Skwerl

I have several friends that fish Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River Lagoon, many have high dollar flats bhotes such as Hell's Bay, Ranger, Mitzi and BeaverTail. A few of them will also fish freshwater but they won't readily admit it publicly.

After reading the other replies on this thread I realize that different situations call for different tactics. I'm in a suburban area and my launch ramp is about 1.5 miles away on a busy 6 lane road with no less than 4 tire stores between my house and the ramp. If I were in a more remote area and had many miles to drive then I'm sure I would feel the need to be more prepared for any possible breakdown. Lots of good advice here.

IMO it isn't worth the hassle to carry around a bunch of spare parts all the time, especially if your trailer is in good shape and properly maintained. If the bearings or hubs are marginal and you're going to buy new parts anyway, you might as well put the new parts on the trailer so you don't have to worry about it any more. Another thing I've discovered after about 20 years of saving old parts "as a spare, just in case". If a part is bad enough to pull off and replace, then it isn't good enough to put back on. Throw it away. By the time the new part wears out, your used 'spare' will be rusted, corroded or lost and you will end up buying another new part instead of using the POS you've been carrying around for 5 years. I carry a spare tire (sometimes) and whenever I buy tail light bulbs they come in packages of two so I throw the second one in the glovebox 'as a spare', but that's about it. When I take the boat out I am not worried about the reliability of my trailer because I already handled that. Preventative maintenance goes a long way.

'98 Scout 155 Sportfish center console. 15'5" with a 60 Yammi.

The Yamaha and Merc are by far the two most popular. The Hondas are a distant third, reliable as can be but heavy. For reliability, power to weight and ease of service I'd stick with Yamaha or Mercury.

I had an old aluminum boat once. When I got it, the thing leaked about 2 inches of water per hour. Replaced a dozen loose or missing rivets and got it down to about an inch every 2.5 hours. Found a big fat car wash sponge and tossed it in the back of the boat. I used it to bail every once in a while and never worried about it again. Old aluminum boats are gonna leak. As long as the boat is structurally sound and you can easily stay ahead of the leak then don't worry about it. If you can't bail due to a subfloor, add an automatic bilge pump.

The right turn/ brake light is powered thru the green wire. I'd try to trace the green wire from the plug back to the rear trailer light and see if it's broken or cut anywhere. Look especially close at any connections or splices. You indicated that your LED indicator showed you have power at the plug, so the problem is not in the black converter box. You have replaced the bulb so it is likely OK. That means your break is somewhere between the plug and the bulb. Just so you know, standard 4-wire trailer wiring is color coded like so: Green - Right brake/ turn lamp Yellow - Left brake/ turn lamp Brown - running lights White - ground

What are rocks? I've been around Florida lakes all my life and haven't seen a rock yet!

Have you upgraded your prop yet? http://www.kipawapropellers.com/

Boat Trader Online has a 'price checker' feature where you can basically do a very specific nationwide search (specifying years, length, make, etc.) and pull up all current ads matching your criteria. That way you can see how your boat price compares to what others are asking across the country. Keep in mind, that will show asking price and not necessarily selling price. Some people think their 10 year old leaky tub with faded gelcoat is still worth 90% of a new one. : Go to Boat Trader Online and look down the left side menu for 'price checker'.

Another Garmin here, a 250.

MM brings the fhunny! ;D

When I was in Canada this Spring we were at a smallmouth lake. Caught dozens of them, fried up a few batches as well. We had about 5-6 with those black spots in the meat. Reminded me of welding splatter because it wasn't really concentrated anywhere, just scattered throughout the meat. We discarded a couple of the worst ones, ate the rest. It didn't affect the taste of the meat and nobody got sick. The lake we were on is very clear and very deep. 10'-15' visibility easily. We were also in the only cabin on the lake so there wasn't a lot of pollution sources (other than our outhouse ). The spots had to be caused by something natural, perhaps mineral deposits in the water.

My 15'5" boat and trailer (with motor lowered) is over 21'. So if you figure a 5' longer boat and a bigger motor, I'd allow at least 28'. And that might be tight. 30' if you have the budget, otherwise 28' and roll the boat in at an angle.

I bought the biggest 12v deep cycle they had at Sears. Don't remember the numbers, it's not like there's a lot of choices anyway. Hit your favorite automotive parts retailer and buy the best deep cycle battery they sell.

Good luck with it.

Once I had an old Grumman jon boat, the thing was built like a tank. Very well built jon boats with heavier gauge aluminum than most others. If nobody's punched holes in it or wrapped it around a tree then it's probably a pretty good boat.

Most (if not all) battery chargers will automatically reduce the amperage as the battery becomes charged. Hook it to the battery, plug it in and look at the gauge. The higher the reading, the more juice the charger is sending to the battery. When the battery is charged the charger gauge will be on 0. The 6 amp may work ok, but it may not be strong enough to get a good charge on the deep cycle battery. I've been told that a deep cycle needs 8-10 amps in order to get the electrons jumping enough for the battery to take a full charge (that's about the extent of my electrical knowledge). I use a similar charger but mine is a 10 amp.

The 'weight' of the trolling motor is irrelevent. Besides, you will end up sitting slightly closer to the opposite side of the canoe since you will be slightly turned so you can operate it. Stick the battery all the way up in the nose of the canoe and make some good lead extensions to reach the troller. I secured the wires up under the lip of the canoe to keep them off the floor.

Good luck with it Ben. I also had a father who confiscated all my money when I was a teen and unfortunately I think he took it too far as I am still holding a grudge against him for it. Sounds like you're handling it quite well.

Adam, what in the world are you doing to tear up trolling props so quickly? They work better if you keep them in the water and out of rocks and sand.

Sorry to hear your dealer is such a dipwad, Abel. Sounds like he has absolutely no interest in taking care of his customers. I'm not so sure I'd continue to support such a dealer with my dollars. (Although don't tell him that until AFTER you have your boat back and another servicing dealer lined up!)

Get a job and earn the money to buy the boat. You already said you don't need an expensive boat. Nothing stopping you except for your lack of ambition.

I don't have one yet but after all my research I've come to the conclusion that I will get mine from Bob's Machine. He has an excellent reputation amongst the inshore/ flats fishermen around here. http://bobsmachine.com/ http://bobsmachine.com/Products/jackplate_hydraulic.cfm

Regarding using gamefish as bait- In Florida the law states that you cannot keep gamefish caught with a cast net. There is absolutely nothing in there regarding using gamefish as bait, you just can't net them. I'm sure it's the same in most states unless you're in an over-regulated liberal state like MASS.