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I fish deep when a lot of people don't. Let me be clear, I'm not saying I'm LITERALLY the only person who does this. What I'm trying to get at is that most recreational anglers exclusively fish shallow, meaning they cast close to the bank with reaction lures or senkos. All day. In some areas this might be adequate, but it's not going to get you consistent results. I think some people are intimidated of throwing their lures with no obvious visual reference. Learning to fish ledges and deeper water has really been a game changer for me. People get hung up about colors and baits and shapes. While those are important, nothing beats location. If you don't find the bass, ain't no $20 dollar lure or number of casts are going to help.

Well it's been a little while. I believe the last step I did was re-carpeting the boat. Since then I've fished several times. I mean, I'm not some bass boat expert but the boat rides very well. People have told me the 300 series have stable hulls and I believe them. This helps in dealing with the ******* wakeboarders and jet skiers on my lake. I've also been on the Delta a few times and it's rock solid. Theoretically, the motor can push this boat to around 55 mph depending on weight at WOT (5500-5800rpm). To be quite honest with you I've maybe opened it all the way once, and that was to test the motor. I simply just don't need or want to go that fast, and I usually cruise around 30-35mph. Livewell works great. The timer still works too, to my pleasant surprise. d**n this boat has held up. I haven't found the need for recirculate. I just hit auto, let the livewell periodically fill and overflow. I suspect recirculate is for those tourney guys that are on plane for 30 minutes or more. I had a spun prop that I re-proped to a lower pitch. I don't really care about the top speed and I do believe hole shot is quicker. Building an extended casting deck. Right now applying spar urethane for water resistance. Got some hinges. Just need to get some latches. Ordered a recessed foot pedal tray. When installing that I'm going to be drilling holes for the rod locker. This makes me nervous as hell, drilling 2 inch holes in the boat. I took a screenshot of the area that needs to be drilled. The project is almost done. Boats man. I've stopped updating my cost spreadsheet. I can throw money at this thing my entire life. However, I do believe the spreadsheet is still valuable because I've always said, it was to document cost to get it "fishable". Extended casting deck. Recessed tray. Extend rod lockers. Finish line. Just some random thoughts, coming from a kayak to a boat. The freedom it allows me is insane. I sort of equate it to getting your drivers license and/or your first car. I just feel...unbound. It would take me 15 minutes to paddle from one end of the reservoir to the other. I can traverse that in an absurd fraction of that time now. Planning my fishing "route" isn't a thing anymore. I can jump spots until I run out of gas. I remember fishing the Delta, I was restricted to a small radius, not anymore. I ran from Discovery bay, to Frank's Tract, to the Mildred Island area one day. I mean, I burned so much gas and money, but the point still stands. This isn't a total pro though. I've realized that I was turning into an impatient angler. If I didn't catch a fish within an x amount of time, I would jump spots. On a kayak I didn't do that because it's impossible. I would really really break down spots. I used to think kayakers claiming they caught more fish on a kayak were exaggerating, but I can really see it now. If you're not disciplined you can spend all day running and not fishing. I think kayak fishing and bass boats teach you different disciplines. Nothing beats fishing off a trolling motor. Not having to constantly pedal/paddle against wind is just so....nice. Course corrections with my foot while casting is just intuitive. The Ultrex is a game changer, spot lock is just so useful. That being said, there is value in catching a fish on a kayak, where you're right at the water. It's more intimate, I understand that. Do I regret selling my kayaks and getting the boat? Well of course not, but kayaking still has a lot of value.

I've been in a slump too and it's tough to stay positive. I just try and go in with the mindset of learning from every trip and not get hung up on the "result" too much. I try to learn something every trip. Also, stay off the social media! Of course you're only going to see the good things happening to people on there. You're not going to see the other thousands of anglers grinding away. It's social media bias, it makes you think everyone else is doing better, when in reality they're only posting the good parts of their life.

Thanks for the response. So it's more productive to run around and find a good place than trying to get fish to bite in a bad place. Do you ever have issues with how crowded the Delta can be sometimes? It's a big fishery but there can be so many boats out, especially during tournaments. I feel like some spots can be blown out not by mud but by fishermen.

