big easy

Oh man,there's nothing like the hit on a wire dipsy,I love it when it's been a bit slow,and you're not paying attention,when all of a sudden,that wire rod starts screaming,and it's tough to get out of the rod holder. Remember in the movie "Patton",when George C Scott is talking about war and the battles,and says "god I love it so". Well, thats how i feel about wire dipsies.

In Fairhaven, I'll third the Cottage Inn,their black forest pork chops are fantastic. Keep the boat in Olcott now,and would have to say that Cafora's in Newfane, is the best for good italian food,and the scenery can be pretty nice to look at too.

BLUE EYE, Sorry about the duplicate response,i walked away from the computer for a bit before i hit submit,i didn't see your reply.

All they need is the email address that you use for your Paypal account.They just go on to their paypal account,and go to the payment option,and enter your email address,and the amount to send etc. The funds are then placed in your account. You will receive a message telling you that a payment was made to your account.It will give you the buyers name and address.It will also tell you if the buyer is verified,and will show the status of the payment. Make sure the funds are available in your account before you send the merchandise. Also,to be safe,never go in to paypal from a link in your email.enter the actual address,and get into pay pal that way.There are lots of scams,and fake emails that supposedly are from Paypal. You can get any messages when you get in to your account from the address bar. ******NEVER CLICK ON TO A LINK TO GET INTO PAYPAL*****

Give captain Jim Taylor of Hawg Master charters a call at 800-464-0103.He runs out of Olcott with a 28' sportcraft for lake fishing,and also runs a lund river boat on the Niagara river. He's a very accomplished lake and river fisherman,and a super guy,he tells great stories,and catches fish.Just tell him that John and Bob from Massachusetts sent you,if you call him.

Who's the promoter of that show.I don't want to mention names,but the sportsman show at the eastern state expo in massachusetts,also sucks big time in my opinion. I went for the last time a year ago,only because i got free tickets.The only people benefiting from that show,are the organizers of it.I know that they also do several other outdoor shows. Most of the vendors,who still find enough money to pay the outrageous booth fee's, are either factory booths who don't actually sell anything,or others who bring mostly outdated tackle and the rest that are just junk dealers. I want to go to a sportsman show to buy either fishing,hunting,or outdoor equipment,not a plastic samuri sword,or sheepskin seat covers.Give me a break. Most of the good well stocked, well respected, tackle shops ,that we all support don't attend these shows any longer,and i don't blame them. I get far more quality information from sites like this one and others who share the same passion as i do,not some crappy so called sportsman show.

I've caught a few seagulls,one in the fall on the Oswego river,and a couple off the beaches in Rhode Island. What i remember most about them was that when i tried to hold em,they were incredibly warm,oh yea,and really pissd off. The best catch was when we were fising the watch hill beach in Rhode Island in early november for stripers. We had surf rods in sand spikes baited with mackerel and bunker on the bottom. All of a sudden my buddies reel starts screaming,and before he can get to it,the whole thing, rod,reel,gets pulled into the surf and out into the ocean. We just stood there in amazement,and then all of a sudden we see this seal come up out of the water with mono line in his mouth. He dove under and we never saw him again.My buddie was not very happy after losing a nice surf rod and reel to a Seal. Well around four hours later,after many casts,and fresh bait changes,we decided to head home.All of a sudden,we hear his dad who's a hundred yards away from us, yelling that he thinks he's got a fish.Well he's fighting this fish for a bit,and then says "crap,i think i lost him,but maybe i hooked a skate because he's not fighting anymore. Well sure enough he lost the whatever it was,but reeled in a nice Surf rod and reel.Yup it was the one the seal took.the hook was in one of the rod guides.A one in a million shot.

