Ben

Presonnaly, I feel a flasher will outperform and LCD in water less than 100ft but I've been using flashers since 1965 and know how to read one. The only real advantage I find with the LCD is the short term history it offers while fishing. With the LCD, you only have to look at timed intervals to see what you passed over, it you're not looking at the flasher, you don't have a clue. If I'm moving faster than slow TM speed, I always use my flasher when looking for bait fish or checking out structure.

I'm just the opposite of road warrior. I prefer the baitcaster 10:1 over spinning reels for night fishing. I also use black lights front and rear on both sides of the boat, and do a lot more flipping and pitching at night. You can work shallow cover much closer at night than day, and since not many people night fish for bass, the fish are not as easily spooked, however, you still can't make noise in the boat. A little LED head lamp or mini flashlight with a red lens filter is also nice to have. Don't use any white light if you can avoid it, it takes about 20 minutes to get you full night vision back. You will also come to hate crappie and cat fishermen with their spot lights. They always want to throw it on you to see what you're doing, or just wondering what that alien craft is with those strange looking lights.

Once you discover it's out, If you can get on plane or get enough forward motion to create a cavity behind the boat, it will suck all the water back out and just don't stop until you get back to the ramp. If you have a partner, make a quick stop to let him out to get the vehicle while you get back on plane to suck the water back out again and then drive straight to the trailer when it's backed in. The boat will not take on water unless it's sitting still or moving very slow. If buy yourself, and can get to the hole from the battery compartment, like Glen says, stuff it with rags or something after getting it sucked back out by running down the lake. If it uses the standard old drain plug, you can stick it in from the battery compartment side. If it's the screw in plug like mine, start stuffing what ever you can find. I pulled that stunt about 30 years ago. After doing it once, you learn to check and double check to be sure the plug is in. I put it in before I leave the house (unless it's raining) and check it again at the ramp, just to be darn sure.

Find you an old 14' jon and a small 70's - 80's model 9.9 - 15 HP motor (Merc or OMC, none of these off brand things). You should be able to get a boat, motor and trailer for less than $1,000. Have the motor checked out by a qualified mechanic and have it winterize and prep'd for storage when you head off to school. Park the trailer in the back yard out of the way, flip the jon upside down on it and you will have it for many years to come.

Now, you've gone a long way from a Eagle 480 unit to a combo sonar/gps unit. Acutally, I prefer the flasher when easing around looking. Anything more than full slow idle, and the LCD's have a tendency to start loosing a lot of detail. The flasher will show you everything, even at several mph. The main reason I run LCD units is they keep a slight history of what you've passed over while you're fishing, where with a flasher, if you're not looking at it, you can miss stumps and other fish holding structure. The biggest draw back to a flasher, it seems to be most people don't know how to read for anything other than bottom contour, where they actually show you everthing the LCD does, just doesn't draw you a picture. I also pefer my best LCD on the bow, but I don't buy LCD/GPS combo units.

Yea, but you can fish for a year for what I burn on a weekend for gas. These big boats do have their drawbacks too. You also don't need a gas guzzling, full size pickup to haul your's back and forth to the lake. You can slide your's into any pond or lake around. Can't slide these big boats anywhere there's not a boat ramp. So, even if you got one of these big, shiney, fast bass boats, you would still have to keep your old jon, and find you find you would still use it more than the big boat. (after the new wore off the big boat and you got tired of spending so much on gas and oil) Don't start knocking those old jons, I'm still very partial to mine. Over the years, that old tin can's probably haul in more fish than all my bass boats combined.

Wait until your get 58 years old and a back that bothers you, you won't have any problems with wanting to sit down to fish. Not matter what the fishing platform, I would think a 10 anything would not be stable enough to "safely" stand in, unless you're might small and light.

I'm have three Lowrance X-75's, one Eagle 480, seven Lowrance 1240A's and one Lowrance X87. I bought the X87 to replace the Eagle 480 because I don't like the 480 but haven't got around to swapping them out. There are just several quirks about it I don't like. I run the 480 on the bow of one of my boats and my biggest problem is I never run in Auto, and for some reason the things reverts back to the Auto mode sometimes when I turn it on and I have to go through all my setup again. There are some other little quirks I don't like. I've been using the X-75's for a few years and love them, thought the 480 would be about the same with a 480 pixle, but ain't no where near the same. Bought the X87 on sale recently at Cabela's for $150 but haven't hooked it up yet, can't say about it. I use the 1240A's about as much as anything, all three of my bass boats have them in the bow and console, and I dash mounted one in my little Fisher tin can. I guess I should say, as far as detail it's great and no problem with fish arches. A couple the other things I don't like is the screen color and the back lighting. In the summer, I do a lot of night fishing and the backlighting doesn't give you but two levels, both too bright to suit me.