Being a weekend angler, I don't get to choose the opportune times to go fishing. The last few times I've been to the California Delta the conditions weren't great. Whether it be an influx of muddy water, to cold and windy, I just don't know what to do. I normally flip in the Delta, like the billions of other anglers, but I want an idea of what I need to do in bad conditions. Fishing lakes my entire life, the Delta is a whole nother beast. Just yesterday I went and it was in the middle of a spring cold front and windy. Had maybe a couple bites. Can anyone point me in the right direction on what to do in any combination of cold, windy, and muddy? I know when the wind is blowing reaction baits work, but that's offset by the cold shutting down the fish. I know the fish are catchable, heck, Bub Tosh just won a tournament with a 33lb day. Not asking for any secrets, locations, or anything specific, just a point in a right general direction.

Was the battery charger submerged? Were the batteries completely submerged? Forgot to put on my drain plug when launching and my batteries were partially submerged. Everything was fine however. The real question is how submerged your chargers were.

Confused. Why are you wiring a plug to the charger? Your charger for the batteries should have leads that go directly on the batteries

I just hear so many people say the Abu rods run stiffer. Also personally not a fan. Several years ago they were really popular for the $100 range but competition has exploded. I will say, when they go on sale for 70-80 bucks the discussion changes.

@fishnkamp has been fishing for longer than I've been alive, so I can only add to the wealth of information mentioned in this thread. In answer to your question, I like really fast reels. I'm currently slowly phasing out anything slower than a 7.1:1. People claim that super high speed reels lose out on torque and power. While that may be technically true, for the majority of applications I don't think it really matters. The tech nowadays is exceptional compared to in the past. For frogging and jigging I run 7.1:1 into the 8s. For frogs, you're making a ton of casts, working with the rod tip, and retrieving a lot to cast again. Then you gotta force that fish out of cover. I don't see any reason not to use as high speed as you can get. Same thing with jigs, I'm using the rod to work the bait, not the reel. A faster reel lets me retrieve the bait faster and to make another cast. All other things other being equal, more casts = more fish (how KVD fishes). In football jigging, my most used method, you're making long casts in deeper water. A fish has room to sometimes make a run toward your boat. A fast retrieve really helps me keep that fish pinned, otherwise that fish is faster than I can retrieve. For okuma vs dobyns, vs whatever, Most $100+ rods are going to be pretty good. I'm very very impressed with the fury series though. For the price point I don't think I've seen better. I used to look at the hardware specs of a rod but nowadays I look more at fit and finish. I believe raw material at that price point is all comparable nowadays. So things like how well the guides are installed, are all the guides straight, reel seat, and weight/balance. I just recently inspected a $150 rod at a store, looked down, and saw the tip was off center. Little things like this mean more to me than what reads on a marketing tag. That being said, to confuse you even further, I'm going to thrown in the Lew's Custom Speed Stick or Lew's Custom Speed Stick Lite series. Check out the Magnum Hammer in both series. They label it as an all purpose rod and it really is. I've caught fish on football jigs, texas rigs, chatterbaits, whatever on that rod.

The 735c handles 3/8 fine. I use my 735c for frogs and 3/8 or heavier jigs. Keep in mind the trailer adds a little bit of weight too. As stated on the website, the 735c is geared for flipping and pitching. If you're dragging football jigs, 734c all the way. If you're flipping and pitching cover, especially heavier cover, 735c. Also not a fan of Veritas. I maybe used them once a long time ago, but handling them at the store they just feel too stiff.

My local tackle shop had their annual parking sale today, where in addition to discounts they also pay state tax. Essentially an additional 9-10% off. (Yes, our sales tax is that high). Picked up 3 rods and was able to finalize my arsenal St. Croix Mojo Bass : Lew's Speed Spool : Jerkbait Carolina Custom RX7 : Lew's Speed Spool: Finesse Jigs Dobyns Fury 735C : Shimano Curado K : Flipping/Pitching Dobyns Fury 735C : Daiwa Tatula CT : Frog/Topwater Lews Custom SS Lite : Shimano NASCI : Drop shot Lews Custom SS Lite : Abu Revo SX : A-rig, swimbait Powell Mistake : Pro Qualifier : Senko, all-purpose Lews Custom SS Lite : Lews Tournament MB : Football jig Lews Custom SS : Shimano Curado K : Heavier flipping/pitching Lews Custom SS : Shimano Symetre: Shakeyhead Lews TP1 : Pro Qualifier : Chatterbait St Croix Mojo Bass : Lew's Speed Spool : Crankbait St Croix Avidx : Shimano Curado K : Punching Powell Endurance : Shimano Curado K : Texas Rig I guess I'm not a one brand one model kind of guy. I like trying out different combos. A few stand out. My football jig combo is stellar, perfect everything. The Carolina Custom medium heavy fast is great for lighter jigs. The Lews TP1 was recommended to me personally by Lew's rod builder Bob Brown over all their other lines, even more expensive ones. I can confirm it's perfect for chatterbaits. Looking forward to trying out the Endurance and Avidx. They feel great paired with the Curados.

