Snakehead Whisperer

There are many different ways to seal crankbaits, but if you are looking for a good product that's easy to use and durable just use Devcon 2 Ton epoxy. Do not use the 5 Minute epoxy, it sets too quickly to effectively seal a crankbait or self level. The finish quality is also much better with the 2 Ton. Devcon 2 Ton takes about 16 hours to fully cure, but the 5 minute epoxy actually takes 12 hours or so to fully cure so in reality it's not much faster. It's supposed to functionally set in 5 minutes (more like 20, but whatever...) but it needs to cure fully before you go submerging it. If you're chucking these baits in the water without allowing them to cure fully, this could be the problem. There are many other options, but all have their pros and cons. If you are looking for something that will cure quickly then you should check out UV cured resins. Solarez makes some very good products. They are hard, durable and set in minutes with exposure to the sun or a UV lamp. There are some downsides though, for instance the finish is not as clear or glossy as epoxy. UV cure resins are indispensable to me for rapid prototyping and they are also very useful for sealing balsa baits prior to painting.

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Keep us posted on what happens.

Glad to hear it. I read your other thread and was really bummed when you were having engine problems with your new boat. Hope you have many years of good service from that new rig. Take care of it, and it'll take care of you. Looks like you're off to a good start. I have an '89 Merc 25HP with a shot lower unit. The power head is good. It's yours if you want it, although shipping to Georgia might be a little pricey.

The only reliable way to do this is to use a carb synchronizer tool. It measures the vacuum that each carb is pulling, so you can be certain that they are all adjusted the same. They need to be very close all the way from idle to WOT. You can make your own synchronizer with some bottles, hose and ATF (auto trans fluid, that is; and a few other odds and ends.) A good carb synchronizer will probably cost you less than taking it to a shop, however. There are countless articles/videos online showing how to do this procedure, for both land vehicles and marine. Take your time, and do the research for your carbs/OB. It's not too difficult of a job, just tedious.

I've always liked the idea of the spinnerbait/crankbait/baitcaster portmanteau.

Spot on. In the last few years the number of blue cats I catch when targetting smallmouth has risen to the point that it's almost 1/3 of what I catch in the DC area sometimes. I catch them anywhere from inches of water to 80' deep, and all on bass lures (plastics, jigs, crankbaits, topwaters... pretty much anything.) Most of the cats I catch are at least 5-6lbs, with 10-20lbers being not uncommon. My PB was caught on a dropshot. Not sure of the weight, but it bottomed out my 30lb Boga with ease. Probably 45-50lbs if I had to guess.

Downsize and slow down.

Alberto/Albright knot with the braid wrapped around the fluoro (more wraps for light line, less for heavier.) I'm guessing that the difference in diameter is negligible with 50lb braid to 10lb fluoro. It probably doesn't make much of a difference, but I usually tie my leaders about twice the length of the rod I'm using; this allows me to re-tie several times on the same leader. I'll replace it entirely when it gets to about 24" or so, and my knot usually holds up until that point. I remember that it took me several years before I truly mastered leader knots. Sometimes they were solid, other times they would fail almost instantly. Uni to uni was the first that I used, but it's too cumbersome to tie and less reliable than the Alberto. Whatever knot you choose, practice it until you understand how it works and can verify that you've tied it correctly. Check your line guides for any rough spots/nicks. Also, on some baitcast reels the level wind mechanism is an area that catches the knot. Check that too.

That might be your issue. The fishID may be giving you false positives. Is there anything that you can see with your eyes that suggests that there are actually fish there?

I totally read that wrong. I read it like you got 4 for the price of 10. I'm assuming you meant 4 for $10, like $2.50 a piece.

I read your whole post, but this sentence is pure gold. I can't tell you how many times I've done this ritual. I can understand your frustration with the Terrova. It took me a while to get used to it, and now I happen to like mine. I also really like my cable steer MotorGuide, which is why I held onto it as a backup. The pedal I'm referring to is this one. edit: I did some research and apparently I have a Power Drive V2 pedal. It works, however.

The pedal on those things is super simple. It's held together with 3 springs which can easily be removed/replaced with a pair of needle nose pliers. Once the left/right pedal is off, you can remove the variable speed control with a screwdriver (something like 3-4 screws.) Most problems with these pedals are minor and can be fixed by just looking at how it works. I recently had to disassemble mine because the magnet that controls the variable speed was rusted to the pedal body, and it would only turn at speed 8. Broke it loose and now it works fine. For what it's worth, Minn Kota's tech support is top notch and will usually suggest repairs that you can perform yourself before suggesting to buy parts/send it in. You can obtain a replacement pedal at BassPro for $99 (it's the same pedal as the Rip Tide TM's use.) I was a skeptic when i bought a boat that came equipped with this motor (I usually buy MotorGuide cable steer.) I was pleasantly surprised by it. I now prefer it over cable steer, other than the fact that it's a bit cumbersome to deploy at times.

