Billy Bob

My partner's boat is a 18.5' Lund and he has 115 4 Stroke Yamaha outboard. PLENTY of power and it trolls down to 1.7 mph without towing any buckets or wind socks. Get a FOUR STROKER, I know I will someday when I need another boat and motor. Just my honest opinion but I wouldn't get a Mercury motor. Had two and never again. Good Luck, Bob

(So these fish are smarter, bigger, stronger and better tasting)

It doesn't matter if you have fuel injection the motor still sucks air and that's where you want to spray in some Brake Kleen or whatever you decide on. But as I said before just spry a little bit at a time until you hear the engine open up and you will. Bob

Spray a LITTLE Brake Clean through the carb when running along the dock. Just don't use too much at a time. If Brake Clean doesn't clean it out nothing will. You will immediately hear the motor open up and it will bring a smile on your face.

I don't know if this is a concern with all outboards but I have a 1985 50hp VRO Johnson outboard that I always run in the driveway in the spring before my first time out. I use the ear muffs but the motor always runs rough because it needs back pressure that the ear muffs cannot provide. The first time I did this I called the dealer up and told him how bad it was running in my driveway (brand new at the time) and he explained to me about the needed back pressure. BTW 23 years later and the only thing I have done to this motor is a new impeller as a preventive maintenance repair. Oh, and add gas and once a year oil to the 2 gallon reservoir. This is been one hell of a outboard for me

NICE Boat, may you catch many fish in that boat unless you're in my spot I could use a little more info on your truck, what make, model, engine and rear end ratio. Do you have a tow/haul mode. Also how much does the boat weight loaded. Do you have electric brakes or surge brakes. If you want to save gas towing DON'T use cruise control. Cruise control will signal a down shift on the smallest inclines and this is a huge gas waster. Cruise control can help gas mileage when your not towing and on almost flat areas but once you hit hilly areas cruise control eats gas like crazy. Also if your truck continues to down shift with cruise control OFF take it out of overdrive while towing and leave it out of overdrive. This constant down shifting will heat up your tranny and they are much more expensive to replace than loosing 2-3 miles to the gallon by locking out overdrive. One last thing and I believe this is VERY important. Trailer manufactures are real skimpy on wheal bearing grease. Either repack them yourself or at least get yourself bearing buddies (remember the grease never gets to the inside bearing using bearing buddies) and grease them often. A nice and easy way to check your bearing each spring or anytime during the year is to just jack up a tire and spin it. It shouldn't have any rough noise while spinning. If it passes the spin test then check the end play by placing one hand on the upper and one one the lower part of the tire and rock the tire back and forth. You will know if it's too much end play. A little is NORMAL. Good Fishing, Bob Bob

If you do a lot of trolling the Honda is by far the quietest I never heard After the Honda I would pick the Yamaha but I did hear good things about Evinrudes ETECH engine in the higher HP's.

NO not really. The last vehicle that developed a exhaust leak I just traded it on this little tow machine Problem solved. See you don't have to do it the hard way all the time

If it's a area where you can't get at it from the inside because of a floor then here's what to do. Clean area around rivet with a solvent. Wire brush and or sand area around rivet and apply SILCONE caulking over and around the rivet. Let dry and your done.

LOL, I guess I am (53) to most of you whipper snappers here Old but very experience so I guess that's not all bad. But I will say I do take it a little easier now and no longer fish tournaments but rather fish for enjoyment only. You will one day too Here's one good thing I got going for myself, I am RETIRED and have lots of time to fish especially during the week when there's a lot less pressure. Gone Fishing, Old Bob

