WIGuide

I'd just get a new one welded on. It's not a tough fix. Have them weld it and clean it up and then take a rattle can to it. I'll be good as new.

The value of that boat will be mostly in the condition of the boat. A faded out, beaten piece of crap is not going to be worth what a garage kept babied specimen will be.

You can screw in a screw with a pair of vise grips too but that's really not the way you should do it. Sure your trailer rides better with car tires, but that's because their radial tires. Radial trailer tires would do the same thing and last as long as your car tires, and would be made for that application. I just hope when your tire blows nobody is next to you on the road because your safety isn't the only one in your hands.

If you're looking for a different prop pitch for a TM there aren't very man options out there. Mainly because most don't care about a 0.1 difference in speed. However, there's one aftermarket company that I know of that makes a prop that can help increase speed http://www.kipawapropellers.com/. I've heard mixed reviews on them though. Many have said they do what they say, but there have been a number of TM's burnt up because of them. Also, I don't think either Minnkota or Motorguide will warranty their motors if one of these props is used.

If you can I'd buy both. If not get the portable charger first if that's what you need, and save up for the onboard charger. From what you just said it sounds like you have 3 batteries already so you'd need a 3 bank charger. The ease of an onboard charger is definitely worth having. Once I got mine, I found out I'll never go back. As far as brand goes, I'd look into Dual Pro. They aren't cheap, but they're very good chargers. As far as figuring out what you have, go take a look at your batteries. It should be on the label. Most likely unless you paid out the rear for a battery, it's a flooded cell which standard battery chargers should work on.

Haha I hear ya! I try to put that stuff away for a little bit. Not because I don't want to monkey with fishing stuff, but if I do it makes me want to fish that much more! Knowing that I can't for quite some time is already almost too much to bear but you add that on top of it and I'll actually go insane haha.

I'd step up to the H/F if it was really thick brush where I'm really going to have to jack them and basically rip them out of the cover.

They can be good at any time. I'll throw a black and chrome if it's cloudy and a blue and chrome if it's sunny. I'll also throw a black and gold (chrome) in stained water.

I use both 3/8 oz and 1/4 oz depending on the situation.

Mag willow blades or Oklahoma blades have turned out to be my favorites.

Mercury made the 125's and 135's in both the ELPTO and Opti series. E-rude doesn't have it on their website, but on the Ranger website they still have it listed as an option so I don't know if they have holdovers or the website isn't entirely up to date yet or what.

That's a bit of a downfall, but you can still get a 135 Honda, and they have 135 Evinrude listed on their website as a power option. It's funny though because in that range, they didn't seem to sell a lot of those motors in between the 115 and 150. Like on my boat for example (Ranger Sport R70). It's rated for a 130, but if you're looking probably 19 out of 20 of them have a 115. Johnson/Evinrude had 120's/130's Mercury had the 125's, and Yamaha had 130's so it wasn't that they weren't available then, people just didn't spend the extra to get them.

That's definitely a benefit to using a crankbait rod. When I'm not using a crankbait rod and my bait has treble hooks, I always back my drag way off. I've caught a lot of fish that I shouldn't by doing just that. Many times it's been a northern pike that's severely frayed my line. When you get them in the boat and unhooked, you put a amount of tension on the line and it snaps it reminds you why you do that too.

I think you've got the answer of a mitchell spare spool and case. I believe I've got a case from my grandpa when he passed, but I don't think it had the spool in it.

There's probably a BFL division somewhere around you where you can join as a non-boater. Look into those.

I wasn't overly impressed with the swimmin' super flukes. You might want to check out the Big Bite Baits Cane Thumper instead. Some of my favorite colors in those are alewife, green pumpkin, hematoma, ss shad, and tilapia.

That's one sweet ride! I, like Tim, think it needs a little more meat under those rims though.

That's a pretty god price for one as long as it doesn't leak. I had a bass tender 10.2 and it served me well. The 8 footer is getting pretty small, but if you're fishing by yourself I would think it'd be alright.

I'd probably go with a MH/F or H/F depending on the bait you're using. I'd also probably stick with the fluoro in the brush, but you could do work with the braid too.

I carry spare spool for my spinning reels in case I feel the need to switch. As far as bait casters go I don't. I can make something work with what I've got if something bad happens.

Have you looked at the Ranger Aluminum boats? This one looks like it'd fit your needs nicely.

It might be possible, but I doubt it'd be cost effective. You'd be sinking a lot of time, money, and energy into building something that won't be as fishable as something you could have put a lot less into. Not to mention, if you're looking at a boat for $150 I would think it's in absolutely horrible shape to begin with. If I where you, I'd do as others recommended and either deck out a john boat or wait till you could find an older bass boat. You might want to even look at 15-17 foot aluminum v-hulls. Those will be cheaper and I would bet would still be more fishable than a converted old ski boat.

Some dealers check them over better than others. Either way they are used boats and they can have a problem but the dealer won't usually do much after a few days on a used one. If you're looking for the best deal, you won't find it at a dealer. My dad flips boats as a hobby. He buys boats in good shape that people are looking to get rid of, and then sells them for a profit. Even for what he sells them for is still a few thousand under what you can buy a comparable used boat at a dealership for.

Everyone has their own preferences and needs when purchasing a boat and they can vary from person to person. One thing to look at is creature comforts and overall layout. Does it make sense to you to have _____ here? Can I see everything I need to at the cockpit? Can I make the things I use the most easily accessible? Not sure how long you plan on keeping the boat, but you also might want to look at what you can get out of the boat when you're ready to sell.

They just came out with their new gen of spinning Revo's this year. Looking at their releases the last few years, they redesigned their lower end reels, then their spinning, I would guess that gen 4's will be available beginning in 2017. We should be getting looks at it at 2016 Icast. That would be my guess anyway.