done

So, this was something big for me but i am sure the rest of you will be going crosseyed with how obvious this is. When I first got a boat and got out on the Lake, I had no electronics so I would try to fish areas I noticed the guys who had them would go. I had very limited success and while I had enough cat fish to open a fish camp, did not catch a single bass out of the lake for 3 months . I got my fish finder a finally and got out to use it, started getting more and more bass. I was out again the other day and started hammering Bass. Finding them left and right and then I actually realized, there is a specific bottom signature to coves that are going to hold Bass in the lake. Every time I find it, I get lots of Bass. What amazes me is I can hit 5 coves in a row and though topside they look identical (actually the one that produces more fish looks very unspectacular topside), they are very distinct on the bottom and really 2 of them match the signature. I have finally figured it out. Like I said those of you who have been using these things for longer probably thinking "Duuuhh!!" but really, for those of you who don't, electronics are such a game changer for finding fish. MY Eagle Cude is about the cheapest they have out there too,

I have been running an Eagle Cuda 168 off my Jon for about a year. Great price, good little unit for the cash you spend. When you say "starter" though, what budget you looking to stay within? The Eagle Cuda is around $70. Good idea, shoot out the $$ you are looking to spend and the guys here will give you a list of models that should hit your ballpark.

ditto. If the hull and everything else is in workable shape, that seems like a low-ball offer. Get the motor checked out, my bud had a 45 HP 2 stroke that was "dead". He took it to a decent mechanic and for a couple hundred bucks, he got that motor running like brand new. It was impressive and has run like a champ ever since. I would bet (if you're like me), getting the new truck would be the better way to go. I mean you got the boat already. You probably have more reasons to trade up on a new truck (hauling stuff, towing, etc) so the cash you spend there will actually get more use.

Will do. Getting the fitting out is what I thought would be the tough part. My grandfather is a tinkerer though, the man finds ways to do things that you would swear would not work. Anyway, we are going to give it a shot, will let you know how that goes.

So I got my day off yesterday and went out on Wylie. First hour and a half did not get a single bite threw almost everything I had at them. So, I went to my Vibrax spinners and right off the bat, caught 3 huge catfish. Then I got into another are and started popping Bass like crazy on the spinner. The frustration part was I lost the largest Bass I have ever seen out of a Bass Pro tank TWICE! Got him to the boat TWICE and could not get the net under him. Course the good part was I got the best part of the fight with him twice too. Thing must have jumped clear out of the water half a dozen times. Anyway, because of the number of hangups there, spinners are usually the last thing i go to, after my first catfish hit, I used them the rest of the day. Anyway, awesome day.

I feel for ya. Last time was out it was windy, I spent 3/4 of my time trying to fight the wind. Good luck guys...hopefully mother nature will cooperate with ya a bit.

First time we took my buds boat out we burned out the battery, lost 2 anchors, and a fishing reel. We have all had those days. That is why it is so easy to laugh at others. Everytime I do I can remember some of my more glorious moments.

Hey Root Beer, I actually have a GMail account. I keep my hotmail account mainly as my "signup" account. That way when I sign up or register for a site for work, home, etc all those spams and stuff that result from them selling my email go to my hotmail. The junk filter on hotmail catches about 99% of them, but as I have had that hotmail account for 10+ years (that is scary it has been that long), it is hit by a LOT of spammers.

Well it could be a fake login or some other page with some nasty code in it. You never know.

LOL. I hear ya on the boat. I got a customized 1446 jon and I have actually had someone tell me it was "cute". Course when we both got back at the end of the day and he got skunked and I was hitting them all day long, well the "cute" goes away. It is not always true but fairly often on Wylie the guys who hit 'em good are running around in Pond prawlers, or jons like mine. Does not take a$15,000 boat to catch bass (of course it doesn't hurt either )

Never heard of "mañana". But the whole not calling back thing is not limited to the miami area. It is like a plague here. That and returning emails. I will send them so I am not bugging folks calling them on the phone. Does it really take a lot to respond within a day? Even if it is just to say "I am busy right now, I will look into it and get back to you..."? Yeah, I am hijacking your rant....sorry. I feel your pain man.

I love my jon. I have it customized to fish exactly the way I want to. I have everything i need to Bass fish, the 8 hp 4 stroke lets me move around the lake. , 50 lb Tm lets me hold in place even in a 50 mph wind (been tested to 50 mph). When I hit an electric only lake, I can easily take the 8 hp off and fish it. I can push the trailer by hand with the boat on it. When the 8 hp 4 stroke is off, I can carry the boat with another guy and drop it in any pond or lake and it still got the electronics in it. Just extremely versatile and good for just about any lake, river, pond in this area. That being said, I will probably sell it next spring and get a Tracker 175 so I can get all my little girls out there with me. If it was not for them, I would keep this jon forever.

