Hi-Powered Red Neck

That's a great line.

Thanks for the words of wisdom Tom. What I'm hearing is a wise man keeps it under 75. Seems pretty reasonable to me. I'm not looking for a high strung, highly modified, over the top kinda fast. I'll be happy with being able to hit 75 when I want to. I've seen a blow over, not something I want to be involved in. The guy lived but he was pretty badly broken up. His boat was destroyed. I gained a lot of respect for just how hard water really is that day. To be honest 70 is fast enough. I'm all but running the guts outta mine to hit 62. I'd like to be able to back it down into the 60's. You know with some power in reserve, just in case someone in a Ranger or a Skeeter makes the mistake. LOL

That is strollin! Fastest I've been was also in a Bullet with a 280 Pro max. Not loaded to fish, no trolling motor. Minimal gas 108 according to the GPS. Never again! The guy that owned it said he had it to 112. I'm not looking for triple digits. Thats for the true speed freaks. I'm comfortable at 70. But given the right conditions, I'll hang it out there.

I'm currently working on a plan to get myself a new used boat. I've got a couple boats to sell first along with some other no long used toys. I thinking in the 15-18k dollar range. I looking for a 20 - 21' boat. I'm ready to go fast again. I've fished out of a Bullet and I like how they fish and how they look. The way the hull turns power into speed is incredible. I really like the way the Gamblers look as well. Plus Gamblers have a huge front deck. Both well made and fast. Anyone have experience in both. I grew up in a Bass boat so I'm no stranger to speed or how to handle it. I've owned several mid 70's boats. Yeah Yeah mid 70's isn't that fast but it's close enough for me. I haven't tournament fished in years and have no plans to start again. I'm just tired of the 18 1/2' class. I want a 20' and the hull to handle the power that goes with it. I've owned 3 Skeeters and 1 Ranger. Not interested in either of those. Don't get that twisted guy's both are great boats. But same hp and length a Skeeter will walk off and leave a Ranger. The fastest I've ever gone on the water was in a Bullet. But I'm leaning toward Gambler just cause they look sexier than anything else out there. In my humble opinion any way, followed closely by Bullet. Yes I know the magic happens with the trolling motor down.

Personally I grew up in fast Bass boats tournament fishing with my Dad. The Club he was in had some FAST boats I've been 108 mph in a 21' Bullet. As Toxic said 70 isn't fast. 70 is a nice safe cruise speed on a fast boat. Theres a time and a place for everything. I slowed down and now I wish I hadn't. I'm selling my 2 boats and looking for a Gambler or a Bullet. If you're ever in a boat going faster than you a comfortable say something. The Bass boat I have now is a 18' Skeeter it's a 65 mph boat. To me thats slow, to my wife it's terrifying. She's been behind the wheel of her car at 160 with me in it, so its not the speed that frightens her. I rarely run over 40 with her in the boat. Same with friends, I can tell at a glance if you diggin' the speed or white knuckled. If you like I'll let'er eat. If your white knuckled I'll back it down. Most guy's are the same way. I go fast cause I like it. If my fishin' partner doesn't then we won't. 40 works. I grew up with the "If your boat doesn't scare you a little it's not fast enough" crowd.

I spent 4 years in the Army. I was stationed at Fort Campbell home of the 101st Airborne (Air Assault). Spent most of that time in the field. Including 8 months and 10 days in the desert for Desert Shield, later called Desert Storm. Thanks to all my armed services brothers and sisters. For those who have served and are currently serving, freedom takes on a meaning that the protected with never understand.

I'd love to make a trip down there for Big Peacock Bass. Thats on my bucket list. Thinking about a trip down to south Florida. I see the Peacocks are down there now. Y'all have fun!!

Thank you. I travel for work as well. I work hitches. Two weeks on and two off. My dad is retired so he's always ready. My wife works full time, my Son is in College, and friends have normal jobs. That all leaves me with a lot of free time. It's amazing how dead the lakes and rivers are during the week. Last time I was home I loaded my Raider in my truck and fished 4 consecutive days. 3 different lakes by myself and the upper Apalachicola river with my Dad. We took his boat for that trip. I have a 17 1/2' Bass boat as well, It's just way easier to load the little boat in the truck and go. Days before our first trip were filled with excitement. Checking and rechecking my gear, tie this on, no wait this one. respooling reels. I didn't sleep the night before and left my house about an hour earlier that I needed to to get to his house. When I arrived he was sitting on the porch with a cup of coffee, just as reved up as I was. Only caught one that day. I caught it on a spinner bait. Believe it or not our fishing styles are night and day. He's a finesse guy, I'm a power fisherman. He'll throw a rattle trap on occasion, but his go to is a Texas rig. I'm all but totally run and gun. Guess who's winning our two trip tally. Lol You guys make some time to go. Theres nothing like time spent together in a Bass boat.

