Boats & Boating

Button Panel Roasted By The Sun – V176 Magnum 2002 A buddy of mine has completely quit fishing and he offered me his 2002 Triton V176 Magnum for very little with its Johnson 90. The carbs were totally gunked up which was no surprise. I’ve cleaned carbs before. This Johnson has something I haven’t seen…

Plug, keys, safety equipment, lunch, beverages, trailer connections, straps and hooks secured, fishing gear, hunting gear, camera, cell phone, radio, spare tire, etc, etc, This should be a list of things you should check and make sure you have before you hit the road, and then maybe a second list to double check before you…

Whether it’s your boat or you are a guest of somebody else there are lots of little things you may be tempted to ask.  If it’s worth asking its worth checking yourself. Did you put the plug in?  You are anxious to hit the water and don’t want to waste a second.  Not checking just…

I’ve been following along on the lithium news for a while.  As you may be aware Lithium Ion batteries can have some serious issues including a likelihood of catching fire (and being very hard to put out) if abused.  Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePo) batteries are supposed to be better in many regards, and more safe…

Left to right. All “ran when parked.” 24′ Searay sportfishing design with fly bridge dual controls. The original Searay.  Not the born again Searay. Dual four cylinder Chevies pushing inboard outboard drives. Passable at altitude lakes, excellent at sea level. Internal births below in front.  Porta potty I think. Been sitting a long time.  Lots…

Yeah, I bought another one.

Many of us have a push pole for area where its more practical to pole than to motor.  Flat’s anglers often use a push pole to avoid stirring up silt as they chase shallow water trophies.  I use one quite often to help me get into and out of tight spots when fishing.  You probably…

Today was my day off this week.  I try to take one day off every week, but it doesn’t always work that way.  I’ve got one payment due on the 18th (today for the car I bought for my mom), so I figured I better get that taken care of.  While I was sitting there…

HumminBird Helix 5 Chirp GPS G2 Questions: Continuous saved trace for backtrack. I’ve got a Garmin 178C in The Tin Can that does this. It continuously saves a trace I can use to back track, and it just deletes the oldest trace as a new trace is stored. I can run up and down the…

Proper Bass Boats: Skeeter Starfire 185 w/ Black Max 150 55 MPH Baker Custom Tunner w/ 200 Mariner 65 MPH BassCat Cougar FTD w/ 225 Optimax & 250ProXS Optimax 68-69MPH & 75-78MPH ProCraft 210 w/  225 Optimax (I don’t know how fast it is yet). Easiest handling so far under fair conditions: 1.  Baker 2. …

The first trip out in the new rig was an adventure. It launched pretty easy for a 20 foot 9 inch boat. I unhooked it, and stepped off the trailer tongue onto the boat to idle over to the dock. I quickly realized I’d left the keys in the truck. Oops. No problem. The trolling…

The first thing I’m putting in my new boat.

Well as soon as I clear a stall for it.

This is a 2:1 header for a Harbor Freight Predator 670.  I don’t know how much I’ll modify the engine, but if you follow along with posts and videos about Bar Hopper you will learn as I do.  It’s my understanding that I’ll need to reject the HF stock carburetor immediately after installing (or during…

If you want to read the intro to the intro check out this entry from a little earlier. Short Long Tail – (updated Sep-8-23) https://www.yumabassman.com/2023/09/07/short-long-tail/ For some more details on the plan check out the introductory video below. I doubt you will find it educational, but hopefully you find it entertaining. I wasn’t sure I…

You probably haven’t heard much about the Valco 14 footer I picked up a while back. That’s because I haven’t done much with it. We got it off the flat bed trailer and flipped it upside down in front of the house. That’s where it’s set for the last couple years. It may be a…

Hole shot generally refers to how long it takes your boat to go from displacement to plaining speed.  For most plaining hulls the best hole shot is accomplished by trimming the motor/outdrive all the way down, and going full throttle as quickly as possible.  Push the throttle all the way to the stop very quickly…