simek3ru

I am heading down to Lake Gaston in a few weeks for a weeks vacation and I am bringing my boat to fish. I have never been there, so have no clue what to expect. I am showing the map of where the house is in relation to the rest of the lake. Any advise on spots, lures, techniques, etc. would be greatly appreciated.

Anyone launch out of Pohick Bay this week? I went last Sunday and there was a lot of debris. Wondering if it's better, worse, same?

I'm curious about those who fish Occoquan River. I have been there several times and make my way to Conrad Island. When I am there, I always see boats lined up to the left of the island in Belmont Bay. If I recall, this is pretty shallow water and a huge flat. Boats aren't moving around much, seem to be anchored, or staying put, and they are almost in a line. What are these guys doing? Always been curious about this. What am I missing out on?

Never gone out of Bull Run. Can I launch my boat out of there? I know you said Ramp, but is it wide and deep enough? Trailer parking onsite? Also was thinking of hitting Pohick, as I've never been there either. Are there outboard motor restrictions like FH?

Looks windy and cold but nice Shad! Is the boat ramp construction done now? Looking to launch there this weekend.

For those interested on what I ended up doing, I left the 8 gauge wire in place and ran the new 6 gauge right up the center of the boat, here are some pics. View from the back under the live well: View through the center floor drain: Hole I cut out in the center storage compartment: View from the front deck opening:

The old wires were not budging at all, so I'm leaving them as is. I decided to run some liquid tite conduits ( 2 x 1/2" x 25ft) and run them right up the center of the boat. I'll put single 6 gauge wire into each conduit. I removed the center floor drain, stuck my phone in and took pictures in both directions to see what I was working with. I'll need to drill a hole in the center storage compartment floor as there is a cross beam all the way across that will prevent me from running all the way to the front of the boat. I'll pull the conduit up through the center storage compartment and run it along the floor edge below the rod storage barrels to the front of the boat. Just need to figure out how to make it look as clean as possible within the center storage compartment, even though no one will see it. This is the best I could do.

So I've completed everything except running new 6 gauge wire for the TM to replace the current 8 gauge. I am having a hard time doing this. I am using fish tape and rope to try to get it to certain sections of the boat, but struggling hard. Any one have suggestions on how to wire this? I'm thinking about calling BPS and asking how much they'd charge just to run this new wire. Might be worth my time and headache. Thoughts?

Yup - looked it up and it should be 6 AWG for the length run, so looks like I'll be "trying" to fish new wires. My initial thought is to try pulling both ends and see which one is easier, then duck tape the new power cords to the old power cords and pull/push push it through. I just know that won't go as smooth as I'd like, but maybe I'll get lucky. Thanks, will be doing this Yes, correct on the "jog" feature. Looking at the instructions again, it just needs a clear line of sight to the TM itself and there is an arrow on the puck which needs to be parallel to the keel of the boat. Based on this, I'm not sure if further away is better. I will probably contact MK on this one Just curious, why don't you think it's a good idea to connect right into the fuse box. Seems most others are doing it this way and the old one was done this way. Thanks. I saw on the install guide, it is also a 3A fuse. Thanks for the replies! Thanks! I also have an older Lowrance, so glad it worked for you. Was your old Lowrance plugged directly into the fuse box? Since there is an in-line fuse already on the Garmin power cords, I wonder if I should cut that off if powering directly into the fuse box?

1) The current wiring is 8ga and I'd love to just use the existing wiring with a new 60amp circuit breaker to replace the 40amp by the battery. Will this be ok or do I absolutely NEED to run new 6ga? My cable run is about 13-14 feet from bow to battery. 3) Where are most of you mounting your GPS puck? I plan to mount it on the outside console dash, just past the windshield. Any other suggestions? 4) How do you power your GPS puck? Are you running the power all the way back to the battery, or fuse box? I decided to move the TM GPS puck to the front of the boat closer to the TM itself. There is power for the bow light plug and engine title up there. Assume I can just tap into one of those power sources for this? 1) Since I am replacing the console unit, can I use the same power wire run by cutting the old unit plug off and splicing into the Garmin power? I found where the old fish finder was plugged in on the fuse box. Since, as you can tell, I know next to nothing about electrical - will my new Garmin Striker Plus 9sv be able to use the 5 amp fuse there? How can I tell if I need a larger or smaller amp fuse?

Here is a pic of the old TM plug and new TM power wires. This is what I was asking if I could cut the plug and splice on the new TM power wires. Here is a pic of the TM GPS puck (not Garmin) mount location and then the old cables from the previous console unit. Can I just cut that power cable and splice to the Garmin power cable? The Garmin power cable has an inline fuse built in, so I would do this after the fuse. Thanks for the reply!

Hi All, I am in the middle of doing work on my boat for the first time - new TM and Garmin at the console. I have replaced my old 12v 46 lb MG with a new 12v 55lb Terrova. It's all mounted up no problem, but have a few questions below: 1) The current wiring is 8ga and I'd love to just use the existing wiring with a new 60amp circuit breaker to replace the 40amp by the battery. Will this be ok or do I absolutely NEED to run new 6ga? 2) Would you recommend I buy a new MK plug and receptacle? Or can I cut off the old plug from the MG and splice it to the new power cables? 3) Where are most of you mounting your GPS puck? I plan to mount it on the outside console dash, just past the windshield. Any other suggestions? 4) How do you power your GPS puck? Are you running the power all the way back to the battery, or fuse box? Now a few on the Garmin install: 1) Since I am replacing the console unit, can I use the same power wire run by cutting the old unit plug off and splicing into the Garmin power? 2) Another dumb question - I have both bow and console units that are both powered by one set of power cables to the rear battery. How is this possible? I would expect to see two sets of power cables to the rear battery. What am I missing here? Thanks for the taking the time to read and entertain these questions. I am a total newbie to this stuff! Jason

I bought my first boat last April. Had a similar price range and mostly fishing for bass on smaller lakes, rivers and reservoirs. I knew I wanted an aluminum, so I ended up with a 2007 Tracker 175TXW with a 50hp mercury 2-stroke and I really like it. For a first boat (including Jon), it is really more then I "need". I found in my area, this type of boat went very quick once placed on Craigslist. I did visit a couple dealers to sit in some of the used boats I was not familiar with to get an idea of what I wanted. Also checked out a dozen or so local sellers when they posted on Craigslist before I made my decision. I recommend you try to narrow it down to options you're looking for. Something I considered was storage length as well...not sure if that needs to be a consideration for you. Good luck!

Just curious of what your guys experience is with adhering strictly to the boats person's weight limit. For example, my 2007 Tracker PT 175 has a 4 person/555 (or 560) lb limit. Is this like anything else, and super conservative from the manufacturer? Or should I be more considering the total weight limit with gear? Thanks, Jason

I was pretty set on the Garmin Striker Plus 9sv, but after reading this, I am a bit skeptical. This unit comes with the CV52HW-TM Transducer that you guys say is pretty poor. Should I have reservations? Or are there plenty of people happy with the Garmin units?

I'm just getting into fishing and taking my son out (10 yr old) is always fun. We live right next to Goose Creek in Leesburg and was wondering if anyone knows some good spots along the banks that we could check out. Also, any advice on what baits or lures to use, along with good times of the day and good months to catch some bass would be awesome.