The Rooster

This might be a stupid question but I have a Minnkota Powerdrive that I paid a lot of money for this passed spring and now that cold weather is here, do I need to remove it from my boat and store it in the house?? I'm worried that cold weather will hurt it somehow and it won't work come springtime. Also I have the batteries still in the boat but they are on an automatic onboard charger to keep them up. Always before I kept them in the house but this year since I have that charger I figured it will be OK, and some on here have already said it should be. I'm just double checking again. The boat is covered by a tarp from end to end and it's peaked so rain and snow fall off instead of just sitting on top of it. I'm just worried about the cold temperatures hurting some of this stuff somehow.

Around here I noticed the Crucial price jumped by $20. They used to be $129 but now they're $149 instead. All of Shimano's rods that I've seen in stores around here went up by at least $10 though. Ain't stoppin' me from grabbing two Compre's anyway.

Getting two 6'6" Shimano Compre rods (medium and medium heavy) along with two Bass Pro Shops Extreme reels to pair them with, both 6.4:1 ratio. One of these rods is already here in the house, and both reels are here too. The other rod will come closer to Christmas. But I can't have any of them until Christmas. Didn't know the combo of the Compre/Citica could be had for under $150. It'll cost more than that to get the ones I am getting cause of the reel choice I made but I'm satisfied with my reel choice, I love the Extremes. I may have thought about it for one second longer though if I had known the Citica might have been available on them......but I doubt I'd have changed my mind. Extremes are great reels. OH.....and the best thing for you to do to get the rod you want is just flat out pick the rod you want in advance and write down it's brand, name, and model number, along with a few details about it (length, action, power) and then give it to her. She can't mess that up if she goes to a tackle store and asks for help finding it. Do the same for the reel too. Tell her there's no other rod or reel that you want "incase" this one cannot be found....it has to be THAT one. Good luck to you on that one. For me I ended up going to the store and picking my own rod, ordering my own reel on Bass Pro's site, and my wife just more or less was there to say it was from her. Yeah I know, not very Christmassy but it got me the rod/reel I wanted. By rights, the gift should be about you, but it sounds like it "might" be as much or more about her too since she loves giving surprises and the details necessary on the rod will definitely let the air out of any surprise she has in store on this. Tread lightly.

That last post was very interesting. I was mainly interested in this cause there has been some question in my mind whether or not bass could hear sounds above the surface such as people talking or a small radio playing softly on the deck of a boat. I always try not to drop things in the bottom of the boat or stomp around in it much cause I know the hull is in direct contact with the water and that would transmit soundwaves into the water if something impacts the floor of the boat. I figured my voice would be virtually undetectable to the fish though from what I read years back about how bass are totally deaf. And as such I don't think much of it if someone comes along with the radio up loudly either. My brother in law is known to do that with his pontoon load of kids coming around the corner trying to keep up with me trolling along fishing the bank. When we go out, there's usually 3 or more boats on a family outing but only 2 are seriously fishing and the rest are just partying and relaxing. If his stereo being loud and all of them talking might affect the fishing then I'll need to keep more distance between his boat and mine. I've heard stories of older men saying to keep quiet so not to spook the fish and just wondered if there's anything to worry about there, that's all.

I've read that bass are stone cold deaf and only perceive sound in the form of vibrations picked up through their lateral line. I got this information from a hardback book put out by the North American Fishing Club (NAFC) a long time ago. I think the book it was in is nearly 20 years out of date now but it was supposed to be a proven scientific fact when I read it so if it's true then it still would be regardless of the book's age now. But recently I read in a Bassmaster magazine about being quiet when coming in on fish. I think the article was about making long casts to keep from spooking fish by getting right upon them. It said they can "hear" the trolling motor whirring, the boat echoing from dropping needlenosed pliers on it, and a few other things. Did they mean hearing literally or just feeling those vibrations??

