WIGuide

That's quite the ultradink, but I've got a challenger for yours Hootie!

boat buckles will work just fine for you. If you're worried about wear where they will touch on the back of your boat, take the green pads off the strap that you currently have and slide them on the boat buckles.

I powerload. All the lakes up here have stable water level, so the older concrete ramps don't extend very far out. They were designed for a time when smaller boats were the norm. You bring in a big 20' bass boat with a 250 on it, you're creating more current than was ever intended to happen on that ramp and further back so you end up making a blowout hole. The best thing I've found is to keep the motor trimmed up. It avoids sucking anything off the ramp or even on sand/gravel ramps. It also helps prevent the formation of a blowout hole because instead of creating a current that blows straight down the ramp, it just blows it out of the water. It's always interesting to see how many guys come in to even shallow ramps with their motors trimmed all the way down. With the motor trimmed down like that you're actually using physics against you plus making a blowout hole (depending on the ramp)

Haha she is a rockstar! 91 and she still runs a small campground and does all the mowing. She's one crazy little polack! For that one we fished mid afternoon until just before dark.

What a beast! You make great fish porn!

From my experience, I'd say I've run across the friendliest people in Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, as well as states south of there.

That's rough! In all my years of fishing, I had only broke 2 rods, an ultra light and another rod I had as a kid. In the last year, I've broken 3. All of those can be attributed to my front tie down cleats :/ 2 got caught under them when I picked them up and they snapped in half. The other one took a hit on the edge of it when a giant wake almost tossed me out of the boat when trying to get un-hung. I fell on the gunnel and the rod caught the edge and it peeled the clear coat up. I used it for a year and a half after with no issue, but a few weeks ago, my girlfriend was using it and said the handle felt "funny" so I took a look and sure enough it cracked.

It's a versatile rig no doubt. I find it works well in both clear and dirty water even though I usually change baits to something bulkier in dingy water. Personally I cast mine about 95% of the time. I'll use it more often when things are slow and I need to get bit. One thing I do while casting it is concentrate on high probability targets. You'll seldom find me dragging it across a big flat, or out in no mans land. Sure you will catch an occasional fish that way, but personally I find I have better success when I target a specific piece of structure with it. Say a rock pile, a stump or tree, the cinder block anchor of a swim platform, etc. etc. I'm going to get the bait there work it around the cover a bit, and then reel it up. I don't do it fast, but I limit how much time I'm actually working the bait. I will also throw it when there are smallmouth present. A dropshot has put more 4+ lb smallies in the boat for me than any other technique.

A few years ago, after watching Denny Brauer and his son Chad's tv show "Ardent Bass Battles" my dad and I both got the idea to do the same thing with one another for fun. For those not familiar with the show, Denny and his son Chad would fish against one another for a given amount of time. At the end they would weigh in what they caught just like a normal tournament. Their show was sponsored by Ardent because they were both sponored by them. Since my dad and I both run Ranger's we decided to give ours and official title of the Ranger Bass Battles. We're always fishing with one another, so it's nice to fish against one another every once in a while. We did make a few changes to the original format. We made it into a small tournament series where we go head to head the best out of 5. The amount of time we fish in each battle isn't always equal as we just try to fit them in after our regular tournament season. The rules stay the same though as we each try to search out a 5 bass limit in our allotted amount of time. Round one took place on Miller Dam, a 2366 acre impoundment located in Taylor county WI. In it's hay day during the mid 90's it was regarded as one of the best bass lakes in Wisconsin. Unfortunately, due to it's shallow nature, our harsh Wisconsin winter, the introduction of invasive species, and bass loosing importance with the WI DNR it has suffered greatly. After a huge winter kill in the spring of 2012 it hit an all-time low, but it has slowly been making a comeback. Our family cabin is located on this lake, which has given us both a ton of experience on this lake so we are pretty evenly matched. When all was said and done, dad had landed 8 bass and two northerns and I had only put 5 in the boat 3 of which were keepers. As it turns out none of dad's made it into the livewell. The winning pattern was fishing cribs in 8-14' with a jig. I had made a quick pass through with a crankbait as you can usually pick off one or two with that even on a slow day, but that particular evening you had to physically bump the cribs with a jig and then hop it slightly. It produced some nice quality fish. I wish there were a few more cribs to try, but in the end it was enough to get the job done. Bass Battle Round 1 Results Dad - 0 fish for 0 lbs Me - 3 fish for 9 lbs 3 oz Not the greatest picture, my 91 year old grandma doesn't have the greatest cell phone photography skills but I give her credit for giving it a shot!

