sherman51

i use the 13 lb pancake weights. very little blow back. dont know how they would work for you. but they would help the blow back.

sherman

the cannon single axis are 65.93 at amazon.com with free shipping right now. keep an eye on them if your thinking about buying them. last winter they got all the way down to 55.00.

sherman

kids can really surprise you as to where they can get. we went in the kitchen on day, and our youngest son who hadnt even started walking yet had climbed up on the counter top and was in the upper cabnets in the kitchen. just goes to show you what they can do if they set there minds to it.

sure glad everything turned out ok. our children are our most precious things in our lives.

sherman

really any of the brands above are great units. i have an older lowrance lcx-38c hd. it has been a great unit for many years now. i wouldnt throw any of the units above out of my boat to put the other one in. unless my old unit went bad, then i would be hard pressed to decide which brand to choose. lowrance hummingbird and garmin all make units that would be a good choice.

anymore it is a major investment to get the bigger units. i would recommend if you can at all, make a trip to cabelas or a bass pro shop and check out all three brands. nothing like seeing them in person to confuse you even more,LOL.

sherman

i couldnt ever afford to buy those riggers, but i did buy a couple of the trax tech ball retrievers for my big jons. and was really impressed with there quaility. i had tried the cannon retrievers first, but they just wouldnt work with the auto stops. then i tried scotties and they did work but i just wanted something better. i seen the trax tech retrievers and thats what i have now.

if trax tech,s riggers are made with the same quality as there retrievers then there what i would buy if i was in the market for top of the line riggers. just my 2 cents.

sherman

those are some nice looking holders. hope you have many years of fun using them.

sherman

i havent seen or used there rod holders. but it sounds like a good holder.

my advice on rod holders is this. if your just wanting a rod holder then about any good solid holder will work.

if your getting new holders for running divers then a ratcheting holder is a must have if at all possable. berts or big jons or the cannons i chose will work.

i started out by buying 4 of the cannon double axis off ebay and they are great holders. but they had one thing i didnt like. when you rotate them you can only adjust from one hole to the next hole. so you cant fine tune the left to right. so the next ones i got was the single axis holders. they have an oval base so you can rotate them as little or as much as you want up to 70 degrees rotation. you just loosen them and turn the holder as little as 1/16 of an inch or as much as 70 degrees you can adjust them up and down with one hand, you just squeeze the lever on the holder and make your adjustment.

you never have to lean out over the side of your boat again. you can put your rod in the holder and then adjust it with one hand. then if you get a hit or just want to bring a rod in, all you do is grab your rod and lift this will ratchet the holder to the upright position, then just lift the rod up out of the holder.

in my opinion for what its worth the single axis is the only way to go. these are quaility heavy duty rod holders that should last you for many many years.

and they do use the track system. just buy the lengths that fits your boat and lets you spread out your holders. then if you want to go play in the water just take the holders off and leave the tracks on. it only take a few minutes to take off all your holders or put them back on.

the first single axis i bought from amazon.com was prived at 69.00 each, the last ones i bought was either 54.00 or 55.00 each. they are priced at 66.05 right now and free shipping.

i,ve been using mine for 2 seasons now and cant even tell they have been used. i recommend these to anyone who can spare the money for holders. some people say buy cheap holders and use the money for other things. but if you use divers this money is well spent. these holders are a pleasure to use. and to me thats just as important as anything you can buy. i always hated it when i hooked a big fish and im leaning out over the side of the boat trying to pull the rod out of the holder. and now i just ratchet the holder to the upright position and lift the rod straught up out of the holder.

sorry for such a long post but you deserve to hear about these holders before spending your money on a rod holder that may not work near as good as the single axis cannon rod holders.

sherman

congrats to your dad. its always nice to get 2 deer. but it had to be awesome to see that buck coming in on the last day. still making memeries.

sherman

Personally I would get the fuel injection and modern computer and have the best. Heck If i keep my 26 and go with the fuel injection I will make him a great deal on my 4bbl and manifold.

let me know, i might just buy it.

sherman

What gains would you think might be possible considering the heads are 2 barrel size?

from my understanding and from changing many old cars from 2 to 4 barrels you gain about 15 to 20 hp, depending on the type intake and carb you change to. but you also use alot more gas with the 4 barrel. so for now i just plan to use the 2 barrel carb and see how the boat performs.

im not a speed freak, so if the boat planes off good and i think it will then i,ll stay with the 2 bbl carb. i plan to start out with a 17 pitch high five 5 blade prop. that will take care of my hole shot. and i have found that most days you dont want to run full throttle on erie anyway. so i,ll just take it a day at a time. but i,ll probably keep an eye out for a good intake and 4 bbl for a vortec engine.

sherman

im done this year but really looking forward to next year. congrats on some nice eyes.

sherman

real easy if its a older model 350 chevy it will have 4 valve cover bolts 2 on the top 2 on the bottom if its a vortec it'll hace 4 through the center of the cover

thank you. it does have the bolts in the center of the pans. so that is good news. atleast i know now what type engine i need to get parts for.

sherman

Good luck with the new boat Sherman.

