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I saw this and thought it was pretty cool, only fishermen will get it so I just thought I would share. I know this is not a targeted species of ours but it is still pretty cool.

Good morning Dino my-friend,,,, You are "right-on" about the current crazy boat market and I see no end in sight... A couple of weeks ago I had a local doctor (dead serious) offer me $14K more for my 2005 2200TE than what I paid for it last July... It is not for sale!! I never thought I would see the day when I would have a Pathfinder with a T-Top on it but I'm slowly getting used to it and I've only broken two rods on it so far... That shade is certainly appreciated and enjoyed on these 100+ degree heat index days I woiuld really like to see your little "GHOST" boat.. It really sounds nice... It is an HPX-V isnt it??? I've had two of the HPX-T's and one HPX-V... I want to find another of either model HPX's for a project boat... --------------< "){{{{*><

This posting is 5 years old.... You all brought this back to life and I fell for it. I called the guy and he was like, "I sold that boat a while ago..".

Got an evening flood tide off and went out with a friend. After he messed up his cast I long gunned him from the poling platform.

Post Tropical storm chew . Semi retired life is not so bad . YOLO TGIF ! 🇺🇸🏴‍☠️

Enjoyed hanging out on Saturday and goin on the wet test. She’s made it to her new home! Thanks again. Dad is super pumped!

Only thing left is some glass work and clean up wiring. I love this boat…..

Weather looked great....large outgoing tide in the a.m and winds not too bad... Up at 0230- WAWA at 0345 and picked up Mike at 0415, one stop on the way to pick up a few shrimp at the Bait Babe (she wasn't there - too bad), and then on the water by 0645.... Started in the back and stopped several times along the Lopez where we saw running water.... Mike was casting the topwater and the snook were pounding it....by 0900 Mike had 8-10 in the boat...mostly snook lets (15-22) inches but fun all the same. We move along the waterway to several spots and the snook were finally hitting my DOA shrimp... We made our way further back and decided to fish a large set of oyster bars... I lost a monster snook and Mike changed over to a darker paddle tail... Immediately he was getting pounded and found a nice backcountry pumpkin to come home... Water temp was up to about 91 by 11 am so decided to head back up the Houston to see how the front looked.... Roamed around Storter Bay for a while with no results and then headed out front... The tide was still low so we waited for about 45 minutes....water temperature a bit cooler - just under 90...yeah hot But,I was able to trolling motor over to one of my favorite spots (double top secret ) Mike was pounding the shoreline and found more snook and finally couple of nice reds.. I found one on my popping cork and shrimp....(yes cheating according to the purists) We left the front to move to the back once the tide came up and we screamed across the bights to get home.....the Ghost was running 37 mph @ 53 rpms...no over-heating.....But, before heading home.......Off we ran to my final triple secret spot...deep up in the bights.. And, more reds.....i found one on my first cast.....hmmmm....do you think I like the procure scents...I even put it on the live shrimp....works great in murky water...maybe I should smile more with only a face a mother could love.... time to run home.......great day....great cuban sandwiches...and blackened redfish ready for dinner tonight.... And Mike shot one last picture of the Ghost as I pulled away heading home.... She's been through a lot but finally got a good bit of slime....tally 19-20 snook, 6 reds (two to the box) and one nice trout......

Labor Day sunrise in South Georgia

Was blessed to spend the day with my son, Captain T. Bryan Stoots, today. We launched at the backcountry ramp at first light and ran out to the Gulf and up towards the creeks and rivers to fish the falling tide. The water was as dirty as I have ever seen it, and what looked like algae to me was prevalent in Whitewater Bay and Oyster Bay. Water temps were high. We caught 4 snook and 1 trout and Bryan lost what most likely was a very large Goliath Grouper, but could have been a snook. Not a great day from a fishing standpoint, but it was wonderful to have him with me on the boat for the day.

Today was the wrap up of the partial rewire. Everything back up and running. Including new nav lights, Marpac LED shark eyes, Hella LED anchor/stern light and two LED spreader lights. took 3 days, 12 hours in total. Picture of garbage was just today. While at it the old garmin gps black box was disconnected and removed as was the control box and wiring for the troll n tab motors on the trim tabs. They were frozen and drawing current. Next time on the hard the motors on the tabs will be removed and the brackets cut off. Happy with the job and the marine electrician was excellent and really knew his work. Sad to say however, my t top is excellent and rock solid but whoever wired the lights on it was a hack as was the wiring on the oem factory bow lights. Think they were rewired when the anchor light was installed.

