cadman

Top Notch ever since they were bought out a year or so ago.

Some guys do. I would advise against it. Also you get a better paint job without the weedguard.in the jig. This is JMO.

I fish from shore when I put my boat away in November till ice up, and then again when the ice starts to melt in Spring until open water. I have never had success with top water. The fish at this point are very sluggish and will not chase bait. You can try slowly dragging a rattle trap, and I mean really slow, till the point of hardly moving the bait, but I found this technique works better in Spring when the water is warming as the days go on. Your best bet if you have to fish would be to throw out a bobber with a live shiner or golden roach on it if you are looking for northern pike. All other species of fish now want a slow to no presentation. You see I ice fished for years and use to watch the fish come up to the bait with a camera. Many times they would strike on a still line where there is no movement, and the bait is doing all the action. This is just my opinion.

I had a power drive on my other boat, and I also had to replace my pedal. When I sold my boat I had already replaced the pedal 4 times. I would never buy another power drive.. Mark, Try to save up for a Terrova. That motor will work really well on your boat. If you ever get one, you will wonder why you didn't change earlier. I love my Terrova. I put I-pilot on there and I rarely use my pedal, except in heavy winds.

1989 Bass Tracker Magna 17 fish and ski. With a 90 h.p. Merc and a 9.9 kicker. Had that boat for 17 years. The guy who bought it from me still has it.

Those are covers to keep the grease from spraying all over your trailer and keep all the dirt from going onto the grease. I believe those are all bearing buddy covers, as I had them on my Tracker boat. Yes replace them and put them back on, they are supposed to be on the bearing hub.

Live and learn I have been down this road with vices as well. I now have a vice like Smalljaw and Jig Man you can't get a better vice for the money. I had a BPS vice when I first started tying, I quickly grew out of it because it really was useless for tying with thread. I tie my flat rubber skirt tabs on my jigs in my hand. I don't use a vice for that.

I sure do like the one in your hand. That is a sharp looking jig.

I like the second ones better as well.

I personally like a little blue, yellow, orange and a tad of purple surrounded by watermelon green. Try to keep the light colors on the bottom of your jig if possible. Most bluegill are very colorful. Depends on what you have in your lakes. Anyway the jig looks really nice and will catch fish. No really wrong or right way, just depends on what you like.

You link doesn't work, but I looked up the link. It looks like to me that you get (10) tabs not skirts. You will need 2-3 tabs per skirt , also you will need rubber collars or wire to tie them on your jigs. Also there are 22 strands per tab. You have a PM from me.

blk/blu jig with trailer green pumpkin jig with trailer rootbeer/orange jig with trailer rattle trap husky jerk or crankbait

I'm way behind you. This is my second boat in 24 years, I must be missing something.

I had a Bass Tracker boat for 17 years, and never had any issues with it at all. I would buy another boat from a Nitro/Tracker dealer, not from a BPS store. I went to look for a new boat there and got nothing but excuses and a belligerent salesman. I walked out of there and didn't buy a boat from him. Ended up with a Ranger. But I know a lot of guys that have Nitros and love their boats. I have also driven in a Nitro, and can't say anything negative about them. Everyone buys what they can afford, and hopes that they get a good boat with no problems. That is not always the case. I had issues with my brand new Ranger, but they did take care of the problem. Like stated, you can catch a lot of fish in a rowboat, you don't need an expensive boat.

Mine is set up like this as well and it works great.

I have a 619VS Ranger and I love my boat. Not the fastest boat on the water, but when the wind kicks up, I'm dry and the ride is exceptionally smooth. When the waves really start rolling the big bass boats all seem to slow down. Also I'm a bass fisherman, and there is plenty of storage space and a rear deck you can put on the Rangers to make a fishing platform.

As long as I have a jig or a good hook and some plastics, 1 rod and 1 reel, I would be content. I'm confident enough in my technique, that I would catch fish and I would be able to feed my family if I had to. You can throw everything else away for me.

I have a Terrova on my 19'6 Ranger 619VS. I have an 80 lb thrust, and I love my motor. If you get this motor don't get the co-pilot, definitely get the I-pilot as it is worth every penny. The I-pilot does everything the co-pilot does plus a lot more. Also if you go that route get the Terrova that has the built in transducer for your graph. Prior to this boat I had a 17' aluminum deep "V" Magna 17 with a power drive. The power drive always had a slow response time and I went through three pedals with that motor. I would buy another Terrova and probably go with the 101 lb thrust. But the 80lb does work really well in my opinion even in the wind. Now we are not talk 60 mph winds here though. Nice thing about it is I rarely use my foot pedal, unless it is really windy. Remote all the way.

wnybassman, I have made a couple of hundred blade baits with the double hook instead of a treble, the ones that slip on. I have found that Gami makes these in a black nickel. If you don't mind two sets of double hooks instead of trebles, these work very well and they will never come off either. Just a thought. Excellent bait for cold water.

I make my own as well

Net Bait Paca Chunks

X2, Similar to us in northern IL. Not a lot of 6+ lb bass caught regularly, not in my boat anyway LOL.

Like others have said. I've been there done that. My BPS is in IL, and there are people camping out. Did that two years ago, and never again. People mobbed the store as soon as it opened and by the time I got in all the stuff I wanted was gone. Nope not worth it to me to save $20 or $30 and waste 2-3 hours of my time.

I'll tell you one thing, and I have fished the HJ-8 for at least 10 years, and all my float to the top. I put suspend dots on the bottom of my Husky Jerks to keep it suspended in the water. Sooo I don't know what the deal is. I have bought at least a dozen or more over the years and they all do the same thing. Maybe the smaller versions are more buoyant than the bigger versions. It doesn't rise fast, but I can see it rise to the top.