Snakehead Whisperer

Those are some real nice perch for this region. Keep at it. I've caught just about every species of fish available in my water on a drop shot.

What car alarm did you use? I'd like to try building something similar.

Not that I recommend it, but I've seen people modify spinnerbaits/buzzbaits to accommodate the use of a snap. Usually they add some heat shrink tubing or aquarium tubing to the wire so that the snap doesn't slide down.

Snap, yes. Swivel, yes. Snap swivel, no. I use snaps all the time for crankbaits (although depending on the lure it may work better without the front split ring.) I also use swivels quite a bit for things like a Carolina rig, etc. I have yet to have found a good use for a snap swivel in bass fishing (or any of my own fishing, for that matter.) A swivel on a crankbait or topwater will ruin the action, imho. The only lure I would think of using a snap swivel on is an inline spinner.

Great advice. Turtle135 knows what he's talking about.

Such a senseless act. I'm truly at a loss for words. I'd also like to know about any updates as far as law enforcement catching the coward who did this, or ways to help his family.

I totally agree. The other pic doesn't do the fish justice either. It actually looks like a 9.32lb fish in this photo.

A friend sent me this one today.

Unfortunately that's not always the case. I've always heard it as "You don't always get what you pay for, but you always pay for what you get." More expensive doesn't necessarily mean better. I'm after good value for my hard earned money. I too buy mid/upper-mid range reels. Most of my spinning reels are Shimano Saros, or Pflueger Presidents. I can't tell much of a difference between the Saros and the Stradic Ci4 from feel. They're both great reels, but the Saros happens to be much less expensive. Welcome to the site, by the way.

x2. An all welded 1248 will run almost $2K. Not many boat builders make them either. When I hear anybody talk about a 12' jon boat, I usually assume they are talking about a riveted 1236. I've been around a lot of jon boats. My recommendation to you would be to keep it simple. The deck sounds cool, but it adds a lot of weight and raises the center of gravity to an unsafe level. The boat will be wobbly and slow. On my last jon boat I just used anti-fatigue floor material and stood on that. You can cut it to fit around the ribs. If I had to do it all over again I'd do the same. It weighs next to nothing, and it works well. I wouldn't even think about adding a deck to a jon boat that wasn't built that way from the factory... even the all welded ones that are 16' or larger. Same with a v-hull. It's just not worth the trouble, and it's unsafe. A mod-v welded jon boat with a deck would be the happy medium, but for the price of one you could probably buy a used glass bass boat. Don't read this as I'm trying to discourage you. A 12' jon is a great little boat, and it'll get you to the fish. It's just that it's an extremely small craft and safety should be your first concern with it. Some of my best fishing memories are out of a jon boat, but I've also almost killed myself on one. For what it's worth, a 14' jon boat on a trailer will take up about the same space as the 12' and will still be well below the 1000lb. towing capacity. If it were me I'd just go for the 14' unless you have some particular reason to get a 12'.

Absolutely incredible fish. I'm jealous (but not as much as the guy in the background.) I looked it up. Article said the length was 24". I think A-Jay meant to write "state record."

Welcome to the site. Glad you've finally come around to the light . You can most likely apply a lot of what you know to bass fishing, and vice-versa. Filling out your profile information might help other members to help you (in particular the region/lake/rivers you fish.)

Here in Washington, DC auto, boat and trailer registrations are printed on a card. The boat registration is laminated and waterproof. I keep them all in my wallet.

I use the 10 & 12 lb for leaders. Decent line with good knot strength. Can't really say how well it casts though because I've never tied on more than 20' at a time. I usually buy Seaguar red label. I also really like the XPS white label 100% fluoro, although I believe that's been discontinued.

x2 on the rotisserie, applying the epoxy more carefully, and the drill bit. Turning the lure while drying will help immensely with this. You can get a rotisserie motor at HomeDepot for around $15, probably even cheaper on Amazon. If you want to go the cheapest route, you can cover the screw eyes with some blue painters tape before sealing the lures. Not sure what epoxy you're using (Devcon 2 Ton?)

If the river's not iced over, I take my boat out all year. Being the only person on the water is awesome, but also makes it more dangerous. Be sure to wear a PFD at all times, and keep your phone/radio someplace where it'll stay dry if you go in. Also keep a change of warm clothes in the boat in a waterproof container. The lack of other boats on the water is a dream come true, but it also makes the chances of being rescued by another boater pretty slim in the winter. So do whatever it takes to maximize your chances of survival if the worst should happen. A working (dry) phone or VHF radio can mean the difference between life or death in an emergency. Not trying to be a buzzkill, just trying to be realistic. Get all of your safety gear in order and go fishing! I'm not always targeting bass, though. I do a lot of walleye and crappie fishing in the colder months. When there is a warming trend I can catch smallies in shallow water that's in the 30's. Stable weather, as mentioned above, and the bite is pretty good for almost any species. Any place where there is a warm water discharge will be a hot spot, no pun intended. edit: Also exercise caution at the ramp if the air temp is below freezing. They can get pretty slippery when covered in ice.

The Porta-Bote has been around for a while like mentioned above. It also looks much easier to assemble, and there are less parts to carry. I've never been in a boat like this, but there are some guys in my area that have a Porta-Bote with a 5hp outboard and trolling motor. The boat gets on plane and fishes 2 people. I've seen them with 3 before. Looked uncomfortable, but safe.

I've had chain pickerel do this before. Can't argue with how mean a bluefish is though.

Does this BassPro carry a good selection of saltwater gear? The store nearest me (Hanover, MD) caters to a lot of saltwater anglers because of our close proximity to the Atlantic/Chesapeake. Because of this, the freshwater selection is smaller than other BassPro stores. Hooksett is close to the ocean, if I remember correctly. Cool name for a town, by the way. If you go inland BassPro stores have an incredible selection of freshwater (bass) gear. I've been to BassPro stores in several states, and the selection of bass stuff tends to get better the further you get from the coast.

I'd start out with bass wood or pine, as they're both easy to work with and strong enough to hold a screw eye. If you start out with balsa I'd recommend learning to do a through-wire for the hook hangers, as screw eyes will just rip out. Another thing that's difficult with balsa is that the wood is extremely porous, so sealing and painting is more complicated. With bass or pine you can just prime, paint then seal. With balsa you'll need to seal the bait somehow before priming it. Balsa baits are great for many reasons, but I'd start out with a slightly harder wood if it were me. I've been making wooden lures for a long time, but didn't have the chops to work with balsa effectively until I had been doing it for a few years. It's easy to carve, but much less forgiving.

You can get it at any marine supplier, it's a staple product. They stock it at my local Home Depot and WalMart, but your mileage may vary.

Already been said, but it's a throttle lever. It allows you to control the throttle while in neutral. It is especially useful in the event that you flood your outboard. Just turn key (don't push the key in, as that primes the carbs with more fuel) and lift the throttle lever all the way up until the fuel clears. Your outboard must run like a top if you haven't had to use that yet. I have to feather mine a bit every time I start the motor, and I need to lift it a bit to keep it running at first start; especially if it's cold.

My wife was able to set up and cast a baitcasting reel within a half an hour of picking it up. I didn't show her anything, just told her how it worked. That's a lot faster than I learned. My first cast on a baitcaster necessitated replacing all of the line on the spool because it was so badly backlashed. I remember saying "Watch this!" to my friend right before making that cast. Famous last words.

29-6 bag of 5 smallies... Great video, thanks for posting.