bassalive

12' Sears Aluminum/6 Evinrude, 17' Scott ski boat/80 Merc, 14.5 Princecraft/30 rude 16' Princecraft pro series 162/50 rude, 18' Javelin 379 DC/150 Johnnie 17.5' Pro Craft/115 14.5 Princecraft/50 Rude 16' Lowe deep V/50 rude 17.5' Lowe stinger/50 rude 18' Nitro 180 TF/150 Rude 17' Stratos 258/70 rude Currently,Stratos 285/150 Johnnie. In that order, although the list looks a bit bizarre there was a couple of Divorces over the years.....lol?

They were the pre runner to the Nitro 160. My buddy had one years back with a 115 Yamaha, and it performed very well, maybe almost seemed too much in some cases. I can imagine a 70 wouldn't quite do it, but a 90/115 would fill the gap in performance.

Looking back to the late 80s, my first boat was a Princecraft 16' Aluminum Pro series with a 50hp Evinrude. It was bullet proof, and allowed a newbie Bass boater to make a few nautical mistakes without breaking the Bank. My second boat was a 1993 Javelin 18' with a 150 Fast Strike, and taking into consideration some of the mishaps during the learning curve with the 16' Aluminum, I transitioned into a high performance rig.

I have a CMC on mine, and its a quality unit, actually CMC became part of the TH Marine company that make, and distribute a plethora of marine products including Atlas Jack Plates. I think you'll be pleased with the CMC, and being a TH Marine product which are "top shelf" for customer satisfaction.

It's quite common to over grease hubs, as there is a grease nipple there, and sometimes get pumped full to the point it literally comes out of the inner seals or the weep hole, and ends up on the tires. If the hubs are full, they won't take on any amount of water even if you parked the trailer in the lake. Myself, I check/grease bearings in the Spring, and give them a squirt during the season.

20" transom is the standard really, it allows for a wider selection of outboards, and it also sits the boat higher in the water increasing freeboard for running in rough water. The boat would be easier to sell with a 20" transom as well down the road.

It happens to everybody at some point, over the years I began leaving the drain plug in, and just use the bilge pump to rid water. Actually a wee bit of water in the bilge is a good thing, as it keeps the pumps wet. If you throw a bar of soap in the bilge, the water will slosh it around, and keep the bilge area clean as well. I take out the plug in the Fall when winterizing.

Definitely go with the Nitro 170/Merc 75. As stated above, Force was manufactured by Mercury, but I dont think they brag about it a whole lot....The boat on the other hand is a solid rig like Fishnkamp said if it had something other than a Force.

Hello guys, I'm a life long angler from Nova Scotia, Canada. I now live in Skiff Lake New Brunswick, a stone's throw from the Maine Border. I'm 49 years old, and grew up fishing Smallmoth Bass, Brown Trout, Brook Trout, Striped Bass,and Atlantic Salmon. Introduced to Bass Fishing Tournaments in the late 80's, and have fished Canada wide, and into the Southern US. I really enjoy this site, happy to become a member.