Christian M

Mount it closest to where you're going to be fishing

I've always wondered how does one convert pounds of thrust to horsepower?? Is there an equation or method?

As some of you may or may not know, my mother has been fighting stage 4 breast cancer since July 17th 2012. It's been 10 long, hard, scary months full of surgery, chemo, radiation, and all sorts of hardships I wish upon no one. Well, here we are, with one week of radiation left, and my mothers blood work, tumor markers, and pet-scan have all come back disease free We're going to have to keep a close eye on her health. One of the medications that she was supposed to be on until September 2013 was discontinued because it was having bad side effects on her heart. However, for now, thanks to the almighty, shes healthy. In celebration of this arduous journey being over, we've rented a log cabin on a private lake connected to the Delaware Water Gap, nestled in the mountains of North West Jersey. We're going to bring the new Tracker along and fish for Striped Bass, Hybrids, Largemouth, Smallmouth, Musky, Catfish, and whatever else will bite! It's not some 5 star resort, or some foriegn country. Heck we're not even leaving the state, but its our vacation, and I've never been more excited or happy to spend time with my family

Thanks for the input guys, I really appreciate it. After hearing voices of reason, I should go with the GPS. I do fish tournaments, and B@ssCrzy you're right, I'm already planning to take the boat out to new water. (Delaware River, Champlaine, Nocamixon, Hopatcong ect...)My budget is rather low, we'd be talking $400-$500 at best right now, so the question is what unit will give me the best bang for my buck? Should I be looking for a used unit?? I'm going to buy & mount the kicker bracket now. I have a 55lb transom mount MinnKota Edge & will really help on these dang electric lakes when running from spot to spot.

Thank you Gentlemen! I got this boat at a great price, the seller was asking $3200, I got him down to $2800. I think I could have gotten her for a bit less, but the seller was a really nice guy, & he was the original owner. Yea I've heard the old saying "Break Out Another Thousand", I've also heard that the only hobby more expensive than fishing & boating, is flying. Now I'm hoping to get a buyer for my Trihull. I just finished swapping out electric motors & cleaning her all up, I'm gonna go buy a for sale sign today. Hopefully that will provide the funds for the fishfinder. I don't fish big water so I have no need for GPS at the moment. I'm thinking about a Humminbird 571HdDi. From the research I've done so far, this seems like a good choice. I fish a lot of shallow lakes (4'-15' on average) so the standard sonar along with the HD seems like the right combination. I do have one reservoir that I fish a lot which gets down to 42 feet and has an average depth of 12 feet, so the HD DI will really come in handy there. If any of you guys have any suggestions/advice, please share. I want to make the best investment possible.

Ive spent six years bass fishing, each of which I've become progressively more obsessed. Four were spent off the bank with a few trips out on a raft that popped after 1 summer, and 2 from a Scanoe and a 1974 Glastron Tri-hull. Well this Spring I finally bought my first real Bass Boat. It's a 96 Tracker Pro Team in immaculate condition, even the trailer looks like it just came off the dealer lot. It came with the factory 37lb trolling motor, so I swapped it out for my MK 55lb powerdrive and added a battery to the back hatch. All I need to do now is buy a decent fishfinder for the deck. I don't wanna waste time putting holes in the boat just to mount my cheesy Humminbird 170. It came with a 4 stroke 9.9 Merc Tracker & built in gas tank. Since I live in NJ, and fish tournaments this is the perfect setup for now. It even has an inlet for a tiller arm, so when I get some more $$$$ I'm gonna upgrade to a 40 or 50hp Merc, and put the 9.9 on a kicker bracket. I fished a Tournament last weekend and a guy pulled up in an 06 Tracker PT, I swear mine looked like the 06 and his looked like the 96!

Thanks kjfish, The guy that I bought it from took excellent care of her. He was the original owner and only took it out a couple times a year. The 9.9 is a 4 stroke w/less than 20 hours and a built in gas tank (perfect for when I upgrade motors)... I had a marine mechanic take a look at it and he couldn't believe it was a 96. I fished a tournament yesterday and there was a guy there with an 06 Pro Team, I swear by looking at the two you would have thought mine was the 06 LOL!! and I only paid $2800!!!

