Bass_junky

I agree with the statement regarding bad rides in the Triton, they chime walk & you will get wet! If you are planning on keeping the boat for a long period go with the Stratos. If you are planning on selling in a few years and upgrading, Triton will hold their re-sale value better. You should consider a RANGER!!!!

I have been learning/fishing a new lake in Washington (riffe). This is a reservoir (snow run-off) and is at full pool (no water movement) with temps in the 65-70 degree area at the surface. I dropped my Aqua View down to 30-35' temp is 60 deg. Visibility is approximately 10-15' currently. During the last few weeks I have been picking up fish in 18-22 ft range. My last two trips I have pulled nothing but dinks. I tried 20-30' range with no luck. There are humps, flats etc..at the 50' depth. Ledges though are very slim and the only ones I have found are 100' + water depth. My question is am I wasting my time (never when fishing of course) in that depth range? Should I venture to the 40' or even 50' mark? If so, what technique would one use that deep besides drop shotting and spooning?

I had a similiar T.M. (45lb) and had a similiar problem. Although i trashed the trolling motor the brushes were wore and causing the heat issue in the wiring from the plug in. Mine actually would kick out if i ran it over 10 min's on 4-5 speed. Any lower speed was okay.

Being I just bought my boat (2006 Z-20) and feel your pain, i do have a few suggestions for your scenerio if you are looking for a used boat. First, dealers utilize the Nada (Marine) edition, Banks do not, they use the Nada guide (www.nadaguide.com) This is where most of the difference in pricing will be, stick with the Nada guide. They also typically use the "high retail price" in the guide. The Nada guide avg retail price should be the highest you pay for a boat at any dealership. Remember they are buying at wholsesale pricing which is 10-20% below low book value, So, use that as a base. In my recent experience i was able to reduce a dealerships asking price on avg. 5k-7k. I ended up buying mine through private party. Most dealerships will run the motor through there diagnostics and complete any upgrades on the engine for you, you shouldn't have to pay for this. I do not see why you wouldn't be able to use this negotiation with a new boat price, except nadaguide may not have the 2008 pricing yet. It is a buyers market right now with gas prices ski rocketing, use it to your advantage. Only thing the dealer can say is No....

Well thanks for the replies Currently, I have a 19' with (3) storage compartments & two live wells. I do agree ba7 organization is the key point. Popeye also made a good point on garage size. I do Bass fish in tourney's (at the very least i donate my entry fee) hence the Ranger & Skeeter boats I mentioned. This is typically on big water lakes or Rough water of the Columbia which is why i am looking for a larger boat. Hauling is no issue, I have a 3/4 GMC and as for the financial restraints, I think i covered that by listing the options i was looking at. I agree bigger boat doesn't mean you catch more fish & a boat is only as good as the operator, thats a given. One option of a longer boat i didn't see a response to was: longer boats typically have a tandem trailer, seems this would help on road trips.

Okay guys, I am seriously considering purchasing another boat. My question is what are the opinions of various length's? Ex Found a Ranger Z19 2006 Ev-225 which is 19'6" lg (excellent price), a Skeeter 20I 2006 which is 20' lg and of course my dream boat 2006 Z21 Ev-250 which is 21' lg. and a 2004 Triton 21X Merc 225 21' lg. Let's here your opinion's, does 18" really matter?? and I mean boat length not other lengths we like to brag (dream) about,

Just a word of caution, not all contact cleaners are friendly to plastic. WD40 is a great contact cleaner and will not harm your plastic.

I am looking at this boat for purchase. Can someone tell me what PDC represents in 2004 TRITON TR 21 X Series PDC? And if anyone has had any issues with this year/model. I assume the p"DC" is dual console ? Thanks

I haven't tried the Coffee tubes yet but am anxious to do so. I remember my father placing coffee grounds in his night crawler bedding for catfish. I did make a difference 30+ yrs ago. We did well one evening until we ran out of crawlers. Went to the bait shop got some fresh crawlers and the bite died.....

Trilene is excellent mono, may consider the Trilene max....Hopefully you are using at least a 7' rod for the spook...

Sorry for the bad info Lowrider, I guess i missed the 12 v vs 24v.

I love frogs too. Just make sure you put the lid on the skillet, sometimes they jump out

First, Long Mike - I do not believe this site is generated to criticize anyones grammar, moderator's please correct me if i am wrong. If it were I could have a field day with your response. Lowrider - I think i understand your question. If this is for a 24v Tm, one lead is secured on your positive post on battery A. The other lead is secured on your negative post on Battery B, then jump a lead from the negative on battery A to the positive on battery B. The charger should have four leads. These are to be connected to both positive and negative posts on both batteries. Hot Rod is correct, I would not use your starting battery as your second battery for your Tm. Please verify prior to connecting your batteries. I wouldn't want to be responsible for giving any wrong information.

Well the locks were closed this weekend, will have to try it again soon. Thanks for the info anyway....

Seeking any info on the Cascade lock area. Thinking about giving the area a shot for smallies. I know the water temps are in the low 40's. Any info would be appreciated....