See, I would be gullible enough to believe it. Despite numerous times I have been shown otherwise, it is tough for me to think someone would just make something up like that. I mean, personally, I don't fish to impress others, just to have a ton of fun, if I catch a lot of fish, I am real happy, if I don't I am happy just the same. I just LOVE to fish. I usually do not even take a picture (too much PITA to pull my camera phone out). That being said, glad you caught him on those stories. At least he kept the weight in the realm of actualy biologic possibility (vs, I caught me a 30lber last month).

Hey guys, Got a question for ya. I have a nice custom jon 1446 I put a killer front deck on it. Got a short (12 ") pedestal I put the front seat on, MOST of my friends can use it to fish when they are not standing. My grandfather (who I fish with a lot) cannot. So I have to take the pedestal out completely for him and put the seat right in the deck. This is not great for his knees or when I has to get up to pee. What he wants to do it buy one of the 12" pedestals (could not find one any smaller), cut it down to 5" then just put the plug on the end like they come out of the box. It would get him off the deck and up a little bit. Has anyone done this? Is there a place to just buy one of these things? I have not ever seen on that short myself. (http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_10200538____SearchResults?ordProd=Y&CMID=BOTTOM_selectitems#itemDetail 11" is the one I got now that he wants to try to cut shorter).

Yeah. between that type of thing the fake bank notices (I get one from just about every bank imaginable almost daily), and paypal warnings (too bad I dont have an account), I am half tempted to close my hotmail account. Be careful of phone fraud too. That is up. Had some nimrod call my house a little while ago demanding payment for a farm agency insurance policy I closed. Funny thing was, he sounded like he lived under a rock. when I pushed him for identifying numbers and details on who I was he did not have them. And I have never had an account with such an agency. Them the kicker, he called me from him home address without blocking the number. So my caller ID gave me all the info I need to give to the police to go have a chat with him.

LOL. So what you are saying is, they can outrun my jon boat. I am very glad they can't get 50 lbs+. I think I would be screwed.

My grandfather bought me one cheap < 30 at a Dicks a while back. Funny part was, he did not realize it was rubber and at first was upset he bought it. I LOVE it though. Nothing gets stuck in there not hooks, fish, nothin.

Well at the same time...keep in mind this was posted by someone who does use Facebook, which can be almost as bad in some cases.

anytime. When I really got into web coding the first thing I learned on was FrontPage. I learned to loathe it quickly. It freaquently tries to "help" you by inserting tags into the page, reformat your code, and such.

Absolutely!! I can say some of the most painful points in my life would be nowhere near some of the stuff on here.

LOL http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN2HAroA12w

I would definitely do my homework starting with what major are you looking to do into? What is the earning potential? What other alternatives to I have to college to get into the field? For example, in IT, one can easily bypass normal college, and go to tech training schools to pick up certifications. If you do go to college use it to its full potential. I would not go to a college that does not have internships for your field. In many fields having that 1 or 2 yrs of experience from your internship will be the difference between being hired or having to struggle for the first job. It is absolutely crucial. Look at all the alternatives on colleges as well. The school I went to for my CS degree was extremely well priced compared to some other CS colleges while offering a good program. I mean it is great that you are not blindly going towards college just because someone says so. You are doing your homework and that is a great thing.

Indeed, but college degree doesn't translate more cash, it just makes you more qualify for a certain trade.

LOL. Yeah, I can think of hundreds of time I have seen other make rookie mistakes, and dozens of times I have done some hilarious things. So long as nobody got hurt, and your boat is not damaged, its all good. If it makes you feel better, my sister is a cop in WNY in a city on the niagara river, and you would be surprised at the number of calls they get where they need to run out and snag a wayward boat heading down the niagara.

Drinking and driving a boat is just as bad as drinking and driving a car. I will not drive if I have a single beer in me, same with the boat. Growing up on the Niagara river, I saw alot of drinking and boating, I saw a lot of folks arrested, and I can rattle of tons of drunk and dead stories for folks who found out how bad an idea it was. Fishing, I never drink. The main fishing I do, trout fishing wading in streams, and Bass on a boat would both likely end up with some nasty reprocussions if I got wasted doing them. At home, I may have a couple. As for what others SHOULD do, IMO, if they are doing what they are doing without endangering others or stomping on my rights, I am pretty quick to let their free will decide for them.