hello!

[Destroyer]

Originally Posted by RWilson2526

Great to have you....there seems to be a real run on new guys this month which is great....I know there are other classic boat forums but I think we got something unique here where near everybody has the exact same boat (not just the same manufacturer).

RW, I was going to make almost the same comment.. lots of new people this month..... it's a welcome sight for sure.
Jeffmo, welcome to the site. Tons of information about your boat is here, along with some really sound advice from some really smart people. (I wish I was one of them)...
Anyways, welcome aboard.

[jeffmo]

Originally Posted by 926bill

Welcome jeffmo. I also have a 1983 v20 on lake Erie. Went out of Huron this year, but will be hitting the island area this spring. Great lake Erie boat,just watch the weather. Where are you located? Will you trailer or dock? Post some pics, maybe I'll see you out there.

BC

bill,i fish out of vermilion.i trailer the boat but dock at Bulans.if i can find a place to park it fairly cheaply i may leave it there this year.
i started fishing from Vermilion because of the 30 fish limit they had in place over the 20 on the west end of the lake.and Vermilion is alot more laid back than the Port Clinton area.
my 1st boat on erie was a 17' Monark Pro.great boat and it handled the water pretty well(had to ease back in a time or two in 4ft'ers)but i just wanted something that would handle erie with a little more ease.last fall i took 2 weeks off from work but only got out 4 days.that sustained north wind last fall during the last week of september and the 1st week of october really scattered the perch.but we did limit a couple of days before they shut down.
the weather does change fast up there and i certainly do respect it.i use to fish w/ my older brother who ran a 24' thompson out of tibbles marina on east harbor.he was always safe where the weather was concerned.it isn't something to mess with.
most of the work i've done on mine has been cosmetic.the previous owner had carpet velcroed to the deck and that had to go.once i had the deck looking good again i cleaned then re-oiled all of the teak wood except for the trim around the rod holders.with that i am going to replace it.i bought some teakwood so i can make it look new again.while doing that i'm going to remove the rod holder inserts,clean and oil the rod holders and re-paint the inserts.a new lounge seat and the interior should pretty well be done.
i'm in the process of locating all new decals and striping for the exterior and after those are installed all that will be left is a good buffing(hopefully!!)
i like the room and the gunnel depth of the boat for fishing and,it's a pretty darn dry ride on erie too!
i'm glad i ran across this site.lots of great information and ideas here.
i've been looking for new inserts for the drop in containers on the stern of the boat and found a few ideas on the site last night.
thanks for the welcomes!
Jeff
here's a few pics of the boat.these are ones the previous owner took.i'll post more when i get a chance.there's also one of the fishfinder screen from lake erie last fall.the weather and a strong north wind had shut the fish down but they certainly were there!










the fishfinder screen when they weren't hitting!

[Destroyer]

Originally Posted by jeffmo

i'm in the process of locating all new decals and striping for the exterior and after those are installed all that will be left is a good buffing(hopefully!!)

Jeff, you can find decals on eBay, but for first class service and great prices you might want to check out one of the members here that makes them professionally. JT is his name and his website is http://decals-by-jt.com. He made some laminated V20 decals for me for the price that others were charging for just regular non-laminated ones. They are impossible to tell from the originals. Hope this helps.

[Bruce]

wow he is in wilmington too thanks for the info on him.

[926bill]

Jeff, I'll keep an eye out for ya come spring. You've got a great place going out of Vermillion, the sand bar to the north, Ruggles reef to the west. Lots of great perch and walleye fishing in the area. We did real well on the perch this fall off the Castle about 3mi out in 30ft of water. Hope to see you out there.
Don't know if you are familiar with the site, but (ohiogamefishing.com) is a great site for fishing reports and what is going on in the area.
By the way, I need one of those drop in containers for my boat as well. If you find anything that works let us know.
BC

[Blue_Runner]

Jeff, I have the same fishfinder - Garmin 250DF - great unit.

Unless you had the "fish ID" feature activated for a reason, I'd would suggest you turn it off. That way you will be able to tell what is a fish vs. a bait school vs. floating debri, etc. With the fish ID on, everything gets the little goldfish symbol. With it off the bait schools show up as dark clouds and fish are like Mickey D's arches.

Nice V by the way!!

[jeffmo]

bill,i've been a member @ OGF since they opened up the new site.the old went to a pay site and that's when it went downhill.last fall after the winds in early October we traveled 17 miles out around the bouy and got zipped on the perch.that was the 1st time i had ever taken 2 weeks off to fish and it ended up being basically a bust.same old story......they were on fire for a month after we left! we'll get them this year.if i find drop-in replacements i'll give you a shout.
cool part about this site is the amount of information and ideas.last night i stayed up way too late looking through the "modifications and repairs" forums and several ideas i'm going to use.i need to repair/replace my rod boxes and had a way i was going to do it but now i'm considering a couple of other ways.same thing w/ painting the floor to hide the stress cracks,now i know what i'm going to do!
blue runner,thanks! i'm still learning this unit.i had a hummingbird on my monark and this unit didn't come w/ any literature.

[Blue_Runner]

No problem Jeff. You've no doubt found the very best website in the world for V20 owners!

[Blue_Runner]

Here is more info regarding the "Fish Symbol" (I called it Fish ID, which was wrong - sorry). I copy/pasted this from Wikipdeia. Here is the full link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fishfinder

Fish symbols in the screen of the fishfinder

Fishfinders usually have a "Fish Symbol" feature, which will display a FISH symbol for almost any echo not connected to the bottom or the surface. More specialized units use a detection of a special fingerprint in echosignals. With those you can find living fish and fish that have recently died. With these units also in some cases fish spawn will be shown as a large fish. Some kinds of seafish will be not marked as fish, but you will see an echo.

Fish ArchesWith the Fish Symbol feature disabled, an angler can learn to distinguish between fish, vegetation, schools of baitfish or forage fish, debris, etc. Fish will usually appear on the screen as an arch. This is because the distance between the fish and the transducer changes as the boat passes over the fish (or the fish swims under the boat). When the fish enters the leading edge of the sonar beam, a display pixel is turned on. As the fish swims toward the center of the beam, the distance to the fish decreases, turning on pixels at shallower depths. When the fish swims directly under the transducer, it is closer to the boat so the stronger signal shows a thicker line. As the fish swims away from the transducer, the distance increases, which shows as progressively deeper pixels.

When threatened, baitfish form a tightly packed school, as the individuals seek safety in the center of the school. This typically looks like an irregularly shaped ball or thumbprint on the fishfinder screen. When no predators are nearby, a school of baitfish frequently appears as a thin horizontal line across the screen, at the depth where the temperature and oxygen levels are optimal.

[buckleyjr]

Welcome to the site! You'll find plenty of ideas and help here. I can spend hours in the gallery. Nice pics. The first time I have seen a ladder from the cabin to the bow.