J@k3 01s3n

Well tonight I am planning on making my first night fishing trip. The temperatures have stayed steady in the 60's and low 70's for the past 3 or 4 days. There has been rain and thunderstorms, but tonight and tomorrow look great. I was just wondering if I could get some advice on fishing at night? I'm interested to know what you guys throw out there, but I am also interested in any tips or advice you can give for safety during night fishing, maybe things I should look out for.

Yeah, it is a 28# that I got for 25 bucks. Can't complain at all for the price. I hope to upgrade to a 55# bow mount, but after buying boat, gas motor, and all the fees that come with, I am just going to have to wait a while. Thanks for the suggestions though.

I've got quite a bit planned, but I am kind of waiting, because if I strip it down, I won't be able to fish during that time.

I just have a transom mount TM mounted on the bow. The bottom got caught(area of the prop). see this link. http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1174279787

Well, I finally got to take my boat out today, and I was super happy. I didn't have anyone on hand to bring with me, so I went alone (first mistake). Let's consider the fact that I have never taken a boat on a trailer anywhere before. It started out good. I unplugged the trailer lights, took off the cardboard temp. plate, and backed her down into the water. Then I climbed up and tied her up, unhooked the winch, and proceeded to drive out. CLUNK.... SPLASH! >! I knew I was forgetting something! I didn't have the trolling motor shaft up high enough, and it got caught on the winch, and promptly broke the mounting bracket in half! This is another reason why I should get a bow mount trolling motor. Well, I still got to go out and drive around, but the feeling was bittersweet, as I watched my poor trolling motor lie helpless and injured at my feet. I have a friend that is a welder, and he is going to see what he can do. I will probably end up with something a little sturdier, but lesson definitely learned!

1. Gain more confidence in crankbaits. 2. Learn good boat positioning. 3. Don't break another trolling motor bracket. > Oh yeah.. CATCH MORE FISH! ;D

I found a 9.8 HP Mercury that I think I am going to go with. A little better than the previous two. Seems a reasonable price to me for about $300. Its much newer as well. Thanks for the help guys. I am not really looking to get on plane or anything, just want to be able to get from point to point at a reasonable speed. Next year I am planning on buying a 25HP, but I want to wait until next year for that as I will have to install steering and all the rest for that.

I had a thread early on my purchase of a fifteen foot 1974 lund fiberglass boat. I was planning on pushing it with a 15hp motor. This deal fell through, and so now I have my boat sitting without a motor. My friend has two mercury outboards, a 6hp, and a 7.5hp. He is willing to give me the 6 for 200 or the 7.5 for 250. Do you think these would push my boat around just for this year? I'm sure I could get the money back out of the motor next year if I should choose to upgrade. I know these are pretty small motors. All of the lakes in my area have 25hp max anyways. I am not really looking to zoom out there, would just like to know if that would push it at an ok speed. Here is the pic of the boat by the way. Its 15 1/2'

Thanks for all the help guys. I think I will try the tiller this year. I will see how I like it, and then maybe next year upgrade. I am going to fish the boat as is anyways. I want to fix it up, but I figure that after a summer of fishing on it as is, I will have a better idea of what and where things need to be.

The 15 hp motor has a handle, but I have seen on a couple websites that you can modify these to be steered. I just thought it might be a little hard to see whilst manning the handle at the back of the boat.

I have an older 15hp, so I was just looking for something that would work with it.

I just bought a new 15' fiberglass boat. Do you think I need to install a steering setup? Is this even possible? How do I know what kind of motor I would be looking for? One thing I have seen is this idea for steering found at this website: http://www.glen-l.com/supplies/06123.html I just have no idea how it would hook to the motor or anything.

Looks like she should clean up nicely!

I'm pretty excited, but I will most likely just fish from it as I'm fixing it, and take my time. Then in the winter I will repair the fiberglass, and give it some new paint.

Well, I was finally able to find a good deal on an old boat. I am not sure of the year yet, as I pick it and the title up tomorrow. It is a tri hull design, which should be very stable for the places that I fish. Has plenty of storage, and should be the perfect boat with a little TLC. Already have a 15hp motor and a trolling motor ready for it. So Whatdya think? The wood thing on the front was how they used to mount the trolling motor. Will have to find a way to change that as it looks odd to me. Sorry for the quality on the pics. Maybe I will take some better ones with my camera tomorrow.

The lakes that I fish are no more than 1,000 at the most, and even at that, I really don't fish all of the water in the lakes.

Sounds great. This is what I am hoping. I am planning on setting the old thing up kind of like LBH's refurbished boat.

I noticed that quite a few fellas like to use multiple trolling motors on the back of their john boat. Is this simply for power? I understand it would be cheaper to buy 2 30lb thrust than 1 65lb. I ask because I have a 65lb thrust trolling motor for a 10 ft John boat. Would this be adequate to get me around small lakes? I am not worried about going at blistering speeds, just making it through the spring until I can buy a better boat.

Congrats! way to start the year!

While I love bass fishing... I can't imagine ever being a guide. It takes a special kind of guy to turn his favorite hobby into his job. I have a Father/Son duo that I charter with for salmon every year. Betwwen dissatisfied customers when the bite isnt on, rising gas costs, weather, and all of the uncontrollable factors, it sounds like it was often a headache. Not to mention the guy told me he was on site at 4 am just to get ready to take off by 6 when we got there. Talk about a lot of long days spent out on the water watching other people fish. Maybe you can enjoy it, not for me though. P.S. If you can get me on a fish like the ones you've been posting, I'll make the drive down from MI. We dont see too many of them up here.

Well last time I took the boat out I kept getting pushed around by the wind. Still waiting for the trolling motor to come in the mail, so I am still paddlin around. Took off to meijers this morning with $20 bucks. Bought some plastics. and a couple jigs to start out. Then I went shopping for cheapo anchors. Found some .58 2 liters of orange soda, and some 1.99 cotton rope. Also found some nice clips that will secure it to them to the boat handles for .99 each. Got home and filled the 2 liters with leftover cork bark from changing my snakes cage out. Then I filled em up with water. That cork bark soaked it all up, and these puppies weigh about 12 pounds each. Hopefully that'll keep me in one place for the mornin.' Not too bad for some bargain shopping. The winds supposed to be 3mph, so it should be a fun day!

I'm worst with hard jerkbaits and carolina rigs. You guys should pick up one of KVD's many spinnerbait videos, might help you catch some more bass on 'em. As for me, I mainly fish them prespawn. If after that, I fish them as slow as possible, or with a yo-yo retrieve very slow. I think it all comes down to confidence too. I mainly don't catch fish on certain lures because I don't give them a fair chance. All part of learning to be a better angler.

I agree with you 100% on not telling secrets on highy pressures ponds/lakes. I fish this one that is a GEM of a little lake, and if I even told 1/4 of the guys I see there what/how they need to fish, I'm sure it would be a stinker of a place by august. Other than that, I am always willing to help if someone is willing to listen.

My main objective is to get away from civilization for a while, relax, and enjoy myself. As for a goal, I don't think that short term goals like, I need to catch at least one fish today, are going to do you a lot of good as a fisherman. I like to look at the long term, and just suggest to myself that this summer, or whaterver, I want to be a better such and such fisherman. Mostly, I like to look at the season as a whole with the goal of improving year after year.

thanks for the suggestions guys. I will fish tommorow morning and get back to ya with the results.