I have a 16' 4" side console Grumman with a 84" beam powered by a 50 hp VRO Johnson outboard since it was new in 1885. I ordered it with a windshield (driver only) and a HUGE rod locker. I had a buddy once say my rod locker could hold a body if need be It also has a nice big 22 gallon live well that doubles as a ice chest when fishing deep walleye that wouldn't keep in a live well. This year I replace the electric trolling motor and just installed a Lowrance LMS 520 this past week and that is about all that has ever needed to be done on my fishing machine. She has seen LOTS of big rough water fishing walleye tournaments in Lake Erie and salmon fishing in Lake Ontario. She's rigged and hooked up to my truck as I peck away here and I will be enjoying my 23rd straight year on this beloved boat tomorrow at Honeoye Lake. When I ordered I knew I would have it for a long time because it fills all my needs as a fishing boat. I can tow it ANYWHERE and fish the smallest lakes to any of the Great Lakes in comfort and safety. So when it's time to purchase a new boat take your time and do it right for what you want the boat to do. Bob

You have brought up some very good points on the Bush administration and all true but I think Canada has eroded more rights away from it's citizens than the US has or ever will. Just take a look at your gun ownership rights or almost lack of and now this ridiculous boating card that serves no other purpose than to separate you from your hard earned money. There are other rights that you in Canada don't enjoy that we take for granted here in the US but I guess that's what makes us a bit different. However, I do envy all of you who reside in Ontario where you have more lakes to choose from than you can shake a Ugly Stick at. Yes, both of our countries could improve to the better but I am very concerned with the liberal parties in both countries being so strong that the overall condition of the US and Canada is not going to be going in the right direction. That being said, I believe they are the best countries in the world to live in.

HOW do you guys let these become laws in the first place. Take back your government/country before you just become slaves to people in office.

OH, my BAD ! ! ! I didn't see that part. Please continue on while I sit this one out as I am not qualified to comment on a Honda Civic tire problem.

David's Sunflower seeds. I can go three days on them but they do make a mess if the wind is blowing in your face

I have Gore Tex hunting parkas from Cabela's that I have spent the whole day duck hunting in the pouring rain and was warm and dry when the day was done. I also have had a pair of Cabela's Gore Tex hunting gloves that leaked on the first time I wore them but when I called Cabela's they immediately sent out another pair at NO CHARGE and didn't even want the defective pair back. Now I don't know if they treat me like that because I have been a loyal customer with them for almost 30 years and I do use their credit card but because of the way they have ALWAYS treated me when I have had a problem with something I purchased with I will continue to mail order from them. I don't need some customer service rep telling me there is nothing they can do after I plucked down a hundy or two on some outdoor gear. Believe me you can't go wrong ordering from Cabela's

I NEVER heard of anyone ever wanting to target them. This is a new one for me, however we have all caught more of these fish then we ever want to admit Fishing Lake Erie for walleye we catch our fair share of sheephead better know here as shitheads, sewer trout, galvanized pike, Buffalo fish and a few other crazy names I have heard them referred to over the years. One thing I know is if you do catch quite of few more than anyone else on the boat that day you will be called the "King Sheppard" for a while BTW you can't go wrong with worms on anything.

Well I know I have accomplished that with my choice of Bridgestone REVO tires. Did you take a look at them ? ? ? They run VERY well in the snow and mud and being in the Buffalo area we get more snow then almost everyone. As far as the safety issue I don't think there is a better truck then the Toyota Tundra and everything is STANDARD, VSC (vehicle stability control) TRAC (traction control) ABS (all for anti lock brakes) with Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD) and Brake Assist. LSD (limited slip differential), front driver and passenger air bags and side curtains, PLUS SRC (side roll over curtain). This truck does everything but pour my coffee for me Does your vehilce match up to these safety features as long as you brought it up ? ? ?

The problem now with having winter and summer tires is the vehicles now being built have air pressure sensors in the valve stems. These sensors will cost as much or even more than the winter tires and rims you will need. I know my Tundra's sensors cost $125 EACH so this makes it way too expensive for me to have separate winter tires/rims. Without the sensors the TPS light will remain lit on your dash driving you crazy all winter long If I want them to be remounted tires each year on my OEM rims that cost at least $50 each time so that's a $100 every year. I can't see spending that much money on mounting and balancing every year.

