RobDar

from talking with Indiana DNR and having more than one friend who is a naturalist, my understanding is this... just as the small fish are many times the more aggressive fish, they are also the most active breeders. ( come on you remember being a horny teenager right) In a situation where Bass populations are in question or in jeapordy a slot limit is placed or size limits are increased to reduce the number of fish being taken from the lake. The larger fish are harder to catch...so the bigger the size limit the less fish leaving, the more fish available in the water for breeding. ( in theory anyway) A large size limit is better than closing fishing all together...which has happened up by me on occassion. Another aspect of the larger size limits and slot limits, is the larger the fish the more they eat and the larger the prey they eat. If there is too many large fish in an area they can decimate both the bait fish population as well as their own population through cannibalism. Upping a limit to 21 inch fish says to me that there is an effort to increase bass numbers. size limits are an attempt to influence numbers of available sport fish. Why 21" was chosen on your lake can only be answered by your local DNR biologist. Call the DNR office and ask. I have found that EVERYTIME I have called to ask a question the DNR has been more than happy to answer all of my question or refer me to someone who could.

it is just a momentary, normally closed, pressure switch... you can pick it up at nearly any electrical supply house, radio shack, or auto supply place for about 6-8 bucks. Takes about 10 minutes to change...just two screws holding it on...the hardest part is taking the foot pedal apart and putting it back together...just make sure you get the wires back on the same terminals and buy the same size ( both in amperage and physical size) switch.

Cart7 offers some good info again.... everyone has their preferance for their own reasons, but while shopping for boats and talking to guys in our tourney circut about their boats here is what I have been told... Triton... mixed reviews. While the guys love them as far as fishing platform goes, there have been two guys in our club ( both who often fish lake michigan which gets rough) who sold their tritons because they said they have a tendency to "spear" the waves rather than ride over them. One of these guys bought an Xpress instead...and is in love. Another bought a Stratos and...in his words..."has no complaints" That is two Tritons out of 9 or 10 in the circut though and I do not know what the other guys fishing tendencies are. Our director has a new Triton and loves it. Javelin/Stratos... no performance complaints other than..."it takes a long time to come to plane". of the four guys I have talked to with Stratos and Javelins...they like their boats. One guy said he wishes it had a better livewell. My father in law LOVES his Javelin. took it back across Lake Michigan in a tourney in 6-9 footers and had no problems other than his speedometer broke on the trip. Ranger... There is only one newer Ranger in our circut, the rest are older boats. The guy with the newer one likes. He does not typically fish anything but inland lakes and rivers so no commentary of rough water. He does like his Evinrude E-Tec though. The guys with the older boats have no complaints. Personally...it is the price tag, even used, that turns me off the Rangers. Way too expensive! Champion... only one in our circut but the guy loves it. says it has done everything he has asked it to do, runs good and runs smooth. He used to own both a Ranger and a Triton and prefers the Champion. Skeeter... only three Skeeters in our club and all are old used boats. Only one complaint from one guy is that it dances around in turns at speed, but his boat is a late 80's early 90's and I would think that there have been some big hull improvements since his boat was built. Bass Cat... only one in or club and it was bought because it was Denny Brauers boat and because it was fast. The guy who owns it is somewhat of a nut...riding with him is like riding is a fighter jet...fast and scary as hell...but he has never complained about performance. Never talked to him about rough water though...he is almost exclusively a river guy. Storm... only one Storm boat. The guys commentary was..." I will race any boat on the water in this baby" Not really a determining factor for a good bass boat in my eyes. Legend Boats... you guys forgot about this one. Seems similar to the Stratos/Javelin to me. A guy in our circut had one on loan from his brother in law while his boat was getting fixed. He fell in love with this boat and says when he gets a new one it will be a Legend. Said it handles really well and he like the layout. the best reveiws I have read on aliminum boats... Triton Magnum ( but you might as well buy a fiber boats at its HEFTY price tag) G3 Eagle and HP series Fisher ( largest percentage of deadrise in aluminum...deepest "v") Polar Kraft ( only sticking point was ride was not as dry in rough water as the other boats) that is about the extent of my research. As far as availabilty...In my area, USED Rangers and Tritons are a dime a dozen, but also usually the most....ummmm..."well used" boats available. For the money, if buying used, I would probably try to find a Champion or a Stratos...but that is just my assessment. See if the folks you are buying the boat from will take you out in it...and decide after testing it!

