jb_adams

I'm fishing my first tournament this Sunday. ;D It's a local event with only a $35 entry fee so it's no big loss. I'm pretty excited about it but I want to do my best. Recent weather conditions has brought 3-6" of rain in only 2 days, rising barametric pressure today up to 30.12 and rising, cold front, lows in the 40s Sat. & Sun. with highs in upper 50's, the dam is generating around 1/2-3/4 capacity which is stirring up silt and making a clear lake muddy and stained in under a week, AND........to make matters worse, the water temps are already 60-61 so the water temp dropped 10 degrees in a week. Any advise would be appreciated. I'm thinking finesse baits with the occassional reaction bite from a deflected crank off trees over channel swings, t-rig worms, etc. Where will the fish be? (I'm thinking near channels and holding on structure) What's the best baits to use in upper 50's to low 60's (jerkbaits?) Thanks a lot!

What about mid 50's to low 60's? We just received 3-6" of rain in two days, the water has risen 2ft and still rising, and the dam is generating about half capacity which is making the water stained. Lows in the 40's, rising barametric pressure, and sunny. I'm thinking finesse all the way with various plastics (t-rig stick, drop shot, slow rolled spinnerbaits, popping jigs off cover for reaction bites.

What's your favorite bait technique? So far, I have - jig - t-rig finesse worm - spinnerbait - small suspending square-bill crankbaits that can bounce off trees - small minnow type baits - small jerkbaits like X-raps

I'm headed there myself in a few weeks (Table Rock that is). You'll LOVE Big Cedar! My wife and I stay there every winter for our anniversary and we are hooked on it! Great place and it's all for the outdoorsman. Anyway.... My home lake is Beaver Lake in NW Arkansas which flows into Table Rock. Two totally different lakes but similar patterns. JIGS are always good on Table Rock. It's known for it. Here's what's going on at Beaver right now. Maybe some of that will transfer to Table Rock. Currently, the water level at Beaver has dropped about 6ft within the last month bringing the water level back close to normal pool level. It's been high since the spring. This is two years in a row which has created a great shad population and fatter fish. Since the White flows into Table Rock, the water level has affected Table Rock as well. Expect water level drops there as well which exposes a lot of brush piles, etc. The water temp at Beaver varies from mid 70's on the upper river end (South) and up to low 80's near the dam (North). The colder the water temp, the more active the fish. Right now, t-rigs, crankbaits, jigs, the occassional spinnerbait, and some topwater action has been pretty good but should improve over the next few weeks. We are getting a good bit of rainy weather here right now and that should help drop the water temp down a bit and once the front moves through, the fishing should pickup a lot on topwater early and late. I've always heard that weightless flukes, football jigs on chunk rock and points, finesse jigs near docks, laydowns, etc. are always good on Table Rock. Try a t-rig lizard and centepede worm. Believe it or not, the Zoom centepede in Junebug is my favorite for muddy water or gin-clear water. They just love to eat that little worm. Good luck and enjoy Big Cedar! It's a beautiful place! ;D

I think it is a warmouth, goggleye.rock bass..whatever you call them. Yes, I like using 10lb braid on finesse jigs because the sensitivity is way better than fluorocarbon. I have my drag reduced down so if I get wild on a hookset, I won't rip their lips off. I really do enjoy using Suffix braid. No line memory and I loose less jigs this way. This is an old thread that I resurfaced. I thought it was relavent since the first fish I caught was a small rockbass. I have since caught another rock bass before my actual largemouth bass as my first real bass. Now that the first official bass has been caught, I've caught a walleye and several bass in the last two days on a jig. The curse is lifted!

Now that #1 is out of the way, the curse has been lifted and I'm catching lots of fish. Strange huh! ;D I really enjoy flippin' jigs.

I sent Big-O the following PM and I'm posting it here to let everyone know that these baits are great! Just in case you are not sold on them, I am! "Big-O I wanted to let you know that my long awaited fish finally took the bait this last Saturday all thanks to the Rage Tail trailer. In the thread below, I was excited to have finally landed any fish at all on a jig. For some reason, I have not been able to catch a fish on a jig for about two years. Either I have not fished it aggressively enough (big possibility) or not in the right places (maybe), or my flipping technique was not quiet enough. Either way, I have a box full of various jigs in all sizes, colors, and combinations. This weekend I managed to land my first bass and I give the credit to using the Rage Tail craw chunk. The action that trailer has is unlike any other and I LOVE how it looks when it's swimming. It looks like a Ninja throwing martial arts moves vs. a grub tail just swimming. (haha) Not ONLY did I land my first bass.I managed to pull a 5-6lb monster from the same spot right after that fish. It was easily 24 long and on my lake, that's not only a quality kicker fish, it's also the big bass winner in a tournament. I immediately bought a new pack of trailers on the way home. I can't wait to pick up a few more packs in various colors. I'm sold on them. THANKS!!"

Here are couple of more pics that show the setup and height of the motor. Sounds like 40mph is really good for an 85hp motor on a 15.2ft tri-hull modified fiberglass boat. I just want to make sure I'm running at a safe, long lasting yet optimum performance level. Not trying to be a speed freak. thanks again!

