The Rooster

Man that's one heck of a starter boat!! NICE!

Thank you guys for all the compliments. I will definitely be taking care of this better than the previous owners did. I'll post more pics after I get the trolling motor mounted in place, and also of me fishing on it too. Maybe of a big bass in that livewell also!! That would be the best part. I'm used to catching 14 inchers mostly. Never caught any bucketmouths larger than 3 pounds just guessing (I didn't get to weight it). That was only one time too.

Aw man!! I was looking for a new one too, mine is pretty sun baked. Appreciate the thought though, thanks. To beat it all, my wife told me to Armor-all it!!! Said it would make it look like new. Only thing I was thinking when she said that was trying to control 88 horses running full out with a slick steering wheel!!! Don't think I'll be doin' that!! I think she mostly meant the center part though, and it does look the worst of the whole wheel. Maybe a little soap and water will clean it up some.

Thanks for the reply. The fill tube actually comes in at the top, but the tube then turns and goes nearly to the bottom of the livewell so the water comes in at the bottom similar to the fill tank in a toilet filling from bottom up. Is this wrong?? That's the way it was when I got it. Should it be horizontal instead of vertical?? I was also thinking of some sort of oxygenating stone that maybe I could put on the end of the fill tube so that when water comes in it actually pumps oxygen into the water with it. Do they make anything that would attach to this?? I might have to post a pic of how the fill tube is inside of the livewell. As it is, the pump is on a switch and that's the only way to turn it on or off. I don't have a timer but now I might be looking into one. Let me just be very specific in how my livewell is designed for those who read this after this and need more info... It's a large aluminum box, probably 20 gallons or more, very large. Has one drain hole in the bottom that I keep a plug in. Has two overflow tubes located near the top of it, one on each end, 1 1/2" tubing, that go through the hull into the lake just at water level. Water line on the boat is actually about 1/2 or less way over the holes in the hull. Might not be so far down if I didn't weigh so much. ;D Then the fill tube comes up and in near the top also, but the tube inside the well is turning down towards the bottom vertically like this ----> l , instead of horizontally like this ----> ___

In my opinion the 40 lb thrust is not strong enough to get the speed you want. My brother in law has a 40 lb on his 16 foot fiberglass bassboat and his is fairly slow, I used to outrun him with my 36 lb on my deep V aluminum boat that's also 16 feet long. Now I just upgraded to a 55 lb thrust. Can't wait to see how that will do, I'm expecting a LOT more speed and power from it. I have mine mounted to one side also, it's fairly close to the center but off by about a foot or more on an over 6 foot wide boat. I notice when the rear motor is not centered that it cannot be controlled well by the front motor. So I usually try to leave my rear outboard trimmed down in the water so I can use it like a rudder. Otherwise if I raise it all the way up then I have problems steering with the trolling motor.

You wanting an onboard charger or just something you can plug in that's portable?? Make sure it's a fully automatic charger. That's about all I can tell you except GOOD LUCK FISHING!! Looks like it's gonna be fun. Love the truck and yes the boat needs to be white with grey carpet. Also thank you so much for your services and God speed you coming home.

I just redone my boat and finally I'm gonna have a working livewell. When I got it, it's drain hose was leaking so I just plugged it and never used it except for storage. What I want to know is HOW to use it?? My plan was to first put the plug in the bottom drain hole, then turn it on and fill it up to the point of overflowing out the sides through the overflow tubes that go through the hull out into the lake. That way when I felt fresh water was needed I'd just sort of pump in new and let it push out the old. The fill tube allows incoming water to pump to the bottom of the livewell so my thinking is it would oxygenate the water from the bottom up. As the new water comes in the old water would overflow out into the lake. Is this the way most people use it or is there something else I should be doing?? Never used one before so I don't have a clue. I had an idea about using an oxygen tab of some kind like the blue ones used in aquariums also.

I have a next door neighbor who did this to his really old boat. Now his is wide open from end to end and he has no problems, fished it for years like that. You might want to think about adding a bench across the front, or a small deck if you're worried about structural support. Would serve the same purpose as the existing front end does now in holding the sides in position like they are I would think. But think about it, a 12 foot boat is not super large so what would happen if you removed that cover?? I had a 14 foot boat once that was wide open and didn't need a cover like that. Deep V-hull too. 14 feet long and 5 foot beam width in the middle. However I do admit I'm not an expert in this and don't know all the ways they made boats so I can't say for sure. Do a bit of research first I'd say.

