1mainiac

I guess one thing I have looked at hard is can I even use a boat enough to see the fuel savings yes it costs more to take my 26ft out every trip. But I have only been skunked 3 times in the 5 years I have owned it. 5 dollar a gal gas has driven it up to roughly 100 bucks a trip so if there are 4 of us on the boat it is 25 bucks ea for gas which is not bad. When I bought the boat 10 to 15 bucks ea was plenty. Most of my fuel is running in and out trolling does not cost much so when I can I try and troll back to port gives us more fishing time and cuts down on the run in. I may or may not keep mine another year it depends on what happens over the winter and what I decide in the spring. However if it were not for my wife's neck injuries I would fish it till I am too old to fish anymore. It is simple to upkeep and most parts are fairly cheap it is also something I can work on because it is a Chevy engine. My plan before my wife was hurt was to upgrade to fuel injection and electronic ignition which would cut down on the fuel used. The point to much of this is find 2 similar boats you like one with a older motor and one with a high efficiency motor and compare fuel burn rates you will see why mine has not already been upgraded. Because it takes about 260hp to push my boat 40mph on flat water at 24 gph of gas. The 3 thousand dollar upgrade might cut it to 22 gph of gas. At a 3000 rpm cruise my boat is about 14gph at 28mph the upgrade would cut it to about 12 gph or about a .3 mpg increase. which means if my math in my head is right about 9000 miles to break even I might put 300 miles a year on the boat in cruising which to me means 30 years to break even. There are however other advantages which come into play. So when you look at it you really have to consider TCO because some times less really is more. To put it another way if I had my choice and it was just me I would be looking at a 26ft Hewes Craft with twin Honda's. To me it is nearly the perfect big water combo easy on gas great fishing platform. However the boat I will likely buy is a older 10m Trojan here is why the Hewes will be close to 90 grand by the time it is setup and my wife will never fish on it. The Trojan is 20 grand already setup the way I would like it so given the same budget I could blow 70 grand on gas fishing gear and repairs to the Trojan before I even took the Hewes out 1 trip.

The problem is eventually you run out of other peoples money. News flash Tom if your house was ruined every 3 to 5 years and you had to fix it yourself how long would it take you to find a better place to live? Lets face it many of those demanding the government to step in and help them in a emergency already expect the government to pay most of their daily living expenses. What happened in Utica IN in 97 was people were told to build flood proof homes or leave their houses were condemned. Some of them took the FEMA money and gave up their homes and left It sucked for several people I knew but life goes on. However they did not do the same things to people in Louisville or Jeffersonville they also did not hold the same standard in New Orleans. Which means simply they do not have a fair and balanced approach. I can assure you your town of Whitehall if flooded would not get the same response as Detroit you can guess as to why that is I already know.

Like Nick said I don't fish in much worse weather with the 26ft than I did with the 18 it replaced. I am however much more comfortable doing it and can run wide open in stuff I used to have to slow down for. If I get a bigger boat it will to have something my wife can go out in on decent days so I am looking at some pretty heavy and wide boats. And when the weather is nice we will take Steve's 17 and save the gas money. Going from the 18 to the 26 gained me about 5 fishing days a year but it also got my wife to fish with me for 3 years. Since her accident she has not set foot on the boat I am hoping something bigger may get her back out fishing again.

The reason mine may be for sale is I am hoping to get a bigger boat they are cheap and everywhere. I have found several 32 to 36ft boats I can own for less than I owe on mine and I don't owe all that much on mine. Last I knew GLF's boat was still for sale and is a pretty good fishing boat as well.

Mine may be on the market this spring plenty of room for 4 or 5 guys to fish and will handle more water than either of us want to fish in. Avg fishing trip is 12 to 15gal of gas. full canvas cabin with stand up head and a sink and water plus wash down in the back. Rear deck is completely flat has been a good boat for me. It is a 26ft Four Winns.

It will work but I would rather have the back open to fight and net fish. If my boat was 12ft wide I would consider a center rigger but other than that to me it would just be in the way too often.

The problem is many of them get the same results every time someone else pays for their problem. My mother had a nice house just north of the ball park in GR but it flooded every year one year it flooded three times. She just adapted to it once she learned the game she always had the right amount of stuff damaged to max out the insurance. They always paid for the repairs and cleanup. Her house was built to FEMA flood standards but still it flooded every year. 1 time I went to get her out with my truck and got complaints because the waves off my truck knocked windows out of several houses. The water was only 3ft deep so I drove in the truck had 44's and a lift kit. The funny thing was we used to mud bog where the ball park is now because it was vacant wetlands and the land owner was not allowed to build there. But yet when they wanted a ball park poof like magic FEMA and the DNR allowed them to build one. I have caught fish where the ball park is now. One year we had Salmon in my ma's swimming pool that was cool sort of LOL.