On the old boat, make sure the plug that plugs into the motor is making a good connection. Mine kept coming loose, and it would do just as you described. A hose clamp took care of the trouble.

thanks for the tip. i had the mechanic at our local marina tell me the same thing. he said he runs into this problem all the time. it make me feel alittle better hearing it from someone who has had this problem. it will be the first thing i check come this spring.

sherman

in my book thats a nice deer anywhere. congrats on your hunt.

sherman

thanks so much guys for the information and suggestions. it must be a vortec engine it has the valve cover bolts through the center of the valve pans.

and 2 oil changes isnt going to kill me. does anyone suggest i put some oil in the cylenders and turn the motor over a few times then let it set for awhile before starting it?? or maby take the plugs out and fog the engine and then let it set for awhile?? i,ll be honest im not much of a mechanic, i just do the best i can. and with my health i have most stuff done at the marina. but this spring im going to make my 2 sons help me do the stuff i think we can do.

any more info or suggestions are welcome.

sherman

i just bought a 25 ft boat that has had the engine changed. i need some help and advice. the owner changed the motor about 5 yrs ago. he put about 20 hrs on the motor then died. so the boat has set for 5 yrs.

first off does anyone know how to tell if its a std 350 or a vortec motor?? it does have the serpintine belt on it, it has a 2 barrel carb.

here are some of the things i plan to do. i am going to borrow a oil pump tool and prime the oil. i am going to hook a electric fuel pump to it and pump out as much old gas as i can get out, then add fresh gas and carb cleaner. i plan to look at the plugs and decide if i want to change them. i plan to replace the wires and rotar and cap. i plan to start and run the engine on the old oil then change the oil and filter. i was going to change the outdrive waterpump impeller. then i decided to change the upper housing as i will have it off anyway.

does anyone have any more suggestions or advice?? this is an older boat an 86 sea ray. it looks alittle rough, but it was cheap. if the motor is good then i should have a really good boat for erie. it is 25' x 8'6" and it trailers good.

i do already have a 86 28' x 10' sea ray amberjack that i got mostly for my little brother and my next best friend and me to use on erie. but they both died this last spring. and one engine lost fire and wont run. and i just lost interest in it. and plan to sell it this spring when i get the engine running. it has a brand new tandem axle trailer and tows good. but it is 335 miles each way for me to tow. and without my crew i just dont want to be towing that far. it has had the engines changed. it has twin 4.3 mpi engines. when it died it was like you shut the key off. i just wiggled all the wires and it started back up and run good. then we went fishing and run the motor all day, then it died again. i just had it winterized and parked it. i havent even tried to get it running. but im sure its just something simple. a loose wire or maby the coil. i have already bought a new coil for it. and i bought 2 brand new 4 blade props for it before my brother and friend died. so next spring look for this boat to be for sale. now i just need your advice on my new 25 ft sea ray.

sherman

just go with seaguar, you will not regret it.

i did use 8 lb vanish for trolling our local lake. we were catching mostly white bass and a few small eyes and a few crappie, blue gills, and perch. it worked ok for that. but when i tried the 15 lb test on the central basin of erie it just plane sucked. i had more brakes than i had ever had with anything elce. i switched to seaguar 20 lb test and have been very happy.

sherman

i,ve used them for a couple of yrs now. they do great work at a great price. i had bought some reels off ebay and took them out trolling with my lite bite slide divers. they were giving me some real problems. i sent them in and the problem he found was the new braid i put on them was slipping on the spools. he put pins in them and upgraded the drags. they all work like new now. and if i put new line on my reels now i start with 200 ft of 17 lb mono then add my braid. i even do this with the ones with the pins so i get the same amount of line on each reel.

tuna tom can fix just about anything.

sherman

i recommend seaguar floro leader line for leaders. its alittle on the pricey side but i think it works. i use 20 lb test for my leaders up on erie with my lite bite slide divers. and i seem to get as many hits on it as i did with the 15 lb vanish. but i just didnt like the vanish and had way to many brake offs with the vanish. the only brakes with the seaguar was just when the drag got set to tight.

