fishnkamp

I have been running an BPS charger since 2010. I have never had any problems with it. But I used to run a different brand on my old boat. Try this before you go any further. Disconnect the wires from each terminal , clean the terminals just like any battery, them clean each wire ring terminal. (Use a wire brush and baking soda on the battery terminals as needed, use some steel wool or light sand paper on the ring terminals) rehook the wires from the first terminal then proceed to the next till all the terminals on all of the batteries are clean. Now retry the charger. Sometimes a good physical connection does not mean a good electrical connection. Now if the charger fails then more than likely it is the charger.

Yes

Try a Yumbrella rig with a group of swim baits on it to look like a school of fish. I like the Berkley Ripple shads for this. There are large swimbaits that look like trout, perch bluegill, sunfish etc that can be fished individually. Also companies like Big Hammer make shad swimbaits that you can vary the weighted heads on. They really work well in clearer bodies of water with big schools of bait. What may have happened is your fish have changed their eating habit due to changes in forage. Also with the extra water they may be spread out more.

Well you should love it. I run a 2010 Stinger 170 now with a 75 Merc (originally with a 25 for a restricted HP lake) and she has been on waters in VA, MD, PA,TN,and KY. It is a traveler. In April my wife, the dog, and the boat are headed back to KY for a week on Dale Hollow!! Can't wait. Enjoy your new one.

The brick and mortar is also the warehouse for the online, same guys and same inventory! George and Mike have been good friends and teachers to me over the years , prayers for a speedy recovery for sure!

You will be a much happier camper for sure! That is a beautiful boat. Also if you get the urge for a larger, faster platform, it is a Ranger, so it holds its resale value well!!! Congrats.

There is one thing to consider with your question about your alternator charging your trolling motor batteries. The alternator puts out 12 volts, which is fine when connected to one starting battery. Most of us have 24 volt or 36 volt systems for our trolling motors. Your 12 volt alternator would be damaged if hooked directly to a 24 or 36 volt system. That is why several of the members have mentioned aftermarket equipment that can do this safely. Those units like the Minn Kota and the Stay and Charge, as well as your on board charger, have separate charging circuits for each battery. These circuits are isolated from each other, so no electrical issues occur. When I outfit a new boat I always use short jumpers between the two trolling motor batteries. Then I wire my boat with two positive leads (8 gauge each) and two negative leads(also 8 gauge each) from the batteries all the way to the front and connect them to two separate thermal breakers. From the breakers I have 1 positive and 1 negative lead going to the trolling motor plug. Since the total current travelling to the trolling motor is cut in half, 1/2 per wire, the total resistance is dropped. So this means the current drop across the circuit is also lowered (less current wasted in heat). As a result I never run out of juice on the lake! I also always recharge upon returning to the motel or home. It is a simple thing to set up but it works.

First lets cover the Quantums, The 7 foot Medium should throw small to mid size crankbaits as well as texas rigged plastics. I mentioned a rods action and taper previously. In this case the action is medium but the rod could be a moderate, fast or extra fast tipped rod. The taper helps determine the rods "best" use. I happen to have a Quantum 7 foot MH rod that I love. It is listed as having a lure weight of 1/4 to 1 1/2. The taper is very moderate and let me explain. If I hold the rod to the floor and gently bend the rod its bend goes very far from the tip back halfway to the handle. This means lures that require a slower reaction time for the fish to get a hold of the bait would work well with this rod. Baits like crankbaits, rattle trap type baits etc. I believe the entire line of Escalades are that way, more moderate. If however only the first 30 percent of the rod bent than it would be closer to a faster tip. This along with a rod that only had say 15 percent of the tip bending (a extra fast) would react too quickly and most likely you would lose many of the bites with that type of tipped rod and these type baits.. Your 6'6'' Quantum spinning would work well with plastics like Kalin grubs,all sort of creature baits like lizards and tube baits, craw imitations etc. I recommend both texas rigs and jig heads like Lucky Strikes Perfect Worm Hook. It is a combo worm hook with a built in worm weight. They are terrific on lot of plastics. This rod should be good for drop shotting as well. I would have to physically check out the Abu since I am not familiar with it. It could potentially work well on big jigs and Carolina rigging, just not sure till it was in my hand. Anyway I like the Escalades, for the regular price they are a decent rod, at half off they are a steal.