Thank you, and know thats in the works. I currently own 3 boats. Two of them are going up for sale with several other toys that we don't play with anymore. The plan is to sell off the boats and the other toys to buy a good used 20' - 21' Bass boat. That way we'll have more room for activities. LOL

My Dad and I just recently started fishing together again. The story behind that is rather long. But here it goes. My Dad "retired" from tournament bass fishing 25ish years ago. He tells it that he was fishing his 41st tournament of the year when he said enough. Went sold his boat most of his tackle and basically stopped fishing altogether. About 3 months ago I get a call from him. He's said "you'll Never guess what I'm doing" I gave a couple things I figured he'd be up to. "Nope, Nope, I'm fishing on lake Eufaula" was the reply. I was floored. Fast forward a month, I get another call. "Guess what?" I don't know you're fishing again was my reply. "Yeah, but I'm in a Skeeter" You bought a new Boat!! "Hell yes I did ! When are we going fishing?" Two weeks later we where on Lake Seminole. The first time we'd been in a Bass Boat together in 25ish years. We didn't catch much but needless to say we enjoyed our selves. You see I grew up on the back deck of a Bass boat. Tagging along with him. As he prefished for events all over Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. When I turned 16 he let me join his Bass club where I won several events. You see, while tagging along I managed to learn a thing or two about catching fish. Needless to say most of my fondest memories of him are from the back of one of the 7 or 8 boats we went thru. When he stopped fishing I basically did too. For about 10 years all I did was spear fish in the Gulf of Mexico. Then I ran a small charter fishing boat out of Destin for a few years. Once I started Bass fishing again. I bought an older boat that my son and I restored. I fished some of my Dads old haunts with my son. But never really got the bug to compete so I stayed out of tournaments. My son never really got the taste for Bass fishing so I mostly fished solo. My wife bought me a Pelican Bass Raider 10E for Christmas last year. I have torn up the Lakes around my house with that. But theres still nothing like being in the boat with my Dad. Except maybe the look on his face when I won my first Tournament out of the back of someone else's boat that didn't place. Now that he's active again we will fish together at least once a month for as long as he can. This mouth we are going to fish in a lake I found in the National forest near my house. Next month maybe Eufaula. All I know is I have off two weeks every month and one of those days I'll be in a Bass boat with my Dad.

Hey there guy's and gal's. I've been away from the thread for a while. I've done quite a bit of fishing from the Raider. I must say, I love my 10E. No new mods keeping it pretty simple. 3/8" plywood floor with harbor freight anti fatigue mat glued to the wood and covered with gray outdoor carpet. 32lb minn kota on the front, group 29 deep cycle in the back and a Bigfoot switch screwed to the floor. I have a small garmin fish finder with a scotty mount for the transducer. A 7" seat riser and a comfortable seat. Just the basics. I keep the boat in the water. I have a small pond behind my house. The best mod I've done was adding a drain hole in the stern. I picked up a thru hull filling at West Marine used the correct size hole saw, a bit of 5200 and bam no more water in the floor. The reel pockets on the other hand... Can't have everything. I've taken the boat to several lakes in my area. The only problem I've run into is fishing flooded timber. Running one pontoon up on a submerged stump can be a bit unnerving. Add in wind and chop and it can make for a bad day. For the most part I pick my days, windy days I stay home. If the wind starts to pick up, I'm headed to the truck. I caught lots of fish out of my Raider and plan on catching lots more.

I have a 10E theres no way I'd try to fish 2 people out of it. I'm not saying it can't be done. I'm simply saying I wouldn't do it. In my humble opinion both the 8' and 10' are one man boats. 200lbs and under the 8 footer is for you. Over 200lbs go with the 10 footer. Just my opinion don't freak out about it.

