jimmykm21

I went out Monday and tried drop shot fishing , used an 1/0 hook and a 4 " senko and 10 # mono on a spinning reel. It worked well and caught 5 large mouth in a fairly short time but 2 were gut hooked. I was carefully able to push the hook out with no damage to either fish. Now I read here that you aren't suppose to set the hook when drop shot fishing , just raise the rod tip and reel. So that's what I was doing when I felt a bite . My question to you guys is it fairly common to gut hook fish when using this technique ? Or was I doing something wrong in my fishing? thanks

While night fishing with no moon , dark as all hell in a canoe heard a loud splash and could see something large in the water 30 or so feet in front of me. It really scared the crap out of me so I grabbed the paddle and started back paddling. I couldn't help my self and had to see what it was. So I hit the headlamp on my light and it turned out to be a horse that got out of it's stable up the road.

The most important thing I learned is how to read my electronics. It wasn't learning a new technique or trying new baits. Over the years I always watched the pros talking about learning to read your electronics but never paid much attention to it because I seemed to concentrate more on gear and presentation . But after fishing with a seasoned friend on my boat , he spent a lot of time showing and teaching me how important it is to interpret what you see correctly on your screens. I'm wondering how many other members feel like this.

Don't go to a fishing store looking for O rings Go to an auto supply store or a hardware store I think I pay about 5 cents a piece for them, also places like Home Depot or Lowes carry them pretty cheap.

It's not so much that they are not hitting crank baits but more so the fish are deeper. Try some deep diving , or count down crank bait. I use both This time of year I really like the deep diving suspending cranks. Reel it down to the max depth and use a stop and go .

Some thing most of us anglers forget about are tin spoon jigs. I am also guilty of it also. They catch fish in any type of water and at any depth. Position your boat over a school of suspending fish or fish holding close to cover and drop it down. Then just raise and lower your rod tip.

You wrote pull? So it's bow mounted on the 1542 ? If it's a transom mount all light aluminum boat like the 1542 would be hard to keep straight in any type wind ,no matter what pound thrust is used. A bow mount would make your boat track better .

I have the 45 pound thrust on a 14 foot grizzly tracker . I use 1 and 2 speed for using a bottom bouncer and it works out great. 3 and 4 works well on windy days to hold or keep my boat in position . 5 is just for moving a little faster if I don't feel like using the gas motor.

what type of line ? Sometimes braided line depending on the guides you have on the rod can make a crank or spinner bait feel heavier than it should.

Spare plugs , fuses , wrench to change plugs , electrical tape , small screw driver set. As was said already . There's not a lot I could do on the water on my outboard. Trolling motor will get me back in an emergency.

Why not then buy just a cheap heavy power ugly stick package. Put some 50 pound braid and keep it just for frog fishing? You could probably get all that set up for under 70$ , that includes the cost of the braided line. Once you have it , I'm telling you will use it more than you think.

Funny thing about your bassing kit will be you will end up only using about 1/16 of what you bought. Reason I say it is you wil end up with your favorite baits . Also buy a few spinner baits .

I'm going to tell the fish that next time I go out on my boat . I've had a few times no bites no matter what I tried . If you fish enough it happens even to boaters.

They call those jig fisherman. I had a chance to fish with a deep water jig fisherman,, it's something to watch.

Look at all your line guides very closely . Maybe there is a rough or sharp edge the line sometimes rubs up against. Also check your bail if it's a spinning reel. Maybe a sharp edge on it somewhere.

I wasn't trying to sound mean at all . I just see a lot of guys spend a lot of money on good fishing gear making the boat the last purchase or never buying one. Getting out on the water is the best way to fish . I have a friend now that has spent about $2000 on nice rods and reels but has to rely on me or other people to get out on the water. I told him the same thing after his first purchase of about $400 for a rod and reel . I said buy a small boat . It wasn't a jab at you and I apologize if it sounded like that. Congrats on the new home. It sounds like you have all your ducks in a row.

Your next purchase should be a small boat. I would rather have just one setup and a small boat than 4 or 5 setups I spent 600 or 700 $ on and still be fishing from the bank.

I had a rat snake one time refuse to let me out of a tree. It was just about dark so I started climbing down the steps when I saw the snake at the bottom of the tree. I pulled up my bow again that I had lowered to the ground and slapped the snake trying to move it. I imagine I ticked it off because it did that fake rattle with it's tail and opened his mouth at me.. I'm not playing around anymore with you I said. So I used my bow and tossed it away. I climbed down from the tree and the darn thing wanted to come back again. Maybe it had a nest close to the tree somewhere? I'm not afraid of snakes but it was a strange to see it come back towards me after tossing 10 or 12 feet away.

yup That's the tail slap on the water.

That's crazy . The fish didn't know what it was trying to tangle with. I see a lot of beavers at night. The tail slap they do on top of the water will make you jump at night.

As we all know we bass fisherman love to fish at night . Whether we chase largemouths ,smallies or stripers off the surf. I love summer time night fishing . Many times I use to launch at sunset and fish until 1:00 am or later. Unless I could get a fishing partner on those nights , I fished alone. I think the most startled I have ever been is one really hot summer night I was fishing alone in a 17 foot canoe. No wind and no moon on a local 100 acre lake . This is a state owned property so there are no lights or houses on the shore line. Pitch black and the fish were biting good. I was fishing the shoreline and when I heard some sticks breaking , I thought maybe a dog or coyote was walking through the woods. I didn't think too much of it and continued to fish. Then all of a sudden I heard the biggest splash next to my canoe. It sounded like a large animal just jumped in the water next to me. I jumped out of my skin . I could see an outline or shadow that looked enormous right in front of my canoe. I was almost to scared to turn my head lamp on but I did Know what it was ? A horse Alright ... lets hear some stories.

I fished out of a canoe for years and it was nice to be able to get into places bass boats couldn't.. It was an Oldtown 17 foot square stern . The only complaint I had was on windy days. Even with a 50 pound thrust trolling motor I had to fight to stay straight when fishing a shore line. I have a boat now but I have been looking at the small bass tenders they sell. They seen more comfortable than a canoe . It would be nice to be able to throw it in back of my truck sometimes instead of hooking up and launching a boat.

Crankbaits not that often but did lose one today. Spinnerbaits maybe 3 or 4 a season. I can mostly position the boat where I can retrieve most of them. Jigs is another story. In real heavy cover I can lose a few.

I use a quantum KVD pro series reel in 5:3 with 12 pound fluoro and matched it up with the KVD quantum pro series 7 foot 10 inch glass rod. You can go as light as 10 pounds but I feel more comfortable with a bit heavier line. I let the rod do the work when casting . It has a nice flex to it and casts a good long way with heavy baits. The setup is very forgiving on my wrist when cranking for extended periods. My belief is no matter what set up you decide to buy after an hour you will need a break from it. It's tiring but it will catch you bigger fish more consistently than any other method during the hot months of the year.

Someone who turns their phone off. Answer your phone on my boat and you get dropped off at the launch.