CRAPPIE is my favorite fish to catch and eat. I hunt them down like a beagle on a rabbit track Seriously though crappie action can be spotty or balls to the wall action depending much on the crappie population of the lake you are fishing. Our best lake here for crappie is Chautauqua Lake which is about 75 miles west of Buffalo, NY and I make MANY runs to it when it's a good crappie year there, that meaning the lake has ups and down years depending on what kind of spawn they had in previous years. Also we need them to be 9" now and last year was a good population year but they were short with most crappies caught being in the 8 - 8.5" so this year should be a good year for keepers. Catching them can be VERY easy or it may take a VERY finesse approach. When the bite is slow definitely use a 1/32 or even 1/64 oz White or Chartreuse jig that is hung from a cigar shaped small FOAM bobber. This is a very slow and finesse way to fish them when the water is cold and the bite is slow. Many times the bobber will give all the action needed to the jig if there is some wind and chop on the water. If it is real calm just twitch the bobber now and then and it will entice strikes. Now if you are lucky to hit a good school of crappies that are feeding BEFORE their spawning starts (NOW) you can use a 1/32 or even a 1/16 oz jig and free cast it without a bobber. Just cast as far as you can (use 4# test line MAX) and keep your rod tip high and slowly swim the jig back to boat trying to keep the jig about half the depth of the water you are fishing. So if you are in 8 foot try to swim the jig back about 4 foot down. Speaking of depth they are usually caught in 8 foot or less all spring long but every lake is a bit different. My boat is ready to go and should be on the lake come Monday for my favorite fish the CRAPPIE, KING of the Pan Fish. BTW many will use minnows but I haven't use a minnow in over 20 years crappie fishing. Once you become good and confident with SMALL jigs on crappie you will definitely out fish those using minnow especially if the bite is on because they have to keep baiting up while I just keep reeling them in. Bob

I have a new 4X4 Toyota Tundra and the OEM tires were crappy highway tires. I did a lot of research because I wanted something that would be good in the snow and mud when I go deer hunting BUT I didn't want to hear tire noise all summer long as this is also my daily driver and tow machine. What I found were Bridgestone "REVO'S". This is one GREAT tire as it is super in the mud and snow but ride smooth and QUIT on the road. Highly recommend this tires. Take a look here at them. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?ti...eler+A%2FT+Revo Bob

This boater card you are all referring to I believe does not apply to us Yanks that come up for a week or weekend ? ? ?

Funny thing I noticed is Humminbird is very popular in the south here but Lowrance is more popular in the north. Kind of like Pepsi and Coke. BTW if anyone is looking for a GREAT used unit I am selling (giving it away to a good home) my Lowrance X-50 unit for only $50. It has 3000 watts of power, speed, temp, distance log and ALL the other bells and whistles but GPS. EVERYTHING is guaranteed to work. I have everything that goes with it including the owners manual. It in EXCELLENT shape. When new it cost $549.00 Now lets catch some fish, Bob

Cabela's is selling the LMS unit for $649 with FREE SHIPPING (at least down here in the states) I had a $25 Cabela's bucks code sent to me via email and a $20 Cabela's bucks code sent to me via snail mail. I was surprised when I order it online that it took BOTH codes lowering my total cost to $604.00 and since I have a Cabela's Credit Card I had a code for TRIPLE points that was also applied. Bobby is a happy camper with this price. BTW I REALLY like WATER speed so I order a paddle wheel speed sensor on Ebay and got it for $19.80 Now believe it or not I order both of these things SUNDAY and I got the LMS unit yesterday and while I was in the middle of installing it the speed sensor was delivered. I didn't expect that until next week and thought it might hold up the whole project. NOW I am REALLY happy as I will finish the install job tomorrow. If you need any other help just PM me. I have done a lot of these installations over the year for several people and have gotten pretty good at it. Bob

I took that 407 one time and it cost me almost as a plane ticket. What a joke that is. And I always thought the NY State Thruway was expensive. Hell, I could drive from one end the the Thruway to the other (almost 400 miles) stop and and eat and it still wouldn't even come close to the 407 highway