Crayfish typically come out of their hibernation at approximately 50-52 deg (may differ slightly depending on your location). This is also the time of their spawning/breeding season. Males will display themselves on top of rocks flashing their claws trying to attract females to mate with. This is the most vulnerable time and the bass know this. They also change color during the moon phase, so the article stated, from what I remember. In 2004 basstimes magazine had a series of articles covering this topic, might check it out.

After three years of registering to this site I have finally made a full member, even though I have read every thread on this site, maybe you have to watch out for those quiet guys Hats off to the moderators and Glenn. What a great site. I haved learned something new everytime I have logged on to the site. I do believe it has improved my skill level and knowledge of the SMB, LMB and boating. Keep up the good work!! It is appreciated.....

If Noxon Resevoir has iced out, i would focus on that lake, towards the dam. I assume you are referencing with a boat. Look for the road bed on the eastern side of the two islands, smallies should start to becoming active. It is a nice flat tangent to some steep drop off's.

I know this post is very late in response. I also had troubles locating smallies in the Kalama area. I have fished several tourney's and spent a lot of hours in that area last summer ('07). Glenn is correct, i have had my best success on the outgoing, may be due to PH of the incoming tide. I finally narrowed the bait selection down to four. I have had the most success with X-rap (XR08 silver) this is almost identical to the smolt in the river, if no success try the drop shot with a tube. Hope you check this....

You may get away from the skiers on the north lake but you will not catch the winning bag there. The south lake will produce better weight. April, bass should be in the pre-spawn/spawn there so should be lots of action. Check out google earth & hit the dock structures...I have a tourney at the end of march there. I will send you a pm afterwards (If i can remember).

I had to post on this issue. The poll is a great idea and I am always looking at it for info and majority, so please don't take this post as a poll slammer. I saw the poll had almost 79% against using these in tourneys. My question is how far do we take it? Would a Hummingbird 797's, 997's or 1197's all be illegal in these tourneys also? If not, I would like to here the rational behind the statements. Is it legal as long as everyone had 1,000+ (for the hummingbird) for the devices? Would your poll response be the same if you actually owned an underwater camera? Would your opinion be the same if you didn't have the luxury of living in the same area (lakes) your whole life? Those that do own these cameras understand, as long as the camera is in the water, your not catching fish! I do agree, during tournaments, you should not be allowed to use an underwater camera if you have a pole in your hand. Some of you may remember the tournament in 2007 where the pro's were drop-shotting and using there sonar simultaneously, they could see the fish approaching, what would be the difference? That is different than trying to understand the structure, cover & bottom. They are a great tool to expand your knowledge base, especially in a tight mouthed club.

I have fished my share of days on a tube in the main Umpqua river, in Oregon for the smallies. Tis very fun, i fished the pools mainly. My only advice would be to know the river you plan on fishing. Drive up and down it's banks (if possible) know where the current is and were it would take you upon a mishap and always let someone know where you will be. For the money you would put into a pontoon, you may want to look at kayaks, would be a used kayak most likely. I have one opinion to ad to the pontoons compared to the tubes. Isn't it true, the higher you sit out of the water the faster you will travel? Meaning it would take less current and wind to move you downstream compared to a tube?

My only input to this question mk vs mg is look at the deploy method. I purchased a new MK this spring (power drive w/auto pilot) i am not happy with the deploy method. Stick to one with the string tee-handle deploy. Besides that it is a toss up. The MK is motor driven on the turns and MG is cable. It takes a bit of getting use too.

I have asked people from this area and smallies spawn in first few weeks of June in this part of the Columbia. Iwent out again this weeked and surface temp's were between 68-70 degrees. I stayed in the main river fishing and rockpiles/ledges I could find that lead off to deep water. I fished the last couple hours of the incoming tide and stayed for several hours at the outgoing tide. I did see some bait fish and tried to match what I saw. I tried water that I haven't been on yet but still had no luck. Maybe I just need to hire a guide for a trip and see what knowledge he has to share. Am I whinning? lol

I use to have access to a vacation house on a popular bass lake. This house had a very nice boat dock, but of course no ramp. The ramp was about 1 1/2 mile up the country road. Typically I unload all my wife's clothes when we arrive then go to the ramp and launch the boat, dis-connect the trailer and leave it at the ramp. This particular trip was sort of a reunion for friends, big gathering. So, after I unloaded all the wife's clothes, lol. I thought I would be social (when all i wanted to do was launch the boat and fish). Of course I was offered one beer, then two, ect...After a few hours passed by I grabbed the boy and went to launch the boat. My son was in the boat and was too meet me back at the house. When i pulled to a parking space (this parking lot had about 3-4 degree slope & a very steep drop off to the water) I dis-connected the trailer and was walking to my truck door when I heard something behind my truck. When i saw the tongue of my trailer over my head and heading to the lake I grabbed the trailer and tried my best to hold on. I tried yelling for my son but he had already reached plane and was heading for the house. It was about 1/2 hr before dark set in & nobody was around. I saw a tree on the steep embankment and all I could think of was let it go and maybe the tree will stop it. Luckily it did. I grabbed some rope from the truck and got the trailer out. I had forgotten to chock the wheels of the trailer. Only damage was a tail light. Oh the shame!