jitterbug127

Straight braid on spinning gear her, and if use a leader its mono. Flouro always seems to make my day more involved in tying knots than trying to catch fish. I can't seem to figure it out.

sounds great! Thank you so much. I have read most of your thread and its already given me some ideas. You've done a wonderful job with it. Very impressive.

I bought a Jon boat about a month ago, and I am going to make improvements to it over the winter/next year. I wanted to start a thread to track this. My boat is a a 16x54 made in 1980 according to the title. I'm not sure of the exact age. It was updated prior to my purchase, but I'm going to make it a baby bass boat instead of a general fishing boat. It came with a nice trailer and a 1969 evinrude 2 stroke 25 hp motor with electric start. The motor runs good once I get it started, she's a little slow to start, so I'm going to take apart the carb for a nice cleaning. Boat also came with a brand new 12 volt battery, it has a built in front deck with storage under it. The bench seats have all been removed, and the boat got new carpet this fall. It also came with a working trolley motor. The boat has been rewired and has running lights as well as those bright spot lights on the front and back. My plans for the boat: Im going to add a second battery, put in a battery on/off switch, wire in a fuse panel, get a front trolley motor, and some sort of depth finder and navigation. I've changed the impellar/water pump housing on the motor, put new plugs on it, and had to replace a pinion on the throttle. I also want to get a transom saver to ensure safe transportation of the motor. I had a brand new 2017 honda motor fall off my last boat several years ago, and I am still having nightmares about that. I did put new tires on the trailer, and i also got a spare mounted on the front of the trailer! I also hope to eventually built in some sort of rod locker. The floors/deck of my boat are all plywood, so the boat is pretty heavy. I'd like to convert everything over to aluminum, but the cost is so expensive ill wait for that to come down.

I’ve never fished any clubs or anything like that, but I’m always willing to try something. As far as fishing goes that sounds great, always nice to have someone to go out with! I am fairly new to this stretch of river, so it will be a fun year to learn. I’m hoping to put my 16’ Jon in the river, but it was so shallow last fall I kept getting stuck on my yak. I might get one of those mud skipper motors for it. Think it would be perfect though there.

I’d say anything that gets you into the water and off the bank is well worth it! Kayaks excel at being light, portable and going places other boats can’t go. They can be put on the roof of just about any car, and are great for apartment dwellers. I have a boat now which has its own advantages, but there is something to the kayak I can’t match with anything else.

Pretty much exactly what i was thinking! I bought the jon boat to fish the river, so I might as well get the best motor for it.

I have an old motor that came with my Jon boat, but frankly it is appearing to be more of a time/money pit than I had originally hoped. The verdict is still out one giving up on this motor, but I am looking into viable options. I got on Youtube/google yesterday and saw these mud motors. I thought this thing would be perfect for the shallow river that I fish. I wasn't sure if anyone here has any experience with how the mud motor did when coupled with bass fishing? Most of the videos I've seen are dudes going over logs/stumps and running the boat in ankle deep water. I am a fisherman and not a thrill seeker, so I'd just need something to get from A to B.

I’ve found the skunk more times than not I’m sure

I’ve never used a fishfinder, depth finder, live scope etc to know what any of it is/does to have any sort of opinion on any of that stuff. I’m sure everything has its place, I’ve just never been able to afford any of that unfortunately, so I don’t even really know what his opinion about it means.

I love Randy. I think he has a great channel, and he must be doing something right because were talking about him!

OP, Did you ever get your ugly stiks?

On the RARE occasion I use a leader its always the blood knot to mono. I have yet to find situation where I liked FC better than braid or mono. Try the blood knot and see how it does.

Enjoy the ride! It’s wonderful a place

There are lots of trolley motor only lakes in northern indiana 3+ hours north of me. I’ll get back up there eventually

Those hank Parker rods are great for the $! The ark lancer pro rods can be had for like $55 bucks to your door. I can’t see a better deal than that

Thank you very much sir, my exact thinking just wanted to make sure I’m in the right track

I have 2 rods, both are labeled medium/moderate, but have vastly different specs. I’m trying to decide if I need to buy a medium heavy moderate rod or not. rod 1: ark lancer pro 6 10, 1/8-5/8 oz lures 8-14 lb line rod 2: Fenwick hmg 7’2” 3/8-1oz 8-17 lb line. The Fenwick hmg medium heavy moderate is 7’4” 3/8 oz-1oz lures 10-20 lb line. I was going to buy a 7’2” medium heavy/moderate lancer pro but they’re sold out everywhere that I’ve looked. I am wondering if based on the specs of the lancer pro/hmg would cover most of mh crankbait needs, Or if I should proceed to find a medium heavy/moderate rod. I know there are no industry standards for what rods are labeled. I think these 2 rods should pretty much cover it, but wanted more feedback. Thanks In advance. Rob

UA pullover, medium fits better but I like the extra room in large. UA is my go to for most anything winter related anymore.

Kit ordered $50 bucks, be here Tuesday.

Shopping for them now!

I was able to get her started last night. I serviced the lower unit and the gear lube was a nice light brown/oil color. Someone has taken care of this motor. The inside looks really clean and free from corrosion. She runs strong (in the driveway). A bit of smoke at first. I assume burning off old gas, 2 stroke oil and the fogging oil I put in it. I am going to run the motor this weekend and see how she does. I will consider replacing the water pump if needed, but everything looks really good in this motor especially for the year. I will say the motor likes to run more than idle. It a "screamer" as I've read online. New to boat terminology.

Congrats man! I’m hoping to catch one over 3 lbs next year myself!

Indiana went from 17 last year to 23 this year. Hunting went from 24 to 39. I can't imagine the additional funds will go to "conservation".

I keep my 6'6" m/f spinning rod and 6'9" mh/f rods in my car just in case. These are both 2 piece, and would cover anything I'd throw from the bank. Mostly Crawls, tubes, neds.

I target smallies and fish from a kayak most of the time. Right now I’ve got a flambeau 3500 size box I keep my terminal tackle in. I’ll switch things out based on the day. I basically utilize 3 “day” boxes for all my fishing. 3500 for terminal tackle and two 3600s one for my hard baits and one for soft plastics. If I need over that it’s not a good day anyways