Preytorien

Hey Jim Mac..... I have the exact one you're talking about. The Endura Max 40 - the one with the Digital Maximizer. I have mine on a 9ft inflatable Sea Eagle fishing boat, along with a size 27 EverStart (Wal-mart brand) marine battery. Couldn't be happier. I was talking to a guy who knew his stuff on electronics, and knew what the digital maximizer was, he called it something else, I can't remember (something technical) and he said it's the real deal. It's a proven and actual technology in other areas of the electrical field. Now, I've never had any other trolling motor, so I can't compare, but I just had a day where I had my boat pretty much loaded to the gills - 2 guys, all the fishing gear, motor, battery, anchor, 2 seats, a cooler.....the works.....and ran the boat about 5hrs and only drained the battery about 25-30%. That means theoretically I could've been out pretty much all day and still had juice to make it. Real-world wise, I could've comfortably stayed out about 8-9hrs and still had power to motor back to the launch. As for the quality, it's what you'd expect from MK. Well build, solid feeling. The warranty is a lifetime one on the shaft, which is nice. The blade, while pretty weedless will still get hung a bit if the weeds are as thick as salad, but that's nothing different from any other motor. The 40lb thrust seems to be by far all I would need for my boat, and for yours it'll scoot you along pretty quick. The motor has a basic little battery meter which has break points of 25-50-75-100 percent indicators. I have found it to actually be pretty accurate, as the charge levels I see when I get home are within what it says on the motor, so it's kind of nice to have as a very rudimentary reference just to keep you informed of what kind of run time you can see to be remaining. As for negatives, just so you have something to reference as "negative" - I think the handle (retractable) feels very plastic-y. It doesn't feel like a durability problem per-say, but you can definitely feel it's plastic. I never saw any reviews (and I read a bajillion reviews before I buy anything) that mentioned a problem with it, so I didn't concern myself with it. But to be fair and post something "negative" there you go....the handle feels plasticky. So if you're thinking of getting one, I'd say go ahead. I'm glad I did. I was going to get just the standard Endura, which is still a great motor, but I liked the idea of the maximizer, and like I said, a fellow I know who is an electrical engineer said the maximizer (and all the fancy terms he used) is an actual thing, and actually works. It's a great and solid motor, it runs me around just like I wanted one to do. I think on a kayak it'd be great, and a good size too. Not too heavy and the adjustability of the shaft height will make it great for skinny water that we both probably like to fish in. Good luck, hope this helps!

All great suggestions. Both guys have good setups, a tackle box full of good quality and proven lures. I think I'm just going to have to focus more on their fishing while I'm "fishing" alongside them. Either way, we still usually at least make it a good time - despite getting burnt out they're both persistent and keep asking me when we're going out next. As a couple of you have mentioned, I'm sure that the one perfect outing with a good haul of fish will be all it takes to push them over the edge and into the freefall of our addiction

I have been fishing quite some time. A lot of my friends/family like to come fishing with me, but the problem is that they never have any fun. I'm not taking them to spots that require techniques or presentation specifics, most the time we go to neighborhood ponds teeming with fish, and throw a line in the water. While I catch a few fish, they never hook up. My dad's getting pretty burnt out after trying fishing this year, since he sees how much fun I have doing it, and a best friend of mine is also trying it. But both have a very hard time catching much of anything. I've even taken both to my "money spot" where I can almost always count on catching SOMETHING. With the exception of live bait, which they won't do (since I don't and they "want to outfish me on my terms"), I have tried many rigs and presentations, with no luck. Any advice? I'd like to get these guys interested, and they've got decent gear. How can I get them onto fish?