This doesn’t sound too bad! Would it be too much trouble for a picture of the holes in the rod locker?

Or I can just keep them in the rod sleeves, people say that works. I'll have to look into the golf tube thing.

The used boat I bought had a minn Kota two bank charger that just sat in there for 5 years. Boat was left uncovered and the charger looked pretty beat. It still works. So I bought a minn Kota three bank

Thank you! The bulk of it's done. There was one last expensive issue and it was a spun prop. I've got some carpeting I've been putting off but it's more than fishable. Very impressed with it. Already "broke it in". The next thing on the list is extending the casting deck. Have you done it for your 373? People online have done it, been trying to research how they do it. Also, people have drilled holes at the front of the rod lockers for modern rods. Right now they only fit 6 foot rods. I think i'll do that when I recess my foot pedal. Been putting these things off. Gotta get the fishing in!

Well I drained out all the gas. They say you only have to drain the bottom where the water sits, but I drained everything out to be safe. What a waste of gas, 20 gallons and ~70-80 bucks down the drain (not literally, I have an appointment with San Jose Hazardous Waste Disposal). I refilled and put some mechanic in a bottle inside. I idled for a bit, then put some seafoam in, and idled again. Finally, I put some startron in. In the end the engine started up robustly and the backfires stopped. I might take it out again tmrw and see if it's problem free. One of my biggest flaws is lack of patience. When an issue takes my mind I hate waiting. Thanks to everyone for the advice. Hopefully I'll have a much better update next time. I started having an issue with spotlock on the water. The motor would turn all the way and then spotlock would shutoff. Anyone have this issue?

I definitely ran if for more than a few minutes. What happened was the port side was running well until it didn’t. I had to get back to the ramp so I idled all the way back. If I tried to open it up it started backfiring and making undesirable noises. mechanic pretty much told me the same, run clean fuel through it with some additives for a little bit to flush out the water. I also found this thing called mechanic in a bottle that claims to help get rid of water.

The only thing I can say is I hope I got all the mistakes out today. Because I made a huge one. Remember when everyone and their grandma was telling me to not forget the drain plug? Will I forgot to plug it up. I knew something was wrong when the aft was sitting really low. I frantically turned on the bilge pump and I brought it up. Crisis solved right? That's what I thought. But turns out water got into the starboard gas tank. (it must have come in from the vent hole on the side). I knew something was screwed when I tried starting the motor and it sputtered. So I switched to the port tank. Same thing but eventually it got some fuel in. Crisis solved right? Well I guess some water got into the port tank too because the engine started sputtering. I managed to make it to the dock and head home. So I need to drain the fuel tanks and dump the water separator filter. I hope I didn't do any lasting damage to the engine but my mechanic said I should be okay. I definitely need to get the water out asap. Is there anything else I should do? Will seafoam help flush the remaining water in the engine? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

