TheRodFather

I'm calling it the "noob rig" How many of us have found that they have a fish on after picking out a birds nest? I happened to me once last season, I think I was fishing a senko but I'm not too sure anymore. Luckily I don't get too many birdsnests any more, but it was pretty fun to realize I had a fish after a 5 minute dead stick from picking it out .

I believe that disengages the "shifter" from the throttle. So if you wanted to control engine speed without putting the outboard in gear, you can. I imagine it is for older equipment that may or may not need some throttle manipulation to warm up to the point where it will idle. My 80s Merc has that on the controls at the cockpit, maybe it is the same sort of thing, but back at the outboard?

You didn't mention if this was a 4 or 7 wire trailer plug, but either way, as far as the grounds go, yes the lights need to be mounted to the chassis of the trailer OR have pigtail mounted to the chassis, and the white wire out of the plug fastened to the trailer. You could cheat it for testing purposes by wrapping the white wire around the stud/pigtail of the light while testing each function. Agree that if it was working before but not now that you have a loose or corroded connection, if nothing works, ground connection is the common denominator and I would look there first.

He does jump around a bit, my first trip with him was 5-10 miles north of where we put in this last time. Don't forget too, that just because he tells customers that "April is booked" doesn't mean that he has customers on the boat every day in April. He gets to decide what days he wants off, etc. Balanced with whether or not he wants to make money or have a day off is his choice to make. Regardless, I imagine that even fishing would start to feel like work after a time.

Agree, all the fish are sore-lipped now. Not even worth going out on the river anymore .

Lots of options out there. I went with a set up where the motor/impeller is removable from the housing, so if he motor dies there is no need to pull out the thru- hull housing or undo any plumbing/clamps. Further, my livewell fill pump uses the same motor/impeller, so if the bilge pump dies at an inopportune time, I can pull off the livewell motor/impeller an install in the bilge pump housing (I used waterproof connectors to wire everything up so it is all plug and play. Mine is manual, my boat is never going to be in the water when I'm not in it, and I figured if its taking on enough water that I need a pump to automatically purge it out, I aught not to be on the water till I get the leak fixed. Here is one that has the float built in, so nothing to remote mount. Solid state too, so no pivots or contacts to go bad and give you a nasty surprise. https://www.google.com/shopping/product/14957029583941385817?lsf=seller:2709845,store:7352254416474028679&prds=oid:15316690779240155362&q=rule+bilge+pump+with+internal+float+switch&hl=en&ei=ogEuWYz0C-HRjwSE3LPgCA&lsft=gclid:CNvmhpHkmNQCFZONswodXUILog

It's up to you, in my opinion the most important concern with wood is whether on not it is sealed well. Darker colors of paint will be hot under foot if that is a concern. Carpet, marine carpet anyway is going to have a rubber backing, so as long as you fasten the panel to the boat in a way that your not putting holes in the top surface of the carpet, should keep the water from getting to the wood from the top. I plan to use carriage bolts, countersunk into the wood (so the top surface is smooth and flat without visible fasteners), then varnish or paint all sides of the wood, then cover the top with carpet and wrap around a few inches of the bottom surface. And fasten the panels with nuts from below. It depends on how long you want it to last. Me, I want it to last a lifetime, but also be removable if I need to get under the decks.

Glad you had a good time, I think that was me that you are referring to. I went out again with Joe and my BIL earlier this year in March. On that first run after putting the boat in the water, we were wondering if it was all worth it, it was cooooold! Despite the cold morning, it warmed up a bit and we had a pretty good day. He was completely booked through April, and we had already rescheduled once because of snowfall. In hindsight, even though I was itching to get out with Joe, we should have waited a few months. I would like to get out again with him late summer/fall, time will tell. Anyway, glad you had a good time! Oh, and post up some pictures if you have any!

I'm restoring an 86 Landau alum bass boat and when I got it it had a small panel up at the bow that had an auto/manual switch, and a timer knob. Who knows if that was there from the factory or if it was added on at some point. The boat only has one pump to draw water in at the transom, the supply spits and feeds an aerator pipe (with shut off valve on each) in both the front and rear livewells and stand pipes for overflow protection. Although, come to think of it, the drain for the rear livewell is under the water level, so there is really no way to drain it unless the boat is out of the water. The front livewell has a drain that exits the hull out the side, I am not sure if it is above the water line or not since I haven't had the boat in the water yet. I would think it would have to be or what is the point of running the fill/aerator pump on the timer if what comes in has no where to go? I'll have to look into that, that doesn't make much sense.

Welcome, I am in York. Maybe we can meet up and catch some fish, cheers TRF

Yes, I am familiar with all the different ways that the components can be hooked up, but never owning a boat before I was unsure how things are "normally" done. Rather than use the 12v keyed power (stator voltage from older outboards is not meant to power much) to energize a relay to power up the console and switches, I just decided to use a battery cutoff switch and 10g wire to supply the "house" electrical and skip the relay. The 12v keyed will just power the gauges, tach, etc, but not the backlighting part of the guage. That will be hooked to the nav/running light circuit. No sense having the bulbs be on in the daytime. As far as a hull, I'm far from an expert, but I would look for loose rivets, holes, tears, etc. Evidence of RTV/Marine sealant etc would be something to look at closely. There are lots of checklists on the web to give you an idea what to check. Most seem to be for fiberglass boats though. Aluminum can be repaired in most every case, with welding, or a patch riveted on, it may not look pretty, but it can be made to seal watertight and last. Take it on the water if you can. I am getting pretty good at filling in holes with my TIG welder, about 75% success rate at this point, a little more practice and I'm going to start on the boat.