sounds like a fuel resrtiction... if when pushing the choke it clears up and runs...I would check the choke module. ( small round cylinder on the side of the motor with fuel lines and two wires attached). The diaphram in mine was all...cattywampus...and stretched out when I first bought my boat. My boat would start but not stay running unless I held the choke in.

there is no excuse for leaving garbage behind. If you brought it in...take it out! It is just that simple!

upgrade the wiring.... the rate is about an amp of draw per pound of thrust at 12 volts. #10 wire is 30 amp wire...running 45 pound motor on it is overworking the wire by about 50%. Electric systems are always working to achieve balance. keep in mind this basic explanation... amperage and voltage are inversely proportionate and effected by resistance. by that I mean...voltage goes down, amperage goes up. So at less voltage - you draw more amperage. ( example...at 24 volts a 30 lbs motor will draw about 15 amps...at 12 voltsthe same motor will draw 30 amps...1/2 as much voltage, twice as much amperage). Voltage is decreased by resistance - so wire offering resistance will lower voltage and increase apmerage. resistance causes heat...and heat causes resistance...and demand factor changes everything. so while you may read a full 12 volts at the motor with the boat sitting static in the back yard...under load ( with the motor running...or demand on the system) you may see a drop in voltage and increase in amperage and heat ( and thus resistance) over time. As the motor is used and heat increases, so does resistance in the wire, which lowers voltage...and increases amperage...so you may end up pulling more like 50-60 amps thru your 30 amp wire by the end of a fishing day...and the longer you do this, the worse the problem will become. you will increase battery life ( less heat and less apmerage draw) and motor life ( same reason) by changing your wiring. every time you heat the wires...you increase the conductive resistance of the wire...and the next time you use it, you will create more heat...which will increase reistance, lower voltage, and increase amperage...it is a self replicating problem that gets worse each time you use the motor. almost without exclusion...a good rule to follow...is if your electrical system wiring is warm or generating heat, you have a problem that needs fixing. I would bet if you ran around on full power for awhile and then went back and felt your battery connections, they would be warm. can you damage the motor...YES...the brushes in the motor are amperage rated...if you are running the motor on too small of wire, thus increasing resistance...lowering voltage...and increasing amperage, you will over rate the motor brushes and burn them up. ...and if you read you motor warranty there is a blurb in there about that use the old wires to fish the new ones....

first...not ALL riveted boats leak. Mine does, but that is not really the point. in investigating my boats leak here is what I was told...( some of it I agree with some of it I do not) rivets boats leak when they are mishandled. too rough of water, not being secured to the trailer properly, bumps and jumps is what makes them leak in the first place. I can see this, bit I kinda think there are probably a handful of gingerly handled riveted boats that leak. This explanation came from a manufactuer representitive who I am sure thought I was calling to get them to do something for me or to pay for something...which is why I got a sales rep when I asked for someone in engineering. (I wanted a drawing/blueprint of the stringer layout.) as far as the leak goes...my favorite answer was given to me by a mechanic with a sarcastic sense of humor...and I am paraphrasing... "well these days they have come along with a huge variety of neat little gadgets and gidgets to fix problems like this. The most recent invention, and probably the coolest thing I have seen in all my years fixin boats is...the Bilge pump." HA HA HA!!!! I was told by quite a few guys that so long as you are not leaking fast enough to sink it...just run the bilge. Which is an option I suppose, but was not a good enough option for my obsessive personality. the hardest thing is that for most of the repairs you have to pull the decks out, which, while not technically difficult, is still alot of work. If you do not want to pull the decks, you are left with an exterior repair. I did find some industrial strength aluminum blind rivets, breaking strength of 2200 pounds or something, which is stronger than the original rivets, but without being able to see the stringer underneath I was worried about not grabbing it when I drilled out the old and replaced it...and I had to buy the rivet gun which was expensive for a handful of rivets. All four of the welded rivets ( previous owner had them welded) were leaking like a friggin siv...so I would not choose that option in the future. the 5200 marine epxoy mentioned previously does a wonderful job at patching individual leaky rivets. It is great stuff, the hardest part about using it is getting the aluminum clean which takes about all of 45 seconds with a good grinder and wire wheel. truck bed liner works but holey crap is that a terrible job. I would not do it again. that laying under the boat working over my head for three days ( one to grind the baot clean and chem wash it...one to prime it with a acceptable primer...and one more to wash it again and put on the bed liner) was not fun...and the bed liner gets everywhere, regardless of how careful you are, and it is terrible stuff...soaks through your cloths and you walk around speckled for two weeks. I went through all of that...and still had a leak...turn out to be the transom fitting for the livewell intake...so check that first.

