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How do you rig a Zoom Centipede? And what's so special about this bait versus a 4" worm or Senko or other bait? Anyone like these?

My 17' 1997 Tracker that I bought used a year ago, I keep finding water in the hull. When I trailer it home, it will slosh out of the drain in the bottom of the boat and I will see that the carpet is soaked. Which is mysterious to me because the plug is in. I have looked the bottom over for a leak/crack, can't find anything. One time I bet I overfilled the live well with pumped water; it probably overflowed to the back area? But let me ask, does your hull gain any water? If no crack or no live well problem, I guess it has to come from the plug. Do you guys use any old plug buy a higher end plug?

I am curious about your wiping it down after an outing. Do you wipe every scare inch or the hull of just the top portion or what? I am generally not that fastidious, lol. I have a friend who has a friend who wipes down everything upon returning home, trailer included. With spray cleaner.

BTW, anyone who is not catching on weightless fluke... you may be fishing too fast. You don't have to fish it uber slow but just cast it, let it sink, and watch your line. One might run off with it. Then twitch and pause, twitch and pause until you get out of the cover (I throw at cover mostly) and then reel back and repeat to another target. EDIT: And there is another technique to fish it fast with twitches, but that is not my regular method.

You made a good post, learned a thing or two in there. FWIW, my Everstart Maxx 24DC battery weighs 46 lbs. I looked up Cabela's Advanced Anglers AGM Size 22 battery, which is the size you mentioned, and it weighs 39 lbs. I am surprised there is so little difference. Your post made me want to look for a lighter battery I could use for my little pond jumper boat. I wonder if there is one. The Cabela's battery I posted about is not much lighter and also not much smaller. My Everstart is 11x7x8 and the Cabelas is 9 x 5.5 x 9.25. So... hmmm... makes me wonder if the Cabela's is 'anything special.' From my limited knowledge perspective, it just looks a little smaller and lighter, plus I guess it is sealed, so, that is an advantage. I guess every little bit of weight helps but wonder if there is a smaller 12v battery that would power a troll motor for several hours like these do. Hmmm... found this -- http://www.cabelas.com/product/Battery-Tender-Lithium-ATV-UTV-Battery/1941345.uts?productVariantId=4071870&srccode=cii_17588969&cpncode=44-152839745-2&WT.tsrc=PPC&WT.mc_id=GoogleProductAds&WT.z_mc_id1=04080990&rid=20 -- Does this type of battery work for troll motors? Probably not? If so, why not? TIA.

Say, I see that Battery Tender product site says, " 21023 - The Battery Tender Junior The Battery Tender Junior is a 12 volt, .75 amp battery charger that is designed to fully charge and maintain a battery at a proper storage voltage without the damaging effects caused by trickle chargers. === That blurb is for the Junior. Looks like the Plus model is same except larger, and has 1.25 amps. My question is what does "without the damaging effects caused by trickle chargers" means?

If that negative post is lead, I would think it would kill the animal, lead is toxic. But it might be an alloy with less lead than pure lead.

Wow, that looks like a boat with a fantastic layout capability. I have no idea of price but it says it is built for saltwater, thus, stainless steel connections and such, so, it might be "too" expensive, since I only fish freshwater? Then again, perhaps it truly has top line craftsmanship and might be worth it in the long run? Worth looking into, I sure love the layout. Concerned about draft, though, I fish shallow lakes. Will have to check into that. I also do not favor a 200hp motor, it seems overkill for me, I don't race around at high speeds. About 40-45 is fine for me. But I also like that they claim superior rough water ride; that has major merit with me on the occasion I have to ride rough water.

The wind takes the fun out of it and I often just go home. I have never done any good drifting but I am going to try some more. As for catching, my best day on my nearest local lake was 34 bass, and I caught them on about as windy a day as I've seen. It was crazy trying to cast but I just put on a larger size beetle spin and I also had trees to tie up to to work a section of this shallow flat, and then move to another. I sure caught them. None were big, they were 1-2 lb fish but it was a blast. That water was only 4' deep. So, 'anchoring' helped me enjoy it. Modern day, power poles would do the same thing easily.

