suenrod

If anyone is looking for a cool vintage boat project, there is a Chris-Craft Caviler wooden boat and trailer in Johnson city, TN. listed on craigslist for $600.00 I'm not connected to this seller in any way. I just saw it while browsing the boat section and thought someone here might be interested. I wish I was good with wood, but all I can do is make good sawdust:-) RoD

Are U close to Norton, Virginia? I can't promise anything but I would be happy to look at it for U. I did 2-way radio repair for 25+ years and know my way around a volt ohm meter pretty good. If the wires crossed going from the battery to the motor, I would check the wires really well for continuity from the battery connection point to the control head. I've seen times when the wire burned apart inside the insulation and hardly even bubbled the insulation on the wires. It could have a fusable link somewhere along the line that popped. RoD

If your SURE the motor is bad, then the armature of the motor is probably what burned up. It could have destroyed the brushes as well. Check around locally and see if anyone in your area rebuilds electric motors. It might be cheaper than a new one. You might be able to rewind the armature yourself if you don't mind tedious work. I did it once on an old trolling motor. All you do is count the number of turns of wire on the armature's poles as you unwind it. Then go to a rebuild shop and purchase enough enamel wire of the correct guage and rewind it to specs. Cost is just a few dollars, but like I said, it's tedious, time consuming work :-) Unless it's an electronic's controlled motor, just reversing the positive and negative leads to the battery should not have hurt the motor itself. Make sure the "actuall" motor is bad and not the controls leading to it. It's a whole new ballgame if the controls are bad and not the motor itself. Hope this helps, RoD

Earlier this year, I was fishing a soft jekbait from the bank and pulling it along close to the shore line and I saw a wake come from a liitle further off shore and missed the bait. He ran at it so fast that half the bass came out of the water and landed on shore. It flopped one time and was gone. It almost landed itself! I know this doesn't really apply to the question but I thought I would share :-) RoD

I'm 46 years old but feel MUCH older due to disabilities. I was an electronics tech for the USAF, then an engineer at a radio station, then a supervisor of signals and communications for Norfolk Southern Railway. I was injured in 2003 and been on disability since. I WISH every day that I could work again!!!! RoD

YES! YES! YES! A circuit breaker will shut the power off to the motor in case of a short circuit in the motor, wiring, or controls. It acts as a re-settble fuse. The reason for having it as close to the battery as possible is, if anything short circuited BEFORE the breaker, the wiring WILL get hot enough to catch things around it on fire. (carpet, wood, insulation, ect...) I worked in the 2-way radio business for many years and have seen the result of putting a fuse/breaker near the radio as opposed to near the battery. The wiring was run under the carpet of the vehicle and over the years it was worn down until it shorted and burned a line from the battery connection point to the radio. If the wiring had not finally burned in half, it would have burned the vehicle to a cinder. You can get a breaker from almost any auto parts store. just make sure it's NOT a self re-seting type or the breaker will keep re-seting itself until it self destructs. RoD

Thanks for the encouragement. Now if my wife will stop being so scared of me getting in a boat :-) I thought it sounded like a good deal but have never owned a fiberglass jon boat before. Thanks, RoD

Great find! Sure wish I could find a deal like that. RoD

Thanks to all for the comments. I have only had 1 other jon boat before and it was aluminum. I had good luck from it other than having to replace the transom and rivets due to leakage. Here are some pictures of the boat I'm comsidering. The seller wants $450.00 with the trailer so it seems like a fair deal to me, but it is a fiberglass boat. I have not seen the boat in person yet. Specs from seller.... 14' Tri-Hull Jon Boat. very good condition with no leaks 50 lb thrust hand control trolling motor 20 HP Johnson outboard. (but it has an overheating problem.) The overheating motor is not a big problem for me since most of the places I fish don't allow gas motors or are NO WAKE areas. Thanks, RoD

What are the pro's and con's of an aluminium vs. fiberglass jon boat? Thinking of purchasing one. Thanks, RoD

But it will cure your athlete's foot ...and pee on your shoes!!!! You have far greater problems if you pee on your shoes man, LOL!!!!!!!!!

I recently filled my spool with EZbraid and missed 2 fish last night due to poor hook sets. After some head scratching, I gave the drag a pull and the line just spun on the spool. Ooops. Guess the mystery is solved. GOTTA unspool and tape. Other than this quirk, I have to say....I love braid!! The feel of the lure is magnified 10X due to the low stretch of the line. I tried Spiderwire when it first came out and was impressed but it tangled alot. It also slipped back then but I had forgotten about that problem. RoD Huh!!! Ghost drag! Makes me want to go home right now and check this possibility out! (Well, I would prefer to be home anyway). It did seem like the drag started slipping all at once. Thought that was kind've weird. Thanks for the idea and the help!

I'm glad someone shares my WARPED sence of humor. this is some great stuff ;D..............a chicken..........lol ;D ;D ;D ;D

That's good to hear! I thought I was the only one that put my pants on with a chicken in them first.

When I was a young boy, I was fishing off a bank with a dropoff to the water. There was a large bullfrog just over the banks edge just croaking away. I had a small panfish hook on my line and a piece of worm. I dangled it in front of the frog for a while and he snatched it. Hooked him right in the lip. The place I bought bait from traded me a box of worms for him. They said to bring any more I caught since they loved frog legs. :-X RoD

I have a friend that attends the rattlesnake roundups and he say's the same thing. I Dunno, If I was STARVING I might consider it. :-X RoD Ever eaten snake? Mighty tastey, my friend!

I considered the glow paint idea but wondered how it would flake off from a soft plastic bait. I might try the glow stick idea in a tube bait sometime just for grins and giggles. If it works I will let you know. Thanks for all the comments. RoD

I took my daughters fishing when they were very young. It was a stocked lake owned by the company I worked for. (Norfolk Southern Railway) Both were fishing from the bank with simple cane poles and crickets. Catching small panfish. My oldest was not catching much and laid her pole down. Just then the pole darted out into the water and just kept going, and going, and going. She was upset that she lost her pole so I took her up to the dock and used one of the row boats they supplied to start chasing the pole all over the lake. After about a hour of rowing, we managed to catch up to the pole. I grabbed it and handed it to her to pull in. It was a 3-4lb catfish!! She was thrilled!! I actually didn't think we had a chance to catch the floating pole with just a row boat but I had to try. It's now one of my fondest memories and a good fish story to boot! RoD

Dan, That is a really creepy looking catfish picture. (your avitar) I like it, but it's just so C R E E P Y looking:-) RoD

I will second the shrimp idea. My wife was told this and that's all she uses now. Works really well here in SW Virignia. Shell on type since the shell helps it hold onto the hook. I think she microwaves them a bit to help get the fishy smell going. Luck to ya.

Definitely not for me then. I detest snakes of all kinds. Thanks for the input, RoD

I had the thought last nite of inserting a very small litestick (glowstick) inside a clear'ish plastic worm for night fishing. Any thoughts? Might work? Stupid? ect... :-) RoD

Settle down Austin!! Love that movie:-) RoD

My .02 cents worth. (about worth that:-) I like to have 3-4 medium quality (Walmart quality) rod/reels available rigged with several different types of baits. That way all I have to do is reach down and pick up a different pole for whatever I think the conditions require. 1- rigged for plastics 1- rigged for crankbaits 1- rigged with a spinner bait 1- rigged with Popper or buzz bait Even if something does go wrong with a pole, I have options and can keep fishing. Also the outlay of cash is on par with 1 QUALITY rod/reel combo. RoD