fowlskies

Very true, but its more finding something in my budget, if a 45lb became available in my price range I would snach it up in a second.

45 seems a bit much, I was thinking 28# being the minimum with 35#s being ideal. The 17lb thrust just got me thinking I could get by with, especially with my budget. Although I fish on the upper Hudson quite a lot which is pretty fast flowing every once in awhile depending what they are doing with the damns.

I have a 12' rowboat with a 3.5 hp motor that isn't much but I enjoy fishing out of and it gets me and my daughters off the shore and out on the water. The only thing missing on my setup is a trolling motor but I'm a budget fisherman with the family and all, which means buying on the used market. On craigslist today they have a 17 lb thrust trolling motor thats in my budget ($50), is this to little of thrust for my little 12 footer??? Its not like this motor is whats going to get me from point A to point B, but to tool around the area that I'm trying to fish silently. So what do you think, is it too little?

Haha...thats basically what I bring except its one of those big Maxwell House cans with the handle on it. Its a good unisex p*ss can, when my daughter's have to go its a lot easier than a clorox bottle. It also doubles as a bailing can if need be.

I usually have a bunch of granola bars in my dry box so when ever I feel like I need a bite i'll eat one of them while still fishing. I'm suprised no-one esle brings these, unless that is what a cliff bar is. Although if the kids are with me (which is most of the time) some candy, chips, or crackers make it on the boat along with whatever drink they pick out at the store while we're picking up crawlers. I think sometimes this is the best part for them, they're all excited to go fishing and then on top of that they get to go to the store and pick out whatever drink and candy/snack they want, its like an added bonus. Although when one of them gets a decent sized fish on their line its hard to compare.

Those blue gill patterns are amazing. Do you actually fish with these or do you frame them and hang them on your living room wall?

My brother and I had taken our 12' rowboat pond hopping for the day and were headed back home. We had thrown the boat in the back of his truck and had not secured though. Well we get miles down the road and I look in the back of the truck and see that theres no boat, I Iook at my brother and say, umm, wheres the boat???, at which this point he looks in his rearview with a blank look. We re-traced our route and found the boat sitting in the middle of the road. What had happened is we were stopped at a red light on a hill when it turned green and we took off the boat slipped out of the back of the truck and just sat in the middle of the lane we were in. It was pretty funny when we pulled up to it, it looked like the boat was sitting at the red light waiting for it to turn green. It being in a back country little town made it even more fitting and more suprising that it was still sitting there.

It probally does have to start at the state level but here in NY I think most issues like this go through our DEC first and we still ended up with a ban on lead sinkers less than an oz. We almost need an organization that is on the polar opposite end to fight these orgs, one that will go to the extent that these "PETA" orgs will go to but just in the opposite point of view. At that point a good even middle ground can be reached (its sad but its true). I honestly believe we would have gun laws simular to that of the British if it wasn't for the NRA and simular organizations sticking up for the 2nd admendment. It looks like the fishing industry is next in line for these "conservation" groups and we need a good clear, loud voice to combat them. J Franco, sorry but if you think that these groups don't have PETAish tendencies then you're sorely mistaken. What do you think PETA's main weapon is? Its those gory photos you're talking about. They use them to get knee jerk reactions from the non-informed public to help thier agenda.

What I want to know is; does the fishing industry have an organization with lobbyists to fight these irrational organization's false claims aimed at their agendas, like the hunting and gun industry has the NRA, Ducks Unlimited, ect.? Of course they didn't do to well with the lead ban in waterfowl hunting. But does BASS, FLW and others have lobbyists to stand up for the everyday fisherman against these PETA backed/wannabe so called conservation organizations? Although I would be a proud member of PETA if you are talking about People Eating Tastey Animals. I would fully support that organization.

Went out to learn how to use my new baitcaster and tied on a Bite It Squirrel Tail. I was impressed with the action, you could even burn it back and it had a paddle tail action to it. Might have a new go to bait this year.

I tested them last night in the fish tank. They have a lot better action than the Yum worm that I used to compare it to, I think its because the Culprit has less salt in it. Can't wait to try it out. I hope he tomatoe color works better for me, it won't because of lack of effort.

