SoFlaBassAddict

I briefly used one of those Megaforce reels. I'd stay away from them if I were you. I was just totally unsatisfied with it. Like you said, that spinning reel and baitcaster are new, I haven't used either of them. Spend the cash and buy a PQ. You'll be happy with it.

X2 Thats the smartest way to do it. You can get the connectors pretty much at any Home Depot/Lowes or autoparts store. Crimp em on and connect.

I personally wouldn't use a smokin rooster as a jig trailer. It's a large bait. T-rig it and hurl it out there. Chigger craws work nicely just texas rigged.

More than likely. It's a stretch getting a car in the garage. I'd have to move a ton of stuff around and then, maybe it might fit. But I doubt it.

Correct. Says it in the fine print of the flyer. Bottom right hand corner. http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CFPageC?storeId=10151&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&appID=206&template=daily_specials.cfm&cm_ven=facebook&cm_cat=mktg&cm_pla=event&cm_ite=2010SFCdailyspecials

Dammit man! I really want to go out and pick up a Gambler. Really irritates me at times like these that I can't have trailers in my development. I've got the money is sitting there waiting for it too. Wish my garage was slightly larger where I could stuff a large trailer inside.

I'm just wondering how much I'll use those rooster tails. Thats my deciding factor on going tomorrow. I've used similar baits with decent success on peacocks down here...

I know I'll be going to mine on Friday to grab some Super Spots. Sunday for 360/370 boxes at 5 for 10. Not sure if I want to go there tomorrow to pick up some Rooster Tails. Saturday has Excel mono 3 spools for 10 bucks. I may grab some of that just to keep handy in the garage...

Thankfully I've got the rest of the week off and have plenty of time to play around and try some new stuff out. I just need to actually get to sleep earlier so I can fish earlier. Drop the kids off at school, and then keep fishing.

So far no real luck with largemouth in the deeper water. Earlier today while there was a break in the wind I went out with a dropshot and a zoom finesse worm and had several nibbles from what I'm guessing were bluegill and other assorted baitfish. I've found several spots where the small schools of baitfish have congregated over the last two days. Mark them on the graph with no problem and drop on them. Now what I really need to do is pinpoint the structures that should have bass holding on them. RoLo: I understand that largemouth need love having some form of plantlife to hang out around, I've been looking for the humps that have some sort of grass and whatnot attached to them. I've found a couple, nothing that I've really been able to fish yet. WRB: I would imagine that a large portion of the bass on this lake are cruisers, but at the same time, largemouths are structure oriented. I've got to think that some of the large rock piles I've found have got to have fish somewhere near them. I'll have to try out the spider jig like you mentioned. I believe I've got some Hula Grub's stuffed away in the garage. I've never really done much c-rigging here. The one time I did use it, I caught a small dink. It may well be time for me to use it again now that I'm finding some of the offshore structure. Raul: I've thought about using a lipless crank and letting it drop down to the depth where I'm marking fish. I just need to remember to tie one on and give it a whirl.

Man, I really like Gambler boats. Just looks sexy. Whoever did the designwork on the hull really did a great job.

That really stinks man. I feel for you. But on the bright side, you'll get to do it all over again and add in any other stuff that you thought about after the fact the first time. You've got a great chance to make your rig better than it was before. The downside is that you won't be on the water for a while.

Duct tape and bondo. Problem solved. Thats a nasty hole right there. That'd tick me off something fierce...

Naturally I go out for a little while and the wind picks up. Made it really hard to fish the lake in my zodiac. I'm hoping to God that I'll finally find a boat that I really want to buy for my lake soon. I don't want to settle on a 32" Jon. I really want something wider than that for the kids. I may need to rig up a sea anchor or something to help hold me in place for now. I probably should also invest in some marker buoys. Now I just need to figure out an efficient way to drop deep with a baitcaster. Spinning gear is easy...

Ouch, sorry to hear about that. That picture has a nasty crack in it. Could that have been caused from the cold weather you guys have had up north? Good thing you checked it all out before you went out on the water. That could have made for one ugly situation.

