tiredbobmarley

Hey all, I have a 14 ft jon boat and I need a fishing partner. I usually fish Lake Underhill or Winter Park chain but occasionally find myself on Conway or in lake county. Im tired of fishing alone. Hit me up if you want to get out on the water.

Does anyone know what the compression psi should be for a 1978 Johnson 25 hp? Ive been having some issues and did a compression test over the weekend. It read 90psi in both cylinders. Is that good/bad? I tried to search around for some info about this from johnson and have also searched other forums but have found nothing solid. Thanks in advance!

Thanks for all the input! You were all almost spot on. It was definitely the ground. After grounding the trailer lights and running the ground wire up to the front of the trailer it worked like a charm. Wont forget that again, haha.

Awesome. That may be the solution to my problems. Ill give it a go tonight after work. Thanks again!

Ok everyone so I need some opinions. I just replaced my trailer wiring and everything was working great for a couple weeks until now. I tested the plug coming out of my truck with a circuit tester and it all works. When I have the "not installed" wiring in the back of my truck grounded to my truck and plugged into the connection im able to get a complete circuit at the end of the wires (without the lights connected). When I connect the lights I get nothing from them. I have tested them with a battery and they do light up. Soooo....my questions..... Will the plug from my truck give a false positive if I have the alligator clip from the circuit tester attached to the truck? I didnt think so but im trying everything.... Would the trailer lights have to be mounted in order to have a ground even though the trailer wiring harness has a connecting ground coming from the plug to the trailer? Im sorry if this sounds simple. Im not well versed in electrical circuits. When I initially replaced them it was easy and worked right off the bat but this troubleshooting is driving me crazy. Thanks in advance!

Im all about the old used motors because im a cheap son of a b. I have a 1978 25 hp johnson. It has had its issues but all have been fixable by me (with a little help). I was lucky enough to have a "mentor" that helped me tear the foot down and replace/regrind some parts. After helping with that I have a pretty good idea of how it all works. I had no issues finding "new old" parts for the motor. The thing runs like a top and pushes my 14 ft john boat about 23 mph with one person. I get comments all the time at the boat ramp about that motor outlasting me if I keep up with maintenance. Fuel is absolutely not an issue with such a small motor either. I have a 6 gallon tank and I'll burn 1/2 to 3/4 in a day of fishing/burning around the lake. And to me if I can pay for 4 gallons of gas and fish all day...well thats just fine by me.

i think people put too much thought into the flat, v or semi-v debate. While they are all slightly different they'll all get you where you wanna go especially on small waters like lakes and rivers. The only thing i didnt like about a flat was the boat slamming down on waves and jarring everyone on board. I have a 14 ft semi-v jon boat with a 25 hp johnson on the back. Got it on craigslist for 800 bucks. That included the trailer and the trolling motor. Id hold out till you find a good deal if you can. Just make sure you have enough motor on the back to get up on plane. Otherwise your plugging along from spot to spot. Recently had to put about 400 bucks into it to replace the deck and other failing items but its a fun project to work on. BTW.....the name of my boat? "It's Always Somethin" haha.

Senkos man. Also make sure to attach a loofa to your golfcart so they know youre a swinger, haha.

All was good. Boat had a lot of debris in it but everything is intact. Killed the bass over the weekend after the hurricane!

Thanks for the input everyone. crypt and zachb34 be safe out there and make sure you have enough beer, haha.

Ok so this is my first hurricane in Florida. I am in Orlando so we probably wont catch the brunt of it but I was wondering if I should worry about my 14 ft jon boat during the storm. It sits on a trailer in the apartment parking lot. Does anybody have any tips for securing, etc.? Should I worry about the wind getting fast and hard enough to push the boat and trailer out of the parking spot? Any advice is appreciated.

Originally from Pennsylvania. We would always refer to bass in inches (grandma still does). Now that im in florida its all about the weight. You can almost tell if someone does or does not fish big bass waters by which method they use.

My buddy and I were fishing our first tournament. It was almost sun up and we were excited to get going. Our boat number was called and we took off. My buddy was driving and lost his hat probably 200 yards from the starting boat. We circled around probably 4 times before retrieving the hat. Meanwhile im sure we looked like a bunch of amateurs to the rest of the boats all around us. Maybe we should have just went home considering we were the lightest bag to weigh, haha.

