fireandice

Hey, that will work. Not a bad setup for a 1236. I guess my family and I just don't have good enough balance, because standing and fishing for us was somewhat of a problem. I do like the seat heights that you have on that boat. Maybe we couldn't stand up very well for all the crap that we had rolling around inside our boat. LOL. Nice boat man.

I went and checked out some Alumacraft jon boats today. I was pretty surprised. They seemed to be priced decent here in KS. They had a 1644 with a livewell for 1100.00. Or they had a 1236 for 500.00. Not anything in between though. I found a ski boat that I may just upgrade to and make a decent little fish/ski combo. I'm pretty torn because I like to ski about as much as I like to fish, but I'm not crazy about most fish/ski combos. If everything pans out, we'll see where my skills take me and I'll post pics of the whole project. Just gotta make sure I can find the $$$.

Low budget has the whole key there. The wide beam makes tons of difference for standing or decking a jon boat. My parents still have a Lowe-Line 12 foot boat. I'm not sure of the beam on it but I believe it's about 36-38 inches. These boats are easy to pack in a pickup bed because they are narrow...but to stand and fish from that boat, you'd better not set the hook very hard or you're going in. Like low budget said, a lot of the older jon boats had wider beams. I reccomend a 14-16 ft. jon boat if you're wanting to stand and fish at all, or be up off of the stock flat seats. Plus if you have a 14 -16 ft. and your third buddy wants to go along, it can actually be done. A 12 foot boat with 3 people and gear is very small.

This is a bad fishing situation as far as I'm concerned. If I were you...presented with the same challenge again, try to look for shady spots, such as overhanging trees, or a small dock...anything for shade...any kind of cover. And don't expect the bite to be great. I'd fish the cover very hard and even the same exact spot several times. Sometimes if something irritates them enough, they'll attack it just like running something off of a spawning bed. I'd fish a weightless plastic or even a dropshot rig would work well, just because you can move it very slowly. The fish are probably not going to chase much if they're hot and there's not much oxygen in the water. Oh, I almost forgot...they'll probably be pretty shallow, believe it or not. This time of year...unless you've had a lot of rain or there's a lot of feeder streams or something...then there's simply not enough oxygen anywhere deep. But if the lakes are 3.5 feet on avg. like you say...then just look for the shade or a feeder creek...anywhere the water is cool or moving...even a little bit.

Boneman...for just regular spinning tackle, I use light mono. and it doesn't twist much with a fluke unless I cast it all day. I hear that braided line helps with this, but haven't yet tried any. I use a snap swivel on unweighted plastics with a sickle tail or something that likes to roll, but the fluke, if hooked the way shown in this thread, actually swims hook barb up and doesn't twist much.

great tips everyone. I'm gonna give 'em some more shots out on the water. I did try my green pumkin w/chartruse tail just this evening and nothing. But there weren't any baits working for me except the Watermelon/Red Brush Hog. I caught a nice 2 pounder on it.(good for the lake I was fishing). This bait has been surprising me lately. Baits that failed for me tonight with very calm semi-murky 85 degree water were: Black Grass Frog w/trailer hook...not a hit Green Pumkin/Chartruse tail Super Fluke...weightless on my ultralight Didn't have any dark buzzbaits or I would have tried them. Seemed like the jumpers/risers that I saw were feeding on mayflys. May have been bluegill though. Hard to tell...nothing was flying out of the air doing flips or anything like that.

I got a really similar deal at our Wal-Mart this winter/spring. Although I think all of the Strike King plastics I bought were .25 cents a bag. I also found Gomakatsu worm hooks for 1.00 per pack. Nothing bigger than 3/0...but for that price I didn't complain...I just cleaned house. ;D

Yeah...thanks for the pic there LowBH...I like visuals. Thats what I thought they meant. I appreciate all the help guys...I'm going to try to perfect my fluking abilities. Oh and I forgot to mention...that day that we did have the flukes working pretty good...it was the green pumpkin w/chartruse tail. We couldn't find any more in the stores after spring...so my buddy just started dipping the tails in chartruse dye. It was really potent stuff. Changed colors dramatically in about 4-5 seconds. I was impressed at his resourcefullness.

Okay ...here's the pic I was trying to post to you earlier.

I wasn't bringing the hook all the way out the top. I was leaving it buring a little bit to remain totally weedless. Should I expose the tip and lay it flat on the top? And ...what is a G-loc..is that a type or a brand of hook?

Okay...well I tried to insert an image of my fluke, but I guess I'm not smart enough to figure out how ??? Anyway...I'm using a smokin' shad Super Fluke...and I just wanted you to take a look at it. Just like to know if I'm rigging it correctly. It just seems that the body is so deep that the bass would have a hard time making the hook penetrate the body to get a good set. Would the EWG hooks help? I can even squeeze it tightly in my hand and can feel no hook coming through the other side. Thanks for all the great tips for this bait though. Wow, really endless possiblities.