Just a little. I plan on doing a full re-do soon.

Here are few updated pics. As I was trying to remove the old boat ID#'s, I had decided to polish the hull a bit before putting on the new stickers. WOW what a difference 3M Rubbing Compound and about 1/2hr will do! I still need to wetsand a few spots that the high speed buffer won't cut. After that, she'll look even better.

No offense taken. Yes it is quite cool to own your first boat but the mechanical headaches and constant money you have to pour into one to work out the bugs and things is annoying. Especially when the wife is not happy with having a boat anyway. I guess the reason I'm thinking about speed is becuase I was told the boat would run faster than it currently is. I think I'm learning to embrace 40mph and be fine with it. The boat rides really well for a tri-hull. I was told they ride rough but when you compare it to a 16ft flat bottom I used to ride in, this is a really smooth ride. (haha)

Here's an update. I just spoke with my boat mechanic and he feels pretty strongly that something with the motor is not right. With the boat as small as it is, he feels the 85hp motor should push a bit more than it is currently and from what I described to him, either the carb is not burning the fuel correctly at max. horsepower (which is unsafe for the motor) or the prop is slipping because it does not have enough cup (not as likely). From what my cousin told me, both props would make the boat run about 38-40 but the bigger prop could push up to upper 40's as described earlier. If I cannot trim the motor up where the cowling is at least level and to the optimum level because the prop is slipping, it's either the prop or the motor. Since it has not done this before, my mechanic feels it's probably the motor needing a tune-up or it has an electronic problem with the coil pack resulting in loss of power. A tune up or carb kit could resolve the issue and I can maintain the props I have and save the motor. We shall see.

You don't know how heavy these old boats are obviously. ;D Mine is a 15.2ft and it's about 800-900lbs easy according to Iboats.com. It's a heavy little boat even though it's short. That may not sound like a lot of weight but trust me, it's heavier than you think. I have to do the same thing to my boat. My advice is to take it to a boat mechanic that might let you keep your boat in dri-storage for a few days in his lot. I have a guy that I hope will let me do that with mine. If he has a lift that is. If not, I'll find a local shop that has one and see how much they would charge for 1-weeks rent and allow me to polish the hull and paint/re-wire my trailer.

I don't really know. The boat doesn't have a tacometer and I have no idea of what the RPM range is for that model motor. I intend on getting a repair manual but haven't gotten around to it yet. I'm guessing 5,500 is the max. safe range. I think I'm running about 4,500+ and if I could trim the motor up more, I'd get just over 5,000 if I had to guess. It blows out before I can get there though and drops way down. The only way to stop the blow-out is to trim the motor down quite a bit and then slowly work your way back up before it blows-out again. I'm going to swap props again and put the 19-pitch back on and see what it does since I re-soldered the wire on the sending unit. I feel I have a better current flow and that can make a difference. After the tune up, maybe a better prop, etc. I might can squeeze out 42-44mph but that's probably going to be all I can get unless I can find som un-used power I'm not aware of. I doubt it.

Well I finally got out on the lake and drove the boat some. Turns out, all of the FLW anglers were out practicing for the Walmart Open this week. So there I was, stuck in a convoy on my way to the lake. My little boat and those big nice $50,000 sponsor rigs! So the WOT is not what I expected. I think I have some throttle left but I'm not sure. I'll have to get it checked when I get a tune-up. Top speed was 40mph GPS and the sad this is, I can get more but the motor will not drop down any lower. Those old flat back transoms are deep and the motor is just too high in the water so you can't trim the motor up much at all or it blows out. If I could put on a jack plate that would give it some offset and lower it about 2-3 inches, I think I could reach 45+ with just me. Where my cousin got 45-48mph, I'll never know. I think the motor is strong enough for that but prop setup and motor height needs to be adjusted. I'll take it to my boat mechanic and he'll have it running 45 before it's all over. Gas mileage is not so good. Just the running around I did today burned up almost (2) 6-gal tanks. I think the tune-up and prop-setup will fix some of that though. Seeing how I just got it, I'll work through some of the bugs over time. It SURE felt nice to be on my own boat. One that's fiberglass and doesn't make a lot of noise in windy/choppy water like a jon boat does. One that has live-wells, tilt/trim, foot controlled trolling motor, rides smooth, etc. MUCH better than the jon-boat rig I was borrowing. AH to be a boat owner at last!!!

Got the new trolling motor mounted but the starter solenoid busted on me so I had to replace it. I hope to get on the water this weekend. Here is a better overall pic of the boat with a better camera. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v690/jb_adams/DSC01376.jpg

Never under estimate the importance of the bulb. I hear Yamaha has specific requirements to use nothing but a Yamaha bulb. My bud got a bulb from Wally world on his 200hp Johnson and it caused all kinds of problems.

How much should you use per gallon of fuel? I have twp 6gal tanks.

