PECo

Nope. In my 2017 Triton 179 TrX fiberglass bass boat, I can access the pickup and sender on the top of the tank by removing a tray underneath the center step between the seats, but can’t see into the tank or the side of the tank, so there’s no way to see the level of the fuel in the tank.

Mercury’s VesselView will guesstimate your fuel level based on usage. After you fill your tank, you input the total amount of fuel in the tank and it will tell you how much is left based on how much the motor has used. Of course, though, you have to remember to tell it when you fill up the tank; I never do.

I got lucky; I caught both of them with a Gamakatsu Number 4 Octopus Circle Hook (one with a wacky Senko and one with a four-inch fluke). Hooked ‘em both right in the upper lip, too!

My first ever bowfin: And my second: I think that the first was a female and the second was a male. The male had a black spot ahead of its tail and turquoise-tinged pectoral fins.

A lot of people seem to fish for ego gratification. I don't have any time for that. I fish for fun. I'll tell anyone exactly where I fished and what I did. I often post reports on a local forum. Recently, I ran into a husband and wife fishing in one of "my spots". They recognized me from my reports and told me that they've been enjoying catching fish there because of them. To me, knowing that I helped someone else enjoy fishing as much as I is gratifying.

You can grab a small pickerel just behind the head and gill plate. Just squeeze it a little bit.

I'm not a speed demon and my state's waters have a 45 mile per hour speed limit, so a motor that could push a boat well over 50 miles per hour would be overkill for me. I'd bet that a 115 could comfortably push that Lund over 40 miles per hour. If it's a Mercury Pro XS, just make sure that you get the Command Thrust gearcase, so that you could run Mercury's larger props.

x3. My understanding of the rationale behind opting for the much more expensive carbon-fiber blades is efficiency. Not only are they lighter, but they're more rigid, which transfers more of your paddling energy to the water. But I'm a fisherman, not a long-distance or speed paddler, so the durable nylon blades work just fine for me.

I thought you had a few more inches of space.

A used one. Look on Craigslist.

You might want to check out the G3 Sportsman 17, too: http://g3boats.com/sportsman-17-promo

I cross-shopped the Nitro Z17, Stratos 176 VLO and Triton 179 TrX, and went with the Triton. The Triton is a much nicer boat than the Nitro and the Stratos. It was worth the slight increase in cost to me, but I probably would have been happy with any of them.

My Minn Kota Precision Charger (MK 345PC) sometimes had problems detecting my batteries and wouldn't charge them. I got the yellow light, too. I read troubleshooting discussions on several forums and one of the easiest things to try was a better extension cord. It seems that Minn Kota Precision Chargers are sensitive to inadequate line voltage. I replaced my long cord with a shorter, heavier gauge cord and the charger now works perfectly.

Nice! I have the standard gearcase. I'd been wondering whether the Command Thrust gearcase would have made a difference. I guess that it would. Apologies to the OP for hijacking this thread.

What kind of 115 do you have? 24- and 23-inch pitch props seem like a little much. My three-blade was a 20-inch pitch Mercury Laser II. My Spitfire X7 is only a 19-inch pitch. I did a prop slip calculation, once, and it showed that the Spitfire X7 is close to perfect:

My 2017 Triton 179 TrX with Mercury 115 Pro XS four-stroke came with a three-blade prop. The boat felt a little sluggish out of the hole, so I swapped out the prop with a Mercury Spitfire X7 four-blade prop. The difference was like night and day. Now, the boat comes smoothly out of the hole and accelerates more linearly. With a full tourney load, 450 pounds of fishermen, 26 gallons of fuel and a full 36 gallon livewell, it'll still run at least 45 miles per hour.

Don't forget to measure the width of the boat on the trailer, too. The depth of my garage is 22'-8", and the door opening is 104". My old boat was 102" wide on the trailer and had to be pushed into the garage by hand. I traded it in for a 2017 Triton 179 TrX with a Mercury 115 Pro XS four-stroke that's only 20'-5" long with the trailer's swing tongue folded and the motor down, but, more importantly, it's only 98" wide on the trailer, so now I can back it into the garage with my tow vehicle.

I second MassYak85's recommendation of the AquaBound MantaRay line of paddles. I, too, abuse my paddle, from pushing off with the two halves ski-pole-style to shielding my hands from snapping turtle jaws while unhooking them. I'm still using my eight year-old paddle that finally developed a small crack in one blade, but have a new spare ready to go.

Congrats on the new boat. You're also lucky that your wife enjoys boating with you. Mine rode on each of my first two boats only once and hasn't even set foot on my current boat. For the ultimate in ease of use, a Minn Kota Ulterra would be a good choice for a trolling motor, because it can deploy and stow itself. However, because you'll need a long shaft, an Ultrex might be better. Although you'd have to deploy and stow it by hand, the mount is strut-assisted and is much, MUCH more robust than the mount for the Ulterra.

I have a buddy who ran a Humminbird transducer cable down the groove in the shaft of his Terrova with no issues. There are some good videos on YouTube that show how to do it.

I can't see the photo on my cellphone, but when I saw it, before, it looked to me like you had water intrusion into the motor. That can't be good.

A newer, digitally-controlled trolling motor will use battery power much more efficiently than an old trolling motor that uses a rheostat to control the speed of the motor. Also, a 24-volt trolling motor is more efficient than a 12-volt trolling motor and a 36-volt tolling motor is more efficient than a 24-volt trolling motor.

I have a couple of buddies who recently bought Nitro Z18s from Bass Pro. One of them even worked at Bass Pro when he bought it. Don't buy your boat from Bass Pro. Buy it from a local dealer that knows boats.

I own a Hobie i9s. I bought it a long time ago (in 2011, I think) and planned to ship it down to Naples, Florida, to use off of the beach while on vacation. That never happened and, now, it sits in my garage. At the time I got it, I had a Hobie Pro Angler that was my primary fishing boat. However, my first, ever, fishing boat was a Coleman inflatable kayak. The hull of the i9s is almost flat, so it doesn't track that great and there's quite a bit of drag. It has a rudder for steering, though. On one occasion, I went fishing in a tidal river with a friend and let her use my Pro Angler, while I used the i9s. When we headed upriver against the outgoing tide, it became readily apparent that the hull of the i9s had considerably more drag than that of the Pro Angler. While my friend had little trouble pedaling upriver over the swiftly flowing water, I struggled. While it's a perfectly serviceable boat and has the advantage of the Mirage drive, it's still a compromise. As inflatables go, though, it's a good one. My Coleman inflatable had three bladders in a nylon cover and was the least structurally sound kayak that I've ever paddled. The i9s becomes fairly rigid when inflated. I believe that it's made out of PVC and it feels almost like a soft top surfboard. It came with a nice, high volume hand pump that works very quickly and easily.