Sun Fish

WOW, that's a problem I wish I had lol

This is on a 115 acre lake in which the deepest part is around 14 feet with the avg deep area in the 10-12 range. The deep water according to my electronics appears to have slim to no structure. I will try the drop offs near the weeds into the deeper water tomorrow

The bite has gotten real tough in NEPA. The water temp is around 40-44 depending on time of day right now. This is the primary vegetation in my local lake. How would you fish this? It's found in 3-9 FOW. I've been pitching 3/8-1/2oz jigs in there and T-Rigging creature baits and bigger profile curly tail worms w/ 1/2oz Tungsten weights but no luck getting anything out of this thick stuff.

I just got a new boat the other day which has a Motor Guide Tracker Pro Series 24v 50lb and it has plenty of power but is horrible in vegetation at any speed. My other boat has a 36lb 12v Minn Kota that has no issues going through vegetation at all at any speed.

I use Moaner Hooks predator jigs www.moanerhooks.com they're cheap and do the trick! $2.79 and $2.49 for finnesse sizes.

Where did you put the transducer, on the TM?

I've run into similar scammers some claiming to be soldiers some claiming to be mothers of fallen soldiers selling their boat. These people are sick and twisted, somehow I doubt they are in the USA and are probably in some country that the FBI or any law enforcement agency couldn't go after them.

Picked her up Wednesday. I love her so far, she just needs some updated electronics and maybe a 70lb Minn Kota TM. It currently has a 50lb 12v/24v MG Pro series and being my first MG it's absolutely true when they say MK's cut through weeds 100x better than MG's. The TM has plenty of power but weeds get caught up on it very easily where my old 36lb 12v Minn Kota cuts through them perfectly. Here she is:

Just got a new (to me) Nitro 180 FS! So far I love her, just need new electronics.

No plan or desire of hitting 60mph, thats not a concern for me. I'd be happy with 45mph, I just want a good clean reliable boat that'll get me into the tournament scene without losing to much of an edge over the guys with nicer setups. Although the dry weight of this boat is 1350 and length 17'5" I dunno if thats light or heavy on average for it's size as far comparing top speeds goes. Before spring I plan to upgrade to HDS 5's bow and console plus a bigger TM. My Hydra Sport would have done ok with the TM and HDS 5 upgrades as well but I just feel uneasy with a 32 year old outboard. I figure if I get 2500-3500 out of that come spring the upgrade of my vessel is only really costing me between 1-2K. The TM and fish finder upgrades I was going to do one way or the other anyhow. At least this boat is 15 years newer and with the outboard having a new powerhead in 2003 and lower unit in 2006 will hopfully potentially be much more reliable than my 32 year old non oil injected outboard. Upgrading to this boat as is gets me: - 15 years younger - 2 foot bigger boat - 25hp bigger outboard - oil injection - on board chargers - more than double size casting deck - bigger livewell - TONS more storeage - Console GPS and Depthfinder - Better condition overall - More confidence in competition

I know I'm going against my own advice on this one as well. The boat is 4.5hrs away so that's not really an option. I was communicating with the seller for literally 9 hours the other day asking every question in the book and then some as well as requesting him to take detailed pictures of everything and anything, he obliged no problem. He has videos of cold starting the outboard and warm starting the outboard. I read some feedback on other used bass boats he sold on ebay and they're all excellent. I'm taking another gamble on this one but feel pretty good about it with my limited experience in dealing with the seller. Im seen the same price range you mention above and due to the age of the boat I'm assuming you can equate the range to the cleanliness and overall maintainence throughout the boats life. From everything I seen and requested this one is in top shape for it's age. Let's hope my gamble works out, taking the road trip Wednesday

I check it as well after you said this. It's the 180 FS model when I added the features included when looking it up in NADA the boat said low average $3900 Average $4600(no trailer). The boat is in near mint condition other than the seats that need to be reupholstered. The guy selling it is a marine mechanic who has bought several good condition bass boat's this year, cleaned them up, made any necessary repairs and sold them. He had this boat listed for $5,300 which included getting the seats reupholstered. I offered him $4,500 and he said he would take that under the condition that the seats stay as is not taken in to get reupholstered. I'm pulling the trigger on this one, it's a signifigant upgrade to what I have now and sell the Hydra Sport for hopfully $2,500-$3,500. I've been keeping my eye out for the past few months within a 250 miles radious of me and havent found anything in as nice condition within this price range. I'll get the seats reupholstered over the winter. What do you guys think, am I making a mistake?

