Raycaster

I took a course at a local college a few years back and it really was beneficial. The course was “dry” BUT the instructor set it up that studentS were required every week to complete a photo assignment. Eg. macro one week and motion blur the next. I’m a geek so I had YouTubed ever tutorial for my camera and had watched them all. I was a “know it all” until I actually had To do it! Sure I know how to produce an image at night with trailing Car light lines, BUT now I had to prove it. It forced me to put my knowledge to practical Use and actually read the manual. This was a huge eye opener and humbling but forced me to truly grasp the topics. The other learning I can’t stress enough is to get out there and practice in all lighting. Everyone can take a great picture outdoors in cloudy weather but what about sports shots in a dark gym that needs high speed? Being able to go in manual mode and adjust on the fly aperture/speed/iso/white balance is harder than it looks. Also, learn the basics of photoshop. These pics from Marineland and African Lion Safari.

These are $1.50 at Dollarama and work great for tarps or boat covers. Saw the 4 pack at Sail for $8 so a decent deal. Its in the camping stuff.

Unfortunately life has got in the way with a “small shingle problem (12 bundles)” for the house so I may be delayed trying out the trim theory.

LostChild, the color is aged but tan/brown seems to be a trim guage wire. I have left them unattached as the engines has been running perfect. Every bit of logic points to them being connected together but until I see a tech give me the ok I will leave well enough alone. The trim Control on the engine and on the throttle work 100% and I dont have a trim guage on my console so I black taped them apart.

Update. Took a peek and drilled a 2” circle in the storage floor. 1) Foam not saturated. 2) Floor frame makes it almost impossible to remove and fix any cracks. 3) Removing engine, flipping hull over and aluminum brazing any Hull crack is the only real option. The thought of removing foam to get at any cracks is a non-starter. Do able but so is building an Egyptian pyramid. The boat only had a few cups of water in it after a week in the water, not enough even to use bilge. The epoxy patch seems fine for now and if needs yearly touchups its acceptable. The main problem of the lean is probably as most have mentioned caused by the console and fat driver on the right side in a basically oversized jonboat. The cutout is being properly fixed with marine adhesive and rivets.

Like several guys here I have been a navionic user since the beginning. Early adopters have gone through many ups and downs, including Navionics “version updating” requiring purchasing the same app multiple times. Still to this day I swear the original app from years ago was the best. Navionic is again “updating” and soon will require you to login online etc. My cell coverage sucks and can just imagine the headaches this will cause again. Yes the new versions have some nice features but it still clobbers you with dumb stuff like constantly asking to updates maps while on the water etc. with limited data. The notification wont go away and takes up 25% of the screen. This is a typical Overkill procedure that you just put up with. At least it doesn't clobber you with addon ads like it did a year or so back. A nice new feature is only 1 license is required for your android and ios device. I have a android phone and ipad on board. Remember iPads are useless unless you teather wifi on the boat or have a iPad with gps (only cell enabled ipad). Keeping the iPad out of sunlight and having a power supply (usb cigarette lighter Adapter etc.) make the iPad quite usable. Navionic still clobbers me on the iPad disabling paid features because my Raymarine unit does not have a updated navionic chip. I use WiFish on my iPad for big screen but because of the non-updated unit chip things are wonky. ANYWAYS, after all the rants I still use the navionics app as it works ok and $35 a year is ok for the piece of mind it provides (most of the time). Many people here love the app and I don’t want to step on their toes but I sure have a love/hate relationship with the mobile app.

Awesome David. The lake has kinda shut down for us, even this morning just a few baby pike and small bass. South Bay has been a ghost town which was our “go to” for sure pike action. As you said with 76 degrees surface maybe 12ft + for anything worth cooking. Also spent an hour over at provincial but first timer and was chasing weeds beds in to the middle of the lake. The mounds of Grand towards South Bay were marking Wally for sure but no takers. Will try again tonight solo.

I too love the 5 fillet approach but to me it works better with larger pike as the top of y bone is tight to the shoulders on small pike. A large pike for my non-surgeon hands is perfect to perform the “ 5 boneless filet” pike technique. I know veterans can get 2x as much meat off than me but when you only filet 10 pike a year the 5 filet way is simple quick and no hassle.

