MakeUltraLightGreatAgain Posted April 4, 2019 Posted April 4, 2019 What's up boys. I was in the market for the Bass Raider 10e in Maryland but they're hard to get. Dicks has the Sun Dolphin Sportsman 10 and I was wondering if anyone here can comment on the comparison between the 2 (if any?) I like #1 how it's only $600 (compared to $800 new) and how it's got a raised lip so I can put a deck across the entire width of it... Thoughts? Quote
Hi-Powered Red Neck Posted April 6, 2019 Posted April 6, 2019 Whats the good news gang. I finally got to do a little fishing this time home. Caught a couple nice size bass sight fishing in my home pond. I've got a HAWG bedded right off my dock. Caught her last year right after she laid her eggs. She was 9.5 with no belly. This years she's a bit bigger. Spent several hours trying to get her to eat, threw everything I own at her. She's too well trained. I took the Raider on a little road trip. Fished Lake Juniper in Defuniak Springs. I'd love to say I torn'em up. That would be a lie, lol. I didn't even manage to get a bite. Fished for a few hours till the wind picked up. Lake Juniper is mostly flooded timber, first time I've had the raider in the rough stuff. I did pretty good. It's so light it will get way up on the timber. Most of the trees are rotted off to the water level. I never had a problem getting hung up even with my little 32lb Minn Kotta. My transducer bracket got a work out as well. It's a Scottie mount that I bolted to the rear motor mount plate so it's almost centerline of the boat. It simply kicked up every time I ran over a stump. I do have to push it back down, I'd say easy fix but it only happened a few times. I can push it back down with the rod butt while never having to leave my seat. I guess I've rambled on long enough. Later Quote
KDW96 Posted April 7, 2019 Posted April 7, 2019 Well,i finally made a rudder for my 1980 lil boat. It works very well too. Its made of stainless steel(no rust),the handle is from a broke snow shovel. 3 Quote
MakeUltraLightGreatAgain Posted April 9, 2019 Posted April 9, 2019 On 4/5/2019 at 12:05 PM, Bassmobile said: Hi MakeUltraLight. I don't have any thoughts on the Sportsman 10 as I have never owned one. However here is something to think about. I was looking thru my Cabelas Marine catalog for this year and I saw that they have the Sun Dolphin American 12 Jon Boat. What made me think of you when I saw it, was that the price is $ 669.99 dollars. For just a little bit more money, and realize I don't know your situation as far as transportation for the boat, but to me.... you would get a much bigger boat, and you would be able to put a casting deck on the front etc... like you were wanting to do with the Sportsman 10 all in the same ball park price wise as the Sportsman 10. Just thought I would pass that along. Another option you could look at. Thanks for the reply! My situation currently is that I have a bed that goes about 7' with the hatch down so 10' is the max I should go with to be practical. I don't have room for a trailer as I'm an apt guy. I live in MD and these types of boats are hard to find. The Pond Prowler II at bass pro is 799, West Marine has the Sportsman 10 (essentially identical from what I can tell) for 600 shipped to their store so I went with that Appreciate the help! Quote
MakeUltraLightGreatAgain Posted April 9, 2019 Posted April 9, 2019 On 1/22/2018 at 8:11 PM, LonnieP said: Not a Bass Raider but here is my Pond Prowler Is that basically just a square 1/2" carpeted ply? Do you happen to have the dimensions you cut? 1 Quote
LonnieP Posted April 9, 2019 Posted April 9, 2019 21 hours ago, MakeUltraLightGreatAgain said: Is that basically just a square 1/2" carpeted ply? Do you happen to have the dimensions you cut? Yes it’s carpeted 1/2” plywood. Don’t have the dimensions with me. I had to trace the front and cut it because it gets narrower at the bow. Quote
cwalls Posted April 10, 2019 Posted April 10, 2019 Hey guys, I just had one of my handles snap on my older bass raider...does anyone have ideas as to where to get new handles? I know you can order them off of pelican's website, but didn't know if there were any other options out there. Quote
Super User J Francho Posted April 10, 2019 Super User Posted April 10, 2019 If you search for "kayak handles" you'll find dozens of options. Quote
Seth_M Posted April 11, 2019 Posted April 11, 2019 Does anyone know where to get a trailer for these? Quote
