airborne_angler

I currently own a 10ft flat bottom Jon Boat. Can a craft as small as this be insured. I mentioned insurance to my Girlfriend and she laughed. Insurance is in case S$@% happens(as Chris Rock would say). So what if I so happen to get into an accident out on the water and admit its my fault. I would need insurance to pay for the other persons craft...Correct. Or am I just looking into the whole insurance thing too much?

I have a Motorguide HVT 3000 Trolling motor(30 lb thrust). How well will it move my 10 ft flatbottom aluminum Jon boat? I havent personally used it yet,but my cousin said when he used it it worked well.

Years ago a guy where I worked brought in his boat and hooked up an attachement to allow him to run the outboard with a garden hose attached. I dont remember much from that but now I have my own outboard(1979 Chrysler 4 hp) Can the same be done to this? If not how do I go about tuning and tweaking the settings and making adjustments when I dont have it in water?

Is there a difference in 2 cycle oils? I was at WalMart today and in the boat section there was labeled 2 cycle "outboard" oil. Then in the Automotive section there was plain 2 cycle oil. Is there a difference between Outboard 2 cycle oil found in the boating section and regular 2 cycle oil found in the automotive section? I Guess what im asking is,can "plain" 2 cycle oil be used in an outboard in instead of 2 cycle oil thats labeled specifically for outboard or marine applications. What ,if any,harm will occur?

Anyone else had something like this happen? I recently acquired a boat and no longer find myself in the bait aisle at Wal Mart,but now im browsing the boat section....Those darn monkeys.....Theyre everywhere

I wanna buy a battery charger for the battery I use for my trolling motor. What are some things I need to look for when purchasing a charger? Whats the best all around specifications for a charger?

I have been looking at my newly acquired aluminum 10 ft flat bottom boat and thinking of repainting it. Currently its white on the outside and light blue on the inside. I wanna give it an outdoorsy scheme. Whats a good color to paint it. Im gonna do it with rattle cans(spray cans). I was looking at doing an flat olive drab exterior and a flat tan inside. What are somethings I should consider when choosing a paint scheme? Or are there noconsiderations involved. I dont wanna go white because im gonna get cooked on the water and it will really be tough on the eyes. Are darker colors better for stealthyness?

I have a 10 ft flat bottom Jon Boat. I also have a 97 Ford 4x4 I will be hauling it in. Whats the best way for me to launch it at the ramp on the lake? How should I situate the boat in the back of the truck? Nose in first or rear in first. Should I have the outboard attached when its in the back of the truck and launch it attached,or should I launch the boat and pull it back on shore and then attach the outboard and trolling motor? I wil be launching this boat alone without any assistance. The outboard is a 4hp Chrysler

I got the title and it was already notarized. Im sure here in Arizona the watercraft rules are a whole different animal. Not even sure if a Title is needed here. Im new to this so I still have alot to learn.

Well I traveled to Vegas this weekend to attend my Uncles funeral services. Before I left to go up there my cousin called me and told me I was going to be coming home with a boat. I thought,OOOOKKKKAAAYYY???? Anyway. What he ended up giving me was a 1969 10'2" Flat Bottom boat made by Sears. Along with it he gave me a 4 HP Chrysler Outboard,1 Motorguide Trolling motor,1 MinnKota foot control trolling motor,a Marine deep cycle battery,oars,life vests,4 3 spinning combos,1 baitcast combo and 4 tackle boxes full of assorted lures and gear. I am overwhelmed. My Aunt told me to take what I wanted and if I didnt take it it was gonna be tossed. My cousin took what he wanted and told me to have the rest. Anyway to my question. The outboard as stated is a 4hp Chrysler. Is it a 2 or 4 stroke? It has a built in fuel tank. I need to find out what year it is,I also dont have any literature for it. Where can I get a manual that will give me an idea of how to operate it,and what control is what. What are some strengths and weaknesses of an outboard like this? Thanks

I just got a call from my cousin and he told me he was gonna give me one of the boats in my uncles backyard. Believe he said it was an aluminum 10 ft Jon Boat. Along with it he says he'll throw in some oars,an electric motor,a gas motor,and anything else he thinks I might need to get me started. Can anyone give me a rundown/checklist of things I will need to get ready to get on the water. I have never owned a boat before and have rarely ever been on the water in one. I used to float tube but its getting very tiring when the wind blows you from one end of the lake to the other. Some things I know ill probably need: A PFD A MARINE BATTERY A BATTERY CHARGER SOME SORT OF BILGE PUMP FIRST AID KIT ANCHOR The thought of my cousin offering me a baot just hits the spot,I was at the lake yesterday and the day before and walking around the lake to that "hole" has just gotten to be such a chore. And then by the time I got there it started raining and I had to pack it in and head home. Thanks for the replies

Ive learnd that dropshots are VERY addicting........I love em

I went to BPS in Vegas and bought some of those Assalt worms too. My last outing I was using a 4 inch watermelon/purple flake just like the one pictured above and and on 2 consecutive casts I had fish on before I could even feel em bite. Then the rain and lightning came and sent me running for cover. I eventually headed home. Those Assalt worms work pretty good.

