slonezp

Awesome!!!

I don't play video games. I might play a fishing game if it was realistic. Stop off at the gas station in the morning and grab coffee and donuts and use the facilities when you fill up the tank only to find out the crapper is out of order. Pull up to the ramp and launch the boat. Drive the boat to the first spot and make a few casts, change baits, and make a few more casts. Snag a carp in the back. Fight the fish cursing because you don't want a break off of your favorite $30 crankbait. Land the fish only to see the rear treble is bent and have to replace the hook but you can't find the ring pliers so you pick up another rod and start casting while your getting more ticked because you couldn't find your ring pliers. You go to take off to another spot only to realize you left your trolling motor down. Take the boat out of gear and stand up to go bring in the trolling motor but you forgot your kill switch lanyard is attached to your PFD and you kill the motor. Bring in the trolling motor and now have to screw around with the kill switch because the lanyard has to fit just right to close the switch. Now, the wife calls and asks you if you know where she left her car keys because they're not on the counter where she usually puts them. You tell her you have no clue where the keys are at in a stern voice because you are already frustrated at the way the day is going and now she's upset and grilling you about something you did or didn't do 10 years ago. She hangs up the phone all upset and you take off to the next spot. You get to the next spot and first cast you get the birdsnest of all birdsnests because you forgot to reset the breaks when you switched to a crankbait with unbent hooks. You put that rod down and pick up a worm rod. First cast with that rod, you get a bite and set the hook and the line snaps because you forgot to retie the last time you used it. You throw the rod down Iconelli style but instead of hitting the deck, it ricochets off the gunwale into the drink. You spend 20 minutes with a spoon trying to retrieve the lost rod and then quit. Take off to the next spot only to find out 2 other guys are sitting on it so you turn and head to another. Here is where you catch your first bass. A 3" bass on a 4" senko....There's hope!!! By this time, the pleasure boaters and jet ski's and wake boats are starting to come out in numbers...... See where I'm going with this? If you could design a fishing game that was realistic, I might play it. So far, no one has been able to do this

A buddy texted me some ice fishing crappie pics yesterday. 4" of ice on my home water. Should be 18" this time of year Similar to the saying "It's not the fall that kills you, it's the landing" There are very few things I am not willing to do. Ice fishing is one of them. I took a DNR ice fishing course almost 30 years ago because my son wanted to learn how to ice fish. It was the first and last time I was ever on the ice. Fast forward 10 years, my son was in high school and would ice fish with a friend of his. He got too confident. Was coming home from a friends house alone and took a short cut across the lake. He went thru the ice. Fortunately he was only in 4 or 5 foot of water and was able to save himself. He hasn't been on the ice since.

No, that would be nothing more than a lateral move. Right now I'm thinking about a Ranger 1880MS or 2080MS, or a Triton 186 or 206 Allure. I took my grandson fishing this past year. Unfortunately mom and grandma won't let me take a 3 year old on the boat without them tagging along. Needless to say, there's not enough room for the women and all their stuff and all the baby's stuff in the Predator. The Ranger and Triton both have a huge cockpit with seating for 6. It's also 10" wider. I'd be giving up the huge front fishing deck. Right now I don't see a way around it. The baby loves fishing. If I could take him without the girls, I'd keep it.

What's reasonable? My Predator 2010 is up for sale and is the predecessor to the ProV Bass

Heading to the Schaumburg fishing show on Saturday. Anyone else going?

Looks like he crapped all over the bed ?

Walleye, pike, musky, crappie, cats, drum, carp, wipers, rock bass, mud puppies, whitefish, gar, sturgeon, bluegill, trout, salmon, perch, maybe some others.

Happy birthday to me. Tomorrows the big five-o. I got my junior AARP card in the mail a couple weeks ago. Aside from the arthritis and aches and pains, I still feel like I can do anything.

Just sayin' what I read today. As far as ice, we might have 1"-2", on inland lakes right now. Lake Michigan is still free of ice. There should be 18" of ice on inland water right now.

About 3" of wet snow mixed with freezing rain. The bottoms going to drop tonight with temps below zero. Weather Underground predicts colder than normal temps here now thru April. Such is life

My MK in my previous boat failed after 7 years and damaged the battery connected to the failed bank, when it did. I replaced it with a Cabelas brand made by Pro Mariner which was problem free for 2 years until I sold the boat. Current boat came with a Dual Pro Professional charger and it has worked flawlessly for 7 seasons. Dual Pros are the only repairable chargers on the market.

All aluminum hulls are not the same. All fiberglass hulls are not the same. Myself and @A-Jay own aluminum hulls that could be put up against the best 'glass bass hulls and score as good or better. It's not a question of aluminum vs fiberglass. That argument has gone on forever like Ford vs Chevy. I'm sure a 20 year old boat in great shape would be a great option. Unfortunately, 20 year old boats are not always what they seem.

It's a frog. How scary could it be?

Normal lakes??? To me normal could be the Great Lakes, the Fox Chain(the busiest freshwater waterway per acre in the US) or a 100-2000 acre inland lake. Buy a boat based on what you fish. Unfortunately, budget tends to almost always be the deciding factor. it should be close to the bottom of the equation. Think safety first. Fishability second, and then prioritize whats left.

Not realistically...maybe...possibly. I have the original version of Spot Lock from 2014. It was upgraded 3 years ago and is supposed to be way more accurate. I have a single Talon and a Terrova with Ipilot Link. In a steady wind, or no wind, I can use cruise control to set a speed and direction which will keep the boat steady. Andy big gust and I have to make corrections. I fish for panfish with the Talon down and TM running all season long. It's possible the newest version might allow the spot lock to act as a second anchor. Your enemy will still be wind, current, and boat wakes. If you bed fish for bass, you'd be better off with 2 Talons. When I made the purchase, I thought I'd use the spot lock a lot. The only time I use it is vertical jigging when there is no current and little wind. In current, I use cruise control. I can set the speed/direction to offset the current and keep a vertical presentation with a lighter jig when river fishing for walleye. Basically, I'd rather use a 1/4 oz jig and the TM to keep a vertical presentation than a 1/2 oz or 3/4 oz jig and just drift. Think about it. If you're vertical jigging in current and your line isn't straight down, you have no clue where the bait is in the water column. On the same note, if you are fishing in current with spot lock, your bait could be 40ft away in 20ft of water and be nowhere near the bottom.

How big are the above boats and how big is the water you plan on fishing?

Based on the last few posts by @A-Jay I think cabin fever has set in.

Under rigging boats is a classic Johnny Morris sales tactic to keep pricing low.

The millennial I work with and I were cleaning up the back of the store today. There's an old flag that has been sitting back there since I transferred here a year and a half ago. He asked how I feel about throwing it in the dumpster. I told him I'd take it to the American Legion and let them dispose of it. I then showed him a star off a retired flag that I keep in the truck. The American Legion packages the stars in little baggies with the following message I am part of an American Flag which can no longer fly due to sun and wind damage. Please carry me as a reminder that you are not forgotten. Who knows, maybe it made an impact on him. Guess what irked me is he knew there is a proper way to dispose it but really didn't care. Had I not been there it would have gone in the trash.

As do I. One is not a replacement for the other.

A Natty Light and a push broom

When all the bass are dead, there is bound to be a zombass apocalypse

I dont believe that you'd be able to attach an externally mounted SI transducer to the trolling motor with the Mega DI transducer built in. You can with the standard US2 transducer. So you would either have to live with what you've got or buy a new TM, graph, and transducer bracket.