Jack

If you can I would buy the motor with electric start , tilt and remote controls . It's great being able do everything from the helm and charge your battery while trolling . I solo fish a lot and it's nice to start , stop, raise and lower the motor while never leaving the seat or having to hang off the back of the boat in bad weather . A big plus too when your fighting a fish to be able to control steering and speed form the helm. Good Luck !

My boat weights around 3500 lbs. Have a Yamaha 8hp high thrust , works great.

Got mine at Gander .

Hope Everyone has a Safe and Happy Thanksgiving !!!!

Copper rigs tend to be pretty long , so I would try to get a reel with a quick retrieve . I have a Shimano Tekota 800lc . Every turn brings in 33" of line and it has a sweet drag. I run a 300' copper and add dive bombers when I what to go deeper . This way I don't have to deal with so much line when I catch a fish. (100' copper = 22' depth + 1oz of diver bomber = 8' appox ) I figure 300' copper and a 4 oz diver bomber is down around 90'. Good Luck ! JT

Another vote for 4-stroke ! No matter what motor you buy I would highly recommend you use a stabilizer and a cleaner with every tank of gas . I would also make sure you have a inline water separator filter installed as well. It is cheap insurance considering the cost of a new motor or repairs. The gas we use today is not very marine friendly . Good Luck ! JT

Thanks ! Have a few more rabbits in the hat for next season . JT

I have a 62 gallon plastic tank that I keep close to empty with stabilizer and then fill it up with Hi-test in the spring . Never had a problem yet . I also use additives all summer (cleaner and stabilizer). When I change my water separator filter in the fall I never see much if any water in it . Good Luck!!

Hi ! I saw in the GLA last Month that some folks use Stick baits behind a flasher with a 3 to 4 foot lead . Was wondering if anybody was using this and if it was very effective for fall kings ? Thanks JT

Thanks for all the good info !!! I may pick up some 4 ozer's for my 300 copper . I fell like I'm a year older by the time I get the 300 back on the reel so adding a 4 oz weight instead of using a 600 copper sounds Great .

Now that you can run 3 rods I thought it would be an easy 3rd rod to run when fishing solo . I was hoping 10-20 feet maybe . Running 20lb mono.

Hi ! I bought some Michigan Stinger 1oz Dive Bombs to add to some flat lines to get them down a bit. If I were to run 200' of line out where would I want to add the dive bomb . (middle , close to lure,????) Thanks JT

If your trolling 12 hours a pop I would add a kicker . If you buy a kicker build for trolling ( high thrust / big foot ) they will troll all day on a fraction of the fuel and won't coke up. Why put that kind of hours on a bigger motor that would cost $10-20 k to replace . just my $.02 ... Good Luck !

Hope to get out Saturday , look foward to your report . Good Luck !

This might help ! http://mercstuff.com/bellowsreplacement1.htm

When it comes to GPS don't think you can beat Garmin .

I just installed my DR and used the same knot I use on my wire divers . I went about 3" up the end of the cable and striped about an inch of coating off so the bare spot would make contact with the swivel . I also added a rubber stopper from my Cannon terminator kit I had so my cable retriever wouldn't slip over the swivel . Fish last weekend had 150' of cable out and still had a great signal . DR gives you some special tape I used to cover the bare ends. Used the same knot to make my short cable from the prob to the weight. Good Luck ! JT

Hi ! I would push on the outdrive by standing on it and see if there is any flex on the transom . If there is any flex I would get it fixed , if not you may be OK for awhile . Good Luck ! JT

NEW PRICE $100.00

Glad it helped !!

Sound like it's working as designed . Thanks for the info !! JT

Hi ! Friday I went out for the first time this year and tried out my new toy (Depth Raider speed and temp at the ball ). Just to get the hang of things I ran the probe down a foot or two from the surface. I noticed that the temp and speed were different from what my FF and GPS were reading. If I was trolling at 3mp on my GPS the DR was reading 2.5mp and if the FF surface temp was read 50 degrees the DR was reading 45 degrees . Didn't matter which direction we went , with or against the wind. Was just wondering how normal these readings are compared to everyone else's ? We did catch 6 Browns , 1 Laker and a small King out of Sandy . Was a GREAT 1st trip ! Thanks for any info on the Raider !! JT

bump

If you like the boat and plan on keeping it you might think about trading the force in on a 50hp or 60hp four stroke engine and forget the kicker . I hear they troll Great .

Try a flag or a wind sock . I keep a wind sock at the end of my dock and it seems to keep the birds off my boat. JT