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DuckOfDeath

My new boat

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When I moved over to NE Arkansas I had to sell my old Bass Tracker with a 50hp propped motor because there's really no lakes to speak of nearby.  I'm within 20 minutes of 4 great rivers though, Spring, Current, Eleven Point and Black.  I've been doing what I can on them with my propped 15hp on a 1436 John boat.  Not something I ever wanted to take people out on though.  I've had my eye on the Blazer SS boats with a jet drive and finally pulled the trigger on one last night.  It's an 1856 with an Evinrude Etec 60/40.  Hugely popular boat around here, made a little north in Ellington, Missouri. Most people have them rigged out to party on the river, with bimini tops and stuff, but this one is designed primarily for fishing with casting decks and a rod box.

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Thats a really nice Blazer Duck! It looks like new, you'll certainly have a ball in that this summer! Are the livewells under the rear decks?

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nice boat duck !. you should take it over to hyber springs this summer, i'll have my yamaha waverunner there this summer !.

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6 hours ago, retro said:

Thats a really nice Blazer Duck! It looks like new, you'll certainly have a ball in that this summer! Are the livewells under the rear decks?

Livewell under the passenger seat. The driver seat has the option to be used as one if I wanted but I'll be good with the one.

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6 hours ago, shadetree said:

nice boat duck !. you should take it over to hyber springs this summer, i'll have my yamaha waverunner there this summer !.

You mean Heber Springs? That's where I lived before I moved here. We lived on the Little Red river. I spent a lot of time on Greer's Ferry with my old Tracker. 

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24 minutes ago, riverc said:

Nice boat....What you like fishing for??

 

 

What ever bites is good with me , as long as it is eatable , LOL .... 

 

Riverc , I was with people last night from towards your way from me , Laplace , Gramacy , Luther , Paulina and that corridor and the blue catfish bite is on from what I was hearing , they had some 20 - 40+ pounds in the mix  with lots of 2-5 pounders , which a 40 pound cat  is fun to catch , but I would rather eat a 2 pounder and let that 40 pounder go if I had smaller ones in the box , they were using chunks of liver wrapped in stockings like a money bag on the hook 

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1 hour ago, Fishfiles said:

Nice , is that E-TEK  2 stroke  

Yes.  I intended to get a 4 stroke for my next boat but after reading up on the direct injection and control module on the Etec, I decided it should be as good or better.  It's lighter, supposed to have more torque than a 4-stroke and has similar fuel efficiency too.

36 minutes ago, riverc said:

Nice boat....What you like fishing for??

 

I primarily fish for Walleye and Smallmouth now because of where I live but you name it and I've fished for it at one time or another. I make trips to NE Ontario once every few years for Walleye, Bass, Pike and Lake Trout.  I go to Western Michigan to target Steelhead about as often. I'm planning to drive a couple hours West of me to fish Lake Norfork for Stipers next month.  When I lived on the Little Red River (7 years) I took up fly fishing for Brown and Rainbow Trout. I live on a 20 acre lake now that has a ton of Crappie and Largemouth.  When I vacation in Florida it's all about Snook and Redfish.

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3 hours ago, Fishfiles said:

 

 

What ever bites is good with me , as long as it is eatable , LOL .... 

 

Riverc , I was with people last night from towards your way from me , Laplace , Gramacy , Luther , Paulina and that corridor and the blue catfish bite is on from what I was hearing , they had some 20 - 40+ pounds in the mix  with lots of 2-5 pounders , which a 40 pound cat  is fun to catch , but I would rather eat a 2 pounder and let that 40 pounder go if I had smaller ones in the box , they were using chunks of liver wrapped in stockings like a money bag on the hook 

 

Hunting season is over for me.....Finally got all the mess with the boat trailer taken care of.kansa does not tag,title boat trailers under 2500 lbs. so I never did it,well to register in La. Have to do both boat and trailer.Well I had to make a trip to Livonia police department to have chief inspect.I am now legal,so will be getting boat ready,to go after catfish with Rod & Reel  and Yo Yo's,only have one pack of catfish left in freezer.Will try to stock freezer with about 100 before the Hot Hot weather of summer gets here.

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14 hours ago, DuckOfDeath said:

You mean Heber Springs? That's where I lived before I moved here. We lived on the Little Red river. I spent a lot of time on Greer's Ferry with my old Tracker. 

yep, meant heber springs..lol, sorry, long day when i posted that. its where i go to ride my jet ski, love that lake !.