I'm a member......currently. I was a paying member until for some reason they stopped sending me magazines last February even though I was paid up through another year and a half! I called repeatedly and got nowhere until I finally cancelled my membership 3 months later in May after having received NO magazines from Feb. on to cancellation. Then they offered a free membership to make up for it which I took but didn't think I would get the magazines from that one either........for now I seem to be getting them though. I do like the magazine overall though. It's great actually, all except the tournament coverages which make up about 1/2 of it it seems. I don't much care for reading all the angler stats and who won what and all that. Really I liked the old Bassmaster better. But I take what I can get and the "Day on the Lake" piece is awesome, it's what I look forward to reading the most. I'm also a member of Bassin' magazine, which is close to being as good as Bassmaster is but you don't get as many issues per year, and you don't get quite as much to read in those either. Mostly I'm like one other person I saw on here who likes to read at night before bed......that's me too and between Bassmaster and Bassin' I have enough to keep busy. Otherwise, the stuff they've sent me besides the magazine is cool, the tackle bag and the hat I mean, those are nice. By the way, who else misses reading the "Harry and Charlie" comic that used to be in the magazine?? That little columb they replaced it with is mostly stupid, the original was way better.

I now have 3 of the Extreme baitcast reels in my arsenal. They are the only ones I use for casting reels, I sold all the others in favor of them. Looking at the new Pro Qualifier reel compared to the Extreme I saw very little differences. The handle crank and star drag looked different and it uses centrifugal braking instead of the ITB system that the Extreme uses but that was about it. Otherwise same number of bearings. I personally love the ITB braking that my Extreme uses, I can cast straight into the wind with it and get no backlashes so I'm sold on it. Also right now you can get the Bass Pro Christmas catalog and get the 20% off coupon for purchases of over $100 and then that makes that Extreme rod/reel combo only $80 if you order it online or over the phone. Save even more!

I just figured the price went up because Shimano redone the rod or something, like they did for the Clarus and the Convergence. Both of those rods went up by $10 also. Never owned a Shimano rod before so I wouldn't know if this is a "new" rod or the same one they sold all year long. I'm just happy I finally got one though, no matter what the cost was.

I noticed no one mentioned Slash!! Maybe not the best but I always liked his tones he can get from his guitars.

Last night I got the first of at least 2 Shimano Compre rods I planned to get. Got a 6'6" medium heavy with fast tip to start out with. The bummer is that I can't take it out and play with it until Christmas. My wife wanted to get it for me but she needed me to show her which one I wanted. Also another bummer (not so bad though) was that we got to the register and it rang up for $99.99. I had thought they were $89.99 before and didn't go up to the $100 mark until you hit a 7' length. Oh well, I paid for it anyway and was just glad to have it. This is the most expensive and nicest rod I've ever purchased to date. Hope it performs like I want it to. I'll be using 14# fluorocarbon on it and my BPS Extreme baitcast reel to pair up with it, and it'll be primarily for jigs, T-rigs, and spinnerbaits. No special reason to post this, I'm just excited about it is all.

I do think they make some good rods overall. That PQ lmt. rod might be a good one too but they should have just changed it's name to something other than "Pro Qualifier" if it's not one of those. Like fish-fighin-illini said, just sell whatever it is straight up.

Stick with the nicer Shimano rods and problem solved.

To the original poster, if you try this, I'd use a spinnerbait with either a single or double willow blades only so there's less resistance. This way it would make keeping the buzzbait on top easier. Also you might try it with a high speed retrieve reel like a 7.1:1 ratio so it's even easier to keep the buzzbait up. Faster reeling seems to help me keep them on top and with the added weight you're going to need it. And lastly, casting a double lure like that might exceed the limits of the rod if you don't watch what weight lures you use. Two 1/4 oz baits would probably be the best choice so you don't go over any weight limits of the rod. That would only be 1/2 oz. that way which most medium rods can take, and definitely a medium heavy can handle. Also lighter weight baits will make it easier again to keep the buzzbait on top. That's all I have to add to it. Good luck trying it. Overcoming the tangling issue will be the hardest part.

I used to wrap a small amount of tape on the spool before spooling up with new line. I used the white tape you get in a pharmacy for first aid type stuff. Seemed to provide a good grip for the line on the spool and always worked great.

