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I try and follo manufacturer specifications so when I replaced my MG with a terrova, I upgraded the wiring (8 to 6) and the plug. I have always unplugged the terrova when charging just in case something goes wrong. This way I don't have to worry about frying the head of the motor.

I use the garlic scented Berkley gulp spray. My buddy uses the crawfish stuff and they boathouse work well. I have no idea why the garlic scent works, but it does...

I forgot to mention I purchase bulk worms from Powerteamlures.com I stared using their sick sticks last year for wacky working and haven't looked back. I plan in tryin their finicky ticklers this year as well. And supporting local is important to me. 90% of my tackle comes from 1 shop in Winchester. You will know the place if you know the area...

Bass pro shops is alright to look and I have bought a few things there but most of my online stuff is ordered through TackleWarehouse.com

This reel repair policy is not all that new either but I guess it is just getting out to the masses now. A few years ago (about 4) my buddy sent in an old white Stradic for repairs and was told the same thing. The truth is though, if you are getting 10-12 years out of your reels, you really can't complain.

First off, I own a tracker 190tx and would buy another one in a heartbeat. The only ones that have problems are the older tracker 175txw hulls but with a little research, you will figure this all out. Force engines are not necessarily bad, but they are a bare bones engine that if I had the choice, I would stay away from. Honestly, I think of both Tracker and Force as entry level equipment. They serve a purpose to get you into you first boat at an affordable pricepoint. My advice is if you are looking used, settle on a pricepoint and if it is aluminum you are looking for, look at Lund, Crestliner, or Princecraft. There are other great boats out there but these guys seem to be touted as the best. And try to get as close to max HP as possible. A lot of people under power their boat to try and save money. All this does is make you regret the purchase because the boat will not perform properly and you won't be happy with it... Adam

LOL, Last year, our fill ups were between $0.67 a litre and $0.79 a litre. This year, January's bill was $1.09 a litre and six weeks later, we are at $0.99 a litre. I agree it is great it is going down, but I sure hope it drops more than that for my next fill up. The sad thing is at $1.09 a litre, I was only 3 cents cheaper than my buddy who heats with oil! And for some reason, I have always found houses heated with oil feel warmer and stay warmer longer. My funrace seems to kick on at least twice as much as his does.

What do you drive that you get 29mpg out of a tow vehicle? Right now in the middle of the winter, I am averaging 30mpg on my 4cyl equinox. My 2013 sierra with a 5.3 V8 and a 6 speed is averaging 20mpg. In the summer months, I average around 35mpg in the equinox and 23-25mpg in the truck. The new trucks with the MDS systems and 6 speed transmission are really good at reducing fuel consumption but I do not know too many tow vehicles that actually get 29mpg. My old f150 (15mpg) was about as bad regularly as my sierra is towing so I am not complaining there.

Hey Bill, Fortunately for me, I am not the one getting hosed . That is my uncles vehicle. I have never seen a Yaris pull a boat, but I did see a Kia Soul struggle to pull a 18' Larson bowrider at a nice launch! I don't understand what goes through some poeples heads!

I guess I am lucky in that my tow vehicle is not a daily driver. She sits in the garage during the Fall and winter ad gets driven occasionally on the weekends. Unless it is Boating season, there is no need for her to move. For your questions and realising this is your daily driver: 1) Do I need 4x4 or AWD? I have found an Acadia with a tow package at a reasonable rate but its FWD. It's rated for 5k TC -No you don't need 4x4 or AWD, but there will be instances you will wish you got it if you decide against it. There are ramps out there that you will regret using if you don't have one of those systems. If I could choose 1, it would be 4x4 because you can choose when to use it instead of waiting for it to kick in. 2) Are aftermarket hitches/transmission coolers as good as a factory tow pack? I could have a vehicle tomorrow if it wasn't for the lack of tow packages. - I have no issues saying that an aftermarket hitch is just as good as a factory one. As for a trans cooler, for the weight of your boat, I do not even believe you will need one of these. If you want to have one installed, it won't hurt, but it is something I just don't think is required. Having said that, I got caught up in the 0% financing on a new truck that has all of these toys. The problem I had was my monthly payment for a new truck was the same as a $20,000 truck that was a few years older all because I could only finance the older trucks up to 48 months. Again, my trucks sits a lit so when it is paid off, it will still have less than 100,000K's on it so I figured it was worth my while to just buy new and have this things for 10 - 15 years... 3) Will I need heavier brake pads or trailer breaks? With either the Acadia or JGC I seem to have plenty of pull. -When your vehicle is rated for a specific towing weight, items like your suspension and brake pads are taken into account. Again, you don't need heavier stuff. Trailer brakes are always good but I would not worry too much about them if they are not on the rig you are looking for. My rig weighs in at just over 2000lbs and I barely notice it behind the vehicle. If I have my dad’s fiberglass deck boat (Just over 3500lbs)on the other hand, I know its back there even though it has trailer brakes! 4) Should I lean towards diesel JGC models for towing purposes? - I don't know much about the Jeep's towing capacity but I would not limit yourself to this vehicle on the towing side. If you are thinking more about your daily driver, this may be a good route for you but remember that maintenance is a whole lot more expensive on diesel engines and with the higher price on diesel, I just don't think you would be saving all that much in the long run. I know I spend about $50.00 on an oil change and for a VW to have the oil change/water separator replaced it is close to $150.00. I would imagine that would be close to the price on a JGC. If I had to choose between the three vehicles you listed, I would go with the Acadia if you could find it with straight 4x4. The problem is, I believe they are only available in AWD (I could be wrong but this is what I remember). I believe this is the largest of the vehicles you are looking at and that is why it would be my top pick. After that, I would go with the Jeep and I honestly don’t even think I would try to tow with a Honda Pilot. It may be more than capable but I just don’t think of Honda as a tow rig. So to go on and on, but I hope you find it useful! Adam

