james 14

You can get an aerator at Walmart that will suction to the bottom of the cooler and clip to the battery via alligator clips. You can also get a bilge pump and use the hose to pump water in and out of the cooler...when you're done with it wrap it up and stow it away. We used a 120qt cooler for the longest time but I bought smaller one to save some space and it still worked. I can't remember the size but it was 24" (maybe 26") on the inside and held five fish easily. It was 80-90qt I believe.

Plenty of chance it'll start if it was running when the guy ran it dry...which is good that he did that. I'd try and start it just to see if it works. I would choke it and give it a few pulls. If it starts un-choke it and give it a few pumps on the throttle. It may need a few good revs to get it going. If it doesn't start after a few pulls un-choke it as it'll eventually flood and give it a few more pulls. My first outboard was a 9.9 Evinrude that was a 60s model. I ordered it off Ebay about 10 years ago which, looking back, was a bad moved based on my limited knowledge of outboards at the time. I was a bit surprised when it cranked and idled well. I changed the plugs and lower unit oil and ran a can of Seafoam and never had a problem with it. This should be all you need to do. These old small motors are not very complex at all and should be pretty easy to get running so long as there aren't any major problems.

How far do you want to drive? Plenty of clubs including the one Fishndaddy, tstone and I fish in frequent Central FL lakes.

What do your grades look like working 40 hours a week? I applaud you for putting in the work for what you want and I'm going agree with those who tell you to buy a used boat instead of a new one. I can sympathize with the desire for a warranty but you're essentially paying double and, therefore, going into debt just to get a piece of paper that you will likely never use in any capacity to justify the difference you paid. Take that extra money you'd be paying to go new and put it into upgrades and set some aside in a reserve fund. If the motor does die you have money to fix it. If the motor doesn't die you have money for whatever else life may bring your way...and being only a senior in high school life has only just started.

1. I would hold my line and I actually used to until sometime last year when it became uncomfortable for some reason (partially due to a couple new rods that didn't have foregrips). I now hold the reel and it feels good except for when I'm fishing moving baits to my right side and I set the hook pulling towards my left with my left hand...the rod likes to come out of my hand because my it isn't big enough to get a good grip all the way around the reel and the bottom of the rod. Still working that one out. 2. Since I just got my 21' bass boat my partner now steps up to the front on occasion if we're flipping or pitching. If we're casting it better for him to stay back. I like to sidearm cast so the further back he is the better.

Wow that's awesome. As I was opening this I thought "It'd be nice if they were down here in FL." I'll be there this weekend for our club's two-day classic.

And you can go ahead and add about 10 mph to that wind forecast. That's been the case nearly ever time I hit the water down there. I'll be just North of there at Istokpoga all weekend without a choice. Our club classic is Saturday and Sunday. It's gonna be FUN!

Being new to the bass boat world I'm a little unsure myself what I'm dealing with and I too will be moving up to a 36v at some point. I have 6 gauge wire coming off of both batteries but I don't know where it goes from there. There is no jumper wire running from the pos. of batt. 1 to the neg of batt. 2. I have yet to find any breakers but I do have a fuse box in the cockpit. There is a fuse on the positive TM cable by the battery which leads me to believe the cables run all the way up to the TM plug. I haven't pulled the plug on the front yet to see if both cables are running up to it. The plug is the larger 3-prong style that twists and locks into place...Marinco I believe. I'm assuming if I have 6 guage running all the way up I can forgo the extra wires when I upgrade and run jumpers between the 3 new batts.

When KVD won in 2011 I picked up a square bill for the first time (of course I had just started fishing seriously again). Since then I've won at least 3 tourneys on them. Last year I never thought twice about buying a Fast Lane tube...maybe I missed out. There have been moments where it might've been a good option but with soft plastics there are SOOO many different choices that'll work. I doubt if I'll buy any jerkbaits this year as a result of the classic. Being in FL they aren't quite as useful but can certainly have their place. As usual I will keep an open mind and give them a chance when the occasion might call for it...but not at all because of the classic.