After my last suggestion to you of launching next to the ramp. I've also ran into a landing that didn't have an option of launching next to the ramp. Unless I wanted to bust through 20' of Cat Tails. I dollied as close to the waters edge as I could then gave it a little shove. Slid really easy about its length till it was fully floating. As for a dolly I used fixed casters from harbor freight and a piece of 5/4 deck board, couple eye bolts and a ratchet strap. A 2x8 or 10 would be easier to get the boat sitting on. It's what I had on hand.

I used an 8' X 20" Piece of plywood in the bottom of my Raider 10e. I could be off an inch or two on the width. The battery box takes up about maybe 18" from the stern. The seat crosses over but it's easy to move. So I'd say yeah you could lay in it. However, It might be a little narrow for your shoulders and hips if you're planning to use it layout boat to duck hunt out of. If I was at home I'd try it for ya. If you've got two weeks to wait......

I'm not sure where you're trying to launch. As for myself I avoid the launch ramp. Most of the areas I fish have some grassy or sandy area next to or in the vicinity of the ramp. If that's an option for you, I'd go with that. I keep my Raider in the water at home. However I still take it other places. My property is sloped so getting the boat to the truck is an up hill battle. To overcome that problem I started dragging it up the hill with my riding mower. The bottom for my raider is handling it just fine. It slides easily over the grass with out scratching it up, even with my gear still in it.

I think y'all are getting too hung up on the size of the pond. What Martin was asking is how can such a small pond produce such a big fish. All most of you could see was his size estimate. It's a small pond geez! Let's not get all caught up in square footage. If some guy is kayak fishing in it whats the big deal. Maybe he doest have the time to travel to a larger body of water but still has the jones to launch the boat. I've put my Bass Raider 10E in some ponds small enough to cast across. It's kind of a I've fished that pond and that pond ect. I know of several acre ish pond in my area that have resident big bass. There might only be one big female in a little pond, but theres always one. Bass are apex predator they will eat most anything that crosses their path. If the pond has a decent bluegill population you can bet theres a bass keeping the population in check.

Spring time spawn is the hardest time for me. But it's also some of the most exciting fishing. Locating beds is fairly easy in clear water so it's sight fishing. I'll fish everyday I'm off. Just targeting the big girls. I didn't do so well this year. I had a double digit right off my dock. I stuck her last year post spawn and she was 9.6 with no belly. I only managed to hook one this year. That fish was 6ish, I unhooked her took a quick pic and put her back. By the time I left the house the female where no where to be found. Just the bucks guarding the nests. When I get back home it will be post spawn in most of the lakes around my house. Fishing is about to get good in my area.

I know I've caught the biggest fish in my pond. I've got 3 big girls swimming around in there. I've put steel to all 3. The biggest was 9.6 last year post spawn. The other 2 are mid 8 pounders. The biggest was bedding right off my dock this year. I know she's a double digit this year. I tried for several hours over the course of a few days to get her to eat. She's too well trained now. I did manage to get a nice health 6ish to eat. I didn't put her on a scale she was back in the water seconds after I put her on the bank. Took one pic and released her to lay her eggs. It's getting tough to catch the big fish anymore. I've caught them all more than once. Now its mostly the little ones that I can get to bite. I probably need to give them a break for a few years. But it's so nice to walk down to the dock and untie the Bass Raider and fish my way around the 5ish acre pond.

Whats the good news gang. I finally got to do a little fishing this time home. Caught a couple nice size bass sight fishing in my home pond. I've got a HAWG bedded right off my dock. Caught her last year right after she laid her eggs. She was 9.5 with no belly. This years she's a bit bigger. Spent several hours trying to get her to eat, threw everything I own at her. She's too well trained. I took the Raider on a little road trip. Fished Lake Juniper in Defuniak Springs. I'd love to say I torn'em up. That would be a lie, lol. I didn't even manage to get a bite. Fished for a few hours till the wind picked up. Lake Juniper is mostly flooded timber, first time I've had the raider in the rough stuff. I did pretty good. It's so light it will get way up on the timber. Most of the trees are rotted off to the water level. I never had a problem getting hung up even with my little 32lb Minn Kotta. My transducer bracket got a work out as well. It's a Scottie mount that I bolted to the rear motor mount plate so it's almost centerline of the boat. It simply kicked up every time I ran over a stump. I do have to push it back down, I'd say easy fix but it only happened a few times. I can push it back down with the rod butt while never having to leave my seat. I guess I've rambled on long enough. Later

