Long Mike

You will be a much happier man if you have the vocal cords removed from that little rat dog.

What Burley said. To the best of my knowledge (somewhat limited,) regardless of the state, your boat title will not include the trailer and will not include the motor. In some states you will need a title for all three. In others, you may not need a title for the trailer. Check your local regulations. Do not, under any circumstances, buy a boat from a person who cannot provide you with titles to both the boat and motor. As for the trailer, it depends on the state. If nothing else get a Bill of Sale showing the trailer's serial number.

It all depends on the water you fish in. The more rough water you have, the longer you want your shaft to be to ensure that the prop stays in the water.

23. I guess you learn a few things as you get older.

See my review of the Terrova with iPilot on page two of this board.

I use BTS to brush my teeth. It has a nice minty flavor and leaves me teeth shiny and clean.

Donmac, I'll be the first to ask why the young man driving the Ranger at apparent WOT is not wearing a PFD attached to the kill switch. :-/

Rookiesmallmouther, I would like to respond to your post, but your spelling and punctuation are so poor I quit trying to read it. This site has a built-in spell-checker. We would all appreciate it if you would use it.

The only reason I went away from spinning gear to baitcasters was because of line twist. Had I discovered braid earlier I might never have changed.

Thanks Kyle. I've updated the list based on input from you and Fishing Rhino. For those of you who have not sent me a Registration Form, I would appreciate it if you would PM me with the following information. Full name and address. Emergency contact name and phone number. Cell phone number at the lake. (Not required, but nice to have.) I will distribute a list of attending members, their screen names, their real names and their cell phone numbers upon arrival at Pickwick.

JT, the longer shaft should not be a problem. In fact, in rough water, the longer shaft will allow the prop to stay in the water. The stow/deploy mechanism on the motor is so easy to use that you will never notice the increased shaft length. The 80# thrust motor is 24 volt, so you will need two batteries wired in series. I recommend that you opt for the 80# instead of the 12 volt 55# because the motor will not have to work so hard in the wind if you are in "anchor" mode.

Roger, as far as I am concerned, the answer is Yes. The one drawback than I can see is that if one is in very shallow water, the TM could stir up the bottom quite a bit fighting the wind. Obviously, in this instance, the power-pole would be less intrusive.

If your boat is porposing, i.e bouncing up and down, then you have probably trimmed up too far. Trim back down a little at a time until the bouncing stops.

K_Mac, if you can make it to Pickwick, I will guarantee you at least a half-day on my boat - and I will put you on the TM. ;D

Here is my latest head-count, along with the people who will be bringing their boats. PLEASE let me know if those of you who have a boat and have no empty seats are willing to accommodate a third person. I will be bringing my boat and can fish three people from it with no problem. C'mon you boaters, step up to the plate! Alpster Long Mike - BOAT Uncle Leo Old Cranky Fishing Rhino - BOAT AND CANOE Roadwarrior Five.Bass.Limit - Maybe Ghoti & Mary Big-O - BOAT Bassinsoldier Bassinsergeant CWB Triton21 - BOAT Simp - BOAT Simp's Dad Steezy J-B FishinTN & wife WMD in Kentucky - BOAT Lazeebum

Is your new GPS unit a GPS unit only or is it a GPS unit AND depth finder? There's a big difference when hooking the units up.

When in anchor mode, the iPilot will compensate for wind, and current to keep you within a five foot radius. It automatically will increase or decrease the speed of the TM to keep you on your spot. Because you are "anchored" the bow will obviously swing into the wind, as it should. If you have read this entire thread, you will have noted that my TM with 80 lb thrust easily kept me on station in a 30 mph wind. The water was too deep for a Powerpole.

K-Mac, I understand where you are coming from, but what you may not know is that the Autopilot feature allows minute adjustments of course and speed and the adjustments are instantaneous. It's a piece of cake to keep the non-boater in an optimum position. To be honest, I've never been able to master the cable control. I'm just too new at it. For those of you who have been doing it for umpteen years, the foot pedal is an extension of your body. For me it was a major aggravation. I now have what I've wanted and needed.

Based on what I've seen at the connectors, GPS antennas are both active and passive, meaning that they must receive signals from the satellites and then pass this info to the head unit. They would necessarily, require a 12 volt source, plus the wiring to communicate with the head unit. I have no idea if the connector wiring from the antenna to the head unit has been standardized across all manufacturers. I would think not, but it's just speculation on my part.

BLee, how long have you been a doctor? How many patients do you need to be able to enjoy those bloopers? Just couldn't help pulling your chain. BTW, I had the patience to watch the bloopers and I thought they were hilarious.

I recently purchased a Minn Kota Terrova with the new iPilot. Last week-end I had the opportunity to put it through its paces, so I decided to share my opinions with you. To begin with, my new Terrova is an 80lb thrust motor, mounted on a Tracker TV-18 aluminum boat. Everyone has heard that aluminum boats are difficult to handle in the wind. Maybe so, but not with the iPilot. For those of you who haven't learned about the iPilot yet, it uses GPS to know where it (the trolling motor) is, where you want it to go, or where you want it to stay. It comes with a foot pedal, but my review of this product is based solely on the wireless remote that I wore around my neck. This last week-end I fished a 5000 acre lake in winds of 20 mph, gusting to 35 mph. The lake is roughly shaped like a glove, with all five fingers facing roughly North/South. The first two days the wind was howling out of the North, the next two days it was howling out of the South. Now you know the scenario. My first attempt at using the iPilot was to determine if it was capable of "anchoring" me to one position. I was amazed. I pushed a button on the remote, and that's where we stayed. Because the motor is mounted to the bow we always ended up bow to the wind, within five feet or so of the area I selected - and it kept me there, regardless of the wind or current. This is a great feature if you need to re-tie, or remove a backlash, or simply want to fan-cast around the boat. The next thing I checked was the "auto-pilot" feature. All you need to do is point the motor in the direction you want to go, push a button, and the motor will attempt to maintain its course and speed, despite the wind and current. There are a number of other great features that I never had the opportunity to test, but at this point, my opinion is that the iPilot will eventually cause the demise of cable steering. What a great piece of technology!

Yes, you can use the two empty connectors for other equipment. Just make sure that the fuses are of the amperage rating recommended by the equipment manufacturer. As for the ground wires (the black ones) there is usually a "fixture" located adjacent to the fuses where the these wires also connect. Look for the black wires.

As a semi-retiree I can assure you that the anticipation and the joy of fishing never goes away. It's not so much the joy of catching, but the joy of being out with nature and on the water that has me scratching at the back door.

I'm sixty-three and I love to catch bass. But every time I'm on the water I remind myself of a phrase by Henry David Thoreau. "Many men fish all their lives without realizing it is not the fish they are after." I firmly believe that I am one of those men who know that it is not the fish I am after.

Attaboy, Greg, but from what I remember, you were already built like Charles Atlas. Uh, could you lend me a few bucks?