TommyBass

You can't go wrong with any lowrance unit near that price range. I have heard good things about most of their upper models. I had a 332 gps combo for years and it worked great. I also have a new HDS 5x non gps that works amazing. Both of those you mentioned I believe would work great... and I think Cabelas possibly has a sale going on for the 510 right now.

Im pretty sure the 9.9 to 15 hp is folklore... there are more differences in those motors than a carb. Different reeds etc.... most likely if you did this you would end up with a poorly mixed 9.9 and nothing else. I would think the same for your case but someone may know better.

I believe there is an explanation on lowrance's site. There is a certain order to do it in, I believe you put the card in the unit when it is off, turn it on and it will upload automatically.. but im not sure. Go to the link I give here at the bottom, select your unit, and instructions should be on the next page. http://www.lowrance.com/en/Downloads/Product-Software-Updates/

Sure looks like one small stick could make you have a bad day. May have to double bag it : ) I guess it would be pretty cheap to replace your entire hull though.

Im from south central IN, but it seems like a good majority of guys on this forum from IN are from a little further north. Here is the Indiana introduction thread.... you may be able to find someone close to you on there and send them a PM. Good luck with this terrible swing of weather we have had! http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1227117314

ahhhh the water has dropped all the way down to 47 on the south end of my lake and 53 on the north. They were 58 and 62 respectively 2 weeks ago... : (

Really?? I thought round / circles / cylinders were physically the strongest shape? Eggs are round, not octagons. : ) If you were comparing by shape and not thickness, would not the flat sides be weak points where buckling could occur more easily? Just wondering, i could be completely wrong. On another note, I have not used one but my buddy has one for duck hunting and it does just fine. Im sure he puts it through the ringer duck hunting more than you would fishing lilly pads.

I have a 10lb mushroom for my 10ft Pelican and it works just fine in winds up to around 20 mph. After that you'll start to skid some. I only have one, I wouldn't think you would need two unless you are wanting to position your boat a particular way. I dont really like the mushrooms though, they seem to hold alot more mud than the grapple types do.

True... I had my 18 ft Triton fiberglass in about 14 inches of water once but it wanted to rub the belly. And when fiberglass, rubbing the belly means easier scratches and knicks. However, with the tradeoff on size also comes width. All be it more width is better stability and somewhat shallower draft, but you lose the ability to wind in and out of say standing timber for example. Some of those boys using 12 ft jons with a 48 inch beam can fit in a whole 40 inch (3.3ft) or more smaller area than the average fiberglass boat. Whether that is limiting or not is debatable, but it has to be much easier and faster. Just curious, what depth can you guys with the 19 and 20 ft fiberglass boats run in on plane and take out of hole shot?? Im sure those smaller boats would probably excel at that as well. Good topic, I noticed some of those posts as well.

I have a 10 ft Pelican I keep in my back yard pond.... great little boat. Has many little places on the gunnel to keep stuff from rolling around. Cuts through the water very well. Its actually even rated for a decent little outboard. It is very stable, me and my father are both around 180lbs and we can stand in it just fine. I have a 55lbs minnkota stern mount on it currently. Not sure about yours but mine came with a wired plug for putting a trolling motor on the front. I am considering moving it to the front so I can keep the battery in the back. Should spread out the weight more when Im going out solo, so I dont ride a semi-wheely and the wind won't have its way with me. I am also considering putting a cheap manual winch on it for an anchor. Sorry, no pictures currently. Im sure you'll love yours.

Alweld does appear to have some good options for various layouts... however that website is atrocious.

I found it hard to find something non stripped down with a bottom width greater than 60 inches thats not like 20 ft. I ended up getting the G3 1860 CCT which is a bottom width of 60 but the beam is 80 or 85, I cant remember. Great boat, very stable and can easily fish 3-4 people. I added the pontoons onto the back near the tunnel which makes it more stable. Their open deck non center console boats would probably be good to start a project with, and they are mostly modified v. Probably something much like you have. You'll have loyaties to every brand just like anything else. But like Catt said, if you buy something just to modify it more than likely you could just dish out the little extra to go ahead and just get one prerigged with compartments. I dont like how most aluminums have progressed to have the nice paint on them now, no better than the gel coat you have to worry about. Plus they are glossy and I use mine for hunting too so thats a whole other thing. Id definately go all welded though.

