gulfcaptain

Had a friend that worked as a car salesman, here was the advice he gave me. #1 Never buy new. #2 You find a used car you like, look it up on KBB and see what the trade in value is.....this is what the dealership has into the car at the most. You can see how much the mark up is on it from that point. #3 NEVER tell them what you plan on putting down or say you're going to pay in cash, they will use that info against you. Only tell them after you have gotten the price where you like it. #4 If you don't like the price or the deal, get up and walk away. They will call you back and tell you they "talked" to the powers that be and are able to do the deal you want although they didn't do anything. And most times when they walk into their manager's office, it's to BS and done for show. This way you think they are doing something for you even though they aren't. The first car I bought after this advice it ended up being totaled by someone who fell asleep at the wheel as it was parked outside. After the loan was paid off, still got an additional $500 on top of it for the value of the car above the loan amount. I would have gone back, had the contract re-written as well and had them wire the other company the $7400 to insure the loan was paid off and ask for conformation.

Having done lot's of wooden boat repair work (S Cal charterboat for 10+ years), if you're going to seal the wood, look into West Marine's 2 part marine epoxy. You don't want to drill holes the same size as the screw, just a small hole so the plywood doesn't crack apart when the screw gos in. If you read the first one, you want to seal the wood after attaching it to the framing. Since there is a posiblilty of it being damp below, use a wood sealent on the bottom part then resin and cloth all joints and yes the screw's you used to attach the deck. Let the deck cure inside and after it's sealed and solid then carpet. ANY screw's put into the deck after you have attached it to the framing, make sure you use 4200 on the screws to keep out the moisture and seal up the hole. I would use a good adhesive glue to attach your carpeting to the deck. Hinges after the deck following the 4200 guideline of sealing the screws use in attaching th hinges. The SS self taping screws will wok great to go into the framing, but do countersink the plywood. And if you want you could put the 4200 between the new deck and framing to make sure your deck is secured and won't pull up(now you have the screws and 4200 holding the deck to the frame). You can probably find everything you need at West Marine for the epoxy resin's and adhesives. Make sure the glue you use is for outdoor carpeting.

I would bond them together before installing them. Look around, think you can find most of this at Home Depot, or Grainger. Not sure where you're located at, but there is West Marine, as well as Donavan. 5200 comes in a slow cure as well as fast cure. Depending on how quickly you're working on this project. Are you screwing straight into the previous holes? If so if you can find that size screw in SS that will work the best, if not be careful if you go up a size. Screw into the framing BEFORE you attach the deck and back them back out. This way if you happen to snap one of the screws off, you can use vice grips to remove the broken screw. Once it's tapped then by all means go for it. Apply the 4200 into the deck screw hole prior to inserting the screw. This way you get good adhesion to both the deck as well as the frame with with the 4200. Hope this gives you some ideas where to look and help moving forward on your project.

Well if you still have the screws they used I would put them back in with them. If not, I would go with Stainless Steel screws (don't rust) as well as using a bit of 3M's 4200 to keep them secure (if need be the 4200 will let you pull the screws back out in the future if needed. If you use 5200 you might as well cut the aluminum out because they aren't going to come out). Use counter sink holes to attach the deck. Put a bit of wood putty over the screw heads and then use the epoxy and fiberglass cloth to cover seems and screw holes. If you are putting 2 pieces of plywood together, then I would use 3M 5200 fast cure between the two pieces to give them a solid bond. But make sure you don't get any on your scews you're using to attach to the framing.

I would agree, I'd want a warming trend, then fish it in the afternoon on that bright sunny day when the fish have moved up to sun themselves and are a bit more active. But the conditions you listed there probably was better options for sure to catch fish on then the buzzbait.

or "boy it's gonna take a long time to teach her to go get my toys for me."

I would fish the Carbonlite if you can find them on sale for the $99 price. And if you can find the Quantum Kinetic on sale somewhere for $100 I would go with one of those as well. Have 2 of them and they are great work horses as well as the Carbonlites. And both reels come in under 8oz (5.9 carbonlite and 7.5 kinetic). Also can look at the Pinnacle Producer LTE. The reviews on here all seem to be very positive and they are right at $90 and come in at 5.75oz.

I use the 5" Yum Dingers (cut off a small piece of the tail to insert the centerpin) since they are a little more durable as well as an 1/8-3/16 oz tungsten worm weight pegged rigged weedless and seems to work well especially in scattered weeds and use a #3 willow. Think the most expensive part of the rig is the owner twistlock center pins. The swivels, blades, split rings are pretty cheap though. Works really well though with either the senko or dinger.