I've never seen a need to use anymore than 50 personally, if you think you need 80 then go for it.

I'd be checking out the newly redesigned Mojo Bass rods as well if you're considering St. Croix. Not trying to steer you away from other rods either, but now that they're using SCIII graphite in their blanks they've gotten lighter and more sensitive than the first gen Mojo's. My friend has a first gen Smoke and it's his favorite rod. I've got 3 Quantum rods and they're alright in my book although I did have an issue with the reel seat on one and another one the guides are straight, but don't line up in a straight line with the reel seat. That doesn't affect functionality, but it's one of those things that bugs me when I see it.

Congrats on the new combo!

Found the site for the Japanese ones. It's http://souther.org/ For the bass boat section it's http://souther.org/products/souther450/ If you use google chrome browser you can translate the site and at least figure out what some of the stuff means. They're super cool, but wow are they pricey. The smallest model is starting around 11-12K going all the way up to 28K. I don't know if that's including any accessories or not. Here's a video of them in action though

Found a semi-similar version that's made in MN. It's not the same layout wise, but it's definitely unique.

I've got a Ranger Sport R70 and added a 6" jackplate. With that the steering cable is already stretched to it's max and has an awkward bend in between the pass-through hole and the motor. With the addition of sandwich brackets it would need to be switched over. Either that, or I'd need to buy a different jackplate that you could use the brackets that bolt to the side of the plate. The steering option would be the cheaper route.

It really depends on where you fish. If you fish a lot of shallower water they'd be a great addition. If you fish out deep most of the time then not so much. As for fishing out of the back of the boat, the tall ones would get in the way some, however with power poles you can drop them part of the way down to get them out of the way. Talon's have a tilt bracket even though with their new 3 stage systems they don't sit all that high anymore. I unfortunately don't have either, but I'd love to have a pair. If I didn't have the added cost of having to switch to hydraulic steering on my boat in order to add them, I'd probably have them by now.

That's terrible, I'm sorry to hear about all of it, but you definitely should have reported it.

A 3/8 oz jig with chigger craw trailer has wracked up some pretty good fish for me.

That's brutal man :/ maybe you can go swimming while it's still warm enough to? My dad had a similar thing happen, while waiting for me to pull up to the dock after launching he decided to take his sweatshirt off. His sunglasses were on his had just like yours and when he grabbed it to take it off they fell in the lake. The water was dirtied up from all the boats getting put in (we were in a tourney). We started a few hundred yards up from the landing and fished our way back. I hopped in and felt around with my feet and managed to find them in about 5 minutes. A few weeks later they broke haha

Way to go A-Jay! That's a beast right there!!

Sounds like they wired them up wrong, or there's another switch for them somewhere. Pretty easy fix, just find the wires, disconnect them from what they're hooked to, and then splice them into your nav or interior light circuit or run a new switch in between the main power and the lights so you can shut them off.

It's alright, I'd be looking for one with variable speed instead of fixed speeds as with every one that I've ever had one speed will be too slow, but the next highest will be too fast. If that's not in you budget though what you are looking at should get the job done.

Your cover will not work with a physically larger trolling motor. Depending on what you get, it should fit unless the bracket makes it sit higher or the shaft is longer. I would upgrade tm's regardless and either go AJ's route with the quick release plate, or take the boat and cover in to an upholstery shop and have them alter the cover to fit. It shouldn't cost that much and then you've got what you need.

Yes bass eat bass.

The only time rod length would effect walking a frog would be is if the rod is too long to handle. Either hitting the water or just too heavy for your wrist to control. 6'6" is considered a fairly short rod these days. I could see rod action making it harder to walk than the length.