Meals-On-Reels

That was it... Finished the night 2 for 3. No pics of the King as I wanted to release him ASAP because he made a few runs and the surface temp was like bath water. Grabbed a quick one of the Steelie.

Far from a great pic but he did have an unusual kind of bow to his back. Whatever it was didn't appear to affect him (or his jumping) at all... Lol

All in all it was a relaxing evening that I'm glad I pushed to fit in after seeing the upcoming weekend weather report.

55 rigger just hit with a 5-6lb Steelie.

Brought shallow rigger up to 55' after marking fish. Lost something small there after a few min. Maybe a steel. Going to kill the live updates. Phone batt in the 20% range.

Spoon off the 102' rigger fired with a King. 10-12lbs. First open water fish for this boat is a king so that must be a good sign... Lol.

Consistent 46-47* water down 102 over 120-200'.

Found 47 degree water down 102 over 125. Parked a rigger there and one up at 85. Bare minimum here, a rod on each rigger. No rod holders mounted yet for wire.

Decided to have a little solo shakedown trip in the little rig. Set up just N of the red can in 60fow trolling out. Have to keep an eye on the wind. This little rig will be scary in 3'ers!

Mine had the same symptoms. Replaced lines and primer bulb twice. Kept getting worse. Finally started killing my main motor at idle speed (of course while trying to dock). Replaced vent cap/fuel fuller piece. Still nothing. Replaced inline fuel filter between main tank and main motor/kicker.

Finally found the stupid anti-siphon check valve in a 90 degree fitting coming out of the tank. Knocked the check ball and spring out, then reassembled. Runs perfect.

The anti-siphon valve does nothing good at all and only is a source for problems. I think it's an EPA requirement when manufactured to prevent a possible line break, have it siphon your gas into the bilge, and then have your bilge pump dump it into the lake. My new kicker just came with two of the stupid valves between the motor and portable tank (one in line and one in tank).

Who knows- might be something to check.

Just skip buying the Stearns or Panther one and go to http://www.mcmaster.com/

You can buy the ball-joints and threaded rod in stainless for way less and it will last forever. I used 5/16 for my last one because the stainless rod is much stronger than the plated steel. I think the whole thing shipped was like $18. The stainless kit by Panther is $70-80. If you need a hand digging up the exact parts off their huge site let me know.

I try to do the hook grab with pliers while the fish are at the back of the boat. If I can do it without even really getting their heads out, that's even better. To me the worst are steelhead when they start getting up in the 12lb+ range. You have to get them in quick, unhook in the water if possible, then decide if they're good to go ASAP or need a little resuscitation along side the boat.

For big kings I have good luck with that gripper thing that grabs their jaw and locks on (I think Rapala makes it). I grab them with that along side the boat (have to clear a rigger if u see him coming in) and unhook then keep him along the boat till he gives some good kicks with the tail. Success rate is pretty high I think as I usually see them disappear downward with a few good tail flips.

Also- I only use a rubber net if it is needed (except for a tournament fish). Another huge factor is surface temp. At 70+ degrees on top you better be quick if you want to be successful.

I'm not against keeping fish at all, but personally hate eating trout/salmon. So it's back in the water for them all until they figure out a way and stock haddock in Lake O and teach them to tolerate fresh water!

Good to know that's where the bait was. I guess we didn't work out far enough yesterday. Marked a little up high (30-40 feet down) all in like 100-120fow or so.

Nice report. Some days its just hard to keep them on. Fished yesterday for the LOTSA tournament and most of our fish (caught and released) were kings plus a pair of lakers and a steelhead. Our action was in 80-130fow 60-80 down. Nice to see the lake finally setting up like normal.

Not sure with the 5, but with my 4 you can't start a post if you're viewing posts in the "latest" section.

I have to go to topics, choose the topic I want to post in, then once I'm viewing those topics click the little arrow in the upper right. In that menu choose "new topic".

When posting you should have some icons along the bottom. A camera icon for taking a pic, a photo icon for digging up one of the photos you already have, some bird looking thing for twitter or whatever, and another for settings or something.

Hope it's the same with your 5!

Thanks for that floatfisher! I'm plugging away at her each night and any encouragement is welcome as it feels like its dragging on.