Yea more than 5-6 will still work, but sometimes I find the knot isn't as "pretty" which often means something's not right, so I'll cut and retie. I've fished frogs and jigs in some heavy junk and pulled em out with 5/6 wraps and no failure so it seems to be strong enough. Really you can't go wrong though. If 8 works for you them I say go with it. My next is tying the double San Diego Jam, basically the same knot with the line doubled. I've heard it's crazy strong

You're right, I find it a lot easier to tie, especially on larger baits (think big spinnerbaits, cranks, umbrella rigs). One thing to keep in mind, not really a complaint, but for anyone who's going to become an SDJ convert, is that for larger diameter lines, use less wraps (I usually use 4-6 for 50-60lb braid) and more wraps for smaller diameters (8-10 for 6/8lb test mono/flouro). I'm not sure how many wraps you all use, I'm sure the consensus is widely variant, but the general idea is in the hunt for a great knot, fewer wraps for large lines and more wraps for small lines seems to be a good rule of thumb to use, and this is definitely a knot you want to wet very well before cinching it down, it'll burn your line pretty easy. But yes, all are correct here, it's a great knot......my personal favorite.

I was able to get out the past couple of days and fish some local ponds here by my house. Since the weather was nice and sunny, and the water was clear, I was able to see the fish quite easily with my polarized glasses. Not wanting to spook the fish, I stood back off the bank about 20 feet, which also meant I went up and incline in doing so. That resulted in my height being about 10 feet higher than the water. It was pretty neat to be able to clearly see my lure, where I was fishing......and when fish took my lure. The creepy part was, when I used a T-Rigged Rage Craw, jig, or weightless fluke/senko.....I could see the fish take the lure, mouthing it a bit before it did, then ingest the lure. All the while, I felt nothing.....no tick, no jerk. Nothing. I was using braid - pretty sensitive stuff. I was using a Crucial rod - definitely not junk. The only way I knew I had a fish on was seeing the lure disappear in the fish's mouth, then I could set the hook. Makes me wonder in other circumstances how many times I've had a fish with my lure in its mouth, while I stood there unaware, admiring the scenery.......

That's true. Senkos are more or less the "when nothing else is biting" kind of lure. Also, your quote at the end of your post is classic! Banjo players Porsche.....Haha

I'm in love right now with the Rage Toad

I have a Sea Eagle SE-8 boat. It's inflatable - has a transom and motor mount, also has seats and hard floors for standing up and fishing. For what I need, it's a great little boat. When I initially bought it, and knew I wanted to use a motor, I had concerns about the run time of the battery with motor. I have a MinnKota Endura Max 40 motor and a Wal-Mart brand EverStart size 27 battery. I took it out last week on the lake and ran for several hrs and after several miles and after putting it on the charger saw the battery had only been drained between 65-75% That's pretty good compared to what I thought it would be. I figured it'd only last a couple hours or so, but it seems it'll last a good while longer. Just in case someone wants to know the longevity.....it's pretty good.....

Yea typically rain will muddy the water, but this time the water became quite a bit clearer than it was this weekend when I was out there (before the rain)

So its rained the past couple of days here, nothing torrential, but enough that a small lake I go to near my house had the water level go up a bit. Oddly enough too, the clarity of the water increased substantially. I don't know how that happened. I usually catch fish pretty close to the banks in normal conditions, but last night I went out and casted everywhere, even out deep, and nothing was interested, not even a bump. What happened to the fish? I'm sure it's a combination of rising water levels, rain, and water clarity, but more specifically what do the bass do, and why, when these conditions occur?

Whether it be a puntcure from a hook, fin, or any other small pointy objects, I've long sworn by a weird method. Put a drop of honey on the puncture hole, then put a band-aid on it. Weird I know. Often times I see the hole almost healed within hours. I read somewhere that honey contains very effective anti-bacterial properties that speed up the body's ability to heal itself. I don't know the in's and out's of why it works, I just know I've done it for years and it works pretty much every time I have a hook or fin "poke" as I call them. Check this out.....it's a bit more technical than I usually read, but it seems to offer some backing to my claim that honey's a good antibacterial agent http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3609166/

One thing I have tried and don't see anyone else mentioning is that in a lot of applications I switch out the EWG and use a straight shank offset hook. I kept having the same issue as you had, the hook barely came through the plastic and I didn't get a good hookset. So I switched (at the recommendation of another member here) to the straight shank. Since the hook exits the body of the soft plastic at an angle it tends to punch through the bait and subsequently the fish's mouth a little better (in my opinion) than an EWG. I will say though, if I am fishing very heavy cover/slop I'll go back to an EWG for it's better weedless properties albiet at the chance of losing a fish. All of the above tips are relevant and are likely to help you to a solution, this is just my 2-cents worth. A guy here recommended it and my hookup with T-rigs and flukes has gone through the roof since making the switch. One last thing, if you make the switch to straight shank, like any other application, make sure you use very good quality hooks. I use Trokars and Mustad KVD's and have great hook penetration.

