Madhouse27

Raul, you aren't fondling the fish again are you?

Good one Hydrillagorilla, we'll be shoveling snow and fishing through the ice in no time. My friends think there is something wrong with me. They are all looking at new snowsleds and here I am driving everyone crazy searching for bass boats.

I too bought the Walmart everstart marine battery. I have three and have almost completed my third season with them. I'm not usually a fan of bargain basement equiptment but these have been awesome. I've had my share of problems with the recently deceased 1968 Mercury 50. On at least threee occasions this season the everstart batteries have brought me home under trolling motor power. These were all long hauls at the end of a full day of fishing. Hell I think I even have the inexpensive everstart marine battery charger too. Hmm I sense a sponsorship coming on....

Welcome to the board. It won't be long and you'll be putting the hubby in the back of the boat.

I play this same game every month when I get my issue of bassmaster magazine. There are certainly times when I am doubting the validity of the weights on the lunker page. To get your picture in the mag your smallmouth has to be over 6 pounds. It's almost comical some of the bass people are trying to pass off as meeting the minimum weight. I'll go with the general consensus on this fish, probably in the low to mid 3 pound range.

Thanks for all the replies. I am still considering the deal and learning as much as I can about the mid 80's Merc 115's. It will be somewhat tough to let this one go with my boat out of commissioin and the extreme shortage of available used bass boats around. Those few that I have seen have been grotesquely overpriced like the 1989 Skeeter fish and ski style boat that I happened upon today with an asking price of $7000. Lord have mercy. I'm on the coast of Maine so everything is either really big for the ocean, a center console Boston Whaler style like the boat I currently have or is a 16 foot open aluminum with a 9.9 outboard for salmon/touge trolling. I'll keep my eyes peeled on ebay while I'm trying to make up my mind.

Thanks for the input Gambler. I'm not sure what the SS140 designation is all about but the boat is definately in the 18 foot range. I appreciate your comments about the Merc 115. There's something about that motor that just makes me wince even though it is in such pristine condition. I'm torn because the boat itself is such an awesome ride....certainly one of the best I've looked at and at a fraction of the price of some. I'm doing some research online about the mid 80's Merc 115s and there are certainly some concerns there as well as the ones you posted. This is one of those times that I wish I lived further south so there would be more of a selection of used bass boats.

Hi guys I was hoping I could run a boat deal I am looking at by you and get some feedback. I am looking at a 1993 Skeeter 17 1/2 foot bass boat with a low hours 1985 Mercury 115 hp. The boat has SS140 on the side of it but was described as a ZX180. The boat and motor are in what I can only describe as immaculate condition. The purchase would be from the boats original owner who bought it and had the merc put on it that had been on his fathers pontoon boat and was given to him. The thing really has a showroom shine to it and the motor runs strong. Carpets are good and there are no issues. There is a 45lb thrust 24v motorguide on the front and Lowrance electronics front and back. Trailer tires etc all excellent as well. The guys is asking $5500 and I am looking at probably getting it for around $4700-$4800 range. I'm not that familar with Skeeter boats and don't really know any common potential problems with them. Up here in Maine quality used bass boats are somewhat few and far between. I've been looking on Ebay etc but the price to have one shipped in or going to pick it up certainly factor in to up the final price. Any help or guidance would be appreciated. My main concern is with the age of the Mercury, although the merc I have on my current ride is a 1968 and had been fantastic up until last weekends horror show (that's another story) thanks again for any help

I'll join in with the crankbait gallery. I definately need a breakout day using them to start developing some confidence in them. I'm a soft plastics freak but would love to have a day when they weren't producing and a crankbait actually came through for me. Of course I'm probably going to have to throw the crank more than my usual scenario of making three casts and then ditching the thing.

This whole crankbait thing is a major achilles heel in my arsenal. I would guess that out of all the bass I've caught less than 1 percent of them have come on crankbaits. Maybe it's the fact that I only turn to crankbaits in times of utter desperation and they become just another lure that's not working on a given day. I tend to fish deep clear water for smallies. My crank arsenal consists mainly of Rapala Shad Raps and some Rat-L-Trap style baits. I usually feel that the shad raps are not getting down deep enough to enter the strike zone and the Rat-L-Traps don't catch anything when do. My confidence using cranks is low to non existant so that probably isn't helping the cause much either. I'm reading and learning so any additional advice would be greatly appreciated.

Wow, what a great bunch of posts. Some good lessons here for sure. I was thinking along the lines of what LD said. At least once a week I like to get out fishing by myself. In some ways it's not as much fun as going with a buddy and having a few cold ones, but in many ways I get more out of the solo experience. I feel more comfortable trying new approaches and presentations when I'm by myself. I can dub around and let the boat drift out of position while I'm retying without worrying about someone else in the back. I can slow down and work a small area methodically knowing I'm not boring anyone else to tears. It gives me a chance to do something over and over again until it is just the way I want it. Fishing alone for me is a more quiet cerebral experience and it's when most of my major breakthroughs have occured. If this doesn't work, go fishing with somebody good and just do what he does.

Wow Rebbasser what a great call. That is just what the doctor ordered. Have you ever ordered any spinnerbaits from that site?

Say, is anyone on here doing any custom spinnerbaits. I've got a couple different configurations that I'd like to order if I could. Maybe it would end up being the beginnings of a little side business for you. Please let me know.