I just noticed that I also forgot to mention that I used stainless steel screws and carpet staples to finish this boat with. I went that way to prevent rust from starting. It was EXPENSIVE, I have over $100 in stainless hardware, closer to $150 really, but I believe it will be well worth it 5 years from now when all those screws still look like new with no rust. Below is another set of pics I forgot to post here. Shows how I was able to carpet panels made of aluminum instead of wood. Can't use staples there. This is one of how I wrapped the aluminum panels. I had to glue down one side, wait on it to dry overnight, then fold the tabs in on two sides and wait for it to dry again, then fold the final two sides in. Each time I folded a tabbed section I had to use masking tape to hold it until it dried. It peeled right off when dry though for a nice finished product. Here's the front deck carpeted out and ready for installation. Here's a pic of one of the items I've had to buy to redo this boat. Stainless steel staples and hardware. This box of 1000 staples costed me $11 and tax and it's the 3rd box I've had to buy of these ($33 in staples so far), plus the other $100 I've spent on stainless steel bolts and screws. But it ain't worth doin' if it ain't worth doin' right.

Thanks for all the comments. I worked myself ragged on this, a few hours here and a few more there as weather permitted each day after work. I had to fight snow and rain and cold weather for time to even do it. Everytime it was at least mid 40's and not raining I pulled the cover off and did what I could even if it was only for a couple of hours. I wanted it done in time for spring fishing and I didn't even start taking out the old finishes until mid January. On the motor, I've had one of these before on another boat and I loved it. I just went from a cable steer motor that I despised to this digital one and I think I'll keep it. I got it a couple months ago so not sure they'd take it back now anyway. Plus if I did that after selling my other cable steer one, my wife would kill me. She's listened to me complain for 2 years over the old one's bulky combersome foot pedal, stiff cables not allowing the pedal to be positioned right and having it always in the way, and just hating it in general. Now the foot pedal is small, operable by my toes if I want to, so I don't have to do a one legged balancing act to run it with one foot up in the air on the pedal while standing, and when sitting down my knee won't be up in my chest to have my foot on the pedal. The last one I had was a pure pleasure to operate, and I made sure that when I got a new one that it had the old foot pedal design like my first one did, not the newer one they are using now. This is the same pedal design they had 10 years ago. I think I'll be thoroughly happy with it.

Couldn't post all this in one post, apparently it exceeded the max allowed characters. Here are some pics of the finished carpeted boat. Here it is with the seats out of it for easy viewing. This is the dash with the instruments mounted in it and the depth finder screen installed on top. The depth finder base is on a swivel mount enabling me to use it when driving, and then rotate it to face the front so I can use it while fishing and have it face me for easy viewing. The whole top of the dash is flat other than that and I sit my tackle bag on it so the whole deck is open for me to walk around on. Rear of boat showing one of my two batteries. Driver's side showing the locker area. I use it to stow my paddles and rear lights. Front deck with storage area lid up. It has the front light mounted on the bottom side of it for easy access to, just plugs in up on top of the trolling motor deck. I just use this area for life jacket storage. No I did not redo the vinyl in the bottom of it, sorry just wasn't enough money for all that carpet. Passenger side showing newly installed rod racks. I spaced these racks out so they fit 6' and 6'6" rods about evenly. Smaller or larger rods though they will not hold. It's a compromise with this style, but my rods will all fit in it. My wife's rod is only 5' and hers won't fit but only on one side. And here it is with the current seats in it. Next year we will be replacing these even though we just bought them last year. They work but the fabric keeps letting go on some of them. Not tearing but just coming out. I fix it but it doesn't last so we're gonna lay down $400 on some new seats, about $100 each and get some good ones. These are really large and wide seats, great for a wide @$$ such as mine. My wife says I'm the biggest @$$ she's ever known anyway, so I need a seat that wide since I'm such a big @$$!! :hilarious: Hope you enjoyed these so far. More to come as I finish it off.

