Happy Birthday Showmebob

[Whiskers]

Hope You have a good one.Hope you aint snowed in up there in the Rockies.

[showmebob]

Thanks for the b-day wishes Whiskers. Did have a good one, my son came home from the city to spend the weekend with us! Sorry I haven't been active much lately. Too d@mn busy preparing for the trip to MO, returned just in time to get ready to go to hunting camp, and trying to catch up on real estate in the mean time! Now the snowmobile club is gettin active, crimestoppers etc. To top it all off, the boss is opening a branch office so now our floor time is being doubled!
We've only had 3/4 of an inch of snow here in town. Had 2 feet a couple of weeks ago in hunting camp. We have very mild weather here, not like you would think of for a mountain town. We are known as the Bananna Belt. I expect a more servere winter than normal this year tho.
Stay warm and dry in MO!

[Whiskers]

Sounds like your pretty busy over there.Glad to hear your weather is mild for that area.I'm not sure what winter will be like here.It has been pretty mild the last few years so it's about time for a long cold one.

[showmebob]

Sis and Bro in law in Buffalo said they really had no snow last year at all. But MO needs the moisture judging by my pond. It was 2 1/2 feet low when I was there. Weren't you the one who bought the Bass Buggy? if so, hows it working out? Just curious cause I've got one.

[Whiskers]

Yea,I bought the B.B. I like it alot.It's alot more comfortable than my V-bottom fishing boat.lol!
Only problem I have is I need to raise or lower the motor.It doesn't really get up and move as fast as others I've seen with the same set up.I'm only getting between 1.5 and 2.5 miles per gallon with it so I know something isn't quite right,it could be the prop.It runs great and is in the right rpm range at top end.

[showmebob]

I have the 40 HP Tracker by Merc motor on mine. Top speed is about 17 MPH. I usually run it about 4200 RPM and probably get about 4 GPH altho I've not done a really good check on it. I think I'm running the 11 pitch prop. Max RPM is just over 5000. My boat is a 96 model. My biggest complaint is I like to bass fish and the wind blows this boat all over the place. Also, when you trailer it if it is windy and you are going highway speeds the corner cushions from the back seat will blow out of it. I usually just take them out before trailering. The wife likes the porta potty and enclosure for it that I made, lets us stay out much longer than before!

[Whiskers]

I have a 45 hp merc (Classic 50) on mine and it tops out about 12-15 mph.Top end is about 5200 rpm but I too keep it about 4200 or less.My wife wants me to add a porta-potty also with the privacy curtain.You can hardly go a mile on the lake here without there being a Marina or store so I haven't gave in on that yet but I'll probably add one because I get tired of having to pull anchor when I'm fishing to run her to shore.
I bought this boat from my brother-in-law who is a bigtime white bass fisherman so it is set up with down riggers and equipped for bass fishing but I mostly catfish so I haven't found any use for the down riggers yet.I may try trolling for bass next year to try it out.I've never really tried fishing for white bass where I grew up We only had black bass so it's all new to me.I do like catching crappie from time to time.I usually have a pole or two baited up (in the rod holders)for catfish when I'm out then I fish for crappie with another pole while I'm waiting for a bite.

[showmebob]

The porta potti is well worth it. I used a camping shower enclosure for privacy. Takes about 2 minutes to set up. I made a post and arm out of aluminum to hold it. The whole thing breaks down and takes up very little space.
My boat also came with downriggers for big trout/ mack/ and nasty fish with teeth. I pulled them right away and put rod holders in there place. Few hundred dollars of stuff setting in the garage gathering dust now.
We mostly fish for bass and crappie. Love cats but seldem dedicate serious effort to them. Night fishing is what the wife and son like to do. I rigged up a lantern on a high pole for light, works great until the buggs come out!

Send me some photos of your Buggy, we can exchange info/tips. I've done mods that helped me out and I like to share and learn from others.

[Whiskers]

Hey,that sounds great.I will see what photos I have around here and I will put them up or email them to you.It might take me a couple days to get around to it.One of my sons is in from out of state with his better half plus I have 3 grandkids running through the house this weekend.On top of that I am test driving a new Ford Explorer this weekend so we are going out sight seeing to see what kind of mileage it will get.I have an older one that gets about 17mpg,I am hoping this new one can beat that,if not I may not want it.lol!

[Whiskers]

Well here is a couple pictures of the Explorer I was test driving.We ended up buying it.It isn't new,just new to me.It is a Eddie Bauer Edition 4x4,under 50,xxx miles,heated leather seats,dual climate control(the old lady can have heat and I can have A/C if I want),3rd row seating with heat n air controls in the rear,Audiophile 6 disk cd changer in dash with premium speakers and sub-woofer,and more gadgets on the dash than a 747 cockpit,I still haven't figured them all out.It seems to get about 20mpg avg,with 23.6 being the best I have got so far on a trip to Kansas last week.I drove to town and back last night in the ice running in 4 wheel drive and got 16.4mpg according to the onboard computer readout.My old Explorer would be lucky to get 10-12mpg when in 4wd.

[Sinker]

Nice rig, Whiskers. Ya figger ta ever grow up?

[Whiskers]

"Ya figger ta ever grow up"?

Not if I can help it.lol! I've came a long way though from the muscle cars I used to drive.This is just a glorified,jacked up station wagon.