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It doesn't look good for my tnt motor. Unplugged main two wires and jumped a hot and ground to it both ways, nothing. First I hooked a hot wire to one side and tried to ground with test light. Light would come on but motor will not run. Any advice or directions for removal? One screw looks impossible with conventional screwdrivers. thanks

I have an 88 Champion with same year model Johnson 150hp engine. My tilt and trim had been working fine but the switch on the motor was broke. I replaced and trim worked fine last trip. Went to use boat today and heard trim motor start to work and then it quit. I can hear relays click but nothing else. tried shorting across wires but nothing. Could find no fuse to replace. Tilt motor burned out?

I have a Champion 17'6" dual console bass boat. Where should I mount my charger? Directions are a little vague, should I go ahead and mount it in my gas tank/battery space or somewhere else? That's the only area that is vented but the batteries and gas tank concern me. Any better ideas or am I overthinking this thing? lp

Just got my 87 17'6" Champion recarpeted. Just did the front deck and all the tops for 450.00 For another 100 he said he would do the floor but I'm plannin on putting some form of spray on bedliner on it. Said he would do the whole boat for 750.00 (sides, consoles, everything I guess. lp

Yes, hundreds of dollars worth of tackle and I can still catch lots of bass on Berkeley Power worms, blue fleck or electric grape are my favorite colors. It's good to have something you can depend on! lp

In SE OK over last weekend. River was running pretty good especially for this time of year but the smallmouth bite was way off. Weather was unsettled, I'm hoping that was it. Thunderstorms in area both days with a cold front coming in Sat. night and backing out Sunday. Caught quite a few spots and goggle eyes but smallie fishing was waaay down. lp

Went on a fishing trip to Black Fork River in SE OK over the weekend. Plenty of water but fishing was tough! Went with my 28 year old son and he kicked my bass AGAIN with the Tennesee shad spit'n image. Wished I had never gave him his first one a few years back. I've had a little trouble working them, they're a little harder for me than Zara's. I'm going to have to learn how or retire, it looks like! LOL! We only caught 3 smallies each but he probly caught 30 or 40 Spots in the 1 to 2 # range and a few largemouth. About all I could catch was goggle eyes! (sunfish). I WILL be ordering myself a couple of these baits and doin some practicing! Might leave him home next time too! Anyone else use these baits? lp

I use Owners almost exclusively when I can, they stay sharp forever. That being said for offset worm hooks I would try to have at least a package of each, #1 through 3/0 for worms, maybe bigger if I was using a worm over 7" long, and then experiment. I've had bass start breaking the worms off just behind the hook and when this happens I drop down to a 1/0 or if I'm using and extra skinny worm a #1, then I usually start sticking them. I think sometimes they just open their mouth wide enough to suck in a worm and about 3/4 of the time the hook will hit thier lip and when you set the hook it will tear in two. So I think it depends on the bass's mood and how they are hitting sometimes tells you what hook to use. I just try everything until I find the one that seems to work best. And Owners are awesome, I've thrown some away because I got tired of lookin at em, I had used them so long. They just don't get dull very often! And I've caught some big bass on a #1 hook. Don't recommend it for hogs but it can work. I don't like the round bend hook either, it seems easier to straighten out easier IMO. lp

You might check out the B&R Outlaw rod also. I bought one on Ebay, a 7'6" flippin stick in MH and I really like it. It's very sensitive and light for a full cork and foregrip handle rod. They also have a $50.00 replacement warranty also. Med price range around 125.00 I think. lp

I used to get Gene Larew salty grubs in I think 4". My favorites were smoke with blue or red flakes depending on which was best that day. They don't make them anymore, I bought a bunch of their last ones in smoke silver but they didn't have the colors anymore!

G-blanks rods are made from Rainshadow blanks from Batson Enterprises. I have a 6'9" med. fast casting with revolver guides. I looked mine up and they made it from a spinning rod blank. It is called a RX7 graphite blank whatever that is. They ain't talkin, I asked. They just didn't answer my emails. With that being said, it is an awesome rod. I find myself picking it up, specially when I get tired cause it's so light. I have a Shimano Chronarch MG 51 on it and it is effortless to fish with. It is very sensitive but is a little light in my view for soft plastics, however I plan on using it for dropshotting and see what happens. I usually use a med. light for stream smallies and it will fill that place nicely. I will probly buy another one in a Med Heavy casting with regular guides in the future. I would say it's as sensitive as my St Croix Avid maybe. Larry Mitchell just sells them, a guy named George Blancas makes them. Larry usually has some for sale on Ebay or you can go to their website. I can't remember the name of the site, I will have to look it up and get back. lp I looked it up, it's imaginationbassin.com They have a guide service on an awesome lake in Florida also. BTW, I've been using a Allstar shrimptail special with about 4" cut off to match the action I wanted with the handle I wanted. Don't laugh, it works! I think it was around 6'9" to start with, could have been 7'. I have a Calcutta CT51 on it. I can fish from 6# to 12# fairly good on it. This is for stream smallies, I've found for me that a stiff rod makes me lose to many fish, gives them something to pull against I guess. I nearly always have a medium action rod with me if I need to fish T-rigs for them. My favorite lures for the light rod is about 100 different top water baits and 4" c.t. grubs on a plain jig.

