Sonny.Barile

Yeah I know the 24v is better. My problem with that is just no room for the second battery. Also.....I like the old school pedals better too. I think you are more in control with it. The left right buttons being on seperate sides will probably take some getting use to.........However, the electric steer motors have much smaller mounting requirements, and having any type of bow mount is going to beat what I have now. Cadman...I checked out the Terrova on-line. I dont know the major diferences in them but the pedal sure looks more old-school. It is a little bit out of my price reach though. I have a budget of $525 and that has to get me a tm, mounting materials, and a circuit breaker. Anyone use the ranger style circuit breaker from Cabelas? It has a switch on it which makes me think it would be usefull.

Well....after many hours spent looking at fishing boat modification websites I have narrowed it down to getting one of the electric steer models because it requires the least mounting pad space. However.....after reading the two replys I got, I am still deadlocked between the MotorGuide and the Minnkota................. I am so confused...............!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been obsessing over trolling motors for two weeks. I want to put a bow mount on my boat and I also need to put some decking on the boat to accomidate it as the boat doesnt have any bow decking. I have looked at the Motor Guide Wireless, Minn Kota Powerdrive, and the Minn Kota Edge. The Motor Guide is cool and needs the least space to mount. The Minn Kota P2 looks juat a little bit bigger. The one I really like is the Edge. It is slightly cheaper and has an old fashioned pedal (no electric steer) which to me is the least likely to have problems. Only problem I see is the size of the mounting. Does anyone have one and can tell me the size of the deck I would need to mount it. It is hard to tell from the pictures. I can only get about 24 inches max. of deck on the boat. I cant just go get one cause of where I live...it has to be mail ordered so it wouldnt be easy to return if it didnt fit. Pleas help...............my brain hurts from thinking about it....

Fishin-Fool I tried your knot a minute ago on some 30 pound braid and I like it. I had what looked to be my biggest striper ever (wild) about 4 ft. pull a palomar out on this same size line. I got him to the boat, I tipped the rod straight up (probably a mistake) to reach for my glove and as I started to raise my head back up I watched my knot unwind. He slipped right off with my soft plastic still in his lip. I know it was tied well cause minutes before I pulled up a 15 incher. I have tried a few diferent knots and none really lock that braid down well. Some make the joint to stressed and the braid breaks which freaks me out cause this isnt supposed to happen with braid.

Some of you sound like real machinists..........I am a designer...........are any of you laughing histerically at this? The fixturing alone would dead end them.................

I think I just witnessed the birth of the easy bake oven 2.................... I was pondering a similar idea for hanging lures in to dry after painting. My version had the bulb in a sort of metal can sheild at the bottom and the hanging racks above. I was going to put some holes in the top for air flow. It also needs a hole at the base for fresh air to get in. The air flow to the top has to be deflected so it isnt a direct path. This will stop it from needing a fan. If done properly it is cheap, simple, and efficeint. I think the hole at the bottom has to have more area than the combined area of the venting holes.

Im the blindest.....and according to my wife...Im the piggiest.....lol One thing I learned from this site is that the common materials used have some limits but the mechanics have endless posibilities...................... Have a great 4th of July.............

Yeah.....the UV thing is a whole other learning experience......lol Interesting note: I went to Lowes today and saw a loctite product labeled 50 minute epoxy.....and it said it would be "water-proof" if cured more than 24 hours.

I fish lipless primarily. I have played with the same lures in diferent thicknesses and learned quite a bit from it. Weight placement can make quite a diference too.............especially when weight is required in both the front and tail section. Simply moving the tail weight location slightly can change action dramatically. I got some advice from diemai a while back about messing with the weight for a Ludela I was building. After doing such I started messing around with everything. You would be suprised at what you can change about a given design without changing the over-all pattern. Sonny

Interesting to know.......thanks..... I am probably over thinking this and making it harder than it has to be.....(I am sometimes obsessive compulsive) Im goin to just screw it into the top of the rubrail with self tapping stainless screws. I will use the smallest I feel comfortable with this way I can change to larger screws if I need a future bail out...........Then if that fails I can drill all the way through the otherside of the rubrail and use nuts and bolts.........Gets me out of the driveway and back in the water quicker.............Thanks for the advice...it is much appreciated

Here is the skinny.............. Water resistance means water will bead up on it and be shed like a waxed car. However, the material is water soluble and will eventually break down. Water proof means the coating is not water soluble, therfore not breaking down from exposure. ...oh....and another thing..... Water proof doesnt mean water proof in all circumstances. According to some astm specs, water proof can mean many different things. You would need the spec number that the epoxy company claims to be in compliance with to really tell. For example, one spec that I know of for a seal material claims water proofness to a depth of 10 meters in 70 f. mineral free water. (I work for a medical device manufacturer). This is probably not usefull info but may help you win on Jeapordy......... Sonny

I have used those fasteners in work, but I worry about them spinning in the hole after repeated loading. I may just use a thin bow cover (maybe fiberglassed for strength) and use self tapping screws. If they eventually come loose Im not stuck with a big hole. It can be drilled out larger and then install an insert. Atleast I would have some way to fix it in the future.

Vodka Successes take years to prove.....failures only minutes. I think the Elmers is real tough at first, but with repeated exposure (especially to salt water) it is going to break down. I cant seem to find any Devcon locally. I have tried the Loctite products from Home Depot.....both the 5 minute and 30 minute variety turn to mush in the salt water. It took only minutes to do so.........