Anyone else notice the fish just "being there" when dropshotting? I have had this happen to me alot. I jiggle my line in one location. Stop,ever so slightly go to move my bait and suddenly notice...FISH ON....Its wierd not feeling the bite,tap or nothing....its wierd in a good way. Anyone else ever experience that? Just like always...they bite when your not ready and staring off into space.

If you go to one of the other forums(Other species) someone posted that too much corn can be toxic to trout.

The one I have heard and tell people whaen they complain about not catching anything: " Its called fishin...not catchin!!!!

I currently have a 55 Gal aquarium and in it I have all wild fish I have caught at several bodies of water. I have 1 Hybrid Sunfish,about 6 real Small Green Sunfish,1 Yellow Bullhead Catfish,3 or 4 crawdads,2 Goldfish,which were caught on Rod and reel,and 2 Plecos. I used to have a 6 inch Largemouth,a Nice big green Sunfish and a nice sized Bluegill.Those 3 fish died on account of there not being any power to the filter unit. My girlfriends daughter wouldnt go to bed when I asked her to,the main circuit breaker is in my room,so I just flipped the switch to that section of the house to cut the TV and lights out.. Never thought of the effect it would have on the fish. I woke in the morning and those 3 fish were dead,but the rest of the fish were still alive and well. Other than that mishap,Thus far I have had good luck with my tank. I do regular water changes,along with filter changes,and everything is going well. I never check the PH or alkalinity of the water,They all seem to be surviving just fine. Since the Bass I had died,I tried introducing 2 different Bass on 2 Different occasions, but they never made it. One was real small and I think my crawdad got to that one. I think the other died because the stress of transportation from the lake to home, I had him in an Igloo cooler and he kept trying to jump out. I gave up on Bass. Im happy with what I have at this point

Hey LBH, Thanks for using the pic I sent you in your video. I know its not a good likeness of me,Cant really see my face. I know when people talk to others online they like to put a name and face together. Anyway,I appreciate you including me in the video!!!

Not exactly the same thing has happened to me but close First time: I was fishing a lake in Alaska with a Panther Martin spinner. Had about 4 real nice trout on a stringer,held in the ground by a rock . I was standing abour 15 feet away from my stringer.Saw a Bald Eagle circling overhead and was just in awe,I never saw one in the wild before. Suddenly it dives at my stringer, rips it up out of the ground and flys away with my stringer,fish and all. Second time: Same lake as the first one. I was fishing for Trout on the bottom with my kids. Id set the hook and they would reel em in. All was well,I hooked a dinky trout and gave my daughter the pole. Had a good bend in the tip and suddenly it doubled over(ultralight). My daughter freaked and handed me the rod. I started fighting the fish when suddenly a LOON surfaces and just goes nuts. Luckily the hook came out and the bird went on its merry way. Seems that Loon liked the Trout my daughter was reeling in. Third time: Was at a different lake in Alaska fishing for Trout and knew there were some real nice ones in there. All the Trout seemed to be feeding on the surface so I cast out a hook baited with Powerbait (no weight). A duckling casually goes over and picks up my floating Powerbait . I tried to pull it away just before the duck grabbed it. I wasnt fast enough ,I never thought it would take my bait. Ducks normally see line in the water and steer clear. So heres this duckling raising a ruckus as im trying to get it to calm down and remove the hook. Momma duck heard all this and shoots over from the other side of the lake and just hammers my feet with her bill . It was all so crazy. I hastily cut the line as close as I could to the hook and away they both went. ONLY IN ALASKA!!!!!

Dont get me wrong,I was blown away by both outfitters,and even though I may have had a little bit of a problem at BPS ,in no way does it mean I frown upon them. I understand there may have been a glitch in the system with pricing or whatever,and things happen. BPS will be opening a store in Mesa in the near future,so when I head to the Phoenix area im gonna have to bring some spending cash. Im itching to take my GF to one of these outfitters ,I think shell be blown away just as much as I was.

