Avalonjohn44

x2 on the Mend-It. Forget the price, it will literally pay for itself in a trip or two.

I'm noticing something this year and last, I am not getting nearly the bites I used to out of licorice/anise scented baits anymore. Side by side Big Bite Baits Trick Sticks vs BPS Stickos in the same color, I am catching around 3 to 1 in favor of the BPS baits. Other baits have the same thing going on. Don't get bit anymore on a lot of my old pre-F2 Yum baits, and some Gander MT soft baits. Only thing in common is the licorice/anise scent... For a while I was certain that the same thing was going on with Berkley Power Bait scent, but that seems to have stopped and my power bait is working for me again... We have all read that bass can become conditioned to shapes of certain baits, but has anyone heard of them being conditioned against specific scents? Anyone notice the same thing? There's every possibility that it's all in my head, put there by those danged voices...

I dunno man, I would think about keeping the stabilizers and practice some stand up fishing in that thing.

The only one I really watch consistently is FLW, I have always loved watching tournaments, and like watching the whole season play out. I can never get my DVR to find most other things with any regularity.

I've read that it may be to keep baits from sticking together.

Other: Colorado bladed spinnerbait (green/white is my fav...) followed up with a weightless t-rigged trickworm if you miss a spinnerbait hit.

Minnow traps are around 6-8 bucks at walmart.

http://www.bassmaster.com/slideshow/icast-2016-sneak-peek

If that boat fits your needs, and is in great condition, I'd give him a fair offer based on the NADA, maybe go all the way up to 14k if the motor check out as pristine. If he bites, good, you get a boat. If he stands firm, no worries you have all the time in the world to look elsewhere while your offer stands... Maybe come January or February he drops his price...

Tritons are very nice boats. Have a mechanic go over the motor, if checks out ok, maybe give him a fair offer. 12500 asking, he might go down another thousand... It might be considered underpowered by professionals and folks on big lakes, but 90hp isn't a tiny motor by any mean, and if you're only fishing small or med lakes, it might be enough for you.

I have 2 Tatulas, one regular, the other a Type R - I love them both, but the Type R is slightly better than my normal run Tatula. I have not thrown baits on any modern Shimano Reels so can't compare it to those, but have owned plenty of Okumas, Quantums, Lews, Pfluegers and other Daiwas. The Tatula Type R is my preferred reel over all of them. It casts a country mile, it works flawlessly, and unlike some reels (my Quantums and Pfluegers and Daiwa Vientos), I don't need to constantly order replacement parts to repair them. I'm pretty tough on my reels I guess... Long story short, my next few reels with be Tatula Type Rs, two years of flawless performance so far.

So the stock fishfinder that came with my boat is next to useless and I want to upgrade, but the cost of some of the side imagining units are staggering to me... Today I found some of these units on clearance that I can get for just under $400 each brand new... I know they are a few years older, but I can't find too much info online about these. I have been looking at the Humminbird Helix 5 Si which are around 100 bucks more and much smaller, but seem pretty comparable feature-wise... At the $400, I can get one now and my father in law will buy another for an early Christmas present so I can network them, but I don't want to pull the trigger without some sound advice from you guys... Anyone have any experience with these?

I was thinking Tequila Sunrise at first, but maybe even a PB&J. Good luck DGE

That Sea Ark is a nice looking boat. I really like the red.

God only knows, there are a million grubs out there. I would find a custom soft plastic company online and have them make some for you. There are quite a few that promise they can replicate colors for you. You might have to order a hundred at once, but if they are one of you go to baits, it will be worth it. Here is a guy that says he can match you bait/colors: http://www.bustersbaits.com/ There is a list of others on this site: http://www.customtackledirectory.com/soft-plastics.html There are a bunch more if you play around with phrasing on google. Good luck.

Why are you surprised, he was paid to mention it to generate interest and sales...

Good idea, I will try that next. I did notice there were some shavings and carpet fibers in drain hole.

I just finished going through the boat search, and ended up with a Tracker190Tx. My advice is to shop around and go sit in as many boats as you can get your butt in... I found communication with several boat companies (aside from Tracker) to be somewhat arduous, as well as my options being limited by geography. I just didn't want to wait 8-12 weeks for a smaller ranger with a tiny motor, or a comparable Lund with that ran $10k more. Alumacraft, G3 and Carolina Skiff were other options I considered - I am still waiting on them and others to contact me. I called and emailed a ton of manufacturers and marinas beginning at the end of March... BPS/Tracker were the only ones I would call easy to contact and ask questions.... Also annoying during my search were manufacturer websites with no prices listed at all. I agree with everything fishnkamp says, the 190 is a great starter boat. I just purchased it with the 115 2Stroke. The motor has been surprisingly quiet, but then again, I am used to the old 1970 motor I grew up with which was ludicrously noisy... I have not heard the 4stroke to make a comparison though. A lot of folks say that the trolling motor is under-powered, but so far I haven't found that to be the case. Three moderately windy days out and it has performed very well. I am not good with positioning my boat yet, plus I expect my TM needs will change when I get on bigger bodies of water and on rivers with current. As fishnkamp said, the electronics are lacking, and upgrading will be mandatory. I opted to do so later, once I am done finishing my research on them. Too much of a learning curve and I just couldn't choose before delivery of the boat... The casting deck is a beast. I took the sit-down chair off and use the lean-against style. There is enough room for me and my son (11yo) to fish side by side with my wife laid out sunbathing behind us. My biggest complaint is the leaky storage lockers, the gutter system and the little drainage hose just don't work. Water gets in and it is a PIA to dry. I am looking into ideas to put a gasket or something in there to seal it up some.

A couple suggestions. You could check the line guides, they might be damaging the line. Did you leave your rod in sunlight? UV rays break line down. Check your knot, what might seem like a line breaking could be your knot letting go. As for line suggestions, don't laugh - I suggest Cajun Red Cast. I use it on most of my reels. It is strong, the knot strength is great, and best of all, it is not at all expensive.

Hull hydro-dynamics might be way different from boat to boat as well as fiberglass to aluminum, so I would not use that Triton as a strict benchmark.

According to this site, around 65 is top speed with a 175 with one guy in the boat. That seems amazing to me on an aluminum boat. Maybe with just some tinkering with motor depth and trim you can go from 60 to 65ish, but man, just hitting 60 is amazing, IMO.

I like the shad style, I get more bites and land more, plus I can fish it faster.. I don't like the panfish as much, it rolls on me a lot...but it is still ok.

Yes, the one I wanted was from Max Gain, with a cleat hook up from Neptune system. I liked the Max Gain one because you can make it longer/shorter and there were attachments.

I have been looking at various 'self sticking' shallow water anchors. I like the setup you have because it is only as tall as your trolling motor, which helps keep it out of the way of casting... I am looking at one (the name escapes me right now) that has a bracket that goes around your cleat.

I see this spread around as gospel in a lot of places, but the fact is this just isn't correct. Here is a link from the horse's mouth, CA Gov. A google search will turn up a lot more info correcting the myth of the 2 Stroke ban. http://www.dbw.ca.gov/Environmental/TwoStroke/ There are some bans of carbourated 2 stroke, which nobody makes anymore ( and these bans are on PWCs not boats), having moved to DFI Engines, which match or exceed 4 stroke emissions. Just took delivery of my Tracker 190Tx with a new 2stroke 115 Optimax Pro XS on it.