rboat

The top left is a Shur-Strike pikie minnow. It was a line of baits that came out under that name, but they were manufactured by Creek Chub.

It is ok to leave the trolling motor and operational wiring attached to the batteries while charging, or should you remove all other wires while charging the batteries? I was always disconnecting everything before charging just for safety, but maybe you do not have to. Thanks.

My old trolling foot control bow mount died and it is so old they do not even have any parts. I am looking for suggestions for a new one. I have a fiberglass bassboat that is 16'. I only have room for 1 battery so it must be 12v only. Obviously want good power, quiet, easy steering, good speed ranges, battery efficient and mostly reliability and a decent price. I know some are die hard MK or MG fan boys, but just give me an honest opinion. My old trolling motor was an MG and lasted over 20 years if that helps. Thank You.

RB77, sounds like you guys need to band together and vote the idiots running the state out of office. To stay on topic, I too love Academy, good stuff, good prices and great sales!

i think buying and collecting fishing lures is fun, kind of a part of the sport. Do i need it? No. It still makes me happy. I think a large portion of the appeal is thinking you may stumble on that one lure that crushes it on your local fish. You probably never will, but you have fun along the way. Also, what works great one day may not work next time, so something else is needed. It is also a bit like having several birthdays or an extra Xmas through the year when you buy, or get that box in the mail.

Never seen any exactly like that. Possibly a knock-off? Those hooks look pretty stout. Maybe a deep diver used in saltwater?

Great when fish are agressive and ready to react. They can't see the bait clearly and they simply react to the movement, sound and water disturbance. As Blue said, can be deadly in clear water or when they are busting shad on top.

I prefer to fish alone. It lets you relax more and clear your mind. If a bad cast gets hooked on a dock, tree, or weeds, I have no one to blame but myself. If equipment gets damaged or lost, again my bad. I do not have to worry if the other person wants to try a different spot or change something or leave before I want to. On the other hand, It is nice to have help launching the boat, and it is always safer to have someone with you if you have engine trouble, an injury, or any other unforeseen problem that may happen.

I started taking off the middle treble hook. I have not noticed any difference in hook ups, and the bait remains balanced. Three treble hooks seems like overkill. A friend changes all of his to single circle hooks instead of trebles and still catches just as many as before. I guess maybe it depends on if they are eating the bait or just swiping at it?

Senko spinnerbait / chatterbait topwater of some sort squarebill crank fluke / keitech

I believe a lot depends on where you are geographically. Our lakes are primarily shallow and have a mud bottom with thick tangled vegetation. So here, When the spinnerbait hits the water raise the rod tip and reel fast. Run the bait just under the surface. The fish come up out of the weeds to the bait. I can see if you have deep water with a sand or rock bottom, slow rolling could be deadly.

Looks like a BD baits topwater. Probably a discontinued color.

Personally, I would avoid salt water. If you go for it, rinse everything especially the trailer as stated above. Also spray and wipe all metal in the boat with a good lubricant, locks, pedastals, springs, TM motor, etc. Overspray while boating and even just salt air can be extremely corrosive. Flush the outboard real good. The water ports and thermostat have small channels that can play havoc if any salt is left.

Anyone fish here lately? I fished here many times in the past. Recently I noticed the chain pickeral population has seemed to explode. The last 3 times I bass fished at Conway all I caught was several pickeral. It didn't seem to matter what I was throwing they wanted it. Anyone else notice this at Conway? I never had this problem in years past. It reminded me of living up north and dealing with the toothy Northern Pike.

The young gators love to chase topwater. A high speed reel is a must to get your lure back quickly. Big momma is usually close by so don't mess with those curious little gators. If you want to see some wild videos fishing around gators, check out some of the videos by Captain Shane Procell, a member here who knows a lot about fishing near gators.

Do they just run on the bottom, or can you swim them higher in the water column? Most of our lakes are shallow and the bottom is mud covered with algae. Bottom fishing is mostly out of the question. Also, we do not have any smallmouth, but I assume the largemouth would also be interested in these?

Kind of new to chatterbaits. Do you steady retrieve or zip it quick once in a while. I tried today and only caught a few small eastern chain pickeral. They are the smaller, just as annoying, cousin to the northern pike that our northern friends know well.

Yes, it really looks like an old strike king to me also.

I know you had to replace the hooks on the rapala shadow rap or they could easily straighten out. I thought they put better hooks on the ripstop, but maybe not?

Sorry, I should have mentioned I only did this to the floating jerkbaits. As Scott said it would definately mess up a suspending bait some, unless you compensate with a suspend dot or something. Thanks.

On my jerkbaits that have 3 sets of treble hooks, I have been removing the center one. It makes it easier to unhook fish with less damage to them and less chance of hooking myself. I have not noticed any change in the balance or action of the baits and I have not had any decline in strikes or fish landed. I am just wondering if there is any real disadvantage that I may have missed? Your thoughts? Thanks.

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I believe I have towed about 6 boats back to the ramp in last few years when they broke down, and my boat was smaller than most of them. I just hope that someday someone may do the same for me if the need arises.

Is there still access to Juliana? I went there maybe 20 years ago. I think we had to pay a couple bucks at a trailer park area to launch. We caught several small ones in Juliana and had a tough time getting through the little canal to Mattie. We never did get a bass in Mattie. I have not been back, but thought about trying it again, Just not sure if you can still launch on Juliana.

I had one on my boat. It now sits in the garage. They are a pain to try to fish around. Also you can't run very fast with it up, so you end up putting it up and down all day. It only shades a small portion depending on the angle of the sun. The worst part is with the top up, you now have a huge sail boat. Any wind will blow you right off the lake. I would pass.