Downeaster2010

Try smaller baits. Fish generally in the spring are reluctant to hit, and small baits can sometimes get that hit. Finesse it with no splash, and soft entry.

I have one of the v2 power drive MinnKota 70 lb thrust motors, and after 20 years of the normal foot pedal, it has taken me 3 years to accept the new pedal. I am used to it now so plan to stick it out. After you get your ckt board in the 55lb, I would keep it. More than likely it is a far better motor. Everything breaks down sooner or later, and your motor should be good for many years, and no money out for a long time.

Newer motors are pretty forgiving if you have either too much oil or too little. As long as you are close it should run good, and you will do no damage. If it is way too much oil the plugs can foul. With a 1997 motor I am surprised that it doesn't have oil injection.

If you dig deep into the hooks section of the Do-It mold catalogue, you will see other hooks that will fit man of the molds that Do-it has, and not mentioned on the mold itself. Some of the other hooks would work well. I have been building jigs with Do-It molds for 30 years, and often will put a 570 in where it calls for a 630. Often it lightens up the jig, and the 570 is more capable of hooking smallmouth, than the 630 style. The mold suggest an appropriate hook to use, but in reality many other hooks may fit, and do a better job. For years Do-It molds mostly suggested the Mustard and Oshannesay style of hook, but more recently even suggest Gamagatsu style. With over 10 different hooks mentioned in their mold catalog, many others fit as well. Read the catalogue carefully where hooks are mentioned.

Well, I am 70 now so I could care less about my Testosterone, so will definitely be making more worms. But for safety sake, I am moving my worm pouring to my garage, and will have the door open, and a fan blowing the smoke in that direction.

I have been fishing rubber worms and jigs for over 25 years, and in reality rubber worms for almost 40. It seems everyone has a confidence lure, be it worm, jig or plug. The only way to get more confidence lures is to leave your most confident lures home, then you must use others to gain confidence. Of all my lures worms and jigs are my all time favorites. To gain confidence in jigs make sure you put a trailer on the hook. Years past we used to use Uncle Josh pork rind, but today there are many different combos that are good. A jig and pig was with the rind, but often I like to use a jig and eel, which would be a rubber worm or curly tail on the hook. Now I like the craws on the hook. Plugs will catch a lot of fish, worms will catch a lot and generally a little bigger, and jigs with a trailer will catch the bigger of those mentioned. Once confidence in the jig is accepted it will soon be one of your favorites, especially in cabbage or coon tail. It took a long time but I have confidence in 10 or more different bait types. It certainly help to be able to look at the water and know which one to use in the given situation.

I as well have reversed the head so I might use my small trolling motor like yourself. A large plumbers clamp or pipe clamp will work well for you to mount the transducer to the trolling motor.

All above is correct, and I might add one note. Years ago, I wired a cheap setup, by purchasing some 16 to 20 ft jumper cables, then cut off the ends and put on battery connectors, labled one pos and the other neg. It worked well for many years.

I like many of you have an expensive boat. When charging I like to crack the battery compartment. Battery gasses depending on what type of battery you have cause dangerous fumes. One ignition of any kind and no more boat. If they can disperse through an open hatch, good enough. I crack mine about 1 inch.

If it is an older trolling motor, others are correct in that it could easily be a connection problem. Start first checking the wires to the male plug, the Pull out the female and check those wires and tightness. If all is ok there work backward and see if there is a circuit breaker, and check connections there. Last check the connections and fuses to the batteries. Dirty terminals will give poor performance. Connections that are years old will corrode over time regardless of how well they are put together. They generally corrode from electrolysis. Before he season starts it is a good idea to check all wiring throughly with your trolling motor, rather than get on the water and have troubles. I have many friends that check exactly nothing and then ***** when things don't work.

