desmobob

I had time to put the boat in the water after work today. All is well and no more strange noise. WHEW! I did a little bit of fishing and ran the boat around for an hour or so. It must have been the Flo-Torque Hub. When I took it apart and checked it out, I put it back together 180* from the way it had been installed when I hit the log. I don't know if it is a sacrificial or re-usable part, or how to tell if it needs to be replaced. I ordered a back-up to have on hand. My boating season will be over soon. I'll start next season with a good insurance policy and a Mercury service manual on my bookshelf. Tight lines, Bob

No one is going to make fun of you for rising to the challenge of wrapping your own rod! It looks fine! I hope you catch your new PB on the first cast with it. :-) Tight lines, Bob

Where I fish, sometimes I get a lot of pike and pickerel, and sometimes mostly all largemouths. (I wait to see what kind of a day it's going to be before I tie on any Megabass lures!) One thing I've found is that using soft plastic or other baits that work well with S-L-O-W retrieves seems to help cut down on the pike and pickerel action. The slender toothy fish seem to like crankbaits and spinnerbaits the best. --and Beetle Spins! It seems like whenever I'm panfishing and throw little Beetlespins, the pickerel and pike eat them up like crazy. And the darn pests always break me off right at the boat, after I get them all the way in and think I'm not going to lose a lure.... Tight lines, Bob

Very sad! That job is hazardous to begin with, and add the recent anti-cop sentiment in certain circles, and now it's downright dangerous. Prayers to his family, friends and co-workers, and hopes they quickly catch the scum who did it. Tight lines, Bob

I just put the muffs on the boat in my driveway. First, I ran the engine up to 5000 RPM in neutral; no noise. Then I put it in gear and ran it up to 5000 RPM. No noise. No vibration. I took off the prop and checked the shaft for run-out. It's straight and true. Then I checked the Flo-Torque hub to see if it was damaged; nope. Hopefully, it was just paranoia that had me hearing a new noise after my incident. I'll have the boat in the water again this weekend and see how things work out. I could have just been a bit paranoid after hitting the limb, OR, the noise is only evident when the prop is under load. Time will tell.... I found that a person can purchase Mercury service manuals direct from them. $85. I'll put that on my Christmas list if I don't have a need to pick one up sooner. Thanks for all the responses! Bob

In NY, your small trailer and trailered boat is covered on your auto insurance. Tight lines, Bob

I live in NY, where there are a million rules and regulations. It seems like insurance is required on everything BUT a boat. I never had an expensive boat, so I never got insurance. And I guess I never realized it covered things like running over logs... I thought it was just for liability and medical coverage in case of an accident. I will have insurance next season. Tight lines, Bob

SHUT UP YOU KNUCKLEHEAD! ;-) What's so funny about peace, love and understanding? Bob

Excellent! :-) Tight lines, Bob

The prop shaft looks like it spins true. I'll pull the prop off and check it with a run out gauge though. I can't imagine an impact hard enough to bend the prop shaft wouldn't do any damage at all to the prop itself.... The sound the motor makes is very similar to the sound it makes when you're cruising along and suddenly pull the gearshift into neutral and the prop is freewheeling. It isn't anywhere near as loud, but the sound has the same quality, making me think the same parts are involved. I'll do some more research before I bring it to the shop. I work on everything else I own or have owned, from snowmobiles and motorcycles to cars, trucks and lawn tractors, but for some reason, I'm afraid to start tearing into the lower unit on the one-season-old motor. If I had a service manual of some sort, I'd dive right in. Does Clymer, Haynes, or some similar company sell outboard service manuals like the car and motorcycle manuals they sell? I'll have to do some Googling.... Tight lines, Bob

Same here. Southern Lake Champlain has very low visibility due to the clay silt in the water. I had lots of action on a Ned Rig this weekend but gave it up after losing three or four Shroomz in an hour or two. I switched to a 4.5" finesse worm on a shaky head and seemed to do just as well, and without the hang-ups. Tight lines, Bob

