Brian_Reeves

The most important thing you can do is pay attention to the depthfinder. If you see some odd bumps on the bottem and constant changes in depth, then you know you're over rocks or stumps. The stumps will often times show us as slight depth changes or little minature humps on the sonar display. If fish are holding there, then there is a number of things you can do. The most obvious and probably most popular method is using a marker bouy. I use these http://www.shopping.com/xPC-Lindy_Little_Joe_Lindy_Marker_Buoy_Rack_Pack_Kit_Buddy_Rack_Pack Once you have your buoys set up, now you have an above water idea of what is going on below water. For stumps, I'd break out jigs or carolina rigs if the fish are holding to the bottem or at the base of the stumps. If they are suspended above them, treat them like you would any suspended fish and target them with crankbaits, senkos, fat ikas, spinnerbaits, swimming jigs, etc. Another thing you can do is just start fan-casting the area with carolina rigs. You will know when you hit a stump or other structure with a carolina rig. When I do, I like to give it one more pull then dead stick it for about half a minute. Hope this helps

I looked around and this is the closest thing I found http://www.jannsnetcraft.com/silicone-skirts/361200.aspx All I can figure is order a bunch of the different color skirts then take them apart and do whatever you want for them. Tackleunderground or earthworm77 might know a dealer or something.

JB Weld is awesome stuff. So is silacone. One of those two should do the trick.

I'm guessing it is what, 10ft long? Maybe 12? Me and my buddy fish out of a 2 man plastic pontoon boat that is only 8 ft long, so that wouldn't be too bad I don't think. Worth the money? Depends on how much small lake/pond/river fishing you do I guess.

About 5 years ago I foul hooked my girlfriend while chasing schooling speckled trout in the marsh. She was mad. I'm not sure if she outweighed my marlin or not. The Marlin was 102lbs. I'm guessing she was 105. ;D

I'll go ahead and say it again. COMPRESSION TEST!!! That is the single most important thing you can do when buying a boat, new or used. As far as the brand of boat, I LOVE Boston Whalers. I've fished out of them for years when we lived closer to the Gulf and Coastal marshes and those boats are very dependable. I don't think they would make a top quality bass boat, but they are definiately able to hold their own in any water, fresh or salt. If you're not looking for a fast boat filled with bells and whistles, Whalers are a great, high quality choice. They don't have top notch performance like Rangers or Skeeters, but they are dern good boats and worth every dime. Just make sure your electronics and electrical systems all work, your trolling motor works fine, and the engine has a recent compression test. You can get those for like $50 at some dealerships. Small time places will sometimes do it for free.

I fish shade very similar to the way that I fish grasslines. I try to get my bait as close to the "line" where sun and shade meet and fish that first and foremost. I've had a lot of strikes from bass rushing out of cover in the shade to slam my spinnerbait or crankbait that was meandering around in the sunlight. The best way to consistantly catch fish, especially big fish, is to give them exactly what they want. That's an easy meal and thats what we should be attempting to mimic most of the time. Whether it's a jig, spinnerbait, crankbait, soft plastic, or topwater, I attempt to run the line first before busting into the shadows. It produces pretty well.

Actually Gameover, I think that redfish are more hunted in Louisiana than bass. We have hundreds and thousands of acres of coastal marshland that is packed full of these boat dragging beasts. You see more bay boats than bass boats in almost every city in the state, even near akansas. I'm sure FL. is probably no different. There is NOTHING that compares to a redfish and the way they fight. I've caught some 150 different species of fish and nothing is that violent, has that much heart, or that much pound for pound strength...not even sharks.

I'm with CJ. Make sure you got a black and blue jig with an action trailer. I like rattles and strong scents (megastrike, spike-it, powerbait) on jigs when the water is a little turbid. As far as using a sharpee, I have done it and the stink goes away pretty quick. I've only used them to draw dots or vertical lines though. I've never colored the whole thing black. If you do that, dip it in some spike-it to garlic it up and cover up that aweful smell. You don't want to turn your bass into drug addicts ;D Good luck on the tourney and hope ya bring in the big bucks

I stand, run, jump, dive, sit, kneel, lay flat...I move around too derned much when I fish. I run from one side of the boat to the other to chase a topwater strike, will kneel and reel a crankbait, lay flat on the deck if the water is super shallow and the fish are super spooky. I'll jump over the consoles fighting fish. In all honesty, I should market my fishing habits as an aerobic workout for the fishing inclined.

