crazyjoeclemens

I'd say its definitely a carb problem. Either you have a stuck float that's not allowing enough fuel through or you have a bad seal somewhere that's letting it suck some air.

I'm glad to hear no one was injured. Boating accidents are no joke, and I think a lot more needs to be done to promote safe boat operating. My home lake is way overcrowded. You almost have to keep your head on a swivel at all times. Usually the fishing crowd is pretty good about operating their boats safely, but the powerboat/ski boat drivers are pretty sketchy. I've never been hit, but they come too close for comfort with irritating regularity. That's one of the main reasons I bought a bigger boat - yet I've still had the deck swamped a couple times by idiots riding around with the nose of the boat up in the air. Anyway, I'd probably hand it all over to my insurance company and let them deal with it. I figure that's exactly the sort of thing I'm paying them to do - not to mention, they're better equipped to get some money out of the guy that hit you (or his insurance company). Good luck!

For a while, I also considered starting a sporting goods shop of my own. I think its everyone's dream at some point in their life. My plan was to start with archery and get into tackle later on. Deer hunting in my area is probably more popular than bass fishing. Anyway, there are a couple things that made me shy away from the idea. Don't take this as a "no, you shouldn't do it." Its just a few things you should consider (if you haven't already) before jumping in. 1 - When you start out with online sales, you are immediately competing with everyone in the world. When people shop online, its all about who's got the best price and best shipping deals. Then, they act shocked when they find out customer service is terrible or non-existent. You'll be in the running with companies that can negotiate bulk purchases of product and have thousands of square feet of warehouse space to store it. 2 - Brick and mortar stores are at a distinct disadvantage from the start. You now have significant overhead costs associated with running a storefront, yet you're still competing with everyone on the internet - most of whom don't have those overhead costs. The reason you're still competing with the internet (whether or not your store is online too) is that customers, these days, tend to whip out their smart phones to do their price checking as they shop. I know, because I'm guilty of it, too. In this day and age, it almost seems like you have to offer something special - something that will get people to go out of their way to visit your store - if you want to make a retail tackle shop work. The problem is that I have no idea what that "something special" is. If I did, I'd be in the sporting goods business already. With online sales, it would seem like you'd have to work tirelessly to move as much volume as possible, in order to turn a decent profit. Again, I'm not trying to be negative or convince you not to give it a try. I just think those are a couple big items that need to be thought through before diving in head first. If you do indeed go for it, I wish you the best of luck!

I manage a small feedmill. Its a pretty physical job, so I'm no stranger to aches and pains. Tendonitis really sucks - it takes a long time to heal up. If casting hurts, definitely don't put as much oomph into it as you normally do. Constant irritation can significantly increase healing times. As mentioned before, always ice it to reduce inflammation. Heat might make it feel better temporarily, but it doesn't help the inflammation. If you do talk to your doc about it, he might prescribe something like Meloxicam to help with the inflammation as well. Unfortunately, there's no easy fix, just try to take it easy on that joint and let it heal up on its own.

The Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame and Museum up in Hayward, WI has a pretty cool collection of almost everything related to fishing, including vintage lures, rods/reels, and even early outboard motors. I have no idea if they're taking donations or adding to their collection, but you could give them a call and see if its something they'd be interested in putting on display. I'm sure there's also some other museums (perhaps one locally, even) that might be interested in having such a display piece. Its not veteran related, but it could be a good way to preserve a little piece of history. Then again, there's nothing wrong with your original idea. I'm all for any program that supports veterans.

Well, as far as the lake we're talking about is concerned, too many anglers is the least of my concerns. That particular lake is extremely popular with the powerboat/jet ski/party-on-the-lake crowd. On weekends, it gets so cut up with powerboat wake, there's no practical way to fish deeper structure on the main body of the lake. Even if you can handle the constant wake, you just about have to keep your head on a swivel to make sure one of those yahoos doesn't run you over. If I go there on a weekend, I much rather get out there by first light and be pulling the boat out of the water by 10:30 at the latest. Either that or do some night fishing, since the whole lake is a no-wake zone after dark.

I got hot while i was fishing last Sunday. I put on one of my beat up spare life jackets and jumped in. Its a good thing I tucked into a secluded cove first - there would have been a lot of people laughing if they'd seen me trying to haul my fat butt back into the boat without a swim ladder. I guess I need to hit the chin up bar...or lay off the snickers bars. Option B would be to put a few extra ice packs in your cooler and tuck one in your shorts. That might sound harsh, but that's where the EMT is gonna put an ice pack anyway, if you end up going down because of the heat. In all seriousness, pack a large cooler to put on the boat. Lots of ice, lots of bottled water, and extra ice packs in case of emergency. On a boat, you need to be prepared because heat related ailments can sneak up on you, and you may not have time to drive your boat somewhere to cool off.

