Rizzo

Last week was a busy week with selling my 99 Lowe, and 2 days later getting a 2001 Princecraft. Thanks to all who comforted me after I thought I screwed it up royally on its maiden voyage (see "brutal day" thread)! Either way, here are some gratuitous pics of the new girl. For a 2001 she looks real clean. The previous owner actually bought it new non-current in 2003. He figures he used it less than 10 times over the past 5 years and I believe it...not a scratch top be seen. yes, that is a little boys arm you can see on the floor. My two boys love to play in the boat (again see brutal day thread) and I told them to hide so I could take a picture. The one tucked up real nicely out of site under the console...the other, well, this is the best he did at "hiding" in the 10 shots I took of this angle! Either way, I'm real excited to get this hub thing figured out and get it back in the water.

thank you for all the replies. Son is great today, telling anyone who will list about the "big hook stuck in mine weg". The advice on the prop/spun hub as the likely source of the problems is also very much appreciated

you either mean pike and bass or you have the wrong little lake!

I watched that Bolt race. That guy could run 9.5 no problem if he ran a full race. Unbelievable how easily he beat the world record. I think he slowed down so that he can beat his own record repeatedly in the future. Why knock half a second off right away? This way he can take a tenth off (still a pretty big amount) 5 times.

good link GCG! Might have to invest in those hook protectors. If I wasn't usually so careful about keeping the kids away from the lures I'm sure I'd be pretty sore today from the whoooopin my wife would have given me. not sure where that is or how I check it

you sir, are dreaming. That is an unbelievable fish, if you beat it I will eat my hat. Congrats

Hi Shane yup, that is exactly the same boat I had and I believe Lew's brother also had the same boat. My boat was a 1999 as well, although I bought it new "non-current" in 2002. I loved that boat, never had a problem with it. No leaks, everything worked great it was actually sad to see it go. One day I had motor issues but it turned out to be bad gas (insert joke here). Put new gas in and it worked great. I hope you get your problem solved. I was hoping to be able to sell mine to an OFC'er but somebody from Kijiji grabbed it shortly after I listed it there.

that's a respectable pike and some nice bass too, thanks for the report

good to see muskies reproducing there. Always beautiful markings on those small muskies too...make better photos than the big ones because they are photogenic and you aren't straining to hold it!

could be the bluebird skies today too. I hear in the summer its not hard to get 10 pike a day(of the snotrocket variety) out of there. Keep at it, probably just the wrong day/time

I'm starting to like the sound of this (first good news all day). I just went out and pulled the prop off. I'll see tomorrow if somebody carries a replacement. Would it make sense to just replace the hub (ie would it be the damaged part) or do the whole thing? I know Royal distributing on the 400 carries all kinds of props and hubs.

Its a 2001 50 hp Johnson 4 stroke...please let it be minor damage! I can live with replacing a prop or hub

I've only ice fished there with moderate success (average two pike in a morning). Actually, with all the pressure on that lake I'm shocked there's anything swimming in it.

Planned to head to Balsam today in the new (to me) boat for its maiden run. Got the big lures out of their "safe" place. I have 2 young boys fascinated by lures so I need to keep all my tackle out of reach. Put the lures in the boat, told the boys not to go in there...they told me they would just stand on the tire well to look into the new boat. After about 5 seconds of me being distracted, I hear screaming from my 2 year old. He climbed into the boat and fell down, proceeding to impale his leg on the hook of a super shadrap. I cut his pants away to see it was well past the barb. As we drove to the hospital he was actually a real trooper about it, only the occasional wimper. Naturally the wait at the hospital was several hours. When they finally got to him the doctor had tiny little bolt cutters. As he struggles to snap the hook, of course my boy is screaming again. They finally get proper tools and cut the hook. Now to push it through the other side, I suggested the doctor make a cut and push it through the opening, as a hook/barb this large is hard to push through. He doesn't agree that a cut is necessary and tries to push it through without success. Lots of crying going on, most from the son and some from me. Then the doctor starts reefing on it the other way (against the barb)!! I mean really yanking on it. I stop him and tell him to make a cut and push it through. I had done this with a friend who was impaled with a big hook and it worked. Worked this time too, don't think I could take watching anymore of his suffering either. The incredible thing was as soon as it was out, he was a bright cheerful kid running around like nothing had happened! By the time we get home and eat, there is still a few hours of daylight, so I get permission to try out the boat down at Simcoe. Man 4 strokes are a beautiful thing, I've never run one before. I can't believe how quiet these things are. Even for a 2001 50 hp it trolled at a real nice speed. Had great fun until....a rope I had tied to the bow somehow ended falling out of the boat and back into the water only to wrap around the prop. This stopped the motor with a thud. I cut the rope away and was real happy to hear the boat start up again when I turned the key. It ran well at trolling speed, but when I tried it at high speed it didn't have the power. The motor was revving high, but boat couldn't even get up on plane. The motor was actually revving too high when I tried to go fast, so I limped back to the marina at little more than trolling speed to prevent any further damage. Somebody please tell me I didn't just trash my motor in my first 2 hours with it! I'm hoping there is some sort of sheer pin that would break when something wraps around a prop rather than causing serious damage. Any thoughts or suggestions?

thanks dartee, sounds like we paid comparable pricing (me maybe a bit more, but an extra 10 hp too). I picked up the boat last night, I'd swear the thing has never been used, not a mark on it (guy sold it for lack of use). I'll try and get some pictures up one of these days. Because I also mainly fish alone and in smaller lakes, I figured this would be an ideal boat. Its a pretty light boat, I think with a 50 it'll move pretty good

balsam has a free launch. If you drive down the road there is a launch where you can put your boat right in the water

I didn't know how I could combine my job (funeral director) with my hobby (fishing) until I read that article, thanks for the info!

I agree. The casting deck on this boat is no bigger than what I had on my 14

Nice investigative work Mr Goby! The top one is the boat. I also have seen the ads for the other 2 boats you posted, but i believe both are 2 stroke motors. I've never had a 4 stroke so wanted to go that way this time. If the smokercraft is a 4 stroke that might have been a better deal. The fact they don't mention it leads me to believe its a 2 stroke. Long drive to go have a look at it too is the problem I was having with lots of boats

The price we agreed on was $10,000, hope that is a realistic amount...then just have to get a trolling motor and a battery for it.

zoinks! good for you bud. Tell Subway sandwiches you lost the weight eating their food then maybe we can finally get rid of that other guy they flaunt

I did consider that 2000 Crestliner 182 Tourney on Kijiji for 11,500, but it sounded like more boat than I was looking for. The price seems pretty good though in my opinion, having said that , I've never seen the boat.

ah yes, the taxes. Found the boat locally so just have to pay the 8% as far as I'm aware

Hey Fang, I know what you mean. It didn't look as spacious as some of the other 16 footers I've seen, but I was kind of looking for something not so big and bulky...kind of a gentle step up from my 14 footer rather than an entirely different kind of boat. It does look more like a shallow water boat, so we'll have to see how it handles rougher water. Having said that, the roughest I get is the upper niagara and balsam on a windy day.

didn't know there was one on Kijiji. Found this one in boat trader, but it was a private sale. I guess what I need to do is buy a spare ($100?), 2 batteries (250?), bowmount release plate (100?) bowmount minn kota (650?)...so I guess another 1000 bucks or so. Maybe should find the kijiji one and see how much they are asking!