IMG_4828.MOV

So my father called me yesterday and asked if I minded if he worked on the boat... I guess he can't stand seeing it sitting there all day without doing something. He said "I know this is your project, so I'll leave it alone if you want... but I figured I could do some stuff while you're at work". I do wish I could work on it more, but 8-5 job & the family are a bit of a time constraint. So I told him to go for it, do whatever you want. Well he got the whole boat skim coated with fairing compound yesterday before lunch, setup for 3 hours and then sanded the entire thing. This morning he calls me and says he's getting ready to spray the high build primer. 5 hours later and he's got 3 coats of high build primer sprayed. He said it laid down really nice and there's only a few slight imperfections that he can see might need some attention. One issue is that the repaired side of the hull is now completely flat and straight... where as the original side of the hull does have some slight waves in the surface. You can really only see it when you get down and look at it with the reflection of the light. But right were each wave indentation happens is exactly where the bulkheads are at throughout the boat. But overall, for the first coat of primer it looks great. Going to wait over night (12 hours recommended) before starting to block sand the whole thing. That will be a labor intensive process, but it's really the only way to do it so you make sure you get it straight. The high build primer only came in white, but the next 3 layers of primer will be the finishing primer that is dark gray. Josh B.

GOOD FOR YOU!!! I have been seeing several boats displaying our flag lately while in the coastal waters just a little south of you.... I've been thinking about making an "Ole Glory" flag a permanent fixture on my boat and maybe even a small decal on both sides of my Pathfinder besides the PF logo....

Sat 9-11 🇺🇸 Never Forget ! 🇺🇸🏴‍☠️

Marginal video I took while following a trailer across the flat. the time to get out and chase these things is NOW!

After several weeks of NE wind , I finally made it out to my old fishing grounds for Tripletail. Had one undersize and one keeper. I was very happy with two being caught because it’s been a little slower this summer than normal on the Tripletail fishing. Here is a few pics of the keeper.

The new to us 1994 18.5 MA lives on. Took her out for a 60 mile round trip cruise to grab some lunch today. She certainly is sweet. Added LED navigation lights and an Ipilot. Waiting on batteries and figuring out a new GPS Setup. Loving this thing. IMG_2112.MP4

Lets see here: Boats are massively more expensive . . and . . . more people have boats . . . but . . . . . nobody seems to be working . . . I am doing something wrong here!

Yes... it's out of control. It's the reason I sold my old boat and also the reason I'm rebuilding a broken boat, because I looked for months and couldn't bring myself to pay the asking prices that are out there right now. I keep hoping we'll see a major correction in prices when the market crashes, but if I've been saying that for years now and there's a good chance it will just keep going and I'll be some salty old guy complaining about how high the prices are... still... ha ha If you have something you love, keep it... if you don't love it, sell it and take the profits. Then convince one of your buddies to buy something you love and take you fishing. Josh B.

I am the new owner of the boat. Could not be more happy with it. My son and I took it out for a few hours yesterday just for a ride, no fishing. the ride and handling is incredible for that size boat. Our other boat is a Contender. The pictures do not do this boat justice. It is like a new boat. Even my wife commented that it looked and smelled like a new boat when we open the hathches. We are doing a few upgrades before we start fishing it. So far we have replaced the bow lights with LEDs. Installed Minn Kota 80lb thrust trolling motor. Put dri deck liners in all of the hatches so that they stay looking like new. We have ordered a new Owens and son trailer for it. Ordered Lithium batteries for the trolling motor and a house battery. We need to replace bilge pump. We will put a Simrad go 7 on it. We have cut the "ears" off of the poling platform where the transom mount trolling motors went. We will be taking the platform and a few other items to get Line X coating. Hope to be fishing it soon for trout, flounder and redfish. Thanks to the seller for taking care of this boat for many years. We will do the same. We will put a few more hours on it...lol

In all honesty i(personaly) wouldnt change it one bit. Grand pops gave it to you like that ,learn to shoot it the way he shot it. Adding an optic and modifying it will take away from the history and sentimental part of it. unless you just dont care anything about it but modifying it may take away from its resale if that be the case. Jmho