Geo G....any certain color that you've been using that seems to be working well? Junebug is normally the ticket for me but not recently.

Alright. I'll be giving that a try the next time I get on the water.

Hey man, thanks for the reply. I normally fish Winter Park chain. I stopped fishing shallow after not catching much. My logic said that the bass would like the cool, deep water better but.....who knows, haha. Are you dragging the t rig across the bottom? hopping it up and down? slow or fast? Thanks again.

Its hot in Florida right now and I cant seem to catch any bass from my boat. Or even hardly get bit for that matter. I've been trying to fish deeper and really only have time to fish in the evenings. I've tried d**n near every lure I have. What have you been using? How deep have you been fishing? Any advice would be great! Especially some advice specifically from FL anglers. Thanks!

Never fell in personally but I had my buddy fall in while we were docking. I had him reach out and grab the dock and before I knew it the boat had moved away and he was still hanging onto the dock. He just stared at me with this panic in his eyes but there was nothing I could do for him. He stretched as far as he could go before falling in between the dock and the boat and was so scared of gators (there is a swimming area right beside the dock that they keep gators out of) that he kept grabbing onto my jon boat and telling me to pull him in.....while the dock was literally 2 feet behind him and the water was only a couple feet deep. He almost dumped the boat over before I got him to walk ashore, haha

I have a Johnson 25 from 1978. There are very few parts that you cant buy from old "new" stock and I can bet if you cant find them "new" you could grab them from a salvaged motor. I wouldn't worry about it at all.

I have a 14 ft modified v jon boat. I have no problems with myself and another experienced fisherman, gear (2 batteries, bow mounted tm, cooler, etc...) and about 3 rods each on the water. You just have to pay attention to where the other person's line is. Now if its myself and another inexperienced fisherman.....that's a different story. Ive lost a few lures to line breakage due to being caught on a cast from my inexperienced friends. But no real stability issues unless you got tweedle dee and tweedle dumb getting too close to you with their giant wake boats.

look for a canoe on craigslist. they are less stable and heavier than a kayak but youll find one for 100 bucks or less. I bought one for $65 bucks a couple years before I bought my tin boat. Served me very very well. Just don't get stuck under the trees during a storm and have a snake fall out of said tree. You will flip that canoe quicker than you can say snake, haha. Ive never seen my friend move so fast....

I have a 14 ft jon boat with 25 hp Johnson. Bought it on craigslist for $800 w/ trailer. Works great on all the lakes in my area and is easily pulled by my small suv. Still needs a lot of work but hey, it gives me something to do and I like working on it. I plan to install a switch box, repaint the hull and possibly intstall a livewell so I can fish tourneys without using my buddys boat. Also would like some new seats and a removable pole for the front deck to utilize all the space up there. All in all the best 800 bucks ive ever spent, haha.

north florida? Tilapia is def my guess

I caught one while the tour boat full of tourists was rolling up beside my jon boat. Held it up to a round of applause before releasing it....and hell yes it felt good, hahaha.

I have "that friend" who is too afraid to hold a bass. I'm always the one to take the hook out. I do gotta say its hilarious to watch a 6ft 2in purple heart earning army vet scream and jump when the fish flops on the hook. Actually its even better when it flops off the hook into the boat. Then its dancin time, hahahaha. That friend also rigs his plastics the wrong way even after showing him multiple times. And always throwing out with weeds hooked to the lure or the plastic barely hanging on with huge split shots up the line for weight. I just let him keep on fishing because ill be the one to fix it. At the same time I can say ive seen him pick up decent bass on a rig that he finagled while im sitting there getting skunked. That dude is notorious for snagging my line either in the water or on a cast. Has broke my line/lost my lures multiple times because of him snagging me up. Ive also got the buddy that wants to bring his kid and wife when we go fish. I have a 14 ft boat so you can see how that would go. Sun and a buzz isn't the only thing im trying to catch when out on the water. Once again....all that said....we have good conversation, both will normally brings beer and I appreciate an extra hand while trailering. Both are relatively new to fishing so it can only get better from here. We all had to learn at some point. Now I know how my dad/uncle/grandpa used to feel, haha. Btw great topic...really funny.