Super User MN Fisher Posted April 11, 2019 Super User Posted April 11, 2019 13 minutes ago, Seth_M said: Does anyone know where to get a trailer for these? Most people get a regular 4'x8' trailer from places like Harbor Freight and use that with a few mods. 1 Quote
dunaway721 Posted April 24, 2019 Posted April 24, 2019 hey guys anyone interested in an online tournament? a guy on "pelican bass raider & bass hunter style boats", facebook page has set one up on tourneyx. it is listed on tourneyx as, nothin' but toads, you can fish from pelican style boats, kayaks, jon boats or from the bank. everyone is welcome Quote
mrstangblb Posted May 7, 2019 Posted May 7, 2019 Just bought my Sportsman 8' Friday locally, and I have to admit - this is a pretty doggone fun little boat. I have had a couple of good kayaks over the last 3 years (started with a Field and Stream Eagle Talon and upgraded to a Vibe Sea Ghost 110), but my butt would fall asleep and my back would hurt in both of them after only about an hour on the water. Not ideal for a full day of fishing, to say the least. This Sportsman is GREAT for what I want. Fits right in the back of my '07 Tundra Crewmax with no problem at all and is fairly easy for me to deal with, BUT I have a question for you guys. I'm often by myself fishing, and kayaks are easy to throw around and to put carts under. I have a C-Tug cart that I could use with a little modification with the Sportsman, but for the 3 or 4 feet that I have to drag it out of the water to the truck, I need to find what's best to put on the edges of the back of the pontoons to keep from scratching the hound out of it. I put 3 layers of Gorilla tape on it Sunday after church on the maiden voyage, but you can see it got shredded in a hurry, and that's after only about 5 feet from the landing to the back of the truck. Could I get 3M 3200 Adhesive to put on some stainless steel strips to bend around the edges to keep from scratching so badly? Or what other recommendations might you have? I am FOR SURE open for any suggestions. I bought this boat because it's 2/3 of the price of my Vibe, and I want to sell both my kayaks now that I have this boat. I just don't want to scratch it so badly. 2 pics show what's going on it soon, and 2 of them show the Gorilla tape in place after dragging just a few feet. Thanks for any help you can give me! This thread is INCREDIBLY helpful and very addictive. Barry ----------- Jeremiah 29:11-13 / John 3:16 Quote
mrstangblb Posted May 7, 2019 Posted May 7, 2019 43 minutes ago, J Francho said: What about a yoga mat? That's possible, I guess, but it might be a little clumsy getting it underneath the boat. Quote
Super User J Francho Posted May 7, 2019 Super User Posted May 7, 2019 I meant drag the boat across the mat. Quote
mrstangblb Posted May 7, 2019 Posted May 7, 2019 1 hour ago, J Francho said: What about a yoga mat? BUT the Harbor Freight antifatigue mats I have in the boat covering the ridges in the floor might now serve a double purpose - I could pull them out and put them under it thanks to your idea. I have the smooth parts up in the boat - I could put them down and slide the boat over the rougher, slicker bottom. 1 Quote
mrstangblb Posted May 8, 2019 Posted May 8, 2019 30 minutes ago, Bassmobile said: This might fit your needs....? https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/keelshield-keel-guard?hvarAID=shopping_googleproductextensions&affcode_c=&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6-GdseaM4gIVm7fACh0q1wSIEAYYASABEgJwF_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds I sure appreciate the link. I have seen that material, but wow - that’s 1/4 to 1/2 the price of the boat itself. Quote
mrstangblb Posted May 9, 2019 Posted May 9, 2019 1 hour ago, Bassmobile said: No problem on the link. I knew it was expensive but just thought I would throw it out there for you. I have never used it before, would definitely need to know before purchasing if it would solve the issue. What if you made some type of two plank ramp system, maybe out of 2 x 6 boards, that you could back your truck up to the boat ramp and slide into the water out of the back of your truck, kinda like when motorcycles are in the back of a truck. You could lower and pull it back in the truck with a rope. Just another idea.... True. I’m going to try one thing first - I realized I had some big truck weatherstripping in the trash. I’m going to see if Gorilla taping a 12” strip over the back pontoon edges will stay on there a while. It’s at least 3” wide, and if it stays on it’ll be worth fooling with. Quote