Here is the thread I started for my restoration. The title starts out "total boat re wire", but as you can see, quickly escalates

I am in the process of restoring a "cheap" boat. It is a decked console type aluminum bass boat. I'll tell you this, the amount of work that I am putting into it is more than I anticipated. Not that I'm not capable of it, just that the further I dug into it, the more I felt needed fixed. It is essentially stripped to the aluminum hull at this point and I have decided to do the TIG welding of a few holes and tears myself myself. I could pay a welder, but I figure this is a great time to learn a new skill. I have been practicing TIG on some of the scrap alum that I pulled out of the boat. I deleted the front livewell. The motor didn't run and I had to spend a couple hundred in parts to get it running again so that's waiting to go back on after the holes are filled and the new transom is installed. The wiring was a mess, so I ripped it all out, new switches, wiring, the works. I have a thread started that you can see pictures of the build. It has stalled for now till I feel comfortable with the welder, after filling holes it should be downhill from there, some plywood and carpet and time to fish! A lot of it comes down to what your skill level and available tools are. The TIG welder is the only thing tool I have had to buy, I am a woodworker and car tinkerer, so all bases were covered as far as that goes, grinders, sanders, table saw etc.

I agree with WRB. Just for giggles, take your reel and lock it down, run the line through the guides and tie a 5lb weight on the end of your rod. Hold your rod parallel to the ground and lift up using only the handle. If the pucker factor doesn't make you stop first you may just need a new rod. Add that to the fact that unless your drag is ultra fine tuned, there is a measurable initial rise in force till the drag slips, so the 5lb you have set may initially breakaway at 6, or 7.

Walmart Everstart batteries are made by Johnson Controls, the same company that makes Diehard, Interstate, and Duralast. The Everstart batteries are very highly rated by Consumer reports, second only to Interstate if I remember right.\ I put one in my truck 2 years ago after becoming irritated at having to buy another Autocraft from Advance Auto. The best value out there seemed to be the Everstart so I went with it. Going strong so far, turns over my 5.4L like an outboard.

Your dedication is impressive!

Thanks, I have moments of "what did I get myself into here". I have to remember to take things one at a time so as to not get overwhelmed. I can see already how that would be easy to do.

Ha ha, funny you should ask. I didn't realize I was, the reason I couldn't tell was because I am writing this on a tablet. my 5 year old decided to spill his water cup on the keyboard of the laptop last Thursday. I took it out and tried to dry it but it was to far gone. Every time I hit "n" it would go nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn, and delete made tttttttttttt. I despise using tablets, I'm always closing things out that I don't want to and opening others things by accident. I don't know how people use these things, even surfing is clumsy for me. OK, no more talking, my thumbs are tired

Well, I ended up buying it. He had been storing it outside uncovered and it needs love. I am figuring on replacing all of the carpet and all of the plywood decking. The rear deck withe exception of the live well hatch and battery compartment hatch is aluminum so no wood there, and the main deck and front casting deck are plywood, so I'm guessing a sheet and a half should do it. I will be rewiring it as well, since I can't stand messy wiring. The transom wood looked pretty good, upon looking at it closely, it seems like only a few inches of weld would have to be ground off and removed to get it out, so I may just replace it anyway. The motor that is on it now was not OEM I think because ther appears to be other mounting holes in the transom that he RTVed shut, that's going to need fixed better before I'm happy with it. Now for the risky part, he had a cranking battery and fuel tank hooked up to the outboard and seemed genuinely surprised that it didn't start. I tested compression and all cylinders were within 1-3psi of each other. All cylinders were getting spark, so being pretty confident that all the major stuff was in order and it had sat for a couple years,, I made an offer and he took it. It's day one and I ripped off all the junk that was bolted on over the last 20 years, all of the carpet ripped off, and the console out. Tomorrow I will get the plywood off and start fabbing the decks. Being in the woodshop will be nice since it is 35 degrees outside, but I couldn't help myself, fist day with my first boat and all. Oh, and you were right, it was a Landau.

Going to go take a look at this boat tomorrow, and trying to do some research on it but I find VERY limited info on the entire internet about the brand "landa". Looks like it used to me registered in Missouri. Any insight into the boat and or motor and trailer would be appreciated. https://reading.craigslist.org/boa/6011027760.html

Best of luck......:)

Thanks for the responses fellas. I picked up a Vision 110 and a Pointer 100 and Pointer 78 so far. The Lucky Craft Lures are in the BlueGill pattern but they didn't have the BG pattern in the Vision 110 so I got Pro Blue, wishing I would have gotten Silver/black back though. I figure I'll break it down by forage for now, meaning BlueGill imitating baits from the "staples", then another color pattern of the staples, etc, etc. Still looking for the others.

A-Jay, is that a MegaBass you have pictrured there? Ok, I will check those out! Ok, I will check those out. I was reading that the X-rap was not the best choice for cold water, I have a couple of them, and have caught a fish or two, but if a better option exists for cold water I'd like to have it. Thank you everyone for the replys!

Imagine you are a fisherman that knows what you know now, but you don't own any Jerkbaits. What would you walk into the tackle shop and buy that would cover the most bases for LMB, water clarity ranges from clear to 1ft stained, fairly shallow, soft bottom in deep areas and gravel in shallow spawning sites. Bluegill is primary forage. Water temp from 40s to 80s. Same question for SMB, water clarity ranges from clear to 1ft muddy, shallow and rocky. Small silver minnows are primary forage other than craws, etc. Water temp from 40s to 60s. You have room in the tackle box for 8 baits, price per bait is not a priority, although you would prefer not buying 8 MegaBass Jerkbaits Go.....

I recently converted all of my bass casting rigs to the Curado I. I am a believer. Flushed all the spool bearings and lubed with one drop of oil, and polished the ends of the spool shaft. Not necessary, but made a big difference in casting effort and distance.