Hi-Powered Red Neck

Looks fantastic!!

Well thats not good for sure. I'm not familiar with Cast King. How's their warranty. I'd send it back for factory service.

Super Duty pretty much summed up that question. It dies! 12 gauge slug start out at what, an ounce or more? With a modern slug barrel they are very accurate. I'd venture to say theres not much that rivals it for lethality. Most rifle bullets will hardly mushroom out to the size a 12 gauge slug starts out at. So to answer your question it leaves a massive wound canal even if it doesn't mushroom. There is nothing on this continent that a 12 gauge slug can't stop. If you stop to think about it a 12 gauge is the most versatile weapon most of us own. What can't you load it to hunt? From birds to bears and everything in between. I love my 40+ year old 870 Wingmaster. She's starting to show her age but she still runs slick and smooth.

Sorry to hear that the Model 60 has gone down hill. I bought mine at Walmart for $99 somewhere around 25 years ago. It is a blued commemorative addition with a medallion in the stock. The trigger pull was and still is decent. It's by no means a precision rifle, but thats about all that can keep up with it at 50 yards or less. It has had several scopes and countless rounds run thru it. I've never had issues with the scope mount moving around. It has always been a one ragged hole rifle. Several times I thought about buying a 10/22 to "build out" but I just couldn't justify replacing the Marlin. It's just too good of a shooter to replace. The only problem I've ever had out of it, is every once in a while it will fire 2. It happens so fast that it's hard to notice the difference. When it does happen, the next pull will be on an empty chamber. It simply cycles faster than the tube spring can keep up with. I've always held the Model 60 in high regard, simply because mine is an absolute monster and I figured they were all like that. My ammo of choice has always been 550 round bulk pack Federal for range duty and CCI Stingers or Mini Mags for hunting. I like to know how many round has gone thru my Marlin it's got to be close to a million. I shot almost every week end for 15 or so years, burning up 2 bulk packs each time. At least till the ammo prices went thru the roof. Now that they are back down I'm thinking about dusting it off and putting it back to work. After hearing your experience with the newer stuff I'll buy something else for my son.

Neil the factory wiring will work fine. Most of the time you will be bumping low power on and off. Traveling is the only time you'll need full power and, even then these little boats move very easily so the amp draw even on high is minimal. When I did mine I found the Pelican plug that fits the factory receiver was way over priced. I bought a Attwell trolling motor plug kit. Came with both ends for half the price. I also installed a bigfoot switch on the floor. My floor has a carpet and anti fatigue mat over 3/8 plywood so screwing it down was no biggie. I fish exclusively solo out of the raider. It might be rated for two but, thats not for guys my size. The bigfoot switch goes on the negative side of the wiring. I ran a heavy gauge wire up to it then back to the factory harness. this lets me bump the power and keeps me more hands on the rod. There is a learning curve to running these little boats. I've found that If I sit more towards the stern with an extension handle on the TM it keeps the stern lower in the water and I have better control. Once you fish it a few times you'll figure it out. Heck you've got to counter steer deep diving crank baits and big fish will pull you around. I've been thinking about getting a 55lb TM for the stern but my 36 works really well. Biggest problem You'll face with the TM on the front is Beaching the boat. That can be a little challenging. Enjoy

I have one in my Raider 10E. It's the bee's knees! Super comfortable with an easily adjustable back. It is deeper than most seats so you're not hanging off the edge. It bolt right up to the factory swivel base and seems to sit higher so there is no need to install some sort of riser. I can go from sitting to standing easily. I highly recommend the Millennium seats. I have the saltwater series so no worries about rusting.

