dizzy5868

The oil should run free out of the top hole while filling it from the bottom hole. Here is rthe way to do it. Remove the vent plug (top) then remove the lower plug and drain all the fluid out. Take notice to the color of it, If it looks real milky, you have a bad seal in the lower unit that needs to be fixed. After it's drained, start filling it from the bottom hole, I know it's sounds stupid, but this will force all the air out the vent hole. Once you see a pretty steady flow of fluid coming out the vent hole, squeeze in a little more and hold the pressure of the tube. Insert the vent plug, this will create a vacuum allowing you some time to replace the drain plug. Some oil will come out but very little. It needs to be full. Also don't mix up the plugs. the drain plug has a magnet on it to collect any shavings from the gears. There should be a very small amount of shavings on it after some good use. Hope this helps Rob

Sounds like it could be a bad line on the screen, did you try disconnecting everything but the graph? Does'nt really sound like a power issue or interference. If it it's inthe same spot all the time I would have to lean toward a bad screen

If your unit does'nt track at least 12 sats and is WAAS enabled then you sould look into an upgrade. WAAS makes a big difference.

Forget the 565. Buy 2 Eagle mark 480's. You won't be disappointed. I had a 565, what a piece of junk. The graphics ar slow at best and very blurred to read. There are some previous posts about this and the most people would agree with me. The only other thing I would add is to put both units on a RAM mount to protect them from vibration and shock, it also helps with viewing adjustment. If you want to play with the unit, Eagle has a downloadable demo model you can use on your computer. It is exactly like the real thing, even the graphics are the same, not all dressed up to sell the product.

Seeing as the boat is only 7-8 years old, I don't think your stringers are rotted unless this boat had water sitting in it for awhile. The floor is most likley plywood glassed over. I repaired the floor in my old Glastron, It was'nt that hard or expensive. I removed the entire floor of the boat, Let everything dry out and cut new plywood to fit. Before I glued and screwed it down I Polyed the underside of the plywood. Once it was down I coated the floor with liquid fiberglass and taped the edges with glass cloth. Cut the carpet and glued it down. I think I had about $200 into it. If it's in an area where you can just replace the bad spot it's no different than repairing the floor in your house, other than knowing where to cut and how deep.

Try this place www.mikesreelrepair.com They have everything including pdf files of all the parts and drawings.

I would go for the eagle 480. I have them on my boat and for the same reason you want, structure. Awesome resolution and detail. The 320 is nice but the 480 is much better.

I have the H2O thats not color and I am very happy with it. I believe they are the same unit only one is color. Real easy to use and read. The one nice feature they have is an "easy" user format and a "advanced " user format. If you don't know alot about gps units, use the easy mode until you get familiar.

Try 5" senkos wacky rigged in red shad or bkack n blue. Don't work the bait back to the boat though. Toss it to specific targets and let it fall and sit for a good 30 sec, give it a small lift and drop it again for another 10 sec. Then recast. Stained water is easier to fish than you think. It puts the odds in your favor. The fish are easier to locate and are most likley shallow. Trust me the fish can see very well in stained water.

I would agree with the previous post, Mercs are hard to beat and there is always someone around who can fix them. I am from PA as well and run my merc all year. My Merc is 18 years old and she starts on the first turn even in 33 degree water. Go for the Merc.

I don't use a seperate program, Just make your routes and waypoints on the unit. If you have a navionics card it works better, more accureate.

I would need more info on the water you were fishing. Lake, river, water temp, clarity, cover ect. It be as simple as you were fishing in the wrong area this time of year.

As said before, if they are led's then don't worry about it. If they are incandesent then you mght have a problem. Most likly they are leds. I would run the power from a seperate battery thatn your fish finders are on, they can cause interference.

Get yourself an empty roll of masking tape and use it as a form for the transducer. Tape it down to the bottom of the boat and set the transducer inside it, then fill the ring with the epoxy and push our transducer into it. Be sure to get all the air bubblels out of the epoxy. When it dries, the cardboard will get wet aver time and you can remove it leaving a perfect ring.