I can only imagine. With the power plant running, that lake warms up fast - especially the east side. Once it gets that hot, it seems like the only fish biting are the carp and an occasional catfish. I always wondered if the bass just head down deep and lay low or if there's a mass migration to the west side. I was just out there last weekend, and there was almost a 10 degree difference in water temperature, just between DeWitt bridge and the point. Its a tough lake to fish, no matter what. Its pretty heavily pressured, even without tournament traffic. I kinda feel bad for the high school kids that had to fish their tournament on Sunday.

Where did you find that swimbait? It looks so realistic!

I was just in our local F&S store yesterday. I was looking for something completely unrelated to fishing, but I managed to walk out of there with my hands full. Glad I didn't grab a cart. No pics (didn't want any incriminating evidence), but I had a few packs of Shroomz jig heads, some clip-on drop shot weights, and some Z-Man Original Chatterbaits managed to follow me home. I had to search through both my big tackle boxes, just to find a couple empty spaces to stash the goods. Now I gotta go get another tackle box

Well, I took it out on the lake for the first time, yesterday afternoon. Gotta say, I am outright impressed - its one smooth-riding boat. It was windy (10-15, gusting to 25), and the lake was cut up with wake from those big powerboats. That Ranger handled it extremely well, even up on plane. It was choppy enough out there, I don't think you could have gotten my old Jon boat up on plane without beating every last rivet out of it and causing yourself serious back injuries. The Mercury Black Max 150 felt like it had plenty of power for the hull. It jumped up on plane quickly, and stayed up there - even if I backed off the throttle quite a bit. One thing I did notice - it does love the gas. Fortunately for me, I don't run a guide service, so bottom line isn't all that important. I'd sure hate to feed that beast on a daily basis.

I literally just logged in to make a post about pressured lakes, myself! I'm planning on hitting the local lake this weekend, but I just found out there's a bass tournament going on (College Midwestern Regional). Anyway, With 93 teams on a fairly small lake, how bad will post-tournament fishing be? Will the fish be inactive, or do I just need to figure out what the most popular bait was for the tournament and use something completely different?

There she is. Now I can play in the deep end of the pool with the rest of the adults!

I'm a big fan of carrying my Ruger LCP in a DeSantis Nemesis pocket holster. Its the best combination I've found for carrying in cargo shorts.

Well, right or wrong, I went ahead and pulled the trigger. Stay tuned for pics.

OK, so I got some details from the owner. Sorry for the delay, but I was stuck in a truck for 9 hours today. Anyway, it turns out the owner was just confused on model year. Its a 1991. The owner actually removed the lounge seats and extended the front fishing deck all the way back to the console with an aluminum plate - carpeted and everything. I'm not too sad that the seats are gone, because I'm actually not a normal sized human. I'm 6'5", and those seats would have been more or less useless to me. The only issues I see with it is the carpet under the console is totally worn out, and the livewell aerators don't seem to work. Neither of those are deal killers for me because 1 - carpet can be replaced easily enough and 2 - I don't do any tournament fishing. Even if I wanted to give it a try, i could always look into fixing those later. Other than that, batteries are fairly recent and the motor was rebuilt 2 years ago. I called the shop that did the work, and according to their records, they inspected the lower unit and replaced the water pump at the same time. Is there anything else I should be looking at, and does anyone care to suggest a rough price range?

Thanks for the info. I'll definitely check the hull number and give Ranger a call. Just out of curiosity, what would be the difference between a wood and a glass transom? Which one would be preferable? All the sources I've looked into say they're not necessarily the fastest hull, but they're solid and stable in the water. Would you say that's a fair assessment? The owner has offered to meet me on the lake for a test run - is there anything in particular I should look for on it?

So, In my quest for an upgrade from my beat up old Jon boat, I've found a Ranger 375v for sale. The owner says its a 1996, but I can't find any record of them being made that late. Anyway, its powered by a Mercury Black Max 150 and the hull seems to be in good shape. The only work it really seems to need is some new carpeting. Can anyone give me more info on this model? Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

Well, I hate to say it, but I think I missed out on a heck of a deal here. I went to go look at it, and right about the time I was ready to say "I'll take it," the owner tells me someone else just looked at it a few hours before me and that they were going to buy it and he's let me know if the other guy backs out. Needless to say, I was pretty annoyed that nothing was mentioned about another buyer before I came to look at it, but I just thanked him for his time and headed home. I know a lot of people go on about buyer etiquette, but I could probably say a thing or two about seller etiquette as well...but I digress. I guess the bottom line here is that I should have been a little more pushy about getting an earlier appointment to go look at it. It was just as I described it - a '95 SC170, but it was a garage queen. Like new, low hours, and spotless. I'm sure the new owner is pretty excited about his find. Back to the drawing board.

