Smokinal

Nope; you're just making a permanent connection instead of holding the needles to the battery terminals. Snip away!

Great to see! I'm headed to North Pond this weekend!

That's always a fun time! Congrats!

Absolutely! Just go have fun and fish your strengths. If you overthink it, you'll make knee-jerk reactions which usually aren't the best decisions. Do you know your partner/boater?

To me it depends on the situation. If it were a once in a lifetime trip to Baccarac, I'd hire a guide. If its to somewhere you will be going again, I'd figure it out. A few years ago, a buddy and I went to Falcon; we hired a guide for all 5 days.

It's great to have you on the board! If you're ever in Maine, let's hook up!! I have a key to a great, private lake with lots of big dumb bass!

Well I can tell you which farm pond I'm fishing that day

Little Timmy raised his hand in class one day. The teacher said "yes Timmy, what do you need?" Timmy said "I gotta take a leak" Teacher said Timmy, you know that's not how we ask to use the bathroom. If you can use the word urinate in a proper sentence, you may go use the restroom. Timmy tilts his head as he thinks for a second; then says, "Urinate. But if you had a bigger rack you'd be a 10"

^^^I'll start with that! Thank you

You definitely need to be more precise. 8-15 is a huge range. And even though 2-8 is a smaller difference numerically, it's actually a more important difference when fishing a crankbait. I'd suggest, if you can, go to BPS or Cabelas and just spend some time in the CB isle looking at baits. Study their bill configuration vs what the advertised diving range is; you'll start to see a pattern after you look at a few. Then, after you have a handle on bill types, shapes and sizes, do a little research on line diameter and line types as this can and will change the depth a CB will reach.

I have a 1996 Nitro with a 75hp Merc It was only 3 yrs old when I bought it; I think I remember the tach working in its early years but now I can't think back to the last time it really worked right. The engine runs flawlessly; no skips, starts great, plenty of power. But the tach has always jumped around from 2k, then up to 6, then down to 3 etc... Last year I noticed the volt meter showing it was charging too high. I believe the voltage output to the battery and tach reading, both, come from the rectifier; so I replaced it this spring with an aftermarket one. Same wiring as OE but not a genuine Mercury rectifier. Now, the tach reads about 1k at idle but only goes up to around 2k at wot. It doesn't jump around like it did in years past, but definitely not reading correctly still. Should I try and find a replacement tach or is there a diag tree someone could recommend starting with? I recently replaced my prop and I am curious of RPM @ WOT to see if I have the correct pitch. Engine sounds like it's taching the same as last year but I'd still like the tach to operate properly. Ideas?

On the other hand, when I stick one that I think is a good one but ends up being a dink, this is my catch phrase....

Awesome isn't it?!?! I was out Sunday for my first day and had a fantastic day as well.

One of the best things you could do would be to join a local club as a non-boater. You'll learn a ton!

Some factors would be where you find yourself throwing a frog the most. If you like to beat the banks, throw to laydowns, skip under branches, shoreline cover etc... a shorter rod will give you better accuracy and be easier to walk a bait. If you find yourself always in fields of grass and pads, I'd go with a longer rod to take up slack faster on a long cast. In fields like that, accuracy usually isn't required as you are typically fan casting anyway.

@James Engle Have you tried a drop shot? You could keep that in front of them indefinitely. Try some finesse worms on the drop, as most do, but also try a craw type bait too.

That's what Maine is all about brother!

Accidentally?? I use it on purpose....

A. Do you know for sure there are better fish in that place? B. Lipless trap C. Continue with jerkbait but try different brands or colors

Good to hear and nice job getting a few of those to bite. More will bite as water warms. Don't forget a Ned rig thrown at those left overs that are slow to bite.

I should get stoned in the streeets for saying this here but, my second passion is bass fishing. Just had the first show of the year 4 weeks ago; me on the far right: And another tomorrow! As far as the OP, losing bodyfat is all about calories in vs calories out. You have to eat less calories than you use in a day. Figure your TDEE (use one of the free TDEE calculators online) and eat about 300 cals below that to start. Monitor your weight and adjust from there. About lifting weights; everyone should. Literally, everyone should. Having some muscle mass is proven to be very beneficial as we get older. And you don't have to have the Hulk in mind, competing in mind or even being very muscular in mind. Many people gave the false idea that they will become "too muscular"; believe me, that won't happen! You cannot become "too muscular" on accident overnight. It takes years of very hard, dedicated work to get to the point where you would consider yourself too muscular. A little more muscle mass on our frames helps burn bodyfat, keeps bones stronger as we get older and also helps with cognitive decline. For the bands, there are many, many different movements you can do to get a semi-effective session in with bands but it's certainly much more efficient and effective with free-weights. Great job on your progress so far! And good luck moving forward.

Very true Papa! I've had some incredible days when it was "supposed" to be horrible

I'm so sorry to hear that man. I'll have him, you and your family in my thoughts.

Glad to hear it! I'm in the MidCoast area and plan on Easter being my first day out. I'd throw a silver buddy at those arches on the bottom! Maybe a suspending jerkbait in 4-10' Would love to see some vid and hear how you do! EDIT: And welcome to BassResource!!

One of those is the best $10 you'll ever spend on fishing