HPBB

Well, didn't get to fish My tournament this weekend. There was still some "hard" water on the lake so it was called off for saftey reasons. I did get the boat out on the water to test the motor. had a hard time starting cold (35degree air temp and 38 degree water temp), but after it warmed up not a problem starting. It ran great. firing on all cylinders, pumping water good. Boat ran good. Need some more water time to fine tune the jackplate, but the first test was a suscess. She ran 38mph on GPS with two of us in it, tournament rigged, full gas(20gal) and livewells full(18gal each, 2 of them). that isjust 1 or 2 mph faster than where my old motor would run, and I didn't raise the motor yet. So some more testing this weekend. I have another tournament this sunday. I hope we fish it. the snow melted and the rain came so all the rivers and some lake are at flood stage

That motor is a 1983 model. the motor that blew up was a 1989 Suzuki 75HP and it ran great, had over 3000 hours on it. ran really strong, never had much problem with it. That is why I got another Suzuki. I burned one of the pistons in it, carb leaned out. So when I was looking for a used one, I wanted another Suzuki, plus it was an easy, well almost easy, swap all the wiring just hooked right up. I know that this is an older motor, but its been check out. This one has very low hours, just over 300. Had it looked at and it looks like new inside It was set up on a 24footer as twins. I have the twin motor to, it has a bad powerhead, oil injection pump quit on it, so I'll be parting it out after I get this one running good. I Plan on rebuilding my 89 motor. I will say one thing, my boat doesn't draft much water. I can run shallow, even shallower than most big bass boats. when my boat is at rest most of the boat is out of the water. I fish a lot of rivers and this boat will move around in a foot of water easily. That water line that you see on the boat is a little deceiving the boat doesn't sit that low in the water, but at my camp I don't have a dock so I pull the boat up on shore, a steep shore, and the back sit deeper then. That is why the water line is so high. When its in the water, the water is just bearly over that rail/fin that runs along the side. not sure what its called. I know my dad and a good friend both have V's, both 17 footers. one is a Alumacraft Thophey 17 it can run shallow, not as shallow as mine, but close,& the other is a Spectrum 17 Avenger it sits deep in the water. Mine is Sea Nymph GLS 175, I know Lowe still make a model like this, they bought Sea Nymph in the 90's.

Cross creek is good. other lakes Crooked Creek Unlimited HP High Point Lake electric motor only those are the best two around here in my opinion THESE other ones are good too. Keystone Power Dam 10HP limit Edinboro Lake unlimited HP Yough River anywhere in the river with your canoe Yough Dam (lake) unlimited HP Donegal lake electric motor only Yellow Creek lake 20 Hp limit Prince galitzin (glendale lake) 20HP limit

mine is a walk tru windshield. look for one with a single console it will open up the boat alot. V-hull are great for family fishing and kids. it nice to have the higher sides so the kids don't fall out. also more seating. before I put decks in my mine and took out all the chairs. It would seat 4 in the back nicely and 2 up in the bow. Check out the new tracker targa 185 it has seating for 6. Its a nice layout

I love fishing a V-hull. I'll take some more pitures and post them. my boat is set up like a bass boat inside, so it easy to fish from. It does catch the wind. so a good TM is needed. I run a 109# MG. You don't need that much, but something around 65#-70# will do. In rough water it runs great. I fish lake erie with it all the time It can handle 4-6 footer easy, have had it in bigger waves with no propblems. Also one nice thing, its metal. so rocks or stumps hits don't hurt to bad.

more pictures of the rig

Ok. I am cutting it close. I blew up my outboard last fall on my boat, and then found a used "new to me" motor for it. Same brand and size, Suzuki 75HP. Well when I got it home and took off the old motor. I tried to put the new motor on. No luck the bolt pattern did not match up. So I decided to get a jack plate. I would rather drill new holes in it than in my transom. So I got a 6 inch jack. Then winter hit. Up here in Pittsburgh it hit hard this year. So i wasn't able to work on it untill the weather broke, don't have a garage to work in. Well it was nice 2 weeks ago and got the motor on the boat, but would not start. then last weekend, winter came back 20 degree weather and 4-5 inches of snow. I have my first tournament this sat. Finalyl today I was able to get it running. (one of the Ground wires was not hooked up) So it runs, but will not water test it till sat at the tournament. I know I was cutting it close, but this is a little to close. I'll let you know how it runs after this weekend. After i get it running good then I plan on cleaning her up. repaint is in order.

If the motor runs good and all it need is a lower unit. A lower unit would be cheeper than a new "used" motor. I have 75 Suzuki and they run strong. I know I have told you before, but I have an extra lower unit. Bought it for a spare 2 years ago and didn't need it. Its from a late 80's early 90's 85hp suzuki. the 75hp & 85 Hp suzuki are the same. Pm me we maybe we can work out a deal on it.

