BrianSnat

Oyster

Rage Tail space monkey. I cut off the first half of the body.

I fish for fun and when the wind starts topping about 20 mph, it stops being fun.

Not anglers, but in NJ on some lakes people seem to think the boat ramp is a beach, You pull up and they are sitting in beach chairs, laying on towels and wading in the water in front of the ramp. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is with that?

My family has had a small cabin at a northern NJ lake since I was 10(late 60's). My dad taught me to cast and how to bait a hook and tie a clinch knot, but he was more of a saltwater guy and knew little about bass fishing I started taking out the boat fishing at about age 11 once I tired of catching sunnies off the dock. I had no idea what I was doing. There was an old man, Mr Reynolds, who had a house not far from ours. He had a old wooden row boat. He wasn't super friendly, but he was acknowledged to be the best angler on the lake. So I shadowed him for several years. If I saw him go out, I'd go out. I'd stay a respectful distance away, but paid attention to where and when he fished, watched what lures he was using, where he casted them and how he retrieved them. Old man Reynolds was a superb teacher even if he didn't know it (or perhaps he did).

Not exactly DIY but these are very good quality. I have six in my boat. http://www.berkley-fishing.com/berkley-tools-and-equipment-rod-management-berkley-fishingear/berkley-boat-rod-holder/1285930.html#start=8 I've made DIY rod holders with PVC pipe, but the above holders are far better.

When I bought my current boat the guy selling it proudly showed off the brand new, solid oak transom he had installed. My second time out on the boat I hit the throttle suddenly on my 9.9 Yamaha and heard a loud crack. The transom cracked lengthwise along the grain. I came here and asked for advice and the consensus was to use marine plywood to replace the cracked transom. Consider that I have darn near zero woodworking skills, but was I able to effect a good repair. The transom was 1 1/2 inches thick so I bought a sheet of 3/4" marine plywood. I removed the old transom, traced its outline twice on the marine plywood and cut them out with a jigsaw. My cuts weren't perfectly straight (I suck at this stuff) but it didn't really matter. I glued the two sheets together, clamped them together overnight, painted with a clear sealer and the next day I slipped it in. Perfect fit and it has held up for three years so far. It amounted to probably two hours of work combined at a cost of LT $100 ($90 of which was the sheet of plywood). The rest for glue and stainless steel bolts. I already had the sealing varnish. So don't let transom cracks scare you away. If I can replace a transom, anybody can.

I use this one, it works quite well and isn't expensive https://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-SC-1200A-CA-SpeedCharge-Maintainer/dp/B000BQSIWK

On spinning tackle I've been using mono for decades and have caught a lot of fish with it. Senkos, whatever, it doesn't matter. I don't care for floro or braid on spinning reels. Floro is tangle city and braid is just so darn noisy on spinning outfits. On my baitcasters I prefer braid with a 6 ft floro leader for Senkos or anything else.

For 2 - 5 grand you can probably get a really nice used 14-16 ft aluminum V hull boat with trailer, already rigged with a depth finder, swivel seats, electric motor (or two), rod holders and an outboard. Stand, sit, dance on it, bring the girlfriend (or a couple of friends), store rods, etc.. Considering your budget, unless you are usually fishing waters without an available boat ramp then why not go all the way and buy a full blown fishing boat? You don't need anything fancy, but in the 3-4 grand range you can get a really nice used boat.

If you think it might be the float in the carb, an old automobile trick was to tap the carb with a hammer while it is running. Good, hard taps, but not so hard as to break the thing. That can sometimes loosen up the float.

I had factory rails and crossbars on my Subaru Outback. The rails and bars were not wide enough for the canoe (by about 4") so I solved this by using two pine boards (1/2" x 2" x 5') and pushed them up against the crossbars. When I strapped down the canoe, its weight kept the boards in place but I decided to duct tape them to the cross bars for additional security. With this setup I took the canoe on a number of 200+ round trip mile drives to the Adirondacks and hit speeds of well over 70 mph on the highways. And the entire cost was about $6 for the wood duct tape. When I got home I just sliced the tape off and removed the boards.

230 lbs and wanting to carry fishing gear, camping gear and a cooler? I think the question should be which canoe should you buy.

Been using the standard baseball cap all of my life. If it's really hot I'll dunk it in the water and put it back on.

Paid $89 for my HMG and like it a lot (7' M moderate fast action). Very nice rod. At $58? I'd LOVE it. I'm looking at the FFO website right now and thinking about buying another.

I use a 6 ft floro leader on my braided line. I tried floro on spinning reels and hated it, but never tried it on my baitcasters. I guess it could be fine, but I'm happy with my current setup.

If you are on a budget, why not another Lew's? My Lew's Tournament MB cost me $119 and is every bit as good as my Shimano Curado, which was $50 more. I think Lew's are the best around for the money. Also check out the Diawa Tatula. I bought one recently for $99 and have been impressed.

I recently bought an HMG, it's a nice rod for the money. Personally I'd go with the M unless you find yourself throwing 1 oz lures frequently. I rarely find myself tossing anything over 3/4 oz for bass. Your mileage may vary.

My finesse outfit is a Shimano Crucial (M) rod with a Shimano Spirex reel. The two together came in right about $200.

I use an improved clinch, or a Duncan loop for very thin line.

I have split and full cork and prefer full cork, but don't hesitate to buy a split grip if the price and other features are right.

The thing on the left looks like a stereo head unit removal tool. Does your boat have a stereo? The other thing, I have no clue.

I have a small boat with a 9.9 HP motor. All I do every year is change the crankshaft oil. For the trailer it's lubing the trailer bearings once or twice a year. I have Bearing Buddies on my trailer, which makes it very easy.

I have two UL rods, a 30 year old 4 1/2 ft Fenwick (this is super UL with no reel seat, only rings to hold the reel) and a 5 1/2 ft Shimano Clarus. I have a Pflueger President 20 ( 6920X ) on the former and a 25 (6925X) on the latter. Great reels for the money. There was a time in my life where that 4.5 ft Fenwick was my only rod and I used it for everything and caught some pretty big bass on it (upwards of 4 lbs). Until recently I had a very old Shimano on it. When I bought the 20 President I moved the old Shimao to one of my ice fishing rods and it is still going strong after 30 years.

I agree, the Citica is a better reel for the money