loudcherokee

Good to know the car will pull it. Academy also has a 15' but it's double the price. I didn't look at the weight specs. I'll have to check that out. LC

Just curious about a few things concerning jon boats. A buddy of mine has a large pontoon we've been fishing out of and it's quite cumbersome, and we are considering getting a 12' jon boat. Academy sells an alumacraft 12' for $620. I've been watching lots of videos on YouTube of guys that have modded their boats - casting decks, storage, livewells, etc. All things I would want to do. I'm wondering about the weight limit though. The boat has a weight limit of 455lbs and a passenger capacity is 2. How strict/serious is this weight capacity? I weigh 235lbs and my buddy weighs around 200lbs. This puts us close to the weight limit already, and that doesn't include our gear, motor, batteries, fuel, water in the livewell, etc. Does adding all the wood increase the buoyancy or weight capacity? I know it helps with stability. I see lots of comments like "me and my 4 buddies fish this boat" etc and I'm thinking there is no way they're under the weight capacity. Also, do you think a car would safely pull a 12ft jon boat and be able to pull it up the ramp out of the water? The car is a 2004 impala SS front wheel drive with a 1000lb towing capacity. Lastly, how stable is a 12' jon in rough wakes? The main lake we fish has alot of "pleasure boaters" that like to go screaming by at Mach 5 in their big deep hulled cabin cruisers and ski boats. They toss the pontoon around bad enough to have to sit down for a minute. LC

Simple.....Alfred would pull the houseboat with my personal Peterbilt and Jeeves would pull the bass boat with my 3500 Silverado King Cab. I would arrive later by personal jet and drive my Ferrari down to the dock! LC

I ended up picking one of these up from Academy. Got it out on the water today. Couldn't get it snagged even if I tried and very nice action. I could see a couple of different retrieves that would work for this thing. I didn't catch any bass on it, but a fairly large snake did come out and smash this thing, and took it under. It held on for about 20 feet before letting go. I also had a few turtles show some interest lol. LC

Well, after today having a fairly large snake attack my live target panfish and take it under, then having another large snake swim right up to me and start crawling up the bank at my feet, I may be adding a howitzer or Dillon mini gun to my bank fishing arsenal! Along with the snakes I saw a manhole cover sized snapping turtle go after 3 large bass. Gotta love bank fishing! I'd still take my snakes and turtles over the gators you guys have in FL and LA any day! LC

I primarily bank fish, and find myself carrying everything but the kitchen sink 😞 I have a BPS backpack with 10 3600 sized boxes, attractant, pliers, leader, etc in it, a shoulder bag sized for 4 3700 sized boxes but I took the boxes out and this is where I keep all my plastics, and 5 rods. I ordered a rod caddy from cabelas that let's me carry all my rods at once and makes moving around super easy. LC

I've gotten a couple at my local academy on clearance for $3.75. Magellan brand if I'm not mistaken. I wore one last weekend around my neck. Was great to dip it in the water and put it on to cool off in the 90 degree heat. LC

Thanks for the replies folks. I'm going to pickup a 7'4" medium heavy moderate rod for my cranks that is labeled a "cranking" rod. I'll start throwing my spinnerbaits, buzz baits, chatterbaits, etc on my 7'1" MH/Fast rod which is currently my jig/t-rig/bottom contact rod, and replacing it with a 7'1" MH/Xtra Fast for those baits. LC

I'm going to go against the crowd here and recommend a spinning reel, specifically a Shimano model with the quick fire trigger cast system. Super easy for a beginner and you won't be out much money if he doesn't take to fishing. Most spin cast reels under a certain price point, in my experience, aren't worth the trouble and could turn some off from fishing. At 7 years old he's old enough and should have the dexterity to learn a spinning reels operation fairly quickly, and the Shimano trigger cast makes it that much easier. LC

+1 for Lews. Switched to Lews reels a couple years ago and haven't looked back. LC