That seems like a lot of boat to only be rated for a 90 hp motor so I wouldn't expect blistering speeds from her. I would definetly take it for a test ride, with two full size people full livewell to see how it peforms. NADA.COM is a good source for getting prices but take them with a grain of salt. Don't use as a bible. Another thing, about the tac, that's could very easily be a bad rectifier/regulator. That's what supplies the tac signal it's very common for them to fail. Bad batteries or disconnecting the battery with motor running or switch on are the main cause of their failure. This is about a $200 repair if you have to have it done, parts about $150. No longer being made is also going to make them go down a quickly in value, I bought this 1999 R20 for $5,000 + $600 to get it to GA. THe 225 Ficht motor needs injectors rebuilt, that cost $600. So work your deal carefully and don't get boat fever. NADA shows this boat to be approx $15,000

comparing the 1436 to a canoe is like trying to campare a 20' Ranger to a 1436 jon boat when it comes to stability. Plus, you would have to get a 17' canoe to be anywhere near stable, and that's a bit much out the back of a pickup. Then when by yourself in the canoe, you have to fish it backwards and put your spare tire in it to keep the other end down. The jon will want to raise it's nose a bit also and go in circles when by yourself, but nothing like the canoe. I put a ton of hours in a canoe when I was young and that was all I had to fish out of. Thought I was in high cotton when I got me a 14' jon

The Javelin was made by Stratos, but not the same boat. When Stratos went to total composite construction with no wood, they didn't do the same with the Javelin, at least I know my 99 Javelin R20 still has wood. I think it was about 2002 - 2003 Genmar droped the Javelin line. I know they went to a lifetime warrenty on the Stratos hull and the Javelin only has a 10 year. As for speed, I think the Javelin is actually a little faster than the Stratos of similar size, at least the R20 is. I read an article while back where they tested the 1999 R20 like I have and it ran 78 with a 225HO, loaded with two people. The 201, was the same size back then is a couple of mph slower. Mine was said to run 76 by previous owner with a 225 Ficht, don't know haven't run that motor on it yet. I GPS'd it a 81.7 with my motor, loaded to the hilt, livewell full, 35 gallons of gas and two 230+ men in it. That was with no setup, just bolted the motor on and ran it. I haven't had mine in really rough water but I'm told the 201 and the 20' Tritons handle the rough water a little better, but that's one person's opinion.

If I was wanting to match a bigger boat to a 8 hp motor, I would not look at anything larger than a 1442 jon and would lean a lot more toward the 1436. The 1442 will be a lot more stable and your little motor should still be able to get it on plane and scoot on along with it as long as you don't have loaded heavy with a couple of big men and gear. It will not be a speed boat by no means but will get you around a couple thousand acres reasonably well. If you think a 1436 gives you enough room, I would go with that over the 1442. Most likely you will have to go to a smaller pitch prop on the motor so it can get up into it's recommend rpm range

Unless you want to get into the high dollar commercial units, the Lowrance's hard to beat as far as performance goes. Not saying by no means they are the best quality, but they perform better than most in the same price range. I've owned a bunch of them over the years and most have fogged the screen to some degree but have never had one to fail and have never had another brand less than $500 to match their performance. I'm from the old school and will not buy a combination unit. If one half fails usually both are dead. I still buy seperate gps/sonar. Yes, they take up more room but you only have to upgrade or replace on one at the time.

This is the 1999 Javelin Renegade 20 with a 225 Ficht I just bought for $5,000 in AZ, plus another $600 to get it back to GA. Should be a nice little upgrade for my Stratos 285 Pro.

