Lost-my-bait

Finally took my boat out for its maiden voyage. Learned several things: 1. Streamline the equipment. Was over cautious and took to much stuff making the trip cramped and not very usable. 2. I don't know how to read a fish finder. Yup, I hooked it correctly (pretty sure). I was able to get what seemed like accurate depth readings, but I never saw anything that looked like it should be a fish... Also never got a bite in 3 hrs of boating around. (So results matched the sonar) 3. Find a new lake.... I was at lake medina near San Antonio near the dam. Water measured 60 to 102ft on average. Was not what I planned on. I was hoping to find a small number inlet to anchor in and fish. Will try lake Calaveras or lake Bastrop next. Overall the boat handled well and I was happy, but I will need to adjust some things to work for me.

Here is my rudder I built. I have not used it yet so can't tell you if it works I used 1" PVC , a retractable oar (sawed off the top handle grip and it slid right inside the 1" PVC ). I then used screws on each part to keep the pipe together (didn't want to glue in case I want to undo it and adjust it). The only part with no screws are the T connector itself so it will rotate. It is otherwise held tight in place by the side rails with screws. As for making sure it does not pop up and fall overboard, I have a small eye hole screw below it in my wood floor to use a tie down on.

Thanks for all the input from each of you.

Thank you for the info cdemarse. Question though, the way it's mounted on the trolly makes me think it would be sending out sonar directly into the wake of the motor. The manual says to find the area with the smoothest flow otherwise it may cause dots and lines on the display. You have no problems I take it with yours?

Is it practical to mount on trolling motor when it's mounted on bow? What direction should it be pointing? Away from boat or pointed to go under ?

Just got my new Lowrance Mach 4 fish finder home and reading over the book (yawn). I'm trying to figure out the best placement for the transducer. My Minn Kota 55lb is mounted on bow, battery in back. I ordered a small separate 12v hummingbird battery just for the fish finder but it's still shipping. So anyway, I am just not sure the optimal spot for the transducer.

Just mounted a 9ft outdoor umbrella to the center of the boat. The base is a heavy castiron and strapped down with zip ties to 8 eyehole screws, It appears stable. I can stand up underneath it and still have plenty of head room. I doubt I would use it on a windy day, but for those calm scolding hot days... yeah baby.

Just got my floor put down. 1/2 inch treated plywood, covered it with green indoor / outdoor carpet. On the back you can see I left a small open spot, this functions to allow my small water pu*m*p to get further down inside the boat to suck more up. Also you can see an eyehole screw attached to the wood floor. This will allow me to bungie tie my rudder down so it will not bounce out (I am making a rudder from pvc and a retractable oar). Speaking of rudders, how far below the boat bottom should it hang? I have replaced the 1st seat with a high back padded chair, and the 2nd I am working on, same thing but with a 7 inch riser. Some of you might want to consider this self adhesive safty tape for the motor mount to help limit slippage. It is basically the same stuff on top of skateboards, it feels like rough sandpaper but has a sticky back on it. Also if you have a wood floor, consider placing many eyehole screws around the edge out of your way but around the boat. This will give you many places to hook or tie onto such as anchors, bungie ties ect. http://www.lowes.com/pd_96657-1681-61302_0__?k_clickID=72a2e472-0489-4490-9b21-e75c3349894e&store_code=1727&productId=3185623&selectedLocalStoreBeanArray=[com.lowes.commerce.storelocator.beans.LocatorStoreBean%4026cc26cc]&storeNumber=1727&kpid=3185623&kpid=3185623&cm_mmc=SCE_PLA-_-ToolsAndHardware-_-DoorAndHomeHardware-_-3185623%3ASKID_GUARD&CAWELAID=&CAWELAID=1023523068 I have lots more to do but it will be time consuming I can already tell.

Just got home from academy, could not be happier. They had 1 bass raider 10e left (dark green) marked 549.00. I asked if they had any sales or offers going on and the guy said this boat was on clearance because it was the old color, the new ones are the tan ones... So I got my brand new BR10e for ... 279.00 !!! I was floored to say the least -- happy happy happy. Now to start the mods lol.

For decoration purposes, does anyone know of a clear sealant that could be placed over stickers (much like the ones placed in vehicle windows - vinyl I think) that would keep them protected and embossed to the boat?

Since the Bass Raider 10e comes prewired front to back, is that just for trolling motor to battery or do the wires come in handy for anything else such as fish finders? Im clueless on fishfinders and transducers, mounting etc.... My guess from reading descriptions of different ones would be that I can mount the part that does the sonar stuff (is that the transducer?) directly to the rear mount trolling motor so it is deep enough as long as the motor is in the water... Im looking for a good solution that does not require me to drill holes. Also is there a reccomended fish finder thats not more than say 150ish? I was looking at hummingbird but I really know nothing about them... I do know that when I go fishing I almost always catch nothing more than a sunburn. Thanks

Is it possible to pair 2 deep cycle batteries that are both seperatly enclosed in a minn kota trolling motor power center? Or Is it posible to pair 2 deep cycle batteries with 1 enclosed in the power center and the other external to it so the power center feeds off both batteries? I am wanting to keep a spare battery in the boat for the just in case moments, might just place 1 in front and 1 in rear to split the weight. My concern is that my motor is a minn kota 55lb and I get the impression it drains batteries faster than the 40's and 30's. True?

To avoid drilling as many have done, is it not possible to use an adhesive like dura bond instead?

Been reading this thread for the last 4 days, so much great info. I'm buying my BR 10e next week, so many mod ideas it's crazy. I picked up my trolling motor this morning, got me the Minn Kota Endura C2 55. It was on sale 229.99 and I had a 10% off coupon, walked out for 224 bucks. Couldn't pass it up. My immediate plans will be: Replace seats. Install carpeted wood floor. Mount small outdoor umbrella base to the wood floor in center and carry an outdoor patio umbrella in the boat for those baking hot days. If it works I will update here, if it doesn't then I'll pretend I never did it