You must have the world's worst luck with waders, then. I've been a wading fly fisherman my whole life, including a week or two wading the surf for stripers on Cape Cod for each the last 21 years. I've worn out three pairs of Orvis Silver Label breathables, and they wore out in the crotch from abrasion after the many miles of walking the beaches, but never leaked except when I put a hook through them. My newest set of Grey's breathables (an English brand made by Hardy) are still water tight in their third season, as are my Orvis Silver Sonic breathables that I use float tubing. I probably get five years average out of my duck hunting waders and they take some serious abuse in the buttonbrush marshes and beaver ponds I hunt. I currently have five pairs of waders, the newest being two seasons old, and none of them leak. If all waders leaked after three or four USES as you say, I don't think people would keep buying them. Tight lines, Bob

I looked everything over very carefully... no visible damage anywhere; the prop is perfect. The speedometer pitot was jammed full of wood fibers; that's it. I don't have insurance on the boat. I guess I'm going to have to bring it in and get it checked out. I was curious as to what kind of damage a minor impact like that could have. Tight lines, Bob

I was cruising along at about 23MPH this afternoon when a boater coming from the other direction started acting indecisive about what side of the channel he'd be using; he started across from my left to right - like he was coming into my lane if we had been on the road. I moved out of my line of travel and headed right to give him plenty of room and then, BAM! I heard the impact and the motor tilted up briefly. (2014 Mercury 40HP four-stroke EFI) I stopped immediately to check things out and saw no visible damage, no leaking lubricant, and not even any prop damage. I went back to see what I hit and found a big Y-shaped tree limb floating just under the surface. The part I hit was about 5" in diameter (it broke off). Now, I have a noticeable clattering sound above 4K RPM. It's not horrible, but I can hear it. I fished the rest of the day and probably ran the motor for another half-hour or so. It runs and functions fine, except for the slight noise, which has me worried. Do any of you Mercury experts out there know if there's anything I can check myself? Does it need to go the shop immediately? Thanks for any information. Tight lines, Bob

If that rod fishes as nice as it looks, you'll be all set! Sweet! Good luck with the new combo, Bob

I'll add another recommendation for American Fishing Wire's product. I used it for Bluefish on the fly rod for years, and it works very well for pike and pickerel. It's easy to work with and fish. It comes on a small spool like tippet material and you can knot it like normal fishing line. It is a whole different animal than the old nylon-coated braided steel leaders! As for the fluro, I always use a 20lb. fluoro leader and I have pickerel and pike regularly snip me off so easily, I don't even feel any pressure. Tight lines, Bob

I spend a lot of time in waders. Breathable chest waders are very versatile. Like Preytorien, I really like the Orvis Silver Sonics. They are light, comfortable, and durable. Over the years, I've used stocking foot and boot foot waders, and I prefer the convenience of boot foot models. Tight lines, Bob

Cool. Nothing like catching a couple of decent fish on a bait to build a little confidence in it. Personally, when I think "Senko," I usually think "wacky." I just bought some of the jumbo-sized Senkos to try T-rigging with.... Tight lines, Bob

I have two metal detectors: a Garret Ace 250 and a White's DFX. I think the Ace 250 is the best bang-for-the-buck detector out there, and an outstanding choice for a first unit. Tight lines, Bob

When I saw this thread, and especially, Jig Man's post, it made me think of my experience with the smallmouth I sometimes catch while fishing for largemouths in Lake Champlain (which is very muddy in the southern end where I fish). On my last few outings I noticed the ones that appear dark seemed to be the ones that really fought well; far above their weight class. Coincidence? It was noticeable to me on more than one occasion and it was this weekend when I started to think it was a pattern. Tight lines, Bob

+1 And that's the irony in this Virginia tragedy... the way the media overplays/sensationalizes/dwells on this type of thing is the very reason some of the freaks commit these kind of crimes: to become "famous." Shoot your television, Bob

Congratulations. What did you do differently to finally achieve some success? Were you fishing 'em wacky? Tight lines, Bob

A Texas-rigged Havoc Pit Boss or Missile D-Bomb is a killer where crayfish are present (and even where they're not!). And if you can't get bit on a wacky-rigged Senko then, well, maybe it's time to give up fishing and try stamp-collecting or model trains... ;-) Tight lines, Bob

I put my PX Type R on a Kistler KLX 6'9" MHF "Finesse worm/tube/jig" rod. It's rated for 1/8- to 3/4-ounce baits (!). I like it a lot, but after reading this thread, I'm dying to get a IMX 721CR. :-) Tight lines, Bob

I have a Ronald Jenkees CD... and RJD2... does that count? Tight lines, Bob