I've been doing a lot of research lately on the Lithium Ion Phosphate batteries. It seems a new brand or company pops up every day selling these batteries... and for good reason! They are making a fortune on them. I've been through dozens of threads and watched a hundred hours of YouTube reviews. Look up "Will Prowse" on YouTube, he has a ton of great content. He does complete tear downs on new batteries and inspects and reviews all the components. https://www.youtube.com/c/WillProwse The cost from China on Lithium cells is getting cheaper and cheaper every day. The batteries most of these companies are selling for $800-1200 can be built for $300-400. The quality of the cells in 95% of the batteries tested are all the same. The major differences seem to be in the quality of the components used to assemble them. Mostly in the BMS (Battery Management System) and also in the connectors and gauge cables connecting each cell. But overall, the biggest contributing factor is the warranty. If you buy the cells independently you normally get 1 year, some are 90 days, some are 3 years. But the 5-10 year warranties are being offered from the companies selling them at a premium. That is great... IF... the company is still around in 5-10 years and if they will actually answer your call or emails. All that being said, the independent tests this guy runs show some incredible benefits to Lithium. The realistic usable capacity of the Lithium AH (Amp Hours) over conventional lead or AGM is night and day. It almost makes it impossible for me to buy lead or AGM again after getting all the data. One of the tests that Will ran was comparing lead/AGM batteries to Lithium with a load. Following all of the manufacturers recommendations the lead/agm batteries could only use from 25-35% of their advertised capacity before falling below the manufacturers voltage requirements. Whereas the Lithium batteries would pull 100-110% of their advertised capacity. To me, that means I can buy/build a 50 AH lithium battery and it will nearly double the capacity of the previous 100ah AGM batteries I've been using all these years. The weight savings is just icing on the cake. Josh B.

Okay, so, we didnt "catch" the old one, but we found its twin for sale. The boys coughed up the cash and are back in business. Taking after his dad in all the wrong ways. Bought a boat, then got to buy iy twice, but what good is money anyway when you can have boats instead? Negotiated a trolling motor into the deal, so they are ready to put a hurting on the flounder when the season opens!

We had our yearly family beach day with our club members. Family, friends, low country boil, boiled crabs, etc. There were quite a few Pathfinder owners from our club in attendance.

I am also interested in being adopted by Josh’s Dad to help me with some of my projects. JJ

Funny story about that one... so as I mentioned my dad restores old cars/trucks. He has since before I was born. He was down the road helping a friend with a tractor and the neighbor had two old boats in the yard. He started talking to him and the guys dad had just passed away and left these two complete boats/trailers to his son. The son was cleaning the place up. He told my dad to take them both if he wanted them that he was just going to take them to the dump. They were both 50-60's model boats. My dad kept the nicer of the two and gave the other one away. It actually had a early 90's Yamaha 40hp on it. His plan is to restore a similar year truck, paint the truck & boat to match and tow the boat with the truck to the car shows. If it's like most of his other projects he'll finish it, take it to a handful of shows and then sell it so he can finance the next project. He normally has 2 or 3 or 4 projects waiting on him. Not sure what the details are on the boat... he told me I'm sure, but I can't recall at the moment. Josh B.

Still running strong!!

Water , out front , was as low , as I have ever seen . Definitely a neg tide . Fishing was slow , during the out going , with only maybe 20 snook and four reds , but the fishing improved , on the incoming . Had a solid redfish bite , i one spot and got two 27” , for the box , on the last two casts . 90 miles logged and 10 hrs , on the water . 🇺🇸🏴‍☠️

Well didn’t tape just used outline that I made. Scuffed, cleaned, primed with activator and then laid guard. Turned out great.

Haven’t run a boat this size in 20 years, felt like it was just yesterday. Docking was a snap. Concerned I may have lost the touch and did not want that to show. Vain about that 😂. Love slipping a big boat.