YUMMMM I love the smell of salmon in the morning, It smells like, ................"VICTORY"

I have a Quick draw hitch system for sale.It is brand new,and has never been used. It has 2" & 1-7/8 balls,and an infinite range of adjustments.It's extremely heavy duty,rated for 10,000 pounds tow,with a 750lb tounge weight.It has a 6"drop. Quick Draw Hitching Systems: The Quick Draw Hitching System is a revolutionary ballmount hitch that is not only the most versatile on the market, but also the safest. The Quick Draw Hitching System allows you to keep it attached to your vehicle at all times plus keep it out of the way with it's patented stow-away design. The Quick Draw Hitching System is designed so that the ballmount will stow underneath the vehicle to help prevent getting bruised shins and broken garage doors. Details: The Quick Draw Hitching System has up to a Class IV rating so you can tow almost anything worry-free. All ballmounts come with a 1-year warranty on materials and workmanship. Quick Draw Hitching Systems come in a durable baked-on black powdercoat finish. Quick Draw Magnum Features: Class III or IV Up to 10,000lbs GTW & 1000lbs TW Solid 2"X2" Steel Shank 5 1/2" rise or drop at 1" intervals by pulling a pin Pull another pin and rotate to a different ball size Stows under vehicle for easy storage Includes non-corrosive stainless steel pins Durable baked-on black powdercoat finish I's in the catalogs for $179.00 to $199.00 I'll take "ANY REASONABLE OFFER" as i have no use for it.

Yep Rob,it probably will be a very good solution to your problem.I did see a sample of the stuff,and it was amazingly strong. If you have'nt got one they will send you a sample if you call them. Good luck with your project.i

Rob, I've read of a few guys who used it with varying degrees of satisfaction.How much of a repair do you have to do?.Personally i'm very leery of any kind of stuff that you pour into a transom. If you have to do an entire transom replacement,it's not as easy as just mixing it and pouring it in. All the rotted wood has to be removed,and in my opinion,if your going to replace a transom,the only right way to do it,is to replace all the wood core with new marine plywood or composite core of your choice. I've done a few complete transoms,with new marine ply and new glass.It's not a lot of fun,but done correctly,it will outlast you. Try doing a search on www.classicseacraft.com www.classicmako.com www.boatered.com www.thehulltruth.com there have been a few articles on seacast on these sites.If you need any infp regarding a good material supplier,and or pictures of some of my transom replacements,i'd be happy to help.

I just picked up a Northstar chartplotter/sounder combination for a heck of a deal.It's a 600watt sonar unit with GPS C-Map charting.It was $1,149.00,but boatersworld is closing them out at $699.00. Several saltwater guys i spoke with liked them,and gave em high marks,and i was wondering if anyone on this site is running one,and if so, what their results were _________________

Thanks all for the info,keep it coming. Gill,I also have a yamaha kicker tied to my outdrive with an EZ-Steer on my current boat, (21'Trophy), thats the one with a 305 in it,and thats the one thats hard to steer when the main engine is off. The 350 is going in my new restoration 23 Seacraft,and will have a 8hp Yamaha kicker,and thats the boat that i would like to be able to steer the kicker easier on. The engine(350) and drive that i'm putting in this boat have power steering, like my Trophy, so i thought that if i deleted the power steering altogether, it would be easier to steer, as i wouldn't be fighting the power steering when the main engine is off. The disadvantage would be as mentioned, that it may be more difficult to steer when under power. Stix, Hmm'h air cylinders huh' sounds interesting. As your other reply mentioned, I thought about the seperate steering wheel for the kicker, but using a lever, instead of a wheel, but again, as mentioned in a previous reply, i think the turning capability would be affected if the outdrive does not also turn. Maybe there's no real answer or easy solution to this problem. I may just have to go thru the rest of my life like a half of popeye, with only one arm real big. I'll just eat a lot of spinach.

***FREE BOAT AND TRAILER*** I have a 1985 ChrisCraft 18 -1/2' scorpion,and galvanized roller trailer that someone can have for free,if you want to pick it up in western Mass. The hull is in decent condition,but i took the motor and drive out of it to use in another boat.It would take a fair amount of work to bring it back into useable condition. The trailer is all galvanized,and is in pretty decent shape,but the fenders are rusted and would have to be replaced.The tires are in good condition. I have the title for the boat. Basically,it would cost me $150.00 to junk the boat.The trailer is worth a few hundred bucks,so i could probably make a few bucks after i sold it and junked the boat, but i'd rather not deal with it. If someone likes to screw around with boats,it could be something they may want to fix up. If your interested let me know.