On Balsam this week and really just targeting pike and bass so far. Cant complain about the action but besides a decent 3lb bass all the pike really small. I have caught over 15 “snot rockets” so far and only kept 3. 1 Wally 17” that got tossed back off Grand Island. South Bay pretty quiet along with Ant Island but shores to Coboconk busy. The provincial Park is next target. I know a lot here don’t target pike but we usually go for quantity over quality for a big fish fry on the weekend. Thursday or Friday will chase the wallys...

If anyone is still looking just msg me and I will send the amazon link. I was able to order on Amazon for 43.70 (taxes & shipping included) and arrived in 2 days! I will try to keep dry for sure!

BillM, I actually have 2 old downriggers on “permanent loan”. 1 has a head on it missing parts so the wire jumps out and I only have a 3lb ball so the units have been kicking my butt so far. I had a ball running 50ft behind the boat at 2.2mph and wire jumping off and the wire singing so loud I had to ABORT the downrigger trials. The ball was so light with a flasher I couldn’t even tighten the lines properly for a nice Rod arc. I swapped parts to get 1 unit working 100% and a 10lb ball is on its way. I’m very close to getting it fine tuned ready for action. I have to adjust rod holders in the boat also but very close. My last concern is the wire seems “loopy” and should be replaced also. The wallet slows down the fixes but it will get done. I have a second release to stack 2 lines so I am close. If stacking with a 15-20 ft to difference to avoid tangles would you have the first line deep (eg. 70ft where I saw huge marks) and 1 line above thermocline (eg. 30ft)? Every video keeps repeating to find 42 to 48 degrees and setup there but I have seen Huge arcs at 70. These arcs are big and show nice thick profiles with colouring compared to the usual thin arcs above.

Misfish, you read my mind.

Just wondering, does anyone use the "Off Shore Tadpole Magnum Diving Weight OR36". They seem to be able to get down to 50ft etc.

From what I have seen from other older boats is that the Expanding foam Injected eventually will become saturated if soaked for a long time. I am not 100% sure on my boat frame but most are sectioned off for strength underneath. This is all speculation as I have not seen any build pics or info. I may take a peak in the winter as shifting everything in the boat to the left side still doesn’t level the boat even with a full live well, 2 27 batteries and 80 minn Kota on the left side. I do realize the boat is shallow so even if the foam is soaked on the right side it shouldn’t be a huge weight but given there is only one console and starboard has a wider gunwale the boat would have a natural starboard tilt especially with a 200lb driver. If bored I may cut a bit in the winter for a peek. Secondly patching the front right hole inside would be reassuring for the next year.

Thank you for all the replies. I generally have been going out at 7am on non-wind days. i have tried spoon, flies and meat. I think the fish hawk will zero in on the depths with dipseys. if I get the downrigger set I can stack 2 on that by myself. I have been reading all the updates on spoonpullers also. I will next time get out at 5am with a heavy weight and try to respool some rods. I have been targeting with the bait fish but those HUGE marks at 75 or deeper are very tempting!

I finally have a boat to take on Lake Ontario on nice days so being 20 minutes from launch I'm dreaming! I am usually a pike/bass/wally guy so fishing in 120fow has been a eye opener for sure. After watching 100 hours of salmon/trout trolling on Lake Ontario I'm still 0-4 on trips so far. I have my eye on a Fish Hawk TD because I have no real idea how deep the dispys are running and water temperature would be nice. I have a few line counter rods with 20-40lb mono that I'm not even sure would set the dispys off. My downrigger weight is too light (3-5lbs?) so I just can't setup properly. At 2.4mph I can't see the ball on sonar as it drags way back because its too light. I have 3 questions to ask the pros. 1) Do most people go wire with dipsys and does it make a big difference? 2) I have 3 dipsy "0" ( 1 with a ring) and have them out around 125ft - 175ft with a flasher and spoon etc. but not sure how deep they are running. I think the fish hawk would let me fine tune and figure out proper line lengths. 3) I have been setting up above the thermocline but when I see a few BIG arcs at 75ft down should I target that? I see lots of bait and small arcs above the thermo but nothing huge. Sorry to throw everything up at once, just hoping to have some success. thx ahead.