As a kid I grew up fishing with my Dad. He was heavily into tournament fishing. We were fishing in a slew off of Lake Seminole on the other side of the from where we launched. We had been back off the lake for several hours and had been culling for at least 2. We where in high spirits as we started for the dock. I was driving the boat all I remember about that boat was it was a brown and gold Skeeter with a 140 tower of power that ripped along pretty good. He had let me drive cause it would be way cooler if we pulled up to the dock with me driving. Almost knowing we had this day wrapped up. I had the boat on the pad and was in the process of trimming it up and letting her eat as we hit the main lake and 2-3' waves! Holy crap I'm way over my head. I chopped power and spun it back around and got us to sheltered water again under the guidance of my dad. Once back in the calm water he said we can still make the weigh in but it was going to be a nasty ride. We stowed all our gear as he did his best to explain what we where about to face. As we got out on to the lake it was as bad as he had said it would be. He had the boat on top and we were making good progress when I saw couple boats fall in behind us. Now 3 boats strong we ran our way across the lake taking a pounding. I will say that was an exciting ride. We made it to the scales on time with some of the other guy's in the club behind us. We actually won, finishing 1 & 2. The guys that followed us across the lake said they had been debating about crossing the lake when they saw us go for it. Safety in numbers. My Dad later admitted he was ready to turn around when the other two boats showed up. He continued knowing we now had some back up. Me, of course I was with my Dad I had no idea the amount of danger we faced that day. Be safe out there.

Bass in public park see tons of fishing pressure. Most have been hooked enough to learn to stay away from artificial lures. My backyard pond is the same way now that I've got them trained. Try fishing at night as scaleface suggested.

As long as you didn't get knocked it the head falling out. It's not about being in good enough shape to swim that distance. It's about staying afloat if you get knocked out.

Last one. This is the tale of a huge carp that I almost caught. My parents had gotten a divorce, and I had to move from Florida to Pennsylvania. My mother had family in the Poconos. At first We stayed with my Grand Parents. This was fine with me because my cousin Charlie lived right next door. Charlie and I were born 2 days apart and we were tight. His Dad (Uncle Charlie) was a Boiler operator at the paper mill and worked the night shift. During trout season he would take us to work with him. We would fish most of the night behind the mill catching Brown, Rainbow and Brook Trout. When we got tired of fishing we would sleep on the giant bales of shredded paper in the back of a warehouse. This was a far cry from the bass fishing I was used to but we had a blast none the less. One afternoon when Uncle Charlie got up he asked us if we would like to go camping on the Delaware river. He knew a spot that wasn't too far from the mill and he'd leave early to get us set up. The plan was, he'd would pick us up in the morning on his way home. Heck yeah we wanted to do that. So we loaded up the tent, a couple sleeping bags, a Coleman lantern and our fishing gear. The spot he dropped us off at was great. It was a big sand and gravel bar right off the road but far enough we'd be outta sight to anyone that drove by. Shortly after we got everything set up. Charlie said he knew a great spot to catch night crawlers that was just a short walk away. We grabbed our flashlights, a coffee can and headed towards the park. He was right it was a great spot. In 10 minutes we had enough night crawlers to fish all week. Back at camp we got baited up and started fishing. After an hour or so we'd had one bite. Nothing like the Paper mill, that was normally one after the next. Out of boredom I tied on a 5/0 worm hook. The kind of hook you'd use to Texas rig soft plastics. I started hooking on the night crawlers till I had a ball about half the size of a baseball. I cast it out as far as I could fling it and set the rod down on a V notch stick. Half hour later and the rod tip moves. Charlie said let him eat it, thats a big bait. A few seconds later there is no doubt the fish has got the bait. I set the hook and the race was on. Down river it went and I'm tightening the drag. I'd gain half the spool and lose it again. this went on for a good 30 minutes till we could see the fish. This thing was a giant at least 4 foot long and fat as a volley ball. Neither of us had seen anything like that before. Now as I mentioned before we were kids and didn't always use or have the correct gear. I was using a 3/4" nut as a sinker. This would prove to be a bad choice. Charlie ran to the tent to grab the landing net his dad had brought for us. As he did the carp decided it had rested enough and pealed off most of the spool again. Thats alright we're ready this time. I've got 25lb test line so we got this. As I bring the fish back to the light of the lantern Charlie pounces on it with the net. The fish won't go in the net sideways. It surges and peals off enough line to be out of sight again. I battle it back to net range this time he's got it! Or does he the fish is massive and is not happy about being netted and really starts to flail. Down goes Charlie and out goes the fish. Quick grab of the line and he's trying to net it again waist deep and soaked from the fall he abandons the net and bear hugs the fish. With a flip and a slap the fish is gone and Charlie is down again. one last attempt as the fish comes back in to view...snap the line finally parts at the nut that I was using for a sinker. He left us with nothing but a story of the one that got away.

