wannabeangler

Just before the sun breaks over the trees at sunrise until a couple hours after (spring through fall). And then about 1.5 hrs before sunset until the sun sets. My game dies the minute the sun is completely gone. Usually topwater i.e. buzzbait, frog or popper tossed in, on and around shallow grass flats (3 feet of water or less). In the summer, same times plus anytime not high noon. I toss frogs on the shady side of every grass matt and right against (or on) the shore or weightless worms on the shade side of stick-ups. I love seeing a frog explode on landing when it's 95 degrees in mid-July!

Throwing a buzzbait during the tail end of sunset and a bat hit it mid-air. The bats usually chase it but I've never had one tag it until then. It crashed into the water with the buzzer, I set the hook and dragged it back flopping on the surface the whole way. Thankfully, it broke free and flew off almost at my feet. Saved me the trouble of figuring out how to unhook it!

1. Learn to pattern better - Generally, I can find a few fish to bite what I'm throwing but catching limits are few and far between. 2. Learn to resevoir fish - until recently, most of my fishing has been on 500 acre or less lakes. With the recent addition of a 17.5 ft bass tracker, I want to explore bigger waters. 3. Deep structure fishing - I typically target visible structure i.e. grass flats, timber, shoreline trees, etc. I'd like to a) find deep structure and figure out how to pull fish on 'em! 4. Find the schools - I also like to striper fish and the mythical spaghetti on the graph is something I've only seen once. I'd like to figure how to find the schooling fish more frequently. 5. Football head jig - I'm in the same boat as some of you guys on that one! Shakey head, no problem but jigs just aren't producing for me like they aught! 6. Water conditions - goes along with patterning a bit but mainly a) muddy water and shallow flats (3 ft or less) on windy days. Both of those stump me.

Thanks for the info. And to clarify, if I were to run two 27's to a 12-volt trolling motor, then I would need to install a switch between the two batteries ... one that will allow me to draw off both simultaneously, right?

Thanks for the info. Will running two 27's parallel (positive-positive, negative-negative) increase the Ahr to the current 12-volt trolling battery?

I recently purchased a 2004 Tracker 175 Pro175 with a Motorguide 46# thrust trolling motor. The original trolling battery (a megatron SRM-27 / 600CCA / 750 MCA) was dead when I purchased it and for the interim period, I threw in a small Wal-Mart deep cycle battery (24DP-4 / 675 amps / 550 cold charging amps / 105 amp hours). The smaller wallie-world battery only lasts about 2.5-3 hours. Naturally, I'd like to get a battery that will give me a LOT more run time, but here's the real question: Later this summer, I plan on dropping in a Minn-kota 24-volt, autopilot trolling motor. With that said, can (should) I go ahead and purchase two 12-volt batteries and run them parallel? That way I already have the batteries needed for a 24-volt system. And what are the pros/cons of doing that versus purchasing a single bigger 12-volt battery? Thx

Thanks guys. Very reassuring. I went ahead and picked up the used Matrix and it's sweet! Can't wait to give it a wet test run...

I've been doing a lot of canoe fishing lately and want to add a fish finder for when I go hybrid or striper fishing. I have a 34T Minn Kota trolling motor and a 12V marine battery. I found a great deal on a used Humminbird matrix 37 but it's a bit more powerful than what I was expecting. I'm wondering if it will be feasible to run this particular fish finder and a 34T trolling motor from the same battery? Any thoughts or advice on whether this is good idea or a bad one would be helpful! And if it's not a good idea ... does anyone have any suggestions on a particular fish finder for the canoe? Speed is an important factor which kills out a lot of models ... including the Humminbird Fish Buddy series. Thx

That looks like a good idea. I'm real newbie fisher ... got any recommendations on color, hook size, etc. for the senko?

WOW ... lots of great info real quick! @ Jeremy D. - Yeah, I've been trying to figure out the timing. Buzzbait simply gets snatched under real quick ... almost idiot proof. I still wait a second before setting it, though. I've definitely had more strikes on the ribbit frog vs. the buzzbait over the last month and it drives me nuts! I've tried waiting a few seconds and have even dragged them back half before having them throw it ... I just need more practice with it! @ Dan. - That's what I've noticed, too. The entire 90-acre lake is lined with weeds extended about 10 feet out from the bank. I target breaks, logs, pockets, channels, etc. and spot moving grass. Some days I find them, but they're just not interested in buzzbait or frogs. Overall, my problem hasn't been in locating the bass ... just figuring out what to do if they're not interested in buzzbait or frogs. =)

I'm a newbie fisher and discovered buzzbait about a month ago and have been catching a 1 or 2 largemouths every morning since (3 five pounders 2 weeks ago). I fish a shallow, 90-acre lake in Georgia that has extremely thick weeds on the banks and sometimes I'll use a stanley ribbit frog instead of the buzzbait for thicker areas (but have trouble setting the hook). Usually, I wade in about 10 feet or so and work the weeds from 5 a.m. until 9 a.m. During that time, bass jump constantly. It's not uncommon to have a dozen breaks within a short cast. With as much activity as I see, should it take 3 hours to catch 1 or 2 bass? And is there something else I should use if buzzbait isn't triggering any strikes?