Maggiesmaster

My problem is that I can’t keep the overhand part close to the eye of the hook; it ends up above the hook, creating a type of loop.

I’ve just started using braid, but have a really hard time tying a palomar knot-even with much practice. What other hook knots work well with braid? I use an improved clinch with mono all the time and have good results.

I LOVE Lews reels. My $200 Tournament Pros are great! My $300 Lews is great too. However, last year I bought a Pro Qualifier on sale for $50. It’s not as smooth as the Lews, but for the price it’s great.

I’ve bought two Tournament pros off eBay for big savings. Now that they’re the ‘old’ models they should cost even less.

Lees Tournament Pro's are my favorite. They've been discontinued, but EBay has them for about $150.

Wire it to the trolling motor batteries. Also, check the condition of your starter battery. It shouldn't go down that quickly.

I've got several Bionic Blades and don't think they've changed much over the years. I fish in a lot of tree cover and they're about the only 6' rod I can find.

About this time last year, Bass Pro had their old style discontinued Pro Qualifier reels on sale for $49.00. I bought one for myself & one for a friend. Big mistake---I should have bought several more! They're not as good as my $300 Lews, or even my $200 Lews, but I could have had 4 to 6 Pro Qualifiers for one Lews. Don't know how much Bass Pro will have them discounted during this year's spring sale.

Seems to me the only thing you would really need to do is make sure all the water drains from the lower unit. You can always 'winterize' later.

Sometimes I fish consecutive days and want the trolling motor battery fully charged. The motor charges the starting battery enough, and if worse comes to worse it pull starts easily.

I recently purchased a BassPro XPS 4/4 onboard charger; the one with two-4amp connectors. The manual says to connect one set of wires to the starting battery & the other to the trolling motor battery. I've got a small outboard and am not concerned with charging the starting battery. Can I connect both cables to the trolling motor battery--two reds to the positive & both blacks to the negative?

Is there any way to read the thermocline on my Garmin 7SV? I read somewhere that depth finders can tell the depth of the thermocline. Is this correct!

I'be got an Alumicraft 1648 with a 9.9 hp Tohatsu. It's really stable & my 40 lb trolling motor does well. It's a lot lighter than conventional bass boats & does really well.

Glad you found it! Bad grounds have always been my bugaboos! If you take special care to make good connections, protect the wires and have great grounds you probably won't have problems.

Is this not how most modern onboard chargers work? My BassPro model is about 4 yrs. old & this is what the owner's manual says. Also, my voltmeter shows a charge of around 13.6 volts at maintenance charge.

Before you get a new charger, pick up a good quality voltmeter ($30-$50) and check the trolling motor voltage when it's charging. It should read 13-14 volts. If it does, the charger's ok & you have other problems. If not, it needs replacing. Most modern onboard chargers are configured to send the total output to the uncharged battery. For example, a modern two bank eight amp charger would charge each battery at 4 amps until one is fully charged, then all 8 amps would be directed to the uncharged battery. Starter batteries are recharged by the outboard, and generally don't need much recharging by the onboard charger. The the trolling motor battery should get 8 amps, which should be sufficient. Of course, as in anything, the larger the better.

If you're in a boat, the only snake worry you have is one that falls on the boat from a limb. Good news: most tree. Limbers are banded water snakes, not cottonmouths. Bad news: while not poisonous they're still aggressive & will bite.

The side-vu reading on my Garmin 7SV shows a black area on either side of the midpoint line. What does this area represent?

Make a rod tube: get some 6 or 8" sch 40 pvc pipe. Cut it a bit longer than your longest rod. Glue one cap on the end, and glue a screw adaptor on the other--also glue sponges in both caps to prevent tip breakage. Pop rivet at least one handle in the tube and you're set.

Zoom worms are just too soft for me. Netbait worms stay on the hook much longer.

I recently had cataract surgery and am able to wear sunglasses with only readers. However, the shade of Costas I want to get don't come with readers. Has anyone put those stick-on readers on their sunglasses? If so, what is the best brand?

I've mounted my new Garmin Striker 7sv on my bow mounted trolling motor. Unfortunately, due to my boat's construction, the trolling motor is about 5-7 degrees forward from perpendicular; there's no way to easily correct or compensate for this. How much will this affect my side and down view? Most of my fishing is done at 15 ft. or below depths.

A bunch of us fish a small lake with many overhanging trees. A 5 1/2 or (preferably) 6 ft. rod is perfect. Longer rods don't work as well.

Bass Pro has their Pro Qualifier reels on sale for $50. I've got several Lews Tournament Pros, but these are 1/4 the cost. Are they worth buying, & will I be disappointed in the difference?

BD's show is one of the few that caters to the average bass fisherman. Sure, he hawks products, but you can catch fish with them, as you can with most others. I'm sure both Hi-Seas and Stren lines would work well for me.