fishnkamp

There are two launches to use up there. Launch up at Glen Cove Marina or use the launch at Peach Bottom. Glen Cove has a decent ramp, but is a bit tight to turn around and get lined up. Also there is a pretty steep hill to walk up and down to get from the ramp to the parking lot and back. Glen Cove is where I always used to launch at despite its geography, even with the big 20 footer. The public launch at Peach Bottom is a bit further away but has a wide open parking lot and decent ramps.

The two best places to launch on the Susquehanna are at Tidings Memorial Park Harve De Grace and Anchor Marine on the North east River. If you are just looking for a pretty safe place to place to launch and get a feel for the new rig come down to Middle River and launch at Wilson Point Park or Maryland Marina. You could also consider launching at Dundee Creek and mess around in the Gunpowder river area.

For river fishing I used a drag chain. It starts with a long piece of rope tie to about 3 feet of 3/8 inch chain. I used a quick link like this and could connect a 3 foot piece of 1/2 inch chain. Most of the chain was wrapped in duct tape to make it quieter. This is really effective in moving water as it allowed me to fish around the boat before the chain came thru the area. The other nice thing is it all fit in a small bucket so when it was not in use it was neatly stored.

What type of lures are you fishing Excuse my lack of knowledge I never lake fish for trout. I would make my decision on based on what will allow my lures to work properly. Will you be trolling deep, casting etc?

I run 1/2 a spool of Stren Clear Blue 14 pound test. If you fish like I do often when fishing for bass and stripers we catch big cats. I have had a few stripers and cats pull the double uni knot out through the guides. Tape wont go out. I figured it out The xtren was lee than 10 cents a foot braid is almost 3 times that and fluoro was way more. You do not need 300 feet of braid, 150 of mono and 150 of braid. If you ever have a major line issue you only need to replace half a spool. One more advantage is the mono won't slip on the spool if your arbor knot is tied correctly.

I think the best thing for you to do is take it a dealer and have him test and fix it.

If you can use a 6 foot rod look seriously at a G Loomis SJR 721. My wife and I both fish 721 and 722s. The 721 is rated light. Lure rating for it is 1/16 to 5 1/16. She fishes a GL2 and I fish an IMX version. These rods have always pleased us to fish. This April we fished on Dale Hollow Lake in KY /TN for big post spawn female smallies. They were just off the beds recuperating on main lake grass beds, in 10 to 20 foot of water. The only thing they would eat was a Ned Rig. We threw 1/10 ounce mushroom head jigs and 2.5 inch NED TRD bodies (picture a 2 1/2 inch senco). We averaged 6 pound smallies and one 6.5 pound cat that took a long time to get it in. I laughed, loosened her drag and got out of her way so she could run around the boat chasing it. Check out the pic. Seriously they are really nice rods. Normally we throw a lot of Kalin grubs on the 721s as well as beetle spins.

Well at least the responder knew something about it and its history.

I am just curious why must it be 6"3 no shorter no longer?

