance. My forward foot made the dock and it would have been successful leap except that that same foot slipped across the dock while the other leg went down in the water. I don't remember why or exactly how it all went but I sure do remember the impact.

A good friend of mine bought a 16' aluminum sea ark hull about 20 yrs ago. He/we put some decks, carpet, electronics, and a Yamaha tiller steer on it. He intended to "upgrade" to a glass boat once he got through college. He fishes that boat to this day and can out fish me any day of the week from it. He's done basically nothing to it but replace the decks and change the waterpump. Remember that no fish are caught at 70mph. Minus rough days and big water his boat performs just fine. If I were in your position I'd go the route he went.

^ take that multimeter you buy and make sure the pump is getting juice. You're probably right. If one was already down and now the other has followed its probably the pump. The meter is a quick way to eliminate the wiring though. That's the starting point. BOAT is absolutely spot on if you take it to a mechanic for everything but it can be break out another four hundred if you can do some stuff yourself. It's worth the pain to do it yourself with certain stuff. It will save you a ton in the long run. Remember that marine mechanics hate the bilge area just as much, and charge accordingly.

I agree with those who have said it has a lot to do with what the fish are used to, or at least used to in a certain area. If you're near a high activity area then some noise probably isn't a big deal. However if you've pulled the big motor up and had to lift the trolling motor to get to where few men have been before then its probably worth the effort to be ninja silent. I try to be reasonably quiet wherever and extra quiet in those places where very few people go.

I'd actually never heard the term dink before I got on this forum. Based on the replies its 10-12". I've called fish shorter than that a lot of things. Gotta respect them all though. She's gotta be 9" before she can be 24". I'll take a dink over being shutout any day of the week. I think I'm going to start calling them up and comers.

Geat catch! Congratulations. Id love for something like that to be one of my biggest bronze backs. My best smallmouth was half that weight.

These are some great memories! A lot of them bring back even more great memories for me. Funny, sad, good, and bad. Some several of those things at the same time. So cool to see a picture of a future fishing memory being made and hear about another picture that means so much. I probably shouldn't have said your best fishing memory. Too hard to pick just one. Especially when they involve people close to you. This fishing is sure about the fish and fight but it's just as much about the people you fish with. The more of these I read, the more I thought about my original fishing buddy. My grandad. I was lucky and got 31 years to spend with him. He started me fishing. He didn't live real close so I didn't get to fish with him as much as I would liked to have. I think about him all the time but especially when I'm fishing. He ended up getting dimentia at the end. That's a horrible thing. Luckily he wasn't in that state for a super long time. I remember talking to him and although there was a lot he didn't remember and he had trouble communicating at the very end, he talked about fishing at some point every time I talked to him. I remember wanting to extract him spec ops style and take him out fishing one more time. I should have done it. It's not a bad memory for me when it comes to him. It's a million good ones. Just tough sometimes. You always wish you had done more but thankful to have gotten so much. Keep em coming. I'm enjoying reading every one of them.

What's the fishing memory that always sticks with you? For me there are a thousand. But there's one that always comes up. Doesn't have to be the one that got away or the biggest one you've ever landed. Could be the day grandad sank the boat. Whatever. The one that is the most vividly burned in your memory. I've done a lot of different things but for me, for whatever reason, fishing memories stick with me. Mine is a one that got away deal. 24 ish years ago but i remember it like yesterday. It was mid summer. Farm pond fishing. It was a slow day. We were kids and we were frustrated with fishing that day. Walking on a farm road that separated two ponds. Heading out. I had a cpl rigs and a tackle box. I threw a Texas rigged tequila sunrise worm out with a zebco .38. I love my big fancy equipment now but in my mind there is still nothing that casts like that combo did back then. There was no me tricking her into taking it. I went to reel and she was on there. I set the hook and she jumped. I flipped out. I had it on for maybe 10 seconds. She came towards me then turned. On the second jump she snapped my 6# test mid air. I was crushed but that fish was it for me. Anytime I'm ready to give it up that memory keeps me from quitting. There is no feeling like it. She probably wasn't a new state record or anything but she was an absolute monster for a 14 yr old. That's what it's all about.