Color isn't super important except that darker colors are easier for the bass to see. If you've ever been underwater and looked up at the surface it looks like a mirror. Lighter colors are harder to distinguish and will cause misses with fast moving lures like buzzfrogs...as I've experienced in the past. A buddy and I were fishing with two almost identical colors except that his was an opaque version that the fish could see just a little bit better. He caught 8 before I caught even one. The only hits I got were two misses...one the fish came out of the water and I realized what was happening. I used a red marker to color my frog a little darker and caught a fish on the very next cast.

I've done the scale thing and it seems that everytime I put the fish on it the weight is different...which is irritating when you've got 5 fish all about the same size. I'm going to go to a beam in the future. Even if I have to check every fish it'll be quicker than waiting for the scale...at least the scale that I have. I've lost by 3oz before and it's not fun. I'll take the little extra time.

Yeah by the time you deduct for boat, gas, tackle and licenses you could get a return!

We caught about 15 on Saturday at Kissimmee but no big ones. We left our spot to hit some mats but all the ones I've caught fish on are gone and the ones that are left didn't produce any when I pre-fished. I thought I knew where some other decent ones were but I was wrong and basically wasted an hour and a half making a big circle through 3ft waves to get back to my first spot. We figured out a new pattern to catch a few more fish and might could've hit a big one but, in the end, we did enough to win the small tourney we were in so all's well that ends well.

It is most cerainly worth it. If you don't have hydraulic steering then I would say you MUST have it.

What is the group login for the Bass Resource group for B.A.S.S. fantasy?

If I were to go to a classic I'd be taking my boat and following some of my favorites around the water. This would fight the boredom for me, however, I imagine it would terribly boring for some others. Instead I'll be watching via the internet from the comfort of my home and with the ability to see what many different anglers are doing besides just the one or two within view.

Check the Bassmaster website. They have an article on this exact subject. I actually thought this thread was just a reposting of the article before I viewed it.

Thanks, guys and Wayne P for your detailed PM's. I think the route I'm going to check into is getting one unit and extra cables to run it in both locations as I see fit. I'm a few months out before I'll make a decision so I have some more time to research.

I think April would be a good time to give the option of fishing during all phases of the spawn at any part of the country.

I've done a TON of fishing out of both a 12' flat bottom and a 14' mod-v. Both of these boats have 36" bottoms. Take all suggestions that tell you what your minimum should be with a grain of salt. I also fished out of a 10' flat bottom with the standard 32" bottom and made it work for me. No matter what you get unless you end up with something in the 21' range you're going to wish it was bigger at times. However, you may wish it was smaller everytime you go to get it out of the truck. With all that said I would go ahead and plan on getting a trailer. This way you can get the widest boat you can find/afford. I used to load a 3x8 piece of plywood under my boat in the back of my truck that made sliding it in and out MUCH easier. I actually used to back my Ranger straight down the ramp and slide the boat out in the water. This way I didn't have to unload the motors and all my gear. Bottom line is you can make anything work for you. Do a LOT of looking on Craigslist before you buy just to give you an idea of what's out there. This way when you finally pull the trigger on a boat you will have a decent amount of contentment with your decision.

The definitions I've seen state that the boat is "under power". If the boat is being pushed by the wind then I don't think you could consider it as such. If they allow long-lining a crankbait then I don't see where they'd have a problem with this.

It was like that when I bought the boat. A co-angler did it along with a broken windshield and a hole in the seat. Thanks for the help, guys. I took it to a guy I know who manages a local boating store (used to do boat restorations as well) and he advised me to glass it so that's what I did. I was able to lay down 3 progressively larger mats with the final mat being about 10"x14". I sanded the surface with 60 grit and cleaned with acetone before applying. On top of that the resin actually seeped through the crack so I think I'm going to have a hard time getting this to fail. That is unless MY co-angler (tourney partner) goes to jumping on it or something crazy like that.

x2

Fiberglass boat...not sure about the material of the lid. There's a marine adhesive called Sixty-Ten (or something like that) that I've used in the past. I thought about using it to glue an aluminum sheet or some other kind of brace on the underside. A friend of mine said to get fiberglass sheets and resin and cover over the crack. I suppose it ultimately comes down to the ability of any adhesive or resin to stay adhered to the underside of the lid. My last resort would be to bolt something in place but I'd hate to have something like that visible on the top of the lid.

Any idea how to fix this?