Hi crew, greetings from Utah...self introduction...
Have been fishing all my life. I make my living as a ski instructor at Park City Mountain Resort in Utah. Have tons of solo backpacking experiences in the Sierras, High Uintas, and Wind River Range. I know where the 4 pound trout live. Learned how to catch Kokes in the local reservoirs this summer.
My interest in Allison boats has gone on for a long time, ever since watching the outboard drag boats on TV. Have been watching this forum as a lurker for about a year. It is interesting to read about the golden age of high performance outboards...kinda reminds me of the golden times of vacuum tube amplifiers for HIFI and musical instrument stage use. I play classic country band and have a vintage vacuum tube amp collection like some of you collect special motors and boats. Lots of similarities! Vintage tubes sound better than the new ones,, and they aren't being made any more. I collected a few hundred, they have gone up in value like most of my Heritage electric guitars have, I buy well.
I'm really happy with the boat I have now, even though it is 33 years old, it is great to fish out of. It is an old Bayliner bass boat with a Force engine that I inherited from my father, a ton of memories with that one. It's fairly economical to operate, except that I run Blue Marble oil and Ring Free in the gas, ($$$), but when I want I can wipe the surface gap plugs right down to clean metal with just the hem of my t-shirt. Looking through the spark plug holes on the original 85 powerhead from years of running blue marble oil, looking through the plug hole you can see bright shiny metal on the top of the pistons instead of a thick layer of carbon...costs more to use good oil and yet cheaper than cheap oil and replacing a motor gone away before its time. I won't sell or junk it until the motor pukes, and it just keeps on purrin...Stuck a 125 powerhead on the 85 gearcase/gear set, so had a higher pitch prop made. All good. Similar gas economy as the smaller powerhead and a few mph more top speed, but still sluglike compared to what is found here.
That boat is kinda small these days at 17 feet, the pig boats (wake board and especially wake surf boats) that have become common today wreak havoc on the local reservoir fishermen from their huge wakes. So I am casually in the market for something bigger, faster, still economical to operate and better in chop. I might end up with a walleye boat, like most of the fishermen here in Utah gave gone to. Bass boats have become less popular here. There are needs to make effective trolling as well as casting capabilities happen on the same boat here because of the variety of great gamefish in the same lake. Sunfish, Salmonid and Char species sometimes all share the same water in my area, an example is Flaming Gorge reservoir. Folks will get a limit of Kokes (3) and then go on the target 50 pound Macks or go toos plastics for smallies later on in the same day. Lure presentations go from surface to over 100 feet deep. Or in my fave backyard lake, Strawberry Reservoir, I might troll for kokes early and then grab a spinning rod and toss plastic crawdads for big cutts and 'bows, "bass fishing" for big trout.
As I get closer to retirement age, I would like to have a fishin' hot rod...hence I'm here. Dunno if I will end up with an Allie but the prospect sure looks interesting. Rather than an ultra tuned drag boat motor, I prefer something that will be more reliable in the power department for the 100 plus mile long reservoirs in our state... reliablility and long legs are more important than the speed. So am keeping tabs on the re-power threads. I am a careful, well informed buyer. On ebay I have done over 750 transactions as a buyer with 100% positive feedback, mainly for my tube, guitar, and amp collecting. Allt he best to those here!
Have been fishing all my life. I make my living as a ski instructor at Park City Mountain Resort in Utah. Have tons of solo backpacking experiences in the Sierras, High Uintas, and Wind River Range. I know where the 4 pound trout live. Learned how to catch Kokes in the local reservoirs this summer.
My interest in Allison boats has gone on for a long time, ever since watching the outboard drag boats on TV. Have been watching this forum as a lurker for about a year. It is interesting to read about the golden age of high performance outboards...kinda reminds me of the golden times of vacuum tube amplifiers for HIFI and musical instrument stage use. I play classic country band and have a vintage vacuum tube amp collection like some of you collect special motors and boats. Lots of similarities! Vintage tubes sound better than the new ones,, and they aren't being made any more. I collected a few hundred, they have gone up in value like most of my Heritage electric guitars have, I buy well.
I'm really happy with the boat I have now, even though it is 33 years old, it is great to fish out of. It is an old Bayliner bass boat with a Force engine that I inherited from my father, a ton of memories with that one. It's fairly economical to operate, except that I run Blue Marble oil and Ring Free in the gas, ($$$), but when I want I can wipe the surface gap plugs right down to clean metal with just the hem of my t-shirt. Looking through the spark plug holes on the original 85 powerhead from years of running blue marble oil, looking through the plug hole you can see bright shiny metal on the top of the pistons instead of a thick layer of carbon...costs more to use good oil and yet cheaper than cheap oil and replacing a motor gone away before its time. I won't sell or junk it until the motor pukes, and it just keeps on purrin...Stuck a 125 powerhead on the 85 gearcase/gear set, so had a higher pitch prop made. All good. Similar gas economy as the smaller powerhead and a few mph more top speed, but still sluglike compared to what is found here.
That boat is kinda small these days at 17 feet, the pig boats (wake board and especially wake surf boats) that have become common today wreak havoc on the local reservoir fishermen from their huge wakes. So I am casually in the market for something bigger, faster, still economical to operate and better in chop. I might end up with a walleye boat, like most of the fishermen here in Utah gave gone to. Bass boats have become less popular here. There are needs to make effective trolling as well as casting capabilities happen on the same boat here because of the variety of great gamefish in the same lake. Sunfish, Salmonid and Char species sometimes all share the same water in my area, an example is Flaming Gorge reservoir. Folks will get a limit of Kokes (3) and then go on the target 50 pound Macks or go toos plastics for smallies later on in the same day. Lure presentations go from surface to over 100 feet deep. Or in my fave backyard lake, Strawberry Reservoir, I might troll for kokes early and then grab a spinning rod and toss plastic crawdads for big cutts and 'bows, "bass fishing" for big trout.
As I get closer to retirement age, I would like to have a fishin' hot rod...hence I'm here. Dunno if I will end up with an Allie but the prospect sure looks interesting. Rather than an ultra tuned drag boat motor, I prefer something that will be more reliable in the power department for the 100 plus mile long reservoirs in our state... reliablility and long legs are more important than the speed. So am keeping tabs on the re-power threads. I am a careful, well informed buyer. On ebay I have done over 750 transactions as a buyer with 100% positive feedback, mainly for my tube, guitar, and amp collecting. Allt he best to those here!
