DRIFTER_016

I bought a new boat this year and although we still have a few months of fishing weather, I'm starting to think about what I should do as far as storage goes...I have a 20' Tracker, no garage, but lots of storage area around the property...

 

I saw the "garage-in-a-box" on sale at CTC for $299.97 (12x20x8') and I realize that the bow will be slightly exposed, but I can probably drape a tarp over the top of the shelter and extend it over the bow..any experiences using this??

 

The other option I was looking at was the blue shrink wrap, but I was told that it's ~ $15/ft so that is going to run me over $300 and I'm not sure if you can reuse it year after year.....

 

Any suggestions would be appreciated!!

 

Steve

I have 2 of the 10'X20' and one 10'X10' garage in a box for my toys. I've got room for one more full sized one if I need it.

They work well. My boat is 18' so the tongue sticks out but if I had a longer boat I would just put a full one and a short one together to get a 30' garage. You would get a little rain or snow through the joint area but it would not be bad.

FYI

My oldest one was installed in the summer of 2007 I believe and is still on its first cover. The front and back walls are a bit worn but the main cover doesn't have any holes.

The main thing to remember is to go out and knock the snow off the roof in the winter time. I go into the garage with a broom and knock the roof to make the snow slide off.

Another thing, make sure you check and retighten the tension on the cover each spring as it will get streched out because of snow load over the winter.

If it's the one I remember on Georgian Bay he sank because he tried to reverse into the waves instead of cutting his lines.

Actually he tried to power through it and the boat ended up being sling shotted backwards and taking a wave over the transom when he got off the throttle. Not sure if he was running with the waves at the time or not.

Holy crap!!!! I knew Gerry Garcia was still alive!!!!

Been done already

 

Doesn't look to tough.

Drifter ,it was your boat. I like the idea of not turning around all the time, and I guess that it would take some getting use to, but it seems good. If you could get some pics that would be stellar. I am worried about tangling everything up once I have fish on. Especially a double header!

No need to worry really, it isn't any different than if they are off the back.

I may have time on the weekend to haul the boat out of it's shelter and take a couple of pictures.

Future Darwin Award recipents.

1/2 price on this trip is amazing. you can't do anything for a week at that price and this is a fishing trip.

 

 

I've been in AK for a little over 2 weeks working on this year's grand slam. 2 done, 3 to go. Gonna try getting one in Cordova this year.

I'll be hunting Lakers, Bows, Dollys, Silvers, Steelhead, Halibut and Crab.

I'll probably hook too many reds and pinks too.

Nothing worse than hooking them off species when your in the thick of good bow fishing.

Fishing for them now would be a different story, but when they are in spawning mode and all beat up they're just a pain.

You've been there for 2 weeks and only managed 2 of the 5?

A couple of the guys on the Alaskan fishing board I'm a member of got their slams last weekend.

I'd be all over it Mike.

If I wasn't going to be heading to Alaska for 5 weeks starting on the 4th.

I have been searching the forum (past and present) to see what everyone has to say about downrigger mounting! I seen one picture that showed the riggers mounted on the bow of the boat (not to far from the console) and thought that might just be the answer! The guy wrote that it was perfect cause he never had to turn his head all the time to watch his rods!

So I guess I'm asking if anyone of you have mounted riggers this way or thought about mounting them this way? If you have tried and found any problems or if it worked I'd definetly like to hear about it. Maybe the cable would hit the motor on turns? That's the only problem that I can come up with.

 

I think it should work as my trolling batteries are up front, so it would be an easy install.

The boat is a 19ft Fisher Sport Hawk

 

Thanks in advance

 

That would be me.

In the 20 years I have been running my boat with the riggers this way I have never had the cables touch the side of my boat,get caught in the prop or tangle.

I do get the occasional line tangle when I get a hot fish on though but you get that with conventionally mounted riggers also.

I remember watching my rod bounce on the starboard side of the boat while a hot rainbow cleared the water on the port side.

I can run flat lines out the back of the boat, riggers in the center and have planer board masts that are mounted on the front casting deck on either side of the seat mount.

