merckxrider

I agree with DVT about the rod. I've been pretty happy with mine, but a better Todd with a good, not great, reel can make the difference between boating a fish and having your hook/jig come flying back at you fishless.

I have an aluminum 14' v-hull with a 1972 evinrude fastwin. I take it all over our lakes and out in the salt flats. Please post pics as you go. How are going to take the original seats out? And I would like to see how you'll do the floor. I put a plywood extension casting deck on the rear seat with a little storage underneath. The front seat has a plywood topper. On both seat additions I have shirt post drop swivel seats that I can pull out for standing. A flush bow deck is installed. My son can stand on it, but it's not big. I use it if I put I've of my trolling motors up front. I would like to pull the original seating out of this boat, put in a flat floor and make my swivel seats the main seats. I also need to have a casting deck available for better sight fishing. This boat is a keeper for handing down to my boys. I will end up with a modest 16' flats skiff.

I've got a couple of the Abu combos. They match a reel and rod together. Original pricing for them was around $150 for the combo. I found them at Wal-Mart and Amazon for less. I've only had one of my rods lose a tip top. Easily taken care of, though. Don't knock the Bass Pro pro qualifier series. I have one caste and spinner. They are very nice and reasonable in price. BPS tends to have good spring and winter sales on them.

I prefer both options for different scenarios. I use both in salt and fresh areas. I found that I do better with a medium to heavy rod with the casters. For more finesse needs,I go to my spinners. Either way, good start with the series. I'll be following along.

i'm in central florida/orlando area. while getting my boat ready to use again after 6 months siting up at the farm, my throttle control broke away completely including the control shaft. i'm trying to find a complete arm assembly. the previous owner of this motor painted all of the metal portion of the motor which made some of the moving parts hard to move. mainly the throttle control. i'd complain a lot, but the throttle had one of those transmission control handles. push the button pull the handle forward and go forward. push the button and push the handle back, and go in reverse. the model number for the motor is 18202/18203. i've been on boats.net, because they have a pretty good selection of oem parts for older and newer motors. if anyone knows of someone selling this item, please send me a message. thanks.

Thanks Mike. The only battery I have is for the trolling motor. The outboard is a pull start. I think I'll get another smaller battery. I didn't think about the possibility of frequency chatter from the TM. I'll test it out first. Good info.

I have a 14' Alumacraft w/ a 1972 Evinrude 18hp Fast Twin. I don't have an alternator. I run my 40# Motorguide Bulldog and homemade livewell on a decent sized 12 volt deep cycle Wal-Mart battery. A full day on the flats still gets me home with 80% battery left. Could I also run my Garmin on the same battery, or should I get another battery? If I get another battery, what size would be okay? Could I get away with a yard tractor size and get a full day's work out of it? I've done some customizing on the boat and have planned under deck storage potential, but I don't want to bulk up more than I need.