I was just curious about the best way to present this bait. Just tell me what works for you guys. I have fished it a couple of days and caught some fish, but they were very small compared to all the others we were catching on jigs. Is this primarily just a last effort when fishing a tournament. Like it will put some fish in the live well, just so you don't get skunked? It just seems like an odd bait to me. It doesn't have much natural action. I have some silver shad color and then I believe green pumpkin. I've never caught any on the shad color. I usually t-rig it with about a 2/0 or 4/0 offset shank hook and fish it with little or no weight. It is very heavy bodied and very weedless which is nice. Anyway...give me some favorite colors and ways to present this bait if you would. Would maybe an EWG hook help? I usually put the hook in on the slotted side of the bait.

Sooo fun to fish a pond that never gets any action. They'll hit a bare hook almost. If you're going to be fishing there fairly often, I'd definitely invest in some bigger tackle. I'd imagine there's some pretty nice bass in there. I'd try to find a respectable 6'6" or 7' med/hvy action rod and a nice baitcaster or spinning reel. Everyone has a personal preference but I like 12-14lb. test on something like that, even bigger if you're a good caster. Top water is a blast to experience. I'd hit it with some Strike King Grass Frogs, maybe a buzzbait, or a Heddon Zara Spook, Rapala floating minnow, possibilites are really endless. Have a great time. Welcome to our board. 8)

Wow. Hats off to all of you guys. Very clean jobs. I really like that flatbottom. I saw something similar on BassTech a few weeks ago. I was just wondering if they got ideas from your boat. Very similar. I don't know if you saw it or not, but herculiner and all I'm tellin' ya. I was just wondering how the boat handles with the seats sitting so high above the boat. Does it make it pretty tipsy? Just wondering. And also, one question. Wouldn't the bedliner material on the bottom of the boat create tons of drag? I'd think you'd want to keep it as slick as possible. Anyway...beautiful boat on such a budget.

there you have it. Great advice. Wal-mart is actually pretty hard to beat unless you're after big money tackle like Lucky Crafts and such.

Lot's of good ideas here...and I can vouch for all of them in KS. I like the 1" crappie tubes. Haven't tried dropshotting them, but I will now. Live minnows are always a good idea. Pink minnows if they're available in your area. Right now from what I've seen in my area... with no rain lately and all the heat, I believe the thermocline is pretty high. Pushing the fish pretty shallow to find sufficient oxygen. I've been doing well in about 3 to 6 feet of water along riprap and weedlines. Jigs, spinnerbaits, t-rigs...they all seem to be producing decent numbers lately. Good luck. Don't fish deep. I made that mistake for several days without a bite. Not enough oxygen down there. I've even been catching nice channel cat in 2-4 feet of water in the same areas.

Yes there are a good number of bass on this lake. Not really abundant but good enough to fish in. I've caught good numbers of decent fish in spring...just not doing too good lately that's all. Tried the buzzbait this morning and caught one decent one (2lbs.) in about 1 hour of fishing two spots.

Hey Playmaker. I like your idea but are you putting the bullet weight in front of the tube or up inside it like some guys do? Also do you reccomend the same popular colors as with worms? Green Pumpkin and Watermelon and such?

Stainless leaders for toothy swimmers like Northerns. I like to use swivels only when I'm using spinning tackle...this reduces line twist and will usually keep your line from spooling and twisting off of your spool. I always tie directly to jigs and plastics with either a Trilene knot(personal favorite), Improved clinch knot or the simple but effective palomar knot. And with any knot, lube it with some saliva before pulling it tight and it really slides it down and locks in tightly. Trim your tag end of your line and catch me a monster!

Hmmm... David Lee Roth I think ! smallies in good weather... or bucketmouths in wind and heat???

wow, thanks guys...all really good ideas. I like that tubes are coming back again. I used to catch a lot of fish on them. Maybe not always hogs, but a good quantity of fish.

Thanks for all the ideas guys. Wow, this seems like a great board with lots of feedback. I struck out again last night on this lake, but I think most of it is probably the cool front/ rain that came through. Very unseasonal. Not to mention the fact that I'm still bank fishing for now, which is not much fun when there are only a few clearings where you can even attempt a cast. Hopefully the warm front that's here now will help me turn it around. This is like 3 nights in a row of getting skunked. I'll figure it out in time, especially with all my new brains to bounce ideas off of, and get some new ones. Thanks again everyone!

Hi I'm the new guy I guess. I commonly fish a local lake here in Augusta, KS. It's man made, I'd say about 60 acres, has one riprap point, a creek channel, and lot's of donated christmas trees dumped everywhere ??? The "community" thought that was what the lake needed for "cover." But essentially all they did was create nasty lure stealers for all the bass fisherman who would like some natural structure and some open water. Anyway, this place eats anything with treble hooks, such as Rat-L-Traps and crankbaits. Any good locating ideas for bass? So far my only luck is on the riprap point and right in front of the spillway using a Culprit fire and ice 6" worm t-rigged. :'( Also I'm fishing from shore for now.