13owhunter

Airmar P66 is not listed as compatible on Garmins site but works fine (you just need to set it up manually)  I believe that has the widest cone out there.  Looks like it may be similar to the B117 you listed but its not very expensive if you didnt need a through hull.  I love mine and am using it with an adapter cable with a 93sv along with a gt54 for HD and side imaging.

I can see someone running out of fuel due to a faulty gas gauge.  My gas gauge is pretty sketchy. It tells me weather Im full or not full.  In between that it kinda works if I slosh fuel around but i do not trust it at all.   While I agree you shouldnt be out on the lake not knowing your fuel level, its a mistake many smart people have made.  (for the record I have not)  =0)

I had the same issue the first time i fired it up this season.  I had spider webs/eggs? in the hole.  Ill be putting blue painters tape over the hole when I store it next season.  Weed eater line is a good idea.

I run 32# copper on Daiwa 57Lc3bs which is pretty much the same size.  Like it was mentioned above, you can get over 200 yards of cheap 50# braid and 300 ft of 32# copper on there.  You can probably get close to 300 yards of backer if you went down to 40# and ran a thinner braid like power pro.

When I dont know the exact capacity, I fill one reel the hard way putting the copper on first and then filling up with braid to just over 100% and then taking it off, transferring it to another spool with a drill and winding it back on braid first.  I use a clamp on line counter when the braid goes on so I have a reference for future reels.  This is not fun but I really dont like reels that arent full nor do I like running 286 feet of copper because I put too much backer on.

Mentioning a warm or cold weather oil seems strange to me.  Almost every modern engine uses multiweight oil which I would think just about any common flavor should do fine in 35 degree weather.  Wonder if your oil pressure sensor is just a bit sensitive....  

If you got a bunch of water in there and think the thermostat will take care of the problem, it would be a good idea to do a second oil change after one trip to make sure you get it all out.  Personally, I would do a third after another couple more trips just to check it.    You could also change it, get it up to temp and run for a bit on muffs or barrel and then change again right after.  No reason not to run cheap dino oil for this purpose.

I foresee using mine in forward mode in shallow water or perspective mode in really shallow water.  I think there would be some usefulness in identifying a good target ahead of time and stopping to cast or jig.  I have a small boat and that is feasible.  If you had a big boat running a ton of rods it wouldnt make any sense. While I have limited experience with this, Im not sure there is a whole lot of value in using it in forward mode for deep water trolling especially if you only have one live sonar unit.  Probably need a second live sonar unit to get enough time with it to really answer your question.  Better yet, get one for each corner of the boat!

Some good advice above.  Hope it is a simple fix!  I dont think it was mentioned already but dont run it with milky oil.  That could cause significant damage.  If you change it and it is milky after one or two trips, I would think there is something else wrong.  Doubt a couple of trips would add enough water via condensation to turn the oil milky.  The oil in my old 4 stroke kicker looks perfectly normal after running in cold water barely above idle.  This is a good reminder to everyone to check their oil before every trip!

Headed out of Sandy this morning around 11 for the first trip of the season and it was one for the books.  Started in about 15fow and got on browns pretty quick.  Caught a bunch on spoons and stick baits.  Was pulling one and 2 colors on boards, a couple of flatlines and the riggers.  I made a bunch of changes to the boat and added live scope that I have on a portable transom mount.  I didnt have it set correctly for the first  hour and then shortly after I figured it out, the one color started screaming with a nice king going airborne behind the boat.  Not 5 seconds after the king hit the deck, my starboard side rigger took off to another screamer.  15 minutes later and the second king hit the deck.  This one was pretty big around 17#s.  Real nice fight on light gear.   At this point i saw several blips on the live scope right off the bottom in about 30fow.   We had most of the spread in already and there were fish under the boat so I hit spot lock and threw on some casting spoons on spinning rods.  My casting spoon hit the bottom and i jigged it all of two times and was hooked up again.   This fish was a bit smaller probably around 8 or 9#s but i caught a spring king jigging which was pretty epic. 

This was my first time using live scope and it was pretty unimpressive most of the day as there wasnt much to look at.  I am using the LVS32 in down mode on the transom and not the PS30.  What it did tell me was that there were kings under the boat.  My 2d sonar had a couple of blips but nothing to get excited and certainly not the 10-20 big marks swimming around at one point.  The decision to spot lock and jig a spoon was 100% based on the livescope intel.  I did not see the fish or my spoon on the screen at the time for what its worth.  We spent the next hour looking for the kings, saw a few more but thats it.  I believe we caught 15+ browns, the three kings and lost what was probably a coho behind the boat.  3 or 4 browns were 3-5#s and the rest of them were lil guys.  Old boat ran great and it turned into a really nice day on the water.  Doesnt get much better!

This whole thing is really just a good excuse to sneak out of work early and drink beer on the deck.

I need to get out to Erie this year.  I have never fished it.  Meant to make the trip last year but I am 15 minutes away from Sandy and we had great fishing last year so was hard to make a decision to drive an hour to fish unknown water.

I run torpedo divers on braid from time to time.  Same concept as a pump handle but they have a lot less drag than a round ball and they come with a dive chart so you have a pretty good idea where you are running at.  You can get pretty deep with the big ones.