Most, if not all, run off of your trolling motor or cranking battery. Not sure which one. I don't know of any that use like a 9volt or have independent rechargeable batteries, but I could be mistaken.

I don't know the model offhand but Hummingbird makes a dual sonar for less than $100. It's pretty cool because it shoots 2 beams, one at 20degrees and the other at 60degrees. If it finds fish in the 20deg. cone the fish are solid black like normal, but if it's in the 60deg cone, the fish will be hollow fish shapes. Kinda like fish donuts without the sugar coating I think this is the newer technology and I can see many reasons why this would be useful. It lets you know what is right over the 2d pictured structure or cover as well as fish holding around it. That will give you a little better idea how the fish are holding to the structure/cover as well as guide you into more fish from a distance. As far as using fishfinders on deeper water structure, I don't think you can beat that. We're going to be testing it this weekend for the first time from my buddy's 2man plastic pontoon boat.

As far as I know, they always came joint when I bought them. I get a hunting/freshwater/saltwater for free now because of my active military status, but I'm pretty sure that I always got fresh/salt on the same liscense in Louisiana. Not sure if I just bought the combo or if they come seperate though. I've caught decent smallies and I've caught small-monster redfish. The smaller redfish fight much, much harder which is why I would say it's a hugely sought after fish. Look at resteraunts that seel cajun food. Blackened redfish in on the menue. It's not only a gamefish, but a good tasting fish as well, bringing in commercial sells as well. Smallies are almost a nationwide fish as to where redfish are only in a few parts in the southeast if I'm not mistaken. Seeing as how FLW has a redfish tour but incorporates smallies in with their bass tour makes me think that redfish do hold their own as a popular gamefish despite their limited habitats.

http://www.xpressboats.com/series/jon/rec.html Those are the recreational xpress jon boats brand new. Even though you don't want a new boat, those should give you a reference as to what is on the market by those guys. Those would run great with a low horsepower engine and/or a trolling motor. You can always get a drift sock from cabelas to help control wind problems incase a breeze comes through and starts spinning you. The larger outboards and deeper V shaped hulls of bass boats help control spinning. Flatbottems with small engines lack that, but there are things you can do to limit that. http://www.trackerboats.com/segment/index.cfm?segment=15 Those in that link are the Trackers. I didn't do any comparisons because of current time constraints, but once again, it will give you an idea what is on the market from those guys. Whatever you do, make sure you get an ALL WELDED boat. Rivets sucks. They have a tendecy to come loose after awhile and then you get water in the boat. No one likes that feeling when you're sitting in 50ft of water :-? As far as comfort goes, most of them come with holes for added seats. As long as the boat is relatively wide, you shouldn't have a problem with too much instability from sitting up high like that. You can get pedastal seats with backrests. That should help out as far as comfort goes and you can always just use them without the pole. That would keep you from getting too top-heavy and rocking around when you cast. Hope that helps

For the specs I want (18ft min) the only option I really have with tracker is their is their Tournament V18 or the Avalanche 18. The V18 would cost me around $25,000 for a rig with a 150 and the Avalanche would cost me 26,000 to get me into the speed ranges I want. The Xpress is faster, comes with a 4stroke Yamaha, and only costs 23,000. Not to mention the hull of Xpress boats are far superior and they come with 2 depthfinders, a better layout, and a wider boat in general. For what I'm looking for, the extra dollars are what Tracker would have to justify, not Xpress.

The only difference that I know right offhand is that each of the brands have slightly different hull designs. The G3 is a brand that I have zero experience with first hand, but I've heard great things about them. The Xpress and Tritons are wider boats, more comparable to actual bass boats. Trackers, while good bottem end boats, aren't really made to compete with the fiberglass titans. They have their own little purpose on the backwaters and rivers. Xpress, Triton, and G3 are made to compete and do relatively well as far as quality and features are concerned. IMO they are dern good looking boats.

