salmicropterus

I have Deka 27s. They have been pretty good but in all the wind we have been having I am finding myself "conserving" the batteries to make till weigh-in time, which I hate. I know the answer is ultimately to go to a 101/36 volt system but don't have the bank to get that done right now. The idea to add the two smaller batts is a good one if executed the way you said

1. Not getting a consistently good hookset-I lose too many fish 2. In a tournament situation not knowing when to vacate Plan A to go to Plan B 3. Electronics (I am amazed with all the comments on this that someone out there has not written a good book on electronics-one that matches what you see on the graph with the real time positioning of the fish vs the boat and transducer)

Thanks for your response. That is right and that was my concern. I wanted to keep the two systems seperate. I don't know where I'd find the room for two extras-one yes but two doubtful plus that is a lot of extra weight

Thanks but a question-in an older KVD book he makes mention of doing this but he includes the starter battery as one of the batteries in the four battery system. I had wanted to keep the starter/accessory battery seperate from the TM system. What would be the negatives of doing it that way? Thanks again and I appreciate the help

I have heard this can be done to help sustain a hard day's fishing. I can't find any good wiring maps or information on it. Anyone familar with this kind of set up? My system is a Minn-Kota 74 with two 12 volt batteries and a seperate main battery for starter and accessories

There is a lot of truth to these posts. I will be difficult but not impossible so don't let a negative attitude get the best of you. Besides, even with cold water temps, if they stay stable for a few days, the bite should come back some. Hope it works out well for you

We are in the midst of what will likely be 10 day cold snap. Water temp at Clewiston yesterday was 58 and even colder in the shallower spawning areas. It will go down lower than that. I would confirm the Dipperz for a reaction strike and a weighted 7 or 10" worm fished as close as possible to hyacinth or pencil reeds. You might also consider a swim jig. it is also likely your pro may flip and pitch heavy vegetation so you will need to be prepared for that.

First thing in the morning check the obituary in the paper-if your name is not in it, then its a good time to go to Kissimmee and find a bigun. Seriously, the previous post nails it very well. I would add that the fall can be a great time up there as well in the pre-spawn period

Try Torpedos on the topwater and Original Floating Minnow Rapalas #9 and #11s-perch, silver or gold. Also, try Rapala X-Raps. Key element in peacock fishing is to keep the lure moving-if you stop moving it they will lose interest. Move it agressively as you can and then kick it up a notch. Most people new to peacocks are amazed how agressive you have to move the lure

I think BASS' rule against nets was originally motivated by the idea that the twine type nets were damaging to the fish's protective slime. This risk has largely been eliminated by the use of the Frabill style rubber mesh nets which are mandated by FLW (they're a sponsor also). Not using a net adds to the drama and uncertainty of the landing as either swinging the fish in or lipping and bellying the fish will cause lost fish no matter how skilled the lander is. So being able to do it in a PAA is merely taking advantage of a rule difference

For me it would be the Peacock Bass, which of course is not really a bass but a cichlid. To pursue this affair, not unlike the governor of SC, I have gone to South America twice and I fish for them regularly here in South Florida. Peacock are like smallmouth on steriods. They are fierce fighters and pursue baitfish in packs. It is common to see a hooked peacock have a pack of others trying to get the lure away, thus with this species you get a lot of multiple fish on one lure. They don't just eat bait, they punish it and crush it. I have had peacocks hit a topwater, knock it several feet in the air and then hit it again. When they hit a topwater it is like someone dropped a cinder block in the water

We had a club tourney out of Holiday on Sunday. The good news was that everybody caught a limit-the bad news was that they were all pretty much 12-14" inchers (last year's 11"s) I must have caught 25-30 keepers but when I culled it was to pick up like a 1/16 of an inch here and there. With vacation going on it's a great time to take your kid and grandkids fishing as they will see some action. As far as the question about best place to go-I'd say go up the Alley and go west as far as possible or go out to the Miami canal and go north up past the center canal. Lot's of beds in both places-unfortunately I just found the little bucks