Thanks for the info. I don't know much about v-bottoms, but I hope to learn. Unfortunately, most of my experience is with flat-bottom boats. My buddy's old river rig was an 18' Lowe Roughneck semi-v jon boat. It had a 35 Evinrude on it and it actually would get up on plane pretty easy with just 2 guys. On the other hand, 3 people and a couple coolers full of catfish made it struggle a bit a lot. His newer machine is just a newer 18' Lowe hull with a 90 on it. That one launches like a rocket, but it seems to be quite a bit lighter, too. The hull and interior of the boat I'm looking at is actually so clean I would seriously consider re-powering it, if it turns out to be a little sluggish. I finally heard back from the owner - its an elderly couple that bought it new in 1995 and only took it out a few times a year. I know the "low mileage/elderly owner" story probably gets thrown around a lot at the used boat(or car) lot, but this time the elderly couple still has it, they're local, and my folks know them. Anyway, I'm gonna take a closer look at it today or tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Any idea what model the hull is on your dad's boat? The one I have my eye on looks like a mid 90's SC 170.

A 17' Sea Nymph V-bottom has come up for sale in my neighborhood, and the price seems pretty reasonable. I left a message for the owner, but I haven't heard back just yet on exact details, but its a side-console model with a 60 horse Johnson (supposedly under 200 hours on it) and electric trim. It has a fish finder and trolling motor on it. Not sure what models they are, but I have a newer trolling motor and fish finder I can rob from my old beater jon boat. Anyway, the thing looks super clean - good carpeting, upholstery, etc., and no major dents, dings or scratches in the hull. So here's my question: I don't know a thing about Sea Nymph boats (other than the name sounds silly). As far as quality goes, are they good/bad or middle of the road? Is there anything in particular I should look for, before I buy? Lastly, what price range would you guys consider reasonable for such a rig? Let me know what you guys think! The nicest boat I've ever had is a seriously beat-up Duracraft jon boat. I'm pretty excited about the possibility of an upgrade this year, and this particular boat seems like it checks all the boxes for what I do.

Back in the day, I used to go on annual fishing trips up to Wisconsin with my buddies from college. We haven't gone in a few years now, since they all decided to start having kids at the same time, but I digress. The last time we went, we were getting bored of chasing walleye and crappie, so we got out the bass tackle and started hitting up some docks to see what was in the neighborhood. One of my buddies was talking about how awesome he was at bass fishing (and everything else) so I made him a gentleman's bet that I would catch the first bass. After getting into a bunch of undersized Northerns, I switched up tactics and tied on a spinnerbait that I had snagged up out of the lake earlier in the week. I have this weird habit were, if I find or snag up an old lure, I have to use it at least once, even if its an old faded junker. I had put a new skirt and a couple new willow-leaf blades on it, so I figured, "why not?" My first cast with it was almost perfect. It landed just a couple inches off the sunny side of a private dock, just short of a clump of weeds. I let it settle for a second before I started cranking. Right as the lure cleared the end of the dock, something big hit it hard. I quickly made a motion to set the hook and started the retrieve. Halfway to the boat, a great big pig of a bass launched out of the water. The moment he touched back down, I felt the line go slack. That bass took advantage of a comedy of errors. As it turns out, I had forgotten to sharpen the hook on the old lure. To make matters worse, I was using a much lighter rod than I should have. We had been crappie fishing, and I had left my heavier rods back in the cabin. The rod I was using didn't have enough spine to make that dull hook set. Topping it all off, I hadn't cranked up the drag on the reel before making that cast. I honestly don't know if it would have helped much, but I did feel the drag slip a little when I went to set the hook. I really can't guess as to how big he was with any accuracy, but I am certain he would have easily been my personal best at the time (by a large margin). Long story short, an old dull hook cost me my personal best (and lunch, as per the terms of the bet), but I did learn a few valuable lessons and one heck of a great memory.

When I took my CCW class, there were a few there who had brought Hi Points. I could see the instructors rolling their eyes when they saw them. After several FTE's, stovepipes, and various other general failures, I decided that Hi Points are far more effective if put in a sock and used as a bludgeon...

I know im late to this thread but i figured I'd put my 2 cents in anyway. I bought one for the wife, and I was impressed with accuracy. They shoot great for a compact. I put a laser on it, bought a couple extra mags, and it ended up being my summer carry gun (the wife got a Glock 42 that she prefers). I like it a lot. I have a desantis nemesis pocket holster and an alien gear IWB rig for it. Between the two, I can carry it comfortably, no matter what the occasion. FWIW, I have big paws too (6'5", 280#). The LCP isn't super comfortable to shoot - the trigger guard bites my finger every time (not bad - just enough to be annoying), but it's a compact pistol, not a target pistol. You're gonna have to make some sacrifices. Also, Ruger makes extended mags for it that hold one more round and have a small grip extension on the bottom. It's just enough for me to get one more finger on the grip, and that helps a lot. I say at $200, it's a steal. Id buy it if I didn't already have one.