SeaCatMich

Have you contacted FishHawk about the manual? Trevor Sumption is the owner ([email protected]) and is very helpful. Those units are over 10 years old, but maybe they still have info.

Mike, if you go to your User Control panel under your User Profile, you can then choose Edit Options and choose to get notified when a thread you have created has another post made to it. The option is called Default Thread Subscription Mode and can be set to Immediate, Daily, or Weekly notifications.

You can have multiple devices running off of a single NMEA 0183 output. Come off the GPS NMEA out and split the plus and minus wires so they "Y" with a branch running to the radio and the other branch going to the AP. The NMEA output of the GPS may send information (called sentences) that may not be needed by the receiving unit, but it will just ignore any it doesn't need or understand. On many GPS systems you can customize what gets sent out.

Call Broadlow's Fish'n Hole (269) 982-3474 or Tackle Haven (269) 925-0341. They will know.

Call Bob over at Big Papa Sportfishing (www.bigpapasportfishing.com 248-344-0958). They make great bags and can give you a good recommendation. Here is a link to the Big Papa sizing guidelines: http://bigpapasportfishing.com/trolling_bags.htm I'd think that a pair of the 25" bags would be plenty or even the 22", but I'd call Bob to discuss it.

Not happy with today here in mid-Michigan today -- barely going to get above freezing and we have freezing rain -- especially after being without power for 8 days in December due to freezing rain. 45 on Tuesday, 55 yesterday, 32 today and the weather man says 40+ through the weekend -- but we all know how accurate those forecasts are (see previous thread post ). Come on spring. I want to go fishing and mow some grass.

It used to be mandatory on hydraulic steering with the SportPilot and significantly improved the unit on mechanical steering. Basically with hydraulic steering there was no way for the AP to know how far the boat steering had been turned and the pump would continue to run even though the rudder was full over. On mechanical the RR made the steering more efficient. As I understand it the newer Raymarine units rely on much better gyro and GPS information and consequently don't need the RR. I think I would give it a try without it and add it if you need it. It isn't hard to add later -- mount the RR sensor and run the cable to the control head.

I wish this had been an April Fools Day post. At least it was in the upper 50s yesterday and is to be above 45 for the rest of the week. Maybe we are over the hump and we are done with freezing daytime temps until next December.

The easier (but more expensive solution) is to buy a FishHawk X4 Completely eliminates the need to waterproof the connection.... it's only money.

I have had good luck with the 3 and 4 inch Gulp minnows on Erie and Sag Bay walleye.

Walker makes a combination Klincher/Blacks release that will allow you to rig up the connection like the picture below. 1. First you drill out the rivet that connects the snap-swivel to the plastic assembly with a small bolt & nut. 2. Next strip off 6" or so of the coated cable and route it through the Klincher like you would normally with the coated cable butt up against the terminator but don't trim the tag end. 3. Now trim the tag end leaving enough to let it reach the bolt I leave less of a loop than what is shown in the picture. 4. Crimp a closed end ring wire terminator to the tag end and slide it over the bolt and tighten down the nut 5. Use liquid electrical tape to coat the exposed wire, the bolt/nut, and the snap-swivel. Don't coat the downrigger release arm. Rigged Klincher Walker Release (combo Klincher & Blacks)

On the GL Planers web sit click on the item to go to the details page for it (http://www.greatlakesplaners.com/store/proddetail.asp?prod=GLP-013). Then use the drop down on the "Vertical Stock Bases" field and choose the last listed option in the list "Removable cylinder base".

Try a product called Vinyl Off. You wipe it on the lettering, let it sit for 2-3 minutes and then the vinyl can be removed much easier. if you search YouTube there are a couple videos on it. Worked well on a small boat I have that the old "MC" lettering was probably 15+ years old.

The first year the 19 strand was out some of the spools had issues with strands breaking. I had this issue and went back to 7 strand. I talked to the of Torpedo Diver people at the GR show this past weekend. They said the problem has been fixed. According to them the wire is now wound tighter and uses a different weave structure. The "old" stuff's fraying was caused by putting finger pressure on the wire in front of the reel. I needed to refill a reel for this season so I went ahead and bought the new 19 strand. The 19 strand is definitely less stiff and easier to tie knots in.

Looks like you want either the Removable Cylinder Track Base (http://www.greatlakesplaners.com/store/proddetail.asp?prod=GLP-070) if you want to take the mast out without removing the base from the track OR the Standard Track Base which has the vertical rod holder post welded to the track mount and would require the whole bird tree to be slid out to take if off the boat. .

Is a 2700 too small? A fresh Craigslist post: http://nmi.craigslist.org/boa/4387426577.html

TMI

1994 3100 Țiara diesel @ $39K -- http://muskegon.craigslist.org/boa/4354745685.html

http://www.popyachts.com/Page/Site-Listing/36662/Express-Cruisers/Michigan/Used/1983-Tiara-31-Pursuit/Page.html http://www.popyachts.com/Page/Site-Listing/17672/Sportfish/Convertibles/Michigan/Used/1994-Tiara-3100-Pursuit-Open/Page.html http://www.popyachts.com/Page/Site-Listing/21631/Express-Cruisers/Michigan/Used/1988-Tiara-3100-LE/Page.html

I too like the Walmart batteries for the price and that they are made by Johnson Controls. Nice that there is almost always a Walmart within a few miles of where I go fishing too so that if I have an issue and need warranty coverage it is easy to go to any of the stores. For trolling motors you will want full deep cycle batteries, not dual purpose. Full deep cycles can be discharged much further and will recover with charging back to full power. They also will discharg more evenly under load. Another option to consider is going to four 6v golf cart batteries configured for 24v output. Many bass boat owners are doing this because the overall amp-hours is much higher and the batteries are designed for heavy use and charge/recharge cycling. The downside is that they take up more space than a pair of 12v batteries. I would also look at the charger you are planning to use to make sure it is a 3 stage charger that will optimize the rate of charging. Applying a 20a charge all the time to a deep cycle battery will get it charged but also reduce the overall life of the battery compared to a lower charge rate over a longer period. The good onboard chargers from companies like Guest will charge them correctly.

My concern for a single boat with a cuddy that would be good for fishing on both inland and Great Lakes would be that it wouldn't be very good at either. To get one small enough to launch easily on many inland lakes with enough room to fish the big water in reasonable comfort is going to be a tough combo. On a lot of inland lakes an 18' boat is "big" but an 18' cuddy is pretty cramped. If you are really talking about fishing inland lakes from the boat, I wouldn't go with a cuddy at all. Usually inland lake fishing is casting and positioning the boat to do that is a lot easier from a more open style boat where you can put an electric trolling motor on the bow or stern. You also get more room to fish from -- especially when the fishing is mainly casting and you can fish from the whole boat, not just the stern. Overall I would evaluate how much you would be using the boat for the different situations and then get the boat that best fits what you would be doing the most but still let you do the secondary use. In a smaller "big water" boat my preference is for an outboard setup. Mainly because without the dog-house for an I/O you get more room inside the boat. An outboard can also extend your fishing/boating season in spring and fall since it drains water from the cooling system and does not risk freezing like an I/O.