Livin Large ! 🇺🇸🏴‍☠️

Well, I never thought this day would come, but I'm putting the Catch A Fire up for sale. This boat has been my pride and joy for the past 17 years but it's time to shift gears. I bought the boat in 2005 on consignment from a shop in St. Petersburg that was selling it for an elderly man who bought it new at Jack's Marine, Tampa, FL, kept it in his garage but never used it. The seller thinks it had about 50 hours total during those first five years. Lucky me. Since then the boat has been garage kept and meticulously cared for - washed after every use and detailed in the garage after every use. In addition to the great care I gave her, I made upgrades all along the way. This is arguably one of the cleanest, most "tricked out" MA 17s you'll find. If you're not familiar with the Master Angler, it's an extremely versatile hybrid skiff that will both run shallow and eat up chop like no other 17 ft. out there. The boat is known for it's legendary smooth and dry ride and wave crushing capability. It has tons of storage and deck space and has been called "the biggest little flats boat out there". And it catches fish like nobody's business! Skinny water fly fishing or deep water grouper digging - this boat does it all. 2000 MA 17 Yamaha F115 SHO (2018 - 115 hrs. - 3 yr. warranty remaining) Yamaha Talon SS 4 blade, 16 pitch prop Magic Tilt Trailer with constant upgrades (2000) Minn Kota Terrova i-pilot 80 Trolling Motor (2019) Bob's 4" Jackplate SIMRAD GO9 (9" screen - on adjustable ram mount, 3D imaging, Sidescan) Power Pole 6' Custom Poling Platform Custom Casting Platform Custom SeaDek work by Castaway Customs Baystar Hydraulic Steering JL Audio Marine Stereo (four 6.5" coaxial speakers, 400 watt JL Audio amp) Custom wrapped steering wheel Custom upholstery work by Sandy SoRite (4" thick bench cushions and center console cushions) Custom backrest w/rocket launcher rod holders (by Quality T-Tops) Custom see-thru livewell lid On-board 2-bank battery charger 20 gallon livewell Plumbed live-release well Two Odyssey Batteries for cranking and house (Group 24) Two Aquamate Batteries for trolling motor (Group 27) White rub rail rope replaced with black rope Hydraulic closer arms in aft large hatches Lenco Trim Tabs Southco SS locking latches on bow and aft storage hatches Stiffy Push Pole (20') Sea Claw Anclor (8 lb. or 12 lb.) 50’ high-end anchor rope Two inflatable dock bumpers Four PFDS and all Coast Guard equipment High-end bow and stern dock lines Custom built full-length teal boat cover Custom built center console beige cover Cut out anchor locker to fit larger anchor Tools and supplies for motor oil change, lower unit gear case lube change, F/W separator, etc. File of all maintenance and upgrades for the history of the boat Log of all trips $30k 813-765-7381 Tampa, FL

I agree. The chrome outline will provide the contrast. My FL's are all raised chrome on a dark gray hull. The CG Aux. at a local ramp tried to give me grief, until I pointed out the law, which states the numbers must contrast in color of the hull. The end. This thing is already too bad A!!! Looking forward to more!

Sorry for the delay, I was out of town last weekend doing a camping trip with the family. My parents joined and my dad complained that while we were "sitting around doing nothing he'd rather be sanding on the boat"... ha ha Well we got a few days to work this week and made some major progress. Several days in a row of sanding. First sanded down the high build primer and sprayed 3 coats of the finish primer. The we started the block sanding by hand and found some areas that weren't straight. Had to end up going back and applying more fairing compound, sanding, another few coats of finish primer and sanding again. It still wasn't perfect, but good enough for who it's for. I got up early this morning and got out of the house before the women woke up, so I was over at my dads garage and prepping the boat for paint. It took a good hour to mask it off and wipe the whole boat down using the two rag method to remove any contaminants. My dad has a good 50 years of spraying experience on me, so I was more than happy to let him spray when he asked. We ended up spraying 3 coats of the AlexSeal Super Jet Black 501 topcoat and let that setup for 2 hours and went to lunch. Afterwards we sprayed 2 coats of Clear Coat. It's not perfect and I that gloss black will show every single imperfection. My dad mentioned letting the black fully cure and sanding the whole boat again in a day or two before spraying the clear coat. In his mind it needs to look like a show winning classic car, but I told him it's a boat and it's plenty good enough... let's spray the clear. The pictures and videos look really good, but there are some spots you can see in person that bothered him. One of the downsides to being a perfectionist I suppose. Anyways, it looks great and I can't wait to get back over working on it. We'll probably wetsand the whole boat and buff/wax it after it cures for a few days. The next steps are getting the motor painted and I'm in the process of working on the console as well. I'm modifying the original console to accommodate a large screen flush mounted and also add a couple other changes I'd like. I have a handful of projects I'm working on a little at a time, so I'll try to keep posting updates as I make progress on them. Josh B.

Talking with Ken has worked for me as well. You are making the right move upgrading from aluminum.

I have advocated the benefits of the yandina system on here for years. Another advantage over the stealth system is that you can switch it from 36/24 volts to all of the tm batteries in 12 volt parallel. For those sand bar days you will never run out of power. Geeviam, pm me and I will explain how I can put all 5 of the batteries on my 2200 te into parallel using 2 blue seas switches.