Just bought a "new to me" boat and the first thing I did: 90 minutes ($125 in parts): Changed Oil and Oil Filter (4 Stroke) Changed Fuel filter Changed lower gear oil Changed Plugs Took Prop off and on to check for fishing line or junk. Testing the engine saw the water pressure ok so I will put impeller job off till Fall. I am NOT a professional (as shown on this board frequently) but they were all common sense jobs with a hint or 2 from Youtube.

Anyone seen these kits available in Hamilton area? BassPro in Barrie has limited stock but unable to track down any in my area. The fun of getting a used boat is finding the first hole in the hull right underneath the life jacket storage cubby. Open it up to find the self inflated jacket the other day! (At least I know it works). The last time I bought a kit I found 1 at the CT in Brantford. Installed great but realized the expiry date WAY old. Could order online but trying to save shipping.

Trim motor up, of course! Will watch water pressure for sure Thank you. You guys are awesome.

Terry you are probably 100% right. When I got it I replaced plugs, oil, oil filter, lower gear oil and fuel filter. Haven't done impeller but its on my list. A tech tuneup in the fall is probably a great idea. I still never resolved the disconnected 2 wires but that's a different thread and that tech tuneup would fix that too. BTW, Its a 2004 Mercury 25hp 4 Stroke Big Foot. I only have had a 1982 Yamaha 30hp 2 Stroke to compare.

The 27s are 2016 and I think 90 minutes is about right as its probably pulling close to 50Amps at 8 or 9. On can go a whole week on Balsam just holding position etc. but keeping between 2.2 and 3mph on Lake Ontario does pull some juice. I find my 25hp struggles to stay under 3mph but I'm just still learning the ins and outs of the boat. Actual used a drift sock last time out to slow down.

I'm getting 22mph max on calm water, 20 with a passenger. Compared with my old pontoon with a 30hp I am lightning fast now! The boat has a Canadian rating of 40hp max and US 50hp max. I may grumble later but coming from a old pontoon boat I'm happy with the speed. I may get 2 more batteries for the trolling motor as the 80 Minn Kota lasts about 90mins at 2.2-2.4mph for trolling on Lake Ontario. There is a battery tray between the 2 middle storage (under pedestal support) so maybe 1 there and 1 to the left side of the front middle storage.

MisFish I totally agree that I have no idea how long that hole has been there. The previous owner warned me that it had a tilt but its still 50/50 if he knew about the damage. A more diligent buyer would of seen that but its a lesson learned and no use dwelling on it. Cast-Away thanks for the heads up. The floor and console look removable easily enough if it gets worse or I get bored. I'm heading to Balsam for a week in August with the boat in the water for a week. That will help the decision also as sitting in the water may highlight any other problem or if my patch was unsuccessful. The front right storage is directly above the patch so I would be able to get at the area (cut square patch out) and remove insulation from that pocket and patch from inside. I will keep an eye on it, drive with a full livewell and switch trolling motor side. I think Lew's suggestion that there really isn't a ton of foam down there to cause a massive weight shift and Leaf4 noting that this lean may be design related and normal will slow down my attack mode of pulling the boat apart asap and I will wait and see. The Balsam trip may provide some answers. Thanks to everyone for the input.

No it does not level out unless an adult sit front port side. Moving battery to port side really isn't an option as the gas tank sit back port side. Would love to move main battery to front storage but wiring might be prohibitive. I probably will move trolling motor to left but probably not a huge change as the head balances it out.

Thank you for replies guys. OK, I won't tackle that right away and will see if the "fix" settles things. Yes, I should of mentioned the XCite 164 is not a Deep V boat so not much depth under floor for sure. Also didn't mention I usually have livewell empty (port side) which would add weight also for balance. The Legend does look like the floor is removable as the center metal panel is accessible. I could remove that but boat lower frame may block off from each side probably. I could easily just cut a nice square patch out of the front starboard storage floor to look below, its directly above fixed leak. Big thanks to members here as hearing someone with comparable situations or experience can REALLY calm a "New to Me" boat owner.