I could use some advice from those of you with I/O's that have had experience with both power and manual steered outdrives. Currently,i'm running a 305 230hp with a Cobra outdrive and power steering. I'm in the process of installing a 350 260hp with alpha drive in my new(to me)project boat. It is equipped with power steering. I'm also going to run a 8hp Yammie kicker on it. Currently,the problem is, when i shut off the big engine,and troll with the kicker,it's a bear to steer,because the power steering is off. (kicker connected to drive with an EZ-Steer) I was thinking of maybe converting it to manual steering,if it would make steering the kicker a lot easier. I would also like to run an auto pilot,but all the companies i spoke to said that their pilots wouldn't work if the engine was off,and the power steer disabled. Am i crazy even thinking about going to manual steer?I've never had a manually steered outdrive,so i don't have any idea how hard they are to steer. Are they very hard to steer,and how are they in docking situations? Is there a better way of steering a kicker easily?.I thought about those remotely steered mounts,but i think you would have to constantly oversteer each way,if the kicker wasn't connected to the outdrive. I think the out drive acts as a rudder when it's down,and connected to the kicker,making it easier to keep a steady course,as both kicker and outdrive turn together. Also thought about the nautimatic kicker auto pilot,but it's a lot of money to steer a kicker.I'd rather an auto pilot that runs of the I/O. (I should add,that i know absolutely nothing about autopilots except from what the tech guys at the factories told me.) Any opinions or info af any kind would be appreciated very much. Thanks all

I'll second those words,a happy thanksgiving to all,and especially to those who have loved ones away from home,and in dangerous places.

Glen, i'm in the process of researching radar arch manufacturers for my new boat and have found several that have received mostly positive reccomendations from lots of guys on boat sites that i lurk on. Almost everyone who has a arch on their boat,loves them for their rocket launchers, radar, antennas, outriggers etc. I got a price from atlantic towers out of NJ of approx $1200.00 for a tower for my 23' Seacraft that came with four gold rod holders,a radar mount,and three antenna mounting plates.Extra rod holders were around $80.00 each,and any other add ons are priced fairly high. Several of the guys had favorite companies,and some preferred one over the other but all seemed to be rated decent.I found the pricing to vary widely depending on the maker. Some makers use 1-1/4" tubing,and others use 2" tubing.I figure that it's going to run me in the vicinity of $1400.00 to $1600.00. I also thought about doing it myself,as a friend of mine is a good welder with aluminum,but unfortunately his co. won't allow him to do it at work,so by the time i buy the tubing,and rent the welder with the water cooled torch and with the foot pedal,and all the other stuff,i decided to buy the tower. I figure that i've taken a lot of time to do all the glass work,and every other piece of restoration on this boat myself,so i've saved lots of money.Why not buy a professionally made tower that will be structurally strong,and look nice. The following companies all see to make quality stuff from those i've talked too. www.boattowers.com www.pipedreamsmarine.com www.atlantictowers.com www.ttops.com Also a place called marine metal fabricators in Barrington Rhode Island,made an awesome tower for a boat like mine that i saw on Cape Cod.I'm going to check them out also.

