Evan K

My dad says the same thing about these modern "cheap, chinese-made bathroom scales".

So far my favorite is Berkley Havoc Pit Boss. They're super cheap and have a thicker body, so they actually stay hooked when using a straight shanked flipping hook. I don't understand why so many beaver baits have a wide, flat body- that thin body gives the hook point almost nothing to stay in.

It's usually $7 or so I think. It gets applied at checkout.

That's pretty funny. Reminds me when my brother and I were surf fishing off a jetty years ago, using whole mullet for bait, and a seagull dove at my brother's bait as he cast it out. The gull missed but got the line tangled around his legs. My brother noticed and started reeling it in and when he pulled it up to the jetty we realized there was a fish on as well! Just a small sea robin, nothing huge thankfully, or that would have been the end of the seagull.

Well, I haven't charged that battery in a while- that very well may be the case. I'll look into it- thanks a lot for all the help.

OK, thanks. I guess I'll give that a try and see if it helps. Being a trolling motor it might be a bit of a challenge to get it tilted but we'll see. Did you have any ideas on why the original picture had such jagged, weird lines and such?

Sorry for not making it clear. I should explain the whole boat setup. It's a 1236 Tracker Jon boat. I have a 55 lb. Minn Kota trolling motor mounted on the transom as my only propulsion system. It's typically mounted as far to the left as possible (which winds up being about 6" off center or so). I have a Humminbird SI transducer mounted to the transom on the right side. Picture shows it in the deployed position. Is there any solution to the motor blocking the transducer? And do you have any idea why it was reading so oddly in that shot? I've attached another shot- is this a normal view or is something wrong there also? It's another small pond. Thanks for the help- I'm really new to fishing electronics in general. BTW I did indeed mean 16".

Oh no, it's a standard transom mount transducer. The shaft of the TM is just 16' or so to the left and I can't get it to where it doesn't block the side imaging. Do the TM transducers work well? I would have thought the wash from the prop would mess it up. The small brown fuzzy line on the left side of that picture, near the top of the water, is prop wash.

You have a collection? That sounds cool!

Thanks for weighing in, Wayne. The unit is powered off of a small dedicated battery in the battery box with my trolling motor battery. Nothing else is connected to it. The comment about a drop off might be true- I don't remember exactly where this was in that pond. The pond is very shallow- deepest part is about 10' and that's only a small portion. Also, the sudden dark line on the left side (circled on the attached image) is my trolling motor. No matter how much I try and change position it still blocks the transducer. Do you think that's also why the left side is consistently reading darker?

My side scan has been acting oddly. I've only seen it work well once so far on one lake. Last time I was at a small pond it was doing this. Really odd jagged lines, one side really bright and the other really dark.

Amazing fish, congrats! I went out on my first charter this June, out for black sea bass off of Cape May NJ. Not fish like that, but still a ton of fun!

I have noticed that almost every fish I've gotten with a flipping hook/snell knot has been solidly hooked in the top of the mouth. That said I don't think it's enough of a difference to make me switch to using it on all t rigs. My hookup ratio with a regular improved clinch knot is fine.

I would say never buy a rod or reel from Walmart. Almost every item there, even if it's from a reputable manufacturer, will be a special "for Walmart" model that is far inferior in quality. After a bunch of bad experiences with them I would heartily recommend looking elsewhere.

Sounds like the solution is to take a little better care of your gear!

Terrific. I have a 2.5 y/o son myself, and we've gone out together too a bunch. He loves it. Even learning how to cast (in a fashion) as well. Good job sir!

So far I've only had mine out on one trip (going to do more) and I caught fish with it then. I like it. I wish they'd given more attention to detail on the underside instead of the top though. That's a big red flag for gimmicky-ness, but I don't think the lure is a gimmick.

You're right handed but use a spinning reel set up for left handed? That's odd- a RH baitcaster should be second nature to you. There are so many more options available in RH that I think it's worth the effort to learn how.

I agree with @Bluebasser86- if you have good equipment use it! It's made to be used. But you're entitled to do whatever you like of course. Two of my friends have no. eight hellbent rods and they are fantastic, so I can imaging a blackout is even better.

Incredible! The color matching and scheme is beautiful.

Some, but a lot of JDM baits (I am tempted to say most but don't have hard data to back that up) are still made in China or Thailand. They're still great baits.

Congrats sir! Our second is due in August.

Exact same for me. I've caught LOTS of fish on spinnerbaits (even a couple PBs) and it's a high confidence bait for me. Chatterbaits I struggle to get a bite on.

You may as well ask that question about 99.9999% of all fishing lures.

I prefer spinning gear for that lightweight of jig myself. With a trailer it is doable with a baitcaster though. Also depends how good you are with baitcasting equipment.