Prof T

I shrinkwrap my own boat. Bought all of the gear 18 years ago as I store 2 boats and a jetski. When I create my cover, I do it with removal in mind. No extreme underbends are the most important, usually at the stern corners. As long as the support framing goes back in the same way, I'm able to reuse covers for up to thee years! (I'm in Jefferson county and we get snow) Can I uncover, fish and recover the same day? Usually not. But in a year like this, It would provide a lot of flexibility. Cost? 200 ft roll about $400 delivered, 25 ft per cover for my 18', that's 8 covers, $50 each / 3yrs = Under $20/cover Tools to get started? About $750 Again, I've done about 50 covers so far.

I had a 1984 Evinrude that had a gillion hours on it and finally swapped out for a brand new 2016 4 stroke merc. There just sometimes comes a time! You and I are the same vintage and I know I'm not ready to quit fishing, in fact I fish more than I ever did. Now it becomes a safety factor as well. I hope you can get over the sticker shock and are able to reward yourself for a life well lived so far.

Bob, Sometimes the reward of reviving and tired old "anything" is worth the adventure. Good luck with the project.

Bob, You sound proficient, and you are already this far into the teardown so why not finish? My 2 cents after years as an autoshop teacher is concentrate on your hone job> those walls get pretty glassy over time and need to be deglazed in a distinct cross hatched pattern in order for the new rings to seat. If you can get an oversized set so you are at the low end of the spec you stand a lot better chance of improving compression, along with fresh reeds. 90 lbs comp will run, but tough starting and poor low speed and cold running are almost a given.

Proper wiring for a 12V on two batteries, NOT for a 24V like a Terrova. Be careful

pm sent

Jake, I've done it both ways and can offer my experiences. First 30 years was with a 90 2 stroke on a 19.5 footer and a 9.9 kicker. Self explanatory as I got 30 years out of the main motor. Went to a 90 four stroke Merc in 2016. Added a Smartcraft Troll Control to engine which allowed motor to slow down below the natural idle of 700 rpm to 550RPM. Took off the kicker due to weight concern. Could get down to 2 SOG, but not much slower in a non current situation. Loved it, worked flawlessly, but managed over 650 hrs in 5 seasons. THAT was a concern for me. New boat is set up with a 90 four stroke Merc / 9.9 Merc Pro Kicker. In my opinion, it is the perfect setup. You can install an electronic throttle control on the kicker to dial in speed (and get back to it quickly after landing a fish). Hours go on the kicker, not the primary engine. Security of having a backup. Absolutely sips gas. Electric start models will recharge batteries as well. If you look at most of the bigwater, trailerable boats, that's the factory setup. If you do think you are going to going with a kicker, think about where the pilot will be controlling the motor from. Old setup I had to be able to get to the tiller handle to adjust speed. Doable, but not very handy. New boat has a traditional control at the helm. Also be aware of transom height at kicker location on the boat and buy accordingly. Glad to answer any other questions you may have.

I also believe spot lock can be the most stealthy way to anchor. Never felt I couldn't stay on a school with it vs an anchor. I have seen situations like you describe when a boat length can make a huge difference between great action and time for a nap. My solution is to cast in search of the school, then ease towards them shallow water. Also, if a boat has a good school concentrated under them, you might be better of sliding well away from them to begin establishing your own pod. That can be the most productive. Tip #3: learn to use your electronics.

Kade, welcome to the forum. I set up my first place 20 years ago, good cottage but not a year round home. Built new and moved here full time 11 years ago. I don't think you can miss. I happened to end up in the Alex Bay/Clayton stretch. Lots going on, good cultural scene. Plenty of year-rounders make it relatively easy to find a "social group". Everything has a downside, and ours is boat traffic during the summer. Lots of cruisers and go-fast boats on weekends. I'm a walleye guy so not a problem for me at 4AM. Also not easy to find a good property at a reasonable price. If you follow the the pro BASS guys, they prefer to round the corner and head to lake, Henderson Harbor area. A good multi-species boat on a trailer opens up EVERYTHING from King Salmon to perch and bullheads.

Years ago the DEC changed all of the openers to a Saturday so that working anglers had an equal chance to get out. Now, with the return to the historical dates, many guys get the shaft. Here's our previous example: annual family camping/fishing trip for northern pike. Anyone available to set up on Friday (mostly retired guys). Working younger guys come after work and can fish the opener, take a day or two off and get four days fishing. This year, if they wanted to come with a Monday opener, it was all time off if they could get it (or if they had enough to still keep family vacation plans intact). We bring kids. Now they might have to skip school to share in the tradition. No wonder participation is falling in outdoor activities. Unintended consequences of poorly thought out or political decisions.

I bought it for the river, but I also want to increase time on the lake for browns. Saturday was dead flat for most of the day on the lake( unlike today ). I kind of chickened out in less than 6 feet, but put the probe down when we slid out towered 15 -20 later in the day. Speed read about 3.0 -3.2 on the FH, 2.4 on the GPS. We did pick up 2 browns in very muddy water. I want to get a good feel out there in the calm before I get to the river. Most places I troll there have pretty stiff current. I know what I've got to do in places I know. But I like to explore ( an get away from crowds ), and have found some deepwater shoals that have to have fish on them. I wouldn't classify the water as slack, but its a lot slower than what I'm used to fishing. Time will tell.

Just installed a Fish Hawk and have watched most of their videos. First outing was on Saturday in mostly flat conditions. GPS speed over ground was 2.4 while the display speed on the F H was usually 3.0 at the surface and a little higher at the probe. Company says ignore the actual value, just be sure to duplicate it once you start catching fish. Do experienced users agree and find a similar discrepancy? I know I can adjust to get similar readings between the two. Wondering where to start. By the way, I have reset the factory settings. Thanks in advance

Yes, it's a lot of hours under less than ideal use, but this generation of Merc 4 strokes has been a real game changer for Brunswick. I've had 2 of them and it's a pretty bulletproof platform. If the price is right it, and compression is good (and even), should be worth a shot.

X2 on Troll Smarter on my 9.9 Merc Pro Kicker. Fantastic customer support, hard wired head with optional key fob type remote. I keep it clipped to my vest along with the Minn Kota remote. speed and steering from wherever I am in the boat.

Updated: Mercury keeps their shop/repair manuals pretty well hidden on the web so I went off and purchased one. I plan to have the motor a long time and spent a career as an Industrial Arts teacher, so I like to do as much of my own repair work as possible. The sender is mounted right by the thermostat and has two wires: tan/black and black/orange. The black/orange leads to a common ground for all of the sensor wires (ECM PIN 42). You can test the sensor by disconnecting its plug and checking with an ohm meter between the two wires. 32 degrees - resistance should be very high (32.6 k ohms) 77 degrees - room temperature (10 k ohms) 122 degrees - area where my last motor liked to run in cold water - (3.6 k ohms) 212 degrees -OVERHEAT - 678 ohms Sensor is very much like an automotive sensor, a wet probe into the water jacket. It appears to me that I can use that probe and wiring to a traditional gauge like I wanted to. Shrink wrap comes off today, I’ll keep the wrench heads out there posted.