UPDATE #6 Well boys, it's finally time. I finished all the critical areas. All these were done over the course of past couple days. Cleaned the compartments the best I could. Put in a new minn kota 3 bank charger (10 amps per bank) Put in new locking latches for the bilge and the two compartments. Also gas struts. It felt good being able to put my tackle and other doo-dads in there. When I had the kayak I had to load and unload constantly. The back area is done. Yeah it's messy, the bilge compartment I screwed up, it's not completely flat. I got some careless glue spots and rough edges. But whatever, it's carpeted. I've been busting butt over the past two weeks on this boat and I'm okay with it not being perfect or spotless. The area between the two seats I purposely left especially rough. Those two seats are pretty beat, but I'm budgeted out and don't want to drop another $400 on bench seats. I'm going to ride these seats out as long as I can before I get new seats. Have not carpeted the middle deck yet. I'm all carpeted out lol. But I did vacuum and install my Garmin 73sv Finally, the best part. The area where I'll be fishing off of. Carpeting flat deck is so much easier than carpeting compartments. Hinges are such a PITA. I used builder paper and a sharpie to make a template of the front area. Then it's as simple as tracing the template on the carpet, cutting, and gluing. I also completely finished installing the Ultrex. Screwed the pedal down, and found a spot for the heading sensor. I'm sorry iabass8, no recessed tray this time, but this boat isn't done and I've got big plans down the line. Some other things/notes: Put marintex on screw holes Installed transducer on a stern saver. Love these things, hope they hold up. The Garmin power cable was too short to reach the battery. I used the power to the cigarette lighter. I don't smoke, so the power is being better used. Freaked out a little when my fish finder didn't turn on. No worries, just blew a fuse. Fish finders use more amps than lighting cigarettes lol. Switched to a 30amp fuse per Garmin spec. I will never own a boat without gas struts. For the price, ease of install, and convenience, they are a no-brainer. Filled her up. 10 gallons each side. Hey, turns out the port fuel gauge was working after all. I just screwed the leads back on the gas tank. I had the screws this whole time, which maybe explains why the mechanic couldn't get a read. Fueling was interesting. Definitely gotta ease up on the flow and find the right angle. Actually, speaking of gauges and wiring, nearly everything still works. I'm very very impressed. Even the light on the bow panel (where you plug the trolling motor in) works. I re-purposed the light's switch for the Ultrex heading sensor (the sensor doesn't have a power off, weird choice minn kota). But yeah, every place where I checked for voltage, I got a healthy reading. Very impressed with this Ranger build quality (knock on wood). I can't believe the wiring survived with the boat in the state I got it. I swear if the speedo works.... The big day is tmrw (Saturday). I fired up the motor for a final check, looks good. I probably need to put more gear oil in. I put an entire quart in with some spillage, so maybe 25 ounces or slightly above? Nothing came out of the vent hole. I'm not going to be running her hard tmrw, just making sure everything works. It's a small reservoir. But before I take it out on the delta I want to be extra sure........I will say, I hate this step, it's so messy, filling the lower unit from the bottom. *Edit* just read the manual and says capacity is 33 ounces. So I'm a little under. I feel like for a short run tmrw this shouldn't be an issue. Someone please correct me if I'm completely off The screw for the trim anode is missing. Gotta order it. One trip without it should be fine.

Lmaoooo my girlfriend said the same thing. Reaffirms the fact all design choices must go through her. In my defense, it looked darker online. I really want to do a recessed tray but I'm almost budgeted out this month. No worries, I'll do it when I can. Plus I would need to get a jigsaw. I have a reciprocating saw but i'm not comfortable using it to make straight cuts. Hmm, i'll by some wood and make a platform for the batteries. If you're talking about the switch that determines which tank (right or left) the gauge measures, i'm not sure. As in I'm not sure if the selector switch is faulty or the fuel sensor at the tank is faulty. The tank selector valve for feeding fuel works. ------------------- Cleaning this boat is turning out to be a bigger task than I thought. It's a shame that it was allowed to sit in this condition for so long. Removed the front bench seat backing (kept the seat/lid). The port side bench seat was such a hassle. Long story short I had to bust out the reciprocating saw and cut away the wood to access the screw that wasn't turning like it should've been. And dirt. So much dirt and grime. But it's starting to come together and looking like a proper boat. Full update on Friday. The driver and passenger seats seem to be in good enough condition for now. I'm certain the wood backing is weak and rotting, but they work and are stable. I spent a lot of money the past two months, so I'll ride these seats out for as long as I can and then install new ones. ------------------------------ Checklist of things I need to do for my personal tracking: -Finish carpeting the back -Finish Ultrex installation -Carpet the front deck -Plug up screw holes -Install latches and struts for the back compartments -Clean. Clean. And more cleaning. -Install fish finder -Fill her up with gas. -Test fire motor before taking it on the water longer term: -Casting deck extension (fairly large project) -Drill holes in rod lockers so I can fit my rods -Recess foot pedal Sort of a silly question, how do you guys fill her up without being close to a marine dock. Do you just go to a gas station and pump fuel like a car?

