bassboy1

Where have you met a redneck that says "hey guys" Oh have I got news for you.

I would stay away from the newer trackers. We have a couple of friends in the marine business, and the newer trackers really aren't up to par. I have only heard good about the Express though. That seems to be the optimal boat in tin.

Alright, I didn't go to the trouble of reading all the other responses, but I run a 50 pound PD on a 12 foot vee, when in elec. only waters, and am not happy with it. When you are running down the lake, the back wants to swing around, and you have to keep riding the pedal to make it go straight. You would need some sort of fixed rudder or daggerboard to fix that - we haven't gotten around to making ours yet. Also, I don't know about the v2 PDs, but the pedal on the regular one is hell to operate sitting down. It takes a bit of force to get it to steer, and you don't have enough leverage if you are sitting on a bench seat. The speed control is hell to, when standing. It has thrown me out of the boat on numerous occasions, as it gets stuck, then goes farther than you want. As for trailering, if you have the daggerboard, it should work fine. The only problem I have, is the stern swings to much when loading. What you do, is pull the lever to tilt it up, tilt it back with your hand, and steer with your hand. That is the only practical way I have found. If you have a normal motor (which will be my next one) you pull the string up part way, and can still use the foot control. On the PD, the foot control is in no way finesse, so trailering with it is impossible. You cannot move it in infinite increments, as it goes to far one way or another. I would advise getting a 24v transom mount. Then use a 40 pounder up front to fish with.

Here is an excellently done link, by boatbouy, on forums.iboats.com. (hope I cited it correctly) Folks should read this every time they are reviving a dormant outboard. http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=158086

Just to clarify. I didn't really disagree with you on the status thing. Bass fishing is not a status thing. I try to stay out of that chit. That might explain why I am the looser at school, but at least I am a happy looser What I was saying, was that I feel that certain pieces of expensive equipment do help me. The Gamakatsu hooks to start, and the sammies in second.

Muddy, I agree with you on part of this. I have a cherrywood graphite rod that I use for trout fishing and for bream, and little stuff like that. I love it. The balance is great, and it works fine (cept I still can't catch fish with it, but I think that has to do with user error ;D) On the other hand, I hate those dammed ugly sticks. I probably would like one of the newer models, but nope, not gonna get one though. But, I disagree with you a bit. The only topwater I can catch fish on is the LC sammy. But, I buy them all used. Every one in my tackle box was bought for less than 6 bucks. I also use Gamakatsu hooks, which are like 3 bucks for a 5 pack, but I do feel that they help my fishing. I am loosing a lot less, now that I switched from mustad. And, I am looking at getting a higher priced rod for dropshotting. I don't like the one I have for it, and I asked a question about which one folks liked best, and really loved the ones that I have handled. Each to his own I guess.

As far as I know, cart doesn't have one, he just has plenty of experience with boats, and knows the ropes (or lines in this case) But, if you are looking for something new, look for the best dealer, and the best boat features. If used, look for the features that you want. I have an old (1974) Lund fish n ski we are restoring, and it wouldn't be great for fishing (luckily we just picked up a 'real' bass boat - an 18 foot alumacraft) But, seeing as we were restoring it, we woulda put the correct features in. Many of the newer aluminum deep vees are geared toward both sides, and fish well. Just keep a lookout.

Mine stay in the rain for the most part. Now, the boat tarps are big enough to cover them, and usually do, but the 4 horse evinrude on the 12 footer, when it gets used, stays uncovered in the rain. When we fish elec only lakes, it goes inside, only cause it gets clamped to something, that is inside, not out.

The carolina skiffs are NICE boats. Same goes for boston whalers. You can't sink them, and they will out live you, and hold resell value - cept that to get that high resale value, you have to pay a lot up front.

We carry our 17 footer (well we have two of them - we flip boats for a profit a lot, and in a week, have found 2 identical canoes for 100 each - we have already sold one for 350, and the guy is picking it up tomorrow) We carry them upside down over the cab. Since our long bed truck is 17 feet long, it works well, just line it up. In the bed, we have a stack of foam blocks (you can use anything to support it at the right height, we just happen to keep a lot of foam blocks around to store project boats on) Two straps going from the bow loop to to the hooks under the bumper on the front. Then, a ratchet strap around the canoe and to the bed loops. Snug it down, and the blocks won't blow away, and everything works smoothly. We use old carpet on the cab of the truck.

I congratulate your promotion as I make one more post toward mine.

Nice work. But, one potential problem I see, is that it doesn't seem like you epoxied the stringers and possibly deck. You need to have epoxy resin on the stringers and deck to both waterproof it, and provide structural support. Hopefully I am wrong though. Aside from that, it seems you did a nice job, and looks great. Have fun catching fish from that rig.

Better yet, put an ad in Craigslist. The paper is to old school. I can tell you from personal experience, the people who either a)flip boats, and often will have a lot they want to unload (ie. me) or have the one collecting dust in the barn, will put it on Craigslist, as it is free, and easier than the paper. But, the key is to be quick. ANY read good deal on items such as boats, is going to be sold within two hours of being listed. I check Craigslist 4 or 5 times a day. That is how we scab up deals.

Here is a C&P of the top ten pirate pickup lines being sent around the internet. 10 . Avast, me proud beauty! Wanna know why my Roger is so Jolly? 9. Have ya ever met a man with a real yardarm? 8. Come on up and see me urchins. 7. Yes, that is a hornpipe in my pocket and I am happy to see you. 6. I'd love to drop anchor in your lagoon. 5. Pardon me, but would ya mind if fired me cannon through your porthole? 4. How'd you like to scrape the barnacles off of me rudder? 3. Ya know, darlin', I'm 97 percent chum free. 2. Well blow me down? 1. Prepare to be boarded.