This post pushed me over the edge to try and paint a few myself.  I have absolutely zero artistic ability and have never used an airbrush but "trouty" patterns seem to be a good place to start.  At the very least I am impressed by the quality of the cheap blanks.  They seem almost as good as some of the name brands.  Going to give it a go this weekend.  Ive watched a few videos so Im dangerous at this point.

Is there a go-to glow paint?  Seems like whats out there has mixed reviews.  Thanks!

Those are good rods.  I am guessing they use an Okuma blank.  I would guess the blue diamond blank but the FishUSA ones are shiny and the new blue diamond rods are not.  Someone on here will probably know the answer. While I haven't fished with them, I have handled that exact rod and I think you'd be happy with the results.  Really lots of good options out there that wont break the bank.  

PM sent.  

Kicker down for sure.  I would not trust mine tilted up at all.  She's old and there's a good amount of leverage on the bracket in the up position.  I use  a pull tight strapped to a cleat and around the bracket for the steering arm.  A ratchet strap around the whole thing would be better.

Is that that "XR" model or a different flavor of the lvs32?  The XR one is pricy...

Does anyone on here have any firsthand experience with an lvs32 on a turret?

To answer the OP - the PS30 is the transom mount transducer that most folks are using for dedicated trolling applications.  Its easy to setup as far as I understand.  Bolt it on, run the power cable and hookup ethernet to your compatible garmin graph.

I have been second guessing getting a PS30 in favor of a LVS32/34 to give me the ability to "aim" it.  Knowing that the PS30 is preferred for trolling, will the LVS32 still give me the ability to see what is going on with one or two riggers on a 19ft boat? I see bass pro has them on sale for $999 right now.  If this give me most of the ability of the PS30 and has the flexibility to aim it in other scenarios this may be the one for me.  If I could point it at a diver instead of the riggers that would be even better. Any reason I cant hack off the motor on an old transom mount trolling motor and use that to mount the transducer on so I can aim it and stow when under power?  Seems like that would be sturdy and I have one laying around.

Thank you!

New outboards may have you crying at the price tag, but there is significant upside.  Outboards these days are reliable and fuel efficient, run great at low RPMs all day etc.  They are also easy to maintain and should last longer than you need it to with regular maintenance.  I have much respect for the two strokes of old but there isnt any advantage to them if you cant get parts because you know they will need them.  Dont care how overbuilt it is, anything that isnt metal WILL start to break down and need replaced.

Good luck!

Bad crank seals can make it impossible to tune as can worn or broken reeds.  They have both caused a great many dollars in unnecessary parts and tears as most people dont have the proper tools to check leak down nor do they want to tear the motor down far enough to replace the seals.  If it overheated, i would make darn sure well that nothing is warped, crank is in spec etc before I threw money at it.  I think rings are worth a shot but if it is 30psi lower than spec I think you need to find out exactly why before you drop a lot of cash and still have a worn out motor.  Guessing on things like this  usually ends up being expensive. I have earned that merit badge myself like to think I am a bit smarter now. 

In many ways 2 strokes are bullet proof but they can also be very difficult to troubleshoot if they dont run well.

I wish you luck!

I have seen a lot of installs where they are located on the side of the splashwell so I dont think that is a problem.  Mine is tucked away underneath but i had the room to get my hands down in there.  May want to consider a few things. The first being a 4 way valve so you can turn fuel on and off for each motor separately. (and also on for both at the same time.)  Label it so you dont forget which one is on for both motors or your kicker will die right after you have all your rods set. I know this from experience! The other is getting a fuel water separator that has a clear bottom so you can see if there is water in there. The one I have you can't see so i really have no idea if there is water in there or not.  Once they are full they dont work anymore.  Seems intuitive but worth mentioning if you cant tell by looking at it.  I unscrew mine and dump into something clear so I can see if there is water in there a couple times a season.

Love hearing these reports.  Really itching to get out there!  Need to hurry up and finish my bathroom remodel so I can focus on getting the boat out!

These videos are some serious motivation!  Thank you!

I have used some old cannons and now have big jons.  The abrupt stop on the cannons is simply not acceptable to me.  Way too much stress on everything. My (newish) big johns stop really softly but do overshoot a couple of feet which is very easy to get used to.  They could be a little faster but they arent slow and probably fine for 9/10 people.

I dont think the magnum metalz are much more expensive than the big jon captains pack.  If I needed new ones i would be looking at those or scottys.  A few of my buddies run scottys and love them.

That said, new ones of any brand are not cheap and there are a ton of used BJs and Cannons out there.  Id take an old cannon over manual cranking any day!

Totally agree with Gator.  I was out a few times last year where I set lines around noon and got on mature kings immediately.  These were mostly last minute trips where it was real nice out and I just wanted to get on the water.  I didn't really care if I caught fish on these days which may have played a factor, but I did pretty well most of the time.  Ill be doing a lot more afternoon fishing this year myself.

Out of all the variables you can control, the most important is lure time in water!

As mentioned above, fish when you can and don't overthink it!

I would love to try "video game fishing" for bass at least once.  Really not my thing but would love to understand it better.  There is probably a lot more technique involved than a lot of us might care to admit to.  That said, droves of people using this tech on spawning bass is where I would, personally draw the line.  I will, totally, admit to harassing a spawning bass or two in my day .....

I know I mentioned this before but we, desperately need more people in the hunting and fishin game and need them to vote.  If they don't, we will have a LOT more to complain about.....