Bass_junky

Just a thought....After long storage a lower unit can/will generate some condensation, this may be misleading some into thinking they have seal leaks..

I put a CNC manual jackplate on my Alum. Fisher Pro. To generate a starting point I jacked up the rear of my trailer and referenced the very bottom of the boat. I drop the prop until I hit the 3" to center of prop from the bottom of the boat and started from there. I would not adjust the unit more than a 1/2" increments. If you adjust more than 1/2" at a time you may miss the sweet spot. I used a hydrafoil with this setup. I have taken it off thinking it was causing too much drag but when the water turned choppy the first time out, I re-installed the hydrafoil, whew that was a rough day! I have a Merc 115 and the boat is 19' in length. My gps registers 50-54 mph dependent on the load. I gained approximately 4-5 mph with the jack plate. Was it really worth the money for those speeds? Yes, it also saves me gas money.

I completely re-vamped my livewells last year. I was limited with what I could do but here it is. I replaced my pump from a 750gpm to a 1100gpm. I have seperate livewells so I spliced in the fill tubes and the drain tubes into the same line & pump. I purchased a system from Rite-Flow or flow-rite? to give me the ability to recirculate while motoring and pump fresh water while fishing. I use an automatic timer. I also installed a valving system so, all I have to do is switch from recirc to fill or vice versa and or drain. I also installed an aerating system directly onto my pump, this reduced the amount of tubing req'd. The air flow is adjustable. I needed to have the ability to fill both livewells symetrically due to there location in my boat to maintain balance. I would strongly suggest to anyone modifying or retrofitting there livewells to check out FLow-Rite, there hose connections and valving connections made this a simple modification.

Just an additional note. I believe a minimum of 10 hp motor is required to fish in the federation tourny's. You may have to join as a non-boater....

I was wondering how many people watch this show and what your opinions are of his grading system vs. his own ability? I have watched this program for some time and it is my opinion that it is very bias, when watching Denny fish after grading someone else. Seems he makes the same mistakes that he is deducting points from others. EX: show two weeks ago he deducted points for grabbing the line when landing a fish. When it was his turn to fish the area he did the exact same thing. JMO

Simply put, I will not purchase a Lowrance product again. I am extremely unsatisified with the unit. It locks up at wake speeds as well as on plane after 10 months. After discussions with customer service, I have verified proper installation. But by the time i double checked everything the warranty expired, now I am stuck with a 500 dollar temp probe. What a deal...

I let my trailer swing freely with a stopper. I have found when I have run the eye of the trailer through the rubber it tends to hang left or right on occasion. This is not a natural presentation. The rubber does has no memory so it will enclose around the spinnerbait hook causing friction.

The cone is centered by the transducer. You can get a quicker response time by increasing your chart speed/ping rate.

I added a jack plate last summer and had to replace my steering cable also & drill and extra hole in my transom. I will check what the old length was and get it posted. This was a rack & pinion. Typically you cannot obtain the required radius of mfg when extending your steering cable an extra 6". This will generate excessive force required for turning and you will have rapid wear on the cable.

I use my GPS as my logbook. It already lists the current conditions, moon phase and of course location. All i input is the water depth, lure presentation, structure/cover & a name for saving data. When I get home i simply download it to my computer and can search the database by date. A access database would be more user friendly. I will take a peek at some of these and may generate one.

This has been one of my favorite approaches. I personally believe that not all big bass are in deeper (25' +) water this time of year. You can cover more water with a buzz bait than with plastics in this situation. Unfortunately there is a downside. That is weeds accumulating on the blade. At times I have retrieved a buzz bait so fast it rolls onto it's side to avoid the weeds and momentarily stop the bait in the pockets for just a few seconds. This will keep more weeds off your blade but you may be sacraficing a few fish. I believe it is a reaction bite & the presentation in this thick stuff isn't as important as in open water. Most bait fish & small fry accumulate in these weeds and the bass know it. If anyone knows of a way to modify a buzz bait i would also be interested...

I installed a aeration system to my livewells. It has been a couple of years since I have reworked my livewells but I think it was a fish-rite mfg? I am glad I did this. This aeration device attached to my livewell pump. I have yet to lose a fish in my livewells since installation! This system aerates my livewells wether I am recirculating or drawing in fresh water.