You're making the right call sticking with what you've got. If you were standing on your boat every time you fish thinking I've got to have a bigger boat then it would be different. If what you have is doing what you need it to do then no reason to take on more debt and headache. The bigger one may well be a great boat but its a machine and it doesn't get better with time. No matter how well maintained, they wear out. Things that you don't even think about. Hoses, pumps, wiring corrodes, things work loose. You will have those problems with the one you've got sooner or later but hopefully by then its paid for and it's not monthly boat payment plus getting nickel and dimed on the little stuff wearing out.

I think what will change is going to be based on what the reasoning was for purchasing by BPS. if its to eliminate other brands then there could easily be substantial changes. Most likely that's not the case though. What will realistically change is where the money ends up and that's it. This is not wal mart buying the local mom and pop convenience store (even though that was my intial reaction). It's big business trading money for technology and branding. At my heart I hate to see big business swallow up small companies but that's not what's happening here I don't think.

So I used to be on another forum for mx quads, I know or at least used to know a lot more about them than outboards. It's amazing how knowledge slips when you're not dealing with it day in and day out. One thing that always bothered me was when somebody had a problem and asked a question and a bunch of people tried to help and there was no final conclusion that any of us knew of. Just kind of left you wondering what ended up happening. Then I come here as a total newb and do the same thing. So my apologies for that. I got a lot of great advice on my problem here and it's fixed. Has been for awhile. All advice given here could have very easily been the problem,and in fact several mentioned fuel and one mentioned that the symptoms were a dead giveawway for a dead cylinder. It was a fuel issue, it was a dead cylinder In the hopes that someone else has the exact same unlikely issue and can benefit from this here's what it was. During the engine rebuild the carbs were either rebuilt or at least disassembled and cleaned. I guess during reassembly the problem arose. There's a clip that holds the needle valve on an assembly that is connected to the float. That clip ended up under, not on the assembly. That effectively pinned the needle valve shut, so the number two carb bowl never got full or even full enough to fire. Whatever fuel was forced past the needle by the fuel pump ended up forcing the needle even more closed. So five minute fix and she's been running pretty good. Still don't have it perfect but I guess you never do. Thanks again to everybody on here. This is as helpful a group as I have ever been a part of.

I've had good luck with a bright colored trick worm or a black lizard Texas rigged when they act like that. If I can see them reacting to the bait and they're curious, following, just grabbing but not taking, or whatever I switch to something like burning a rattle bait going for the reaction bite. I've also thrown everything I own fast, slow, bottom to top and been skunked. It's almost worse when you can actually see them rejecting you. At that point I just watch them do their thing. As was said before that can be a big time as well.

Thanks everyone for the replies. Air should be ok. Plugs basically brand new. Wires are fairly new. Spark is good at idle but I suppose there could be an issue under heavy load. Agreed. I'm not sure if e treatment can un phase gas once the water has settled out. I've run prob 80 gallons through since though. I would think it should be on good gas by now but who knows. Did not ever drain the tank. I forgot to mention that part. New fuel lines from tank to pump and new primer bulb. Did not replace all the lines from the pump to the carbs though. Need to give them a look. Hate ethanol. Can get e free gas one place close but its a tough place to get a boat into. It sure has the feel of a fuel issue. Vent is ok. I'm pretty confident in everything from the tank to the pump. Based on the plug check its getting fuel but maybe I need to run it wide open then shut it down and check before I idle it back in. I don't really trust the plug check anymore with all the fuel additives though. What if I had weak vacuum to the pump? I'm pretty ignorant on mechanical fuel pumps but I would think weak vacuum would equal low pump output. Pump output is 3psi assuming my gauge is correct. Not super weak but not quite as strong as it should be. I don't know if I can check vacuum since its a pulse type vacuum. I appreciate the feedback. Keep it coming! Gonna do some further poking around on it tomorrow.