my dad always says... I aint never caught a fish that was wearin a watch

the 303 products Glenn mentioned.... that stuff ROCKS!!!!!

thank you mudcatwilly for clarifying the California thing...good to hear from someone "in the know" we midwestern folks are just never sure what the heck is going on over the in california...LOL!

first I agree with all you said...but... talk about making fishing into a science experiment! an old guy in our tourney league challenged three guys to a simple challenge...you guys and all of your fancy equipment, fishfinders, DO meters, sonar attractors, even allowed them to bring their underwater cameras...against him in his old jon boat, just a really old depthfinder that does not even mark fish...on any lake or river anywhere. They took the challenge and got their butts whooped ( on a lake the old man had never fished) Is the science there and is it quantifiable? YES for sure it is...but experience, knowledge, and skill, with or without all the gadgets, has its value as well. The old man says the science is cheating...I am not sure I would go that far, but you cannot deny that using a bunch of technology to fish takes alot of sport out of the sport of fishing.

from a prop shop near me.... the fuel efficiency of a outboard is not really mpg...it is the rpm in relation to thrust...the more thrust you can provide at lower the rpm will improve your fuel efficiency...and a Staniless prop WILL do that for you. ( in comparison to an alumiinum of the same diameter and pitch...if you change pitch and diameter that changes everything) They offer less resistance in the water, thus lowering your rpm to thrust ratio and saving fuel...though it will likely never be enough to even notice the difference on the fuel gauge ( about 2%-4%)...unless you are doing calculations with a calculator. But if you want to have the peace of mind to know you have done all you can to save fuel... the stainless prop for my boat would be $327... still seems like alot of money with very limited advantage to me.

4 stroke to 2 stroke is like anything else in life...each have their good points and each have their bad. There are things I like about both motors... but I am a two stroke guy... two strokes have been around for decades...it is tride and true well proven motor style. It is like the 4.0 motor Chrysler used to put in the Jeep's. They used the same engine for decades. It was a proven and durable engine that had been around for years...and then inexplicably, for the sake of progress or whatever, they phased it our for the 3.9...and started having problems from the get go. Why screw around with what it is proven? Why fix it if it aint broke? Two strokes have been on the water since the beginning of boating and have proved their worth....I will stick with the two stroke at least until the fours have as good of a proven track record. new is not always better...sometimes it is just new.

I am told by my marine service guy, who is also a friend, that you will find alot of dealers offering only 4 strokes...not because of a law...but because they have a slightly higher profit margin.

Holy Crap!!! RattlingRogue....KUBassmaseter...and MadGator.... You guys are lucky to still be with us! Great, though a bit scarey...stories!!!!

I looked into Stainless props... seems like alot of money for very little improvement. On my 60 horse the prop shop near me said I could expect 3-5 miles an hour improvement...3-5 miles an hour is not worth $350 bucks as far as I am concerned. I have never heard that a S.S prop will improve gas mileage.

