Wayne P.

Sam, I was helping set up the booth with the Orange Couny Jr. BASS Federation Nation/4-H group in the first building. I will be helping to remove it after the show closes Sunday and assisting some other vendors with their packing up. I may spend some time with them Sat. and Sunday if needed. I did not go today with the anticipation of meeting you guys Sat. I did my window shopping last night and got one of the kids to grab some stuff of limited quantity for me before the show opened this morning. I will be there before the show starts Sat. I have a vendor pass.

Most anglers do not have the facilities to maintain a fish for the whole process. Here is the Va. procedure----- Rules for Certifying a State Record Fish The fish must be caught in Virginia waters or the Potomac River bordering Virginia by legal hook and line, non-commercial methods. The angler must identify the specific waters from which the fish was caught. A Department employee must witness the official weighing. Only the weight observed by the Department employee will be used to certify the fish. The fish must be unfrozen, in whole condition and be made available to the Department employee for a thorough examination. The fish may also be made available to the department employee for further examination if deemed necessary by the Department representative. The species of the fish must be confirmed by a Department Fish Biologist who must inspect the fish in whole condition. (This can be accomplished subsequent to the weighing if the Department witness is not a fish biologist.) An application must be made within 60 days of the catch. A clear, side view photograph of the fish should accompany the application. Weighing scales must be appropriate to the size of the fish and be certified for legal commercial trade. Fish under 25 pounds must be weighed on a scale capable of weighing to the ounce. Fish over 25 pounds should be weighed on scales having no greater graduations than one-half pound. Whenever scales of 8 ounce graduations are used, the fish weight will always be rounded down to the nearest one-half pound. Any potential state record fish found to contain artificial food in the stomach will not be recognized as a new record. No fish caught within the boundaries of a public or private aquaculture facility or private fee fishing area will be recognized as a state record. If there is reasonable doubt regarding any aspect of the application it may be rejected. One appeal to the State Record Fish Committee's decision may be made within 60 days of notification. The appeal must be in writing to: Chairman, State Record Fish Committee, 4010 W Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia 23230; Telephone: (804) 367-6796

An Eagle Fishmark 320 and a motorcycle battery or sealed rechargeable battery will suit your needs and be in your price range. You can mount the transducer in-hull for shoot-thru behind you so it won't be in the way and won't be damaged if mounted externally.

I do like ColdwaterBassin does. I have several split ring pliers including the one suggested. I loose more and screw up more split rings than I do with my finger nail. I don't change out a lot at one time so my finger nail has plenty of time to recover between installations.

No, it doesn't make any sense. A majority of foot controlled motors do have the power wire coming out of the foot pedal. The power is fed thru the foot pedal so it can the regulated for speed and on/off. If the wire is too short to allow it to move as much as you want, just splice some more wire to it and make it as long as you need.

I just got back for setting up at the Expo. I walked thru all three buildings. The number of vendors seem to be less than last year.

Here is the specs on that motor: http://www.mercurymarine.com/engines/outboards/fourstrokes/enginesetfour_specs.php?ID=68 It is and can be done. Your local dealer should give you the details.

I use a fluorocarbon leader with braid for only one purpose. I use it for weight since the braid floats. 80-90% of my fishing time is spent using Trick and Finese worms rigged wacky style. The fluorocarbon is my weight for depths down to about 5'. I use 3'-5' of 20#.

I direct tie walking baits and do not use a loop knot.

USPS is going to get worse since DHL has stopped their US service.

Silver Buddy, because it works.

harpoon, I've never had that particular model but I have had numerous sonar units since the 1970's. Some were similar to it in performance and brand as that was the best technology at the time. The manual does not give any specs but from the pictorials, it looks to be a rather low pixel count unit that may be 15-20 years old. The newer models of just about every mfg have a lot higher pixel count for better target separation and identification. About the most you could hope for as far a fish arches for bass is 3-5 blocks in a pyramid shape or a single pixel to indicate a small bass or panfish. It is capable of showing you the bottom shape and depth which may be all you need. I may be considered junk as compared to newer more powerful, higher pixel count units but if it still works it may be good enough. If it fails at some point, you will have gained the experience of operating one and can appreciate the advances in today's technology when you replace it. For someone that does not have a sonar unit, it is better than not having one.

Here is the manual for it: http://www.humminbird.com/PDF/ultima.pdf

Some good questions. Last year I had three boats, a 10' jon boat, a 12' jon boat and a fiberglass bass boat. The 170 is what I chose to downsize the inventory to one boat that will handle the waters I fish the most. For loading up at electric only lakes, I just back the trailer in far enough to get all of the bunks submerged except about 2' at the front. Then I pull the boat onto the trailer with a rope (about 30' long) that I use for launching when fishing alone. After I get the boat aligned on the trailer, I hook up the wench strap and crank it on. If the body of water has a dock by the ramp (most don't) I guide the boat over the trailer from the dock and then wench it on the last few feet. I've done it hundreds of times and its no effort at all even when I used my fiberglass boat on electric only lakes. Having the 170 will not hamper my fishing at all as I am not downsizing, I am basically middle sizing from what I had. The two jon boats have no storage at all so it is not a concern. My prospective is it is a large jon boat and not a small bass boat. My garage is a two car and up until about 6 months ago, I had two boats on trailers, an ATV on a trailer, and the 10' jon boat suspended from the ceiling. Once I sell the 12' jon boat, I'll have a lot more room (probably for more stuff). There may be a way to put a raised place around the compartment edges to keep water from flowing in. I have not put any effort into that detail yet. I'll wait until I do a rainy day trip and see how much a bother it is. I already have some plastic storge boxes to protect what I don't want getting wet. Maybe some rubber gasket material like around automobile doors would work.