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very cool...congrats on the new ride!!  i miss having a mid-sized runabout like that...have a trolling only 12ft on my pond, and recently sold my 14ft 25hp... i have a nice merc 20hp 4 stroke electric start sitting in the shed waiting for me to get in the mood and find a deal on wider jon boat...used to do a lot more gigging/bow fishing but as the wife and I got older, the skinnier 14 we had just really wasn't stable..well...our legs weren't stable...so the days of shrimp net casting and gigging afe on hold..more likely over...but I do miss having the little Boston Whaler with 50hp style rigs..just great fun, very personal feel

 

my bigger boat is just about done getting a complete refurb..it's a 22ft super deck boat..350CID (5.7) chevy engine (merc sterndrive)...seats up to 12..it's an old 1999 model that I bought new in Feb of 2000..so it's celebrating 20 years with me..and after many trips to the keys for scuba, time fishing and boating on the Carolina Coast, and countless days of cruising and tubing with the family here on the lakes and rivers...well..it was overdue for some love...new upholstry, swapped out the old 5.0 for the 5.7 and with that change, pretty much everything else down in the hole, and all the dash electronics that have corroded over 20 years...yep...lotta work, and gotta say thanks to a second hand for a ton of elbow grease to wet sand all the old oxidation, polish and buff...that's when you realize how big the boat actually is (grin).

anyway...second test run on the lake will happen once this crazy weather settles down..but flooding storms, lake debry, 65 and storms one day, snow the next...welcome to the carolinas...have had one shakedown run and she needs a bit more work, carb jets adjustment, etc...but getting close and will definitely be ready for fun come spring....had it out week before last...and brother, 50+mph on the lake in 46 degrees!!   ...if I hadn't been worried that the shop boys would laugh at me, i woulda taken my motorbike helmit (full face shield)  and been a lot more comfy...but it was a short run..just to see how the work was progressing...she was starving a bit at WOT...adjustments, etc.anyway...yeah...once the boat bug bites...ya just gotta answer the call...good fer you!!  nice nice rig...great size...

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Yeah, I needed a wider boat for sure. I missed the casting decks and stability of my old Tracker but it wasn't suited for the shallow shoal filled rivers where I live now. The 1436 Jon boat was barely stable enough for me, let alone guests. This new rig is 56 wide with casting decks like dance floors. It will run with 4 people comfortably.

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On 2/15/2020 at 3:45 PM, shadetree said:

yep, meant heber springs..lol, sorry, long day when i posted that. its where i go to ride my jet ski, love that lake !.

Once I got sick of eating Trout I spent most my time on that lake. Absolutely beautiful.

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56 minutes ago, DuckOfDeath said:

Once I got sick of eating Trout I spent most my time on that lake. Absolutely beautiful.

we need to get a get-too-gether at heber this summer, i will deff be up on it, putting some hours on my jet ski..lol, sad i tell ya, '15, only has about 14 hrs on it ?..lol.

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37 minutes ago, shadetree said:

we need to get a get-too-gether at heber this summer, i will deff be up on it, putting some hours on my jet ski..lol, sad i tell ya, '15, only has about 14 hrs on it ?..lol.

10-4. My old neighbor has a cabin on the river she rents out sparingly. She's told me I'm welcome to stay there whenever I want. I have every other weekend off so I'd be down with driving over anytime I'm able.

Edited by DuckOfDeath

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18 minutes ago, DuckOfDeath said:

10-4. My old neighbor has a cabin on the river she rents out sparingly. She's told me I'm welcome to stay there whenever I want. I have every other weekend off so I'd be down with driving over anytime I'm able.

cool !, we'll deff have to get-r-done !..lol.

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9 hours ago, DuckOfDeath said:

Yeah, I needed a wider boat for sure. I missed the casting decks and stability of my old Tracker but it wasn't suited for the shallow shoal filled rivers where I live now. The 1436 Jon boat was barely stable enough for me, let alone guests. This new rig is 56 wide with casting decks like dance floors. It will run with 4 people comfortably.

yeah, when I was a teen and twenty something, the 1436 was just a great platform.. I'd always overpower em and running the creeks in our low country was a blast...sliding in and out of turns, etc...heck we'd even ski behind em...soon as you hit the throttle on that 18 hp johson, the skier would have to all but try to stand up and get out of the water so the motor could pull you, but once up, it was fun ski speeds..but back then I was all of maybe 130lbs?...add 40 years and a 100lbs and that same 1436 platform feels way less stable..never mind standing to cast or bow fish...so I was happy to sell the last one to a young fella, knowing the adventures he'll enjoy with it....I don't need to scoot, beyond being able to get up on plane..just to get from landing over to a creek...then it's all about being shallow in draft so we can get up into shrimp holes or slide along a mud flat to get flounder etc...the lil 4 stroke merc can plane the wife and myself....so that's good nuff.

