sherman brown

I'm not sure what net you have but I have a couple of the TRU-TRAX nets for sail at a great price. they are still in great condition. I can't remember for sure what the last price was., but if you want to pay shipping I have the large TRU-TRAX for 65.00 or the smaller one for 55.00. if you're interested just let me know. they both have the extendable TRU-TRAX handles.

I had fished Lake Michigan for salmon and then started fishing the western basin of Erie for eyes using a deep v 16' boat with an 80 HP Evinrude motor. I used it for years on both lakes. I had wanted a larger boat but that wasn't in my budget. I was born and raised until I was 14 down in Tn. I made a few trips down to fish and visit friends and my MIL and FIL. about 40 miles up into Ky I keep looking at an old boat parked in a field under a tree and kept saying I was going to check on it. then 1 trip I stopped and asked about it. the heavy aluminum 18' open bow Cherokee hull was still in great shape but the paint was almost gone. I wanted it for an Erie fishing boat and didn't care much about its looks. she still wanted what it was worth when it was parked but that was years ago. so I offered her 200.00 for it but she thought that wasn't enough. so she had a friend at the marina come out and see if 200.00 was fair. he told her if someone was willing to pay that much she should take it because it wasn't worth that much after setting for so long. so, 2 weeks later after I had went back home she called and accepted the 200.00. my brother went with me on a Sunday to get the boat but like idiots, we went unprepared. when we got there it needed tires, and the wheel bearings were clicking when we turned the wheel. my brother started checking the bearings. they were rusted and a little rough. he cleaned them as best he could then packed the bearings, and filled the hubs with grease. then we took the old tires and wheels into the nearest town. everything was closed up and we thought we were out of luck but as we were heading back we saw a tire store that was open. we bought a couple of used tires. we put the tires on and headed to In. took it over to show it to a friend who said he would paint it for the cost of paint if I would get it sandblasted. my BIL owned a sandblasting shop and my brother worked for him. took it in on a Saturday and my brother blasted it. I got new bearings, tires, seats at an RV salvage store, then I swapped out the old cable steering to the 1 cable steering I bought from a friend who was selling new parts from buying out a marina going out of business. BOTTOM LINE we used this boat on Erie and were so happy with the larger boat. it took rough water like a swan. we used it for many years drift fishing then for trolling. this boat was great at handling rough water as long as we slowed down and had respect for Erie. but when we started fishing the central basin I got a larger boat I thought I needed but later realized I had made a huge mistake as that boat would have worked great.

have you thought about an upholstery shop? they should be able to make the repair in just a few minutes.

if you want to sell it we need to know what you want for it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! what size is the screen?

I can't believe you haven't been able to give these away for only 50.00. I have thought about adding a set for running wire line for walleye on the central basin on Erie. but the boat is part of my oldest son's, and he doesn't want to mess with them. and I'm 72 and just not able to run big boards anymore by myself. I would have thought at your giveaway price a newcomer would buy them just to try running big boards. they are so versatile that you can run your lures in so many different ways. you can flatline for shallow fish you can use inline or clip-on weights or even tru trips. all i can suggest is just keep sending them ttt.

I have 72" of track on each side and run my 3 holders as far back as I can put them and still reach the back one. then i have them far enough apart so the reels clear each other. I have always set my holders toward the back and never really had any trouble using my top. now I do have my hooks for the back straps forward of where they would normally be. this allows me to use a 30 degree fixed holder for my net. I have 1 on each side so I have another net at the ready when the other 1 has fish in it. I have used a set of riggers on the back of my tracks but had them forward enough to access the riggers, and moved my holders forward enough to clear the riggers. I have 3 holders for running my divers off each side and the 1 Big Jon rigger mounted on Big Jon slide releases with swivel mounts on pedestals on the inside of my gunnels. i run them at a 45 degree angle to the back corner.

I made do with manual for 25+ years then I had a little extra dough and there was a price war between 2 sellers on eBay and I bought 2 Big Jon pro tournament riggers for the unbelievable price of 500.00 a few years ago for fishing the central basin of Erie. but for the 1st few months, I walked around with a sore behind where I kept kicking myself for not getting electric many years sooner, LOL. I am getting older and cranking the manuals in was getting more like work than pleasure. using the electrics was a pleasure and so much easier and faster to use. no real learning curve to switch as they make it so much better. I have tried many weights with them. 2 years ago we bought a new to us boat. when we started to fish we had forgotten the 12# pancake weights at home. but the boat came with a set of used =Cannon riggers and 8# dredge weights that we had to use. To my amazement, those 8 # dredge weights worked better and had much less blowback than the 12# pancake weights I had been using. I just bought a new set of 10# dredge weights to see if they work any better, but haven't got to use them yet. as for rod holders for using any of the divers like the ones I use the lite bits slide divers rigged like a dipsy with a 7' leader and I don't use the slide system, or the dipsy or the deeper diver I have settled on the Cannon ratcheting holders. the thing I like best is they can be set using one hand. I tried the Traxtech ratcheting holders because they have 17 up and down settings whereas the Cannons only have I think 6. but to set them it takes both hands so I switched back to the Cannon holders. after using them I could never go back to a stationary holder for running divers. when you get a fish on pulling back on the line making it a little bit of a pain to remove the rod from the stationary holders. but with the ratcheting holder, you just grab the rod and lift it up and the holder ratchets straight up then just lift the rod out of the holder. hodgesmarine.com is the best place I have found to buy them. some people prefer the dual axis as the turn 360 whereas the single axis only turns 35 in each direction but you can choose the amount you turn them for fine-tuning the left to right adjustment. the duel axis uses a pin that sets the adjustment. you go from one hole to the next which may not align like you want. but the single can be adjusted 1/8" if you want. they are a little more trouble to set but you only need to set them once.

this is what I have used for trolling Erie for the last 25+ years I've fished it.

sounds to me like you may just be over propped. 5100 RPMs at WOT sounds like it isn't getting enough RPMs. what are the max RPMs for your motor? before tearing into other things I would try to find a prop 2" less pitch than the one you are using now. If it's a 19p go to a 17p and so on. going down 2" with a 4 blade would be even better. but going down 4" may be needed to get more RPMs because the extra blade makes it harder to turn than a 3 blade. and if the gas line is old it wouldn't hurt anything even if that's not your problem, as it might save you a big problem later.