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Hoping for feedback... if anyone has purchased hydraulic anchor(s), do you think they are worth it? Did anything surprise you regarding their use? Any brand or model you, particularly, like? Is one any good or must have two? How has it made your fishing better, if so?

In general, if it's windy, I do not go fishing. However, two of the most memorable days fishing I have ever had, years apart, different lakes, was memorably windy. It seemed so bad that you'd cast due east with a strong southerly wind and the lure splashes down due north. Both days, used a beetle spin, believe it or not, and caught a boatload of bass. Both lakes had lots of timber to tie onto. I would never have gone fishing on windy days like that but the wind increased on both of those days.

Ever needed a rope to do a pull start on an engine with starter trouble? Look up in your motor shroud. On my 150 Merc, there is a rope there! I have actually had to start my 40hp Tracker Merc with a pull cord after the starter quit and I was, like six miles from the dock! Thank goodness I had a rope and thank goodness it cranked! You guys... once again... for maintenance, what do you consider is an adequate runtime schedule for a boat? Meaning you either take it to the lake or put muffs and water hose on it. Once/month, twice/month, once/quarter... how often should you run one just to keep it lubed up and functioning? Instead of muffs/hose, I wonder if anyone has ever built a little pond for his motor, lol. Or some kind of concrete 'box' that you set the lower unit into. Although, maybe muffs are just fine! I use them.

I saw a Scott Martin video and he mentioned 7.5 to 8 ft rods and also a Gary Klein vid and he mentioned 8ft. Is 8ft still kind of the standard? I guess a longer rod not only gives more leverage but also you have a longer arc, so, you can pitch a bit farther. As for a reel, I suppose since I do not tournament fish, just fish for pleasure and do not need to reel back after a pitch as fast as possible, a slower retrieve ratio is not as important. Also, since I am new to this technique, do you think shorter rather than longer rod or vice versa would be easier to learn on? And for fatigue factor, I would think the lighter in weight the rod, the better.

The OP is only relevant for those who are agile. I still do stuff like that but it's def getting much more difficult and I am sure the time will come when it's impossible. My brother, 5 years older, is in the impossible camp, he couldn't do that if his life depended on it. I just bought a 30 ft floating dock line for launching; my 20 ft rope is not long enough. It works but 30 ft will be better. Just tie to the front of the trailer, back the boat in till it floats away, pull up, then go grab the rope and take it to the dock or pull to shore. Loading is the problem. I do it fine, but I now keep rubber knee boots in the boat for when I have to hop off the trailer and the slope of the ramp is such that the truck is in the water. I also can climb into the truck bed and then jump to the ground but my knees are not good and jumping to the ground is not a good thing. Sliding down the side of the truck also works, lol. Anyway, knee boots solve that. Only issue is taking up room in the boat. Yesterday, I loaded the boat unpowered just for funzies. Pulled the boat onto the trailer with the rope. I used hip waders. Loading like that would be dicey in water with a current. A trailer that self-centers a loading boat better would be most helpful!

That's pretty cool, thanks for posting.

That is quite an amazing scent testimony, I have never seen one more convincing!

The last two outings I have been using a fluke or a senko and catching them but each time it got slow, I would be thinking I wonder if that black/blue chatterbait with the green curly tail on it would do anything. And each time I have done that, I have caught one almost immediately. Surprised me each time. Happened about four times. One was a big 'un. Between 6 and 8 lbs and I knew I would not keep it, so, I was playing with it and let it jump and sure enough, it threw the bait. Big fish for sure, was fun to let it swim around. Now, I wish I would have just landed it to take a pic and send to my buddies. I guess my point is that I have become a chatterbait fan, it does catch fish.

