J Francho

Screw work, fish, hunt, hang out with the family!

That's correct, it is not a self bailing design. I don't think you'll find any solo canoe with the features of the Commander. If that design doesn't seem like a fit, the other models I mentioned are all self bailing sit on tops.

Depends on your faith in the salesman, LOL. True story, though. Religious nut.

Immortality.

I'm considering it for Oneida..... Not sure if I'd prefer to marshal, or watch several from a distance in my boat.

If there's anything I can do from here, let me know. You have my number.

Some great photos. Nice work!

I fish stillwater, mainly and sometimes paddle great distances to get to spots. The Coosa is better at "going with the flow," and doesn't track well. It is also prone to wind. If I fished only rivers, I'd probably get a Coosa, it's a super cool boat, but it's a very specific tool. They happen to be the most frequently seen boat on the used market, so if it suits your style, get one used. The Commander is a lake fishing machine. There are literally thousands of ways to rig that boat to suit you're purposes. It's VERY stable, maybe more so than the Coosa. I've heard more than one story about turtled Coosas. All that said, I actually think I might be getting a Ride 115, to replace my Ocean Kayak PBG. The PBG is too much for me, now that I have an 18' bass boat. I'd rather downsize a bit, and use a kayak when it is the better tool, instead fishing out of kayak in any water I choose. The Ride series was just updated, and is worth a look. Another company to look at is Malibu. My friend Paul is sponsored by them, and the boats he fishes out of continually impress me.

Think of it as "swinging" your bait through the current. With plastics and jigs, you want to feel the bait ticking the bottom. There's a ton of river smallie videos on the web, and a few good pieces in our articles section as well. http://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/smallmouth_part1.html

They enforce it with radar speed traps. Many lakes up here have speed limits. Most boats that go over 30 have a speedo, and GPS makes it easy to determine true speed.

I would just flush the bearings, and use a quality oil.

You have to watch the whole video.

Depends on the reel.

Learn how to read water, and identify holding areas. Be careful not to spook those areas. Approach slowly, and wait a while before fishing. Even if you do spook them, they'll return in a few minutes, if it's prime water. Most guys will say cast upstream, and while that works, the majority of my current fish come on a quartering cast or a downstream drift.

You're pretty much limited to Wallenpaulak, right? Unless there is another big lake. And yeah Glenn, the left side ALWAYS gets shafted. Seems like there are some pretty well known lakes out west, hmmmmm.....

I'd say the shaky head and spot remover are fundamental different, especially if the you are using a shaky head with a proper floating worm. Here is the shaky head: You can see quite a difference. I do love spot removers, though. Especially on rocky drops. Shaky head are a more general purpose/cover finesse rig to me.

No love for the alliteration..... LOL, that's why I use PBG

It's somewhere "northish" being sandwiched between (and a week after) Mississipi R. in WI, and Oneida Lake. BTW, I'm really psyched to see them come back to "fish soup" lake. Should be interesting, Oneida is tough in summer.

Your pansy PA ponds can barely accommodate my ego, let alone the Elite field, LOL.

I just about fell out of my chair laughing.

I got a guy, LOL. Jimmy "Castmaster" is my lead man. Drop shot weights, wacky jigs, and a few others. I'm looking at modifying a few molds as well.

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/bass-2012-schedule.html Mystery lake? My guess: Erie.

Learn how to fish a jig. That'll solve your senko problems.

I use Bagley's and some home made. Spot Removers are great stand up finesse jigs, but not the same as shaky heads.

Always do an advanced search for closed auctions on the item you are buying. That will give you real "high/low/mean" data.