I have to jump in here. I have the powerdrive Minnkota bow trolling motor and it is compatable with my Garmin downscan fish finder. I have the built in transducer in my Minnkota and to make it compatable you have to go to Minnkota and purchase a connector cable, that goes from the minnkota transducer to the depth finder. They are not expensive, and the cable is short, generally under 2 foot. Mainly it is for the front mounted depth finder working with the trolling motors transducer. If you have a transducer in your MinnKota it can be easily seen right under the front of the torpedo on the lower unit.

Those of you that melt down rubber worms or make your own rubber worms should google (Are Phthalates dangerous). I would have copied and pasted this but for some reason I could not. It can have some bad effects, especially for men.

I keep a 1/4 inch drill with a very small drill bit in it just for this purpose. It will clean out the eye no problem baked or unbaked.

Bob P is correct. Scrape away all the old epoxy and thread. Mark where the guide goes with 1/4 inch masking tape. Place the tape about 1/8 of and inch back from where the wrappings originally stopped. Don't worry about a finish getting messed up where the guide was. Replace with a new guide centered very carefully in line with the older guides. Tape them off to the rod. After putting on your new thread and wrap, check the guide for line up again with the original guides. Then put on your finish. If you have color preserver use it. I like water based best. Dry everything before then the finish. You can put it on with a small artist brush. The finish should sink into the threads and setup in a few hours. Wait 24 hours before using the rod.

You can do it yourself. It isn't hard at all. Generally fresh water rods for bass have only 1 wrap of thread over the guides. You will need size A thread. Go to a tackle shop and take the rod. Purchase the guides you want for replacement or purchase a whole new set. Cabela has some very good finish to put over the thread once you have the new guides on. Put masking tape at each end of the guide about 1/8 of an inch past the end of your thread. Let the finish harden some, then remove the masking tape prior to it completely setting. If you don't have a rod turner, just make sure you rotate the rod every 15 minutes so that the finish doesn't settle all to one side. After an hour or two your rod will be better than new. If you need to get your parts from Cabelas, and they will include a handout on how to complete your job.

All good information. I just found that Caney site myself, and like his products.. I think I will grind up some Kosher salt as recommended. I have a coffee grinder that has been sitting around doing nothing. I will give it a try. I am presently making sticks, but want to make more craws.

I am going to the natural food store in my area to see if they carry it. I believe a lb will last me many years. I don't care if it clouds the rubber, I have caught hundreds of bass on lures prior to the clear ones. I may wind up using the coffee grinder or blender. I have an old blender in the cellar, that is just sitting doing nothing. I may have to incorporate it into my tackle making. I mainly want the flour salt to add to my senko worms, and craws.

I have been searching the web for a source of flour salt, and find it is mostly sold in 50lb bags. I want to get about a 5 lb pkg for adding salt to my rubber worm, and craws. Anybody got a reasonable source. I can't find anything local.

I advise to use rod tip glue not and epoxy, as you will never be able to replace the tip again. Rod tip glue comes in a stick form and is cheap. Get one and keep it in with your tackle box for immediate repairs.

I saw on another website that a fellow did a test of different paper products. He found that 20 and 30 lb printer paper worked good, while coffee filters were the worst. He also tried the brown paper bags from a grocery and they were superior to coffee filters. We should all test different paper composits and report back the best findings.

Take it to a tackle shop, and have them replace the top guide. All they do is heat the guide remove it then replace with one the same. Takes a few minutes.

They look great. Perfect when a certain color is a hot potato, and you are the only one with it in a tourney.

I saw one of the Wagners the other day in Wallys world, and was looking at one of the B&D's as well. First thing I get is going to the Toaster, as I have about 60 jigs painted waiting in a plastic container. My building area is coming along real nice, and I like these new methods of painting. Unfortunately I poured off about 40 jigs, and dipped them in the powder paint, the tied on new skirts, before I realized I had to bake them. They may chip some but I suspect they will all catch fist. All new jigs will baked prior to skirts. I guess most of my questions are well satisified for now. Appreciate the comeback.

Balsa

I have two favorite colors and I have been a worm fisherman for over 40 years. I like black and purple. The blue has enough purple in it to please me. I like them.