Im looking for a good tube bait that is very soft. I used to really like the FLW soft tubes from walmart but they discontinued the particular line I used. Ived used some basic ones but nothing I have found is as good. The 3X stuff is pretty soft but I dont like its other properties really. Any suggestions or favorites welcome!

Yep... ive had about 10+ deg water swings in the last week or two. I read the NW cove of my lake at 63 deg a week and a half ago and I bet it is down to very low 50s if not lower by now. Probably going to mess the fish up pretty bad.

Same here... I have the DP 3 bank 15 amp each and love it.... if you dont plan on very short times off the water I wouldnt worry about getting one that big. Someting more around 10 would be better though.

Check for a fuse or circuit breaker inline somewhere. They usually place them along the wire in an area thats easy to get to. Look near your battery first, if not there you may have to pull the access panel off on your bow and check the line there. It could be something like your foot control is broke as well, but I would check for the fuse first.

Yea alot of people use those for that purpose, especially if they don't have a front unit to begin with. Just have to make sure you leave enough slack cord behind it for that.

To me, if you have the money, I would go ahead and do it while your fixing it all up. If for some reason you don't like it in the future you can always just pull it off, mount it normal, and sell the mount later. I had one on my previous boat and liked it.

One thing to remember is water flying on you. If your console is on the right side I would mount your TM on the left. When you pull up and take off your motor will slowly drip and drain water that will fly back toward you. Makes your windshield look messy with water drops and even worse can get you a little wet. Just too bad for the nonboater : )

right on man..... X2

Yes I have a friend who does this and it drives me crazy.... he always says it keeps it clean, which is partially true... but I would rather have dirty cork than an ugly clear plastic wrap with the manufactureres name wrote all over it. The rot thing is also true, it dosnt keep moisture out at all, as most are still open on the tops and bottoms. If anything it retards the evaporation and holds moisture to it, promoting rotting. I feel they are also alot slicker and provide less grip when wet when the plastic is left on. Basically 0 advantage for me to leave it on. I like the cork seal idea, may have to try that.

I have heard they can severely decrease the performance of your motor, decreasing your top speed by several mph if not more. I looked into this same producut for my boat and it appears it would work very well. However i settled for a normal skeg guard due to possiblity of performance issues with that one. Look at Cableas site under this product, there are several reviews there as well.

*EDIT* Ya I guess saying digital really isnt that specific. Right now I am looking between the MG digital steer series (what I had) and the MK Terrova I suppose. Roughly the same price. I am fairly familiar with MG, as I have had 3 now. Anyone with newer Terrova experience?

Kind of just a back up plan, but the old one is destroyed pretty badly and Im not sure I want to rely on a rebuilt motor in my tourneys. There were gears, motors, belts, and all sorts of stuff strung out in my boat from it. It also appears that some of the wiring down in it is sliced. So Id imagine the repair bill will outstanding... but not sure yet. Im pretty sure insurance has already opted to cover it though. If they want to take it, fix it, and sell it... more power to them.

Well at the risk of this whole topic getting in to another motorguide minnkota argument, I want to start off saying Im not looking for a right answer here. If you read the "When Deer Fly" thread I posted today you'll see that I am going to have to buy a new trolling motor, and there are several applications when having a digital motor with remote are very necessary for me. I had one of the first digital bowmounts motorguide came out with and it always did the job well. Im now forced with the decision of getting the newest digital tour motorguide or switching brands to a minnkota. Motorguide has received some bad reviews for their newer tour edition digital on BPS so its making me think harder than I wanted to. Does anybody here have any experience with either MG or MK digital motors? Could you give me some likes and dislikes of either brand? Do they still have the stow buttons and all of that? Once again, Im not looking for a war of words between the two, just advice to help me make a more educated decision. Thanks!