We went to the new Cabelas in E.Hartford Ct. last saturaday,and while it's very impressive,i was very dissapointed in the Trout and Salmon department. They basically have no selection for Trout spoons for tons of us guys that troll the new england lakes. The great lakes selection is even worse.I would have thought that they would have had a decent selection of spoons like Mooselooks, Suttons, Speedy shiners, or Flash kings,all of which are extremely poupular for trout and landlocks in New England,and New york. The great lakes selection consisted of a few dipsies, a couple Spin Doctors,and a very weak selection of silver streak spoons. Cabelas refers to this store as a destination store,so i would think that should incude a large geographic region,such as New England and new york.Also i know that we're coming in to the winter months,but i would think that they would have at least a minimum inventory of trout stuff.They had lots of "Bass tackle. I asked a couple of employees if they would be increasing thier selection,but they didn't know.The other departments,like rods and reels did seem to be very well stocked, with a huge selection,and overall the store is pretty impressive. I sent a respectful email to them voicing my dissapointment and received a reply stating that they appreciate hearing from sportsmen regarding their stores,and they would look into my concerns. I just hope that they put Dicks out of business. In the meantime, and in the future,i'll continue to buy most of my Lake Ontario equipment from local tackle shops in the NY area,as i think it's important to keep the local independent guys in business. I was wondering if anyone else has been to the new store,and if so what did you think?

Erby,as you can tell,we have a little to much time on our hands today,started working on the boat,but it got a little cold,so bob decided to bust your b-lls. We're looking foward to fishing with you guys again this spring,hope it's as good as last season.

Erby, Bob says take the rubber band off that wallet of yours, and buy a real tow vehicle. If you have to support a foreign country,at least get something like a Toyota tundra crew cab pickup,instead of a girly mans suv. He wants to have a nice comfortable ride in the back,when you're up in Olcott this coming season. Hey,all kidding aside have a good thanksgiving and good luck with your purchase.

Good question, I'd also like to know how it's been. We used to fish the surf,and the mouth of the Grindstone every year,around this time,but in all reallity,It was never very productive for us. We stopped around five or six years ago,and started surf fishing the Rhode Island beaces for stripers and blues. Had some super days on the salt,but now it's a hundred bucks for the beach pass. Maybe it's time to start back up at the grinstone again.

Here's another company to check out.Their prices are pretty good,and their quality is very good.They may not show the one you're looking for,but they will make it for you. www.boattowers.com

I have two big body Cannon uni-troll manual downriggers for sale. They are in excellent condition. Each rigger has a full spool of 200' of cable,and very heavy duty custom stainless steel booms that are three feet long. The swivel base has a crack,where the pull pin is,but that part can be replaced. New price $225.00 and i'll throw in a couple 10lb weights ********************************************** [i

Whatever brand you decide on, absolutely get it surveyed if you can,or at the very least, don't be afraid to look in every single area that you can possibly squeeze your head into. Pay particular attention to the transom and hull,by knocking on it every few inches.If you hear any change in sound from a solid thud to a hollow sound,be wary. If you can get a decent look into the bilge or any other exposed areas,where you can see the stringers,check to see if the limber(drain)holes in the stringers are clear. Knock on them also,and listen for any change in sound. Pay attention to the deck/floor,jump on it a little and make sure it's solid.If you see any exposed foam make sure it's dry. I work for a fiberglass marine distributor,and we have done several restorations,and sold lots of supplies to guys fixing glass boats,so we see all the problems that occur,"commonly" with glass boats. The most common problems which can be significant,and expensive to fix are, * rotted wood in the stringers. * saturated foam * rotted core in the transom * rotted core in decks and floors * corroded aluminum fuel tanks If you find any of these problems,keep looking,unless you like to spend lots of money,or like to do alot of nasty dirty smelly work yourself. Also, these problems are not limited to cheap boats only,we've seen them on all brands of boats,including prestigious brands like Bertrams. I have three glass boats now, a 22' Trophy thats 20 yr's old but very solid It fishes well,and despite the bad reputation that Bayliner had,it's really been a very good boat for L.O. It's in excellent cond. a Chris-Craft that looks beautiful,but has a rotted deck, rotted stringers and a rotted transom that we discovered after we pulled the engine and drive out. Actually we bought it just for the engine,but if anyone looked at it,and even took a ride in it,they would have thought it was solid,even though it wasn't A 23' SeaCraft that is in the process of a total restoration,had to replace the entire transom,and some of the deck that was rotted,but considering that it's 33 yrs old,it was expected.Fortunately,the stringers were made of fiberglass with no wood. As other replies said, it's worth spending the money for a good survey.It would be well worth the cost.

what year? how many hours? what condition?