So long as the motors work it will get you around 100 acre lakes no problem whatsoever. In fact the outboard is overkill for a 100 acre lake, the TM should be fine. Keep in mind not to run the TM at 100% unless you have spare battery on board or only plan to be out for a few hours I'd offer the guy $1800 and see if he'll settle for $2,000 after everything checks out good.

Hey guys, I'm considering buying this boat for my first entry level tournament boat. What do you guys think it's worth and how do you think it will be for a starter tourney boat? It's a 1995 Nitro 180. "18ft. Nitro Dual Console. 115 Mercury. Runs excellent. New powerhead in 2003. New lower unit 2006. 2nd owner. Motor just serviced with new plugs, new fuel filter, lower unit oil changed. Stainless steel Laser2 prop at prop shop now getting reconditioned and polished. MotorGuide trolling motor new last year, all three batteries new last year. Trailer tires new last year as well as spare. Bearings just serviced. Bearing buddies installed. Carpet is excellent no tears or stains. Metalflake is excellent, only a couple of small scratches. Looks great. Runs strong and handles very well. 60 mph with one person on board. Bilge looks like new. Seats are at the upolstery shop being recovered. Comes with two matching pedastal seats. HummingBird in dash depth finder, Garmin GPS 76CX at driver console, Eagle cuda-300 graph at drivers console, HumingBird Platinum ID at bow / trolling motor. Boat motor and trailer are 1995. Must see. Looks like a 5 year old boat. New 2 on board battery chargers. Full boat cover included. Compression test shows motor good. Will repeat test at buyer request."

Wow a alum Lund boater in the FLW? It seem's that they're common in club tournaments. What about on a slightly higher level in the tournament world? I still have yet to fish a tournament but plan to start fishing as many local small tournaments as I can next season. I currently have a 16' 32 year old glass bass boat that does me fine for now. I know it will be fine for small local tourneys but if I find some success and want to go further with tournament fishing, I'm wondering what my future upgrade should be. I live in NE Pennsylvania so my big water access is limited but I'd be willing to travel in the future. Lake Onieda, and Chesapeake Bay are within a few hours which I know are FLW stops. I live less than an hour from Beltzville Lake, Lake Wallenpaupack, Lake Hopatcong and Lake Nockamixon which I know there are several club tournaments available and maybe something bigger. I love my boat but I'd like something with a larger front casting deck and my 32 year old outboard just being that old often leaves me feeling uneasy as far as reliability. I've been looking at the Tracker Pro Team 165 and Pro Team 175 TXW and some used glass boats in the 8-12K range. My primary recreational fishing lakes are small electric only lakes but I'd also like to start fishing the Nock more regularly which has a 20hp restriction. I want something that will be great for my recreational fishing that wont hold me back in smaller waters but also not hold me back from progressing in potential future tournament fishing. What do you guys think?

I was just curious how common aluminum boats are in tournaments more specificly in the North East. I have yet to fish a tournament yet but was just curious if boats like the Bass Tracker Pro 165's or Pro Team 175's, 190's are common boats in tournaments. I know the FLW requires minimum 18' 150hp which would almost definately be a glass boat.

So sorry to hear the bad news and god bless. Sandy was a real bee itch. One of my co wokers lives in Long Beach LI and man did they take a beating. He's currently living at our job while his family stays in a hotel. Another co worker lives in Ocean Side and had 3ft of water in the first floor of his house and his floating docks ripped his back porch off. I feel so fortunate to only be without power in the Poconos, I feel for all you guys.