They are pretty much equal and both have been in the business a long time. Those that have had bad luck with one will prefer the other. Those that have had a good experience with whichever they first purchased are inclined to stay with what has worked for them. I have had both plus a few more brands for the past 40 or so years and have nothing bad to say about any of them-they all worked very well.

stormrider, I am really pleased with the layout even though I don't NEED a boat that wide for my purposes. It got it because it was the largest one I could get rigged with a 9.9 HP motor. I chose that size motor because I fish two really good lakes with a 10HP max limit and I also fish a lot of electric only lakes. I have "been there, done that" with the larger, heavier, faster fiberglass bass boats on large bodies of water and tournaments. I sold my fiberglass bass boat so I could purchase the 170 and have room in my garage. It suits my needs for a mid 60 age retired angler. I changed out the 12V bow motor to a 36V and added battery capacity and custom brackets for two 12V transom mount motors for electic only waters. I removed the 18 gal gas tank to make room for 6 batteries. I remove two batteries and put in a portable 3 gal gas tank for those gasoline allowed lakes. As far as how the boat is factory rigged, there is barely room for the starting battery and a size 27 deep cycle battery. It takes some creative motions just to get them in. The storage areas are not water proof or even water resistant and some type of water proof container is needed for any items kept in those. It is kind of a negative if you have ever had a fiberglass rig or some of the other aluminum bass boat models. It is definitely not a speed demon (haven't GPSed it yet, still doing the break-in) my guess is between 10 and 15 mph. There are two chances of getting on plane --- slim and none (which I expected). My 12' jon boat with a 12/24v trolling motor and 9.9 goes 25 mph with just me. With its larger capacity, I can be confortable taking other anglers out as I get lots of requests for small water guide service and just helping fishermen learn a body of water or a presentation. When fishing, it is very stable and with the slight v-hull, it slides over stumps a lot better than my flat bottom jon boat. The trolling motor wiring is 8 guage and I had 6 guage wires installed for the trolling motor and used the factory 8 guage for on/off switching of the two transom motors via solenoids. The trailer does not have any side guides for easy drive-on loading so I purchased the roller type and installed them. Even the larger Tracker boat trailers do not have usable drive-on guides-the factory ones are pretty pathetic.

NitroMan, yes I know two that have excellent service. This one is in Louisanna-----http://www.trollnmotors.com/ This one is in Texas on Lake Fork----http://www.trollingmotorparts.com/ Those two and the one in Woodbrigde near the turn-off on Rt 1 to go to Leesylvania State Park (don't remember the name) are the only ones I deal with.

OSU, so a web search for trolling motor repair and call or e-mail one of them with your symptoms. You will get an educated analysis along with recommended parts to repair it. Most are very helpful and eager to please. Your brand, serial number and model number should be handy to assist with the trouble shooting.

Here are some serious knot tests by folks that catch serious size fish. http://www.sportfishingmag.com/article.jsp?ID=43572

CFFF 1.5 the new 16 model is .090 guage and the larger boats are 1.000. The Topper riveted jon boats are .043 and the Grizzly welded jon boats are 1.000. A copy/paste note about another aluminum bass boat brand: "Xpress Boats are constructed with quality .080-.125 gauge aluminum alloy." The new model is plenty sturdy for its horsepower range. Most of the older aluminum bass boats were .072 and that was considered heavy duty then. I had a couple by Fisher Marine in the 1970's that were that guage and they are still in service.

I was not aware of that boat when I got one in early December and it may have been my first choice. For my present boating needs, it is the perfect size if rigged with a 9.9HP. I got the PT170TX.

With a little manual dexterity, you can thread the spring into the hook eye and twist it a couple of times to hold it better on a hook-set to keep it from tearing the bait so much. You have to cut about 1/2 of the tube off.

Amazing, another knock-off/re-introduction !!!!!! http://store.tackleandrods.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=FLT&Category_Code=FRTR

A real simple answer: treat the boater and his equipment with the same respect and courtesy as you would expect a co-angler to treat you if/when you are the boater.

On-board chargers: I just went thru the selection process of battery chargers for a new boat. My concern was with the space required to mount one. The Dual Pro has the smallest 3-bank footprint of all the brands in the output per bank I was interested in. I called the company to check on the warranty of the rebuilt as opposed to the new ones. The rebuilt has a one year warranty and the new ones have a three year warranty. I chose to purchase a new one and did an internet search for the best price and shipping price that goes with it. The majority of bass boats I have been in are outfitted with the Dual Pro. I have heard several persons that are pleased with the Guest brand and their excellent service. I also have 3 fuctioning automatic portable battery chargers for deep cycle batteries and all are the Schumacher brand-one is about 25 years old. I have another non-functioning Exide brand that has blown the diode twice.