Got one hell of a deal at my local Kmart, They had a bucket that said additional 60% off with Culprit ribbontail worms in it. Although it didn't say what the original price was. I went to the counter with a pack and they rang up for 25 cents, so I went back and bought the last 6 packs that were 18 per pack. They only had two colors, grape red tail and tomatoe. The tomatoe is an intresting color, it has a transparent chartruse outer skin with silver and black flakes with an orangeish redish inner body. No matter the color you can't beat the price. Anyone use Culprit worms, and how do they compare to other brands? I have always used Zoom or Yum worms.

Being an accountant I'll warn you on your intent of the business. If the Feds view it as a hobby and not as a legitimate business venture and you have a loss for the year that loss is not deductible on your tax return but if you make a profit it is included in your income on your tax return. Just another thing to consider.

I just went on the website its not NIAP its NAIP Areials. And when you click on the Maps button it gives you options and you want to open "Choose map base" then select NAIP Areials.

They are both good but I use them for scoping out hunting spots. The best one I have found for fishing is on Angling-technologies.com. Go to their interactive map zoom into your spot and on the bottom of the map there is a button that says map click it and it gives you the option to view the spot using Bing, Google or NIAP. Click on NIAP, this one will actually let you see some of the channels and bottom structure of the water. Its not so good for deep water structure, you get that if you get the paid service, but for shallow water (like the spot you are talking about coming off the island) it will give you some of the channels and bottom contour.

Wow that spotted bass is realistic. Good thing I don't have a filet knife that small.

smalljaw thanks. I don't do too much winter fishing. It's more to add to my regular fishing from early spring to late summer. But maybe I'll tie ones with less action so depending on the bite I'll have options. So, you just tie at the top of the jig? I thought you might have to tie down the hook more so it didn't float up off the hook.

Looking into tying some of my own jigs. I just purchased some tanned rabbit fur scraps off ebay to start. Just waiting for them to come in the mail. I would like to tie them like the ones in this video. Love the action that they produce. Does anyone have any tips on how to tie jigs like these for a beginer?

I started using the less expensive ones made by strike king and haven't noticed a difference in the amt or size of the fish I've caught with them. In fact I've caught a couple bigger ones on the SK than the GY but that isn't due to the bait it is more due to location and the fish that were on that location at the time I wet the bait. Best way I do it is to buy X brand and test in a fish tank next to the GY and make you own assumption. If you find it comparable enough and will have the confidence to use when on the water you're all set and have found a less expensive bait that works. I still use both but have confidence in both also and thats the key. At two bucks try it and compare and at the least you'll have gained knowledge and will be better off in the end either way. In fact I just bought some YUM dingers on sale and have to test them to the other brands to see how I like them and know when I will deploy them.

I wish we had that deal here, the best deal at my local Kmart was 12pk of Yum Dingers $3 that were on clearence. They also had on clearence Yum crayfish for 3.50a 10 pk. They're different from the other crayfish plastics on the market, they are more like a tube bait that is shaped and colored exactly like a crayfish. A ball jig fits right in them and you jig them like a tube and they stand on their tail like in defense mode. Cleared them out of both.

Actually I just looked on their website. The worm buck is 195 count, the grub/shad bucket is 420 count and the tube bucket is 110 count. Your choice of bucket for $16.99 each. I have never used them but it doesn't seem like a bad deal if you're looking to buy in bulk. They're under the soft bait kit section.

I know on Cabelas you can buy them by the bucket. They a couple different buckets, one is mainly worms and the other is a mixed bucket of grubs and shad and the other bucket is tube baits.

Thanks for the opinions guys. Mabey I'll get the Lightning, although it didn't seem as sensitive as the amp when doing the "wiggle" test in the store. The other thing is I like to use braid and the Shock is advertised as being made to handle braid.

Wondering what rod to match with my baitcaster. Only have$30-40 to spend on a rod. I have narrowed it down to either the Berkley Amp, Lightning or Lightning shock. I have an Amp on a spinning setup that I like using for jigs and plastics because I can feel the bottom so well. The thing is, I read on here that medium action is too light and that this rod is too weak to pull them out of the thick stuff. So it made me think I should get the lightning or the Shock. It'll be used for mainly jigs and plastics but would like it to be an all around setup. BTW this is my first baitcaster. Also the $50 Shock would be about $20 more than my budget.

In NY there is a season that doesn't start until the third Sat. in June and goes through Nov. Its still legal to catch bass in the offseason but it has to be on artificial lures only and it must be catch and release.