Osprey39

Yeah, I don't get the controversy with that situation. It's not like he shot the guy with a firearm. He used non-lethal force to subdue a guy that was breaking the law. Why is that even an issue?

Hey, I know just how you feel. I bought my first boat of my own a couple of years ago. I'd always had to borrow my dad's before that. You're kind of in the same situation that a buddy of mine was in as far as your budget and I'll give you the same advice I gave him. You need to understand that the purchase price of the boat is just the beginning. Not only are you going to have to put gas and oil in it, but you have to register it and insure it and those things will run you a few hundred dollars each. I have also found out over the last couple of years that boats, even newer ones, require a lot of upkeep. That's more money. I'm not trying to discourage you, I'm just letting you know that if you spend everything you have saved on the purchase, you might not be able to afford to run the thing once you have it and that would truly suck. My best advice would be to look for an aluminum bass boat with a smaller engine around 90HP. Not only is that going to save you money on the initial purchase (fiberglass rigs cost considerably more because they are heavier and need bigger motors to push them) but you'll also save a bunch of money on fuel. I have a Tracker PT190TX with a 75HP Optimax on it and I can usually fish for several days before I need to put gas in it. Obviously it isn't the fastest boat on the lake but who cares? It's a fishing tournament, not a boat race. Would I like a bigger, faster boat? Sure, and I'll get it eventually but this one fit my budget at the time and for a first boat, I'm more than happy with it and it's really cheap to operate (comparatively speaking.) My other advice would be take your time and find something that you'll be happy with. When you get that boat fever, you want to BUY NOW! but don't jump at the first thing you see. This isn't a great time to be looking for a boat normally because most people don't want to sell when they can actually use the thing but in this economy, all bets are off on that. Just take your time and keep saving money until you find the right one. The more you save, the better boat you can get. One last thing I'd add is keep resale value in mind. When you finish school, you're probably going to want to upgrade. An older boat is going to be harder to sell and you obviously won't get as much for it when you do sell it.

Where do you live at? I'm pretty sure standard 2 strokes aren't allowed in California inland waters. I'm not sure about other states but those regulations have a nasty habit of working their way east from Cali. Something to keep in mind.

I didn't link the HDS-5X though Wayne, I linked the Mark-5X which is a lower end unit. The Mark-5X does indeed have a single beam transducer and I disagree that the Humminbird has better resolution. It has more vertical res but less horizontal res and less total resolution. You can do the math but the Lowrance has 230,400 total pixels vs. 204,800 for the Humminbird. You can also look at the two pictures on the links I posted and see which one looks more sharp and precise.

What kind of shape is the boat in? Are you going to have to do stuff like re-carpet it? Live wells work? etc. How many hours are on the engine? Is the engine also an '83? Those are a few questions you need to ask among other things. When you've asked all the questions you want to ask, check out www.nada.com and see what the value of the boat is. Take into consideration the answers to your questions and adjust that value accordingly. Personally, I wouldn't buy a boat that is almost 30 years old. You can spend a tad more and get something newer. I don't care how well a vessel was taken care of, the older it gets the more work you're going to have to do on it. That's a fact. Work more often than not = $$$ spent so that low buying price might not be as affordable as it first appears.

I'm curious about this as well. My wife was asking me what the difference was and the only answer I could give was "It looks cool!" Not the most convincing argument. ;D It makes it easier to determine bottom composition mainly. Although you can do it with a greyscale unit, the differences are more subtle as they are literally 'shades of grey'. Color units change those shades of grey into different colors making the differences easier to see. edit: Here's a pretty decent buyer's guide I found with a quick google search: http://reviews.ebay.com/Fishfinder-Buying-Guide_W0QQugidZ10000000000017128 It explains what I said in a little more detail. One thing I'd point out though, where the author says game fish show up in red, that's dependent on your brand because on my Lowrance, that's not the case (unless my memory is failing me which is entirely possible...but not likely )

I don't change out the hooks. I know a lot of pros do but I don't get stuff for free or at a discount and I'm not made of money so I don't. I've never had a problem with hook-ups either so I don't see a reason. If I were fishing for big money and I got a deal on the hooks like a pro, I'm sure I might consider it.

I caught a channel cat on a tube jig last weekend and my buddy caught a flathead on a roboworm.

