fishinwrench

3wt. setups are great fun, but you have to pick your days, because the slightest breeze can put you out of business. I had a 3pc. 7'6" 3wt. Orvis rod that I loved to use for bluegill, but it was a rare day that I could cast it accurately. I finally broke down and sold it to a guy that bluelines for trout. A 5wt. is my lower limit anymore.

Dan Gapen had a little rig just like that back in the day. He carried a landing net that was as wide as the boat was....for a reason 😉

I could use that, and I have the cash.....but I'm not driving an hour or two to get it. If you find yourself in the Lake O area.......or if you wanna box it up and ship it, I'm good for 325.00 👍

Talking green bass here.......I'd rather concentrate on catching five 2-3lbers. than one 10 pounder. In the waters I fish, you can effectively pattern bass that are in the 2-3lb. range. But once they become 4+ they are just bonus freaks.

FYI There's a very good reason why 12/24 motors went Bye-Bye. If you have a 12/24 switch on the bow of your boat it NEEDS to be properly terminated, and the wiring and breaker configured for straight 24v. If you choose to ignore that advise, be sure you have some heavy cable cutters on board and stowed in a place quick & easy to grab, and that your fire extinguisher is fresh. 👍

Only folks that flyfish seem to understand that things in a boat such as Seats, Cleats, Latches, Foot pedals, Hinges, And various mounts.....all need special consideration. Line laying over an exposed hinge, and then being stepped on.....just cost you $100 😔 And anything that line can get looped around will ruin nearly every cast you attempt to make. I love my bassboat but I can't flyfish from it.😁 The console on this Xpress is the most flyfish friendly console of any boat I've seen 👍

If you're considering renting your boat(s) to offset PP tax then I can tell you this.... I do repairs and maintenance on 8 businesses that do rentals. At the end of the year I total up the costs, and I always ask myself "Are they even making any kind of profit?" I don't know what they are charging, but if they are recognizing any profit at all then they have to be charging a rather hefty rental fee. Far more than I would be willing to pay to rent a boat, that's for sure. Basically, the type of people who rent boats probably know that they have NO BUSINESS owning one because they'll tear it up bad in no time at all!

Seen it. And yeah it would have been entertaining if the idiot had a kill switch lanyard attached to him. But since he didn't, it's just ignorance. Among the top contender for.... "Dumb ways to die with a helmet on". 🙄

Well....Hmm, it ain't looking so good 🤔

Oh man ! 😁 👍 Nice !!!!

Landau division strictly builds Luxury Toons now, but in the early-90's they had a 1462 mod-V Utility Jon that had a max HP rating of 50 Popular with waterfowlers and Mud Motors.

Go out with me on the flats searching for Whites from late July 'til early October and you'll appreciate that Bimini 😁 It folds down completely out of the way in 10 seconds. 👍

Ok I'm at a good stopping point, gotta get back to working on boats that result in MONEY IN THE BANK and leave my own toys alone for a bit. Nothing but some touch up paint and trailer work left to do.

Not true. I know this......If (god forbid) you are involved in a boating accident, and your boat is overpowered......you are automatically responsible for the accident. Regardless of who is ACTUALLY at fault. Insurance companies know this, and will still sell you insurance on the vessel and accept those premiums....but will immediately deny any claims.

Took it out for a lake test this afternoon, and I'm quite impressed. Very solid boat. First I ran down to a high traffic area and pounded through some considerable boat wakes. I never got wet until I purposely stabbed a 4 foot roller at WOT. A few drops on my sunglasses and a wet hat & left shoulder. It crawls out of the hole in about 4 boat lengths, hammers your guts in a heavy chop but very smooth in a normal wind chop, and doesn't backwash at all when you dump the throttle. With just me and no gear in the boat I blew the prop out once doing a hard turn at WOT through considerable chop......so I may slap a hydrofoil on it. Otherwise lowering the motor one hole would fix that, but I'd rather not lower the motor. Top speed was 38.5mph.with just me in it. Ran up to the shallows, filled the livewell, and played around over a soft soggy bottom area. It can idle without kissing the bottom in 17" with the motor fully down, and it needs a hair over 2' of water to get on plane..... let's call it 28" to be safe. I calibrated the sonar unit to 2.5' at that spot. A 12v 50# thrust trolling motor moves the boat around just fine, so a single battery is all that's required (2 parallel if you plan on running the livewell pump all day and listening to music. I covered 26 miles on less than 5 gallons of gas. The old Evinrude 40 starts immediately, no smoke at all, and purrs like a kitten. Even though I stabbed a massive roller there wasn't a drop in the bilge at the end of the run.. 👍 The only downside is that the boat is HEAVY. for its size. You aren't gonna drag this rig over any shoals, that's for sure. And crawling over the bow to the trailer tongue when loading solo is kinda sketchy.....it needs a convenient step built onto the trailer tongue (or something besides the trolling motor shaft to hang onto). And of course I have a trailer light out🙄 Pretty sure I'm keeping this rig awhile. The Lowe 1648MT/ Evinrude 35 rig is going up for sale. Any offers ?

Thank, but no High-Fives yet please. Plenty more steps to conquer 🙂

I agree. Why don't they make Marine stereo head units with RED backlights.....so as not to hamper your night vision? I mean your out on the lake/river....not cruising the Lake O strip!

Oh yeah, Forgot to mention.... We have TUNES 🎵

I installed a basic Lowrance Hook 5, It has down scan, 2D sonar, Shows temp & Voltage, plus has mapping.....and the transducer is small 👍 Yo, check out this trick interior lighting 😄 I may pull the MinnKota Powerdrive system off the other boat for now, we'll see. I need to take it for a water test tomorrow and see if I can bust the prop 😅

Wireless remote has totally spoiled me. I like being able to dance all around the boat with the fob clipped to my belt loop. For flyfishing it's just 100% the way to go!

I have a Lowrance sonar unit with side-scan capabilities, but that elongated transducer hanging off the back would just be asking for it. Not a good match for this rig, so I'll have to go shopping.

Absolutely 👍

Zoom copied off of Luck E Strike plenty. Their Critter Craw is a Guido Bug. And LS really needs to bring back the RC square bills. Not sure why they quit marketing those because they are IMO the best square bill cranks out there. The 9" LS Ringworm was a great tool also, nobody else has a better worm. That Camouflage color was a Lake O killer.....and still would be if you could get them.

She's repowered.

I had a Motorguide wireless on a flyfishing rig I built, and it seemed to have a mind of it's own. Turned out that it was reacting to feedback from home security systems here around Lake O That SOB would slam the boat into docks and run me aground randomly, as if it was possessed by a demon. 😅