Dirtyeggroll

Oh... and all boats are money pits

The MK 330D digital charger SHOULD NOT be used with lithium batteries. The only case where it would be safe for you and for the batteries would be if you were to manually shut off the charger immediately when the battery is fully charged.

I have done a ton of research on the R70/R71 Ranger boats and just recently purchased a 1996 R70. They are a great hull and fish two people very comfortably. $6200 is an EXCELLENT price if it is in decent condition. The Mercury 125 ELPTO is a great motor that is a gas sipper because it runs two cylinders at low RPM and jumps up to 4 at higher RPM pushing the R70/71 up to around 45-50 mph. The biggest 'complaint' people seem to have about the R70/71 hull is that the rod lockers only hold rods up to 7'4". They are absolutely a great entry level boat. Even though it is a 17' boat most people comment that it fishes like a bigger boat. They are a very affordable option. Furthermore it will fit in most garages and you can pull it with a mid-sized SUV or compact pickup if necessary. Insurance should run you about $200-$350 per year depending on your provider and coverage. ABSOLUTELY get it checked over by a certified dealer/mechanic and expect to pay roughly $100 for a good inspection. That model of boat is in my opinion the best in that size and price range. GO FOR IT! Good luck

I made a small edit for you

Is your charger a “Precision” or “Digital”? The Precision chargers will work the same as with other batteries on the AGM setting but the Digital chargers will need to be unplugged once the battery is full. Do not trickle charge a lithium battery.

=>Welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear about your diagnosis. Glad to hear you're not giving up the good fight. I recently purchased an R70 (same boat as the R72 without the dual console). The R72 boat performs well being a 17' boat. Most people say it fishes two people comfortably. The biggest complaint people have about the R72 is that the rod lockers can't fit rods bigger than 6'6". The R-series hull is a strong Ranger hull and handles water conditions well for its size. The Intruder is a good motor and will move that boat probably in the lower 40-mph range. The boat is rated for up to a 130 horsepower motor. In the condition you describe that boat is probably worth about $6-8k, probably toward the higher end of that.

According to Keith Jones in his book “Knowing Bass,” as bass grow their visual and lateral line sensory systems likely improve. Smarter? Well that’s a hard thing to measure, but more sensitive/aware of their environment, probably.

Yes but these data “contradict” the idea, to paraphrase, that “more people people on the water = more fish caught”... And although I didn’t see the exact statistical algorithms he used for his analysis, this suggests he used a method to factor in/control for number of anglers fishing. He didn’t talk about in depth in his book because it would probably be alphabet soup for most of the audience he was targeting, but I would be interested in knowing more about how he performed the analyses. I do however, have some faith that he only presented data that had very robust signals in multivariate analysis. These type of analyses are decent at telling us what is happening, but it is not good at telling us why.

I think this site has a strong fan base for Dobyns Rods. Dobyns has excellent unwaivering customer service which has been an important driver of their reputation. The rods are well-balanced and well-built for the price point(s). A common (but infrequent) “complaint” about them is that they are not the most “sensitive” rods available, but that is a matter of personal opinion. I personally have several Dobyns Rods and plan to replace them with Dobyns Rods of ever necessary.

In Josh Alwine’s book based on the ShareLunker data, one of the strongest signals was that Wednesday was the day when the most amount of fish were caught.

We used to fish small farm ponds all of the time when I was younger. Once my sister was holding her pole with a bobber and worm out in the water and sitting on a cooler focused on the bobber when a cow walked up right behind her and licked her in the face before she even knew what had happened. She took off across the bank scream carrying her Zebco with her. One of the funniest things I have ever seen.

-8 windchill this morning. 19 months and I hope to be moving South.

What lake?

If your mobility is the current limiting factor on getting the boat in the water perhaps an agile fishing partner would be of use.

https://www.bassboatseats.com/ has some great options.

Dang it Chiefs! You were supposed to give me two more weeks of distraction from the fact that I am too busy working and the lakes are all frozen and can’t take my new (to me) boat out!! I hope the Chiefs get their defense figured out. The guys who pull their weight on D aren’t exactly rookies and Mahomes has clearly shown he deserves better by putting on an amazing offensive show. Somethings got to change and quick. Here’s to hoping that Edelman falls and Brady then trips on him and they both break something and Gronk chokes on a Tide Pod (kidding of course...).

I actually make sure to use it AFTER every outing so my line is ready to go if I forget to do it the night before.

Always choose goods and services when purchasing peer to peer. It’s a pretty bulletproof system.

As far as I know, USAA does not offer boat insurance but partners with Progressive... Highly recommend USAA. Not always the lowest price, but always close... and the CUSTOMER SERVICE is elite, next to none.

I think the International Olympics Committee might disagree.

Love the Elite Rods. I picked up a few on clearance that were discontinued and am not disappointed.

Yes there are plenty of rock piles in that lake (close to the bank). Yes you look at historical images on google earth. It is a clock looking button with a green arrow to bring up the timeline and then you can scroll left and right to change the date. PM me for more specific details about that lake.

Nice work!

I was really expecting an offensive shootout similar but not to the same degree as the Rams game, which gave me hope. Was not at all expecting to shut the Colts down! Never happened in my whole life. It’s just a myth to me. DARN RIGHT it makes me happy to see my team win! The only thing they have to improve is that which will make their score higher than the other team in the next game! Importantly, unlike many games early in the season, this game wasn’t won primarily by big trick plays and big failures of the opponent. To me, that is a huge improvement.

Been HUSTLIN’em all along!