The highest thrust I have seen is 80lb. Check out the Minn Kota Maxumm 70 and 80lb motors. When you see a 300 dollar jump from the Maxumm 70 to the Maxumm 80 do not think they have flipped. The 70 lb unit is the highest output of the smaller units. The 80 is a bigger motor , it is used in the 24 volt 80lb model and is also used in the 36 volt 101 lb model, so it is a stronger heavier duty unit. The 101 shares a lot of pieces with the 80 but not all as I understand it.

That rod series is very nice, I would have to check out that model. I know you listed the spec but the manufacturers do not all have the same specs. Let say we were talking about an Abu Garcia Veritas (about a 100 dollar rod). They are nice rods but their MH 7 footer is going to be heavier in action (not physical weight) then say a Powell or Quantum rod. It is true generally for most of Abu's lines. That is not bad, as long as you have the stick in your hand to access the rod's action.and taper. As for the reel, here is just my opinion. The Chronarch and Chronarch CI4's have been terrific reels. You may have been able to get a fine reel for less money but these Shimano;s are terrific. I run some Diawa Tatula and Tatula R reels that are less money but very nice reels. Lews also makes some really fine reels for a less money as well. In the Shimano line I may have also had you look at the Curado I 200 which retails around that same 140-to 180 range which all of the previous reels fit into.

Worm Man 2020 Name here is Bob. I also live in MD. If you are going to fish lakes like Black Hills. Cunning Falls, and Piney Run Lake in Carroll County, then your 12 volt 45lb trolling motor will be fine. If you wish to fish Tridelphia Reservoir or larger lakes then I would add 1 battery, sell your tm and get either a Minn Kota Maxum 70 lb tm, or the MG 75lb. If you do that, just run your two bank battery charger to the two deep cycle batteries dedicated to the trolling motor. That is fine because the starting battery will be recharged while the outboard is running. I would really look at electronics first. Check out Green Top which is a fishing tackle retailer down in Ashland VA. They currently have some really good deals on electronics. My wife and I have owned 11 boats over the years, everything from canoes to aluminum bass boats and several larger fiberglass bass boats. I recently sold an aluminum reservoir rig that I ran on Prettyboy reservoir. I currently own a Lowe Stinger17 Bass Boat powered by a 75 HP Merc, it has a MK 70 tm, a HB 788 on the front deck, and a Lowrance Elite7 at the console. I run 3 big group 30 AGM batteries and a 2 bank charger. I originally purchased this boat to fish a lake in Hanover PA. called Lake Marburg. It has a 20 hp restriction. I rigged it with a T&H Marine trim/tilt plate, a used 25 Merc re-decaled as a 20, had to change the prop 5 inches in pitch and added a Stingray jr. This made the boat come out of the hole flat and level with a top speed of 18 mph, which was incredible for a 25 hp outboard and a 1000 pound hull. Rigging boats is one of my specialties. If I can help you with your project let me know. By the way if you would want one of the Dig in shallow water anchor poles I have one I would let go. I paid $75 I will take $50. It works fine I just do not se it much.

They were Minn Kotas.That boat was super light, narrow width, 15,5 ft long. Because it was a stick steering boat originally, there was almost no storage in it. I ran 4 12 volt Cabelas group 30s tucked on the sides about midway and I only ran 1 12 volt under my seat. You may have too much weight up front. I ran that boat for several years on Pretty Boy. I always meant to get on Liberty but liked PB too much.