ThomasL said in another post.... i called yamaha today inquiring about a rumor of the demise of the 2 stroke 25 I was told the same thing by a Yamaha dealer. I was told by both a G3 dealer and a Yamaha service place that the two stroke is going away. That all new motors are required to be four strokes and new boats sold are required to have four strokes... and the two stroke will be a thing of the past. Apparently Yamaha ARE THE ONLY ONES who know about this. I looked into this...went as far as emailing the coast guard, who refererred me to some environmental commitee or another... The actual law reads that all outboards must meet a certian emmissions standard...it does not matter if it two stroke or four stroke so long as the emmission standards are met. Motors like the E-Tec and the Opti Max that meet those standards are, and will continue to be, accepted motors...as far as the federal government is concerned...though some states have regulations proposed to allow only four strokes. I think California only allows Four strokes right? It bothers me that Yamaha, because they are phasing out their two strokes, think it is okay to say that ALL two strokes are phasing out... it bothers me enough that I am not considering the G3 as a boat I would buy anymore.

at least by me...you will not get much of a boat for $5000...maybe a boat that needs $1000 worth of work...so... I would put $3000 down on a used boat...that already has a good trolling motor ( so I do not have to buy one...most used boats seem to have too small a TM) I would spend $400-$500 on two decent graphs...(front and rear..it the boat has graphs already that are worth keeping I would use this money on tackle)) another $400-$500 on some decent reels and decent rods... I would spend $100 on fram booster air intake system to improve gas mileage and performance of my tow vehicle and set aside $800-$1000 just in case it ends up the boat needs something...an emergency repair fund as it were...so if something goes wrong I could get it fixed right away and not loose fishing time waiting to get cash together for a repair.

There are some great stories!!! I love a good giggle early in the morning...lost the prop...LOL...I do not think I would have caught that either! seems there are alot of launching stories...so I have one of those as well... Regardless of how forward thinking and politically correct we all like to think we are...there are still some fisherman who are surprised, shocked, even had a few who were a bit miffed, that my wife fishes tournaments with me. ( had a couple rude comments I wont repeat in a public forum from some younger guys...which i a whole 'nother story for a different post) Anyway most guys seem to assume that is HER FISHING WITH ME...like i was the fisherman and she came along for the ride...the truth is...it is me who is along for the ride. She has fished her whole life, I did not start until I married her. One of the things where guys attitudes show the most is during launch. Seems alot of guys think a woman cannot launch a boat. Well my wife is a very careful launcher. She does not really care if it takes a little time, she would rather take the time and not make a mistake, than be in a rush. A habit from the days when she was backing in her dad's 35 foot SportCraft Charter Boat. While launching at a particularly difficult ramp...bad turn with a skinny ramp...there was this small group of guys that stood watching...after she backed up once, then pulled forward to recenter the boat...one guy yelled out his window..."you need me to do that for ya Hon"...laughs all around... A good friend of ours yelled to me...you gonna let them get away with that...and stormed off in the direction of the guys truck...I stopped him, and here is why... my wife pulled completely out of the ramp...and then came zipping back in , in reverse...zipped down the ramp...the boat made a big splash ( soaked the rear deck) as it flew off the trailer...she pulled out parked the van...walked over and stood at the top of the ramp and yelled out... " 46 seconds smarts ***....your turn!" and then stood there watching her watch. she was so satisfied with herself I did not know if there was enough room in the boat for me and her big head! LOL!!!!

sounds like prop slippage. Check the hub and prop.

LOL I am usually wavering somewhere between thinking buying my boat was the best decision I ever made...or the worst decision I ever made. I get way too bored shore fishing though...

I like the Procraft. I think they are an under rated boat. Like the Hydra Sport...they were a hot bass boat...a fantastic boat...but they never really got a good foothold anywhere and hardly anyone knew about them. ( at least around me) I know several guys who fish of a ProCraft and love them...they really are just a Nitro though...owned by Tracker Marine...and not too much difference in their construction from the Nitro either. I do not think ProCraft as large of a dealer base as some other brands, so you do not hear of or see as many as you do some of the other brands with a larger dealer network. Skeeter and some other have dealers are over the south...up by me it is real hard not to buy a Nitro or a Tracker...I think ProCraft is more loosely placed...a dealer here and a dealer there, but no real market control in any specific area.

Welcome... my wife got me into fishing at 30. Never fished a day in my life before age 30. She has fished since she could walk. It is never too late in life to develope a new passion.

17' 1989 Tracker pro team 175 60 horse Johnson average speed of 32.

it all comes down to resistance...and resistance causes heat...and heat causes resistance...and resistance causes heat...it is a self replicating problem.