muskiedreams

You said that the trailer is rated for 5400 lb and the total weight is 6220 lb. It looks like you are over the trailer weight capacity. Technically that should not be done. Also, as Richard had mentioned, your tongue weight should be higher. If you are adding any more weight with gear, you have to consider that. It sounds like you will have to increase the tongue weight and that will have to be done by moving the axle(s) back. If it is a dual axle you might have to move them both. You will have to put the trailer on jack stands or blocks. Connect the hitch to your truck to help hold it steady. Mark the position of the axle(s) on the trailer frame and move both sides back the same amount. Do the same for both axles. This is to make sure the axle(s) stay square with the frame. Then check the tongue weight again. Since the total weight is over the rating of the trailer, it might be a good idea to limit the weight as much as possible by traveling with less gas and considering carrying as much as your gear as possible in the truck. Keep in mind that if you remove riggers, coolers etc from the back of the boat, it will change your tongue weight. Also, depending on the location of your gas tank(s), the amount of gas may have an effect on tongue weight. You should also look at the weight ratings of your tires. Multiply tire rating by the number of tires. If it is a dual axle, make sure that the trailer sits level when hitched up so that the weight is distributed evenly on both axles and the tongue weight should be measured in the same level state. Since you are pushing the limit of the trailer capacity, you should periodically inspect the entire trailer for stress cracks. This includes axles, suspension and their mounting components. You don't want to have an axle break loose or or the hitch beam break loose. It will also be wise to take bumps such as railroad crossings slowly as to not over stress anything. I have an 18 ft aluminum boat on a trailer that is borderline adequate. I got it used and added a 15 hp 4 stroke kicker and two more batteries. So I had to deal with all these issues. I even had heavier springs made for it then I had problems with the spring brackets cracking and had to replace them. The last time they cracked, I had a welder reinforce them. I am hoping that they will hold up. I was lucky that when the spring brackets cracked, that the axle didn't tear out while I was on the road. On my trailer there was an adjustable hitch beam to adjust for different length boats. It was held into a yoke where the "Y" in the trailer is with two bolts. There was play at that point and stress cracks developed around the bolts. This may also have been contributing to sway problems I had at one time. I had a welder permanently weld the beam. I think that very often boats are sold with a trailer that is barely adequate for the boat as sold and then after adding all the extra gear, ???

And I thought it was cold in Rochester at 19!!

old man, Since it is a retail store I would guess that only service dogs for the visually impaired would be allowed but I am just guessing. You can call them at 585.456.1964 and ask them. pikefreak, They open at 10:00 am. If you get there early, and are one of the first 100 in the door you will get a free gift card. They say it can be between $5 and $250. One of them is for $250. They did not indicate if there are any with other amounts in between. We will be there at 9:00. I am not sure how early you would have to be there to be one of the first 100. You can help us win the $500 donation!! If you come, be sure to see us for a token to vote for us at the voting machine inside the entrance. There will be three other groups there that we will be competing against for the most votes. If we win, Muskies Inc. Chapter 69 gets a $500 donation from F&S instead of $100. They are planning to present the donations at the rock wall at 5:30pm, so it would be best to get your vote in by 5:00pm.

If you have" last 24 Hrs" and "just items I follow" checked, if there was no new content on the items you follow in the last 24 hrs, or if you have not followed any items, then it will say "no new content".

I have never used it before but it works fine for me. One thing is that it depends on what items you have checked on the left side. For instance, if you have Last 24 Hrs and new members checked, it will say no new content if there are no new members.

Just added link above for details.

Please come to Field & Stream this Sunday and bring your friends to help support us. F&S will be giving us a minimum donation of $100, but with the help of you, your friends and other supporters, we can win a $500 donation. We will be competing with three other organizations for it. Also, If you are one of the first 100 people in the door, you will get a gift card and one of them will be worth $250. (Revo?) Could not figure out how to post PDF here so follow this link for details.

I just found out through my Boat US enews that there is a recall on certain Kidde disposable extinguishers that were made in 2013 and 2014. here is a link to find out if your extinguisher is included. http://www.webfulfillment.com/StandardRegister/lpr.asp?l=614&ac=&ar= I found out mine is older and not part of the recall.

I haven't used the Bondy but I know people who do. I was told by someone who is successful with them (they actually got a 55" last year in the Larry) you have to use boat control in the current to keep it almost straight down under the boat. Work areas with humps, rock piles, along drop offs, and other current breaks. Drop it down till it hits the bottom, crank it up a foot or two and start jigging. Raise your rod up quickly to about 2:00 and then let it drop down but keep the slack out (slack but not slack) as it is dropping. Don't raise it up too high because if a fish hits at the top, you will not be able to load up the rod to set the hook. Most of the time they grab it on the fall, so if it stops falling or you feel a little tick, set the hook hard. The Red October tubes work well also. You can jig or drag them. they don't necessarily have to be straight down from the boat. Very often fish will be behind the downstream side of a hump or drop. You have to watch the depth and raise the bait up when the bottom comes up and lower it down when it gets deeper. You have to have a feel to know weather it is bumping bottom or it is a fish hitting. When in doubt, set the hook. With two people in the boat I have been told that, with one angler casting and the other jigging, very often a fish will follow the casted lure in and if it doesn't hit it, it sometimes goes down and takes the Jig. If you get hung up on the bottom, you need to have plenty of line and act quickly to power up the boat and get upstream from the snag to get it off the bottom. One other thing, put a big frog hook (like an english hook) or maybe a modified treble off the top eye where you connect the leader. You might have to try different things there to keep it from hooking over the leader. If you are new to musky fishing, please make sure you have the right equipment and tools to bring the fish in quickly and release them without overstressing them in order to give them the best chance of surviving.