My fishing obsession started on the front lake at a Golf Course that my father ran. He had a little v hull boat and would take me fishing till I got bored then he'd drop me off on the bank and I'd walk home across the golf course. It was the early 70's and we lived on the course so thats not as bad as it sounds. One evening we were fishing he gave me a Tiny Torpedo. It was green and painted to look like a yellow belly frog. He helped me tie it on and told me to cast along the edges of the lily pads. Now try to understand it was all bobbers and worms or bread until this second. My first cast the lure hit the water next to the pads and was engulfed all most instantly. It was such a splash and happened so quickly that it scared me. I had no idea what to do, I was frozen. Then my little zebco set up was trying its best to get away from me. I still had no idea what was happening had I lost the lure that my dad just given me? I was in a stance like state of amazement and wonderment. When I heard my dad saying reel it in you've got a big one. I snapped outta my trance and realized what was going on and I was in a fight with what turned out to be a 7 pound largemouth. Up until that point I had only caught brim and blue gill. After that I was hooked, I never asked to get out of the boat again. I fished everyday my mother would let me. Being a kid on a resort style Golf course in Florida was a lot of fun. 2 big lakes and a couple little ones. My dad would ride the course in the evening running the irrigation and most days I'd tag along. He showed me all the best spots around the course to fish. I got to know that course like the back of my hand. The Rule was I couldn't fish anywhere play was happening. Well some of the best spots were in play. So I became a fishing Ninja. Hiding when I saw a Golfer or one of my dads crew. Every once in a while I'd get caught by my Dad or his crew. That alway ended in a cushman ride back to our condo. My mother would scold me and ground me from fishing for a couple days. Not much punishment cause dad would be watering tonight and I go with him. This all happened from the age of 7 till I was 11. I'm 50 now and I still own that Tiny Torpedo that started my fishing obsession. I never lost it, it's long since retired but it still has been in every tackle box I've owed since.

Whats up Bass Raider fans? Well Christmas and New Years have come and gone. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. Hopefully Santa filled all your fishing gear needs. I keep myself pretty stocked up on fishing gear so my Christmas list was short this year, at least in the tackle department. I did get a new reel, so now I need a new rod to go with it. LOL For the Raider I asked for a Millennium stainless boat seat, and Santa delivered. I am impressed with its construction and comfort. Now just so you know, me and the Pelican 10E and saw a bunch of fishing in 2019. I got the boat for Christmas Last year. I've made a few basic upgrades that can be found on this thread back in February of last year. For a seat I was using a 7" riser and a cheap camo folding seat from Wal-Mart. I fished around 50 days last year and the seat was shot. I pulled it off and replaced it with the new Millennium seat. Put it in the boat and sat down. Wow what a difference. Only problem was with the 7" riser and sitting in the seat my feet wouldn't touch the floor. I pulled the riser out and was pleasantly surprised to know I no longer needed the riser. The seat Is high enough and much deeper. This lowers the center of gravity back down a bit. I'm still in a higher seated position than I was using other seat. Which was the cause of me using riser in the first place. I can sit and stand as easily as I could with the riser seat and I gained back the stability I lost installing the riser. I'll post a picture when I get back home.

I used a Scottie mount for my transducer. I secured the mounting block to the rear motor mount plate. I simply pulled one of the bolts out. Went to Ace and got a longer bolt and utilized the existing hole. The block is very secure even thou it's only held on by 1 bolt. The arm attaches to the block and has a break away clutch that allow the transducer arm to kick up if it hits something. It does't self return but it's easy to push back down and your transducer doesn't get damaged.

If memory serves me correctly the Raider is rated for a 3.5. With that said I'd be very wary of flex in the transom. These boats will flex a great deal with a gas motor. This is one time I will say less is more. Personally I wouldn't put much more than a 55lb TM on mine. Right now I'm running a 32lb Minn Kota on the front. I plan to up grade to a 55lb but I'm a "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" guy. My trusty old 32 has been on several boats in the 20 years that I've owned it. It just won't die.

How big is the bubbled area? Most of the guy's on this thread have, some sort of floor in the boat. I personally have a 3/8" piece of plywood with harbor freight anti fatigue mat glued down and covered with gray outdoor carpet from Lowes. Very comfortable to stand on especially barefoot. I know this is not the fix answer you were looking for. But if you can can cover it. Outta sight, outta mind.