I am currently in Vegas visiting my uncle who has fallen ill. On the way up,I stopped by the new Cabelas in Glendale Arizona. Beings how this was my first time in a store like this ,I was giddy as a child. Very impessive displays,Knowledgeable staff. Very pleasant experience. The fish in the Aquarium looked a bit ragged/rough/sick but overall I enjoyed it. I just got back from Bass Pro Shops here in Vegas. This place hands down rocks!!! Lots of awesome displays,Huge fish in the aquarium ,enough stuff to make your head spin. They had a Tank demonstration while I was there. They threw a red t-rigged Culprit worm and the fish ignored it. Then came the dropshot,the fish went crazy over that,then they threw a storm swimbait which had little,if any,effect on appealing to the fish. Then it was time for me to shop. I found a section with some ASSALT shaky worms in 4-5-& 6 inch sizes. They were all marked $1.49 for a bag of 10 baits,reduced from $3.29. I grabbed a few of the bags of 4 and 5 inch in different colors. I got a total of 6 bags. I then asked an associate where the "spot remover" jig heads were. The guy looked puzzled. So he went and got another associate,an older guy ,which I figured was more experienced. He had no idea what I was talking about either. We all looked and finally found em. As I was leaving the aisle I overheard one asociate asking another...."Whats a Zero Spook and where are they?" Obvious these guys didnt know very much. The worst part of the experience came when it was time to check out. I presented my 6 bags of bait to the cashier and they all rang up for $1.49. All except one bag. For some reason that particular bag was $3.29. It was a duplicate of one that just rang up for $1.49. The cashier couldnt figure it out and called a manager. He said it was because the color of the bait. Made no sense because I just had a pumpkin/purple 4" package ring up for $1.49 and the one that rang up for $3.29 was the exact same thing!!!! Same SKU/Barcode. So needless to say I left out of ther with only 5 bags of bait. I just got tired of explaining how it shouldnt be any different but the manager kept countering my point. This wasnt getting anywhere so I paid for my stuff and left. What has everyone elses experience been with either of these outfitters?

Well the other day I became a firm believer in fan casting. Never really tried it before,normally I would just place random casts here and there. I now understand how fan casting a crankbait can cover water and cover the strike zone. If you can imagine it ,fan casting can actually overlap and be very productive Point in case: Went out the other day and decided to fish a Tiny little 1/8 oz crankbait made by Strike King. Was fan casting and started on my left,first cast parralled the bank. Got to about the 10 o clock position and got a strike. Set the hook and ended up with a Bluegill. What do you expect from such a small bait? Next cast was back where I left off,at the 10 o clock position. Right as my bait hit the water got another fish. This time it was a Shellcracker(Redear Sunfish). Oh by the way I heard someone here talk about how Shellcrackers wont take lures...Well im now a firm believer that they will. Anyway back to the topic. After catching that Shellcracker I started back at the 10 o clock but after that I didnt get anything. Maybe I was attempting to cast too far,or throwing that tiny bait too hard and putting to much effort in the cast,but by the end of the day I was just wore out!!! But the fan cast does work and does produce fish...even if the fish I caught werent Bass

. I occasionally catch a fishing show on ESPN in the WEE hours of the morning. Now theyre cancelling another? Can I get a witness? Cmon,whats a guy gotta do to get a good fix off a fishing show. I dont get OLN with my cable provider. So guess there goes my chance to watch anything about fishing!!! I can still remember TNN( The Nashville Network). They had really good shows I grew up on. Bill Dance,Roland Martin,Hank Parker,Fish Fishburn, In Fisherman. Those were always my favorite shows on the weekend. Im a huge Car nut and they had Drag Racing,Popular Hot Rodding TV, American Sports Cavalcade. Then Spike took over. It all went BYE-BYE. Can someone please be somewhat considerate to us Fishing enthusiasts?

The Bluegill can save the day. One day in May I fished the whole day. It was hot and I was whooped. I tried downsizing and got into a Nest of big spawning male 'Gills....Now that was a hoot. Strong fighters and easy to catch. Made up for being skunked by the Bass

Question#1 I was at the lake yesterday and fishing the parallel to the bank on my left. Suddenly there was a huge eruption in the water right by the bank,like someone just threw a boulder in the water. It wasnt a bird,I sometimes see COOTS making a ruckus,Im convinced it was a fish,and it mustve had some size to it. What could I possibly have thrown in that situation or would it have been best to just leave such an eruption alone? Question#2 I moved a little bit to the right of where I originally started and I saw the top of the water come alive. Fish were feeding and im pretty sure it was Bass because you could see the green hue when they would splash about. I tried throwing an Albino Colored Fluke(Bass Assassin) into the middle of the commotion but got nothing. Was throwing the Fluke a waste of time? What else could have produced a bite in that situation?