sherman

sounds good to me. i would love to get the magazine again, as long as it has some good lake erie articals. as i havent fished for salmon in awhile. i do still have so much to learm about fishing lake erie.

sherman

you can run your 2 riggers out the side of the boat. this opens up the whole back of the boat. why mount the rigger in the middle when you can move it over to the side the kickers not on?? then you dont have to swivel it to the side to bring it in or to land a fish.

i have run 4 riggers many times over the last 35 yrs. i mount 2 of them just alittle forward and run them out the side. then mount the 2 back riggers on the corners and run them straught out the back. i have never had a problem running them this way. maby im just lucky. if i was going to use a kicker motor i would just remove that 1 corner rigger and keep the other corner rigger in play. or you could mout the back rigger in about a foot and still mount your outside rigger in the corner, and still have a big hole in the middle of the back of the boat for landing fish. just my opinion.

sherman

sometimes you have to really look to find the things to be thankful for.

i have had a rough year this year. i lost my little brother my fishing partner my hunting buddy on may 10th. then on may 24th im told that my next best friend of 50+ yrs had died. then i had all kinds of problems with my boat. its sopposed to be fixed but i havent actualy used the boat. i got it back from the marina and just beded her down for the winter.

but on the other hand i have so much to be thankful for. i couldnt even begin to list them all. here are just a few.

my wife of 41 yrs this dec, who lets me fish and hunt and never complanes. in the 40 yrs she has only asked me to not go on one fishing trip, and it was to manistee mich salmon fishing. i didnt go.

i am so thankful that even with my bad heart and legs with alittle help i still manage to do alittle fishing and muzzleloading.

i am very thankful for both my sons and there families. and even more so for my oldest son who got me going back to erie. i had give up and he changed my mind.

i am not only thankful for all the erie fishing gear but for the prices i got it for. i took my time on ebay and bought all my reels for about half what they would have costed to have just bought them. i got a great price on 2 big jon pro tournament riggers. then i bought 2 electrical planer reels for a unreal price. the one was a demo but the other one brand new. i got them through tony at lordoftheriggers.com. but i contacted him personally. he found out i was a disabled vet and he was good to me. and thats all i can say.

i was able to put cannon ratcheting rod holders and tracks on my boat. i got the single axis for different prices. i didnt buy all them at one time. i paid 59.00 for some of them i paid like 66.00 for a couple of them and the last ones i got they was down to 54.00. i think they are 66.05 right now but i have all i need. i got them at amazon.com and got free shipping.

i am 61 yrs old and took my wife riding on my atv. i wrecked and hurt her back pretty bad. im thankful it wasnt worse. im thankful i sold my atv,s before i hurt or killed myself or somebody i love.

and kinda like prop nut i am thankful for 2 fters or less.

i am thankful for lite bite slide divers

i am thankful for the custom worm harnesses from galeforcetackle.com

i am thankful for braided line

i could go on all day, even after having a rough year, if you just take the time to look around you can find so many things to be thankful for.

i am very thankful for this forum. it has been good to me and helped me get through some tough times.

and thankful for the guys on here who have been friends.

god bless you all, and happy holidays for thanksgiving and for the ones not so far away.

and im thankful prop nut started this thread. its really helped me see some things im thankful for.

and whatever you do you have to be thankful for every soldier marine navy or air force person who makes it home safe.

sherman

congrats on a great hunt, and great memeries with your dad.

my first double wasnt so easy. i was hunting way back in the wood down in this swampy botton. i was up my tree just after 1st light. i heard something coming and got my gun ready. i couldnt see very far for the heavy brush in that direction. so i just waited. this nice little 8 pointer walks out about 15 yrds from me and looks up at me. i just drop the gun down on his chest and pull the trigger. he drops right in his tracks.

i field dress the deer he has 5 points on one side and 3 on the other. so i start dragging him in. i get about half way in and i am wore out. its getting late for lunch so im hoping somebody will come looking for me. im sitting on the deer and look out to the fire trail that goes around the woods. i went the closest route dragging the deer. but there was my 250 pd 6'3" nephew and my son. i start hollering at them. they come over and started draging my buck in. they went up to the fire trail and headed for the parking lot. about 125 yrds from the parking lot i look to my right down in the woods and there was 2 does looking at me. i shoot left handed and had the gun laying on my right arm, so all i had to do was shoulder the gun and raise the barrel alittle. they was about 40 yrds. when i raised the gun i seen the one deers tail go up and here she went, i sighted in on the other deer i seen her tail go up and i pulled the trigger and the deer ran off. and my nephew not knowing i was going to shoot and he was in fromt dragging the deer. well when i shot he just did a nose dive to the ground. it was really funny but i felt sorry that i couldnt warn him i was going to shoot.