I have to start out like most the other comments saying I haven't been diving in a decade. When I started diving it was actually for money. I was a Golf Course Superintendent in Destin Florida at the time. The GM asked me if I would be interested in making some extra cash by diving for golf balls. First time on scuba with borrowed gear I made $250 in about an hour. I was hooked after that. I got certified and went hog wild diving. Met a few new people working part time at the local dive shop and started spearfishing. Nothing like combining a love for fishing, hunting, and scuba into one thing. I've dove several lakes not including the golf ball diving. Your biggest hurdle is going to be visibility. When you can only see a few feet in front of you things come out of nowhere. With that said I really enjoyed scuba diving. I'd still be in the game but sinus squeeze issues and reverse blocks ended my diving. I highly recommend Scuba diving. I had a wonderful 20 year love affair with it. Countless dives, hundreds of wrecks and unknown amounts of fish. So do it you won't regret it.

Rick If you haven't bought a boat yet and you primarily fish alone. I recommend a Pelican Bass Raider 10E. I'm a pretty big guy at 6'3" 280lbs. I love my Bass Raider. I've had several Jon boats with casting decks built on. But for solo fishing it's hard to beat. I fish it on electric only lakes around my house. My Favorite being 185 acres. I'm currently running a 36lb minn kota on the front of it with a 5 year old group 29 battery that I got at Walmart (Obviously not the best name brand) . For giggles one day when the fishing was slow I decided to make a run around the lake. Just to see how well my battery would hold up. Two laps around the lake later, the battery was still holding strong. With no noticeable power loss. I gained a lot of confidence in it that day. I decided I could fish on a 500 acre lake and not have any worries about how far I could venture and still have enough power to get back to the truck. Now honestly it's almost time for a new battery and I'm planning on upgrading to a 55 lb trust trolling motor, the extra poundage is really to get me back into the "salad". My 32 struggles in heavy grass. I love fishing frogs in the worst places. Give me a cove choked with weeds and pads and I'll be right in the middle fishing a frog and snatching lunkers out. LOL As far as the boat it's self. I've only made a few mods. Like a floor with padding under the carpet, a garmin GPS, Fish finder, and a Big Foot switch to start and stop the trolling motor. The boat is plastic "pontoon" style and weights in at around 185 with the floor in it. It wide enough to be pretty stable, I can stand and fish all day. Ive got room for all my tackle bags and boxes, and I normally carry 4 rods. I also carry a small cooler. I did add a 7" seat riser so I can stay seated most of the time, I'm getting old and lazy. All in all it is a great boat for electric only lakes. I found mine on Craigs List for $300. It is 10 years old and has lived it's life in the Florida sun. However, It Still looks new that in it's self speaks volumes on how well it's constructed . Just some food for thought. Only time I don't use it is when I'm fishing with someone else then I use my Bass Boat. Yes, I have a 18 1/2' Skeeter that stays at home cause I'm fishing out of my Bass Raider. Throw it in the back of my truck and I'm gone fishin'. At least 3 or 4 times a month. That would be more but work takes me out of state 14 days at a time. Whatever you decide to get enjoy yourself. Later.

Wow thats an eye opener. Thanks for posting the link.

My Christmas wish list was pretty short this year. I asked for a stainless Millennium boat seat for my Pelican 10E. I try to stay stocked up on lures and plastics. When I walk into a store with a fishing section thats my first stop. Clearance sales on lures are always happening. I'm good for at least two or three every time. Of course as others have mentioned a new PB would be nice. Spring is coming I need an 11+ pounder to have a reproduction made of. I know the Big girl I let go 2 years ago is over 10 probably pushing 12 this year. She was 9.8 post spawn when I released her.This past spring she was bedded right off my dock looking much bigger than her last weigh in. But she simply would not take a bait, guess she didn't want me to know her weight. Maybe this spring.