I fish a lake impounded in 1945. I would love to have a structure map. Does anyone know if a topo map would exist for something like that? The USGS map that I see shows the lake outline but no contours inside the lake. I recall owning a USGS top map of Toledo Bend and it showed all the contours pre-impoundment, and it was impounded much later... in 1967. I don't know when the government crews came through this area... was it pre or post 1945. EDIT: Hmmm... if I click on the Toledo Bend area, I see a map same as above, it shows the lake boundary and no old contours pre-impoundment. So, not sure how to get the old contour maps. I will try to contact USGS.

I haven't owned a new boat in 40 years, lol. What about modern boats. Anyone have a boat that is trouble-free or are they all a pain, lol? If you do anything that keeps your boat in great shape, what is it? As for appearance... I saw a boat recently on the water and it looked nice and I asked the man what it is. He said it's a Champion and it's 25 years old. I was flabbergasted. I'm not kidding, it looked brand new. He said he knows the secret. First is, he said that people who put covers on boats (this locale, anyway)... everything under it mildews. I can attest to that, it happened to me. He said you have to keep them under a garage. And... way back when he discovered Baby Wipes (with lanolin). Wipes down the fiberglass and the seats. I don't know how he keeps the carpet in such good shape. But I am less concerned about appearance and more concerned about reliability. Main motor, troll motor, all the cables and stuff. Just in general, stuff working, lol! I am hoping modern boats have improved. As for motors, seems to me that cars/trucks have certainly improved in 40 years. My Nissan Titan is trouble-free after eight years! And I don't baby it. But I do change the oil, lol.

I had a battery sitting outside my door. The posts are chewed by a critter! Why on earth would an animal do that? It's not organic, lol. I wonder if there is something that attracts a squirrel or rat. We have lots of squirrels. BTW, the first pic is the positive post and it is black, not lead looking. Anyone know the material? Second, negative, looks like lead or what is that? There is plenty to eat around here, lol. Squirrels look healthy. My badass Burmese cat (Floyd RIP) killed 17 of them and then I quit counting. Thank goodness this battery has the extra posts with the bolt/nut.

I have a 12v troll battery I use for troll motor on my jon boat or my pond jumper boat. But I might not use either boat for weeks at a time if I am using my 17' bassboat. Should I top off the battery occasionally? One more question... should I always charge a battery after any use? Say I fish only an hour and a half and use the troll motor, it is not even close to run down. If I know I will go the next day, any need to top off, and does it do any harm?

benjyw44, for the type fishing we do around here, casting to above water trees/stumps, bow mount is the only way to go. It pulls the boat instead of pushes and is more controllable. A rudder makes it even more so but I still feel I will have to have a spring-loaded rudder due to hitting underwater stumps occasionally. I saw someone, I think way back on this thread (last year) who built one but it was uber-expensive due to it being a sailboat rudder. But it was also very nice. I would love to have a less expensive alternative! EDIT: BTW, I have an Endura 50 or 55 and it is also 36", I forget the exact model, and it pulls the boat plenty fast if I want to max out.

I keep getting closer to buying a new boat. Getting everything I want for what I hope could be my rest-of-my-lifetime boat will be difficult or impossible. Some manufacturers have this, some have that. But I have a custom fiberglass boat maker nearby. He fully rigs them out and has a 'storefront' with a boat or two on display. I don't know his limitations on design but I do know people around here brag on his boats. It is apparently a good hull, I don't think he has changed the basic design for many, many years. Anyone have this done and care to share any pitfalls or advantages or how your experience went?

I don't understand why your 5th? You have 3 for your troll motor and one to crank, or what is the other one for, do you have one for fishfinder? That doesn't require much power does it? Or is it fishfinder plus everything but crank and troll?

You didn't ask for me to choose one color, you asked would I be as successful, lol. So, hmmm. I will go against the grain and say that I just might. Way back when (30-40 yrs ago), I used to throw a black worm and that's it and I caught more fish then! If I had to choose now, it would either be black or watermelon red, which seems to be not far off the popular answer of green pumpkin. But then again, I have often wondered about this very question... should I just throw a black worm!