Hi Folks I need some advice. I just got a brandy stainking new Duranautic 13 ft. aluminum v-hull (pointy kind) and it does not have a bow deck for my future trolling motor. My first thought is to drill into the top of the aluminum rub rail and put flanged threaded inserts into the holes. I could then bolt down a fiber glass/wood core pretty painted bow deck. (with a battery shelf underneath. It isnt going to be for standing on just for the tm. However if I ever need to get out of the boat through the front it should be able to take a temporary step. It will only be about 2 feet long. My question is.....I dont want my inserts to start turning when I tighten down the deck. Would JB Weld be enough to hold them down? .....or some other epoxy/adhesive? Thanks Sonny

LoL.......it was just Elmers Outdoor Glue from Home Depot.....However, I wouldnt reccomend it to anyone just yet. The real results will come when one of these lures is a year or two old.....

I have never used JB Weld but I have been researching it for a project. I read the specs on both types..... One is 16 to 24 hours cure time and is good to 500 degrees F. The working time is long. The other is only good to about 300 degrees and has only a 4 minute working time. It does however fully cure in only 4 hours. I have not been able to find the tensile strength of either kind........ Hope this was helpfull..............

Diemai I wouldnt mind building a few of those in the larger sizes....(about 6 inches or so) I have been fishing surface and near surface religeously this year (my new passion). The Bluefish here really slam lures that leave a wake or splash trail and those look very different from what we are accustomed to here.

Guys......Forgive me for butting in........but..... I made a bunch of lures for Blue Fishing here in Jersey. I experimented with both 5 min. and 30 min epoxy (Both Loctite products) for my screw eyelets and got the same result. I was able to catch one 2 ft. long Bluefish. They are quite aggressive so it was a good test. After that the eyelet was ripped out by another. I went through this all day and burned about 10 lures. My woods are white oak and hickory. That evening I took a spare body blank I had made and tried using a waterproof glue. I painted it and clear coated with polyacrylic. The following weekend I went back the same spot on the bay. Low and behold the glue made the diference. I fished all day on the same lure. Infact I still have it....it has been used to haul in 3 dozen or so bluefish (from 15" to 30") and a 21 inch striped bass. 4 fishing days total. The finish is really messed up due to the agressive teeth of the Bluefish but the eyelets are still burried strong as new. Guess what kind of glue it was?

Wow.....thanks for all the feedback guys...........That is why I love this site...........I spent alot of time reading the old posts before I built anything but there is plenty of new info doled out here every day........ I think I can find cedar and some teak here but the others would have to be ordered.........what about the Hickory? I cant really find any good info for its properties on-line.....just mostly food/grilling.....which is still usefull....cause I like to eat almost as much as I like to fish.......

Well......I used a variety of wood for my lures. Pine, poplar, white oak, and hickory. The pine and poplar came back with chunks gouged out of it. The white oak faired a little better. The hickory only got scrapes in the top coat and paint. If the top coat were epoxy I think they would have come out unscathed....................

A few months ago I started posting here and made a bunch of lures. When it came time to topcoat I ended up using polyacrylic. Most of you regulars that got involved in the conversations were dead set against using this stuff because of hook rash and durability. I aquired some and tried it anyway because it was so darn easy to use I just couldnt help myself. I have been busy with work and was also in the proccess of replacing my boat...so I didnt get to do any fishing until last week. I took my tackle box full of lures out on the bay for the day. I had a great day boating over 2 dozen 2 foot long bluefish. Every one of my lures worked well but got shredded easily. For you guys that dont know what a bluefish is....the only way I can describe it is.....take the jumping and running ability of the largemouth bass and the teeth of a big pike, put'em together, and multiply by 10. Even just running on the sandy bottom takes this stuff right off. All in all as a learning experience I would say this was a great day. My lures swim good and catch fish. I also learned alot about topcoats. It is epoxy from now on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will be spending saturday bandsawing as many blanks as I can to stock up, building a drying wheel, and shopping for some epoxy.................

Thanks guys............That is what I was thinking also.....only I dont want to put any holes in the boat. I can put that on top of the little plat that is on the boat and put another small plate below and come up through the handle slot with two bolts. Esentially samwiching the front plate like a clamp. This way I dont have to drill into the brandy new boat......... Do you think 1/8 stainless plate would do the job......I could use a peice of pressure treated 2X4 for the wood backer.....?

Hey.....Just got a new Duranautic 13 ft. aluminum. I have a transom mounted trolling motor from my previous boat but I want to put it on the bow. The power head turns around so that part is ok. I have no idea how to mount it. I dont have a deck...just a rub rail. I tried putting on the side and it doesnt have much to hang on to. It will end up coming lose. I am putting a pick up of the boat so you guys can see what I am faced with. Any ideas would be appreciated.............. Sonny

I know this is an old post but I thought the following info would be interesting to you all. The reason for wiping the epoxied lure down with alcohol is to remove something called amine blush. It is a waxy/oily/maybe even tacky substance that appears on the surface of epoxy after it cures. Alcohol removes it. Almost all epoxies get this. Only one or two brands of a specific marine epoxy do not get it. If you have got a good smooth level first coat you shoudnt need to sand....just wipe with alcohol before the 2nd coat. You can substitute with most any good solvent. You all seem to have the right habbits for sucess....I just thought you might want to know why it works............ I am not an epoxy expert......in fact I dont use it on my lures....but I did build a fiberglass over wood boat many years ago.

Hi folks Im no paint expert.....but I think I read something way back that acrylic paints take about a month to cure all the way through. I would guess that means it can out-gas for up to a month. I dont pay any mind to that now but I also do not topcoat with epoxy....the article was on one of those wood boat building websites.......