I am with Boat US. The membership is a separate thing. It costs me about $28 per year which includes an extra fee for the trailering club which is for on the road assistance and towing. There is also a minimal amount of on the water towing coverage which is only for waters where there is a Boat US towboat. So that is just for Great Lakes. There is also a rewards program for West Marine purchases. You get $10 reward for every $200 spent. You also get some great publications, Boat US Magazine and Trailering Magazine. The publications alone are worth the $28. I have had to use the on the road towing a couple times over the years. It includes towing your boat and vehicle if your tow vehicle breaks down on the road. For my 1990 18 ft Grumman aluminum boat the premium was $160 last year. That covers collision, theft and vandalism for boat and trailer ($5k on boat and $600 on trailer) with $50 deductible including boating equipment but not fishing and personal gear (that would be extra). It also includes liability, medical payments ($1k per person and supplemental $25K ea for family members), fuel spill cleanup, $250 Commercial towing and uninsured boater. I have had two accident claims ( one on the road and one on the water) and one theft claim for bowmount over a 19 year period. The claims were handled well. Of course the higher the value of the boat, the higher the premium will be.

Does it run faster ok. Does it accelerate ok and get up on plane with no problem or hesitation.

I have a 1990 75hp mercury but it is a 3 cyl with oil injection. I have repaired many problems over the years. but your description doesn't sound like any of the problems I have had. Plus your motor is probably different than mine. It does sound like it might be a cold start problem. Mine has a prime solenoid that is activated by pushing in on the key when cranking. I have to keep pushing it in for short periods of time while keeping the idle speed up until it warms up a little. I usually only need to do that for the first time I start it and sometimes just a little when starting it later on if it has not been run for quite a while because the engine block holds heat for quite a while. The prime solenoid directs extra gas directly into the carbs when the engine is cranking and the diaphragm fuel pump (which run off of engine vacuum) is running. If you have a prime solenoid, you can check to see if it is energized by holding a screwdriver by the coil to see if there is magnetism when you push the prime (key). You can also check to see if the prime solenoid valve is opening by removing the hose from it's outlet and look for gas coming out when you crank the engine and press the prime. I doubt there is a problem with the fuel pump because that would cause it to have fuel issues when it is running, especially at high speeds. If spark plugs or ignition was a problem, it would flood, you would probably smell gas and the plugs would be wet. If it runs OK and idles OK after you get it started, I doubt there is any problem with the carbs. Hope this helps.

Gill-T, I just read back through everything in this string. I really am beginning to doubt that loss of voltage has any bering on the problem. I understand that you had Unitrols upgraded to electric and it sounds like what was used, was drive units from an older version which was a high speed version of the orriginal Mag 10. I get the impression from reading a few other comments here that others have also had problems with blowing mother boards on that particular vintage. It sounds like to me that maybe that vintage just didn't live up to it's specs and may have had reliability issues. Maybe that could be comfirmed if you searched other forums and find many others who had problems. Unfortunately, it is hard to say if you could get any satisfactoin from Cannon, based on the circumstances. One thing I don't understand is how you got a warranty on the upgrade. Especially since it sound like that style has not been produced for several years, unless the warranty was just on the parts which may still be availabe primarily to repair the older units. I am beginning to think that all you can do is use smaller balls and hope for the best. Since my background is in electronics, I would be curious to see if the boards could be repaired or possibly repaired with an upgrade to cure the problem at a lower cost.

Are you using one battery for everything? Is the meter at the helm reading voltage of the battery that is suplying the riggers? Even if it is, it is measuring the battery voltage. It is not measuring the voltage at the rigger. Since the rigger draws a considerable amount of current, any connection problem or if the wiring to the rigger in not of adequete size for the application there will be a drop in voltage at the downrigger. the voltage at the battery could read ok but the voltage at the downrigger could be reduced. Also since the motor will momentarrily require more current when it is starting than when it is running, the voltage will drop even more for that moment. The only way to know for sure if you are losing power is to check the voltage at the rigger when you run it under load. Keep in mind that with a 12 volt system, the wire needs to be of of high enough gauge to supply enough current. With all wire, there is always a votage drop. When you increase the length of the wire or increase the current draw, the voltave drop will increase. Cannon probably recomends a minimum wire gauge that should be used, and maxumum length. You have to increase the gauge with a longer length.

Nobody has said anything about wire quality and gauge going to the riggers. They draw quite a bit of current and if the wire gauge is too small you could be dropping several volts between the battery and the rigger and you can get a huge momentary dip in voltage on startup. Also, for longer wires you need a heavier gauge. It is the same way with bow mount trolling motors. You also have to make sure every connection is clean and tight. Being in a marine environment, connections need to be checked periodicly. Keep in mind that if the wire or connector contact is dull looking there is corrosion that needs to be cleaned off (with sand paper or scotch brite pad) before you make the connection or crimp. Dielectric grease can help to slow down corrosion and improve connections.

Follow this link to the LOU Musky, Tiger Musky and Pike forum for details

Hosted by New York Chapter 69 of Muskies Inc. This Monday March 16th at 7PM At: Genesee Valley Henrietta Moose Lodge 2290 5375 West Henrietta Rd., Henrietta, NY Ted Decker Owner of Teds Tackle in Lakeville, NY He will be talking about Conesus Lake fishing, primarily pike and tiger musky. From what I understand, he knows a lot of the local fisherman and is in tune to the what, where, how and when for success on the lake. I imagine he can give us a few tips on walleye as well.

I think the boat belonged to someone else. Maybe they would have confiscated it if it was his. They have been known to confiscate boats entering Canadian waters without checking in.