RyneB

consider distance to dealer for service. I own a Skeeter I bought brand new last year. Love the boat, but my local dealer is closing and the closest one now is over an hour and a half away. I don't have any other bass boat dealers near me, but a couple Certified Mercury dealers that can service the outboard. Yamaha, not so much. I'm considering selling the Skeeter and getting a Pheonix. They are awesome boats. Most of the cookie cutter boats are good boats nowadays. Consider storage and boat layout as well. I was considering a Ranger, Basscat, Triton and skeeter. It came down to price, and Skeeter won.

I once caught a Northern on a Carolina rigged Twizzler. We were up north and one day I had a few too many beers, one thing led to another. I always had an idea a pike would eat anything, that verified it for me.

I have won more money on tubes than any other bait. I never go larger than a 3.5" tube. Always T rig it with a Trokar 1/0 tube hook, and a 3/16 Oz tungsten weight. The BPS 3.5 Tender Tube is my go to. sometimes it will last 5 fish, sometimes it'll last one bite. It's not tough, but my hookup ratio is better with that than SK or Big Bites.

I have yet to get a fish on it. I have fished it when I can't keep them off my other top waters. I have thrown it in schools of busting bass, nothing. fished it in private lakes that you can get bit on a bare hook, nothing.

what is big to me may not be big to other people. but here's my list 1. Skinner Bear 5 inch 2. S Waver 168S 3. hudd 68 4. biggest shadalicious 5. gambler big ez

champion is a great rough water boat, so is legend. IV only been in a basscat once on the Mississippi, and I was unimpressed with its rough water ride. a driver can make a HUGE difference.

I had a 2000 Ranger I traded in on a 2015 skeeter with with a 175hpdi. They are both excellent boats, and the only thing I can say I would take the Ranger over the skeeter is live well size. my Rangers was huge and my skeeters is on the smaller side. the Ranger was heavier so it seemed to fish more stable in rough water. the skeeter ride is night an day compared to the Ranger, granted, the Ranger was a lot older. the skeeter feels nimble, quick, and smooth. my Ranger was beaten up pretty good by the previous owner, but everything was still rock solid on that boat. only thing I had to fix was a rod locker spring.

check around for used ones if you are worried about cost. I bought a used one for $800 a couple months ago. that was with unit, tilt bracket, mounting bracket, 2 control fobs, and quick disconnect.

shakey head with a black trick worm, and a small black buzzbait

IV been on a wooden mouse bite the past couple outings. seems like the mouse bite picks up when the farmers start harvesting the fields. every fish I caught this morning was on a mouse, out fished a wacky worm and tube.

top 3 for me rage tail menace in green pumpkin with some chartreuse spike it on the end. single trail grub/green pumpkin kvd swimming caffeine shad in kvd magic color

get yourself some Gambler BB crickets. gets in and out much easier than any bait I have ever used, and flat out catches fish. as as weight goes, I get away with as light as I can. I start with a 1 ounce and go from there. sometimes I can get away with 3/4 Oz, and sometimes I need 1.25 Oz and 1.5 oz. whatever I it takes to get through. I use 1 Oz the most another important thing I forgot to mention, a snell knot on a straight shank flipping hook is important. I'm sure a lot of guys still throw EWGs, but a snell knot on a heavy duty straight shank hook cannot be beat or overlooked.

I understand your pain. I had to drive by mine sitting in the showroom right in front. It was behind a bunch of floor to ceiling windows. I could see it clear as day. Every single day, sometimes several times a day I had to drive by and see it sitting there.

After every tournament. Vinegar/water mix and a brush usually.

I have had my best luck with a river2sea 168S S Waver.

Booyah baby boo jig

I have only used the lighthe trout in trout pattern. It has out fished my bluegill and shad type colors. I live in North Central illinois, there are 0 Trout where i live, but a trout glide bait flat out works. My biggest smallmouth came on a light rainbow trout 168S Waver in North Central Illinois on a lake that doesn't hold many smallmouth.

I use big storage bins. My plastics I put in categories. I don't really have excess hard baits, as they are not a huge part of my fishing living in north Central illinois. I keep my plastics in big bins. Labeled creature, worm, craws, miscellaneous. I make a lot of my own plastics, so the bins are probably half full of baits and colors I have confidence in. I have tried to narrow down my confidence baits and colors, and sell off the rest. So my big bins are mostly full of refill baits I'll throw in the boat as needed.

Both of mine had the reel seat come loose at the handle. Now they are up in my garage rafters.

I installed mine on a jackplate on my Skeeter. I had it installed in 1 hour and 10 minutes, and I took my time. I had a 6 pack of IPAs to get me through, only ended up drinking 2. So that's a success.

Gambler Big EZ. Weightless and buzzed on top. Or a keel weighted hook. Copperfield, new shad, lane toad, florida five o are my favorite colors.

Have 4 packs on the way from TW.

I owned a ranger and loved it, wanted a brand new boat and ranger just wasn't in my price range. So I got a Skeeter. U have no issues with either boats. The skeeter ride is much better. The Ranger felt like a tug boat compared to the skeeter. As far as when I'm stopped and fishing, the Ranger I give the nod to if I had a back boater. Both guys could be on a side of the boat and it wouldn't lean at all. That Ranger was so d**n stable, I also felt safer in the Ranger. My Skeeter feels more like a Corvette, my Ranger felt like a big SUV, if you get my drift. The Ranger live well was huge compared to the Skeeters I have now. Also take into account a dealer close by to work on it. I really wanted a Legend, but nearest dealer was over a 2 hour drive, while a Skeeter dealer was 10 minutes away. That played a huge factor.

I have a tatula, casts a mile. My only gripe is that it is a bit big for my small hands and feels huge when I switch from a Revo or Curado. But it performs very well. I use mine for small poppers an topwaters.

It's so the baits don't stick together, and helps them look good longer