I've probably got $300 worth of different kinds of gore-tex gloves and so far, none of them keep my hands dry. Keeping them dry is only half the battle, keeping them warm and dry, that's the real problem. Somebody on this site recommended SealSkinz and I've ordered two pair of those. One with the fleece inside for $50 and one without for $28. Gonna see if they work. So far the best thing I've been able to come up with are the brown cotton work gloves. I buy them a couple of dozen pair at the time and change gloves often when they start getting wet. I also keep a couple of those flat, pancake style Coleman propane heaters in the boat so we can warm our hands and dry gloves if we start running out. A little note also, every year CVS puts their propane bottles on clearance dirt cheap. I've got about 10 cases of the twin packs I bought for $1.25 per twin pack. I'll let you know about the Sealskinz in a couple of weeks, it'll probably be then before I have a chance to go again. If my hand wasn't so big, (wear a size 16 ring) I would try latex gloves over the cotton gloves but I've never found any that didn't fit so tight they cut the circulation off. I've got it where everything about me is nice and warm all day, rain or shine, even when running down the lake and the temps in the teen's, if I could just keep my hands warm while fishing. We did have to quit one time last year when it started sleeting so hard it made such a heavy coat of sleet in the boat it was to slippery to walk on.

Nope, not that Ben. Actaully known as Keith with friends and family. I think Cooter would be a little older than 58 now.

All you need to do to add it in the rear of the is get you a momentary on single pole double throw toggle switch and a rubber cover to water proff it and install it in the rear somewhere. The wires will just splice into the three wires going to the console trim control. This can be done with three blue Scotch Locks and three blue crimp on ends that match the terminals on the switch and a few feet of 16 ga stranded wire. Home Depot used to have everything you need back in the electrical dept. A momentary on switch is one that's spring loaded to automaticaly return to the center, off position when released. Single pole, double throw is one that only has three terminals on the bottom. You can use a double pole (has six terminals) and just use the three terminals on one side. The common wire (usually red) will go on the center terminal and the up/down will go on the outer. Mount the swich so when you push up the motor goes up. As for transome savers, too much hype put into them. I just hauled my 20 ft Javelin with a 225 Ficht on a 10" jackplate from Tucson Arizona to Jeffersonville GA (and came across Louisana on I-10) without a T-Saver and didn't bother me one bit about doing it. On 99% of the roads you travel are going to be smooth highway except for a railroad crossing or two and the put brake pedals in the vehicle for those. NOT saying to use one or not too, that's what ever makes you feel better.

Yep, can be any of the above but to answer your question on checking it electricaly. A digital volt meter will check the battery. A fully charged battery will have between 12.6 and 12.8 volts (depending on the type). This is checked 24 hours after disconnecting charger. Easiest way to check the current draw if you don't have a DC current loop is to go to a auto parts store and get you a 45 Amp, amp meter and connect it in series with the positive cable. I am assuming this is a 12V TM. Connect the battery lead to the negative side of meter and TM cable to the positive side. Record the amp draw and the battery voltage at that amp draw (with the motor in water and prop on it) I don't have the formulas for converting this info into pounds of thrust so you will have to call a repair facility and see what your motor is suppose to draw at a specific battery level.

Don't pour acetone on the fiberglass, you may disolve more than you bargain for. Usually after the carpet gets some age on it it pulls up with no problem. I may leave bunches of pile stuck the wire brush on the side grinder will get that. Forgot to mention, don't use the wire brucsh on the fiberglass either, it will make a mess out of it. I bought 10 cans of the 3M Hi Strength 90, still got about 8 cans left. I used 1/2 can trying to do the boat carpet and the rest glueing door panels and stuff in cars. Make you a very good deal on the rest. Just saw your lower post, I also did all the seats in mine myself. Cost me a less than $100

Do you have a tach? What rpm was it turning with the 19" pitch aluminum? That motor should be proped to turn 5,500 rpm with your normal load. especially if it has already gotten cool/cold and the water temps are down in the 60's or lower. If you go much lower than 5,500 rpm now, it will be a dog, next summer when things warm back up. That 19" prop will give them a pretty good idea of what prop you need. I would think for a 150 on that size boat you will need between a 20 - 24" raker and if having to make an off the wall quess, I would say a 22" raker or 23" renegade. It will be much better to turn that motor 5,700 rpm than to prop it down where it will only turn 5,000 rpm.