Thanks for the compliments guys!! I really appreciate it, I just finished clear coating these lures and posted them up. Let me know what you guys think! Jim, yea I have a lot of Createx colors, I used to do a lot of airbrushing on clothes, car & morotcycle parts, banners, signs etc...So when I started painting crankbaits all I had to buy was a few more colors, some more airbrush cleaner, and epoxy. I do really want to order a set of Pearls & Iridescent colors on jannsnetcraft, I love using these types of paints.

This is my 96 Tracker Pro Team, just bought it 3 days ago. It has a 9.9 Merc Tracker on the back, I live in NJ so the few lakes where you can use a gas powered engine, the limit is 10hp. When I get some more funds up I plan to put a 50hp-60hp on the back, and use the 9.9 as a tiller. For now the 9.9 is perfect for local for tourneys. This is my first real Bass Boat. Before this I had an open hull 14' Glastron Trihull, a Scanoe, and a few Seyvlor inflatables. I still have the Scanoe, I love fishing out of it.

I ordered the Devcon from toolking.com because I saw that they supply Walmart, plus it was the lowest price I could find online. They said it took so long because it was coming from Washington and I'm on New Jersey, but still 15 days is a lot. I think there's an Ace Hardware about 20 minutes from where I live, I'll definitely try the Bob Smiths.

Thank you guys!! I really appreciate the compliments, it makes me wanna keep painting. I put a lot of time and effort onto them. I used 13 different colors on the bluegill, and about 10 on the perch, most of which were custom mixed. I'll continue to post pics as I work on more baits. Here's another one I finished up last night.

So after waiting 15 days, my Devcon Epoxy finally came. I clear coated my lures that same night. I was going to add glitter, but I used a lot of pearls and iridescent colors so I decided against it for these. I still have a couple new jerkbaits & topwaters that I'm working on, but I just got a new boat and our first tournament is this weekend. Anyhow...here are my first two.

No problem man!! If you're set on getting a Paasche, check out the Talon. When it came out a few years ago it was their top of the line brush and was selling for around $350, but I recently went on their website and its gone down to around $130. Its apparently still their top of the line brush. I've had mine for 3 years and I still have the original needle and tip!!! It was definitely a great investment. One thing I can tell you is the cheaper you go with your airbrush, the harder it will be for you to learn. Don't break the bank, but definitely get yourself a good gravity fed brush, now that you found out that you have a compressor, maybe you can put that money toward your airbrush. Remember though its just like anything else worth doing, it takes a lot of practice. Good luck and enjoy!

Hi BassDude! Here we go... Getting into airbrushing lures is a great hobby, and an even better way to find those colors & patterns that you just can't find in stores. However, like fishing, airbrushing its not a cheap hobby. I know there are guys on YouTube showing $20 airbrushes in action, claiming they could work. That simply isn't true. If you really want to put out some quality work, you're going to have to spend a bit more than $100 just on an airbrush. There are 2 types of airbrushes you will have to decide between, the first is siphon fed, and the second is gravity fed. Most siphon fed airbrushes cost less and are good at painting larger areas, but lack the capability to paint fine lines and details. The gravity fed airbrush, on the other hand, is good for painting both larger areas and very fine details. You can buy different size needles, caps, and tips for both types. When shopping for your starter airbrush, there are 3 major companies that you'll want to take a look at. Badger, Paasche, and Iwata. Badger, in general, is seen as the "cheaper" option, but if you get into their higher end brushes, they put out some decent equipment. Paasche is next, but not necessarily inferior to Iwata. I know professional artists that will only use Paasche, and others that will only use Iwata, it comes down to what you prefer, and what you can afford. I own a siphon fed Paasche, and a high end gravity fed Paasche. I use the gravity fed brush for lures because I can get very fine details at low psi, much finer than I could ever get with my siphon fed brush, which requires higher psi to operate. The next purchase you'll need to make is a compressor. You can go out and buy a kit compressor, which is a small, handheld compressor, which I strongly advise against. The major problems with these are that they constantly need to be running because they don't have an air reserve tank (extremely annoying), and they sputter while you're painting. I would recommend going out to your local Home Depot and buying a construction style tool compressor. There are several different styles and sizes, the most popular being a pancake style, but make sure that the one you purchase has a psi gauge and control. This will allow you to place the compressor somewhere away from your work station, this way you can paint in peace, and have a smooth air stream running to your airbrush. After you choose a compressor, you'll need to buy a moisture trap. This is an ABSOLUTE MUST. Without a moisture trap you'll have water spitting out of your compressor through your airbrush. After this, you'll want to buy some Createx paints, airbrush cleaner fluid, and clearcoat. For other tip, techniques and advise, go to www.tackleunderground.com, they have everything and anything you'll ever want to know on tackle making. Good Luck!!

