Biglouie

Ben you are absolutely right. I just re-checked the battery (the new one) and it read 12.79....without the charger attached this time!!! ;D OOPS! I just tested the old battery again and it read 12.54. The thing is, it seems to lose it's charge so much faster than it use to. Although it really takes abuse with all the river fishing I do in the spring against the current. Running the trolling motor on hi almost steady! I'm thinking that it's time to replace. Six years sounds like a good run compared to what others have told me. one more thing...can you give me an estimate on the cost of a US Battery brand?

I think I need a new troling motor battery. My interstate battery for my 12 volt trolling motor is six years old. I charged up both my boat batteries (cranking and trolling) over the past couple days. I then tested them with a volt meter I have. The newer battery (cranking)I got last year checks out at 15.4 Volts when fully charged. The 6 year old trolling motor battery only reads 12.5 volts when fully charged. Do I replace it with an interstate battery or what about a less expensive one from Fleet Farm or something? Any recommendations?

Fishing here has been tought the last week. The water temp has dropped back down to the mid to hi 40's. We have had rain and even a little snow. The river I fish is way up and the current is very strong, way above normal for this time of year. Prior to this the smallies were coming up shallow in the rocky areas and water temps were in the low to mid 50's. I was catching them on crankbaits and rattle traps. Others were having luck on tubes in the shallow waters. Haven't had much luck lately. Any suggestions or tecniques to try? Think the high and cold water pushes the fish back downstream to deeper holes? Or are they hanging around in the same general area tucking out of the current somewhere and just not as active?

In general I think lake fish are more affected by the weather than the river fish. At least where I am, the river fish generally are more affected by current. Unless it's a long drastic change in weather (like the huge cold front that's been here for a week, with snow even yesterday!) it doesn't seem to have the same affect on the river fish as the lake fish. My two cents.

Was out on the river tonight (Wisconsin River, smallmouth) We've had a drastic change in weather. Very cold windy with snow and rain showers this past week. The river temp by me was up to 54-55 degrees last week and tonight it was 46. The water is a lot higher too. I was targeting slack water areas off the current. The current was really roaring through tonight. Anyway, last week I did really well on crankbaits and rattletraps. Not a bite on those tonight. Was trying everything tonight. Never fished a Shaky head before. I think I had it rigged right from reading other posts on this forum and was working it painfully slooooow. I only managed 3 bites on the shaky head. The first two bites felt good and I set the hook as soon as I saw the line jump and felt the bite. Missed both fish completely. I figured next time I'd give the fish a little more time to eat it. I did. I saw the line jump, felt him hit and then he started swimming off sideways with my worm. I went to set the hook and nothing. Unfortunately I didn't get any more bites to experiment some more. Maybe they were little fish and just didn't have the bait in their mouth all the way? Do you usually wait to set the hook or let them have it right away. I did manage one more bite tonight on an X-rap fished very slow too. Used slow pulls, didn't really jerk it, with long pauses. I think I had every bait in my tackle box tied on tonight. What a humbling night. By the way, it's still cold and rainy here too. Need a nice warming spell!

I finally cancelled my order that I placed on Feb 6th! I bought 3 on ebay last night for just under $30 with shipping and all. Didn't think that was too bad.

watch your line closely, if it does something it shouldn't, set the hook! ;D

anyone try topwater on river smallies early in the year? I saw KVD doing this on tv recently but targeting large mouts.

My goal was to fish new water...seeing only the WI river is open to fishing right now, I don't have a lot of choice. I'll have to wait till May for the lakes to open here.

I think it's ball "coach", not couch. lol ;D ;D ;D

I think that book was the fastest book I ever read (not that I read alot) I read it cover to cover in between patients and over lunch in a 3 day period. Great book. I really enjoyed it. Passionate they are/were. Obsessed might be a better word.

Living up here in central WI, the WI river temp by me is around 50 last time I checked. Walleye run has pretty much ended. When (water temp) do the smallies usually move in and spawn? We've had really nice weather lately, a week of almost 70's to warm the water. The water could be up into the low to mid 50's by now? I talked to a guy who said last weekend, with water temps in the hi 40's to low 50's, they were night fishing for smallies in super shallow water with rocky bottom and did well. Was throwing floating rapalas. Seems early to me, but I guess, obviously not?

I'm not questioning the weight of this nice fish or anything like that, but why in the world do fisherman who catch a fish this size still feel the need to hold it strait out from their body so far?

When I stated having a gut-feeling that Weakley was intentionally trying to snag the cow in the mouth, I was giving him the benefit of the doubt. The alternative is worse! I don't get it? How can the alternative be worse? I see the alternative as him accidentaly snagging it?

And on you previous post about this fish.... Bobo, you kill me. LOL!

you summarize your feelings well in that single statement, Guilty till proven innocent.

I guess everyone has their own opinions, I'm sticking with my original. Sounds like the $1000 bribe really irks some folks here. What if the next WR buck comes from a hunter who paid a guide/outfitter $2500? Would you have a problem with that? What if the WR Bass comes from a guy who paid a guide $500 for a day of fishing? Would you have a problem with that too? I am really not trying to be sarcastic about this, I'm just curious. Or is it more than the money issue? I have a feeling it is. Remember too, the other guy fished for this toad for several hours without any luck. Weakley wasn't paying $1000 to buy the fish, he simply wanted an opportunity (30 minutes) to fish for it. I don't think that's such a "bad thing". Him and his friends have been chasing a WR for years. I wouldn't have done it, but I'm not going to rip a guy apart over this one issue. The first thing I thought of when I started reading the posts on this a couple days ago was the "Rompola Buck". Remember that controversy! **on edit** Amen Flechero!

Out of curiosity, is there any regulations/laws you need to follow when doing this. I'm not certain, but I thought here in Wisconsin it is illegal to build fish cribs?

***.com has an article posted on an interview they did with Weakely, the gentleman who caught the big toad on Lake Dixon. It is pretty good. Answers most everybody's questions. Sounds like a good honest guy.

I've always had good luck using Mepps inline spinners for river smallmouths. Black/orane blade.

Watching Ish and the rest o fthe anglers Sat morning was some of the most exciting bass tv I've watched in a long long time. It was great stuff. I really enjoyed it, even though I knew the outcome ahead of time.

working current breaks on the river in the summer early morning with a small buzzbait is a blast. Otherwise pitching jigs and tubes in these current breaks all day long!

With these new chatterbaits being so hard to come by, has anyone had any luck making their own look alike?

That is a great looking boat and set up. Exactly what I'd be looking for in size/hp and layout. Price too! I fish out of a 16 foot mon ark right now with a 40HP Merc. Paid 5k for the boat 7 years ago. Works great for where I fish it most, shallow rocky river area and flowages. Hardly run the main engine, use the trolling motor right from the boat ramps. Wish I had a little more stability and speed. When I finally finish paying off my student loans in 2 years, I'll be looking for something exactly like what you just bought. Very nice boat, a few years old. Something that I'm not going to have a heart attack with if I put a few dings in the finish. Congrats, hope it runs well for you!

This topic has been moved to [link=http://bassresource.com/cgi-bin/bass_fish/YaBB.pl?board=Fishing_Locations_ID;action=display;num=1126101841;start=0]Fishing Locations[/link] by Glenn.