Newbass112

Thanks for the advice everyone. That is my main concern is the anchors getting stuck, especially the navy anchor, don't want to have to cut a $30-40 anchor off. I'm thinking the 15lb navy should be enough.. And like I said I won't be in any oceans with a 14/36 jon, just lakes and POSSIBLY some rivers.

Basically I plan on fishing the big hammer swimbaits (their main ones that you add on their *hammer head to) that I linked above, their salt shaker worms, some jigs, plastics, and stuff like this... http://www.teamgreatoutdoors.com/prodimages/DA_HYDRA.GIF I want what would best be suited for that type of fishing. I know you can slow down the rettrieve but realisticly how easy is that? I like the fact I can get a good hookset quick with the 7.1:1 and I also like that I can use buzzbaits and spinnerbaits with the faster gear ratio if I ever wanted to do something different, options are good and I like a general purpose all around reel. It's about an hour and a half drive to go back to bass pro to return it for a 6.4:1 ratio if that would suit better. But if the 7.1:1 is good for it all, buzzbaits included, and all I have to do is slow down the retrieve...if that's easy to do then sticking with the 7.1:1 may be better?

I had purchased a nice abu garcia 7.1:1 reel about a month ago on a whim not knowing much about ratios. Been reading up since and learning about the sport of fishing. I was wondering if the 7.1:1 reel is a good reel for swimbaits such as big hammer lures swimbaits here, http://www.swimbait.com/hammer.htm ...That paired with their hammer heads. These are the main types of lures I would like to fish with along with worms (plenty of worms!), tube baits here and there, and crawfish rubber baits, etc. etc. Is the 7.1:1 reel good for this type of fishing or do I need to return it and get the 6.4:1 ?

So anchor both anchors off the bow if using two?

Thanks shewillbemine. Now is a 15lb navy anchor sufficient for our 14/36 jon or should we opt for the 20lb? I'm not assuming max load of our boat is a problem with a 155lb guy, a 120lb woman, the trolling motor, tackle, both anchors, etc. as the gentleman we bought it from said he's had 5 guys on it before no problem. I know that isn't recommended but just us two and our gear should be fine I assume. Also I have no idea what kind of chain or rope I need to buy for the anchors..

I have a 14/36 jon boat and just bought a 12lb river anchor for it. I was going to get another 12lb river anchor but seen a Navy anchor at my local shop that I know would hold better in bigger lakes and rivers as I've heard the river anchors dont always hold well. My question.. is it ok to mix and use a river anchor and navy anchor together? Or would two 12lb rivers hold fine? And when anchoring do you attach the anchors to both ends of the boat or one on the port side and the other on the starboard side?

That's what I thought. I would love a nice big bass boat for the family but right now we just cannot afford it. But hey, fishing is fishing and we'll be able to get out there where the fish are and enjoy doing it with this. The 14/36 for us looked to be plenty spacious- might make some modifications to it not sure yet on that

Is there really much maintenance to be had on an aluminum jon? The trolling motor we will be using will just be kept indoors. Thanks for the kind words, can't wait till it gets warm out.

Fishesintrees, We just got the boat to fish out of on lakes and the such for 2 people. This is the only size we need for just 2 people aboard, I actually thought it was pretty spacey for what it is, personal opinion.. Also got this for the low maintenance and portability. Tnriverluver, Makes complete sense now, thanks.

We are heading to pick up our new 14/36 jon boat tomorrow for fishing out of. I'm new to boating of any kind and was wondering which type/weight anchor do I need? I have heard get two, why not just get ONE that weighs more? Probably a really dumb question but I want to get the right thing

Long mike, The excursion 5, the sevylor fish hunter 6, and the seahawk 4 are all under $200. Thanks for the recommendation on the se9. Drew4779, I appreciate hearing the feedback from your experience. It looks like an inflatable might be the best thing to go with. Just need to pick which one now

I've been trying to choose between the seahawk 4, excursion 5, and fish hunter 6 based on size. The dimensions of each are online but some look bigger then ones with with the bigger dimensions due to shape and it's hard to tell which would give us the most space for our stuff such as a tackle box. I was told intex brand is more of a toy than a boat but don't know if that's true or not. We definitely want something that will last and be able to go out far in the middle of lakes, down channels and creeks, etc. From what I'm seeing these inflatables look like they hold up well, though I'm on edge about anything that is inflatable....every air mattress I've had has popped a leak in the first day.

Here is the lowdown, we have a ford windstar minivan with no hitch and a chevy cobalt (irrelevant). We want a boat and are without a truck/suv...for now. We want a 2 person boat that we can take out all the time in the middle of lakes, etc. to fish out of. We initially looked into 10 foot jon boats which we then heard only handle 300 lbs and are very unstable. Then we looked into 12 foot jon boats but it is questionable if we could fit it into the back of our minivan with all of the seats out....plus we hear even the 12 foot jons aren't too stable. We then looked into inflatable boats. We have it down between a sevylor fish hunter 6, a intex excursion 5, or a seahawk 4. Either way on these I planned on putting in a plywood flooring so we can stand. The weight limit on the inflatables are also around 800 lbs which is far better than the jon boats. I do like sitting higher but i'll take what I can get. We would like something with a bit of space, much as possible for these types of boats. We need it to hold 2 people, our rods, tackle box, lunch, an anchor, and we will be attaching a fish cage to the boat for our catches. Any input is appreciated, we are unsure if we want to try to fit a 12 foot jon IN our van or if we should get an inflatable. Another factor is our budget, if we opted for a Jon boat it would need to be used, however an inflatable we could get new. Budget is $200 or less, could go slightly over if needed. Thanks P.s.// we will not be using a motor, just oars. At least initially.