J Francho

That's called a Neko rig. It's deadly.

People leave much, much, much nicer boats than your typical boat in all season, and gel coat doesn't blister. I don't think I've ever heard of that happening from being in water. The point of gel is it's water proof, more so than automotive paint. Like I said, you can dock it, but a lift would the ideal set up. We had one lift, it was rare that my fishing boat was allowed on it, lol. I got one of the other 4 "parking spots."

That's what I'm thinking.

I don't generally think about a PB when I'm fishing. I came close to breaking a decade old PB LMB a few years ago. One ounce shy. I was really happy to get that fish, and I have a picture of it (see above). I broke my PB SMB twice in the same year. My partner catching a 6-0 right after my 5-12 took the air out of, a bit. I think his PB SMB is over 7.

I use Wacky Jigs for this.

In my spot, they aren't the same...I generally catch 4-5, and leave the spot alone for the day. There's another spot where hundreds of them sit in the shallows, waiting for the DEC to dump the trout fingerlings, lol. It's pretty awesome, and creepy at the same time. Most are around 8-10 lbs. Get some Cortland Toothy Critter knotable fly leader. It works well with jigs and T-rigs, and doesn't seem to repel bass.

Yeah. I have a spot where there may be 50 or more at once, and it's maybe 50' x 50'. They stack up, and feed aggressively. Not my experience. I actually break off less using copoly, like CXX than with braid. It's also different per bait. With a jig or a T-rig, they are suck the hole bait in. You're more likely to get bit off on that, than say a big spinnerbait or other moving bait.

A 17' boat is going to be about 18-24" longer at the stern from the motor, when tilted, and there is usually another 2-3' in front of the bow for the trailer. There are swing tongue trailers, but that only saves you abut two feet. So a 17.5 boat will have a total length of 21-22' or more. My 21'10 bullet is 26' long on the trailer. Here's a good example: http://www.trackerboats.com/boat/specs.cfm?boat=3877 Tracker Pro 160. Hull: 16'2" Towing length: 20' Storage length: 19'

You get back together okay?

Speak for yourself, though I'm glad many think this way, lol.

It's a good suggestion, but one retrieve that works today, may not work tomorrow. I vary the retrieve, starting with a steady walking, and slow down, if I don't get bit. It depends on the day. Some days, I never have to slow down. Other days, I have to fish them painfully slow.

Water quality might not be good, either.

I use a them on jerkbaits, but not for bass, but trout and salmon. I find I do better with a little bit stouter rod, and the usual single hook hookset. Some of those salmonoids have tough jaws. For bass, I use stock trebles or an Owner Stnger upgrade. I still contend that the circle hooks are gonna be trouble. The only thing I use them for are bullhead and live or cut bait.

Yeajray231 or the OP's fish could also have been previously injured by another catch and release fisherman.

Male builds nest. Female visits a bed occupied by a male. They spawn together. She leaves, possibly to locate suitable male on a nest. Male defends eggs and eventually fry. After a week or so, he leaves the fry on their own.

I say that because they don't usually do that. A split is probably from the fight, or just some other natural injury. In high temperatures, like we've been getting this year, spawn woulds can take a while to heal. And the pic above shows the sqpawn damage perfectly.

I've seen the exact same thing in smaller ponds, <10 acres. More frustrating than the cruising females searching for suitable partners.

Now there's some good observation! She might have been resting, after spawning. Immediate post spawn females are notoriously tight lipped.

It wasn't a bed, and I doubt they were spawning in April. It's usually closer to mid may, at that parallel. What you're suggesting defies every single scientific observation and documented study about largemouth ecology. She was probably just sitting in the shallows. There is also the possibility you spooked the male, while she remained, though it's usually the opposite, in my experience. Females don't visit beds that lack males, they do not defend eggs and fry, and they don't make the beds. I'm not saying you didn't see what you saw. I'm saying your assumptions about the activity are probably not correct. But who knows, maybe she thought she was male. Nature is weird, lol.

A DD in NY is far rarer than a 50" muskie. There's reports every year from the St.Lawrence of them.

Gamakatsu octopus circle hooks.... this doesn't end well. Been down this road with teaching beginners how to use wack senkos, trying to reduce deep hooking. Good hookups were rare, even with proper technique.

Males sit on beds, females only visit to spawn. They may actually spawn with several males over the course of the spawn period.

High temperatures can add stress, coupled with the rigors of spawning, can delay the healing tails. While the males clean out the nests with their tails, there's certainly a bit of tussling and fin nipping during the actual spawning itself, which causes injury. Fins, when the heal without infection, can regenerate.

How about a pic of your tray, with and without the pedal?

The reviews on MTB pretty much tell the story... My favorite review:" it make some small bubbles but that was it"