twors

My boat does ride low in the water....certainly no foot. The ply floor, pedestal seat and carpet probably added 40lbs over the stock seating setup. I was kinda concerned about weight but doesn't seem that big of a deal as this boat is fished with just me alone. The front of the toons are more square than others and I'am sure it has something to do with water over the front and my lower than expected speed of 3.4mph even with the mother of all trolling motors. Water over the front was from a nasty little storm that I got caught in about 600 yards away from the ramp. The wind picked up very fast and white capped the lake in just a few minutes....I was traveling aganist the wind, waves where taller than the boat and I did take on a couple gallons of water before reaching the ramp. I never felt in danger really other than the lightning of course. I never intended to operate this boat in these conditions but it did happen and will probably happen again at some time. She is no 20ft Ranger for sure but I like her all the same....

I don't think I need a rudder on this boat. The toons are narrower compared to the other boats I looked at and the toons ride deep in the water. She seems to track well. The boat does not like white caps.....water will slash over the front and you will get wet....trust me on this one! My floor is .5 ply but I get add three 1X3 runners to the bottom to provide a air gap to help any moisture to evaporate.

Finally got my new Bass Hunter "Bass Baby" finished up. I've had her out for three outing so far and everything seems good. This boat has deeper skinnier toons and I find it tracks very well without the need for a rudder. I've outfitter the boat with a 55lb Minn Kota traxxis trolling motor with variable speed. I truely love the variable speed and tilt handle also allows to fish standing with good control of the trolling motor without bending over....I'am 6'1" and 235lb. If forced to buy again I probably would buy the 45lb model and save a hundred bucks. The design of this hull is not ment for speed and I think there is a point of disminishing returns when it comes to appling power to these boats. That said....my boat tops out at 3.4 mph on my garmin hand held GPS. The battery is a group 27 marine jobbie from wallyworld and to connected to trolling motor with 8 AWG wire and anderson connectors. I have a big foot switch for the trolling motor but haven't installed yet as I wanted to get the placement just right. These boats are all about weight and balance. It took me two trips to dial in on seat post location before installing the pedestal base. The floor was covered in .5 ply and carpet. The pedestal base is two pieces of .75 ply glued together....short power rise post and butt seat. Battery box is screwed to ply floor....no holes drilled into plastic hull as of yet. This boat has built in wheels to roll it around which is great however not so great trying to load into the truck by yourself as the boat wants to roll out before you can position yourself to lift the rear of the boat to slide into truck. I made a simple hook from a piece of stainless rod to hold the boat so I could reposition without having the boat slide out. I tried ramping the boat into the truck....no good, plastic wheels slide around the ramps. Takes far more energy than just dead lifting the thing in to the truck. I have plans for a trailer on down the road. Here are some pictures of my new rig....

Got a new 8 foot Bass Baby on order and wondering about how much trolling motor to buy. Minn Kota will be the brand and it will be something in the Traxxis lineup. I know from experience that I want variable speed but haven't came to a solid conclusion on wether I'd be overkill with a 55lb thrust motor or to save a hundred bucks and opt for the 45lb model. My main lake to fish is about 175 acres so I do have some water to cover.

+1, I had a small Mann's crank that wouuldn't swim worth a hoot till I removed the overly to large from the package split ring. The water turbulence flowing around the split ring wrecked havoc on that small billed crank.

With $250 to spend.....I'd look into a custom rod. I had Fury Custom rods build me a spinnerbait rod recently and it was money well spent. I got what couldn't be had off the shelf at a very reasonable price. http://furyoutdoors.com/Home_Page.php

Found!

Looking for a custom spinnerbait rod builder. I had found a guy here that I liked but though a harddrive crash, I had lost all the contact info I had. Anyway, we were talking a custom spinnerbait rod purpose built for close in roll casting of 3/8 to 1/2 spinnerbaits, short 6" handle, micro guides....possible use of MH spinning rod blank? The guy posted here and has a web page but I can't remember who it was....the search engine here doesn't bring up much. Thanks

My lights that I just replaced where actually vented on the bottom to drain water away. You can try some electrical grease on the bulb sockets to help with the corrosion or you can do what I did this spring....replace them suckers with sealed LED units.

My schumacher charger sometimes does the 100% charge thing in 20 minutes or so but I think its a battery issue and not the charger. Mine only does this during the cooler winter months and when the battery has been sitting for awhile....battery going on its forth year. I'll often charge at 2amp when cold and it seems to help with the issue.

Looks like a broken piston skirt which means the piston is probably cocked in the cylinder bore causing your abrupt shutdown you mention. Chucks of metal coming out the exhaust is not a good sign.

I'll take a 101D over a E model anyday. Lets hope the F model is on the way and it looks like the new Scorpion XT 1000

Yes, I do have a automatic breaker...never even thought about that. Its 50 amp breaker and I run 6 gauge wire from batt to trolling motor. I installed this seup myself and I bought nothing but the best stuff to keep it as worry free as possible. Do these breakers wear out over time? Maybe buy a manual reset breaker to narrow down the problem?

Are Gamblers now called Sterlings? Look at page 43 of the 2010 BassMaster Pro Guide mag.

Yes, it was clean. This problem is electrical for sure but I'am not sure on what to replace first.