Brush Hog, enjoy playing with it. I know I have fun with mine. Spend the time to learn the settings and get a good picture you're happy with. Turning the TVG/Switchfire off gives you a great raw sonar picture. You can track lures as they drop, etc etc. You've just got to deal with the extra clutter that comes on the screen from it. For just cruising around looking for structure, I leave mine off to get a nice clean image of the water. My biggest problem right now is deciding what bottom view I like. Inverse, structure id, or the whiteline. I'm not a fan of the bottom black view personally.

New electronics. More lures that I really didn't need....but who doesn't love having lures. Having two daughters that absolutely love fishing with me. Catching fish is just a bonus. Now I just need to find a new boat to use on the lake so I have a little more room in it.

Got it at BPS on sale, like 10 bucks cheaper. Regular is $199.99. Got mine for $189.99. Maybe the chick just liked me though. You know, for my manly body and all...

I grabbed one earlier today. I need to play with the settings some more, but I'm happy with it so far. My only complaint, and I complain about all B&W depth finders, is that I need to turn the contrast pretty far up to be able to see it well.

There are craws in the lake for certain. I've found them in the early mornings and at night. Little black stinkers. The drop offs actually descend pretty rapidly, mind you I haven't really had the chance to explore the banks with the sounder thoroughly. I think one of my biggest problems is that I'm mostly a shallow water type of guy while bass fishing. Using a baitcaster to toss a jig or a worm is easy. It's the getting enough line out that kills me. I always feel that I'm having to strip WAY too many times to hit bottom. Could that mean in this situation I should really loosen up the spool tension on the reel? As far as color goes, I figured at the deeper depths that color was a lot less important, everything is probably contrast at that depth anyway. I figured colors like blacks, blues, greens, etc etc were probably the better choice because they absorb more light. I will say this, turning the TVG off and looking at the raw image on the 570 was cool. Thats the first time I've been able to watch a jig bounce around on my sonar for a long time. On my offshore boat we've got a nice high dollar sounder, and rarely use it. Most of the time we're trolling offshore...

Tonight while motoring around I marked lots of suspended fish. 20'-30' in 45' water. Earlier today fish were mostly sticking to the bottom. Several bait balls with feeding fish on a point that I frequent had suspending fish.

So I finally broke down and bought a decent depth finder to use on my home lake (Humminbird 570). As I've motored around a little, I've realized how much unfished area there is on this lake. Let me preface this by stating that this lake was a fill pit used for building up the adjacent properties. It has very short banks underwater (5'-7' from the shoreline) that drop steeply. There are steps on the dropoffs (picture a giant staircase). Some of the areas have lots of milfoil/hydrilla, some parts of the drops are semi-rocky or thick sediment. It was stocked by the FWC several years ago and now supports a fairly healthy population of Largemouth, bluegill, peacocks, and other smaller baitfish species. As I've looked around the depth in most areas of the lake are between 35-45 feet deep. The bottom is somewhat hard, somewhat soft (rocks here and there on top of thick sediment). I have found several really nice features and marked some areas that are full of fish. I've known of spots before that hold fish, but never realized how far out and how deep some of the structure really is. So, as a start I'm looking for advice on what you guys think I should throw in this deep water. Worms with heavy sinkers? Jigs (I'm horrible with jigs, but this is a good chance to get better)? Cranks? and what kind of rigs. I've rarely fished a Carolina rig or a drop shot, but now I can see where they might become used a lot here. Thanks for any advice as I'm really looking forward to trying out some new techniques to catch fish.

Dink, check your PM's.

Agreed Mike. I took it back earlier today and swapped it out for the Humminbird 570 that I was looking at. No, it's not color (who cares). Drastically better imaging with it though. I'll give the Garmin this though. It did have a great screen. Lots of colors, etc etc. Not enough for me to keep it though. It went haywire a few times where the screen would pixelate and all. Power cycle to reset it. I shouldn't have to do that. I never have before with any other sounder I've used. Garmin = no bueno.

Anybody out there have any experience with Garmin Fishfinders? Specifically the 300c. I picked one up earlier today on sale for my Jon and was wondering if there are any known issues with that unit, or Garmin sonars in general. The reviews I've read are favorable, one problem seems to be the auto-gain feature has issues. I'm fairly sure I won't be using that all that much anyway. This is going to be used on a small lake on a small boat. No need for expensive stuff. 200 bucks is about the max I really want to spend.