The first Quantum left hand baitcaster that came out. I think it was black. I wore it out in one day using a #7 Willow leaf spinnerbait. Got my money back and bought a Calcutta which I'm still using. Man that was years ago. I love the Storm Thundersticks for small mouths, specially the 2 smaller ones in the trout colors. I bought a Ripplin Redfin when they first came out, caught a nice bass on the first cast and have not caught a fish on it since. May have thrown it away. Now I feel jinxed if I catch a fish on the first cast with a new bait! lp

Glad I'm not the only one with this problem. I used to use a WalMart plastic bag for my plastics and whatever I could grab for my hard lures. At present I have most of my spinnerbaits hanging on mono in my shop and I grab what I need and throw in and old Plastic live bait box for hangin on your belt. I've got a pretty good WM special soft case now withall my plastics in it, jigs on top, hooks in one end and weights in the other. I love the long strap for hangin on my shoulder when pond hoppin! Have the 4 large plastic flat boxes either in my tube, inflatable pontoon or my rod box on my boat. But I'm always looking for something better! lp

Thanks guys, I also have a friend with one and asked him about his today. I'll have to have one but I need a few other things first. lp

How do they work and why do I need one. (New boat owner, not the boat just new owner) I don't know anything about them other than they charge batteries so fill me in guys! lp

Thanks for all the replies and helpful advice!!! lp

Drove it on lake friday, fished out of it Saturday. Think I'll tell him to go ahead an cash the check. Oh yeah, when he went in to get the title the owner came back out and said, "I could have sworn this was an 84." Titles said 88 model. He didn't try to back out! One little thing and this may be normal but, the motor doesn't want to idle unless I trim the motor up until it's almost level. Normal or float setting problem? Oh yeah, compression checked out!

The bargain part is how good a shape it's in and knowing the guy who has it. It still lists on NADA, this will be the last year probly. Anyway, it lists for $2800.oo and I'm getting it for 2500.oo if it checks out. It's been in the shop all week getting checked out and the carbs cleaned or whatever they needed, it had been sitting like I said above. The owner called last night and it's ready for me to try out so here goes..... If I have to overhaul it someday so be it, when my 3406 Caterpillar truck engine needed overhauling I did it with a manual and some borrowed tools!

Might try bein a little bit more sneaky too, like stayin a little lower or making longer casts. Sometimes this works for me. They can see you pretty good in the clearer streams. I've had them hit baits as soon as they hit the water some days. They had to see them coming and make a good guess where my lure would land. This was on an unpressured area. Sounds like they are just chickening out at the last second after seeing something they don't like, you/predator! I would try a curly tail grub rigged on a jig and fished a little deeper if possible. Like the other poster said too sometimes you just have to let it sit there for a bit on topwaters. If I had one miss a sinking bait I would just let it sink to the bottom and see what happened. If they think they injured it they would sure pick it up. If you can see them you are fishing pretty shallow, right? They may just be reacting to a bright sun too (too much light). I've noticed smallies even in streams are very sensitive to barometric pressure which also effects the light level. On a high barometer they might still feed but not shallow, have to go a little deeper. hth, lp

Don't forget your topwater baits. Try every one you have. Keep an eye out for baitfish so you can match the size if possible. It's surprising how small or how large a bait they will sometime hit. A good "no brainer bait" is a 3 or 4" curly tail grub fished on a jighead and just swim it back in. My favorites are the smoke colors with red or blue glitter if you can find them. lp

Is that an inflatable pontoon? I bought a Madison this year and the water hits me about mid shin. I really like mine, only detractors are the wind and fish really jerk you around. (A big ol bass anyways) You learn to direct your boat with your rod when you have a good one on but he will pull you into stuff if your fishin in downed logs or something. I've been wanting to put an anchor on it and see if that would help. Would have to remember to throw it in though. anchor would definately help in the wind situation. If I'm in a lake I'll try to fish from the weeds out sometimes in wind. You can make an anchor with a net bag and some rocks and rope. Also, I found some Kickapoo Kickers on ebay, they really work good for maneuvering while fishing.Good fishin! they mount on your shoes and have a big flap on bottom that catches water and propels you forward. Rowing took some time for me to get used to but I can move around pretty good now. Mine's not rated for a trolling motor but I might see what I can do later. Should really make one zip around! You can get a Madison for a little over 300.oo with shipping.

Where do you live Link? I've been fishing out of a tube for about 50 years. I live in Oklahoma and haven't been bitten yet. I have sent a few cottonmouths to their happy huntin grounds though. I carry a Ruger single six with shot shells. If they within 10' they're in my territory!

My favorite was Excaliburs, the old style with the offset hooks. Recently I have used a couple of lures with Owner trebles on them. A couple of fish I caught should have not been hooked due to my slow reaction time. It was like the couldn't get them spit out! I think most of the newer trebles are pretty good other than the old standard hooks. Those Owners are like trying to spit out a sandbur though! Good luck!

Can't believe no one's mentioned Terminators yet, well there is just a few post so far. My fav one is the 3/8" with the Oklahoma blade (I think, it's the one that looks like a sea turtle shell) I like the fire tiger skirt with the gold blade! I hate having to reshape my baits after every catch!

After years of borrowing my dad's Kingfisher I'm about to buy my own bass boat. I'm looking at an 84 Champion with a 150 Johnson on it. I'm comfortable with the motor, dad's is an Evinrude, as long as it's a good one. Anyway my son knows the guy and he is trustworthy. (I went to school with his dad and uncle.) The boat seems in very good condition other than needing some carpet. He is getting it tuned up right now cause it's been sittin for about 4 years. He had it on the water a few days ago and said everything worked well other than didn't idle right. (To be expected) Anyway is there any advice as far as things to look for on a Champion that might go un-noticed to the untrained eye? Don't remember the model # but he said it's a 17.5' Not an extreme bargain, just a fair price for what seems an awesome 84 model Champion! thanks