I would bet the crews got more done while they were out of town as compared to having them there over coordinating. FEMA is just one of many good intentions that really don't work well in reality. The fact is nothing any government can do that will prevent or fix every problem we need to be able to take care of ourselves and help our neighbors. Sadly for far too many they will either call for help or wait for it when they could be the help. Some people really do get what they deserve in the end so if you think the government can solve all your problems then FEMA and other agencies are just what you need. As for me I will take care of myself and my family until I am dead. I am also smart enough to not build in a flood prone area and when I have lived in one I have been ready to leave when needed. When we lived in Utica we had a 35ft motor home and a cargo trailer so when the river came up we moved out. After a couple of years of that crap I got a job in Houston and was there during Allison in 01 and when the Trade centers got hit. When Allison hit we hitched up the wagons and headed west for a few days then returned to help with clean up. Allison dumped 34in of rain in 48 hours in sections of the town and semi trailers were floating down the highway. Lots of places where the elements can wipe you out pretty often not sure why I should help people rebuild and live there. How many times do you have to be wiped out by the weather to consider living somewhere else?

The actual problem for several of them was that they had already built to the old standard. Which was based on the 100 year flood plain because they are in the 500 year flood plain and got hit they are screwed. The rule is they have to raise the house 6ft on one and 2 of them do not need to be raised because they are above the flood plain but FEMA wants new foundations built under them. None of this has to do with the fact they were not damaged in the flood but because it was declared a disaster area which put FEMA in charge of the entire area. The ironic part is one of the houses that was ruined was already built to the new standard prior to the flood. The owner of that house is rich and needed no help rebuilding his house. On another note if FEMA held the same standard in New Orleans most of the city would be vacant unbuildable land. Since in Utica they decided you had to have all livable spaces roughly 30ft above the avg river level with flood openings in the floor level which by the way lets all the snakes into your house. With much of New Orleans 12 to 15ft below sea level how high would you have to build to meet the same standard? The true Irony is that the houses on the KY side of the river do not have to meet the same standards as the IN side. Also this was a decade ago I would like to drive back thru there and see what it looks like now. The house we had in Jeffersonville,IN just 3 miles down river also flooded in the same flood as did the entire subdivision however none of the houses had to be changed to meet any new requirements ( bigger city more money). The problem is FEMA makes many of it's rules as it goes and based on who gets appointed to take charge of the area.

No way to answer without getting into politics but the simple answer is it is just a smokescreen and waste of money by both parties. The waste is everywhere I work in the RV industry and over the last 15 years we have sold thousands and thousands of campers to FEMA many of them never even used. In Georgia there was a 40 acre field of campers from a hurricane in 2001 FEMA paid a avg of 13k each for them and they never left the staging area in 2006 I went with another tech to inspect some of them we considered buying from them they were rotted into the ground so we did not buy any of them. Some of them were as cheap as 200 bucks ea. There were probably close to a 1000 of them in that field. Same thing in Houston in 2000 and for Katrina. I also lived in Utica,IN one summer after the big flood in 97 We could have bought a nice house with 3 lots on the Ohio river for 25 grand from FEMA however The house had to be removed and a FEMA compliant house had to be built. Which would have cost over 100 grand. Many of my neighbors refused FEMA help because they could not afford to rebuild under their rules. We parked our motor home right on the banks where a very nice house had been The previous owner could not afford to rebuild and one of the people who refused FEMA help bought a bunch of the empty lots tor pennies on the dollar. She turned them into campsites. My neighbor lived in a travel trailer next to his house nothing wrong with his house but since the took the FEMA money they could not live in it until they built a new one. Which leads back to the statement Reagan made about the worst thing you will ever hear is " I am from the government and I am here to help"

I did not buy one like Ken I did however build 3 or 4 of them and use them all the time I even gave one to Steve for his boat. Nothing fancy just a piece of 1/4in Rod bent to make a S about 5in long with a 1 1/2 wood dowel for a handle. I used the dowel to form the bends I don't have the measurements but I think the rod was cut to 18 in before I bent it. Cost was about 15 bucks to build all of them and got everything a Lowes The rod is a 1/4in Galvanized ground rod I think it came in 6ft or 8ft lengths. Here is a pic of one being used.

I used to use a tire thumper many years ago now we just toss em in the cooler.

No idea how big the waves actually were however she drove her bow into the bottom and broke in half which is why she went down so quick. The song has nothing to do with how she went down but it is a good song.

When I was in the Coast Guard in 77 at Yorktown VA one of the guys there was on a MLB that went after the Fitz he said he lost count of how many times they rolled the boat.

I have been trying to get more guys to use the DSC for years most seem to think it is just a distress call. The fact is that it is more like your cell phone in via radio. You can make personal calls or even group calls. Exchange positions at the touch of a button. With the right radio and plotter setup and adding AIS a group can watch in real time as each others trolling patterns change and positions update. So if you share your MMSI number with your friends you never need to say where your fishing over the air. So when a friend says hey we are doing pretty good here 89ft down on green spoons he does not have to tell the whole world where he is or what direction he is trolling you will see it on your screen. Another advantage is if you ever have to push the red button any friends who have you in their radio will also see your distress and may be a lot closer than the Coast Guard. But since very few actually monitor ch 16 one of your friends could need help and you might not even know it.