You're using a Sluggo, and I'm using a fluke rigged the exact same way..... Watched a YouTube video of the parasite clips.....they look like they'd do the trick. Just ordered some parasite clips in small and medium both.

I'm sure this question has been asked a million times, but I can't seem to find the kind of answer that's dumbed down for me...... I fish a great deal now with weightless flukes. I use them on an offset shank hook. I've also tried Owner TwistLock hooks. But darned if after about 2 fish the soft plastic is destroyed beyond use from the repeated slipping on the hook and tearing the eye and hook barb through the bait, even with Owner's....the spring just tears through the plastic too. Anyone got any great tips on how to stop it? I've tried a dab of super glue, but that still results in a tear, just now with a glob of glue and plastic stuck to an otherwise still-fine hook that I have to scrape off when I get home. Glue's been largely a giant fail for that reason.

Looks like a great time. I love using poppers. I have one lake especially that I go to, and man that seems like all those bass want is my Don Iovino poppers. Went to a different lake yesterday.....they turned up their noses at my poppers....goofy fish. I'd eat a popper if I was them

Funny story.....I've been looking at some waders ever since this last weekend. My stepdad happened to be at a garage sale and saw a pair for....no kidding.....$1.00 The lady said they were her son's....who had just gotten married and given her a bunch of stuff to sell. THEY STILL HAVE THE TAGS ON THEM. They're Cabela's brand.....from what I can figure they're not the most expensive, but it'll do the trick to get me out in the middle of the water. What blows my mind is that with all the measurements that waders have to accomodate (foot size, inseam, chest), these waders fit me perfectly.....apparently I'm in good with the guy upstairs or something! You guys can find me out in the river if you need me for anything.....

You'll find a fluke is one of the most underrated lures I can think of. For me at least they seem to catch fish when nothing else will. You can rig them a variety of ways. Weightless, weighted, texas rigged, carolina rigged, dropshot, the list could go on and on, you really can't rig it wrong. I find my best success when it's weightless. I twitch it along just underneath the surface, with occasional splurts on the top of the water. It seems to adequately mimic a dying or distressed minnow. Often times I'll have bass blow up on it just like they would a frog or other topwater. I've seen them trail a fluke, and I've also seen them come from over 10ft away to hit it. The strikes are violent so hang on! But on the other hand, when I'm in the river smallmouth fishing (but have also seen it in lakes/ponds for largemouth), sometimes the fish can't resist it on the fall. It's like they're sitting there waiting for the "minnow" to make it's last living movement, then when it falls through the water column they just whop it. Kind of a side note, since I use the pearl color and often am just twitching it underneath the surface, make sure you're wearing polarized glasses, it'll make the fluke easier to see, and what's interesting is you'll be able to very clearly see the fish whack your lure, which in my opinion is really cool to watch and increases my hookup ratio since I can see all the action. When I rig it (weighted or weightless), I bury the hook enough that I can pull it through cover without hanging up, it just increases my chances of getting the fluke in front of something hungry. That said many guys use a wide gap hook, but I've found better hookup ratios when I use a straight shank offset worm hook. The straight shank when pushed through the body of the fluke exits the back of the lure at an angle, which helps reduce the number of missed hits. A member here on BR told me about this trick since I was getting a lot of hits but not hookups. I tried it and instantly my HU ratio skyrocketed, use good sharp hooks. All in all, I think you'll find a fluke one of your go-to baits, especially when nothing else is hitting. It seems for me this summer has been tough on my waters, but a fluke is about the only thing they'll consistently hit. I don't know what brand you bought, but a couple good ones to keep in mind are of course Zoom Flukes (tried and true, been around a while), but I have better success with the Strike King Caffeine Shad - usually in straight pearl color. From what I see it's got excellent action. I've had more luck with the SK's than anything else by far. I've never tried the Mega Strike Fat Shads or Mega Shads, but they look like winners too, that'll probably be the next ones I try. I like the look of the MS Fat Shad in Laminate Smoke....I could see that being a killer. Give em' a try, maybe you'll get hooked and like me you'll have to buy a pack every time you're at Wally World

