WIGuide

In the past aluminum boats have been marketed as the entry level boats, because they are cheaper to build, and they've also lacked the design that goes into fiberglass boats in terms of layout. Over the past 10 years or so the creature comforts have come a long way.The manufacturing process of the hulls have changed to as they've been able to shape aluminum much better making aluminum more stylish. These days, they are becoming more comparable. Some pro's and cons still exist though. Fiberglass boats are generally faster per size and style where aluminum shines when fishing around rocks. Docks are usually nicer to aluminum boats if both are unprotected. I get a kick whenever the whole weight card comes up. If you actually compare weights of similarly styled boats there isn't a whole lot of difference in weight. For instance take the new Lund Pro-V Bass it comes in at 1475 lbs. It's slightly deeper than the Ranger 518C, but not by a ton, and the Ranger comes in at 1550. Everyone starts talking about needing different tow vehicles and how much harder it is to move around and how much mileage you lose. Do you start freaking out this bad when a 4th grader hops in your car? Are you thinking you aren't safe to drive with them in there unless you get in a truck? I'd hate to think what vehicle you think you need to drive around the whole family when there's a few hundred lbs more. Better run down to the Peterbuilt dealer and pick up a semi! haha

That can make for a frustrating day on the water. Up here we have mayfly hatches, and although the bass aren't as affected by them, crappies and walleyes are. It makes for tough frustrating fishing as you can see fish all over, but they're so zoned in on mayflies it makes them extremely tough to catch.

Thanks! Yeah I had quite the battle on my hands with her. Even with my drag cranked down she stripped some line on a few runs. I lucked out when she got up next to the boat because she was too tangled in grass to really fight much boatside allowing me to net it without too much of a struggle haha.

I usually just use a steady retrieve, and give it a little pop every once in a while to keep it erratic. Something else I'll do is when I'm running it past a piece of cover I'll kill it right next to it. That can be absolutely deadly some days. It sounds like you're on the right track though. Keep doing what you're doing and you'll catch'em!

I'd go with the new Mojo Bass, probably their drop shot model, and probably a Pflueger President or President limited edition in the 25 or 30 size. It should make a great finesse rod.

I've got mostly cork split grips. I like the way they look and it doesn't really matter how they feel because my had really isn't on the grip since I palm my reels as far as baitcasters go, and my had is mostly on the reel seat on spinning reels.

It's kind of a cool idea, but the price is pretty steep! You could make your own for less and have less instillation work as well. In fact looking at it again, it's inspired me to make my own.

I wonder if they'll offer that in the multi species layout and the bass layout like they did with the 1875.

Very nice write up. I'd be tempted to do some night fishing, but I have to be to work close to the butt crack of dawn or at least it seems that way for me. Maybe I'll give it a shot some weekend that I don't have a tourney!

I have to agree with you on that one!

If you're looking at bass baits that'll work, you can find some bigger hollow belly swim baits, some big swimbait hooks, and some toothy kritter wire along with some barrel swivels. Big spinnerbaits work as well and I imagine whatever the biggest size dare devil is would work too. As far as musky baits go, I'd stick with a bucktail, some sort of topwater like a top raider or wopper plopper, and something subsurface like a depth raider, or giant swim bait.

I'll throw a frog just about any time the water is wet and above 60-65 degrees.

My other trailer had bearing buddies. You'd just put the grease gun on it and fill them up until the grease coming out was fresh. I don't know that it removed all the old grease, but just refilled the hub and flushed out some of the old.

I've got 7 BPS reels now. 4 of them are different forms of the Johnny Morris series. They are excellent reels. My oldest one is in it's 9th season and has never had an issue. They are built like tanks and are a great workhorse type reel. The only features they lack are in the weight category. Personally, I don't find them to be heavy and won't wear you out. There are some that tell you they will (usually the ones that tell you that the reel that's 0.25 oz lighter feels like a feather compared to the HEAVY reel) so take that for what you will. As for a choice of rod, I'd be looking hard at the new version of the St. Croix Mojo Bass. They've upgraded the blank this last year to the same one they use in their Avid line. They've got a 6'8" MH/F that I think you'd like.

You could take a look at the BPS Pro Qualifiers. They're built like little tanks and are great reels for the money.

Thank you sit! They were great and what made them even better was I didn't see a frog flying back at me after I set the hook! haha I had one other blow up later on in open water...a northern in the mid 20" range came completely out of the water and flipped backwards into the water....never touching my frog. I haven't started using wire yet although I probably should too. I did somehow luck out on both the one I caught and the one I had on. They didn't cut the line, and the frog spun on the hook so it didn't get shredded. If they do get cut and don't come back looking like a spinnerbait skirt, you can usually patch them up with super glue without any ill effects. I'll do my best to send some mojo that way!

First off, welcome to the forums. Be sure to make your way over to the introductions section at some point. Second of all, your wife got you into fishing!? It sounds like you've got a keeper there! Third to answer your question, there's a decent deal at BPS right now with their Pro Qulaifier Reel and Carbonlite rod. You can get the combo for$159. I've heard good things about the rod, and the reel is great. I'd start off with the 6'6" medium heavy power fast action. This should be one of the most versatile setups out there for bass fishing. If that's a little too much after tax and shipping, maybe buy the reel and look for a 6'6" medium heavy Jimmy Houston casting rod at Walmart if they still have them. If not my 3rd choice would be a Berkley Lightning rod.