Got the front done tonight and starting to get the console/dash back together.

Does it have autopilot? I'm about to add autopilot to my 55PD but would rather avoid the hassle. I'll take it if it does.

Thanks

Those black flies spread a common fishing disease. A few good bites and your stuck fishing for life. Only cure is more time on the water. Sounds like you have a really bad case.

Sometimes the symptoms lessen a little in the winter, but the disease stays with you for life. You're screwed... lol

I'd 2nd the safety cable idea. On my kicker motors I can run a padlock through the screw-down handles when they meet up together in the middle.

You can easily run a cable through the hole in the splash well and loop through somewhere secure on the motor. Home Depot and Lowe's have steel stranded cable with a bonded vinyl sheath and stainless connectors (u-bolt/saddles). I think it cost me $8 to do the whole thing and is good for something like 250lbs.

There was a company that made a version of the FishHawk TD before the TD ever came about. I can't remember who made it but have one somewhere. Sometimes they show up on eBay around $70.

My 2¢ would be to save the $125 or whatever the FishHawk TD costs and put it towards a used probe. I picked up a complete FishHawk 840 for my second boat from the forums here for well below $200.

The probe is (to me) the single biggest asset to fishing on my boat. I'd sooner be on the water without my fish-finder...lol

did a nice job looks great.it will alst you awhile just dont let it stand uncoverd or the ply will rot like mine did.

Thanks! A new cover was first on the list. The old floor sat rotting in there for two many years from the last guy.

Today's progress...

Paint done-

New water-proof floatation in-

Floor down and seats ready to be mounted-

Just have the bow area left and then bolting down the elec. trolling motor, cleats, rod holders, and stuff like that. After that it'll be the outside and some new graphics which can wait a little.

Here's the support areas. Two are factory (bow and stern areas) and one was added by someone after. The factory ones have rolled edges that add some extra stability. The other one seems just as strong when sitting on it though. All appear to be 1/8" aluminum.

I use self tapping screws through the wood and they bite into the aluminum. Never had any problems.

Floor back in and mounts ready to be screwed down...

I've used practically everything mentioned above. I switched from marine to treated and then stopped using treated because the quality was horrible from the supplier (warped and many knot holes that weren't filled). I then went with the exterior plywood with the extra layers mentioned above in 19/32 (5/8"). You still have to sort through the pile a little but the quality is good and it's pretty strong.

I did an islander with it and coated each sheet with polyester resin. My current rehab is getting the same wood but coated with a waterproof layer that is also an adhesion promoter to help my carpet glue grip into it. I have a thread here somewhere on my current project.

When I used to use treated, I sprayed all the aluminum contact areas with plasti-dip (sprayed onto the aluminum surface).

No matter what u use, the number one thing is a good cover and storage practices. It's the weather that kills the floor more than anything.

I'll grab some pics of the seat support areas when I get home.

Don't get too carried away with it. The plywood will support most of the load and some steel or aluminum sheet below the area will make it all very solid.

You just need to sheet in the area below the proposed seat location and tie it in to your floor supports so it bridges the area. Once you then bolt your seats down the seat will be connected to the floor and also tied-in to the floor supports to avoid rocking loose from just the wood alone.

My floor is out right now and I just relocated one last night. I can grab you some pics if you like.

Lol... Just "bolt" your seats down and go.

I can't seem to edit my postings in the app anymore and hate sounding illiterate! Haha

I have the three of these I removed from my boat because I already had a new set of the pin style ones that came with my new seats.

The price is $100. One has the gas cylinder extension on it which is practically new and alone is $80. Just trying to move these quick and get somebody some good cheap seating for an older boat.

There are three complete units. Just bold your seats on and go.

Not sure what happen above... Tried to quote some of Richard's great info and it failed. Won't let me edit it either.

[quote name="Richard" post="240357" timestamp="1373198559"

...Get what you like, not what some on else likes, that way you are not doing this search in a couple of years again.

tight lines

Great info there. It all comes down to what you really like. Still- I think it's a great idea that you ask here and get some responses from owners. It can hell you rule out some boats that might have become costly mistakes.

The biggest question would still be what price range you're looking at. If your looking for a used boat from a few years back, it's easier to recommend some that just seem to have been proven winners for many on lake O.