 

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7 minutes ago, Bighanded said:

yeah, when I was a teen and twenty something, the 1436 was just a great platform.. I'd always overpower em and running the creeks in our low country was a blast...sliding in and out of turns, etc...heck we'd even ski behind em...soon as you hit the throttle on that 18 hp johson, the skier would have to all but try to stand up and get out of the water so the motor could pull you, but once up, it was fun ski speeds..but back then I was all of maybe 130lbs?...add 40 years and a 100lbs and that same 1436 platform feels way less stable..never mind standing to cast or bow fish...so I was happy to sell the last one to a young fella, knowing the adventures he'll enjoy with it....I don't need to scoot, beyond being able to get up on plane..just to get from landing over to a creek...then it's all about being shallow in draft so we can get up into shrimp holes or slide along a mud flat to get flounder etc...the lil 4 stroke merc can plane the wife and myself....so that's good nuff.

 

i am not to fond of my '10 , 25 hp, 4 stroke merc, its nothing like the old 25 hp 2-strokes were !. but it is quite, and good on gas , but as far as get-up-an-go ?..nope, hate it..lol.

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1 minute ago, shadetree said:

i am not to fond of my '10 , 25 hp, 4 stroke merc, its nothing like the old 25 hp 2-strokes were !. but it is quite, and good on gas , but as far as get-up-an-go ?..nope, hate it..lol.

oh I agree..believe me...my old 1980s Suzuki at 20hp was way stronger/faster than the 25/4 merc i have now...but I was getting too old to be twisting sideways and pull starting a stubborn old motor, so electric start was change decision #1 for me, and the straight gas vs mix...eh..call me lazy..but we do find that the merc has just enough to get our old butts up out of the water and to our destination and back quick enough of bad weather is coming up...no speed demon by any means, but I'm ok with the motor.

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5 minutes ago, Bighanded said:

oh I agree..believe me...my old 1980s Suzuki at 20hp was way stronger/faster than the 25/4 merc i have now...but I was getting too old to be twisting sideways and pull starting a stubborn old motor, so electric start was change decision #1 for me, and the straight gas vs mix...eh..call me lazy..but we do find that the merc has just enough to get our old butts up out of the water and to our destination and back quick enough of bad weather is coming up...no speed demon by any means, but I'm ok with the motor.

lol, i got mine same time i bought a new 14 ft john boat, my mistake on boat ?, i should have stuck with square nose instead of this v-nose..lol. and yea, i really miss my 25 hp , 2-stroke, getting to the fishing hole is a tad slower now, but it does get me there !..lol. almost 4k i paid for it when i bought it brand new back in '10. maybe 6 hrs on it sense then ?..lol.

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2 minutes ago, shadetree said:

lol, i got mine same time i bought a new 14 ft john boat, my mistake on boat ?, i should have stuck with square nose instead of this v-nose..lol. and yea, i really miss my 25 hp , 2-stroke, getting to the fishing hole is a tad slower now, but it does get me there !..lol. almost 4k i paid for it when i bought it brand new back in '10. maybe 6 hrs on it sense then ?..lol.

yep...bought the merc about 5 yrs back..not many hours on it before the wife just felt she had gotten too unstable in it...mind you, she always used to be the one to stand up front with the gig in her hand..she loves gigging for flounder and she likes to cast until she's exhausted...we're just getting old..it's what it is...have to adjust our equipment to meet the need...and if that means a little less ripping it out on the creeks...ok..if I wanna WOT and soar across the lake... that's what the big boat is for, and feeling that 350 crank up to speed..yeah...good enough.

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6 minutes ago, Bighanded said:

yep...bought the merc about 5 yrs back..not many hours on it before the wife just felt she had gotten too unstable in it...mind you, she always used to be the one to stand up front with the gig in her hand..she loves gigging for flounder and she likes to cast until she's exhausted...we're just getting old..it's what it is...have to adjust our equipment to meet the need...and if that means a little less ripping it out on the creeks...ok..if I wanna WOT and soar across the lake... that's what the big boat is for, and feeling that 350 crank up to speed..yeah...good enough.

haha..i think most of us fall into the old spot !..lol.

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here's my ol gal...ready for her final shakedown this week...swapped the original 305 (5.0) for a 350 (5.7)  4bbl, built from ground up and claims to be pounding out about an additional 90hp...instead of the 40ish OEM specs....extra umph enables me to put a more aggressive pitch prop on there as well...first test ride she was much more efficient at cruising speed and came up out of the hole as if it was a simple act...all new wiring/connections..20 years of moisture will create a lot of wire gremlins.

foot needed new gimbal, impeller kit, etc...yep...lots of TLC was long overdue..including new upholstry...but buying a new boat in this class...too painful to even consider..and at my age...the plan is to have no debt..so boat payments aren't an option.

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