Speaking for myself, I would not even consider trying to fish my Raider with just a paddle. Let alone trying to compete in a tournament against a bunch of guys in kayaks that are designed to be paddled. But, lets just say for the sake of argument that I would. My first instinct would be to trade off my Bass raider to a guy that was tired of paddling a kayak. That not being a option my second move would be, obtaining a stake out pole, and the longest kayak paddle I could get my hands on. Remembering these boats are hard enough to control with a trolling motor. I would consider myself at a distinct disadvantage against the more agile kayak. Now with a trolling motor on the Raider, I'll out fish those kayak guys with a snoopy pole and a beetle spin. Simple because I'll spend 10% of the time controlling my boat, that's 90% more time with a line in the water. That time could be cut down even further with a foot control TM. Could it be done? Yes if you're young and in good shape, absolutely. The real question is, why? Find a club that allows TM's or start one that does. There are a bunch of guy's out there with Jon Boats and Bass Raider style boats that want to compete. Keep the entry fees low and advertise it a little bit and you'll have a club in no time. Thats just my opinion on the subject. I'm not trying to bash the kayak guys or anyone else for that matter. I bought a Bass Raider to have the comforts of a Bass boat in a small easy to manage package that can be loaded and gone on a minutes notice.

I made a simple dolly using a scrap piece of 5/4 decking. I bought 2 fixed caster wheels from Harbor Freight. I cut the board about 6" wider than the boat, then used stove bolts to mount the casters and added an eye bolt around 1 1/2" each end. I use a ratchet strap to secure it to the boat. You can play with it's placement to get a good balance point. My only complaint with mine is, I should have used a wider board like a 2X8 or 10. It can be a little difficult to get it to stand while strapping it up. My plan for rod holders is simply using a couple velcro straps like rod savers and screwing them to the gunnels. I think one per side would do the trick. Try mounting your TM to the front of the boat. Just make sure you set it deep enough that the prop doesn't hit the hull. Believe it or not your TM will pull the boat much better than it pushes it.

I suggest a Pelican Bass Raider 10e Or a Pond Prowler 2. The Bass raider is rated for 600 pounds and the Prowler is rated at 535 pounds. I fish out of a Bass Raider I'm 6'3 280. Very stable and can be loaded into most pick-up beds by one person. They can be powered by a 3.5 hp gas motor and of course a electric trolling motor. Check out the thread Any Bass Raider owners out there.

Congrats one your new Raider. It will really open up some unique fishing experiences for you. That 30lb thrust TM will do fine in ponds and small lakes. These boats don't require much thrust to move them around. I'm running a 36lb that works great. The 55lb TM's just make traveling distance go faster. When I'm fishing my motor is normally set on 1 or 2. I use a Big Foot switch to cut the power on and off. It's not a necessity but it helps out. The first mod I recommend is to the motor mount plate. The metal plate doesn't offer the TM mount screws much to bite on. This tends to let the motor slip and possibly come off. I used a scrap piece of 3/8" ply wood. I simply cut it to size removed the two mounting screws and use them to mount the wood. I put it on the inside so the TM mounting bolts could get a good bite. Oh I almost forgot I bought 1/2" longer SS screws the factory ones where to short to mount the plywood. Another guy used skateboard grid tape. Lots of really good info on this thread. I've got some pic's of my mods on here. I'm more of the keep it simple guy, others go all out. Great examples of both on here. Enjoy your new Raider and welcome to the family.

Congrats on your new Bass Raider. Let the games begin, and Welcome to the family, Brother.

Noob Lots of us are running a 55lb TM on the factory wiring. It really won't become an issue. But its obviously a concern to you. You can easily change out that wiring. It's not attatched on the inside of the hull. Simply remove the rubber grommet around the wiring going into the stern. Be careful not to destroy it it should pry out fairly easily. Cut off the rings and the inline fuse. Pull the grommet off and be sure to leave plenty of wire. Tape about 6" of the new wiring to old stuff. Pull the screws holding the plug in the bow, then simply pull the new wires thru with the old ones. That might require someone to help feed it into the hole. Once it's in, you can use the original grommet on the new wire. It's going to be a tight fit but, it will go. If you decide to go this far I suggest buying a new TM plug as well. I got mine at Walmart it's made by Attwell. It came with the socket and plug. It fits in place of the old socket without any modification. In my opinion it's better made than the original and, it costs less than the plug you'll need to use it. On a Pelican at least. Not 100% on the Pond Prowler.