Crankenstein Crony

I do the same as Red. I wait till I make contact with stumps or branches and stop reeling. The bait will float up a little bit and that helps keep the hooks from getting snagged. And a lot of times the first few cranks after that pause gets a lot of bites. If Im fishing a lot of stumps I will cast over the stump so my square bill rams directly into the stump so it deflect off the stump. Quite often that deflection gets me some very good bites. When I am ramming stumps I normally run right into the stump once or twice with out pausing my bait after the deflection. If I don't get any takers, I will cast right back at the same stump several more times and pause my bait after the deflection to see if thats what the fish are looking for.

Nitrofreak - Once the motor finally starts, normally there is no more issues with starting for the rest of the time I am using the boat on that day. After the initial hard start it takes 1 or 2 turns of the key and it fires right up just like it should. J Francho - The priming bulb is hard when I try to start. I have tried having my buddy pumping the bulb while trying to get it started to make sure fuel was going through the hose. We wanted to try and eliminate that as an issue. We figured if the hose wasn't working properly that could possibly be a quick easy fix to this issue. Fishing Rhino - Thanks for the good info. You are right. I may just end up having to take it in and have a tech look at it. This issue is just getting so frustrating. I just wanna pull my hair out sometimes!

Well I know its not a fuel problem. I tournament fish and am adding fuel every week and a half or so. When I winterize it I always add fuel stabilizer and I leave about 1/8th of a tank so I can mix a good amount of fresh gas in the spring time. I thought maybe it wasn't getting enough fuel to the engine and I checked my fuel hoses and they are in great shape. I also know it is getting spark at the plug. So Im guessing it is probably something a little more complex.

I use Thee Fisherman's Soap. It eliminates all kinds of odors and cleans very well. http://www.fishermanssoap.com

I use Deka and have had awesome results from these batteries. I won't use anything else. I had Ever Start batteries in my boat for a little while and they were more like "never start" batteries! They had a 3 year warranty and I burned them up in 6 months. Bought Deka's and haven't had an issue since!

Im not trying to steal the post but I have a keel guard question too. The bottom 6 inches or so of my keep guard has come loose. Can I re-glue my keep guard to the boat and still have it be effective. There is no other issue with the keel guard other than the bottom few inches coming loose. Everything else is still holding strong!

I finally bought my first boat 2 years ago! Im still super pumped about it! I bought a 2003 Skeeter SX 180 with a 115 Yamaha on it. The boat is absolutely awesome! I love it! But the motor is something else. This motor does not like to start at all when its cold. Sometimes it takes 5 minutes plus to get it started. Even in the summer time when it stays warm she's as stubborn as an ox. Im still new to boat motors and don't know a whole lot about them. Im wondering if anyone out there has had the same issue with their Yamaha's or if anyone out there has some advice on what I can do to correct this issue. It is very frustrating when guys who have 20 year old motors starting on 2 or 3 cranks and I sitting there cranking and cranking and cranking and cranking and cranking....

Gotta go with the Gamakatsu EWG's. Great hooks and great price. These hooks flat out stick fish! I didn't used to think it was necessary to replace hooks on my crank baits until i started tournament fishing... Now it's not even an option! I don't have a single crank bait with stock hooks anymore.

I use a 6:3 and 6:4 gear ratios for most of my cranking applications: square bills, red eyes, series 3's, 3xd's, and series 5's . When Im throwing my 5xd's and 6xd's I always throw them on a 5:3 because it takes so much stress off your hands, back, and arms. If you can pair it up with a 7'6 to 8ft rod you will eliminate even more stress. The long rod helps take up a lot more line when you make a hook set too! A 5:3 will make a long day of deep cranking a lot easier. Not to mention you can BOMB those 6xd's with a long rod!

If you are calling that awesome fish ugly, I guess I'd like to see a pretty one! Never met a smallie I didn't like. And as far as Im concerned the dark dark brown smallies that almost look black are even more unique and cool in my book!

I would go with the Quantum Tour KVD rods. They are awesome! I have a 7'0, a 7'4, and 2 7'10 KVD rods. Best I've used! Cranking is my favorite technique, so I've used a lot of cranking rods. They are awesome rods and the price can't be beat!

I use a Quantum Catalyst and a Quantum Energy PT for my flipping.

Hello fellow anglers! My name is Ben. I live in Three Rivers Michigan where I have spent the majority of my life. I have fished since the age of 4 when my dad got me involved in the sport. I have been fishing tournaments for the last 3 years. I finally purchased my first boat 2 years ago! My favorite technique by far is CRANKIN!!! Shallow crankin' medium crankin' and deep crankin' doesn't matter! I will throw crank baits all day long! I will throw em till my arm falls off! Regardless, nothing beats a day on the water!!

I use 15 pound and 17 pound Vicious Fluorocarbon when I fish jigs.

I use Vicious Fluorocarbon on just about all of my rods. I use 15 pound for spinner baits, skinny dippers, and some of my jigs. I love it! Vicious is tough and strong but still has plenty of sensitivity. Not to mention if you don't have a whole lot of money to spend on fishing line, Vicious fits at tight budget really well.

My favorite square bills are the Strike King 1.5's. I won 2 tournaments last year on SK 1.5's. Orange Craw, Black Back Chartreuse, Sexy Shad, and Chartreuse Sexy Shad have been several of my go to colors. I have also been throwing a Xcaliber XCS 100 in Foxy Shad lately. Those XCS 100 are fish catching machines too.

I really like the Strike King Red Eye! Sexy shad and blue gill have been my highest producing colors.

Is this a spelling, grammar, and arithmetic forum or a bass fishing forum...?