I pulled boats with a lot of S-10s. It will be fine. go to your local Auto Parts store they will have a wire kit for your truck. It looks like a T that plugs in you wire harness in back and the pigtail plugs into that. Make it easy. That truck will pull it. One thing if its an auto trans. Tow in 3rd gear only. Towing in overdrive in those S-10s will kill the trans. Even if you do most of your driving on flat ground tow in 3rd. The trans can't cool enough in OD. I never had a trans propblem with any of my S-10. I always towed in 3rd and I put and extra Trans cooler on each of them. S-10 I had and towed with. 1988 S-15 4cyl (2.5L) 5 speed 1994 S-10 SS 4.3L HO V6 auto also same truck after motor swap LT1 5.7 V8 Auto 1996 S-15 Jimmy 4.3L V6 auto 1996 S-10 Blazer 4.3L V6 5-Speed 1999 S-10 4.3L V6 Auto All of those truck went over 100,000 Miles. Infact the 1996 jimmy has over 160,000 miles. I still drive it to work everyday. And the 1988 S-15 has over 200,000miles. I now tow with a chevy Tahoe, but those S-10 are good towing

I have 2 friends that have spectrums. One is a 1996 17 foot avenger (deep V) with a 115 merc on it. he loves it has had no problems with it. Its a nice boat. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles, but a nice boat. I would not call it junk. My other friend has a 1987 Spectrum 16 foot Deep V with a 50 force outboard on it. That boat is junk. Somewhere in the early 90's spectrum was sold and the newer boats are nice.

If your stuck on using only a 12 volt sysytem. Upping to a 55# over a 46#, I don't think you will see much improvement. Its only 9 pounds. If you can fit another battery I would move up to a 24volt sysytem, and as lPa1nl said, buy the most pounds you can afford. I had a 55# Minkota Auto pilot on my 17'6" boat and hated it. not enough power. So I went bigger, really big. I ended up getting a 36 volt Motorguide Tour 109# TM. Great motor. If you do go with motor guide, spend the extra $$ and get a Digital model, worth it. I have had mine for 3 years and no problems. One friend of mine has the 82# 24volt MG tour digital and has had no problem either. have several friends with newer MG that are old syle motors, not digital, and have problem after problem with the. I think moving up from a 46# to 55# is not worth the $$. try and see if you can get a 24volt setup.

White Bass are fun. I catch them on the rivers here in Pittsburgh all the time. The fall is the best, find a school and boat 50-75 in a short time. I use smaller versions of bass lures. If I find a school I have 3 baits I throw. I use one till they stop hitting it then switch, so on and so on, keep coming back to the same lures. 1. small rat-l-trap 2. small spoon 3. teeny torpedo I also get them on small spinnerbaits, small crank baits, and swimming a grub on a jig head. One thing I noticed on all baits but the torp is fast, fast, fast retrieve

NH_BASS where in the area do you live? You must be looking at the wrong lauch ramps, there are many public ramps all over the rivers. And your boat is not to small for them. I have 2 boats and my small one is a 15 foot Stracraft SS ( deep V) with a 15 merc ( I get around 12-13mph out of it). With that 15 merc. does it have 9.9 stickers? If so you can get on almost any water in PA. there are many lake in the area that your boat would be great on. Like I said where do you live? Moraine is a nice lake, but there are many other area lakes that I think are better fishing then there.

I would say its your boat shaping the boards. Being that you have a deep V not a flat bottom, your boat has many differnt angles and curves on the bottom. I had to get a new trailer last year and when I bought it the boards were straight ( My trailer has 4 boards and I have a 17'6" foot deep V) after the boat sat on them for a while the two inside boards begain to show a curve to them. They shaped to the hull. Since you said its only on one side of your trailer. Make sure you boat is centered and level on you trailer. It may be sitting to one side more.

Well, since the ice is just coming off I haven't fished yet this year. My first tournament is this sat. But these are my top 5 favorate every spring. After Sat we will see if they change 1. Black/Blue 1/8oz Bass Stalker jig, Zoom "big salty chunk" black/blue flake 2. BPS "Magnum Flippin Tube" #13 3. reaction innovations "Mini skirt" T-rigged 1/16 oz (finess flippin) 4. War eagle "screaming eagle" 5. Watermelon Senko

LARD_BASS Try some T-rigger tube jigs, in deeper open water try tubes with a jig head inside them. also once the water warms up ( by early may) one work "Senko" an nice small lake to fish in a canoe, would be Glade Mills, just off of rt 228 and rt 8 by saxonburg. NH_Bass: what hp motor do you have on your boat? I guess its 20hp or under since your one Morain. Some lakes are still 10 HP limited. Does running your boat on unlimited HP lake bother you? also where do you live? You said northwest Pa. there are some great lake up in the north and in the south. Can give you info on what is closer.