Another update..... So I bit the bullet, and for my birthday, treated myself to some Hawgtech ABEC 7 bearings. Noisy? Yes. I used a very very slight amount of oil - as in not even a drop, less than that. Which did quiet them down a bit more, a lot more to my liking. Casting distance? Marginally better when using a standard (for me) 3/8-1/2 lure, but where it really shines is when I use weightless soft plastics, which I use quite a bit. I use a weightless Caffeine Shad or Senko that complements my frogging rig (as a follow up bait on a missed blowup), and it absolutely makes a difference casting very light lures. I'm sure it's due to lower rolling resistance making it easier for the spool to spin up. My overall thoughts? The Hawgtechs were an upgrade I hesitated to do initially, but I'm VERY glad I decided to go that route. Thanks Hawgtech!

I have Hawgtech's ceramic bearings, and in my Curado they were pretty noisy and since I'm a bit obsessive about quiet running parts (see my bicycling background, namely the desire for a silent bike), I use a single drop of high speed Boeshield oil on a q-tip, then rub it on the bearings. The very slight bit of oil seems to quiet them down an acceptable level.....but not totally silent. But it's enough to satisfy the OCD in me and doesn't seem to affect the bearings' advantages any that I can sense.

I had the opportunity to fish with a couple friends of mine for smallmouth bass on a river near our town. I had never been fishing on the river and they told me we would be wading it, since the river rarely tops 4ft deep. It was my first wading experience, and let me tell you, I may be hooked. I haven't had that much fun fishing for some time. The scenery was incredible and the stillness and serenity of it all just entranced me. Not to mention I did pretty good at the fishing part too. This could be a habit in the making. My wife doesn't know it, but I'm already looking at some waders!

I love the Spro Bronzeye Popper, they're proven fish-catchers....but I must say I keep tearing them up. I've had bass hit them so hard time after time they just start to fall apart. I wish they were just a tad more durable, mine usually fall apart where the hooks exit the body.

This did the trick. There were just a few weeds, nothing major, wound around the shaft behind the prop. Cleaned it off, put it all back on.....no ticking. Thanks for the help guys. Couldn't get any better even if I went to Minn Kota! You're all the pros!

So I've noticed a very specific technique that causes me a lot of line tangles when I'm using a spinning reel. When I'm using a pause-retrieve reeling method, like you would a texas rig, or even a weightless fluke, anything that causes you to have tension on the line for a couple handle turns, followed by a couple handle turns with no tension, I get massive tangles. I can only deduce that the issue is that some of the line is wrapped with tension, some is not, which causes uneven laying of the line, and seems to even lay it unpredictably on top of itself. That problem causes the line that's being cast to also pull out loops of line on the reel, which of course causes a huge tangle, which many times cause a lot of bad words to be said and throwing things. Any ideas how to resolve this without having to re-seat the line each time I cast? By nature of the beast I can't apply tension very easily through the entire retrieve since the motion and action of the lure would be affected. Any ideas? A bit of backend knowledge.... Shimano Sahara Reel Shimano Compre Med-Fast 6'6" rod 20lb Sufix 832 braid Happens with flukes, texas rigs, anything that has a stop-n-go / tension-untension retrieve

Just bought a bag of Rage Toads, green pumpkin with pearl belly. Hol-lee-cow....those things are great! I rigged it with a 5/0 Owner Twist Lock hook and had zero issues in very thick grass/reeds. This is a great lure, love it. Thanks Rage Tail!