Wanted to pick some brains. Chasing a problem on a '97 Johnson 225 venom. Current issue is that the engine will not exceed 5000 rpms unless I lift it to the point where I'm blowing out the prop. Engine runs smooth idle to 5k just won't get to where it should be. In the past this boat ran just shy of 75mph GPS @ about 5800 rpms with the same prop etc. In 2012 the number two cylinder went bye bye courtesy of a cooling, or lack thereof, issue that I'm told is pretty common with these. Power head was sleeved on number two, honed on the other five, and six new pistons installed. Work was done by a reputable mechanic and machinist. Boat was broken in as instructed (no long wide open runs, a lot of varying the throttle, doubled up on oil). After build this problem developed. It was run for about ten hours then sat for 8 months. I bought the boat knowing all this. So far it's gone like this: i put fuel on top of the old fuel with ethanol treatment and also premixed with oil at 50:1 just to give it a little more double oil. Took it out couldn't get over 5k rpm and sluggish out of the hole, mechanic checked it out. Good fire, good compression, timing right at idle but wot timing not checked, one cylinder not getting much fuel. That carb flushed and then it was running on all six. Had him make sure carbs were opening all the way up. Took it out, same result. I've seen a lot of engines that sat for awhile fixed by just running fuel through them, so that's what I did. Problem then became same overall issue with the addition of when coming out of the hole it surged off the bat then fell on its face (not died just big push then a lot less power). Once it would die as soon as you tried to move. My buddy leaned over to the primer bulb and squeezed as we took off. It was the one time it came up like it should. Even at 55mph it would surge every time he squeezed the primer. Back to the mechanic. Fuel pressure at the pump was low. Replaced vro with a non vro pump. No difference except lower idle rpm because its not running lean anymore, at least at jdle. Checked carb butterflies just cause I was bored one evening and they weren't opening all the way due to a linkage stop screw that had backed out and was hanging the linkage. Fixed that and thought I would be golden. Nope. Same issues except now that its getting fuel and the carbs are functioning properly its become noticeable that if you come up at 3/4 throttle and don't go to wide open the boat actually gets to its top speed faster than if you give it wide open throttle. Just hoping maybe somebody sees this and has had the same problem or someone has some thoughts on it. Sorry for the length but I'd rather give too much info than not enough.

Man I love the holding/clamping system, using whatever it takes. A ton of work but looking great! I've got just from the livewells back to finish what the previous owner started and I'm dreading it.

Thanks everybody! It's definitely gonna be different than what I'm used too. There will be a learning curve I'm sure, both when it comes to operating it and its impact on my checkbook. Congratulations to you too! I feel your pain. Realistically I should be able to get it out mid March and even that wait is killing me, can't imagine months of it. The up side is it gives me a minute to go through it and do this and that though. Busted out the big heater and fooled with it today a little. Not the same as fishing it but better than nothing. Hope you enjoy yours as well!

I've wanted a bass boat since I was a kid. Have owned several boats but never glass and never big horsepower. Have almost bought several times but always backed away. I finally pulled the trigger. I don't get excited about much but I'm pretty fired up about this. I know the boat won't catch me any more fish but I've always wanted something like this. It's a '98 Stratos 201 with a 225 Johnson and I cannot wait to get her out on the water.

I'm in central Ky. About an hour from cave run and Herrington, hour and a half-ish from Cumberland. Those are the closest large ones to me.

Just wanted to introduce myself. I call central ky home. I'm not new to bass fishing but I've been slacking the last several years. Hoping to change that. I've had a lot of hobbies but fishing is the one I always come back too. I hope to learn a lot here and hopefully give some back as well.