fadetoblack21

I pulled the thermostat and did a boil test and it did not open. Should open at 120 degrees. It never opened even up to 200+ degrees so this will be where I start I guess.

It occasionally happened. . . but not like this. I used to get the odd warning bell every once in a while but this is every time I go wot.

I should also add that this only happens if i run between 3/4 throttle and wot. . . idling and low throttle doesn't cause the warning buzzer to go off.

I have a Mercury 50hp 4 stroke that is overheating after about a min at wot. RPM at wot is right around 5500 for this motor and that is right where she is running. I had just replaced the water pump impeller prior to putting the boat in the water. Does anyone have any ideas as to what might be wrong? I have thought about checking the thermostat but I do not know what a bad one looks like. I have also checked to make sure the impeller is installed correctly and it is. Also, I do get a good stream from the back of the motor.

I would like to know as well! My Jeep Grand Cherokee gets about 14mpg average and that's without towing the boat!

If the fish aren't biting we both put a dip in. . . never seems to work but we still do it. I've always been told when the wind is out of the east they bite the least. I don't know that I believe this one because I've had some of my best days with the wind howling out of the east.

Has anyone ever used them? http://www.xcaliburtackle.com/tackle_worm.asp I'm looking for some new wide gap hooks for soft plastics and ran across these at a decent price and was wondering if they were any good. Right now I use mostly Gamakatsu hooks, but they seem to dull pretty easy so I'm looking for a reasonably priced hook to use.

It was the whole lot. I still use them, and plan on using them this spring as well. I'll have to see if I have any problems with the one's that I haven't trimmed the weedguard on. I really love the jigs so I would like for them to work for me. Hopefully it is just a confidence thing because there are some amazing colors that I can't seem to find anywhere else. For gear I am using a 7' MH rod with 15lb floro. I always thought I was setting the hook pretty hard so I dont think that's the problem. I have only used the Northstar jigs for one season so I will continue to use them. Who knows, maybe I will have better luck this year with them. I think I will try out Siebert Outdoors and maybe some of the Northstar Premier jigs, and also try the Northstar jigs I do have without trimming the weedguard.

Your answer brought up something I was wondering myself, confidence. I have not had this problem with the other jigs I fish so I don't think it's a hook set problem. The biggest reason I'm looking for another jig to throw is the war eagle jigs are pretty limited in color selection. I will continue to throw them because as you said, if it aint broke. . . But I also I think I will give http://www.siebertoutdoors.com/ a look and possibly pick up a few.

Any type you recomend from there? I see he offers quite a few different types. BTW, that's quite a nice looking bass you have there!

So it's time for me to start loading up the tackle box and getting ready for spring. I'm looking to buy some more quality jigs to replace the ones I lost last year. I have been fishing with strike king jigs and war eagle jigs for a while now and generally like them. The skirts on the strike king's seem to move around alot so I'm looking to move away from those jigs. Last year I bought about a dozen Northstar Pro Series jigs. Love the colors and quality of the jigs. My problem was that I had a lot of missed hookups on some pretty solid hits. Lost alot of fish reeling them in. Even after trimming the weedguard I would have this problem. So I guess my question is, does anyone else have this problem with these jigs? Is it a problem with my hookset? Would I see significant improvement by moving over to the Northstar Premier jigs? I'm pretty confident with my war eagle jigs and will continue to buy the few colors I like in them but I want a good quality brand for the rest of my jigs.

Not a dough bait but it works very well for me. One package of stew meat (beef cut to small chunks), one jar of shad gut and plenty of garlic. Just mix them all together. I prefer this over the dough baits cause the fish cant strip it off the hook and they seem to grab and hold longer for me.

We always used to just tie a fish basket to the side of the boat. But I agree with most here, if your just taking them home to eat just throw them in a cooler with some ice.

My father always took us fishing, but not bass fishing. We would cat fish all the time. It wasn't until late in high school that I became interested in bass fishing. A buddy of mine and myself would go out in our big red bass boat (paddle boat) and throw top water poppers all day long. The explosiveness of the bites was enough to hook me for life. As time went on we started throwing different baits and started learning what worked and what didn't and when. Now I cant digest enough information on bass fishing, mostly from this site right here.

Strike King Denny Brauer premier pro model jig usually with a Chompers twin tail grub as a trailer or a Zoom ultravibe chunk.

I did the same thing as you but with one big difference. I used a 2' long 4" wide pvc pipe and put 2' long rebar rods 2 inches from the bottom. I drilled the holes and hammered the rebar through giving an x shaped base to grab onto stuff under water. I then filled it with concrete and sank an eye bolt with a washer on the end into the concrete. Has worked wonders, but sometimes it's a pain in the butt to get off the bottom.

I've been using Strike King Denny Brauer Premier Pro-Model Jigs for a while now and really like them. I was at the local bait store today and picked up some War Eagle jigs and they seem pretty nice. I was just wondering if anyone had any opinions on one over the other. I'm usually pretty brand loyal so I usually like to stay with one brand, but these seem like pretty nice jigs to add to my collection.

One of the small lakes I frequent has a boat that is NEVER taken out of the water. From what I can tell, he uses some weight on each corner and the sides of the cover hanging over the boat to pull the cover taught over the boat. How well it works I don't know, but it's an idea for you to mull over.

Me and my fishing buddy go cat fishing below the LOZ dam here in Missouri alot. Last summer we decided to use 2 homemade anchors, one in front and one in back, to keep the boat from swaying in the current. We always anchored the front of the boat towards the current. Now the anchors were 3" diameter pvc pipe about 2 feet long each with rebar rods crossed through the base and then filled with cement. The rebar had a tendency to hang on big rocks. Well they started to let out alot of water on the dam and we were sitting right in the path of it. . . and we were doing fine until we decided to leave. I pulled my anchor up thinking he had his up already (I was in front). Walk to the console, sit down, and fire up the motor all while the current is turning the front of the boat putting the back of the boat directly in the swift water. At that moment my buddy flys to the front of the boat yelling at me. . . . . the current was pushing us so hard and the weight of both of us in back plus the anchor still hooked to the river bottom was pulling the back right corner into the water. . . upon seeing this I quickly followed him to the front of the boat and watched with great relief as the corner emerged from the water. Once I worked up enough nerve to walk back there and cut the line we were fine. . . but I will NEVER EVER anchor from the back again. We both still talk about that. . . and its usually not a very present topic either as it scared the crap out of both of us. . .

My weirdest would be what was left of a rusted tricycle about 5 feet from the bank when I was fishing from the bank. Waded out and pulled it in because it was partially buried in the mud. I was also the victim of my fishing buddies weirdest catch. . . ME. . .when he sunk his hook in the side of my neck while casting.