You will have to come up with a way to seriously reinforce it. Remember the hull is hollow and made of plastic. I don't believe it will stand up to it's rated 3.5hp long term. I can see mine flex with a 32lb thrust. A 55lb thrust is all you'd ever need. My 32 on the front will get 3.5 mph on the gps. I fish several lake around my house that are 200 acre or less. I've made a couple laps around a 185 acre lake just to see how my group 29 would hold up. You don't want to get too far away from the landing on a bigger lake than that. If the wind picks up you'll be in for a hair raising ride. It's not going to sink out from under you but it will sure fill up with water. It's a calm water boat for sure. I understand you've probably already got the 9.9. But take it from a guy who owns and fishes one on a regular basis, and is also a professional mariner. Thats way too much power and weight for a Pelican 10E. Even if you reinforce it and idle around. Sure you'll get away with it for a while. Then you'll start twisting the throttle just a little more. Next thing you know you're 5 miles from the landing when wind picks up. But you are having the best day of fishing ever. You've busted your PB twice already, just one more cast. All of the sudden you're facing 2' white caps and you've got to go dead into the wind. You're doing ok you've only got 3 more miles to go. Then the first wave breaks over the bow swamping the boat and washing your favorite pole overboard. The boats filling faster than you can bail it out. Nervously you throttle up some more, but theres too much water in the boat. That trusty ole 9.9 rips the transom bracket and the reinforcement off the Pelican. Now the hull is breached and it's going down. Next thing you know you're swimming for your life and you've lost all your gear. This is meant in good humor so please don't be offended. Stuff like this happens more than you know. Be careful and have fun. But most importantly return home safely.

There are several alarm system on the market for boats that are very similar to car alarms. However, I'm with Looking45 on this one. Leave it unlocked and as empty as possible. Take your valuables out of the boat. It only takes a few minutes to take you gear out. Unless you pack your boat like KVD.

The XR6 is a hammer! The story I got about the XR series of engines started with the XR2 back in the early 80'S. Bass federation tournaments had a 150 HP cap on engines at the time. So Mercury being what they are said ok Bass guys. Here is a under rated 175 wearing 150 badges. The little 2.0 liter that could. My dad had a 18 1/2' Skeeter Starfire with an XR2 on the back. Once he got his set up dialed in that boat would run 68. Not too long after that he blew it up (oil related) while still under warranty The dealer replaced the power head with the new 2.4 liter XR4. This was supposedly a 200 in disguise. That motor needed more prop than the old XR2 and pushed the Skeeter to 74. It was a bit squirrelly at that speed, but would gladly run 70 with no problem at all. My dad fished out of that boat for several years before he retired from Bass tournament fishing. He had Zero problems out of the XR4 once they found the problem that took out the XR2. Apparently the oil injection tank was bolted down on top of the oil line restricting the flow. Totally the dealers fault. Happened when they originally rigged out the boat. The XR6 is a fuel injected 2.5 liter version. IMO it is the undisputed king of the 2 stroke 150 hp class. Keep it oiled and find a good mercury mechanic to go thru or eliminate the oil injection system. You'll get a lot of hours outta that motor. If it's set up right you'll be pleased with the speed it will provide. That old Skeeter got a lot of attention from the guys with 200's that it went by.

Yeah the thought of a blow over keeps me a bit more grounded than it did in my youth. Once we are married with kids our lives are no longer truly our own. I'll keep it below 75. I want the 65 - 70 to be with in easy reach. Power and speed left in reserve. Thanks for you input.

With a handle like Way2slow, and talking the HP you're talking. I'd guess you are a big league speed freak. I've hung out on the sand bars that the super speedy guys hang at. I've ridden in a few really fast boats. Been in two Allisons that were extremely fast but never took me over 90. The Bullet I got to ride in was hyper space. He opened it up, Holy horseflies I don't mind saying I was scared. Neither of the Allison guy's went hammer down. Those 3 boats are all 100+ speed freaks. I just a minor league speed freak. I never mentioned Allison cause they are usually outta my price range. Plus, both the ones I've been in are not set up to fish very well. I've fished out of a Bullet and It was a really nice boat that was pretty fast with out being overly modified. There are a bunch of Bullets for sale in my price range. I've seem several Gamblers on the water but never been in one. There are a bunch of them for sale as well. They seem to be priced better as well. I think I'm leaning toward Gambler, really because of the looks. I've still got to unload some toys before I buy another. Now the wife's talking about a new kitchen. I swear just as soon as I started talking about another boat. What is the world coming too? Thanks for your insight.