I do it all the time, but with high water due to high rainfall, the launches are above their normal grade. I still sometimes have to go into the water a few feet to get INTO my truck after loading the boat back on the trailer. (I have to jump down into the shallow water on the ramp... or I climb over the top of my truck and jump off the front, lol.) But launching is no problem. I made a launch rope, it's pretty long. Maybe 30 feet? Not sure, you will have to measure. I put a carabiner on the end. One end is tied to the boat bow and the carabiner, I attach it to the top of the hand crank on my trailer. I back in and off the boat goes. Then when it gets snug, I slowly easy up the ramp and the boat follows. I run back and catch my boat before it hits any concrete ramp so it doesn't scuff it. EDIT: BTW, I recently went of a pretty serious search for some inexpensive hip waders. I would rather have some boots that are about knee high. Regular rubber boots are not quite high enough. I thought I might could buy some inexpensive waders and cut them off about knee high. Or just leave them alone. But I want them easy to put on and take off.

Anyone know... is there a general certain size that requires a 36v system? And a 36v system, does it, literally, require 3 12-v batteries to run or do you just have 3 batteries instead of 2 for adding run-time?

Keith, thanks for the post. I have been steadily thinking about this since my OP. Why? Because the way I fish, a troll motor is the most important feature on the boat! I use it more than anything. So, I am intrigued, and, like you, not afraid to spend some money. I might end up selling this boat and buying a newer used one or even a new one. And then upgrade what it needs if it's not new. Let me ask... let's say I come up a tree in the water and I catch one and want to stay right there, in that orientation. Can I have it hold that, and how do I do that? Foot switch or what? Will it hold that spot, with the nose pointed in the same compass direction until I click it off? Somewhat of an anchor feature. Edit: 2nd question: I often fished scattered trees and Mother Nature does not make all of that a cast away. Some tempt you to crank the big motor and go, and some, you have to do that; it would just take too long to troll over. But... it makes me want to get the fastest troll motor I can get, so I can get there faster. Is there a limit for the size of the boat? It seems not.

My Tracker has a regular front seat and when I go to the console to run, I can't see over the front as well as I would like, even if I fold the top of the seat down and strap it with the snap. Like when running down a boat lane and needing to come fairly close to the channel markers to make sure I am in the safe channel. So, for those of you who have a tall butt seat or sissy seat or whatever you call those... a lean seat? Whatever it is, it's taller than a standard seat. Can you see under that pretty good from your console? Reason I ask is I just saw a seat that appears to collapse down to the deck when you want to run down the lake. Wondering if it's even necessary.

KVD has an amazing track record. And wow, is he visible. I bet he makes tons of money from endorsements. The Tiger Woods analogy is apropos. I always said Tiger Woods had the best celebrity name ever. Kevin Van Dam's name is not as good as Tiger Woods but it also has a very catchy ring to it.

I have this Frabill sit-n-fish bucket that contains a minnow bucket within it. The lid has a bit of styrofoam on the top for a seat, but it has lifted up. Any idea what type of glue I could use to hold it down? I also have some gorilla tape called Gorilla Clear Repair. I used it to tape up a small hole in a canvas boat cover. Supposed to hold like crazy, "patch, fix, hold." I wonder if I could double that over and make it hold. Or, would Elmer's glue or something normal like that, lol, work? It's not worth buying more glue, was wondering if something I or my gf might have at our houses would work. The black part is what I call styrofoam, but that might be 60s terminology, lol. It is affixed to the white, hard plastic of the bucket. Whatever I use, I don't want to 'melt' the styrofoam/plastic. It seems I have seen some glues are incompatible with plastics.

In the south, we sometimes use yo-yo automatic fishing reels that are attached to tree limbs to fish for crappie (white perch to me!). I haven't done this in years, but they are biting at night bigtime. I see that people are using a cam type of hook these days, so, I googled it and find that the cam shape is supposed to give a better hookset. Seems reasonable. But, which size hook? Anyone have an opinion?

A weightless fluke is an bait with a truly amazing action, just looks irresistible. I have caught more fish on it than anything else once I discovered it. But I like trick worm, too, and have had success, for sure. I will fish it more now just to give it a chance, because I naturally grab a fluke on impulse by default because it is so effective.