i walked over and found blood. i sent my son to get my little brother, he was an awesome tracker. he could find a drop of blood the size of a needles eye. so i waited on him. but we didnt have any trouble tracking her. my son and nephew draged the buck on to the van in the parking lot then came back to help us. we went slow and kept an eye out for the deer. when we found her she was 5 yrds from the road. so we didnt really have to drag her out.

we was hunting on a wildlife area, so you had to check your deer in. they would weigh them and take one side of there lower jaw on the inside so they would have the teeth to study. the buck field dressed weighed 161 lbs the doe i shot was a monster. she field dressed at 166 pds.

i didnt write this to try and show off. just thought you would like to read my story. im just telling a story im sure you can relate to. this hunt you just had will be fresh in your mind as long as you live. and you have your father to share it with. enjoy your memeries of your hunt. i lost my dad when i was 4 so i have no memeries of him or with him at all. you are a very lucky man.

sherman

I never meant to sound like I was bashing charters many of my friends charter and I try and go out with one of them every year as a paying customer. However there are still many that that the captain or the mate do all the fishing and you get to reel them in and a few who will even yell at you if you don't reel em in the way they want you to. I can remember one time a few years ago telling the mate to put the rod back in the holder and I would just turn the handle or better yet he could just hand me the filets when the day was done. and I would just sit and complain about the fact he was not filling my cooler fast enough.

didnt really take it that way. i was just saying there are good things about charters for guys like me who owns our boat. you can learn alot from a guy thats out there all the time. and i,ve been fishing the big water since 77 and the charter we went out on back in july the capt told me a couple of times i had my rod to high,LOL. but i still enjoyed fishing with him and did learn a few new things. the best thing i learned was where to start fishing on day 2 when we were in my boat,LOL.

sherman

charters do have there place even for us weekend fishermen. my first trolling trip on lake michigan was on a charter. and i didnt like the way he did things. he set the hook on every fish and got the 1st run then handed the rod off. but we did learn enough to get us started. and then started fishing it on my own. then i moved to the western basin of erie, but that was back in the good old days before the zebra mussles cleaned up the lake. and all you really needed was a boat and a few gold and silver nuggets and you could go out and get limits. but even then we followed some friends up from indiana and they told us where and how to fish, and that got us started. then we tried different things and then started trolling as the water cleared up. we knew enough to change as the fishing changed. we still did alittle drifting but always did better trolling.

then when i moved to the central basin i didnt have a clue. so i took out another charter, and he put us in school, he had us running the boat by noon. i had never even seen a dipsy diver except in the stores. by the end of the day i could run 3 divers on each side. then when i took my boat up the 1st trip we went out with him again on our 1st day. that was about 12 yrs ago, so this last july we went up for 2 weeks and i chartered another guy out for the 1st day. im sure glad i did, we learned alot from him. it never hurts to take a charter out just to go to school. so i do highly recommend a good charter for new guys to the big water fishing.

but then after you go to school there is nothing like being out there with my boat and my crew. we all work together and we all take pride in our catch. and yes sometimes one person will grab the rod and hand it off. but we try to have the person that is up next in the back of the boat so they can get the rod when a fish hits. and the way we do it i might get the rod and hand it to you, but next time you might get the rod and hand it to me, so it evens out. whoever can get the rod first gets it and makes sure there is no slack in the line. its not like the 1st charter where the capt got the rod every time and got the best run from the fish then hands it off.

i love taking my own boat out, and when we get fish it really has its rewards. but i learned more on those charters than i could have learned in years on my own. it just makes me a better fisherman for when i take my crew out. so i would recommend a charter every once in awhile for any weekend fisherman. but i would never be happy going out on charters all the time. i still have alot to learn about fishing the central basin of erie. but now i can take my boat and usely catch enough fish that everybody has a good time. but i still plan to take out a charter every once in awhile just to get alittle more schooling. and i have tried new things on my own. some of them are better and some are not.

two of the best things i,ve done was go to the lite bite slide diver and the chamberlain release for my riggers. the lite bite slide diver has been a real blessing on small trash fish. i have the trigger set as lite as it will go. so even a white perch will usely trip the diver. and the same with the chamberlain release, i set it loose for the bite and tight for the rod, it works great. good luck to you all.

sherman