UPDATE #5 Started re-carpeting today. Stripped everything and vacuumed and cleaned. And boy did I clean. Lots of dirt and gunk that got accumulated over the years..... Almost have the back finished. Need to replace all the latches. Also the carpeting job is a little messy, my first time doing. Don't really care that much as long as I get coverage. Plus I'm just going to redo it again in a few years anyway. Installed the Ultrex. The most fun part of the day. Can't wait to use it. Before I install the foot pedal, I want to re-carpet the front area. Pretty much spent an hour scraping, and it can still use some more. Putting on carpet is easy. Scraping it off sucks. Almost finished with the critical stuff. Hoping to take her out this weekend....

Update #4 Good day, got a lot of stuff done but first the bad news. The new 800 gph pump I got just died. I connected it and everything but then it wouldn't turn on. Checked voltage and I was feeding it power. Took it out and confirmed it died. Kind of annoying. I put the 500 gph one back in there and did a rough test of the fill feature. I filled up the livewell then put the valve to "empty". This allows the water to drain out from the livewell drain hole. The drain hole is also the intake hole, so while the livewell was draining I turned the pump on. This isn't a perfect system because the pump sucks in water faster than the livewell can drain it. I'm not really sure exactly what's happening but I think the pump starts sucking in more air than water and eventually stops pumping in water. Regardless, I'm still able to verify nothing is plugged up and water is coming in. I'm confident when the boat is in water I'll have no issues: The flowrite valve cables are a lost cause. Honestly, I'm not a fan of the design, it seems very prone to failure. I'm leaving it on "fill" most of the day anyway. So now I'll manually flip it to "empty" at the end of the day. I'll revisit this in the future, maybe next year, but for now, I'm able to put in water. I'l have a poor man's recirculate by filling it up and using the overflow to drain old water. In the future, I might overhaul the system with an auto and recirculate, but since I'm not tournament fishing (yet) it's not a huge concern. Verified bilge pump is working: I'm finally able to put in the battery tray and the oil tank in it's right place. It feels great to be pretty much done with the bilge area. It's not the cleanest, but it's a billion times better than what it was before: A funny issue. Both my trolling motor batteries came today. They're a little too wide. Ehh whatever. At this point I'm too tired to care. They're not going anywhere. (I only have one put in the picture) Man, looking at these pictures I forgot to clean the lid. It's pretty moldy. Will do that as soon as the rain stops. Also topped off the hydraulic steering fluid. Mechanic told me he doesn't think I need to bleed it. After topping it off the looseness definitely drastically decreased. I counted about 4-5 complete helm revolutions to make the motor go end to end. I think that's pretty standard. I tried moving the motor by hand and it felt decently stiff. I'll be keeping an eye on the seastar valve seals, but so far so good. Whew, what a day. The benefits of getting to "work from home". So let's go over what was done: Motor shut off issue fixed. Bilge area restored. Batteries replaced. Steering fluid added. What still needs to be done: 3 bank charger coming in and needs to be installed. Install trolling motor circuit breaker. Install fish finder. Install trim tab anode. Marine-tex coming in and then I plug up some screw holes. And finally, installing the Ultrex. Supposedly the Ultrex can line up with the motorguide holes. Crossing my fingers this will work. That's for getting it on the water. I want to re-carpet it and restore the fiberglass too. Seems like a lot, but a lot of these are straightforward tasks. Hopefully I'll be able to take it on the water next week. Just in time for the rains to end and the fish to move to the beds. Oops I almost forgot. The port side fuel gauge doesn't work. Fuel gauges are not complicated, hope I can easily fix this one.

The link FishnKamp sent you is really good. I used that when I bought my boat. I have a 1987 Yamaha 2 stroke and every mechanic I took it to says she sounds great. You can do some basic checks yourself. Things like checking compression, spark plugs, gear oil. These won't guarantee a great motor but will let you know any red flags. http://fishingoutdoors.org/fishing-information/saltwater-fishing-articles/781-how-can-i-tell-if-the-used-outboard-motor-i-m-buying-is-in-good-condition.html

My goodness, I thought my boat needed TLC. That looked like an adventure to say the least. Love the finished product though and I hope I get mine looking like yours. Just curious, how difficult was it to feed the wires through the hull? That's my biggest fear. Luckily the wiring in this one is pretty good so far and I haven't had to run any wires through anything yet.

