zachb34

Shimano actually manufactured the old lews reels. Even Browning, which is next to obsolete in the fishing market made some of them.

I have a 1542 and can have 2 guys standing up on the benches no issue. The grizzly will be more stable than my boat. I say go for it. Welcome to the forums.

If it matters to you, the Shimano reels always hold their value. Especially the curado series. The 200E7 curados have been discontinued for years and are still going as high as $180 on auction sites.

I have one on my Tracker 1542, and I like it a lot. 8.5' "spike" I trust it to anchor me in about 7' of water easy no matter what's on the bottom. My only complaint about it is, that it makes it hard to go under low bridges repeatedly. I've had mine for about 9 months now, and it is a little weird in the way it responds to my key fob. I'm really hoping that it's just the battery going bad, since I got it new on ebay and don't know if they'll accept it for a warranty claim. Overall a great product and one of few things I can say does help me catch more fish. It may or may not be for you depending on the waters you fish. One lake I fish it's useless and it only helps once I get blown on shore, and if I use it as a push pole on flats. Most of my waters here are shallow and that's when it shines for flipping, and windy days when I want to pick an area apart. Its extremely quiet also. Durability wise, I smacked it on one of those low bridges I was talking about at 25 mph and it kicked back on the mount 100% unharmed. My buddy also took off with it anchored one time fast enough so the mount kicked back and sent my gopro flying off. That's another plus is I can mount a Gopro on the top easily.

I live in florida and we don't see the amount of teeners that California does. We do seem to be the 8 pounder capital of the world though. While okeechobee for sure holds some giants I would say California would have a better chance. I've also heard due to our hot weather year round fish have a shorter life. Not sure if that's true or not. If it true 7 feet of water is deep for okeechobee and those fish have no where to hide from heat.

I used to go through this a lot and it was pretty bad timing. I would always fish hard through the summer or winter when the fishing was so slow. I mean really hard hours and hours a day just grinding to catch a fish with very little to show for my efforts. Once spring and fall came around I was so discouraged and sick of it I had to take a break. I've also taken breaks when I needed to make/save more money like buying my first car, new truck, new boat, etc.

I also agree with RoLo. I'm also impressed that the news channel that made that clip was pretty unbiased and legitimately seemed education.

Mines level, but it depends on your boat and what your trying to do. People here trim way up to stay on plane in extremely shallow water where my friend in an under powered carolina skiff has to trim down just to get on plane with two people.

They aren't heavy baits so you won't really need a heavy rod to throw them, unless you're throwing them into heavy cover. I always use braid because it floats, gives a good hookset, and on cover Performa the best. I use the same hooks you mentioned in a 5/0 and wouldn't go higher because it then gets too long for the baits. In summary I would choose your rod based on how heavy the cover is where you plan on fishing.

During the summer water temps are obviously pretty high, but the rain should cool down the water temporarily. A lot of times bugs and whatever is on the bank can wash into the water which stirs up the bait fish. Once those bait fish get fired up the bass should also be getting active. Summer for me in florida means water Temps in the 92° area drop to around 85-87° range. I like top waters if you can tell the fish become active either a walking bait like a spook or skitter walk or a weightless fluke twitched on top. Spinnerbaits and chatterbaits are good if that water looses a lot of visibility. There really isn't any rules to the situation because a lot of times I notice it seems activity levels of the bass will drop and they either stay in their deeper water or move to the deeper water. I'm not an expert but I dont see why the PH going up would happen or how it would be a benefit. PH should stay stable and neutral, but oxygen levels should be up. That can cause fish to become more active. My advice would be to start with top waters, in the hopes of the fish becoming active in the lower water temps. If that fails start working your way back down deeper and deeper lipless cranks, square bills, medium divers, and them ultimately on the bottom, if all else fails. That cool water will be more dense and start to sink in the water column. Chances are bass will be in the water that has the most oxygen levels near that cooler layer.

I sent you a PM

Along I95 there are canals and they all have bass and peacocks. I would invite you on my boat but my truck will still be in the shop at that time. Lake Ida has some parks on it along with lake Osborne which will give you some bank access.

Consistency I get on some great streaks where I have them figured out exactly. At some times I can't figure them out for the life of me, while I see others are still catching and even doing really well. I never have an in between period it's always great or bad fishing.

Lake Ida is a good lake to fish. There are plenty of bass and peas in there but I'm not sure how much bank access is there since I fish from a boat.

Tinboats.net is a great site to learn how to do this kind of stuff. I own a tin boat myself and have found a lot of info there. A few guys on here have also built boats the same way and will give you advice. Aluminum will be the best way to do it if 6iu have the skills and resources to do it.

A lot of our lakes and ponds here are man made and are basically just bowls of water. In those lakes if there is structure found the bass will really stack up there. One particular lake the lake is sort of a rounded off "l" shape those spots where the lake makes a bend hold fish pretty well all year long. Sometimes even a one or two foot dropped off will hold the fish in lakes that seem void of structure. The easiest way to catch them in these lakes are to look for cover versus structure. A lot of times the emergent grass will stick out a a few feet more on the bank. Those usually tell me that the shallow water has a miniature point, that sticks out into slightly deeper water, where the vegetation can still grow. Those can be good also.

Really depends on the bait being thrown but usually with a single hook presentation where I know I can get a hook set I keep slack out and try to move the fish closer to me. Once he jumps or gets to the surface I try to see if he's barely hooked or its in there good. If he's barely hooked I keep my rod tip down and to my side to make it so he can't jump as easily. Anything with trebles I keep my rod low and to the side of my body to minimize jumping. You have to find a balance of getting the fish in quickly so he has less time to get free and playing a fish so thy he can't jump. Its also been side previously but, sometimes the bass do win.

Anytime you go from bank fishing to fishing on a boat there's a learning curve. I've gone through that learning curve twice, and still find myself stumped sometimes. My advice would be to learn your body of water and study it before you even get there. When bank fishing your usually limited where and what you can fish on a smaller body of water. Now all of a sudden you have so much water to cover. Being it's summer and post spawn the typical areas to focus on would be main lake points, docks, and vegetation provides some shade. All of which should have deep water near by. If you have sonar it's useful and will show you where in the water column there's the most activity. Constantly be on the look out for areas that show there's life and the fish are active. Now on the boat it's much easier to cover water, so I suggest to take advantage of that and power fish early on in the day. I like to throw a lipless crankbait or a square bill to cover water. If there's a lot of vegetation I use a paddle tail swimbait. You may need to slow down and fish deep with a T-rig or a C-rig. For docks I like to flip a jig or throw a senko around them.

I have a power pole micro on my boat for all the shallow water I fish. It was a great investment for me. I also have rod buckles I like those too they make new housing adapters which are easy for a jon boat.

When these big bass look for the thermocline, will they suspend in the thermocline? or will they try and be on the bottom?

I don't keep bass but for species I do keep I just throw them on ice and clean them at home.

8.8 pounds of braking force? Am I the only one that is questioning that part? I know we measure drag but braking force? How can that be measured? Why is it measured?

It's pretty easy here to get a home made title for a trailer and is legal if it's under a certain weight. Scrap isn't worth much and they would get caught pretty easy. My guess it's been titled as homemade or taken to a state where they can do that.

Higher quality rods tend to be more brittle and break more often. However these breaks are almost always operator error. Normal use shouldn't break them.i can't really comment on that particular rod though.

Did you land the fish?