This is my Scanoe. It has a 55lb MinnKota on the transom w/quick connect wires, I ran the wires through the gunwhales to the stern, also w/quick connects, so that the battery balances out the weight of the trolling motor. I have swivel seats that I clamp on for longer trips. & I've since added rod holders. I also have a Humminbird fishin buddy clamped to the side which I am upgrading this season. Personally I love fishing from my Scanoe. Its stable, fast, dry, & stealthy. I can get right up on the fish without spooking them & in can get this thing in places no bass boat dreams of.

Here are a few custom cranks that I've been working on, I'm waiting on my Devcon 2Ton Clear 30 min Epoxy so I can finish them up. Also here's a photo of my work station. If you guys have any tips or comments please share .

Congrats, how did you get it back?? You should buy a shoulder/neck sling or a leash so it doesn't happen again.

X2

Yes he does have to sand them down at least to get a good tooth for the paint to stick to. Get yourself a double action Iwata or Paasche gravity fed airbrush, a moisture trap, a decent sized compressor. Createx airbrush paint is the best, you'll need flash reducer & airbrush cleaner for changing colors. As far as clear coat, you need Devcon 2ton Epoxy 30 minute.

To answer your question about braided line & flourocarbon, yes, they are game changers. The advantages/disadvantages are too much to post right now so ill just go over the basics. Braided line has 0% stretch and no memory- braided line is super sensitive, making it much easier to detect a bite and set the hook, also the line diameter is very fine, allowing you to pack heavier lb test on your reel, but remember braided line tends to dig into the spool, so you MUST put mono backing on your spool to prevemt your spool from becoming warped Flourocarbon has the same light refraction as water, making it virtually invisible underwater, which makes it a game changer in clear water. It also has very low stretch & it sinks, making it easier to maintain contact with sinking baits. Also, contrary to popular belief, flourocarbon is much more abrasion resistant than braid and most mono. Monofilament has its place as well. It floats so it works great with topwaterbaits like poppers, jitterbugs & walk the dog baits especially. There are tons of articles and posts about these lines, i definitelty reccomend reading up, but this is a quick review, hope it helps.

When I started bass fishing I was shorebound also. My main lure was a T-Rigged Senko, it taught me how to cast with a lighter weight, how to work the water column, how to cast toward a target, how to get a feel for the bottom, & especially how to detect a bite & set the hook properly. I suggest you start with the senko. Lures like spinnerbaits & chatterbaits & cranks are obviously great. I use them all the time, but if you start off with easy cast & retrieve lures, you wont learn the basics toward becoming well rounded angler. For example, I have a friend that started fishing with spinners & chatterbaits. Now, when he goes fishing, if he can't catch anything powerfishing, he goes home or gwts frustrated because he has no patience for a worm, jig, or any slow bait for that matter.

I live on the boarder of the Jersey Shore & South Jersey, so we get a lot of rain. This winter 75% of the days were 33º & up, generally our lakes & ponds dont ice over, we get some thin ice that forms near the banks, but nothing major. I usually start freshwater fishing between mid February to early March. If the weather holds ill be taking the boat out this weekend, first tourney is March 30th!!

Yesterday, after 4 days of 40º plus weather, I went out to the local pond to get a few casts in. I wound up catching four bass and a huge pickeril within an hour. Let the games begin!

Last season I began using jigs with much success, this winter I practiced my pitching technique with a stepladder and a bucket, so I want to focus on flippin/pitchin more accurately. I would like to use the Carolina Rig in deep water more effectively. Also, I would like to use more crankbaits/jerkbaits.