Dirtyeggroll

Basically the "foot pedal" is a button. You touch it and it turns. Its not like a cable driven motor where how much you move the pedal correlates to how much of a turn you get. Instead, its how much time you hold the pedal down determines how much of a turn you get. If you are not looking at the trolling motor its hard to determine which direction it is pointed, unlike a cable-driven motor in which you can feel where its pointed. Also, sometimes there is a little delay in the pedal causing to hold the pedal for too long and resulting in WAAYYY oversteer. Super frustrating. I would personally rather have a normal cable-driven trolling motor with an anchor attached to a rope than the Xi3. Some people may feel differently, but I suspect that don't fish close to cover or banks covering a lot of water.

The control system on the Xi3 is lacking and I would personally NEVER buy one. It does have some attractive features such as being a 12 volt motor and being budget friendly way to get an anchoring trolling motor BUT the wireless foot pedal (sold separately) is NOT good for bass fishing. It is not pressure sensitive and often over steers or doesn’t steer at all making it difficult to navigate in close quarters. It is very difficult to use it to run down a bank or through a stretch of timber or docks and cover water. If you are budget limited and are really opposed to adding another battery and really think the Xi3 is the only way you can get an anchoring system, I 100% suggest that you use the Xi3 on someone else’s boat for a day first. I have a suspicion you would not be satisfied. While my dad loves the pinpoint feature on it, anytime he tries to navigate in close quarters he is cursing it. I think the only reason he didn’t take it back is because it suits his style of fishing which is pull up on a single spot and fish it for a long time. He is not one to try to cover water.

Ultrex 100%. My dad has the same boat and fishes a lot of the same waters. He upgraded to a motorguide Xi3 with pinpoint (the motorguide corollary of spotlock) and he absolutely loves it (even though he really hates the wireless footpedal on the motorguide because its not pressure sensitive and it’s not super responsive). He’s really a spot fisherman, he likes to pull up on a lay down and fish it for a half hour to an hour and he thinks it works great for that even in the rivers and creeks he fishes.

Thanks for the suggestions. Got a little ahead myself and ordered a MegaWare guard about a week ago. Though I have heard that they can have a life as short as about 3 years, so I might return it and go with the Gator. Thanks for the suggestion. Im not planning on putting storage under the seat since the gas tank is under there, just planning on the console. Thinking it will be pretty much bolt on for some buckets, just trying to determine which ones from bassboatseats will fit well. Ranger suggests not to do a recessed tray in the R70, so some engineering will be involved to reinforce the deck after cutting it.

It finally happened. I pulled home a 1996 Ranger R70! Its mostly in pretty good shape, but I suspect it has been fished pretty hard since its loaded with a nice amount of accessories. It has a 2001 125 Mercury ELPTO that appears to come off of a Tracker boat based on the cowl decals. As far as accessories it has: 80 lb 45" shaft Ultrex w/ iPilot Humminbird 898c upfront Humminbird 997c at the console MinnKota MK330D 3 bank charger 2 Optimum Blue Top Trolling motor batteries Hydrowave Deck Extension I am making this thread because I am going to do some relatively simple upgrades and couldn't find many details online about the specific upgrades I am wanting to make. 1) FIRST I am going to add a keel guard. It is very clear that this boat has seen some hard beaches. There are a few spots on the keel where the matting is showing that range from 0.5 to about 1.5 inches in length (almost kept me from buying the boat). Fortunately, a guy in our bass club does gel and glass work and all of the areas can be repaired and covered with a keel guard. 2) I am going to add a recessed trolling motor tray. Based on whats out there on the web, there is not a lot of room under the deck to add a tray as the front livewell goes really far up. I plan to add some measurements and nice pics to the web for others to use as reference to avoid losing any structural integrity and to avoid getting into the front livewell (I may convert this livewell to some kind of storage). 3) The boat has a bench seat with a single 6" tear in it. Additionally, its not a big boat and could use some more storage space. So, I plan to replace the bench with some buckets and add a center console/step. I can only currently find one instance online where someone has replaced the seat with buckets and the measurements weren't very detailed. I plan to leave some space behind the passenger seat to fit a net behind and make a place either under the seat or in the center console where a bump board can slide into. More pics

Been saying that my whole life. Haha

When was bassresource started? The idea of mass fishing information online has got to be one of the best things that has happened for the masses for fishing.

Yep. Grew up throwing them on ozark Rivers/creeks. They were candy for the smallmouth in areas with some current.

Are you looking to put it in the bed of a truck? Is trailering and option? I had a 10ft Basshound plastic boat that I built a casting deck on and I was pretty comfortable on it in up to 12-15 mph winds depending on the size of the reservoir. It was extremely stable.

They are listed at the 20% off price. No coupon needed.

Biggest I weighed. 22” 6 lbs 4 oz caught on a Magnum Christie Critter

The “need” for glass with trebles is becoming outdated. Composite/graphite rods designed for cranks are nearly equivalent these days and are lighter. The graphite Dobyns 705CB is a great choice. American Legacy Fishing has them 20% off right now. Can be had for $87.99. I don’t think you will find a rod BETTER (maybe equivalent) but probably not better for $125. The fast tip on the Dobyns is actually great because it gives you good feedback ticking rocks and grass but it still loads up really nice on fish.

I use a Curado K for Bullshads, slammers and and Triple Trouts. Does great.

Throwing crankbaits from the bank you are going to lose a lot of them. If you’re not hit stuff you’re missing a lot of potential bites, and if you’re hitting stuff you’re gonna snag. I’d stick with stuff on the cheap side. Good luck!

This is KEY! And applies to much more than fishing tournaments.

Nothing special needed to fish a tournament. In fact, it is one of the best ways for a novice (and experienced) fisherman to learn something new about fishing.

Found this today at Cabela’s. Anyone ever have any luck with one? Seems to be a smaller version of the discontinued XPS Swimbait.

Anyone ever upgraded or replaced the spool on a Pro Qualifier? I bent the spool on one of my Pro Qualifiers. I'm not necessarily looking for something fancy, but just wanted to know whats out there and what people have done. I am pretty sure I can get the OEM replacement from BPS... But I thought what the hell why not change it up?

Not to hijack the thread too much, but does anyone know where to get a spool bearing removal tool? Is there something available other than the one sold by Boca bearings that is ~$40?

The lake near my house is being drained. All of the fish are at the back of the dam trying to get back into the lake. I took advantage and caught a few of them. We had about a week of temps greater than 40 degrees to thaw the water so I am thankful to get a break in what would normally be a long brutal cold and barren winter. This was the nicest one at 5.29. Caught several just under 5.

Lets see some pics!

Odd, Cabela’s sells the fury line but only three rods not including the 795. I’d go with the Daiwa. I’ve heard good things about it.

Find a couple of dealers. You may pay a little more but most reputable dealers will triage out all of the junk and get any used boat up to date on maintenance. Many times dealers will sell used boats on consignment with a mark-up for potential fixes a boat might need once they really start digging into it when an interested buyer comes along. If the boat doesn’t need much work, the price will come down immediately. A lot of times the markup price will include new batteries and water pumps. Things that typically need replaced after a few years or so.

No poison ivy in a boat. I always seem to find it when I walk the banks.

Was it busy out there? I’m off of work until January 7th and am contemplating a trip down there on one of the nice-ish (but not too nice because I’ve heard that shuts them down at the powerplants) weekdays.