Not bad indeed. The 16ft tin I was using had a 55 Yamaha and I got 36mph GPS with two guys, a tournament load, and in rough waters with a head wind. That boat got 36 loaded or bone dry and empty! haha It had a hydrafoil on it too. Hole shot on a tin boat is nothing anyway. I could plane out in 3-4 seconds but the old tri-hull glass boat I have now takes a bit longer. I'll trade a bit of hole shot for topend now though. Here's a video I just found. This guy has the same motor I have on a tri-hull ski boat. Mine's a fish and ski but the weight should be about the same. He's claiming 47-48mph but doesn't mention a hydrafoil.

You said the wrong words......."loose top end speed". NOW I gotta try it! I think they used it for hole shot because it was a ski boat. I think I just might take them off and see if I notice a difference.

My old boat has a hydrafoil stabilzer on the cavitation plate. It's only an 85h Evinrude but strong for the size. The former owner placed a hydrafoil on it years ago and said it helped a lot. I'm wondering if I should replace it or take it off because it seems to have curled upward on the ends. Like age and heat has cause the ends to curl upward at about a 15-degree angle. I think it used to be flat when they were first put on. So on a 16ft size boat with that sized motor, should I keep them on? Here's a pic

How can I say this and convince you to avoid paint..... CARPET CARPET CARPET CARPET CARPET CARPET!!!!!!!!!!!! ;D ;D I just returned my father-in-law's jon boat back to him and i was glad to hand it back. It's a 16ft flat bottom with a cheap spray-on bed liner on the inside. That stuff oxidizes and the film will get all over you. Your clothes, your gear, the cork on your rods, etc. It's just not worth it. Quality paint will get scratched. Bed liner will fade and oxidize. I had it on a winch bumper about once a year, I'd have to spray a coat over it to refurbish it. Take if from someone who has seen bedliner on many things. It's just asking for black hands, black clothes, and black cork grips. It's more trouble than it's worth. Carpet makes it look SO much better. Good luck!

Yeah, so "old school" that it will be a conversation piece. I was really hoping to use it a while until I could buy a new trolling motor but when I picked up the trolling motor, I saw the cable was busted. I didn't see the point in spending over $100 to fix it when I could spend a little more and get a LOT more trolling motor. I think I'll mount it on my wall in my garage. Right over the Craftsmand tool box! Thanks! I like the copper color too. I think I'm going to name it "Ole Coppertop" because it looks like an old Duracell battery!

Thanks everyone. I've been living near a lake now for almost 8 years and I've wanted a boat ever since. I've always wanted a boat since I was a kid but when I moved near the lake, the dream just grew and grew. For YEARS I've been saying I wanted a boat. I didn't really get into bass fishing until about 3 years ago and I've been riding shotgun out of my buddy's 96 model Ranger. That got me wanting a boat even more. SO FINALLY! The dream has come true. Not exactly the boat I really wanted but it floats, the motor runs, and it will definately beat what I was using. My father-in-law was kind enough to let me borrow his rig for two years (nice guy huh). It was a 16ft extra wide flat bottom with a 65hp Yamaha. Good catfish boat but not a bass rig by any means. It would run 36mph GPS! ;D Well, I get the boat back Saturday and I hope the weather will hold up for a few test runs. I will try it with the current 17-pitch prop and see what it will do. The prop is vented so it should have great hole-shot for skiing. The 19-pitch has less hole-shot but better top end which as mentioned earlier, with a light load and only the driver, it will hit 48ish. I was told to expect 40mph with the 17-pitch. I will check the motor setup to see if the cavitation plate is 1" lower than the keel. If it's lower, that will mean the motor is too low and I could potentiall gain more top end but I doubt it's setup wrong. Yes, the owner was my second cousin and they only used the boat for fishing for a few years. Then it became the family ski-tubing boat for almost 20 years. They used it about 3-4 weekends out of the year and then it would get covered up under a shed when it was not at the lake on weekends. So it's been taken care of but it's at the turning point right now. Either fix and polish or it could go bad quick. I'll try to wet-sand the bottom hull and buff the hull some just to get started. Once the trailer get's repainted, I'll try and really detail the hull and polish it good. I get the boat back from my mechanic with the new Minnkota trolling motor. Well, new to me anyway. Picked it up used in good condition for just under $300 and it's a 24V 65lb beast compared to the old Evinrude 30lb antique I have. I bet I hit 7-10mph just with the trolling motor! (haha) I'll post up more pics when I get a chance. Thanks again everyone! You have really made me feel better about owning an old boat. I feel like I'm driving a classic.

ill be impressed if that boat makes that speed. very respectable When I was a teenager (16-18), my cousin and I (same age) would ride on the front, his younger brother (10-12) would ride in the back with his little sister while his Mom drove the boat and pulled up his Dad who weighed about 225-235 on a single ski. The boat didn't like it but did it and allowed him to ski. It was once clocked with another boat that had a speedometer at 48 with two riders. That was not GPS but that's probably pretty close. I know it will run about 40-45 with only 3 people in it judging from my previous boating experiences. I've got GPS on my phone. I plan on taking it out for my first ride this weekend. We shall see! ;D