Who knows about flipping and pitching? Getting back to bassfishing again and I really need to get good at pitching/flipping due to the structure in and at the banks of waters I fish. I cast and am pretty accurate but I think the splash is too big. I have a friend who is a master flipper and pitcher and it's amazing how the bait makes almost no splash. So, what makes a good rod n reel combo for this? Would this work? I bought this years ago for froggin mostly... rod -- Cashion F90476, 7'6" Fast, Med-Hvy 12-50lb, 1/4 to 1 oz reel -- Lews Speed Spool Tournament Pro, TP1SHL (11 bearings) This combo is about my most expensive. EDIT: I see that this Lews reel is 6.7 oz and 7.1:1 gear ratio. EDIT: I also made additional comments below. TIA!

Holy cow! I mean, smallmouth. Those are big 'uns. Ok, you guys... if for just keeping things lubed up and the jets open, ANYone fires up their outboard on a regular basis and runs it with muffs or pulls into a launch and runs it without launching, (yes, I have done that, lol), lemmo know how often you do that.

Yes, it is Rage Series. I sure like that 13 Fishing rod warranty!

Do you think owning a boat (especially a fishing boat) is a never-ending exercise in frustration with failures here and there or not so? If you find your boat to be super reliable, what do you do to foster that? Of course, it's more than just big motor stuff. We have a trolling motor, sonar and just this and that with structural stuff. Screws fall out, hinges fail, etc. One of my seats broke yesterday, ugh. Do you think modern 4-stroke outboards are game changers regarding reliability? I was wondering if boats (especially 2 strokes) can be more problematic than we wish due to the fact that many of them are not used on as regular of a basis versus something like our vehicle. So, what should you do about that? Run it with muffs once a month, once a quarter? What do you think?

I happened upon a video and the presenter was talking about this very subject. He did not mention the Yamamoto D Shad but he did mention Bass Assassin and Reaction Innovation fluke-like baits. He mentioned heavier salt made them sink faster, which is this thread subject!

I am wanting a great spinning combo; I have come to enjoy casting a spinning rig. I have used baitcasters my whole life and have several I use but I have two spinning setups and want a third. I have... Rod - Berkley Shock Lightning Rod SHS701M 7'0" Medium, (unknown tip) Reel - Pfleuger President 6940 Rod - St Croix RS610MXF 6'10" Med, Extra Fast Reel - Shimano Stradic 2500 HGFK I think both of these rigs were recommended to me after I posted here years ago. You guys are very knowledgeable on this stuff, I am not! The Berkley/Pfleuger works just fine, I like it but the St Croix/Shimano seems a step up, more enjoyable due to it being lighter, just feels good in the hand. I saw a thread on what is a good casting rod under $100 and there were many mentions of a Daiwa Aird-X. It's only about $50! And I see they have it in a spinning rod. So, that is appealing. Although, mind you, I am willing to spend more, no problem, (really!) if I gain more 'value.' So, I am looking for a rod and reel recommendation. I fish a variety of baits. A lot of weightless fluke, plastic worm t-rigged, Senko, spinnerbait or chatterbait, crankbaits, just a variety. I also am not married to a certain type of line. Thanks for any help you can give.

I suspect there is something to that because the fall/glide is amazing. I usually cast to cover, we have a lot of trees and stumps here. If you don't get bit right around that cover, might as well reel in and throw to the next spot. Impatience during the fall isn't good I suppose. I dunno how long it takes to fall to the bottom at, say, 4-5 feet but it can't be THAT long!

I like to fish a super fluke or other soft plastic. Especially the super fluke, if fish are real shallow, the slow fall can be good. But if I want the fluke to get down faster, how? I could add weight to the hook or use a manufactured weighted hook or add weight to the lure. But what about using a fluorocarbon leader on braid line? Fluorocarbon sinks, right? Do you think that would help at all? Other than that, I am also simply curious about using a leader attached to heavy braid. I have a frog rod/reel that has heavy braid (50 or 60 lb, I don't recall) and I like to throw this pretty expensive rig but I'd rather have smaller diameter something attached to the plastic. To, hopefully, spook less fish due to visibility. Mind you, I rarely fish clear water but want every edge.

