slonezp

How big of a boat are you towing? Where will you do most of your towing ie. mountains or flat roads? What do you mean by family friendly? DVD players etc. I'm guessing. How many and how big are the kids? Will you need the pickup bed? I think most manufactures sell "family friendly" trucks. If your kids are a little older make sure there is enough room in the back seat. Even though the truck has 4 doors, doesn't mean the back seat is comfortable. As far as towing a boat I prefer a pickup for the simple fact that all ramps are not created equal. At some ramps I have to hop in the bed and then onto the trailer to hook the boat back up to avoid getting my feet wet. I have an '08 Tundra 5.7 liter 6speed trans. My boat, trailer and gear is about 4000lbs. The truck tows like the boat isn't even there. I don't lose power in the mountains or with the a/c on. 19mpg(no boat) 12mpg(with boat). I've owned Ford, and Dodge trucks and driven Chevys for work. I will NEVER own another Dodge truck. When I purchased my truck it was between the Tundra and the F150. Tundra was less expensive with similar options and more power.

x2

GUARANTEED to catch fish or your money back. I have not caught anything yet.

All the above, and match the hatch.

Poke a hole through the tail. Insert scale hook through new hole. Hang fish vertically by the tail. See what falls out of it's mouth. Bonus. Bad Idea. If you let the lead shot fall out, you may lose a few ounces.

That i guess would be it. Thanks

Just got both the hard gil and soft gil swimbaits. On the soft gil there is a second eyelet on the bottom of the bait between the fins. Is that for line to swim the bait rather than use it as a bed bait? Or is it there for spits and giggles?

My son is 19 and fishes tourneys with me, but sad to say when it comes to fun fishing many times I have to twist his arm. I understand he has school and a girlfriend and thats ok with me. I'm trying to corrupt my 9 year old niece with this whole fishing thing. She gets up at the crack of dawn with us and normally without complaint spends the day on the water. Although if the fish aren't biting she insists we go back in and get the innertube. My 7 year old nephew would rather play video games, oh well.

Lasalle opener! Fishing slower than normal, probably due to sun and no wind. Ended up with about 20-25 fish total. Most bass were in the 14-15" range Got 1 LM about 3lbs and 1 SMB about 3lbs. Fish were caught on rattle traps, senkos.

"Give me that filet-o-fish, gimme that fish"

If I'm not mistaken Trackers have welded hulls. When I bought my last boat I had looked at a used Tracker and parts of the hull appeared warped. I don't know if there is truth to this but the salesman said it was because a welded hull cannot flex and causes excessive stress compared to a rivited hull.

What Kind of line were you using and what pound test? Flouro sinks braid and mono are more boyuant.

If you sprinkle when you tinkle, be a sweetie and wipe the seattie

I see the tacklebox monkey in your future.

#30= Sideshow Bob

1 week and counting. Lasalle opener!!!

MK

Isn't that always the truth. A week early, a week late. What bothers me most is 40+ hours of driving for maybe 16 hours of fishing. I'm over it now. A local powerplant lake opens for fishing next week. I've never been disappointed opening week @ this lake. My son and I normally catch 50-75 large and smallmouth bass in the 2-4lb range.

You should have fuses or fusible links near the batteries. Check those out before you condemn the charger or the batteries. If those are ok check the output of the charger with a dc voltmeter

Were you trying to make it die or was it an accident? 8-)

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It doesn't charge the batteries while on the water. Depending on the boat your motor has an alternator to keep the starting battery charged. The trolling motor batteries will drain as they are being used. I have a Minn Kota 2 bank which is connected to the trolling motor batteries, 5 years no issues. Next time I will get a 3 bank. I have on occassion left an accessory on and didn't find out til I got to the ramp to find out the starting battery is dead. Now I throw a trickle charger on the night before as a precaution. Also the higher the amp rating the charger is rated the quicker the batteries will charge.

My nephew is on meds for ADD only during school hours. He started the med treatment about 8 months ago and it's done wonders. At 7 years old he's been held back twice due to "maturity" issues and is in the first grade. Since hes been on meds he now completes his work and is passing his classes. My sister had him evaluated multiple times by the school and private shrinks. They all said he is an intelligent kid. What amazes me is how much he focuses on things he is interested in. If he's not interested, forget it. I too did not agree with the med treatment, but it seems to be working.