A couple of months ago I joined this forum so I could ask a question about a trolling motor I just bought for my boat. I told you then I was doing a total overhaul of the boat's interior and I'd post pics of it when finished. Well it's not finished but it's 98% finished so here's what I have so far if you'd like to see them. This is one of the only pics I could find of the boat showing the original color of the carpet. It was red with grey vinyl floors. The carpet was in really bad shape, sun bleached and torn, just badly weathered. The previous owner didn't take care of it very well. So it had to be redone. You can see that the top of the dash has the carpet completely gone exposing the wood. Here's the boat stripped down to a raw mess (I actually already glued carpet to the walls on both sides but forgot to take pics prior to that, sorry) Here's the mess of wiring I had to go through and fix the connections on One Saturday I cut out some of my plywood that I needed to replace in this boat, and then that night I carpeted it out. Here are the pics of how I carpeted it. This is the front deck ready to be wrapped in the carpet I already cut for it (it's under it in that picture). I used regular plywood for this, wanted treated but couldn't find a piece nice enough to make a deck with, it was all too rough. I'm super coating this in the carpet glue though which really helps to waterproof it, and gonna also use rubberized undercoating on the bottom side to seal that up with so it should last a long time before rotting out again. I keep the boat covered up when not in use anyway. I used treated lumber to make the thinner panels from, just non-treated for the deck and dash where 3/4 ply was necessary. One thing I did to make it easier to carpet these panels was to lay the piece of wood center of the carpet, making sure it's lined up right cause I'm using carpet that has lines in it and they have to run parallel to the edges of the panels, I don't want crooked looking lines when I'm done. I then started stapling the carpet along the edge, starting in the center and working towards each end. I used stainless steel staples so they won't rust. Expensive but worth it. Then when one side was stapled down good, I used carpet glue to thickly coat the carpet, also coating the edge of the wood as well and also on the underside between the carpet and the wood where I already stapled. Once that's done I flipped the board over onto the coated surface and then pressed it all down, and then pulled the other side up and stapled it into place. I used an incredible amount of staples in this, more than it needed but I want no puckers in the material or any material coming loose later on. I put them less than 1/4 inch apart most places all the way along all edges. Not bad for the first day cutting and carpeting. I have a real understanding wife, she knows how much I love boating and fishing. Her house was tore upside down with my boat stuff in several rooms while this was going on (I don't have a garage), and by several I mean more than two at a time. Bedroom, old pool room, living room, even the kitchen sometimes. This boat is about 98% finished now, just lacking the trolling motor install and the vinyl for the deck beneath it and finishing mounting the depth finder's transducer on the rear. I regret that I wasn't able to get pics of every small step of this build. So some of the pics you'll see will show a lot of steps already completed. I had to use what time I had available each day and by time I stopped working each day it was dark so I didn't take pics. This is the live well and it's overflow tubing that goes thru to outside of the hull. I sealed them inside and out with silicone and then used clamps to make sure they don't come loose. This is where the front deck will be. I installed two pressure treated 2x4's along the sides of where the storage deck lid will rest so that it does not bow under my massive 285 lbs. The factory only had the front and rear edges supported but I felt it would be stronger if supported on all 4 sides. I also added extra aluminum rivets in the aluminum cross members that support this deck. Look and you'll see them. Here is the deck laying upside down so I can seal the under side of it to protect it from moisture. I used this to seal it with. One of it's recommended uses was for trees where a limb had been removed so to prevent rot from starting. I figured if it will do that then it will work for me here. The starter wires for my outboard motor were in horrible shape. Time for some new ones. My dad got me some super soft 6 gauge wire that's all weather rated and we soldered copper lugs onto the end. If you look close you can see the solder bubbled out the top, it's completely filled. Then we used shrink tubing to protect and seal that connection. We did this for ALL wiring in the boat. Here's the pics of the wiring AFTER I repaired and rerouted it all. Remember that huge mess I had laying back in the corner?? This is it now. For the wiring that ran to the outboard I ran it through split loom tubing to protect it further from sun damage. It goes all the way into the motor head this way. That pic of the motor also shows the brand new fuel line I put in for it. That was my motor above, an 89 model Johnson 88 SPL (special), 88 horse power, 2 stroke, 4 cylinder outboard. It has a stainless steel prop and after market tilt and trim added. I was told these motors did not come with this stuff so the previous owner must have really like it to add this on, it would not have been cheap. Last year my dad fabricated a transom saver for this motor. I have had 2 different ones that I bought and the motor was still free to rotate left and right when being trailered down the road. It would eat up the rubber padding and then be metal to metal on the lower unit. I couldn't have that so we built one that would cradle the motor solidly in thick rubber supports and hold it still from rotating. Because of it's design it does not need straps to hold it up on the motor, it could not possibly fall off, but I use 2 straps anyway. I know they are in need of replacement now though cause of weathering. This is the new trolling motor I have for the front of the boat. It's a Minn Kota Power Drive 55 pound thrust motor. Electronic steering and battery life maximizer circuitry. Awesome motor. Because of this I had to upgrade the factory motor wire from 10 gauge to 6 gauge. I bought a spare prop for it also, it was on clearance so why not have an extra one?? This might just save a fishing trip sometime when I accidentally break a blade. I got a 50 amp automatic reset breaker for running it. Better than a fuse. For this motor I wanted a very dependable electrical circuit. I got a deal on 6 gauge wire at Lowe's but it's the kind of wire you run to a range in the house, really stiff stuff. To use it I made my own design and incorporated some of that super soft 6 gauge left over from the outboard rewire. I used a plastic conduit box to run the stiff 6 gauge into, then drilled holes the size of the soft 6 gauge in the opposite end and ran two pieces of that inside the box and spliced using waterproof wirenuts (expensive, $7.00 for 6 of them). Then I mounted this under the rear deck area and covered it with a waterproof sealed lid. Now my battery can be connected easily using the soft wire, and it cannot be cross wired due to the size of the lugs on the ends. They only fit one way on the battery. No need to mark pos or neg on these. This clamp I put in to hold the stiff wire was really hard to get to to install it. The front deck connection to the trolling motor receptacle using more of those waterproof wirenuts.