A buddy of mine has the humminbird 3d in color, Nice unit and great detail, expensive though. If you are having trouble understanding the 2d graphs, then you will be totally lost on this one. I have spent alot of time with my electronics learning what they are showing and the easiest way to learn what you are seeing is to pick up one of those underwater camera systems. I mounted mine on a telescopic painters pole and drive along the lake with it dropped down next to the transducer. When you see somethimg on the graph, look at the video montor and you can see what it is. Depending on how good of a graph you have, you will be amazed at what the graph can tell you. First rule is turn off the auto feature and use the arches. The auto feature filters too much stuff out. Rob

Save your money, I fish a river 75% of the time. We have gone through 3 different types and all of them are junk. All it does is weaken your skeg. Once you drill a hole in the skeg, it creates a break point, Hit a rock and the skeg will crack right across the hole. Use an alumminum prop, drive slow and know where you are going. It's your best bet. If you hit a rock at 20 mph, that skeg protector is'nt gonna save anything. Safest way to go is a jet. Rob

Mine would have to be a 3 1/2" Chompers green pumkin ultra tube w/garlic. Hands down! Rob

Great job! I use a similair program that I designed. Mine is for just one body of water though. I have a kept detailed records of air temp, water temp, river height, coloring, flow rate, ect on a daily basis for the past 6 years and enetered it into the spreadsheet to come up with a graph like yours. It works, however there is always the exception to the rule. I try more to see how the change in conditions affect the bass than the seasons. For example, post front, pre front, water rising or falling ect. It all comes down to what works for you. There are alot of commercial programs on the market that do this type of "log". Great job though. Rob

I use Eagle claw laser and Matzuo, Matzuo makes a strong and very sharp hook, I tend to use alot of sickle style hooks, I found I loose less fish with them. Rob

Heres an easy solution to the hole mess. Launch your boat at 10pm and fish until sunup. No long lines at the ramp, No wakes from other boats, No water skiing or jet skis and no one to bother you. Just kidding. Unfortunaly we all have to deal with these problems, hunters, anglers and skiers. Everyone has there own point of view and thinks their right. If each group would look through the eyes of the other just once, I think time on the water would be a little more enjoyable. I too spend alot of time on the water and deal with all these problems, I fish a river in Pa most of the time and is only as wide as maybe 150yrds. During duck season I usually look for the hunters before fishing an area. We can fish 365 days a year, they duck hunt for a few days a year. I'm not a hunter but can relate to the problem. I too am guilty of launching a 1 ounce wieght at some idiot that just buzzed by and nearly knocked off my boat, What comes around goes around. Paybacks a b%^&*. But anyway, just step back and get the big picture every now and then and get a realty check. A bad day on the water is still better than any day at work. Rob

Check your lower unit grease often. In cold weather seals have a tendancy to contract and water could get in with grease. That could be a big problem. I top mine off every week during the cold temps. Grease is cheap, lower units cracked are expensive, dumb looks after forgetting to check it, priceless. Rob

KVD Ike Woo Daves Terry Baskay Rob

Check the bottom of the transducer for any slime. If it's clean, you have a bad cable. I have cut mine a few times with trolling motor. All the graphs do the same thing, cut cable =no readout. ooops. Time to return the unit. Rob

It all depends on what you are using it for. If you are just interested in depth and maybe showing some fish in deeper water, the cuda will do just fine. If you are looking for structure, or fish holding tight to the structure or bottom, then you really need to go with at least the eagle 320, better yet the 480. The 480 has great definition, especially in zoom mode. You will find fish you never thought were there. You'd have to pry mine out of cold dead hands before I gave it up. Rob

First choice would be Sunami's wacky rigged(not senkos) Second would be smithwick rougues, I start as soon as the ice is off the water. 40 degrees usually starts thegood bite. Rob