Neither of my boats have a fuel/water separator but I am dang sure going to put one in both.

How can I get the tank bone dry, I have wondered about this very thing. I drained it dry as I could get it before I made the first post. I just unhooked the gas line and squeezed the bulb and it siphoned out and I filled up a BUNCH of gas cans. Thank goodness I have so many, lol.

What is the percentage of water in gas that is acceptable for an outboard? Dang, this time it is my 1999 Mercury 150hp on 19ft ProGator and I was going in from fishing, running wide open and suddenly I noticed a def change in sound and reduction in speed. I thought I snagged a fisherman's net or something but after getting to idle and looking, nope. I got going again and it ran 48mph instead of the 53mph it was doing. It sounded rough and I got back to idle. Made it into the dock. It went dead and was hard to crank but I finally got it going and onto the trailer. I am worried that something bad happened. There is oil in the oil reservoir. I checked water content with a little water tester I have and the sample I did is about 6% water. Is this enough to cause a problem? I am concerned because the spark plugs, I see wet oil on the threads and I dunno if that is normal but I don't recall seeing that before. Could a boat going top speed just suddenly ingest a slug of water and run rough? I haven't used the boat much over the past year but I have run it twice in the past two weeks and it was flawless, so, this is surprising to me.

I have always been active in sports but I have become much softer at age 67 and not in nearly as good a shape as I wish! And my knees give me trouble. I have lost some weight, so, that helps. I am 6'2" and weigh 242 right now. I am wondering about getting in and out of a kayak, lol. Standing up in one, I can't imagine. I am not sure I have the leg and core strength. If I am on the ground for whatever reason, I can get back up but if there is something to push off of with my arms, that is what I am naturally going to do! But I am still agile enough that I can drive my bassboat onto the trailer after fishing and hop out onto the tongue and balance without falling in the water and crank the winch down and then climb into the back of the pickup and get down to the ground. Many guys couldn't do that but, no doubt, getting up and down is more of a challenge these days! It's part strength problem, flexibility and just the knees wearing out, I suppose. More weight to lose! I would love to see some comments about getting in and out of a kayak. I am also curious about rod storage while fishing a kayak. I watched a Hobie video and I didn't see a mention of that at all, so, I will search for more videos. If I had to use just one rod n reel, I could, no doubt. And just retie to change baits. But having an extra rod or two would be nice. I see people with the milk crate behind them and rods stored vertically. Do you just lean back and draw one out like an arrow out of a quiver, lol? Trying to envision how you (I, not you!) can get to the extra rods. Yes, I need to get in better shape. I was learning to fly a paramotor last year even at my age but I quit and took up gliding in sailplanes instead due to the fact that I just can't run like I used to. With a paramotor on your back, it weighs 50-70 lbs and you gotta run like hell pulling that big parachute wing to get launched. Sailplanes are easier, lol.

Just squish it with pliers or cut it how? I've always just squished them. But I note you said, "remove."

What about fishing lakes with lots of stumps/snags. Kayaks that you use an oar or those you have pedals. Can you always get unstuck?

I have never been there! I bet it is beautiful. Is it good fishing up there to where you can catch a lot per day? I don't care about size unless they are tiny dinks, lol. I gotta get up that way fore I die. Whatever species.

It also might have to do with how expensive bassboats are. Like pickup trucks, it's gotten pretty crazy. I suppose many or most pay a note, though, instead of forking over total payment.

Private lake membership is happening in some areas. Do you have any in your locale? I just became aware of one. A friend is a member and is catching lots of big bass. Of course, the lake was stocked with fast-growing bass. Membership is $3600/yr and my normal reaction is geez that seems super high but I think of what I used to pay for the country club golf membership and it doesn't seem so crazy, lol. For a place that isn't overfished and has big 'uns... hmmm...