As much as I fish, there are still times the fish confuse me. We've had some unusual weather here lately. Lots of rain has fallen, and there was a good chance of rain Monday through Wednesday this week. Monday I ended up not fishing because of it, but then the rain never came. I was bummed and itching to go, so yesterday when I looked at the radar and saw I had a few hours, I hooked the boat up as soon as I got home from work. It was a gorgeous day, completely overcast, a slight breeze, and storms moving it. I was thinking it was going to be lights out, and in a way I guess it was....the fish were fickle because the lights where out? haha. The lake I chose to fish has some large pad flats that I've caught quite a few fish out of. With the front coming in, you would think they'd be aggressive and with the lower light, there would be a movement out towards the edge of the pads. That was not the case yesterday. I couldn't get anything going on the edges, and had a few blowups on a frog but couldn't connect. Since they were at least slightly interested in the frog, I figured I'd give it a little longer before abandoning that pattern and trying something else. I was burning my frog back to the boat to make another cast when I noticed the signature bluegill boils come from a clump of pads as my frog came by and spooked them. I clipped my frog off and tied on a bluegill colored one and while I was doing so saw something pretty big roll a distance away. I finished tying it up, and zipped over to where I saw the roll. I must have thrown 15-20 casts in that area before the water under my frog erupted. I finally got one to stick, and it follows my theory that the bigger fish don't miss a frog nearly as often. I managed to wrestle her out of the pads and I finally got a look at her when she got in the open water an dang did she ever look big in that clear water! When I managed to get her in the boat, I found out my eyes weren't lying. Just a smidge over 20 inches and tipped the scales at 4lbs 12 oz. Man what a rush it was! I decided to work the area a little more and within 5 casts I was hooked up again. This time it was a northern that I was battling through the slop, but it was a good one. I got a great look at it boat side before it pulled off and it would have been pushing 30 inches. I continued to work the area and this time it took about 5 minutes, but there was a "v" coming towards my frog. It turns out that v was made by another northern, but this one I got in the boat and she measured up at 33 inches. I only caught one other little dink last night flipping a rock bar with grass on top. Admittedly, I probably spent a little too much time frogging, but I was getting some action I just couldn't connect. I still don't know why they weren't more aggressive though. Even the one I caught flipping just kind of picked it up. Oh well I guess I landed the ones that mattered and because of that it was still a good evening on the water!

Nicely done Hootie!

Lower unit, plugs and hubs. The rest is pretty much done as needed.

That's a very nice rig that has a great layout. They don't waste space when it comes to storage. The Pro-V hull is a very proven hull for Lund that gives a great ride in rough water. One of my friends has one that he bass fishes out of because he fishes on the great lakes too and although his layout isn't the greatest for bass fishing it handles rough water with ease. Looks like you've got a winner!

Thanks A-Jay! Have you been putting any pigs into the new Lund lately?

Thanks

After severe storms pushed through the area Friday afternoon/evening I knew it was going to be a tough day to fish on Saturday. The weatherman was calling for clear skies, light north winds, and heat pushing the mercury into the 90's. I don't skip a chance to get on the water though, and my dad and I were excited to defend out titles in a multi species big fish tournament on a lake not too far away. The previous year I had landed the biggest bass of the day, and my dad had brought in a winning northern pike. The tournament consists of 5 categories of fish, and the 8 hour day is divided in two. The biggest 3 fish of each species weighed in for each half wins a small amount of money. The morning started off pretty slow with a few small fish landed, but my dad did manage to hook into one in the 17 inch range. It was about an hour and a half in and we were coming up to a spot I broke a big one off in a tournament a few years before. For nostalgia sake I tossed my jumbo frog up there and after a few short twitches a big one rolled on it. I just got a glimpse of the side, but I knew it was big enough it would have a chance to place. I managed to wrestle it out of the pads, but there was a wall of slop between me and the fish and it managed to get some traction and bury itself in there where it got enough leverage to pull free. It was disappointing for sure, but I knew there was still plenty of time left. From there we bounced around to a few decent places without much action other than some bass coming up to feed for about 30 seconds. We pulled up on a main lake point and I caught a short one pretty quick. It was a promising looking spot, but we went all the way out on the point without a bite. We were almost at the tip when we were considering moving on, but decided to fish to the last little bit before we were off to our next spot. I'm glad we did, because within 3 casts I had one bump and miss before it came back and hammered my crankbait. When we got it in the boat I knew I had a chance to win some money. It was just a hare over 18" and weighed in at 3 lbs 15 oz. It ended up being good enough for 1st place for the second half of the day and was the biggest bass weighed in that day overall. It just goes to show, don't let a lost fish get you down, just keep plugging away. Dad's just barely missed out on 3rd at a just a hare under 3 lbs which was unfortunate, but all in all we still had fun despite the slow fishing and scorching temps.

Congrats on the first one! I hope there are many to follow.