Inside my rod locker is around 15 rods, sometimes less and sometimes more. Always I have at least 2 G Loomis 6 foot spinning rods. I have a light 1/16 to 5/16 and a medium 1/8 to 3/8. Then I carry a Okuma 6'9 ml Reflextions rod that i had 4 inches taken off the long rear part of the split handle so now it is 6'5 and fits perfect, it covers 1/8 to 1/2 and throws the light jerkbaits like original Rapala floating minnows and rebel humpys and jitterbugs. I also throw in a G Loomis 7 foot medium rod for drop shots and sencos when needed. The rest are all baitcasters, some of which are very technique specific like frogs and jigs fished very deep. Often those rods do not go out. I am a diesel mechanic, so I use tools everyday. I do not expect to use a screwdriver to do the job of a wrench or a hammer. It seems you are not thrilled with the distance you get with the spinning rod setup as you have it. Try something a little different. First I load 1/2 of the spool with 14 pound Stren clear blue. This makes a really good backing and it makes sure the arbor knot tightens good and won't slip. Next add 1/2 of a spool of Berkley Original FireLine 14 pound braid. This line acts very different than other lines. I use the Original or Fused, depends on what I find. The play the same. I also like the green or neonlime (the same color) and I will add a 10 pound P LIne cxx moss green leader anywhere from 3 to 6 foot long. Save your present braid on a empty spool or even cardboard. One nice thing is by using the backing it only takes one half as much braid or fluoro to fill a reel. Now you might want to spool the 20 pound braid on the baitcaster and concentrate using the baitcaster for throwing baits like Reaction Innovation Skinny Dipper swimbaits with belly weighted hooks or even the jig heads that look like fish heads, jigs with plastics, texas rigged plastics, thing like that. I think you will be more successful. The equipment you own is nice, but I think you can use it a bit more efficiently perhaps. you may find it works better for you, or not. Good Luck. Let us know how it works out. By the way my wife can handle any fly rod and any spinning rig , but no baitcasters. She used to have a dickens of a time with coils coming off her spool and making a mess, or should iI say I had the trouble with.... Anyway we tried a ton of different mono and copoly line, but since I switched to the FireLine that went away completely. We have caught some big fish on it

Do you have a 6'6 or 7' medium light or medium spinning rod?

I did some digging and found this. http://forums.iboats.com/forum/general-boating-outdoors-activities/prop-questions-and-topics/10255466-protester-prop and http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mercury-Protester-SST-Propeller-26P-/301905115055 So it looks like someone from Ranger designed it, sold it to another prop company and then it became a Mercury Prop. Interesting. It looks like yours might be a 21 pitch cupped prop, maybe?

Honestly I fish those really smaller lighter baits on a 6'6" spinning rod. I also have a 7 foot Okuma Reflections rod I had the but shortened on and now it works terrific. I load the reel with 14 pound Berkley Fireline original or fused. I tie on an 8 pound leader about 4 foot long and that works for me. Those wind resistant, light lures are tough with a baitcaster.

We kinda gave you some ideas in your last post. Take a look at these boats to get some ideas. http://harrisburg.craigslist.org/boa/5727630624.html http://southjersey.craigslist.org/boa/5724782035.html http://southjersey.craigslist.org/boa/5722550609.html http://delaware.craigslist.org/boa/5732885719.html http://southjersey.craigslist.org/boa/5708827827.html Look in and around the Philadelphia and Harrisburg areas. Lots of southern Jersey get advertised in the Philly area.

Here I have a contact for a fantastic prop shop in Tennessee get the model numbers off both of the props together. Give them a call and discuss what you have what is doing and he will fix you up. Call Dans Prop Shop He deals with new and used propellers as well as custom work. 423 3332 9002 or www.danspropshop.com toll free877-332-9002

For the money the Ti is a nice unit. If you link them they do not share as much is info as the HDIs but it is the same size as an HDS 7. Most of us that are not running a 20 footer and a new 250 engine do not need to do things like monitor engine stats on our gps units. Also the HDS7 can operate a power pole. These are the extras a HDS can do and why they cost 2x as much.

Consider moving it up front and add something like the Lowrance Elite Ti. It cots 4*00 and it offers capabilities very close to the much more expensive HDS units. Have one of them put back at the console, move the "4" upfront and hook it to a trolling motor transducer. This way you are wasting very little.

Is Bill Dance your buddy? Seems he has done that more than once! God some of his bloopers are painful to watch. Somehow I can not stop watching them though.

Find a local tackle shop and ask who does custom rod repairs. They will know someone, often the person works there. To replace the entire guide, with labor should cost about $20 give or take a little. No big deal. I have one of those rods and enjoy fishing with it. I throw rattle traps on mine mostly. To repair it you need some special equipment. It is cheaper to get it done. My custom rod builder charges $20 bucks for one and $10 for each extra one. That price depends on what the cost of the guide is. Some guides are inexpensive and some can only be purchased as a set.