Update #3 Some great news today. After blowing out the motor fuse yesterday I was able to meet with the mechanic today. It doesn't take a mechanic to change the fuse but I also wanted him to look at the motor shutoff issue. I checked continuity of the motor kill wire (on Yamahas it's white) with ground and there was a connection. I had sneakily suspected there was an issue with the CDI but held on to hope that it was something much cheaper. Shelling out 300-900 for a CDI assembly, depending on how used it is, really really sucks. I dropped off the boat in the morning and was very pleasantly surprised when I got a call this afternoon saying it was ready. Turns out it was an issue with the CDI. I was very fortunate this mechanic was honest and helpful. He replaced the CDI assembly and pretty much only charged me for labor (He says he had a spare powerpack lying around). He also fixed my electronic choke. Finally, he helped me fill up my trim fluid on the spot when I asked him for it. All this was $500. That's not that much more than the cost of a used CDI assembly by itself! New ones run for around $900. So for $500 I got some important issues taken care of and a ton of wisdom from a reputable mechanic. Now I get to move on to other things. Right now I'm checking the pumps. I'm again surprised that all the accesory wiring seems to be sound. Also, all pumps work except for the automatic bilge pump. A replacement is already on the way. I'm also replacing the rear aerator pump with a 800gph as opposed to the 500gph unit it came with. The flowrite valve control cable system seems really janky to me but it is what it is I guess. If I can't get those cables to cooperate I'm just going to manually flip the valve as opposed to the slider. I'm going to use the front livewell as an ice chest. It's tiny anyway, won't be that effective holding the massive 10lbers I'll catch (just kidding). You can see in the background the manual bilge pump that came with the boat. It still runs strong. The automatic bilge pump I will install as soon as it gets here. One thing that's annoying is this ranger uses a two pin connector that I can't find anywhere. I have to cut the wire and solder the new pump wires onto the connector. If pumps fail on me I can only change them out so many times before I run out of wire to solder. The livewell pump sliders were stuck. Most boats have a circle switch for the flowrite valves but I guess this boat is old-school. The front valve had a lot of gunk, cleaning that off I was able to use the slider. The other was just seized or something. Popped the panel open and sprayed WD40 into the cable sleeve. Though a little stiff, both work now. Not too concerned since I'm using the front livewell as an icebox. The rear one I'm going to keep on fill until I'm done for the day. Replaced the fuses Did some other things that I didn't take pictures of. Changed the trailer winch. I cleaned the compartments and the livewells. They were beyond filthy. Took out the middle seat in the bench. I need to get rid of the wood backrest in the middle, does anyone know how to do that? The screw heads are inside the boat if that makes in sense. The laundry list is slowly but surely getting smaller. As far as strictly getting it ready to fish, I need to finish replacing the pumps. I have two deep cycle batteries and a circuit breaker along the way for the trolling motor. I have a Minn Kota Ultrex on the way (insanely excited about this). And I need to add steering fluid. If I wanted to fish ASAP, that's it. Of course I also want to replace the carpet, give the fiberglass a good treatment and cleaning, wipe down the vinyl seats, get a new power pedestal, and maybe recess the trolling motor foot pedal. But the end is in sight, just need to not screw anything up. The total cost now is around $5500. This includes the price of the boat (but does not include the price of the Ultrex haha). However, I had to buy a lot of tools, some of which I should have had already. If you subtract the cost of tools and the cost of accessories like a boat cover and a hitch ball, the cost of restoration is around $4600. Most importantly, I've reached a point where I don't think I need to get anything else. The new carpet is sitting in the garage. I have the steering fluid and fiberglass treatment compounds. The Ultrex is on the way. Again, the price does not include the Ultrex. That's a luxury item so to speak, not a necessity. It's also near half the cost of this restoration project by itself :p. Shout out to Leland's Marine and Voyager Marine for helping me with my troubles. I never got the sense I was being shafted by either one. Leland doesn't really work on outboards, but Voyager Marine has 30 years experience working on motors.