Hey did anybody get a March issue of Bassmaster magazine besides that Pro Guide that came out before the classic?? That's the last one I got. Now I read on here that someone already got an April issue and I'm still waiting on March. Just wondered cause I know that one month out of the year they combine it with another one (11 issues in a 12 month year) and I didn't know if March would be March/April for 2008. It's never the same month twice that they do that in.

If I'm in the boat bass fishing then I'd never do it. On the bank using bait for bass, or catfish, or whatever I might do that, or if I'm at a family gathering and fishing at the same time. So I voted sometimes. But really it's mostly never cause I do far more bass fishing from my boat than anything else.

I also may be out of line here. I'm a big advocate of catch and release, that's all I do myself and I totally understand your concern. But the picture I get from what you've said is that there's an elderly gentleman fishing and keeping fish. My take on this situation is that the older generation was raised fishing and keeping what they caught, in a time before catch and release was thought of. He's just doing what he's probably always done I'm thinking. So not only are you likely not to get anywhere with him in saying something (other than a good cussing maybe), but also there's another issue to consider. An elderly person in their later years enjoying something they've always done and are still able to do thankfully, but for how long not even they know. This may be his last season and myself personally I'd hate to spoil that for him. Who knows, he may be a veteran from a war fought to protect this country (WWII maybe) and I'm living here today because of his and other people like him's efforts. I would never disrespect that by confronting him with something that's totally legal for him to do and also......possibly in his eyes.......trivial at best.

For me, I consider anything below 12" to be a dink because that's the legal size limit for my state in KY, but the 4 local lakes I fish ALL require 15" keeping sizes. I still call a 12 incher a keeper.......but I always wondered what everyone else would think of this. Guess I know now. Hey, it'd be different if I caught anything over 14" consistantly but all last year I only had one fish on I KNOW was a keeper........and it came unbuttoned at boatside. :'(

I have several lures I consider lucky. They're all Worden's Original Roostertail. The luckiest one I have is a 1/8 ounce size called "glitter frog". It's all green and glittery, blade and all. I've busted SOOOOO many good sized bass on that thing, and had to straighten it up repeatedly for use again. Only had one all last year and I do believe I'd go in the water after that one even though it was less than $2.50 to buy it. Just could not find any in that size or color, but I finally did get lucky and find a tackle dealer that ordered some for me. I immediately cleaned the peg off and bought all they had when I found them again. Now I've found somemore online (won't say what site cause they only have 7 left) and I think I'm gonna get all of their's too. Just can't get over how that little bait produces. Just seems so small and yet fairly good bass in the 14" range seem to slam it all the time. True, no 9 pounders there, but I'll take all the 2 pounders I can catch with it.