My request for the next boat will be for at minimum Humminbird 9 series SI units but they just came out with the Onyx series which looks pretty cool. I think they are their answer to Lowrances touch technology. I am not sure I would spend the extra money on it though.

Love their frogs. I only have them for regular frogs and the spro ones for poppers. I have a few lipless cranks that seem to catch more fisherman than fish but I haven't used it a lot. The attention to detail in their baits is second to none though and I do beleive they are worth the money. Their new bait all series look interesting as well.

I grabbed a Megabass Orochi XX Jerkbait special to try out this year by it is a casting rod. Before this, I used a medium power fast action shimano compre with a Stradic CI4. It handled jerkbaits quite well and didn't cost much. It was also a great stick to throw tubes and weightless plastics on.

I haven't seen the duo jerkbaits but hope to in the next week or so. I did read the rather lengthy review on them on Tackletour. They look really nice and I plan on adding some to my tackle box. I am a huge fan of Megabass 110's so I am hoping that the duo's are at least quality that won't cost me as much.

Yes, towing capacity includes the amount of weight in the car. It also includes the gas in the car so you really have to be careful. The only reason I am writing right now is I had a friend (who is actually a member here) who towed a princecraft 142sc with a 25hp motor with their Mazda 6 V6. That car also had no towing capacity while in the US and Europe, it had a 1200 pound capacity. The Mazda towed the boat great but he lost the car when the e brake cable as well as the transmission let go(it was in park) and rolled into the water while he was getting out of the car to put the boat on the trailer. My advice to you is to NOT TOW with a car that is not rated for it when you are putting your vehicle into situations like this. A small utility trailer, I could see you getting away with, but why risk something like this happening. Insurance essentially wrote the car off and they got something a little bigger that would work for them. Adam

I have gotten calls like this in the past. Since I do not have internet in the normal sense, I let them go on and on for a bit and then tell them that I find it funny that my computer would be doing that considering it isn't hooked up to a network or the internet for that matter.

My father has had a 110D for a while now and really likes it. The 10 amps charges the battery pretty quick. I have a 330 as well and it works just as well. after a day on the water, I can plug it in and within 3 hours, my batteries are topped up and ready for the next outing. My batteries are usually only ever drained to half on a full day of fishing to give you an idea of what you would be looking for.

Dave Mercer did a facts of fishing on this. If I remember correctly, this is basically what he said.

I use willow leaf spinners about 90% of the time. They are a confidence lure for me and have always produced well for me. If the water is stained, I will switch to 1 willow blade and 1 Colorado blade for the extra thump so the fish can find it. Adam

I am hoping my experience ends like yours. I have a reel seat on an old compre that keeps coming loose and it is sitting at the store I bought it from waiting for the rep to take a look at it. It has drove me nuts for the last year and I finally had enough!

Another item to note is the pitch of your prop. I have a 17p and a 19p. I hit about 38mph @ 5500 rpm and can get up to 6000rpm with the 17p and I am up and out of the water almost as fast as I hit the throttle. With the 19p on, I will hit 40mph at 5100 rpm but getting on plain is a lot more difficult and I am unable to hit the 6000rpm redline. At about 5200, the prop starts taking air and has to be trimmed back down. Selecting the appropriate pitch will give you better performance. I only have aluminum props, but if you want some more performance, you can upgrade to stainless. Oh and the 4 strokes are all the same from 75 to 115. The difference between the 75 and 90 is the program on the ECM. The 115 has a different lower unit ratio and a restricter ring under the air filter is removed. Just thought I would throw that out there. Adam

I would get the 115 for the price difference. You will run fine with the 90 when you are alone or fishing, but if it is going to be used as a familly boat, it will bog down when everyone is in it. You will have a harder time getting out of the whole and your max speed at WOT will be affected more with the 90 than with the 115. You will also always regrett not maxing it out in the first place.

I was spoiled. First off, my wife spent months getting approvals from manufacturers to create a fishing jersey and it looks awesome. -molix supernato hybrid crankbaits in two different colors. -deadly black Megabass 110 jerkbait -autographed picture of Aaron Martens -Glacier Glove ultralight fishing gloves. -Shaman Chronarch CH150 -Ram mount for my trolling motor - a Plano 3650 filled with powerteam lures sick sticks in multiple colors. For any if you lucky enough to deal with Paddletales Tackle in Winchester, I also got a Xmas stocking from there. I have gotten one of these every year for the last three years and they are awesome. They usually have about $70.00 of gear in them for about $20.00. To say I was pretty stoked would be an understatement! Adam

For that size of a tire, that is a p[retty good deal.