Maggiesmaster

This may be true for bass, but line visibility DEFINITELY affects trout. I have fished side by side with anglers using hi- is line, using the same lure, and they didn’t catch anything. Bass, bream and crappie May not be this line-shy.

Both my two Harbor Freight voltmeters are inaccurate compared to more expensive ($30) ones. If you use it, you might obtain a better quality one and compare voltages across a range of battery charges.

I’ve used KVD and think it works pretty good, especially on mono.

I’m going to start using jigs as soon as it warms up some, but need to know the best style to use in timber. I’ve read most of the ‘jig thread’, and have learned a lot, but still can’t figure that out. I’ve learned I don’t need football or swim jigs, but what do I need?

I wouldn’t run anything else on the starter battery; you want it to be able to start the motor. Rather the graphs crap out than the motor not start. You can buy a good quality voltmeter for about $30. It’s your friend!

I’ve only had to contact them once about a (supposedly) defective cable. They shipped me another one right away. Turned out, I didn’t have it fully plugged in!

Don’t buy cheap mono. It’ll only backlash worse. Pick up at least 5/8 oz. practice plugs also. If you can at all, take up one of the offers for ‘hands on’ instruction. The fellows (and gals!) on this board are great!

This is a great topic! I use 30 lb braid without a leader. My thinking is it looks equivalent to 6 lb green mono, which won’t scare fish. Does anyone else feel the same way? Someone PLEASE give me support :)!

My brother HATES baitcasters, and cusses them at every opportunity. A bunch of us were fishing, and he started in. I finally laughed and said “ Charles, you’ve got a mental problem and need to see a psychiatrist.” He replied “ The first thing you need to do to get help is to admit you’ve got a problem, and I DON’T HAVE A PROBLEM?!.” Keep using your spinning rig! FWIW, I use both.

I know it’s the first of October, but the temperature here in Arkansas is in the high 80’s and the water temp. is 79 or so. What should the water temperature be for the fall pattern to start—bass hitting crankbaits, etc?

Netbaits are by far the most durable worm. Next are Culprits; Zoom works catch fish, but are too soft for me. Bream will bite off their tails quickly.

I use three worm colors on our green stained water; red bug, crawfish & June bug. Sometimes I’ll catch fish on green pumpkin, but not often.

I was using a friend’s Garmin 301 fish finder and wanted to set the depth offset for him, but couldn’t find where you do that. Does anyone know if it has one, and how to set it?

The extra width makes a big difference. You might consider a 1648 also. I understand $900 is a lot of money, but every time you get in the boat, you’ll regret getting the narrower width.

All good suggestions, but as to helping with the launching; offer to either help or get out of the way. I’m accustomed to launching my boat by myself, and well-meaning guests have made launching a lot harder than it should have been!

A friend recently cleaned and ate silver carp. Said they were excellent tasting fish. Only problem is that they are extremely hard to clean; they’ve got a lot of small bones.

Trout are definitely line color sensitive; for bass, I use mostly mono, but no leader with my braid line. Call me old school, but I really prefer mono over braid. Knots are easier to tie, reels are easier to spool, etc.

The simple fact is this: 10% ethanol gas has a little over 1/2 gallon ethanol in a 6 gallon tank of fuel. You can’t add enough fuel additive to make a difference. To keep small engines running well, you have two choices: 1) use non-ethanol gas and change about every 6 months or 2) use ethanol gas and change the gas at least monthly. If you don’t believe this, just visit with a physical chemist....he’ll fill you in.

I haven’t had this problem often, but a friend of mine is a big bream fisherman who sculls and uses crickets ( catches worlds of bream); he’s had bass fishermen actually cast over his boat into his bream bed, not say anything, and move on—I’ve seen it happen! Last time it happened, he picked up his scissors, cut the guy’s line and said “oops, sorry about that”! He’s about 6-4, 250, so he didn’t have any trouble.

The fact is that ethanol gas has 10% ethanol added. At this concentration, NO amount of any additive will do much good. The best course of action is always use fresh gas, and change non-ethanol gas at least every six months or monthly for ethanol gas. I realize this is a big PITA, but so is missing a good fishing trip due to a fouled carb, plus the big repair bill.

I’m retired & live on a small lake, and always have a fishing companion—my 4 yr old lab. Many of my friends fish alone; I like partners, but I seem to mostly go on the spur of the moment.

I got a BassPro Pro Qualifier at their sale last winter for $50. My best Lews cost almost $300. It casts much better than the Pro Qualifier, but 6 times better????

My Garmin Striker 5 shows up well in all conditions. However, the screen is very difficult to see when I wear my polarized sunglasses. Does anyone have this problem, and how did you fix it?

Zoom worms are too soft for me; bream bite off the tails & only 1 bass per worm. Netbait worms are a lot better. I get mine at Coosa Tackle (on the ‘net). Culprit worms are good also.