Unhook transom straps, and motor toter in the parking lot. Move all gear from truck to boat here. Now, back down ramp, and then unhook bow from winch (trust me, you NEVER want to unhook it. If you have seen the fiberglass streak in front of a boat on the ramp, where it slid off, and slid down, you will understand) If you have a courtesy dock, all the better, unhook boat, and walk it down to the end of the dock. That way, someone else can get his boat or trailer in if need be. If there is not a ramp on the other side, put the boat on the backside of the dock. Now pull out, and park trailer. If it is like around here, and you don't have a courtesy dock, push the boat off, and beach it next to the ramp. Throw the anchor onto the beach, it will hold just fine. Then park truck. If it is not crowded, and you don't have courtesy docks, you can fire up the motor, and idle over to the big dock. The one thing with courtesy docks is, you have to be careful with where you put your boat. People get ticked if your boat is in the way. If you put your boat in line to load it on the trailer, and head up to get the truck, someone could back down the ramp, and your boat is in the way. So, if you have to deal with courtesy docks, use the backside and end of the dock, and be quick. If you don't, you shouldn't have any hassle, unless their is riprap around the ramp, in which you have to spend the time to fire up the motor, and head to the dock. The more you do it, the faster it gets.

Well, I am gonna update this, as I have aquired two boats after my last post. I have the 1997 Grumman, with the 4 horse Evinrude. Then, we are restoring the 1974 Lund with 1979 55 horse Johnny. Last weekend, we picked up a Cherokee 14 foot vee that we are adding in a casting deck, and doing a complete jon conversion on. It is gonna get a larger engine (20 - 30 horse) when we can afford it, and will get a transom mount 24 volt trolling motor for the elec only lakes, where the single 50 pound isn't enough to move around. And, we picked up an older 17 foot Grumman canoe. It was a great deal, which is the only reason we got it. We will probably sell it, as we need a new arc welder, and don't have much cash. I would like to keep it though, but I don't write the checks. Now that we have the 14er, the 12er probably wont get much use. Probably only as a rowboat when we go to our vacation house in NC. Maybe for just cruising down the river, or catfishing or something, but the 14er with casting decks and storage compartments is definitely gonna be easier to use. The Lund we are restoring. Slowly and steadily. Dad just has to much to do, and not enough time to do it (long work hours and commute). But, when it does get done, it will get used for fishing in the large local lakes (allatoona, lanier, weiss etc.) and the 14er will get used in the elec only lakes, the smaller, and medium local lakes, and for when I fish alone in the summer (15 foot deep vee with 55 horse is a lot of boat. More than I need when alone, and more than I want to handle. The 1 foot of saving, and 25 horse decrease is a lot of help) Then, the Grumman will just get used for the same ole' thing. Rowing, and just cruising or something. If we do keep the canoe, we will put our 4 horse on it from time to time, and just play around, or use it to entertain younger siblings.

My personal favorite is the YUM houdini 6 inch in green pumpkin. That is my favorite combo, and I fish it exactly as one would fish a senko, but I like the fact that it is skinnier, and more flexible. Just works better for me. It doesn't get size, but it sure gets numbers.

Lucky craft sammy. Once you can walk the dog, that is my favorite.

They make little doohickeys to hold 8 double a batteries. (they are 1.5 volts a piece) But, for a while, before we had the TM (and therefore large deep cycle battery) we just used an old go cart battery. It wasn't a real good battery, as it had sat for two long, and would lose a charge just sitting for a day and a half, but it worked fine for a couple of half day expendures.

Nice boat. Your problem doesn't sound like leaving the vent shut. If you left the vent shut, it will start out running like a banshee, and gradually lose some of its gusto. I have seen on the lake, where some guy in a canoe with a 9.9 (fun combo right there - that sucker is FAST) kept starting his motor, running a bit, then slowing down, and stopping, at which point he pulled on the motor for a while, and it ran for about 2 minutes then slowed down. It was quite funny once I told him what the problem was. Hey Jim, you gonna try to convert him?

Now might I ask why you were looking for fish, at the top of the ramp?

Fishing has an off season? Whoulda thunk it? ;D I can't imagine what it would be like not fishing for that period of time (well yes I can, I had from about August of 05 until about october of 06, and got to fish only about twice. Then, from october, my rods never saw water until mid february of this year. I tell ya, being a broke teenager who can't afford rod building stuff, and is just a tad to young to go fiddle around in the shop (I just wanna build - I don't care what) or go work on one of our boat projects, IT SUCKS. These days, I get to go about once a month. It has basically screwed my dream of starting some of the smaller jon boat tourneys in '08 like I had originally planned. I tell ya, you can spend years reading on sites like this, and not learn $hit about fishing, it takes on the water time. In my down time, I read on this site, and my 7 other forums.

Uh Oh.

Looks a lot like the square stern version of my Grumman. Looks to be either a 16 or 17 foot. I can tell you, that they are great boats. We thought highly of them even before we had our canoe or our 12 footer. The square stern is nice. I wish ours had that, seeing what we would mainly use it for.

The issues I hear of people having with submersible lights when they do unplug them, is them leaking a tad, and filling faster than it drains. Then, when you plug them in, it is full of water. I have heard of people drilling holes in them for that purpose.