My boat has casting decks fore and aft and because of that it can get a little dangerous hanging over the side hooking in the clip in rough water. With them mounted in the center I have 2 feet of gunnel height to brace myself against as compared to the 4 inches on the back casting deck.

You do have to make sure you are going straight when dropping lines so they don't get tangled in the motor though. You need to make sure you're going straight anyway so you don't tangle any lines already out.

One of these days I need to get some good pictures of the full setup.

I love being able to look to either side and be able to see the lines as opposed to turning right around (a lot easier with swivel captains chairs but not with bass boat style seating).

Saves a lot of neck strain.

There are places that it is legal and places where it isn't.

Check the DOT websites for the places you want to go.

I have seen it done all across the west.

You will probably have to beef up the frame on the camper unless you purchase one of the larger campers that have a good frame.

I wouldn't want to be towing my boat behind my camper as the frame is not very solid and I dont think it would be up to the task without some work.

You also have to look into the weight capacity of your camper.

For instance the cargo carrying capacity of my camper is 866#'s, so I would have to subtract the tongue weight of my boat's trailer from 866 and that would be the amount of stuff I could carry in the camper.

You also would need to adjust how you load your camper as the tongue weight of your boat will decrease the amount of weight on the tongue of your camper and cause issues if you have too little weight.

Just something to think about.

What's the tow rating on it.

At this rate Cliff, you're lucky that the two Asian guys in the canoe were just indifferent toward you.

Jim

Exactly!!! They could have paddled over to you and got all on your !!!!

I had the perfect vehicle right until you said you wanted to pay next to nothing for it.

If you decide you want to spend some more $$$$ look for a used Honda Pilot.

They also have 3 row seating and there are baby seat anchors all over the place.

Weekends aren't usually not too bad especially in the mornings.

Weekdays are a whole 'nuther story. I did the commute thing for 10 years. It was the worst 30 years of my life!!!!!

Anyone ever check crank runout on the engine?

Could be an alignment issue.

Talk to the guys at Active Engines, they are pretty good at what they do.

They should be able to give you some info on what might be causing your issues.

I would be getting an aftermarket gear set from a performance shop if it were me.

Nothing like good old metal gears in my opinion.

Do you deal with an insurance broker?

If you do just call them up and ask them what's going on.

If you don't deal with a broker and deal directly with the insurance company you get what you get. Brokers are much better at dealing with insurance companies than you or I are. It's what they do for a living.

I once had an accident on the way home from work.

We had a tornado go through our area a few days before that took out a bunch of hydro towers. The resulting heavy equipment traffic really messed up the dirt road going to my place. When I went to work in the morning it was fine but when I came home I crested a rise at the speed limit only to find soupy mud a foot deep on the other side. I lost control and rolled my vehicle in the ditch.

I wasn't charged by the cops (they blamed road cons.) but the insurance company faulted me and made me pay deductible and raised my rates.

My broker went to bat for me over several weeks and got the insurance company to refund my deductible and not raise my rates.

The fastest and cheapest way to fix them is to unscrew the suction cup and put it away in a drawer.

Next cut your self a 24"-30" piece off an old hockey stick shaft (wood).

Screw the transducer bracket to one end of the hockey stick. Buy a 4" C-Clamp at Canadian Tire.

Clamp stick to back of boat with clamp.

Go fishing!!

PS a decent 1"X4" will work in a pinch.

 

Do the words in English "Good morning, any luck?" even translate into something rude in any Asian language?

 

Actually if they were from Laos you told them you don't like their smell and were going to have sex with their pet monkey!!!!

Pretty cool!!!

Nice pile O snot rockets y'all got there Bunkster!!!

Do you have a car?

Back in my younger days I delivered pizzas and made some pretty good $$$$.

Plenty of pizza joints, chianese food, etc in Hammertown.

Rick

Go here and follow the instructions and you should be able to solve your issues.

I have used this sequence in the past with very good results in ridding machines of unwated malware and viruses. My one buddies computer was severely messed up and though it took a while I managed to rid his computer of the worst bunch of crap I've ever seen. Give it a try and I think you will be ok.

Used to get them when I fished Caledonia on the Grand. I got them on minnows under a float.

Nice trip fellas!!!

On the drive did you chill to the road trippin' CD I sent with your reel seat?