J.T.

NEVER NEVER NEVER hold a fish around the body. It is a scientifictly proven fact that fish have a slime coating on them that protects them from bacteria and other diseases. By holding them around the body you remove this coating and increase the fishes chance of getting sick. I have actuallly caught fish before and seem outlines of hand prints around the fishes body, they are usually in poor condition. For bass hold the fish by the lower jaw and remove the hook, never hold the fish up for a picture by just the jaw, it is actually very fragile and will break without you relizing it. A very good investment is a robogrip, especially for toothy fish, you never have to touch the fish and you can remove the hooks much easier!

I totally agree with bass_junky! Get rid of the old oil. Its not worth saving that couple of bucks! Flush it out and put some good stuff in there! Also flush or clean out the carbs and put fresh high test fuel in it the first couple of times you use it after that just put regular in it with a good fuel stabilizer! good luck

Thanks guys I'll look into them

I have a 12' flat bottem jonboat. Only use a trolling motor. I'm thinking about a depth finder for it. Don't want anything thats gonna eat up to much juice and would like a rather compact model since I dont have a lot of room. any thoughts?

Give a 1/4oz rattletrap a try! and burn it back to the boat!

I see a lot of peaple here have jon's. I have a 12' polarkraft jon boat. Pretty narrow but a good boat. Easy to get into smaller ponds that big boats cant get to and I can tuck the boat into lillypads and other places that big boats cant. Problem is it is not very stable. Been thinking about putting a floor in it but dont want to get it to heavy! can a boat this size be turned into a real bass boat? Oh ya forgot to mention the boat didint cost me anything! father inlaw gave it to me. Only thing I did was put pedistals with swivel seats in it and buy a new trolling motor! any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!

Thats the main reason why I run it year around, also cause it helps keep the inside of your carb a little cleaner!

I had the same problems with my 80hp merc when I bought it. Bought it used from a guy, it ran good in the yard, after I got it home bad things started happening, no power didint want to start. Motor must have sat for some time and the fuel went bad. all three of my carbs where completely blocked up! Had to take all three off and disassemble them clean them, stuff that came out looked like saw dust. Went ahead and rebuilt them while they were off. This sounds like you may have to do the same, If you are not expeirnce with carbs, do not touch them! find a pro and let him do it, you dont want to mess them up, akso when you put them back on the all three have to be set, and you dont want to burn up your engine!. Also since this happend I now put sta-bile fuel stabilizer in everything I have, all year long! 1 oz. will treat 2 1/2gal of fuel, trust me it is worth the extra couple of dollars! good luck!

I have a 80Hp merc on my bay boat and I use pennzoil made special for 2 stroke marine engines and have never had any problems. The fire company that I work for has a small resue boat with a 25 hp merc and they use the quick silver with no problems. so Either way you should be o.k.

Like gambler said try sanding and buffing that old gel coat. I used to run my own detail shop and did quite a bit of boats. Talk to your guy who said he would paint it. MAKE sure it gets wet sanded properlly. If they are not carefull the will sand right through that gel coat, also when they buff it! Good luck and congradulations

I used a minn kota on my 12" jon boat for about a year, motor was probably10-15 years old. Other than being a little small it ran great, couple of the knobs were cracked but no big deal. I just wanted a newer stronger motor. Bought a new minn kota and love it, this is my second season with it and its doing great! Just fyi the old one is still in my shed and still works, keepin it as a back up just in case

I have a really small pond on my cousins farm I fish regurally. The bite will change really fast. I know there are some hogs in this pond but can never get them to bite. Only thing I have been able to get a consistant bite on is a pink senko texas rigged. Always Always get a reaction from the fish. Also try a Black with blue flack 5 3/4" gycb cuttail texas rigged. good luck

I too live in delaware, and I agree the weather has sucked! water temps last weekend were in the mid 40's. fished a small state pond in lower de. with no luck. All the fishin reports I have read only bait that is working right now is live bait around spill ways and channels! I dont mind using live bait but its too slow for me I gotta keep moving evan if its slow rollin' a worm from the deepest depths of the lake. But never fear temps risin and next week delaware gonna be in the60's do that will raise the water temps up a few more degrees where it needs to be and LOOK OUT! so good luck clooney maybe I see you on the water...tight lines...J.T.

try keystone county store, they have everything. Got those bikini's in a coulple different patterns. You can try their website just do a search of keystonecountrystore.com..goodluck

My heart goes out to the family. My wife and I lost our infant son last year, I know how hard it is! They will be in my thoughts and prayers tonight