Hi-Powered Red Neck Posted May 13, 2019 Posted May 13, 2019 On 5/7/2019 at 8:38 AM, mrstangblb said: Could I get 3M 3200 Adhesive to put on some stainless steel strips to bend around the edges to keep from scratching so badly? Or what other recommendations might you have? I'm not sure where you're trying to launch. As for myself I avoid the launch ramp. Most of the areas I fish have some grassy or sandy area next to or in the vicinity of the ramp. If that's an option for you, I'd go with that. I keep my Raider in the water at home. However I still take it other places. My property is sloped so getting the boat to the truck is an up hill battle. To overcome that problem I started dragging it up the hill with my riding mower. The bottom for my raider is handling it just fine. It slides easily over the grass with out scratching it up, even with my gear still in it. Quote
mrstangblb Posted May 13, 2019 Posted May 13, 2019 2 hours ago, Hi-Powered Red Neck said: I'm not sure where you're trying to launch. As for myself I avoid the launch ramp. Most of the areas I fish have some grassy or sandy area next to or in the vicinity of the ramp. If that's an option for you, I'd go with that. I keep my Raider in the water at home. However I still take it other places. My property is sloped so getting the boat to the truck is an up hill battle. To overcome that problem I started dragging it up the hill with my riding mower. The bottom for my raider is handling it just fine. It slides easily over the grass with out scratching it up, even with my gear still in it. At Lake Cunningham and Lake Robinson near Greer, SC, the accesses to the landings are concrete and asphalt. I know a fellow that lives on Lake Cunningham, but his back yard is just about straight up. I had a little hard time dragging my kayak through his back yard, so I'd probably have a time sure enough with this boat. Quote
Murphy S. Law Posted May 15, 2019 Posted May 15, 2019 On 5/7/2019 at 9:38 AM, mrstangblb said: Could I get 3M 3200 Adhesive to put on some stainless steel strips to bend around the edges to keep from scratching so badly? Or what other recommendations might you have? Maybe some roll on rhino liner type of coating you find at big box stores? Quote
mrstangblb Posted May 15, 2019 Posted May 15, 2019 6 hours ago, Murphy S. Law said: Maybe some roll on rhino liner type of coating you find at big box stores? They say that stuff flakes off pretty quickly. Quote
schplurg Posted May 16, 2019 Posted May 16, 2019 This is a little off the current topic, but I always thought it would be cool to mount a metal or wire "shelf" to the bottom of the seat where you can store a few Plano boxes for easy access. I almost bought a similar boat and still might and I thought that would be a cool mod. That's all. Quote
mrstangblb Posted May 16, 2019 Posted May 16, 2019 Dumb question from a new Sun Dolphin Sportsman 8' owner - I bought a Minn Kota C2 40 lb. trolling motor with a 36" shaft to put on the Sportsman. I just looked on the tag that was actually on the boat when I bought it, and it recommends shaft lengths of 42" to 52". Surely I haven't bought the wrong shaft length, right? I haven't even opened the box for the trolling motor yet and haven't measured to see how well it will go on the boat, so I look forward to the expert responses. Thanks as always! Quote
mrstangblb Posted May 16, 2019 Posted May 16, 2019 10 minutes ago, mrstangblb said: Dumb question from a new Sun Dolphin Sportsman 8' owner - I bought a Minn Kota C2 40 lb. trolling motor with a 36" shaft to put on the Sportsman. I just looked on the tag that was actually on the boat when I bought it, and it recommends shaft lengths of 42" to 52". Surely I haven't bought the wrong shaft length, right? I haven't even opened the box for the trolling motor yet and haven't measured to see how well it will go on the boat, so I look forward to the expert responses. Thanks as always! I see in the manual 36" is correct. Sorry about that. 2 minutes ago, mrstangblb said: I see in the manual 36" is correct. Sorry about that. But I do plan to put the trolling motor in the back of the boat where the plate is instead of the front. Quote
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