Yes we are!! Mine doesn't have that problem though, she's not easily swayed at all and she's very practical so trying to sell her any "extras" would fail miserably. But while I was ordering the reel I suddenly remembered that I had a $20 off coupon for ordering over $100 in merchandise.........so while I was grabbing the reel for $65 I also added a sweater for my brother for Christmas (still not over $100 yet though)................and $17 worth of Berkley Trasistions fluorocarbon for the new reel (definitely over $100 now ).

If you knew her you'd know that would be way out of character for her to ask for anything expensive (she's tight with money). She just wants me to have stuff like this is all. She's always been that way. I'm just surprised she was saying for me to get another one this soon after I just bought the last one, less than a month ago. Anyway, I was just excited about getting another one and wanted to post about it, that's all. Now I'll have 3 of these reels with 2 Shimano Compre rods for them. The other reel is on another rod that I really like so it will stay there.

Is it possible that my baitmonkey can attack my wife instead of me?? She came to me today and said to order ANOTHER Bass Pro Shops Extreme reel....AND....a Shimano Compre rod for it!! She said it would be part my Christmas presents from her but I'd need to order it so I got what I wanted cause she didn't know which models to get. I didn't waste any time ordering the reel, it's already on it's way here. I'm going to a local tackle store to get the rod though. Figured I'd give those guys my business since I've been shopping THEIR rods to figure out which model I want. And I'm sort of trying to build my customer/shop owner relationship there so they know me when I come in. Sometimes that goes a long way I think.

FA....LOO....GUR!!!! Pflueger President in particular. Good value, good reel, good price!!! Trion is a good one too if you want to keep the price down. $40 vs. $60 is how those two compare.

My chimps run in packs, but they are held back by my wallet size sometimes. Otherwise they'd carry me off!! Personally I'd love to cut the lines holding them back and just let 'em run wild. If I ever win the lottery......the tackle store owner here will probably retire early!!

Well, I can do Texas rigs. I've felt that classic tapping before but it's usually a 12" fish or less. They're fun but if I was to ever hook something that measured in actual pounds (plural that is) then I wouldn't know what to do, and I'm sure it won't hit with the classic tapping I feel with the smaller ones. But anyway, I've fished T-rigs for years and had fairly good success with them.......but in all that time, only one keeper that was 15 inches and he came this passed summer. It didn't "tap" either. Just felt heavy and I saw line moving so I set the hook and there he was. One good thing, I have a brother-in-law who is experienced in catching fish in the 3 to 4 pound range, and at least one in the 5 pound class, so he can help me learn these jigs. He uses them all the time. Between him and you guys, I should be able to learn and catch a few bass on these by the end of next season.

Welcome to the fold!! Thanks for joining!!

If not then I'm startin' one! I nominate ME for its president. ;D

Awww MAN!!! I'm gonna be gettin' a BUNCH of those!!! Those look awesome!!! But I'm right with ya on the 3/8 and 5/8 sizes. RAPALA!!! If you're readin' this, make some smaller ones!!!

For trailers I got some Net Bait Paca Chunks in the green pumpkin and the crawfish (amber with orange glitter) colors. It looks just like the Paca Craw but without some of the body behind it, and it's solid instead of hollow like the Paca Craw is. I figured this would stay on the hook better. Plus being shorter than the Paca Craw I thought it would get the hook closer to the end of the bait where it would be more likely to be picked up by the bass. I did pretty good using the Paca Craw T-rigged so I figured these would be good jig trailers too. I've been looking at the swim jigs also, but haven't bought any yet. I'm still building the arsenal of bottom bouncers. Still need some football heads too for rocks. I'm really looking forward to learning these jigs. If I can catch larger fish on average with them then I can see them becoming my favorite lures. You say it's hard to detect a bite with them?? What does that feel like?? Just a bump, or does the line move off in one direction like it might do with a T-rig?? I've just started using fluorocarbon line so that might help some, and by time I began using these jigs seriously in the next season, I hope to have a couple of Shimano Compre rods to be fishing them on. Those should be some fairly sensitive rods I believe.

Don't worry, as long as they make these Extremes, that's all you'll have to hear me talk about.