I've been thinking of trying a spool of fleuro lately for the sensitivity benefits, but was worried about wasting money. I use 30lb powerpro braid on most of my bait casters and still backlash occasionally. I'm hesitant to try a roll of tatsu because of this, but this thread kind of makes me feel better about it. Did you use line conditioner when spooling? Any benefits to sensitivity over braid? LC

Awesome idea. I could probably pitch in a few bags of plastics as well. LC

Third vote for megastrike here! LC

Wondering if there is a rod out there under $150 that would do good for the following: Spinnerbaits/chatterbaits Buzz baits Top water treble hook baits like spooks, jerk baits, poppers, floating rapalas, jitterbug, etc. Shallow to medium depth crank baits like KVD 1.5 squarebills, bomber a's, etc Lipless cranks Is there one rod that would handle all of these or should I use two seperate rods? Which of the above baits would you throw on each rod? LC

I would start with your favorite methods of fishing, ie jigs, plastics, reaction baits like spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, etc or crankbaits. So for example if your favorite way to fish was soft plastics, start by buying some weights, worm hooks, etc and check out the dollar bins at walmart. You will often find lots of Yum plastics in there. Someone else posted that they got a ton of zoom plastics for really cheap there too. LC

Add a trailer hook to your chatterbait and also maybe try some scent on the trailer and rubbed through the skirt of the chatterbait. Also, are you "hero setting" I think I'd what it's called? Swinging for the fences when you set the hook? Try a sweep set instead. Make sure your hook is sharp. LC

I noticed similar behavior at my lake. There were a bunch of bass in a culvert that would chase off some roaming carp everytime they came near. Couldn't get them to bite anything. LC

Is it an ultra - ultra lite or an invisible jig and hook? Should be amazing in clear water! LC

I've got one added to my wishlist on amazon after watching a fishing show this weekend showcasing them. Tagging thread for updates as I'm curious too! LC

+1 Where I was fishing yesterday throwing all my rigs and lures and plastics there was a guy and his son that caught almost 20 fish to my 4. They were using large live minnows. LC

We're you holding your mouth right? Lol I've been having the same luck, with alot of dinks and only a few fish close to or over 2 pounds. I did have a pretty large one all the way to the bank that broke off when I was bending down to grab it, due to a bad line/knot. I've had alot of numbers with a wacky rigged senko in watermelon red either drop shot or weightless. One fish I caught after I cast out and spent a couple of minutes fixing a wind knot at the spool and after reeling in the slack it was fish on. That kinda hinted to me that I needed to slow down, WAY down. Be patient and I'm sure it will pick up soon. Look for "fishy" looking areas and cast out a senko and slowly work in back to the boat. You'll eventually land one. LC

This is happening in my neck of the woods as we speak. I've heard from 2 or 3 other fisherman, older guys, say that when the carp are making all that commotion the bass don't bite. LC

Finesse is the only thing I've been able to catch em on so far this year, until today. I finally caught my first jig fish this season. Before that it's been wacky rigged senkos or nose hooked shad soft plastics. I did catch one today on a stand up jig head with a reins shaker. LC

I like nose hooking a hawg shad from fishbelly on a drop shot. They're pretty cool. LC

Got out and tried my new KVD 1.5s out. Was fishing the bluegill color, third cast i got a strike, swept the rod to set the hook, and bang. Wedged between two rocks. I tried all manner of getting the crank back. It was about 5 ft from the bank in 3ft of water. As the thread title says, I put my phone on the bank, and stepped in. I was determined to get that lure! Sure it's only 5 bucks but this was only my third cast on a brand new crank! And this color isn't available locally so i would have ordered another from TW, and spent at least $50 to get free shipping lol. I did forget that I had my smart watch on and plunged both hands in the water to lift the rock, but luckily it's water resistant and it didn't harm it. Anyone else do any wading or swimming for lost tackle? LC