Hi all.

I have been fishing out of a 12' jon for the past few years and decided I needed something a little bigger. I found a deal on a 16' Sea Nymph fishing machine w/ a 25hp Evinrude. I'm pretty mechanically minded, but I know next to nothing about the working order of a boat....so, of course, I have a few questions.

First, the boat is a 1986 and in good condition for a boat 10 years it's junior. Although, it hasn't been in the water yet this year. What should I do prior to it's maiden trip?

Any tips on loading and unloading it? I'm used to pulling the jon out of the water and throwing it on a flat trailer.

It doesn't have a fish finder, but I plan on putting the one off my jon on it...can I wire it directly into the main battery? Does this battery need periodic charging?

Any tips or trick will be appreciated.  

I have a 1987 Sea Nymph 16 footer and its not a bad lil boat at all. Was the first fishing boat I bought. Just lookout for leaks with anything old with rivets in it. As long as your payin 1600 bux or less I say its a good choice. Make sure the bilge pump works , youre gonna need it. And get a 2 bank charger for sure, 125 bux at bass pro shops. Its gonna be slow with a 25, mine has a 45 and does 28 mph with 2 people. So expect it to go 15 mph tops. As long as u dont mind riding slow then go for it. Get a strong trolling motor incase u ever break down or bring some oars. Old motors are tricky sometimes. It wont be hard to sell when u grow out of it tho. Loading and unloading is a cakewalk, no worries. My 3 seater Sea Doo is about the same as loadin my 16 foot Sea Nymph, easy. Good luck

I would drain the gas tank, then fill it with new gas with Stabil.   Drain an fill the bottom end with new oil.  Walmart has a  small had pump for this.  Check the spark plugs and change if necessary.  Then put a clean /new garbage can (plastic or metal) with enough water to cover the water inlets  and let the motor run for a while.  Make sure the motor is spitting water.  Maybe stop it for a while and then start it again.  I would do this several times.  

Thanks for the info everyone.

I ended up giving $1500 for it. It does have a working bilge pump. It also has a kicker plate that I've considered puting an old 4hp that I have on it...just in case.

I'll check into the charger...