I've become friends with a former Elite Series and FLW Series competitor. We have fished a lot together and have asked him to be a coach and mentor for me. First time out I said that I didn't really care if we caught much but that I wanted to see the water through his eyes and approach. It was like a first hand "Day on the Lake" which this pro did once. To me, it's not so much "put me on fish today"but more "teach me the skills so that I can put myself on fish more often than before" . This has helped me immensely, not only in improving basic skills but also developing a mental approach. Once you develop a confidence that your thought processes are solid, you don't waste a lot of time second-guessing yourself, particularly in competitive situations where the clock is not your friend. In golf, it's like getting a playing lesson with a pro-they can help you think your way to a better score even if not better ball-striking

The bite at the Box has been good-the shoal less so-mostly smaller fish. There is going to be a mother of a front come through on Saturday and I expect it to be blowing 20+ so the shoal may be tough to fish and dirty. What you can do at the Box is going to be conditioned on grass where you fish. Skinny Dippers over the grass is always a good idea. If you are up to as ride, you may want to run east and south past Clewiston and fish some of the dynamite holes-they have been yielding some very good bass and you'll be out of the wind a bit more. good luck and let us know how it went

I would say pretty much now until the end of March. That is when the big momma's are most likley on beds. PM me and I'll give you the name of a great guide or two out of Clewiston if you want a guide

Or dark blue or blue black

There was an article in I think FLW Outdoors about this subject-it was done by Keith Jones, the biologist for Berkeley. this would have been about 3 issues or so ago. I tried to find a link but couldn't. It was very good and largely supported the 1/3 rule but also confirmed maximum sizes of up to 80% of the feeder's size. IMO older fish=bigger fish=smarter fish which to me means they have better mastered the energy spent/calorie gained ratio. That said, my biggest bass of 9# was caught on a 5" hollow body swim baiy and my second biggest on a small wacky rig with a 4" senko type bait

If by "Kissimmee" you mean Lake Kissimmee, rather than the town up on Toho, I would recommend you stay and fish at the south end of the Lake. Grape Hammock is a fish camp down there and the cabins/trailers are reasonable. That lake can get pretty rough when its windy but down at that end there are plenty of places where you can tuck in out of the wnd and that will be important with your jonboat. Just google Grape Hammock fish camp and you can get details. Fishing should be good that time of year

To a bass, hydrilla and hyacinth and other vegetation is like a living room with a big screen TV, a Lazy Boy recliner and a continous run of snacks coming by. It gives them everything they need: shade, cover and ambush points for unsuspecting baitfish. It can be a pain to fish but if you have grass you must learn to love to fish it

X3. You can also target little irregularities on the edge like indentations in the hyacinth and little points of the hyacinth. Also, within the mat look for little holes-also edges of the mat where it buts up against other vegetation

I agree with the above posts that this site is great and a free source of information. As far as magazines, I'd say In-Fisherman for multi-species and Bassin for purely bass

Anyone been out there recently?

I've heard MM 41 is doing pretty good-good luck. With the water dropping I'm not sure you can go west from the Miami canal ramp at the Rest area

I fished the Fingers on Sunday. Caught about 20 up to 2.5#s. Nothing spectacular but not bad either. Flukes and senkos. I've heard from some other sources that the bite is picking up in the center and Miami canal. Water is dropping pretty fast

It's definitely nit cheating unless for some reason something you are doing is against the fish and game laws. That said, I am primarly a tournament fisherman trying to get better so most of my fishing is pre-fishing for a tournament or the actual tournament so I don't do it because it doesn't help me get better. If I have my wife or grand-kids on the boat (and I don't mean this sarcastically) I might pop for some shiners because I do think it can help the less experienced catch some fish when they might not otherwise do so. I know that there can be some pretty sophisticated shiner set-ups so there is no doubt some advanced techniques there in those set-ups and rigging