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PunkRockFisherman

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Jul 21, 2009
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Hey guys, I just recently got back into fishing, im 18. I live down here in North Louisiana, and like 2 months ago I decided " Hey, I want to go fishing " so me and my cousin went through his deceased fathers fishing gear to see what we could wip up. All we could find worth using is a cane pole, a hook, and a dry rotted half of a plastic worm. After a short laugh we walked down to one of my grand parents 4 ponds (the smallest and closest) and decided to go fish. Wouldn't you know it, within 20 mins we cought 4 brim, 3 of them eating size, a lmb about a foot long, and then a 24.71 pound alligator snapping turtle (we weighed it). After that, I was hooked. So, from then until now I have taken every chance I can to take the 30 min drive out to our land in the country, and go fishing in the Big pond (about 4-5 acre man made pond). Withen the last 4 or 5 times I have gone fishing, I have wanted a boat to use, so I dragged down an old jon boat from the 60-70's (we think) and started fishing out of it, and then I even grabbed an old 27 lb/thrust Minn Kota trolling motor and a battery out of an old car and used it as well. Man, I got to say its amazing. I could not ask any more out of this boat or this trolling motor. I took a GPS out of my Tuscani Elisa (2 door coupe) and decided to see how fast I was going in the pond, and i was hitting 5-6 mph, wow. I am amazed at how well these things hold up and run. The boat has a small leak some where (after about 4 hours of fishing with 500 pounds + in the boat) we get an inch of water in it. Any ideas in finding the leak? All I can think of doing so far is pulling the boat out of the water, put it on top of 2 4x4s and fill it up with water to find the leak. Is there a better/easier way? Also, I am sure you guys know alot about trolling motors, is 27lb thrust ideal for ponds? Or do you think I should maybe get some cash and upgrade it?
Anyways, Im hooked, I have an Abu Garcia bait caster that I am still trying to master that I use for heavier lures, and an abu garcia spinning reel on an Ugly Stick for everything else that I got from bass pro shops, I also dropped 50$ in crank baits, soft plastics, and Rooster Tails. (All i have to say is the rooster tails time and time again deliver).
Hopefully Ill have a video or atleast pics of my set up and pond, sorry for the wall of text but its raining and I have no job and I can't go fishing so I decided I would find a cool fishing forum and this looks perfect for me.
Any other N louisiana, east texas, or south arkansas fisherman?
 
:WELCOME:

Thanks for joining.

The easiest way to find the leak is to do exactly what you said. Put it up on some sawhorses and fill it up. Leave the trolling motor as is, you will not go much faster. Save the money for some lures!
 
Welcome to the site.
Do as you said,,,to look for leaks.
Circle the leaky rivets and then try to re-buck them.
Seeing as you have some time on your hands,theres some pretty good reads on here,just use the search engine.
Sounds like your all good to go.
 
ben2go said:
3M 5200 Marine sealant is great.It's almost like a semi permanent glue for boats.Bucking rivets isn't hard.Use a hammer or flat dolly pressed against the head of the rivet and use another small hammer to tap the rivet.You want the head to stay in place and the inside to swell out a little.
Ben2go
Just type in re-bucking rivets into the seach engine(top right of page),there will be pages full of info.
 
all you need to do to rebuck a rivet is put a sledge hammer on one side of the rivet (another person holding it) and then you GENTLY tap the other side with a regular hammer. It doesn't take much
 
Alright thanks for the tip. And yeah it is real nice, since my grand parents have gotten to the age where they cannot fish (have not in about 5 years) these ponds have not been fished at all (and if any, being fished by people who are not aloud on the land, grandparents have 500 acres so we cannot keep tabs on it all). I actually did the first mod to the boat last time i went out, I mounted a chair we had lieng around hah. I do wish we had a trailor for it, for now the boat is just staying down there and I have to mount the trolling motor and seat each time I go out, but its not to bad.
We also have a skeeter boat that has not hit the water in 3 or 4 years, I just hopped in it and it all worked (well, I did not start the motor), its a skeeter sd 80 with a moter guide trolling motor (foot pedal) and a 50 hp yamaha. To bad we had to sell the truck do to bad economy and we don't have the cash to get the tags and stuff on it, becouse im wanting to try it out too.

Anyways, are there any good "quick fixes" to make the boat more stable? I don't know the measurements, next time I go out I'll get 'em.
 
Zum said:
ben2go said:
3M 5200 Marine sealant is great.It's almost like a semi permanent glue for boats.Bucking rivets isn't hard.Use a hammer or flat dolly pressed against the head of the rivet and use another small hammer to tap the rivet.You want the head to stay in place and the inside to swell out a little.
Ben2go
Just type in re-bucking rivets into the seach engine(top right of page),there will be pages full of info.

I agree to Zum quoting my post. :LOL2:

I would stick with the trolling motor you currently have and maybe upgrade to a deep cycle marine battery,size/group 29.
 
You aren't going to get any more speed out of more thrust on a trolling motor, so don't waste your money there. Do spend the money on a good deep cycle battery. It will give you more time on the water, and has less of a chance of stranding you than the car battery, as it drains slower.
 
Got it, how much would a deep cycle battery cost me? Also, this may be a dumb question, but since I am sort of a speed demon, and im poor, would 2 trolling motors help me out (with two batterys ofcourse) with speed? IE, we have another identical trolling motor that is just sitting in the garage that I could mount aswell.
 
Welcome to the site. Im still fairly new here and have learned a lot from these folks here.

They are not afraid to share info and have been very helpful with all my questions.

Wolf.
 
Your not going to gain much if any speed with multi TM's.
5mph is all you would probably get,have to get on plane to increase speed and TM's won't get you on plane.
If you want speed,you need an outboard.
A good battery or 2,gives you time on the water fishing.
 

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