First thing I check is water clarity I fish clean water completely different than dirty water. I mean completely different like runs i fish in clean water get avoided in dirty water. Second what do you plan on doing plugging holes is different than running float setups and different than bottom bouncing. Learn where the run tails out and leads in and depending on how you plan on fishing adjust to that. Running floats i tend to setup just above the lead in and float to the tail out. Bottom bouncing I setup to the side just below the lead in and cast above it to let the bait work thru the run. Pulling plugs you need to know how deep your lures will run and how much line out it takes to get there. We run a lot of Hot n Tots and vary between 40 and 75ft of line out so when running them I setup above the run, run my lures out to the lead in and let them dig in the we work the anchor motor and oars to work thru the run to the tail out. Usually the most explosive hits come at the tail out because you back the fish up till it gets mad and hits.

While I am all for cleaner energy the real point is if any of it actually worked and made money they would already be everywhere. The fact is take away government money and mandates and there would not be any of them being built. The ones pushing for this the hardest are the only ones who will make anything from it and they could care less if the rest of us go bankrupt paying for it. I know of no green energy that is capable of paying for itself in the current market. The only way they will ever work is like Obama said prices naturally will have to go up and go up a lot. The 1 % a year increase is pure hogwash it won't work there has to be more money or people will go broke. They may be able to cap the output cost at 1% but they can't cap the cost of building them. So the cost of building them must come from somewhere or are we just gonna keep printing money till it has no value at all. Compare the German Mark after WW1 to the British Pound. When Germany began doing what we are doing right now ( Printing money ) in a matter of years their currency went from a few Marks per Pound to over 100,000 per pound. What we are seeing right now is just the start. Soon most of our middle class will be below the poverty level and the adjustment needed to fix it is beyond painful for millions.

I like Woolridge boats but again the point is something the wife can ride in. A new Woolridge would be worse than my current 26ft as far as her ride is concerned. The point is we survived the loss of her income which will be reimbursed eventually when the lawyers are done. She has 5 fused Vertebrae in her neck plus a metal plate so getting bounced around in a boat is not on her to do list. For me and my friends I would look at something like a Hewes Craft 260 but I will need something heavy and stable for her to be comfortable. I am not a big fan of the old Trojan boats but the fact is there are thousands of them still on the water and they don't cost a lot to buy. At nearly 10000 pounds and 14ft wide my bet is it won't be rocking back and forth like my current boat so she should be able to enjoy some days on the water. Any other suggestions would be worth a look I really don't want to go much past 20 grand unless I actually win the lottery and if I do well maybe a 56 Viking Convertible.

Tried that lottery thing long enough right now would be happy to get my own money back. And clearly the little one is the one I would have in the driveway for the IRS LOL. Actually since my wives car accident and neck injuries I am looking for a boat she could be comfortable in. One I am looking at online is a Trojan F36 Big wide heavy and not out of my price range. The only issue is annual maintenance slip and storage since it would be a boat I can't bring home every trip. Sadly right now I can afford the boat the slip and storage just won't have any money left to go fishing. However if I did win the lotto the boat would be in a slip in AK but I would send you guys pics LOL.

nothing against the Lund but they don't turn into anything bigger other than the payment LOL.

I am seeking help finding the right boat I have the layout narrowed down but can't seem to find one. What I want is a 18 to 21ft open floor plan boat for inland lakes and Walleye fishing. Here is the hard to find part I want a Daffy Duck Acme Button that when pushed turns it into a 4300 Tiara for big lake fishing. I am sure once put in production this would be a must have boat for many of us.

You pretty much got it Matt there are guys who use what little name they have to get as much free stuff as possible. Then there are the guys who get free stuff use it or not and then sell it. Some of the bass guys are the worst offenders as soon as they can't get a new boat for nothing they switch boat companies.

Another issue is being sponsored by companies that do not advertise on the website your on or even worse compete with website sponsors. The primary reason I maintain a website for the MSCST is to keep our sponsors and stuff separate from this and other sites and Mike and the other site owners do want want to give away free advertising neither do I it costs actual money and takes up your time to have a website. Heck even though we don't have much traffic on the MSCST site i am still on it several times a day mostly booting spammers LOL. This however is only fair to other sites rather than pushing competing products on them. I don't use any of our sponsors stuff exclusively but I do use it nearly ever trip out but I bought and paid for nearly all of it some things I get a discount on which helps but other than prize packages I have won all the stuff I use I paid for.

I am all for better energy but don't blow smoke up my butt trying to tell me it is free. Most of the turbines will not remain in operation long enough to pay for themselves let alone provide free power. The only ones that will show a profit is the companies that build and sell them. And the only ones dumb enough to pay for it is our government and they are broke and borrowing money from my grand kids.

Perhaps the push Dan refers to is actually the counter to those who want to remove God from every ones life by law. Like the separation of Church and State there is no such thing what there is are rules saying the government cannot infringe on a church or impose religion on anyone. Amendment I Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Somehow that has been turned into thousands of pages of law and BS most of it conflicting with the rest of it.