I usually only throw spinnerbaits in 2 situations. Fishing shallow for lmb/snakeheads in spatterdock/pads, and throwing a heavy ledge buster for suspended fish. Been targetting smallmouth almost exclusively this year, so the spinnerbaits have been gathering dust due to other techniques outproducing them. Once the water temps near 80 I'll start throwing those 1oz+ spinnerbaits and see how it goes.

You should fill in your profile details so we know what region you're in, etc. Welcome to the site, btw. It could just be surface clutter or floating debris/vegetation. How do you have the sonar set up? e.g. Are you using fish symbols? What sensitivity? etc. There are some really good videos on YouTube and here on BR that give a good run down on using sonar and how to configure it to work best for the conditions you're fishing in. Right out of the box, the settings are usually pretty generic and won't allow you to realize the full potential of the unit.

If the water is 72 degrees, spawn should be in full swing for LMB. You might be fishing too deep, or too far from spawning flats. Try fishing secondary points and any creek bed/channel between them and the spawning areas (including smaller points between the secondary and the flat, paying particular attention to areas in which the channel intersects with any kind of cover or changes in structure.) Larger female fish will be staging in these areas if they are pre or post-spawn (although they will be much easier to find and catch if they are pre spawn.) If you fish the shallows and start catching smaller male fish, you are in the right area. Just back off a bit and fish deeper/slower. On a side note, it's likely that your DT-10 is not reachind 10' on 15lb. fluorocarbon. I'm pretty sure they are designed to reach 10' on either 10 or 12lb test.

This is the truth. Best knot I've found for braid to leader is an albright-ish knot. Trim the tag end of the mono/fluoro close to the knot, and leave the tag end of the braid just a little bit longer. Always wrap the braid around the clear leader, and not the other way around. Could it be that your line is wrapping around the guides on your rod?

Figure out what kind of fish they are first. If they are bass, it's likely that they aren't actually feeding 'on the surface.' They may likely be suspended beneath a school of bait fish anywhere in the water column. When bass chase them it's usually in an upward direction toward the surface. Guess where they eventually catch up to them? Spoiler... once the baitfish reach the surface their swimming options are drastically reduced. I'd try throwing a weightless soft plastic if they aren't hitting topwaters (senko, fluke, someting like that.) If that doesn't get bit, start working deeper until you find the depth that the active fish are feeding at. A good sonar will help immensely for this, but you don't need one. My choices of baits when I encounter this situation are usually a hair jig, dropshot, soft plastic swimbait, suspending jerkbait, small spoon, etc. in a baitfish color. Typically I'll opt for the dropshot, but that's more of a confidence thing for me. I usually use a 1/16-1/8oz weight, and only go higher if the wind is really howling. Also, don't overlook spybaiting for these fish. The technique is killer. Whatever you use, my personal advice would be to use light line and a delicate presentation. Around my neck of the woods stealth isn't required when fish are feeding like this, but that may be different where you are.

I've never purchased from them, but they have almost 900 positive reviews and only 3 "neutral" reviews (0 negative.) I would guess that they are a safe bet. While looking through their stock just now, I found a spinning reel that I'd like to get (Shimano Biomaster 2500.) I might order it through them, if I can't find it for a better price elsewhere. I've ordered quite a bit of tackle from Japan over eBay, and I've never had a negative experience. Shipping is usually pretty quick too.

A 15'6" Gheenoe is rated for 25HP, and a 16' with console is rated at 40HP. It really depends, as canoe is a pretty broad term.

A senile crankbait seems like an easy meal for a hungry bass. I'd keep it. For what it's worth if it's between 1/4" and 8", it'll probably catch bass.

Are any of the spare reels Abu Garcia? My thought was to just replace the entire handle assembly with one from one of the spares. I'm sure you could repair it with fasteners from the hardware store. Just get stainless machine screws, or something similar. Might have to drill out the handle and epoxy a stud in there. Then you could use a nylon locking nut to hold it on without tightening it down all of the way, allowing it to spin freely. Not sure if this would work well, or not... but it would work. The repair should be less than $5 if you choose the right parts and already have the tools needed. Pics would definitely make it easier to understand what you're working with.

What brand of reel is it? A lot of the parts are interchangeable between different reels of the same brand, regardless of price. I've fixed a lot of high end reels with parts from cheap reels that I had laying around, and for the most part they work fine.

Congratulations on the new rig. Looks pretty solid. I ran a 46lb/12V MotorGuide on a similar boat, and that was plenty. I could run it all day with a group 27 battery on lower speeds. If it was really windy or I was fishing in heavier current, I would have to run it on high power which drains the battery very quickly (like 2-3 hours at most.) No experience with the dual purpose batteries, but the idea of using the trolling motor battery for starting the outboard is a little scary to me. At least you can pull start that thing, if need be.