cart7t

Windex fixes anything that ails ya.

I've had a steering lube kit on my OB for a few years and I'm probably taking it off this year. I'm not sure they help or hurt to be honest.

I'm not 100% sure on a Ranger but I'm sure one of those holes will need to be plugged up. ;D BTW, if you can see down into the bilge area you should be able to figure this one out. I'm betting this boat has dual livewell pumps so that takes care of 2 of the inputs, then you've got the drain hole and finally the other one is probably the LW overflow.

Shouldn't this thread be moved to the Pastries & Cakes board?

I usually like a chocolate cake with white icing.

Sorry, I refuse to be assimilated.

cart i always enjoy your input on boats and boat ownership. you must be in the boat business for a living Years of knowing guys in the biz along with the usual mistakes made along the way by myself and others. You pick up a thing or two.

I just adjusted by rod and reel lineup for the coming year and now have my 6' Allstar Classic medium action rod paired up with a BPS ETX05 Extreem reel and 10lb line. Invariably, when I'm fishing jerkbaits it always winds up being windy out and i find the softer action rod with a more finesse style rod makes it easier to cast into the wind.

Didn't know that. I guess it makes sense. I've got a pair of 20+ year old Garcia Ultra Mag XL Plusses on both my Crankin Sticks and, of course, they don't have instant anti-reverse either. Not that I mind, those were one of the finest baitcasting reels ever made and they cast a mile. Oh, they're not broken either and work just like they did 20+ years ago without the word Shimano printed anywhere on the reel.

I just can't imagine using a spinning rod for crankbait fishing.

Eagles are the best buy for the money. Essentially reprogrammed Lowrances with cosmetic differences at a lot less cost.

That's how I lost my power drive MK as well. I had one of the removable mounts on it. Hit one wake and it came off the mount and into the air, the next wake bounced it up and over the side. Sank like a rock in about 30 feet of water on Norfolk lake. Best thing that ever happened to me was losing that Power drive.

I'd go with a newer used boat and get a larger motor. Buying into those package deals on boats that are grossly underated HP wise always turns out to be a loser for the boat owner. Once the newness of the new boat wears off you start seeing other likesized boats on the water running a larger sized motor and getting around a lot faster than you are. Then you decide to upgrade the motor and then you find out what a bath (financially) you'll take if you want to make the switch. You settle for not making the upgrade because of the finances and keeping what you've got or you try and sell it and then you find out nobody wants it because it's so grossly underpowered. Just my opinion of course.

I'm a 5 who constantly falls into the number 3 trap everytime I'm out. ;D

Looking at the jigging spoons, I'm not getting the reason for the free swinging hooks at all. I could forsee a SW fish big enough to inhale the entire thing into it's mouth and then the hooks catch inside the mouth but it seems to me on a smaller fish like the LM bass, the hooks would likely only catch the fish on the outside of the mouth. As for the rod, I can also see why SW guys would want the rod set up like that, with the weight of the spoons those guys need to reach depths beyond 100ft along with factors like current down that deep, the thought of jigging a spoon in the 2-3oz range is already causing my wrists to throb. I really don't see where this is any type of technique better suited than the ol jigging spoon we currently use.

That was Shimano's first attempt at a he-man drag system instead of the pansy-wansy drag system they have now. I think they called it the gear tooth chatter system. When the guts of old Shimano's flexed due to any decent fish putting up a fight, the gear shafts flexed allowing the gear teeth to disengage. Not a popular system. Try this as a cure. You could put the reel on a loomis rod. The rod will snap long before the gears strip, you can be assured.

Definitely not without the SAS style seats. I can imagine impacted vertebrae after just a few minutes. and that's on Lake of the Ozarks on a Holiday weekend.

Find the largest concentrations of baitfish with your graph and fish structure, especially the deepest water you can, like steep banks or points. Except in the warmest states of the country, cold water concentrates baitfish into balls or masses. When you can find those the LM bass are usually somewhere around.

I'm perusing my latest BPS catalog and there on the Extreme rods page is a rod with this mondo screw on adaptor, extension handle that's supposed to be used for the latest rave in fishing... "FreeStyle Jigging" :-? OK, I don't have a clue, I later find some Freestyle jigging spoons back in the lure section. What am I missing out on here? Does anyone have any info on this technique? I've googled up Freestyle jigging and all I get is links to rods but nothing about the technique. Can anyone out there clue me in?

I had one of the older Fritts reels in my hands, never tried it out before I sold it, I noticed it didn't have instant anti-reverse. Kinda odd for a reel made within the last 10 years.

The usual. Check the floor for soft spots, check the transom for flex. Have a compression test done on the motor. If it's a tubular frame trailer check the crossmembers for rust on the bottom. Check all the electrical accesories, check the pumps and make sure the steering isn't too stiff or too sloppy.

Exactly what do you mean by I've got a leak in my engine. Where is the leak at, can you provide a picture?

Your first step is to cut away the carpet and see what you've got. If it's not a big spot it's usually a matter of cutting out the bad area and replacing with a new piece of wood that's been epoxy coated. Securing it to the stringers underneath and then re-glassing over the top.

To further expand on Leo's fine presentation. I bring you Skippin a tube The technique was initially attributed to Guido Hibdon but I'm betting he learned it from someone else fishing Lake of the Ozarks. Essentially, the tube is one of the best baits out there for skipping under overhanging trees or under boat docks. The art of skipping is all in the cast. You'll use a spinning rod but a spincast also works. The cast involves a side arm motion sending the lure in a near parallel or very shallow trajectory towards the object you're trying to skip under. If done properly, the bait will skip much like a rock and gain you up to several feet extra distance under overhanging objects. I prefer the old Gitzit style jig heads where the lead head is inside the tube itself. This presentation is best done after some on the water practicing in an open water situation. It does take a knack to get the cast down right but done properly you can get the bait to skip 4-6 times, sometimes more. It's also not a choppy water presentation either. You're best skipping results will occur in calm water situations. Once the bait has come to rest and begins sinking, be prepared to close the bail immediately as fish will often strike the bait soon after it comes to rest. This technique isn't just limited to fishing under objects either but can also be used in open water situations as well when the fish are shallow. The skipping action in open water mimicks a baitfish fleeing and will draw strikes. It's a great presentation during the pre-spawn when the fish are in cruising the banks and you can really rack up some fish quick with this presentation. If you're skipping around docks, I'd prefer a medium action rod and around 10lb line. You'll need to get the fish away from cover ASAP so you'll need the stiffer action of the medium rod. In Open water you can get away with a M/L rod with only 6lb test. I prefer a 6' rod as the more compact length makes the cast a little easier to perform though some guys prefer the extra power of the 6'6" rod. I keep the baits simple, a 3 1/2 inch tube works great and I usually fish it in shad colors. The lead heads I use are normally 1/8 oz or 1/4.

I used to belong to a club that had no affiliation but did hold money tournaments. It was alot more fun than when the club had previously been involved in affiliation with 2 different organizations.