Ive been stuck at my job in the city since Monday morning holding down the fort during the storm. It was extremely bad here in NYC and it's going to take a very long time to restore everything back to normal. The rain was minimal but the high tide/storm surge and wind was devastating. Hopfully I can get home to the Poconos tonight, do some fishing tomorrow and see how it is!

Yesterday I was using the 5" fluke wacky rigged on a size 1 circle hook and also just through the nose from top to bottom with great results.

But more importantly. How is this storm going to affect the fishing tomorrow in the NE as well as post storm?

1980 Hydra Sport 158Vee w/ 1980 90hp Mercury TOP. Pulled by 1996 Toyota T100 SR5

http://lansing.craigslist.org/boa/3355797434.html

I'm fishing until the water's frozen! Would love some more articles focued on North East bass habbits. It seems the vast majority of articles on bass fishing are focused more on southern regions.

Also check out the marina's within reasonable distance from you. I find some of them near me have some nice used inventory with some decent prices and that also makes financing an option on something SLIGHTLY more expensive

Here's my experince buying my first bass boat. This spring I purchased a 1980 HydraSport 158vee powered by a 1980 90hp Mercury on a whim not knowing anything about boats. The guy was asking for $2,900 and himself didn't know much about boats. He told me he got it on a whim at an estate auction for $1,200 with the soul purpose of selling it for a profit. When I bought the boat the seats were torn, the carpet was pretty ratty and the trailer needed new tires but I knew I could easily replace those things for not to much money. He started the outboard for me and it sounded alright, I liked the look and shape of the boat and was excited so we negotiated for $2,500 and I took home my first bass boat. Here's a pic of it in his driveway from the craigslist listing. I bought new trailer tires, carpet and seats shortly after I brought her home for roughly $450. I noticed a ding under the bow that was down to wood so I patched it myself with a typical fiberglass kit. I used the boat quite often over the early summer on an electric only lake and I was quite happy. I deicided it was time to prep it for bigger waters and took it to my local Marine mechanic to service my lower end only to find out that my lower unit is bone dry and my prop shaft is bent. I got scared that I might have bought a complete lemon, did a compression test on the motor and thanked god all the cylinders were over 120. The mechanic recommended I look for a used lower unit which I found on ebay for around $250. He explained to me how to install it while he put on a new water pump for me in his shop. I did so and now my outboard is running great. So aside from the initial cost the boat ended up costing me about $3200 not including the other stuff I've upgraded like fish finders etc that wasnt necessary to get it fishing. Here she is today, sorry for lack of a better picture I have yet to take one lol. Now my thought's on my experiences on buying my first bass boat thus far. I've only had her out on a river where I can use the outboard but only for short distances 3 times and damaged my prop on the 2nd outing hitting a rock. That was another $100 to replace lol. Anyhow I have been having some trouble keeping the boat from porpoising after getting it up on plane but I think that's due to my inexperience driving it and also being over weight capacity by about 100lbs w/ 2 people on board. The boat has a 3 person 300lb max capacity which I didn't really put into much consideration until after I bought it and discovered my porpoising issue. I plan to take her out on much bigger waters next year and get more comfortable driving it to see if the porposing is truly an issue or just user error. All in all I love my boat but the more I fish from it and see other boats I wish I had a larger front deck, a rod locker and overall more storeage and plan to upgrade to a larger boat that meets FLW requirements in the future and will definately spend more time in my search. The moral of the story, I don't feel like I got a good deal but I'm satisfied with my purchase and use it a hell of a lot wihch personally justifies my expense. I know it's a very exciting purchase but DONT RUSH into any boat, maybe save a little more money, you will eventually find a great deal that is everything that your looking for and absolutely follow the advice that has been given to you on checking out everything on the boat before purchasing.