Gander Mountain make a nice flippin stick. 7'6" and its $60 Most stores don't carry them, just ask my store got some in fast.

That is what I made my live wells out of. I don't think their "rubber maid" not sure what co. But they are 18 gal each, clear, and have a split lid , wich is nice. have had them in for 5 years now, and no problems. not brittle. still plyable. have them under deck. don't leak(unless over filled). very nice and big, have only lost 2 fish since i started using them. I have pump in, pump out, recirq, drain and overflo in them. they worked great. Tried those rubbermaid ones. they are black with a red or grey top on them. Heavy duty for outside use. they didn't work well. As soon as I can figure out how to post pitcures on this site, I'll post some of the livewells.

There is a guy in my club that this happens all the time. the boat just will not set above the winch roller. Its a Charger, and we think the trailer is for a slightly larger boat. No matter how deep or shallow he puts the trailer in it still does it. so he had a small roller welding onto the trailer just under the bow. This lifts the bow up so it over the winch roller. It works great now. I know on my small 14 footer there is a roller up in the front to lift the bow up to.

I had the same problem on a trailer. The boat was on the higher side on its rateing and the tires leaned in when loaded. I slipt the old axle. When i got a new axle put on it I went for a heavier one, and the problem went away. I would say the boat is heavy for the trailer.

I would say no to both. I have caught bass and pike in the same spots. with the same lures. One thing, once the water warms up big pike move to deep cooler water, small pike stay shallow. big pike will stay near off shore humps( humm... SM area) & deep water weed beds. Now muskie ( even big muskies) will stay in the shallows all year. and I have caught both in the same place too. In the Yough & Alleghey rivers by me, you will find small mouth and muskie in the same spots alot of the time. I have caught SM and had muskies fallow them to the boat. Last summer I was using a Torpedo by some mid river rocks and had a Muskie missed the lure twice(saw the fish come out of the water), then a big SM smashed it, all on the same cast. I have caught bass in weeds when I didn't see or hear anyother fish. Hey Longears, i love that Rideau Area. I fish Sand lake, and Big Riduau Lake every year. that is one place were bass and pike live with each other, catch a Lm bass on one cast. cast back to the same spot and catch a pike, then cast again and catch a SM

For the first tournament of the year. Not really nervousness, but excitement. Can't wait to get out there. Sleeping is a problem for the first of the year, Its like the night before Christmas when you were a little kid. after that I calm down and its time to fish. I do get pumped up the morning of a tournament. Never have problem getting up and always seem ready to go as soon as my foot hits the floor. Sitting in the boat just before the sun rises is very relaxing, it calms me.... Then the sound of the motors starting and its excitement. "lets go now!" On drinking soda (here in Pittsburgh its POP) during a tournament. I drink Canada Dry. Ginger ale has a calming effect on ones stomach. try it, it works

That sounds about right with 2 guys in it. I have some freinds that have 17 foot lowe's with 50 johnson's on them and run right around 30mph. I run a 17' 6" sea nymph Deep V with a Suzuki 75 Hp and get right around 35-36mph on GPS with 2 guys & tournament rigged. That's with a 17 pitch prop. I am moveing to a 19 pitch stainless this year. The rpms where red lined with the 17 and I added a jack plate so I went up a size to 19. I'll hopefully get the boat out this weekend and see what she will run now.

Not sure with the trout regulation. There are different ones for different water. Most "approved trout waters" close mid march till opening day in April. Bass is in winter regulation now. 4 fish over 15 inches. the C&R season starts opening day of trout till second sat in June. My first tournament is March 24th at Shenango Lake... :-? ice is starting to melt There are many good bass waters around Pittsburgh. I live in the eastern Subs, Monroeville/North Versailles area. You fish from a boat or from the bank? Crooked Creek is good. The Yough River and the Yough Lake are great SM waters. ask about any water, If I can help I will. Haven't been out this year yet. Just getting the boat all together now. Had to buy a new motor this year and get it set up. I think I will try to get out This Sunday, if its not that bad. On tackle, Dick's have some good sales on right now, just watch what the register rings those lures up as. I was Monroeville's Dick's last week, and like most if a lure I use is on sale I buy a lot of them if I use them often. The prices that they were marked is not what was coming up at the register. They total came to just over $114, > but after correcting all the price mistakes, my new total was $43.59 . They had a lot of their Zoom plastic on sale for . 97 but still rung up over $3.00. some stuff that was on sale for $1.99 was still coming up over $7.00. Not knocking Dick's I have gotten a lot of stuff there over the years, and still will, but keep an eye open. they are not fast on updating their computers for sale prices

I net almost everything, unless it a small fish. have lost to many fish buy trying to lift them in the boat