I did the carpet in my Stratos about two years ago (the last boat in the "Lets see your boat"). I changed the color from dark blue to the grey/blue that's in it now so I had to change everything, inside the storage compartments, rod lockers, under seats and all. First let me give you a couple of words of advise. Make sure you figure the amount you need with all the cuts following the same grain. You can't turn pieces to make better use of the piece you want to cut. If you change the grain with a piece, it will look like it's a different color. Next, you will probably want to stay with the same weight carpet as what's in the boat now. If you have 16 oz, go back with 16 oz, unless you have plenty of clearance between the hatch lids. If you have 16 oz and go with the supper plush 20 or 22 oz it may bind the lids up and make them hard to open. When ready to lay the carpet, don't bother with waterproof carpet glue, to much touble. Get some Original contact cement, works better than anything I've tried. Roll it on the piece of carpet and on the surface it goes on and let it flash. Put the two together, rub it down and it's there. No having to put weights and clamps on anything. When you do the lids, measure how much it's going to take to fold down the lip and up inside. I think I had to allow 2 1/2" on each side for mine, a total of 5" added to each piece for the lids. When I cut the carpet for the lids, I had the roll of carpet upside down and the lids properly oriented top down on it to insure proper place size. I had also cut some 1/4 plywood strips the width I need to add to each side. I had all the lids numbered and lettered so I knew which was which and wrote that number/letters on the carpet piece with an arrow pointing toward the front of the boat (that's how I placed all lids so they were always on the carpet facing the front of the boat. I then cut my pieces, using a utility knife and kept a good sharp blade in it with a sheet of plywood underneath to cut into. When I got ready to glue the lids, I laid each lid on the piece of carpet for it, measured it to get it centerd and drew it off with a shapie. I then marked the notches for the corners and cut them. DON'T cut all the way to the lids corner or it will leave the bare metal corner exposed. Make one cut for the corner notch on all four corners. After you glue it too your lid and make the fold, then you can cut the overhanging piece off so theirs no worry about the corner not coming together and leaving the metal exposed. As for cleaning the old glue off, a 7" side grinder with a large bowl shaped brush works good. Lacquer thinner or adhesive remover will take it off the small areas you want to make sure you get a good bond. Don't worry about getting every bit of it off on the large surfaces. Just make sure there is none of the old pile left. In areas you are going to have problems getting the piece in without the glue sticking first, (this is contact glue so the two surfaces can't touch until in place) use wax paper to cover the surface you're wanting to work the capter into, just don't put pressure on the wax paper or it may stick. Once the piece of carpet is in position, slide the wax paper out and press the carpet down. Dang, wrote a book! Hope this helps

My oldie but goodie 285 Pro and my main partner. Which will be for sale in the next couple months for $5,200. That's with a rebuilt 150, not the motor on it.

Naaa, no contest. Just when someone starts posting about something they don't have a clue about, I like to have a little fun and start pulling their chain. I make it sound like I'm upset but in reality, I'm laughing my butt off the whole time. What's the old saying, Don't talk the talk until you've walked the walk. I know those things work great at getting an underpowered rig up and worth their weight in gold on back bay boats, but to say no "hot rod" bass boat would run a foil, come on, I would say more do than don't. I know a guy running those on his 80 mph Triton and loves them for getting on plane, but they do nothing for stopping his chine because they don't touch the water then and wouldn't have them on his boat if they did because common sense would tell you they would slow the boat down if they did. Be like an aircraft running with it's flaps down. As for running on the pad, when your running 80+ mph, that's all your running on. Where those things are mounted, they would have to stick straight down to touch the water on the back of my boat (and probably wouldn't touch then). AS for running on the last 24" of pad, I doubt if I'm running on that much most of the time and if there's a chop on the water, you can see daylight under the whole boat more often than not.

Depends on how much you run your TM. For a small motor, a true deep cycle will start it just fine and will give you a little better service/run time for the TM. If you don't have a problem with run time on the TM, the dual purpose will work good. I run two of those big yellow Walley World batteeries on my TM and but I don't fish all day anymore, few hours in the AM and few hours in the PM plus I run a variable speed motor that's very conservative on a battery at moderate speeds.

Gosh, I didn't know they were so bad on a bass boat. I've been running a SE Sport 300 on mine for about three years and love it. Hole shot is unreal and it doesn't seem to slow mine down, but I guess mine's not really a "hot rod bass boat" since in only run 82 mph gps with 300 hp. A friend has a 20 Shadow that runs about 95 with the same type foil and loves his also. Can't count the guys I know running 100+ mph Allison's and Bullet's with hydrofoils. None would ever run that whale tale thing, a flat one or slight turn down on the ends is very common though. I guess none of these would be considered "hot rod" bass boats since it was suggested a true high performance bass boat would never run one. The foil doesn't touch the water on fast boats when air out. I would like to know what would be considered a high performance bass boat though, since none of these seem to fit the mold. Oh, and no chine walk, get real. In a true "high performance" bass boat, that part of the hull never touches the water when aired out. They run on the pad, not the strakes. Guess I should have mentioned, don't think I've ever noticed one for a small motor like a 9.9 but they do make a big difference on these non-hot rod bass boats I refered to.