A-Jay

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ Good Luck with your rebuild. A-Jay

Some of these are classic - and yours is now slouch either. A-Jay

Not a bad plan Tom. However, I neglected to mention that the Chigger Craw is the first & only craw / trailer my fishing partner (insert wife) will use. So if I were to in fact, liquidate that particular inventory, there would most likely be a bit of trouble in paradise .. .. .. .. A-Jay

Rapala Husky Jerk & Deep Down Husky Jerk ~ Many of them have almost no paint left on them - because they are/were that good. Don't know why I stopped throwing them, but as the "New" jerkbaits came out - these stopped getting wet. May fix that. Berkley Chigger Craw - must have ten pounds of these - Been completely replaced by the Rage Lobster & Craw - Whopper Stopper Hellbender and the Fred Arbogast Mud Bug ~ only have a few of each of these left - but back in the infancy of my bass fishing life, these baits accounted for the few 5 lb plus bass I was able to catch. I used to throw them on a fiberglass spinning rod & reel what weighed 8 pounds and was armed with less than half a spool of Gumby Mono; which was actually not that fun now that I think about it. A-Jay

Hello and welcome to Bass Resource ~ A-Jay

I did not express an opinion good or bad, simply pointed out the difference. I'd agree that heavier reels do a great job of balancing out heavier rods. The same a lighter reels might do for a rod that matches it. Any achieved or perceived benefit from either one may be different with each angler and is also often reflected in the price point. A-Jay

A-Jay

It’s often said that in most cases catching them isn’t as tough as finding them. That statement has never been truer than in the winter. They’ll bite for sure if you can find where they’re holding. In locations that do not have hard water, here’s how Greg Hackney does it ~ http://www.bassmaster.com/greg-hackney/finding-winter-bass-part-1 http://www.bassmaster.com/greg-hackney/finding-winter-bass-part-2 http://www.bassmaster.com/greg-hackney/finding-winter-bass-part-3 I really like GH's Style. If he wrote a book, I'd buy it. A-Jay

I've had that dream a couple of times .. .. .. .. A-Jay

Perhaps if you two start off the morning with one of these, it could carry you through most of the day ~ A-Jay

Congratulations ~ Best of Luck with The Bomber A-Jay

Fair enough, and since that's the case, after reading any of my responses, you'll need to keep looking. Good Luck A-Jay

OK ~ Good Luck Sir. A-Jay

Nicely Done. btw, I use that same label in the hook bag deal as well. A-Jay

I know at least one - and she has turned me into an all day net man on more than one occasion. A-Jay

The 2500 RG is priced right but does come in a full 2.1 ounces heavier than the same size Ci4+ .. .. .. .. .. A-Jay

I will tell you what I use and you can decide for yourself. Generally it's one of two sticks for jerkbaits - one is a Fenwick Elite tech smallmouth rod 7'4" Med fast, the other is the St Croix LTB 7'1" also Med Fast. I also use this one for flukes, tubes & small swimbaits. Both are spooled with 10lb braid. A-Jay

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ A-Jay

Hello Travis and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ A-Jay

A little. How about you ? A-Jay

Clearly there’s a fairly dramatic price difference between purchasing a new & used anything – especially boats & vehicles. Used boat sales is Big Business, including bass boats – has been for a while and will continue to be that way. Purchasing pre-owned anything comes with a certain level of risk. The tradeoff is often reflected in the sale price, which can be viewed as “very reasonable” especially when compared to new or newer. So take for example a 15 year old, pre owned bass boat – brand does not matter. This is a fairly common purchase buy many, even on this site alone, there are pages of threads discussing potential & made purchases. Some vessels in fact are much older. A rig like this has lived through 15 springs, 15 summers, 15 falls & 15 winters. During that time it may have been trailered. Sometimes it may have been trailered on a nice smooth highway, somethings it may have been bounced down a pot-hole invested two-track at 40 mph. Sometimes trailer maintenance may have been performed, and perhaps a few years in there, there was none. During that time it was used to fish out of. Sometimes the motor may have been allowed to warm up sufficiently prior to hammering the throttle down to wide open, sometimes it may have been jack up to speed ice cold. Sometimes the motor got quality gas along with the proper fuel treatment & top shelve oil, sometimes it might not. If the rig was stored in the off-season, sometimes it was winterized properly, but perhaps a few years there the previous owner(s) had more pressing matters going on in his/her life and really didn’t get around to doing it right. (Whatever that means). During those 15 years of running the boat sometimes the operator ran the boat on a flat calm lake, it was nice. And perhaps other times the operator had friends out in it and we were jumping every wave we could find, launching the entire craft out of the water – repeatedly. Awesome ! Some of this is not exactly desirable nor does it contribute to the rigs longevity. Truth is as a pre-owned vessel purchaser, we’ll never really know what the true history of any pre-owner boat, motor & trailer might be. We’ll heard the “story” about the boat, (and they are always good – have you ever heard a bad one?) and many times selective hearing kicks in, meaning we hear what we want to hear. But what are the chances that at least some of the above situations (if not more) occurred ? 50 / 50, 25 / 75, 100 % - it’s really anybody’s guess. But that’s the deal. The next owner laying out the cash is accepting the reality of what might or might not have been the life so far of this craft. And perhaps out of that was the birth of the acronym B.O.A.T. –break out another thousand, meaning repair bills are sometimes costly. It’s been my experience to see that if & when troubles arise, many new pre-owned boat purchasers suddenly and without any prior knowledge or experience, become on the spot repairman. Often attempting all sorts of mechanical, electrical and or structural repairs that they honestly have no business attempting; often complicating what may have at least in the beginning, been a fairly easy fix, for a skilled person. It’s not unusual to see these same do it yourselfers asking for help from strangers who may or may not have even less knowledge & experience than they do. Interesting. Many times it works out, sometimes it does not. Knowing ones limitations can save money in the long run. Then there’s the Humans who actually do possess the experience, skill, tools & resources to effectively & successfully perform any & all boat, motor & trailer maintenance / repair. They may be in the best position to get the most out of this deal. And still, there are always tons of awesome pre-owned rigs bought & sold every day. Ones that we all hear about that have low hours and are in “Like New” condition, ones where the next / new owner could not possibly be more pleased with. And then there’s some where the polar opposite is true. Those are no fun. Finally, there are literally THOUSANDS of post here in this very forum that pass on EVERY bit of Solid Pre-purchase used boat buying advice a person needs to know & hear in advance of do so. Those are all designed to make this entire post Unnecessary. So there's that. A-Jay

There's really only one way to find out .. .. .. .. .. and that's the fun part. A-Jay

Prior to getting here - you may have to replace whatever the previous owner was unwilling to and what may have triggered the sale. Over time even well maintained equipment needs to have repair & parts replaced. With an almost 20 year old rig, there's bound to be some of this. Sometimes these situations come & go, and sometimes they just come, & come & come . . . .And even new boats can experience this - in these cases hopefully there's a warranty in place. Still a PIA. A-Jay

Red Sky in the Morning, Catt take Warning. Red Sky at Night, Catt Delight. I might be starting to lose it a little - A-Jay

A-Jay