Yeah I was noticing the part where the split ring attaches to the blade looks kind of thin. I actually wondered how strong that would be but otherwise didn't think too much on it. Now I'm wondering......hmmm......... Think I'll give 'em a try anyway. Seems everyone here has caught a few fish on them in one way or another. If it puts a few more in the boat then it's worth it to me.

I was at Walmart yesterday looking at the Chatterbaits brand and the Strike King Pure Poison and the Booyah Boogiebait. I liked the Pure Poison best out of them, the way the blade attaches to the head it won't come unhooked like the Boogiebait will. The Chatterbait seemed like a good one but no apparent advantage over the Pure Poison that I could see, except for the prerigged trailers they had on them, which I don't like the looks of that much. The Pure Poison was sold about $1.50 cheaper for some reason. I'm gonna get one of each color they had in the Pure Poison......blue/black, white, and chartreuse.........and see what happens when I fish them. Thanks for the replies.

I usually just get a regular gym bag. Last one I got was at Walmart for $20 in their furniture department with the travel luggage. I took some of the Plano boxes over to that area to test fit them and it seems as if this bag was intentionally made to hold specific sizes of them, they fit that well. A great bag for fishing in general, especially along the shore cause you can carry it with the shoulder strap, some even have a drink holder for a bottle of water. It came in a cardboard box if you're interested and want to look for one. Mine holds several of the 3700 Planos, I have some of the thinner 3701's in it instead of all just 3700's. Also have two of the 3600's and two 3500's. All fit perfectly. And it has deep pockets on the sides that I store plastics in. I can put a dozen bags of worms and lizards in there easily. Total length of bag is about 24" in all. Small enough to tote but large enough for 'tons' of lures.

Well I say investing because when I buy I usually don't just get one or two. I have over 50 spinnerbaits as it is. What I can't figure out about these things is when rigging, does the blade go back over the head, or does it point forward and downward like a crankbait lip?? And another reason I haven't tried them yet is cause the blade does attach in a way that looks like it could come undone easily. I'd be always worried it would cause me to lose a fish. I'm not much on "gimcrack" gadgets. To me this looked like a jig that somebody slapped a hunk of metal on top of and called a new lure. If that's all it was, I could easily make some out of jigs instead of buying them new. And I can also look at a spinnerbait or buzzbait in the package and readily see it's inherent action, but this chatterbait I just can't tell that it will do all that much in the water.

Are chatterbaits productive lures?? I've seen a bunch of these around here for sale, usually on clearance, and I'm guessing it's cause they don't sell well here. Looks like a jig with a square blade attached to the head. How do you use it?? I'm reluctant to try one, especially since I have nearly zero experience with a jig anyway.

I agree wholeheartedly with everything this statement has said, it's just like me, with the exception of the 3X part, never fished those before.

First and foremost the smell of a fresh caught bass, especially on my fingers!!! It's kind of musky and I love it. Can't stop sniffing on the drive back home pulling the boat behind!!! Don't wanna wash once I get home, but I have to anyway. Some others.......smell of 2 cycle oil burning from my Johnson 88 SPL outboard as it's fired up for the first time that day as it's leaving the trailer to go up the lake. The smell of dirt and just a general outdoorsy, woodsy, leafy tree smell that the wind carries to me with a gentle cooling breeze when it's in the low to mid 70's outside temperature wise. The hot smell of summertime in the air mixing with the smell of cool creek water rolling off of moss covered rocks and spilling into the lake at the back of a favorite fishing cove on one of my favorite lakes, Grayson Lake in Kentucky. One of my true favorites though is the smell of campfires burning from shore as I fish in my boat nearby, one of them being mine where my wife is roasting hot dogs for lunch!!! And the smell of those dogs!!! MMMMM..................summer, hurry up and get here!!!!

That's nice. Bass Pro Shops maybe?? Where were you at?? Nevermind, I just saw his hat. Duh.