Well to be honest I have run reservoir rigs here in Baltimore MD. I am afraid you will be at a disadvantage hull weight wise, but lets go forward. I ran a 16 foot aluminum PolarKraft stick steer boat for my reservoir rig. First how much is your budget? The hot ticket around here is the Torqeedo 4.0 remote electric outboards. That motor also comes in a tiller version depending on your setup. These are 24 volt motors These motor replaced the popular Ray Marine 60 volt motors and custom home made golf cart outboards. That Torqeedo motor is almost 9.9 horse power and costs close to $4000.00. Now that was not in my budget, but guys that reservoir fished only ran them often. What I did was mount one battery under the front bass seat and it ran my front 55 pound front trolling motor. Down each side of the boat I had two sets of battery banks with 2 batteries per bank. The left hand set fed one 55 pound transom mount trolling motor and the right hand set fed one 55 pound transom mount trolling motor. The wiring went a s follows: Battery 1 had its #6 awg jumper run from its positive terminal to battery #2's positive terminal and the same for its negative wiring. Then a #6 wire ran back to it's trolling motor. I connected the trolling motor with big Anderson quick connectors (the type used with snow plows). Those connectors made removing the tms easy. When I recharged the set I would hook up the red clamp to the positive post on battery one and the negative clamp onto the negative post on battery two. This meant no disconnecting of any wiring and the set of batteries would discharge evenly and recharge evenly. I used Cabelas' group 30 AGMs and got over 5 years on them. The boat would run almost 8 mph per the gps. One more option was used by my friend John on his boat. He purchased a Minn Kota Vantage. He really liked it but it is not cheap either. Do not waste you money on a MK Edrive. Just remember your batteries are your fuel tank and gas supply so I would run at least one for your front and all of your lights, electronics etc should be hooked up to it. Only your main propulsion (rear trolling motor/motors) should run off the battery banks or you may not get back.

If the old gas concerns you go get a 12 volt electric pump, plumb it onto the fitting the fuel line going to the hand primer bulb hooks to and pump it out. The little bit left will make no difference since it will be mixed up in the new fuel you will pump in. There are pumps as well as oil change kits (that is a bucket with a pump mounted on it) available at places like West Marine. This will assure you that the new engine can not be damaged by the mixed fuel currently in your tank. It would be a small investment in piece of mind.

Where do you fish? Are they smaller lakes or average size rivers? Then the boat is fine. Large fast moving rivers or tidal rivers like the Potomac River can create trouble when the water flow and wind will run against each other causing you to run through1 to 3 foot waves. That is when a big 20 footer will supply a much smoother and drier ride. I have fished lakes like Dale Hollow, Lake Erie, Lake Guntersville and Table Rock. They all can kick up and get nasty. Since you live in Florida I would think Okeechobee, Lake George and Saint Johns etc might get that way also just because of their size. If you think of fishing lakes like Harris, Lake Jessup, Lake Murray, etc. I think you would be happy with the boat. I am not saying you should not fish bigger water, but it will be important to be aware of both weather and lake conditions for safety! Some days it will be unfishable or you would have to fish close to the ramp, when a larger boat can go run safely

You have purchased the correct rod action. Yes Abu Garcia Veritas 1 and 2 run on the heavier side in actions. Thier medium is closer to other's mh. That 7 ft medium is about 70 percent backbone and about 30 percent tip. This is a great rod for small to mid size crankbaits, it can handle some jerkbaits ( suspending minnow body baits) and I own two just for throwing rattle trap type baits for stripers. It actually is the most versatile rod in the Veritas line up. Do not miss understand me, I fish twelve different rods (9 are baitcasters) 3 of which are Veritas rods. I do not use them for plastics because I want the sensitivity I get with my 3 G Loomis rods, but they cost around $300 each. My Veritas handle moving baits mostly, like the traps and Reaction Innovations Skinny Dippers and Dippers ( plastic swim baits). You will find the Veritas tips give enough that the fish will have time to inhale the bait without you pulling the bait and hooks away too fast. This will help your hookup ratio on these baits.. For the money these rods really take a beating. Here on the Chesapeake Bay we fish for both bass and stripers, but will catch big blue and channel cats, so you better be ready. The biggest striper I landed on a Veritas was 25 inches (around 5 pounds) and the biggest cat was a blue cat that weighed 19 pounds. That was like hooking a freight train! By the way, my other Veritas is a 7 foot MH. Its sole purpose for me was frogging. I purchased that rod before they brought out a frog version. The worst thing I have seen with the Veritas rods is sometimes the guides are not installed perfectly, no big deal. If one gives you trouble just find yourself a rod repair guy and have him redo all of the guides. I have a friend that fishes a bunch of these for the same situations up here on the bay. He buys them and when needed he has a guy remove all of the guides, replace them with high end stuff aand custom wrap em. Go to BayBass.com and check out the pics they are works of art.

Are you looking at an aluminum or a fiberglass boat?