Welcome from Streamwood IL and thanks for your service

Ok here's my vent Last Saturday I packed up the truck and boat and headed to Kissimmee, FL with my son for a week of bass fishing. I planned this trip in December. After doing much research I figured this would be an ideal time to catch that "monster" bass on Lake Toho. We drove 13hrs on Sat hoping to stay the night in Macon GA. I was not aware my vacation paralelled Daytona Bike Week. t just so happened that every biker in the U.S. was spending the night in Macon. We traveled another 45 minutes to (I think) Cordele GA. where after some searching, were able to get a room at the Days Inn (not recommended). On Sunday we arrived in Kissimmee at 1:30pm. Check in is after 5:00pm. We drove around blind looking for Lake Toho. After locating the lake my son and I drive to Wal-mart (about 20 minutes away) and get our liscenses, go back to the launch and launch the boat. The wind is blowing about NE 15mph. I figure we'll just go out and look around. We stop at a patch of grass to fish and I realize the footpedal for the trolling motor is in the back of the truck. Back to the ramp! Finally get out and fish for a couple hours and got nothing. Oh well. We went to get a pie at Giordanos. (nothing like Chicago) and stopped off to get some Crown Royal. $32.00 on the strip, What a rip! Monday, I get up at 6:30, get ready, and my son says he needs to sleep in as he is on vacation. He finally gets up, we go to Waffle House and sacrifice cleanliness for a cheap delicious breakfast. By the time we get on the water it's almost 11:00am. Blurbird skies and no wind 73 degrees. We fish different spots highlighted on the "Hot Spots" map. We get into a school of "snake" pickerel which is fun but we came down here for bass. Found some bass but they are hitting short, pulling the texas rigged worms down the hook, not connecting with any of them. Tuesday, thunderstorms drop .75" of rain between 6:am and 8:am followed by wind blowing SW 25-35 with 45mph gust and a cold front to boot. Didn't get out on the water. Went driving around to bait shops to get some advice. First bait shop the guy is an 80 year old crappie fisherman who can't put me on bass but knows where the crappie are. Also doesn't have any shiners (last resort bait @ $10 a dozen) because it's been so cold and no ones been fishing. We travel to another bait shop which is closed because it's too windy out. Wednesday, get on the water at 8:30am wind is blowing NW 15-25 with a 3ft chop on the water. Overcast with 55 degree high. We did what we could and only had 3 bites for the day, lost a 3-4lb bass at the boat. Got BEAT up by the waves, and were off the lake at 4:pm. My son talks to some local bass fisherman at the ramp and they say the bite has been off for about a week while I'm dealing with some toothless transients checking out my boat and asking a bunch of questions. Thursday, decided to go to Lake Kissimmee as there is more northern shoreline and we hoped to be protected from the wind. NOT! Bluebird skies, 39 degrees. After the GPS took me on a wild goose chase we finally ended up at the lake. Pay 5 bucks to launch and head down the channel to the lake, find a lily pad field about 1/8 mile square and decide to fish it. The shoreline offers no protection from the 25mph winds and we decide to move. I start up the motor and suck a bunch of sand into the intake clogging it. No water out the pee hole and about 2 miles from the ramp. I limp us back to the ramp. I make an executive decision to pack up and leave. Fridays forecast is 15-25mph winds with morning temps at 32 degrees. We get back to the hotel, pack, and check out about 1:30pm. At 4:30pm we are about 60 miles from the FL-GA border when I feel something wrong. I look in the sideview mirror and the axle on the trailer is hopping up and down. I get out to look and can hear the air hissing out. In 14 years of boat ownership I have never had a flat. So I don't have a spare. I decide to limp to the next exit. The tire disintergrates. I make it to a tire shop (thank god I'm not in the mountains)and am able to get back on the road by 5:30pm. What else could go wrong? At around 11:30pm I'm around Murphysboro TN and I notice the trailer lights are not working. Loose connection. We stop at a decent motel just north of the KY border at 1:am, sleep til 7:am and back on the road without incident for the rest of the trip. Or so I thought. Somewhere between KY and IL someone had hit the trailer while I was getting gas or lunch. I get home to find the fender is smashed, taillight broken, and liscense plate missing. So much for FL Now I'm back in IL waiting for the ice to melt.