Can’t believe how much brighter the LEDS are. The anchor light is same style as old one but now LED and 6” taller so now can be seen over tower console cover which I always felt was a safety issue for on coming boats. Also picked up this bore light if needed to run own wires and check places I can’t see. Waterproof, can be used in water, brightness settings for lights and assorted attachments. Can also take pictures/videos and comes with SIM card to store pics/vids. Amazon for less than $50. Incl tax & ship. Will post pics when used. Had very positive reviews. Can even play doctor with it 😂🤦‍♂️

Getting the right prop is black magic what one boat owner loves about a prop another may not like . Some boat hull designs and owners like a hull to have a smooth of a ride as possible with a hull that is designed to cut through the water like a battle ship . Some hulls and owners enjoy getting the hull completely out of the water dancing on top . Owners likes. Boat hull design , the way you drive , the way the boat is balanced all are things to consider to get the ultimate prop for you . What RPM range with in the factory’s suggestion also is something that has many different opinions. Most prop guys will suggest getting it as close to the hi end as possible without going past the factory redline . Really depends on the power curve of your engine no sense teaching the motor beyond the maximum torque curve . There is not a one size fits all prop for a person that is looking for the ultimate all round performance in his ride . It’s very easy to reprop a boat that is way off but the closer it get to what your looking for the harder it is to find a large performance gain . Another thing that is neglected when looking for the best prop for your ride is if your engine isn’t in doing what it should and is weak it won’t pull the same prop as a motor in good condition will . One or more weak cylinders won’t be able to turn a prop the same RPM as a motor that is performing correct will . The pickier you are the more time and money you will spend in search of the ultimate prop for you . It should be hard seeing a major performance gain going from a aluminum prop that won’t cup and don’t have thin sharp leading edges that cuts water better or squared off 90 degree sharp trailing edges that releases water better . Caution searching for every last bit of performance from your prop can will take a lot of time and a lot of money . You have to be able to say the boat is performing really good and I need to stop think maybe this new design prop will give me a tiny bit more performance thinking what if looking at prop slip charts for hours sending a prop out to be blueprinted twice to get it perfect is habit forming and very expensive. Have fun .

Disagree.....switching between aluminum and SS, assuming same diameter, cup, and pitch, will not produce much difference. At least in the real world. In a lab, there is a slight difference, but mainly due to blade thickness. SS props tend to be thicker. Picture an airplane wing. SS props also tend to have more sophisticated geometric shapes (ie progressive pitches) of blades. This is where a huge performance difference between an aluminum v SS may be. The motor should be propped in the 5300 to 6300 band to manage valve train and other internal engine loads. Over-propped and underpropped motors usually don't last as long over the long term. You do not "have" to prop it at 6300. One inch of pitch is about 200 rpm, so your new SS should give you about 6200. Might be perfect for you, might not. Propped near 5300 gives more speed, propped nearer to 6300 gives max out of the hole. This is where HP to weight ratios comes in. Get demo props and try both, get what works best for you, but keep it in the band. Hope this helps

My vote would go to Custom Marine of Jacksonville, FL.... They have made scores of T-Tops, leaning-posts, casting platforms, and poling platforms for me over the years plus they have modified many existing components (adding rod-holders to t-top and or leaning posts, etc) They have always done first class work and I have never had a complaint... They are located right across the street from Atlantic Marine (MBC dealer) on Atlantic Blvd.... Great peo[le to deal with!!

I think you will be pleased. Do not back down the ramp without the winch strap tight. I spray my bunks with cheap Silicon spray every couple of months, but It is not necessary.

Josh, is your father interested in adopting some additional sons? There are a few projects on my boat I'd like to get done, but I work long hours too. If I just had a dad like yours, I could get SO much more done! Great work, great thread, and even better to see a father and son involved in the project.

I had my dash molded to fit 16 Simrad. Different boat but you get the point. Miller’s fiberglass in Lakeland did the work

When I rewired mine I pulled in 10 ga from batt sw to new blue seas fuse block I think 8 is a little overkill. I never had much of a problem running new wire through the rigging tube.

I’m using DOA paddletails and Z Man Ned rigs with shrimp Procure......and catching plenty of 12” trout and Redfish, I think this fall will be a good season for catching some nice trout and a few flounder on artificial baits once the fish grow up some. i personally don’t use the gulps because a few years back one of those bags with gulps and juice opened in my tackle bag and it smelled like my dog had peed in the bag after eating asparagus 😳🤣

Another successful day on the lake this past Saturday