Might wanna look into Alpster's rig. Seems like he has the NJ setup. But as far as new aluminum boats that are pretty top notch, you can't go wrong with Xpress, G3, or Triton. Tracker is decent, but there are better options out there. I think the best prices you'll find on a new rig is with Xpress or G3. They have cut and dry boats for pretty cheap without any of the bass boat frills.

The smaller trackers aren't that stable at all. They are HARD to flip, but rock pretty bad pretty easily. I didn't know there was a horsepower/engine limit on water in NJ. If that's the case, you might be better off with a Semi-V hulled aluminum boat that favors a flatbottem, but gives you more stability with slightly rougher water and is easier to troll with. Most bay boats have this type of hull and I love it. If I could get away with it with my wife, I wouldn't buy a bass boat at all. I'd go bayboat and bass fish out of it. best of both worlds ;D But she thinks they are ugly >

I'm not sure on sciences or behavioral patterns or anything like that, but everything thusfar sounds pretty solid. I really can't support or deny any of that factually, so I'll just outline my yearly bait/location migrations in a simple list form. Winter-Deep and steep dropoffs, warmer water, occasionally bank beating when the days are a little warmer than normal. I'll throw finesse worms, slow roll small-medium spinnerbaits, deep diving suspending crankbaits worked slowly, bottem bouncing with jigs, or use a hard plastic jerkbait. Colors: Red, blue, orange, watermelonseed, chartruse Spring-Prespawn/Spawn/Postspawn staging waters (inside and outside coves, points going into deep water, shallow water grassbeds, and laydowns) I like to use Flukes, jigs, shallow crankbaits, senkos in wild colors, and fat ikas. Colors: Chartruse, Mertholite, White, Watermelonseed Summer- Deeper water humps, points, ridgelines, creek channels, grassbeds and weedlines. I like medium diving crankbaits that mimic bluegill, fat ikas, senkos, flukes, jigs, and topwaters. Colors: Watermelon seed, blue/black, black/chartruse, green pumpkin, and bluegill. Fall- EVERYWHERE!!! Mainly coves and feeder creeks. Grassbeds, timber, and deep structure all get attention too though. Shallow cranks, fat ikas, senkos, flukes, jigs, topwaters, mid level crankbaits, and topwaters. Colors- White, shad, bluegill, watermelonseed, green pumpkin, blue/black, black/chartruse. Hope that helps somehow. (I fish gin clear water 99% of the time)

There are other models of Xpress boats that are more affordable, to be sure. I like the Xpress because it packs more punch for the dollar (horsepower wise) and is from an extremely well respected boat company. Trackers are a good bottem line boat, but that's all it is. For the same price, I don't get half the features with tracker and nearly twice the horsepower. Trackers are good starter boats, but I wouldn't dare take their basic models on bigger lakes unless I really trusted the weatherman. Personally, I'm looking for a tournament boat that doesn't damage the pocketbook like a 35,000 boat will. The Xpress seems to be able to do that for me. Big water abilities with small water durability. That's what I'm looking for in a boat.

8.8lb-Blue/black finesse jig w/ plastic craw trailer 8.0lb-Mann's Baby 1- Tenn. Shad Crankbait 6.5lb-Blue/black finesse jig w/ plastic craw trailer Lots of 6lb and below fish on random baits.

I'm looking at the Xpress boats really hard. They have an 18ft tournament edition boat with a 150hp on it for roughly 23,000 that's loaded with all the features you need and some you don't. A few family members have models similar to that one and they like the way it performs, even in rougher water or windy conditions. This is probably the boat I'm going to get unless I find something better. What I'm looking for in a boat is a new engine, a safe and stable ride, fishability, and versatility. If I can get away with getting an aluminum one, I will simply because they are tougher and can take more abuse. As of right now, I'm getting an Xpress when I get back for more reasons than the price. I like tournament fishing and intend on fishing a lot more tournaments after my tour in Iraq is done. This might be a boat you would want to look into. www.xpressboats.com

After seeing that pic, it makes me want to get some clear lenses for nighttime when I'm not wearing my polarized :-?

Double check to make sure none of the wood under the fiberglass is showing signs of rot. Also take the boat to a dealership that deals in used boats or some kind of boat engine shop and have a compression test ran on the motor. Check those two big things out and it's goood to go, everything looks good