J Francho

I had similar conditions this past Sunday. I fished the windy points to no avail, ended up locating bites in protected coves, and very shallow. I came in 5th with five alive, but lost a fish (amazingly, broke it off!) that would have upgraded my 12" dink. I had the winning pattern, just didn't catch my five biggest bites.

Just use a Q-tip with JJ's if you want to get "artistic."

Assuming the engine height is set correctly, increased setback won't improve hole shot. Go down one pitch with the prop, or go to a 4-blade prop in the same pitch, and see if that doesn't help.

Northern pike, tiger musky, jack perch, steelhead, king/coho salmon, brown trout...

If you are gong for distance fishing, and possibly bigger waters, a kayak is a better platform. If you just want to get out on calm waters with a buddy, a two seat prowler is probably a better choice. It comes down to what you'll be doing more of and what kind of waters.

ECS70LF. Don't let the walleye designation fool you. I got a 6'3" MLXF for my son to use, and I found myself using it just as much as my three Avid series spinning rods. The Eyecon series spinning rods feature one of the most comfortable handles I've used to date as well.

That's a great fish, Mike. Part of what makes your jigs, Ragetail baits, Megastrike, and hawgtech are the great fishing reports all of you share with us. I think it speaks VOLUMES about the people behind these great products, their integrity, and their honest drive to make useful baits and gear.

In a general sense, when water temps hit mid 60s.

Tandem - both pedaling. Imagine a tandem recumbent. Just add two wheels in the rear. Goofiest looking thing I've seen in a while.

No, front and back. I should have gotten a pic. Looked "home engineered."

I saw a tandem-recumbant-tricycle the other day. I almost ran a stop sign I was laughing so hard.

I'm more impressed by the nice finish on the deck, lol.

Any bait I've used on an umbrella rig has used a simple swimbait jighead, with an exposed hook. Buckeye Lures makes a great head for this, with a very strong hook. http://www.buckeyelures.com/jwill_swimbait_head.shtml

Alberto: http://www.stripersonline.com/a/albertos-knot Here's a video, by the inventor:

Back in the day, a 5:1 reel was called "high speed." Now, 9:1 reels are becoming available. IPT is the actual measure of line pickup per handle turn, and the more important spec when comparing reels side by side. Everyone has their opinions about what is good for what, and in a general sense, the most common recommendations will work. Though, most anything can be accomplished with a middle of the road 24-28 IPT reel. Slower and faster reels may "feel" better or more natural in your hands for certain presentations, like faster reel for burning buzzbaits, square bills, traps, and spinners, or a slower reel deep diving cranks, C-rigs, spooks, ledgebuster spinnerbaits, etc.

There's no hard set rules, and standards for sublective things like stretch or springiness do not exist. All over this forum, there are threads addressing fluoro and applications. The main advantage of fluoro to me is it's density. It is both more sensitive and sinks better than mono or copolymer lines. Some fluoro is stretchy, some is springy, others are stiff and more abrasion resistant. All sink, and all are more sensitive than mono or copoly. One warning, it is very unforgiving to sloppy knot tiers.

The big tuna is a pretty cool boat....so much room when rigged for single person fishing. It's a good suggestion, if a kayak is what the OP decides on. As great as kayaks are, tandems are just miserable. At the shop, we called them "divorce boats," lol.

Oh please. Every single knot known to man, "crosses over itself." Otherwise, it is just a twist, not a knot. The Palomar, when properly tied, has proven time and time to be one of the strongest knots used with fluorocarbon. I've been using a Palomar with a drop shot rigs and line as light as 2 lbs. without issue for over a decade. If there was a problem, I'd see it. I'd go so far to say, IF you can tie a proper Palomar knot, then it is THE knot to use with fluorocarbon. If you are having issues with a Palomar breaking - it's user error, not the knot. I proved this time and time again with others at shows, testing the knots on the same line - my knot against someone else that claimed to have issues with knot, using a scale. Mine always broke above the stated line strength. Once I coached them on how to tie a proper Palomar, and take their time cinching the proper end (pull both the main and the tag, until the main is tight, then pull only tag end, all along keeping the knot moist and cool) their knots were as strong as mine. most often, they were allowing too many twists in the doubled line, and cinching the wrong end, resulting in kinks in the mainline, before the knot. If that line isn't straight, cut off and retie, because you failed to tie a strong and proper knot. I know this sounds militant, but SO MANY TIMES, I hear the complaint about such and such knot, only to prove it was user error, not the knot. Fluorocarbon will separate the men from the boys when it comes to knot tying. Practice, test the strength, and practice some more. BTW, if a Palomar is too difficult, I've found most decent fluorocarbon lines hold an improved clinch knot very well. InvisX, Tatsu, Berkley 100%, and based on my bud's success with Vanish (yes, I said Vanish) that too.

Probably some good catfish opportunities nearby.

Tandem kayaking is possibly the worst experience I've ever had, and that wasn't even fishing. They're fine if you want to take a kid along, but two adults - no way! I vote two kayaks, or a bigger pond prowler, if fishing for two is a must.

Really? A Sammy is possibly the easiest walking baits to master. The key is to throw slack in the line just after using a downward twitch. I use a shorter rod for this, a 6-2 medium power, x-fast action rod with 10# P-Line CXX. For cadence, the biger the bait, the slower the retrieve. A 115 size is great for long, sweeping side to side action. The 100 and 85 are best with a faster retrieve.

My Bullet trailer bunks are about 1/2" longer than the boat. On my Xpress they are about 4" longer.

Slightly longer than the boat transom, when the bow eye is attached.

Stainless. Period. Put a glob of silicon in the pilot hole as well.

If I don't use my spinners for a while, they will get some coiling. A little memory isn't such a bad thing with fluoro - better than coils leaping off the spool! Usually a shot or two of KVD, an hour or so before using them clears that up. Also, it's imperative you troll out the line twist once every 12 hours of use or so. Storing the line with twist seems to really shorten it's life.