I had an epic day of smallmouth fishing on Sunday. Not only did I catch a scary amount of good fish, I also finally able to incorporate the drop shot into my game plan and have it outperform my usual presentations. I had found an absolute pile of smallmouth stacked up feasting on schools of baitfish a few feet off the bottom. This was all going on in about 22-30 feet of water. I marked about a 100 foot long area with some marker buoys and got down to business. I took some fish on grubs and jigs but it wasn't exactly fast and furious. One of the fish I caught coughed up a small silver baitfish which turned out to be a baby alewife (herring type fish that spawns in fresh water up here). I tried a few crankbaits to no avail. Finally I decided this was the perfect time to get rolling on this drop shotting thing. I used a Gamakatsu size 1 drop shot hook, an 1/8 ounce sinker (the only size drop shot sinker I had) and a 4" Lunker City Fin-S in silver/black and a Zoom baby bass fluke. The rig is a bit awkward to throw so the casts were short. I'd try to have just enough tension in the line so the bait would stay off the bottom like it's supposed to. I'd slowly work each cast in all the way to a verticle jigging position. It was absolutely deadly. I wish the sinker had been at least a 1/4 oz to help keep in better contact with the bottom. Rod was a 6'6" ML BPS Micro Lite with a Shimano Solstace 2000 reel w/ 8 pound test line. While not quite as fun to throw and work as some fishing methods, the drop shot certainly helped me turn a good day into one of the best of the whole season.

Ok I'm ready to order one of the shirts in a size large. Where do I send the check?

This was a decent year in both numbers and size of fish with quite a few 5 pound plus smallmouths. More importantly it was a breakthrough year for me in terms of learnining new techniques. I brought my baitcasting game up to the point where I am almost as confident with it as I am my spinning gear. I experimented more with different presentation styles like drop shotting and utilizing the carolina rig. I worked at gaining some confidence fishing crankbaits. Once I had located fish I tried to make myself use to different presentations to round out my arsenal. Years of success primarily fishing an 1/8 ounce leadhead with a grub or tube had made me somewhat one dimensional. Sure I was catching fish most of the time but I was never preparing myself to be able to shift to plan B or C should that approach fail. It's been a great season so far. I'd like to thank the gang here for sharing their expertise and their enthusiasm. Being able to log on at the end of a long work day makes not being able to go fishing a little more tolerable.

Thanks low. It's 11:42 the Pats are up 23-14...trying to hang on til the end

Raul thats some pretty good cake you're turning down to work up in the great white north. I'm sure they throw in a couple of sets of long underwear and you'll hardly notice the cold. The only thing is I don't know how you'd survive in the land of no largemouth bass. The smallmouth would probably keep you pretty well occupied or maybe you'd become the master of the pike, muskie and walleye. I can see the post now, Raul when you are catching walleye how do you set up your lindy rig? LoL

I'm a seventeen year veteran of the beer business and would like to be added to the pro team as director of beverages. I would consider malt, hops and barley as my area of expertise as well as pursuing bass in 18 plus feet of water. Seriously, I appreciate everything that everyone ads to this board. I get as much enjoyment out of the rookie questions as I do from the experts answers. I've added to my arsenal of knowledge by reading and furthered my love of bass fishing by posting. This is a great board for everyone regardless of were you might stand in the pecking order.

Raul, I got a kick out of your comment about the northern guys whining in the heat. I'm in Maine and yes when it actually manages to hit in the 90s outside I either need to be submerged in the water or hanging out with the A/C on. I don't know how you southern boys can take those temperatures. As far was water temps go, my home fishing water topped out at 78 degrees at the peak of summer and it's actually still around 72. Another few degrees cooler and things will really start getting crazy. Some of the best bass fishing of the whole season is going to happen in the next four weeks and up here you'd be amazed at how few anglers are out taking advantage of it. I guess some shift over to fall Salmon/Trout fishing and others move right on to bear and bird season. Oh by the way Raul, why don't you swing up here in February for a little ice fishing and enjoy the robust 20 degrees below zero air. I'm sure my friends to the south would find it downright refreshing.

Actually I'll post my net question in the tackle section. I don't want Glenn to beat me with a rubber mesh net for steering the conversation to equiptment here in the General Bass Fishing department.

About the only time I carry a net in the boat is in the spring when we are trolling for salmon. I'm getting ready to get back into the tournament bass fishing next season and have been looking at some of the rubber mesh style nets in bass pro. While we're talking nets can anyone give a review of what they think I should buy to use on bass in the tournaments. Thanks

I fish the Penobscot River here in Maine and have seen some similar marking on the smallmouth. Some of them have a pretty big chunk taken out of them. I always assumed that it was from the healthy population of Eagles and Ospreys but I suppose some of the smaller marks could be parasitic in nature. How about otters, could they be putting a hurt on some of the bass? Funny how many times someone posts something on this board that you were just talking about the other day.

Sorry I can't help, I have the Humminbird 535. Cashola was a bit tight when I bought it last winter so I couldn't quite step up to the Matrix line. For the record, the 535 is definately great for the money so I'm assuming the Matrix stuff is right off the charts.

I have a black Toyota 4Runner Sport that tows my Mckee Craft center console boat. I'm shopping for a Bass boat right now and I'm hoping the 4Runner is going to be able to handle towing a little heavier boat.