Go to tips & Tactics and search for drop shotting. There are a few good articles for getting started...

I typically cast (pitching will assist in reducing line twist) & retrieve my drop shot rigs due to extremely clear water here in the NW. I work it almost like a T-rigged worm except I will let it lay much longer and just twitch the bait trying not to move the sinker. I also have quit buying the drop shot sinkers and use bullet or bell sinkers. If using a bullet sinker I peg it so I can adjust the height of the bait, this is also cheaper than drop shot sinkers & will not hang as much. If I use a bell sinker I simply use a loose square knot. Depending on how much movement I want dictates the weight size of the sinker. I love the Zoom finesse worms for this application.

The fish should be above the thermocline. The deeper you go into the thermocline, less oxygen will be present. How deep is the lake you are referencing??

This is copied from a early post. A thermocline is a layer of water between the epilimnion (top layer) and the hypolimnion (bottom). The hypolimnion is relatively cold and is low or void of any oxygen. The epilimnion is relatively warm and has alot of oxygen. The thermocline is rich in plankton and other microscopic organisms which attract baitfish which in turn attracts bass. The thermocline has an abrupt change in teperature, about 1 degree per foot. You can see the thermocline on your depth finder by turning the sensitivity high and you can see a dark band around the middle. That dark band is not always fish, it could just be an abundance of algae or plankton. The best way to approach a piece of structure like a point is to first find a good looking point. Then look for the structure on structure like a small finger on a point, but that stucture on stucture must intersect with the thermocline. Just find the best structure you can that intersects with the thermocline.

I agree with most. Only in early spring when the water is below 50-55 deg

Rattle Traps, in clear water though no rattles....

It's to cover their "private" parts......

I have tried Oakley's, Coasta Del mars, and various others. My favorite is Coasta Del Mars ( with the exchangable lenses - amber-vermillion-grey). However I did buy an extra pair to keep on the boat, Solar Bats. For 18 bucks A Wally world. A co-angler forgot his on my last tourney and I let him borrow them. He was very pleased with them.

Maybe I didn't explain my question clearly. I was referencing the radiant heat that the jig may have accumulated by the rays of the sun, not the water temp. I always use scent on my jigs. If you pitch into pockets and you immediately engage the clutch the jig will not fall vertically, it will swing back towards the boat. This defeats the purpose of pitching doesn't it?

I always pitch my drop shot, specially in very clear water. I also use my curado with 10lb pline. Pitching a dropshot helps keep line twist to a minimun on a baitcaster. It will also allow you to cover more water until you find some bass. Are there other techniques that may work with this approach? I'd like to hear about one that will keep your bait off the bottom at the same rate of speed, next to a hydrilla stalk, or anyother weed stalk. Also when used in rip-rap you can still keep your bait off the bottom motionless. I don't know any other bait which will do this.... I typically use 4" or smaller in clear water. I will use larger baits in stained water.

I typically reel in my catch with the rod at the 10'oclock position this gives me room to manuever, UNLESS the bass decides to jump water, then i position my rod down. It may or may not help, but I haven't lost a fish which decided to fly for quite some time.

I had a first time experience, at least that I know of, regarding leaving rods in the sun while fishing with the others. I was using a dropshot set up until I decided to fish some logjams. I switched to my pitching setup which had a black jig blue trailor. I pitched this to a log in the jam that had about 2' of water under it. This is a northwestern reservoir, very clear water. Before my jig hit the bottom I saw a 3lbr come out from the shade of the log, suck in my jig and spit it out before I could react. I still hadn't click my clutch in!!! The only reason I can rationalize is, the temp's were in the 90's & the water temp was 76 f. It is my opinion the temp on the lead was too much for the bass to hold on to the jig. By the way this one cost me 10 spots in the tourney.... Any input??

Well, I don't mean to play the devil's advocate, but I would fish between the weedline & shore early & late. During mid morning & late afternoon I would search for the pockets within the weeds. It sounds like the weeds are the only source for oxygen from what you have described. I would try buzzbait over the weeds, soft plastics and/or jig*pig in the pockets & shallow cranks above the weeds until the fish let you know what they want.