Before you make any changes check with a local prop shop to see if they can modify the one you have. Or they could supply you with one that better suits your needs. It may be a lot cheaper. I am confused you say you are redlining with the ss prop. You say it only gets to 5200. You say your goal is 5500 to 5600. If the wot is the correct rpm when yo are properly trimmed out then your prop has too much pitch. The rough formula is if you add 1 inch of pitch then the rpm will drop 200 RPM. If you are too low now then you would need to drop pitch to gain rpm. I would verify my numbers with the ss prop. Then find a local prop shop. They will help you get set up right. As for running a spare performance aluminum I can highly recommend just one and that is the Turning point Hustler. It is a true performance prop from the tuned barrel to the open tuned exhaust ports. I run one and love it. West Marine and others sell them. Just go to Turning Point's website and use their prop wizard. Also if you modify or replace your ss prop you still may want one of these for a spare like making special trips. These props only cost about $120 and a Turning Point hub( model 502) will run about $50. The Hustler can run a Merc hub but I recommend the Turning Point one so all you need to do is swap it out quickly.

Well i have never run the tabs but have run the Sting Ray hydrofoil on several engines. This is the original that you drill to install. I have only used that one. http://www.overtons.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?pdesc=Sting-Ray-Hydrofoil-Stabilizer-25-365-hp-engines&i=28984&r=view&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=googlebase&s_kwcid=googlepla&cvsfa=2587&cvsfe=2&cvsfhu=3238393834424c4b&gclid=CN-4jKuAx84CFVRahgodymYB2w The number of the prop will tell you several things. One the diameter and the other the pitch. I did some research and I think the top wot for that engine is 5600. Check the serial tag on your engine. If I am right on the specs and you are right about your wot then you are running about 200 to 400 rpm high. Adding1 inch of pitch lowers wot about 200 rpm. You could take the prop to a prop shop and add some pitch and some cup. The pitch would lower the rpm and the cup helpsgrip more water and probably support the boat better when running at mid range. It help sorta like running a 4 blade does. Just trying to give you some options. I modified an aluminum prop for my boat by having a prop shop add 2 inches of pitch and a bunch of cup to my prop. I got a great fast and level hole shot, increased my top speed and lowered my wot rpm so I was in the middle of the factory spec.

PourMyOwn is correct. I meant to slow the line down and stop it with a finger, then pull up on the rod a bit as my other hand physically flips the bail closed. That will result in a tight line on the spool and no loose coils which cause most of the trouble with a spinning reel. After a while you just do it without even noticing you did it.

They are one answer. My friend Phil had the same boat as you. I know they are not needed. What make and size is the engine and if you can copy down the numbers on the prop they can be put in a google search to find out what size and pitch you have. By the way is this aluminum or stainless? Just so you know my friends ran like a .... Truly one of the hardest launching fastest holeshot boats I have ever been in. It shot out like a rocket. It was amazingly fast too.

First I am glad no one was hurt. All of the things that have been said above here are true. A StingRay hydrofoil will assist you in running more level at slower speeds. They may also cost a bit of top end speed. Running more level and not allowing the boat to porpoise is one of the things they were designed to do. I know there are a lot of different manufacturers with different models but I have always been happy with a genuine Sting Ray. By the way I had a friend with that boat and I owned a ProCraft 20 footer just a year newer. Before you put one on give us some info. Do you have a jackplate, manual or hydraulic? Take a yard stick lay it on the bottom of the boat extended out to the lower unit on the engine. Now measure from the yard stick up or down to the center of the prop shaft ( the engine must be straight up and down at the time) using a tape measure. We call that the prop to pad measurement. What prop does it have on it. Is it aluminum, or stainless steel ? What brand, size and pitch. Also take it out for a run and tell us when the boat was trimmed out for best top speed what was the rpm and speed. I guess I forgot to ask is this the boat you hit the floating log? If it is did the boat perform any different after that encounter?

If that is one of the new tournament MB Speed Spool lfs series it already has a 95mm handle. Check your box and see what it says. I am not sure there are longer handles for them.