the ohh face

I am struggling myself, only been out a few times this year and not a bass yet. I have caught a half dozen pickerel on a super fluke rigged weightless. I'm heading out today and im thinking live shiners on one pole and ill probably go through every soft plastic and jig in my box on the others, maybe some suspending jerkbaits as well.

my first try would be a live shiner or crawfish if i couldnt get those fish to hit on any soft plastics. next probably a nightcrawler. If you have an aversion to live bait maybe a small grub twitched there with a lot of patience or a hair jig. After trying those for an hour or so I myself would probably move on in search of easier fishing

if you can post a picture of the jack i can probably direct you to what you need

thanks for the input. i dont think i realized what i was getting into when I picked up a little trolling motor im gonna be $600 into this thing before you know it

Im looking to buy a battery for my new trolling motor. Its a vector 40 lb thrust mounted on my canoe. I know I need a deep cycle battery but am not sure the amp hours I should go with. What would you guys recommend? Maybe just the heaviest one im comfortable lugging around? I have not been able to find a decent battery minder that is not mounted in your boat online either, can anyone point me in the right direction with that? Preferably something i can leave hooked up for a week or two if i forget about it in between fishing trips. One thing I did find that seems like a good purchase at first glance is this trolling battery power center by minn kota. http://www.boatersworld.com/product/369634514.htm It has a 50 amp circuit breaker on it which is fairly expensive by itself and if the box is fairly sturdy it seems like a good product. If anyone has used this product your comments would be appreciated.

The electricity takes the path of least resistance, so when you have the charger hooked up to each battery power flows through the battery to ground and not through the circuit. Just be sure to attach the clips to the batteries before plugging in the charger to avoid arcing.

Look out here come the grammar police. The special grammar police. He didnt misspel the word you, he did misspel at/use and used and where an was appropriate if you want to get technical.

It seems to me from the anglers that I know personally and the ones on this site there is usually little danger of that. Rarely do I meet a serious fisherman that is not also concerned about conservation. From trophy hunters, anglers who eat their fish, to C&R fishermen it seems the majority care if only so that they can catch fish long into the future.

maybe better control but you arent going to be able to cast that jig more than 20 feet

Its not really spring yet but pop-r's work really well for me after the thaw also 7" powerbait ribontails seem to catch a bunch for me in the spring, lizards as well a little closer to spawn time

You probably can get by with the same info used for the larger reservoirs. Being manmade they should have the same kind of sturcture just less area to search. You can also try the location forums and the site also has links for fishing sites for most states.

Great responses. I didnt even think about a record. Probably cause my chances of even getting my state record are pretty slim. I could see keeping a state record to get mounted though. You can be pretty sure the fish is at the end of its life if you manage a state record. Would that situation make any of you change your mind from a replica to skin mount?

yeah those are some nice work

I have caught more than a few fish in the 6-8 pound range and one 9+ but have always said I would mount my first largemouth over ten pounds. I now know that replicas from pictures and measurements often look more lifelike. I plan on purchasing one when I finally do catch that fish. Having this discussion with a fishing partner he said he would still want to keep the fish to be mounted, just so he could say, that this is the fish i caught and not some replica. I suggested that each year this fish spawns the greater chance of catching its lunker offspring in the future. He responded that in new england a fish 10 lbs and up is near the end of its lifecycle anyways and has already spread its seed. While im not too sure thats accurate he remained adamant on that point. I wouldnt go so far as to say its irresponsible as long as you caught it legally but I am still against mounting if you could release the fish to be caught again. What are your opinions on mounting bass?

How can you tell the size of the fish if you missed hooking it? Fish a lot of clear water?

According to the discovery channel there is no need to worry about beavers eating the fish, apparently they are vegetarians. The reason for the dam is not to make the pond larger for more fish to eat, but to protect the beavers from predators.

Usually use 6#. Sometimes 8-10# if im snappin line left and right.

I got to go with berkley for amount of fish caught, GYCB close second as a new favorite, and zoom third for their large selection.

I like the cavitrons as well but my best producer is one off the rack at dicks for like $1.50 I think its a strike king and I caught more fish on it last year than any other lure in my box. Most of the paint is chipped off, the barb on the hook is gone and half the strands on the skirt have been torn off but it still catches fish. Its a single blade with a black skirt and i think the blade is tin, it seems to make a certain sound the bass around me cant resist. I go through a lot of cheap buzzbaits throwing them under tree limbs and into tight spots and every once in a while I get one that produces like that.

Yeah I can see how it will probably be a pain to try fishing a large buoyant bait with large trebles on the bottom, it will probably need a lot of weight to keep it down, increasing tangles. The fish seem top be tuning in on this particular paint sceme though. I have a countdown that is fairly close to this color that doesnt work nearly as well. Maybe I can paint a countdown myself. I will give it shot with the rubber core sinker and if its too unwieldy I guess its option B. Then again I definately catch more fish when i can see the lure, except for soft plastics, so maybe its not the lure but the fisherman who sucks. Ohh well I guess all i can do is keep at it till i find what works.

I'll lose a couple a season on snags and such. The worst was two years ago when my buddy knocked my open tacklebox into the spillway. Really my fault for setting up there but i still didnt talk to him for a couple weeks.

I have crimped down the barb on several of my lures to get the hook out easier. On subsequent fish i didnt really notice a better hookup ratio, but one thing its good for is practice in not losing fish after a hookup. After fishing a few outings with barbless hooks I think I lose a lot less fish from not playing them right and in landing the fish. Both with hooks with barbs and without.

thanks fer the heads up, ill have to go check out the local walmarts

I got this 6" rapala jointed in chain pickerel color that produces big in my area. Between me and my partner 3 fish over 4lbs last year. Now i want to rig this up in a c-rig but the lure has a lot of buoyancy. A large egg sinker would probably be better than a slip sinker pegged? Also im assuming ill have to take off one of the middle hooks and tie to that to get the right action. I know I'll have to test this out on the water for fine tuning Im just looking for some feedback from people who have used this method.

Like marty said, I usually replace any plastic pieces with large split rings and those clips. Any hardware store should have a bunch of different parts that with a little imagination you can make work to your liking