WIGuide

Do yourself a favor and start doing a little of your own maintenance. It's not hard, as most systems on a boat are relatively simple. Something like a livewell pump on a boat that age should be a cartridge style. Buy the new cartridge, move the lever and twist the old one out, and install the new one in reverse order. Connect the two wires where you cut the old ones and be done with it. Instead of spending $150 for some high school kid to do that at a marine dealership, you'll pay $35. Replacing bearings is something that can be done in your driveway with nothing but a few hand tools, some marine axel grease, and bearing replacement kits. Total cost probably somewhere in that $40-50 range. Your bunks are a straight piece of wood. Buy some new stuff, cut to the proper length, bolt to the trailer, and cover in carpet. Total cost should be somewhere from $50-75 dollars. If you do these jobs on your own, you'll spend less than just one monthly payment on a new boat. Although these jobs may take a little bit of your time, they can easily be done in an afternoon even by the first time shadetree mechanic. The worst part about dealers if they're like the ones around here is the cost and the time lost. They get swamped up by me so if you have to take your rig in they might not get to it for a week or two. I'd gladly devote a few hours to fixing it myself then not be able to fish for a few weeks.

Looking at it, I think there could be some issues with access if it's inside a garage as well. If a person needed to get inside, they would have to have a high ceiling to allow clearance for the cover to lift or else hook it up to pull it out of the garage just to remove an item or two.

As long as the trailer will work with bunks I say go for it. It's no overly complicated I just takes some measuring and the correct brackets. When I was 15 or so, I made some for my first boat. It was a little 2 man bass tender that I had challenges loading because of the shape of the hull. The bunks were supposed to be in a specific spot to support the boat, but because of the tri-hull shape up front, it would always hook and pull the boat one way or another when driving it on the trailer. It wasn't hard to straighten once it came out of the water because it was so light, it was just annoying. I decided to fabricate a longer center set of bunks to cradle the v of the boat and keep it straight on the trailer and conform to the hull. Worked like a charm for as long as I owned it. I'd say if a 15 year old can do it, so can you!

I don't know that they ever made it past the prototype stage. It's a cool idea though, but I'm sure the cost was too high to really make it feasible.

I'd say go ahead and join anyway. Just be aware of the financial obligation tied to the tournaments. If you can't meet that on your end, wait before you join.

Welcome to the forums!

Get yourself some JB weld, I think that would be your best bet to fix that issue.

Running a prop that's too small will give you blistering hole shot with no top end speed. You can run it that way, just keep an eye on your rpm's and don't over rev. I wouldn't spend money on new props or anything until you're sure you're lower will last longer than a few weeks and you won't be swapping again for a while. Then you can get your rpm numbers and find out what you need to do to prop it correctly.

I think for the "average" or fair weather fisherman that's not a bad recommendation. I've talked to many guys in our area when they're coming off the water when the wind kicks up a little bit, or go tuck into a blocked bay. If it's too windy, they just won't go at all and it's not because their tm doesn't have enough power, it's more along the lines that they just don't like fighting the wind. When you're more of a diehard, and have an "I'm going no matter what" mentality or fish tournaments you want a tm that's far more powerful to allow you to do what you need to do.

I really like my rod gloves. I also have reel gloves as well to keep boat rash to a minimum and couldn't recommend them enough.

I used to use mono for everything and I would change it at the beginning of every season. I never had an issue with it.

If these are remanufactured lowers they should come with some sort of warranty. Like mentioned before, you might want to have your motor checked over just to make sure the problem is just with the lowers and not something with your motor causing it.

Changing your hooks will help. I'd also suggest using an Eco Pro Tungsten Pro Wacky Weight in the 1/16 oz version. It will help to make your Dinger fall a little faster which adds a little more action and it will help your worm last longer as well.

I don't think I've ever wacky rigged them, I usually nose hook them. I'm sure they'd work either way though.

I would swap out line to something a little heavier and tighten the drag just slightly. It sounds like you aren't getting good enough penetration with the hook to get them in past the barbs. Also remember to keep constant pressure on them, because if you don't, they're going to find a way to pull the hooks out.

Although I haven't tried them wacky rigged, I use the jrs a lot as a dropshot bait and have done well with them. This was one that fell for it

A lot of your problem is your line. 8 lb xl is designed for a spinning reel as the XL stands for extra limp because it has less memory and to get that the line had to have a little more stretch. XT was designed for bait casters and originally stood for extra tough. It has a bit more memory, but it works just fine on a bait caster. 8 lb of either might be a little too light to drive in a 7/0 hook which is a little on the big side for a Keitech. I would look for some 12 lb XT or Berkley 100% fluoro, or 50 lb Berkley Professional Braid. You also might want to consider using something like a 5/0 hook instead as well.

If you can wait a little bit St. Croix will be unveiling their redesigned LTB coming up at Icast. You could save a few bucks and buy the older model when it goes on sale or wait and try a new one. The 6'8" MH/F in the current lineup would work well for what you want.

You would want to get ahold of Tracker Marine. They will be able to help you out.

Either would be a good rod, but the Mojo is going to be a little lighter/better balanced and more sensitive. To me it's worth the extra $40 but you can get by with the Bass X if you're working on a tight budget.

Probably because you haven't been around very long. Their name is mentioned on every page you load in the forms as they are a site sponsor.

Mine is fairly self-explanatory, when I signed up here I was ready to take a break from my normal screen name that I use that was based on the nickname I received playing college basketball, mudgedaddy. I thought up something semi-original, but alas it was already claimed by someone here on BR. Since my creative side was already burnt out on the original attempt, I figured what the heck I live in Wisconsin and I'm a guide so let's combine that and WIguide was born. Creative genius at work... I know...I know

I think a lot of the cost of boat ownership depends on your ability to maintain and fix problems before/when they arise. With marine labor costs anywhere from $80 to $120 and hour most with a minimum charge of a half hour it doesn't take long for even the simplest of tasks to add up quickly. I've also seen some horrendous attempts at diy work. For example, on my boat, the front switch panel must have had some issue in the past. The previous owners chose to disconnect it, but instead of just pulling the male/female connections apart, they instead decided to clip all the wires. I'm no wiring expert, but I know enough to get me by so I fixed it myself. Had I taken it to a marina, the same job would have cost me probably $150

Given your price point, I'd suggest looking at the St. Croix Avid X line of rods. Great rod right at your price point. Also, if you're willing to wait a little bit, the St. Croix Legend Tournament rods have been given a redesign and should be making an appearance at Icast this year. The current generation will be discounted to make room for new at a lot of retailers putting those in your price range as well.

Yum Christie Craw and Berkley Chigger Craws are my two mainstays. Berkley is usually more expensive, but I keep seeing them pop up for almost 50% off.