Regarding the GPS, if you can afford it, it's worth it. You can waypoint your favorite spots and that helps you save time finding them when you go out. As for whether or not you can run both on one battery for 6-8 hours, that depends entirely on how much you have to run the trolling motor. If you anchor up or it's a calm day, I'm sure you'd have no problem. I'd get a 2nd battery though because there will definitely be days that 1 won't cut it.

They were for off-color water or lower light conditions too. I have no idea why they aren't that common anymore. Probably the same reason that it's almost impossible to find an off the rack tandem Colorado blade spinnerbait anymore.

I'd have to go with a shark as well. Back in Florida we used to catch hammerheads, spinner sharks and makos with regularity. I have no idea how big the biggest one I ever caught was but I'd guess 200+ lbs.

I have an X-125 and it's a good unit. I was thinking it had been discontinued though because Cabelas doesn't sell them anymore and that's where I bought mine. Took a quick look on the Lowrance website and it's still a current model. You'll just have to shop somewhere besides Cabelas apparently.

I answered you in the general forum

Haha, no but we went there afterward to buy a cheap cooler to get our table fish home. My buddy was a little leery of the walleye's teeth and he didn't want to hold it up for a photo when we were on the boat. He's not used to fishing for stuff with teeth. He wanted his photo taken with it so I showed him how to hold it under the gill plate so it wouldn't bite him, lol.

Wrong forum my friend

They have some big sows in those tanks at the BPS stores and I think clothing racks make good structure.

80 shipped and its yours Well I just got laid off from work on Friday so I'm not going to be buying any new rods for a bit but I will keep that in mind for when I find a new job.

You know, I really need to get back to at least trying my chrome traps. I'm a huge fan of Rat-L-Traps. I've told many people that if I had to pick just one bait to use from here on out, it would be a Rat-L-Trap. They're just so versatile. Thing is, the water in all of our lakes has just been so dingy and muddy for the last year or more that I had taken to just tying on a chartreuse or orange craw trap and fishing those all day. If I don't get bit on them, I just put the cranks away period. I need to at least start trying the chrome ones in that dirty water because I agree with you, the chrome ones have always been my top producers in the past.

My buddy and I hit Elephant Butte Lake this weekend. All the bass we caught were shorties and not worthy of being photographed but my buddy caught these two unusual fish: The walleye isn't so unusual. I guess people that actually fish for them there do ok on them but I've never caught one there. I've never heard of anyone catching a flathead there although I'm sure they have. Channel cats are pretty common and in fact I caught one of those that went about 2lbs. that same day. Kind of odd, he caught that flathead on a roboworm and I caught the channel cat on a tube jig. darn catfish were stealing our artificials from the big bass

I picked up a pack of these and got to try them out this weekend. They have a really nice action. I didn't get any bites on it but we had a front come here and the bass didn't seem to want anything fast moving. I am definitely looking forward to fishing them in more favorable conditions though. The lakes I fish have a lot of trees and stick-ups and I've had good success getting fish to hit topwaters by running the bait close to the wood. The problem is with traditional topwaters you get a lot of hang-ups. That's not a problem with the Money Hound. You can work them through the limbs no problem. About the only way to hang one up is if you throw it over a limb and then make the line wrap around the limb when you pull it over. I threw them into some pretty thick stuff this weekend and didn't get hung once.

You can fish them all kinds of different ways. They are an extremely versatile lure. You can burn it, stop and go, crawl it on the bottom or hop it along like a jig (that's basically what it is afterall.) That said, I've had the most success using a medium speed retrieve with varying jerks. I usually get the bites on one of the jerks which leads me to believe that fish chase these baits and the sudden increase in speed from the jerk triggers a strike.

..you have any rods you want to trade? i have a few Mojos that are corner rods. maybe we can work something out. Not really. I just started fishing seriously again last year and just about all the rods I own are ones I actively use.

Anyone that doesn't want their Mojos, I will happily take them if you want to send them to me 8-)

Pay particular attention to the wind. If you're casting into it or at an angle into it, turn up the magnets. The reason being that the wind resistance slows your bait down so you need the spool to slow down too. That's what causes backlashes is the spool spinning faster than the line is going out.

Yeah, I definitely don't have that problem with my jig n worm rod. I've caught most of my fish on that rod since I started fishing again and I have no problem detecting bites.