Scott F

I'm in the old transom saver camp. Keeping the skeg and the entire lower section of the motor from bouncing by locking it to the trailer makes better sense to me and makes me feel better. There are certainly those that prefer the wedge, or Moto Stop and I won't argue the point with them. They can use whatever they like.

Open yourself up to river fishing. Kayaks are practically made for rivers. If you are fortunate enough to have someone to fish with or to shuttle you, you use the current to propel you downstream to your takeout point. If the current is slow enough, you paddle upstream and float back to your car. Good smallmouth rivers are often close to cities, have shallow fishing most of the year, see little fishing pressure and can have good populations of smallmouth bass. For example, Northern Illinois is not normally associated with great bass fishing lakes but the area surrounding Chicago has miles and miles of good smallmouth rivers. Even though there are literally millions of people, fishing pressure on the rivers is not excessive.

I’m sure they are waiting for someone to come up with the cash to buy the naming rights like they do for stadiums. How about the Washington Nike’s? There is a guy who lives in the Washington that likes to name things after himself. Another executive order and it’s going to be the Trump’s.

There are several tools that will do a good job cutting braid. Toenail clippers aren’t one of them. I prefer the Boomerang tool because I can clip it to my shirt. It is always where I need it, I never have to look for it, it won’t poke me, and is very fast. For me, it is the most convenient cutting tool that does a good job on braid that I have found.

I remember my wife trying to get her lure out of a downed tree one time when the “tree” started swimming away. It was a big musky that eventually cut her line.

For the same money you should be able to get in an Ford F-150 with a V8. Great trucks.

This situation isn’t unique to fishing. I’m getting back into golf and it’s the same thing. If you are an “enthusiast “ you will chase after the newest, shiniest, coolest and often the most expensive items in pursuit of your sport. The people who sell these items know a certain percentage of people don’t mind paying top dollar for what they perceive to be the best of the best. Cars, clothes, wine, vacations, or fishing tackle there will always be those with too much money who believe that they have to have the best of everything and happily pay for it.

Except that braided line floats, it doesn’t sink. Fluoro lines sink.

There are several for sale on eBay, for prices averaging about $200. I’ve got a couple of them I could let go for less than that. Pm me if you are interested.

I hate it when I’m bank fishing some really good ponds and the stupid golfers keep making me move! Just kidding.....

When you buy a moderate action rod, it’s going to bend farther down than a fast action. It is supposed to give more flex for fishing crank baits. If you don’t like that about the rod, when you switch, make sure you choose a fast action instead.

This may be just me but, if you are going to use a weight for wacky rigging, save some money and use a Senko knockoff. The best part about Senkos is how well the sink without any added weight. If you put a weight on it, it will sink just like the cheaper copies. In answer to your question, you still want a slow fall. With weights, it's always best to use as little as you can. There is no one choice for all depths. Experiment for the conditions you face and how impatient you are about waiting for your lure to fall.

I’m curious as to why you hate inflatables?

I’ve never heard of a snap ring before. Is that some sort of hybrid of a split ring and a snap?

Three things. One, BPS has sold a lot of the “Classic” style boat because the price is so low. They’ve chosen to make less profit on each boat and make it up with volume of sales. Second, the more they sell, the less it costs to make. Third, they use the least expensive materials they can get away with.

Maybe they should have spent less getting the pickup wrapped, and more on training fork lift drivers.

I ordered some stuff off of eBay two weeks ago. According to the tracking, USPS picked up the package the next day in Massachusetts. 14 days later, it still hasn’t arrived at my home near Chicago. I didn’t know the post office still shipped via stagecoach.

If you were in Georgia, it’s a Shoal bass.

I fish weedy flats in natural lakes especially on windy days. When the wind blows, I just set up a drift and fan cast around the boat with a spinner bait, lipless crank, or a swim jig. The fish are generally scattered, but there are almost always some fish biting. If the fish aren’t biting on the shore line or on the docks, I move out to the flats.

I’d try something like CLR. Mix it with water, wear rubber gloves. It’s an acid designed to get rid of hard water stains.

Unless you are losing fish, keep doing what you are doing. Just because you might do it differently than someone else, doesn't mean you are doing it wrong.

Another vote for rock bass. Did it vibrate when you lipped it? Lol.

If you do periodic maintenance, clean off any rust you see and touch up the paint, it will last a long time.

As much as is discussed on this forum, I learned a LOT more actually fishing with guys in my club, than I have learned here. If you want a hundred opinions on which rod to buy, or what colors of lures guys like, this is the place to do it. If you want to actually catch fish in the lakes where YOU fish, you won’t find a lot of that here. Fishing with good fisherman on your home waters and seeing in person exactly where the good spots are and what makes those spots better, is what makes a club so good. It’s one thing to read about fishing jerkbaits. It’s another thing to be in a boat watching a guy and seeing him doing it and being successful that ups your ability and confidence.

I’ve had the same one on my boat for 25 years. My boat is rated for a 115 but when I repowered many years ago, I couldn’t afford more than the 75 I put on it. I put a StingRay hydrofoil on it which helped immensely. It jumps up on plane much faster and stays on plane at much lower speeds. It did take a couple of mph off the top end, but I seldom run wide open anyway so I never missed it. I have no comparison to any other models, but it helped me.