What are you connecting it to first of all. Ned a bit more info to give you a good answer. Are you rebuilding the entire deck and supports from the hull up or just reduing the deck?

Forgot to add, if there are yellow perch, the larger fish maybe targeting them in the deeper water, so you may have to locate the perch and fish out there with bigger cranks, jigs, etc.

I'm gonna guess you may have yellow perch as well as several sunfish populations. Like the post above, weed breaks, points, two kinds coming together....etc. Look for the bluegill beds in the summer. Odd are there are fish outside. Look at Siebert Jig's website and look into some tungsten punch jigs 3/4oz and read up on fishing and punching grass beds. The heavier weight and compact size of the tungsten will help get through the grass to the fish below. You want a compact bait so a 4" creature/craw style bait will work best as well. Then next year look around. Most fish will move just outside where they spawned, so if you found an area with lots of spawning beds, then look to areas around there for key breaks in the weeds (bends, points, holes, two kinds coming together). And fish in the middle of the nasty stuff. For some reason they just don't like it when you drop that bait into their front room and under the mats. Take notes on where the grass grows up first as well. And if you have lilly pads, bass really like that area to spawn in so there's an area if you have them to take note of in the summer to look at in the spring. And if there's a break just outside (could be a small ledge of a foot) that they will stage prior to spawn in the spring or point near by. Hope this helps some.

Just got back home from working in the Gulf of Mexico for a month and found surface temps here in S.Cal ponds I fish in the high 60's/low 70's (afternoon). Guess we just had our first cold weather front come thru last weekend, but the fall topwater bite is on now. Be it later in the afternoon (brite sunny days in the 80's) and in the dying shallow grass. Fish are all over the frog in the afternoon, and managed to pick a nice fish up on the punch jig in the earlier days fishing the grass that is still green and heathy. Need to watch temp's to target the fall feed pattern. Watch the temps, when the water drops from summer time temps say 76-85 down to 65-70 the fish will turn on. I'll throw a topwater up until the water hits the low 60's. One of the most useful tools you can have fishing is a thermometer. I fish ponds from shore and always have one on me to check water temps just to get a good idea what activity level the fish may be in.

No problem, glad I could help.

Which one are they reopening? May have to go check that out even though I rarely go that far but it may be worth it.

I would suggest a 7'3" H for pitching and light flipping. If you're wanting a MH I would go to a 7'6". If you get to the point where you want a dedicatied flip/pitch rod for heavier cover, I'd look into a 7'10 - 7'11 H. The longer rod will help move the fish out of the cover a bit quicker.

Hudd 68 is a good bait warmer waters above 55 it seems, the regular ones excel in cooler waters below 60 (cool for S. Cal where I fish) and the Savage Gear Line Thru I have found works good in both, but I choose the floater. Any hard swimbait I have all float. But mainly throw the 8" hudds, line thru's, and this year the MattLures 10" dead twitch and a couple triple trouts(8-10" all floaters)

Well everyone fishes finesse baits where I fish, so I went the other way. Jigs, swimbaits, and the umbrella rig.

Well if it makes you feel better S. Cal will hit lows in the 50's and highs in the 80's all week........fall topwater fishing oh yeah.

or a turtle. Ripped the skirt out of the only frog I had of that color and that was the end of that days fishing.....stupid turtles.

I throw 30lb and haven't had any issues. Most I would go up to would be 40lb pp or 832.

yes, it's almost time for the swimbaits on the west coast as well. Well it's always time but time to throw them more consistantly.

The voices tell me too, and since I have just decided to listen I do. Plus it keeps me from laying on the couch and gets me out of the house when I'm not working. It is my decompression time, takes my mind off of everything else and gives me piece and a time to be stress free.

Rayovac is $500 co-angler $1500 pro. I was refering to the Rayovac regional series on my cost break down.

Falcon's Bucco 7MH Mod/Fast may work for you and is about $100. Then you have the Black *** but it's a 7'1"M Fast action for the same price. I have 2 of the Falcon's and have the 7'3"M Black *** but love the action of it and has some backbone to it as well.

I looked at joining and fishing the regional tour as a Co-Angler and fish all 3 events to see if I could make it to the Championship event. Think all 3 entry fees were $1500 total, figure lodging and food would run approx $400 each event. Then gas money for the boat owner...rough guess $30-40 a day of fishing. Then the travel costs.....probably could keep it under $100 per event. So with that said for the 3 events I'd be looking at a rough est. of about $3400 so I might as well figure $4000 for the 3 events. And if I did make it probably another 1500 for the "free" Championship (but have to fish all 3 events to qualify)