dwtaylor

The first and most important thing to consider when boat shopping: your budget. This is a must because it is extremely easy to get carried away with costs. It is important to stay within this budget and consider all costs associated with a bass boat, which could include gas, oil, outboard maintenance, tow vehicle gas and potentially the wear and tear a tow vehicle can experience. Consider this and then consider your add on electronics that may not come with the boat to begin with. It is important to start somewhere. It may be wise to start out with a 18 ft boat and build your skills at a lower cost and potentially try the bigger tournaments. Typically the bigger the engine, the more it costs to run it and to fix it.

Lethal Weapon swim jigs. OUTSTANDING hookup ratio, hand tied skirts, wire bait keeper, and good paint to boot. I am a firm believer in the "lighter" hooks and weed guards on a swim jig. Do you get snagged? Sure, but I am very confident I would snag with a swim jig with a heavier week guard in the same cover. Brovarney swim jigs are good too and slightly better in wood. Still a very good hook and bait keeper, but the paint isn't as good as the lethal weapons.

I use 1/4 oz lethal weapon or brovarney swim jigs about 98% of the time and the other 2% a 3/8 oz of the same brands. For trailers, I use 4-5" single tail grubs, menace grubs, skinny dippers, speed craws, rage craws, and sometimes the occasional keitech. As far as colors go, I use primarily black/blue, white, and bluegill/green pumpkin.

I had between 60 degrees and 64 degree water temps in pool 8 of the Mississippi on Saturday, but spots on Winnebago yesterday were between 58-59.5 degrees.

I buy a lot of stuff online from ebay, amazon, TW, another site, etc. I like the selection and prices that e-tailers offer. With that said, I really try to support local businesses. One of the best shops I have ever been in is called The Reel Shot in Appleton Wisconsin. They have an awesome selection of stuff and the prices are about what I would pay online. At the end of the day the all mighty dollar is the one who calls the shots.

I would start with experimenting with the plugs in the prop. Removing the plugs allow exhaust gas to escape to the blades of the prop. This cavitation allows the prop to spool up because the extra "air" around the blade allows the prop to turn with less torque required and can turn at a faster RPM as a result. No setup is 100% identical but the issues you state make me want to point to those pvs plugs as your first thing to change.

I'm pretty sure all 2.5 L V6 mariners and Mercs were made right here in Fond Du Lac. I think the major differences were the paint, cowling, and maybe some small differences in the ecu/programming. Japan may have built the small stuff at that time though.

I do like the brush jigs, but I haven't had much luck with them on rock and skipping docks. They are awesome in grass, but I have a jig that I like better because they go through the snot and fine grass better. I also have a football jig that has a light/medium wire hook, wire bait keeper, and a lighter weed guard that works outstanding for its purpose. I like the idea of one jig for everything because I do a lot of junk fishing. That, plus I have to carry less in the boat makes it nice. I've been using the outlast juice jig last year and I really like the head minus the baitkeeper and the hook eye sticking out. Plus I like the recessed eye because it helps keep the rock snot off the jig and I feel that reduces bites having that snot on the jig.

I'm looking for a specific jig head for general use to tie skirts on. What I'm looking for is a "sparkie" style head with a somewhat recessed vertical hook eye and a wire bait keeper. Durable paint is a must too. I intend on fishing everything with this jig: rocks, weeds, wood, and docks hence the need for a vertical recessed hook eye to prevent weed buildup. If anyone has suggestions, I'm all ears. Thanks!

I am planning a long weekend in Orlando 2/10-12 and I would like to hire a guide for a full day on Saturday the 11th. I'd prefer a trip with a legitimate shot at a 10, but realistically I would love to beat 7lbs. Any suggestions? Thanks!

Lethal Weapon 2 and Brovarney swim jigs are the only swimjigs that I throw anymore. I always have at least one tied on at all times. If you ever get the chance to swing by La Crosse, Wisconsin make sure to stop by Island Outdoors. They are basically the headquarters of Lethal Weapon lures and they have some pretty good stuff there.

I have the same engine on my boat. The keys to starting my xr6: 1. Trim engine to a level position 2. Prime fuel line bulb until firm 3. Turn key to start position, but not start it. Then press the key in for 5-10 seconds. This enriches the engine with fuel for starting. 4. Put the engine in fast idle (not in gear). DO NOT START WIDE OPEN. I open mine about 1/8 of the way open. 5. Start the engine. Typically mine doesn't start the first time, so I listen to how it is starting. If it is trying to turn over, it needs gas, so repeat step 3-5 until it starts again. 5. If when trying to start it, and it floods, trim the engine up and wait 30 seconds and repeat steps 1-5. Make sure you have good spark plugs and also good gas. Also make sure you have a good battery. Cold starts are notorious on this engine. Please refer to the 2.5L Mercury forum on bbcforums if you have more questions. There is a guy by the name of Don from European Marine that is a freakin Merc Wizard!

Looks similar to the grounding strap for a hydraulic steering cylinder. My recently installed seastar pro system had something like that too. The only salt water that might touch my boat is from the wet salted roads up here during the winter months...

Go with the hydraulic steering! I had cable steering on my Triton TR-185 with a 150 Merc XR6. I installed a seastar pro hydraulic steering system on it last week. Sure it is expensive, but it is sure worth it to me. I use my boat a lot and it was becoming aggravating messing with hard steering cables at a busy boat launch.

I know a guy who builds rods out of Lake City, IA but that is still a good haul from you.

Like many bass boats around that size with the same/similar engine, a 23 tempest plus is the prop. Do you have a jackplate on that rig? How about a water pressure gage? It may be a propshaft to pad height issue for you. I have a hard time seeing just low 50s with an 150 Opti ProXS with that boat. I guess it all depends on how picky you are, fwiw.

So are the house brand fluorocarbon lines from Cabelas (Mike McClelland on the package) and Gander Mountain (Dean Rojas on the package) the same thing as Sunline Sniper? I'm in love with Sniper and would love to see it be the same thing as the mentioned lines, for $ sake.

Fond Du Lac here. I have a love/hate relationship with Winnebago.

Not trying to hijack this thread, but what do you guys use to seal to swim test a bait?

I can't speak for the 3" version, but the 4" and 5" versions of the dinger are pretty light in comparison to GY Senko. I like the Senkos, but it was hard to pass up a bunch of singers at 2 bucks a pack last summer.

Baby rage craws work pretty well, as do Zoom Super Chunk Jrs. I caught a pig of a smallie on a 5/16 oz eakins jig and a 3" green pumpkin senko on Big Green Lake near Princeton, WI this last fall. So don't just limit trailers to just craws or chunks either.

I am using braid mostly because I'll be using it for musky fishing too. I want that no stretch line to get good hook sets in a bony musky or pike's mouth.

Do you have experience with this blank? What I am reading is a mod fast blank is the way to go for these baits (for what its worth). Plus I will be throwing 80lb braid with this setup so I'm thinking a mod fast would be better anyways?

I am not going to disagree with you about the market trend going toward 4 strokes, as the sales volumes of 4 stroke Mercs are going up. However, the Opti ProXS is still a very good engine as far as sales go. I am employed at Mercury, for what it is worth.

So here I am, re-watching Southern Trout Eaters for the 4th time since Saturday. Needless to say, I want to try swimbaiting this upcoming year. I want something that I can throw 8" hudds, glide baits (200 size S waver), and similar sizes musky baits. Thus, what blank ($150 or less) should I build off of? I would rather build than buy because of Wisconsin winter is horrible.