Way2slow you may be correct about the xr2, my comment on the 150 to 200 comparison was in reference to the EFI motors only. In 1998 the 150, 175, and 200's were built with the same engine block. The main difference was in fuel calibrations so the weight of a 150 and 200 were the same. My point was that he could expect the same reliability out of a 150 EFI as I had out of my 200 EFI. I actually had the great experience to tour the ProCraft/Astro factory before ordering my boat. This was during the time Procraft/Astro was a Mercury Marine factory boat line. That was way cool. My wife and I got to detail out the order down to the thread colors in the seats! All I had to do was wait a few months till my dealer got it in with several other winter time boat orders. The boat was a fish & ski model so it had a heavier hull with a walk through windshield and seating for five. That motor had the large gear case so the boat came with the 5th large hub Trophy 4 blade Merc ever made (not including their prototypes) according to the factory. We kept it for over ten years and it saw lakes in 5 states, and lots of Potomac River and Upper Chesapeake Bay time as well. Your advice on fuel lines is solid since Mercury is suggesting to change them out to the new lines and primer bulbs. The garbage fuel we are forced to run now (ethanol or oxygenated fuel ) due to EPA is causing the insides of the lines to break apart or swell up and cause restrictions.

I agree with the guys suggesting you have a mechanic check out your engine for performance first. He can also cross check his readings to verify the tach. You mentioned you have tried several props. I know the Trophy has the ports but I did not notice how many holes you open or closed or just reduced the openings. Those holes help you wind the motor up faster which helps with your low end take off. One owner says he has your boat with a 225ProXS set 31/2 below the hull and has a top speed of 73 mph

Let me throw a monkey wrench in here. How often do you run rough water ( ie tidal waters or big lakes)? I have had 11 boats over 30 + years of fishing. Most of the time I ran a foot pedal trolling motor. I fished with a guide and friend up in northern PA. He guided the Great Lakes a lot and he too had a back issue, I believe he had some discs fused. Anyway he changed his set up around to a front hand control model. He than added the two small on-off switches (one on each side on the front deck) and a handle called "The Extender" which is a mount that mounts under the tm's head and has a thin rod extending upwards with a small ball at the end. Both of these items are available from T&H Marine. I liked that set up so much I ran it for over 10 years on my 20 foot ProCraft while fishing the Potomac River and the Upper Chesapeake Bay. This setup allows you to steer easily while keeping two feet solidly on the ground. The only time I switched from a bicycle seat to a regular bass boat seat was on lake Erie in 2 to 3 footers, I just could not keep from almost going over. This setup may fit your front deck space better and ease the pain in your back.

If I were you I might look for a good running MERC EFI motor. I had a 1998 200 EFI motor. I purchased it new ( decided to stay efi which was bullet proof instead of OPTI which were having trouble). I ran that motor on a 20 foot Procraft for over 10 years. Other than some minor maintenance that motor was fantastic. It started easy, ran fast and was fairly quiet. By the way a 150 to 200 hp use the same engine and I would figure the bolt pattern would be the same as yours. If it is not just add a 6 inch manual jack plate, the engine will appreciate the cleaner water flow. They made the efi engines for a lot of years after mine so you should be able to find a good deal on a newer motor or even a rebuilt one from a place like Almars in Delaware. They totally recondition them and ship all over the USA. The steering should be about the same as yours but Sea Star Hydraulic steering was great

I would definitely upgrade your motor. The boat will perform better, both at top end and at slower speeds (remember you have more prop options with the bigger motor). At cruise you may save some fuel as well. At resale time your combo will be more valuable. The Skorpions were nice boats, so you should get a lot of fun out of it. I own a Lowe Stinger 170 and have fished different bodies of water in five states with it.

I would definitely do it. Your boat will be faster and perform better even at slower speeds. Also the boat combo will be worth more at resale time. The Lowe Skorpions were good boats. You should have a good time on it.

Champion was originally bought by Stratos and was sold under their "Elite" series boats. Once Stratos brought out the VLO series they discontinued them. Big mistake! I met John Story once when he was producing Viper boats. That was after he and his partner sold Champion and he was getting back into bass boats. He was an amazing guy to meet, too bad he could not produce a boat with out tinkering with it constantly, that makes it hard to build up a new boat company's reputation. He then started Hawk boats I believe. I do not think either company lasted too long after that. Enjoy your Champion.

I am sure you will love the Champion, they ride and fish very well. Also the deck height is not as high off the water as other boats, Makes pitchin under docks easie,r at least that was what I saw on my buddies 191. Enjoy your new toy!