fishinfool

I just bought my first bass boat last year. It's nothing special but it gets the job done and pretty fast for the size of it. I haven't bought insurance yet but I really need to, only being 19 if i were to get in a wreck with my boat or truck theres no way i could come up with the cash to cover it.

makes me want to drive about 10 mph next time i take off to the lake. sorry to hear about your misfortunes guys, atleast no1 was hurt though.

get used to driving the outboard and get to the point where you can handle it good. then back the trailor into the water only enough so you can drive the boat onto it w/ the outboard. then hook the winch and let it do the rest. i hardly ever go by myself anymore just b/c i'm lazy i guess. its so much easier for someone to drive the truck while i drive the boat onto the trailor and take off. me and all my buddies have gotten pretty good at doing this so it only takes like 1 minute if that.

if you're going to buy one that old, i hope you aren't planning on selling it for anywhere near what you'll pay for it. 10 yr old i would go w/ a skeeter first choice, then a stratos...theres a good market for boats that old and for good prices. just make sure you shop around until you find one that fits your needs. good luck!

only run the best. yamaha hands down

in my opinion, i'd take it out to clean it every other weekend or so just because its fun. probably doens't need it that much but its better to be safe than sorry. marine growth might not even be a factor if ur boat is on the move that much.

Sounds like christmas came early for ya. Congrats on the new boat, always exciting. I'm only 19 and i'm already on #3, my dad on the other hand is probably on about 10. Do you have any pics of the new member?

All these guys have given some great advice, compound all of it together and you might just turn them on. Light line, i'd go with 8#, wacky rig senko, use some attractant. Bang is the spray that i'm using right now, seems to be working better than some of the others that i've used in the past. I can't think of anything that hasn't already been said.

thats great man, yeah i like abel's idea. i think its definetly worth a new rig. i hate that i missed ya on the show but thats awesome, you've done something most of us won't.

Besides practice and time on the water, I need to be able target the fish better and adapt to changing patterns. I'm real stubborn and it's hard for me to change and go fish deeper water because all I want to do is keep pounding at the banks and shallow cover. Maybe i'll work on that this winter since I know they're going to be deeper.

Looks like you're going to have to perform surgery. I've got a 55# Minn Kota too, man those things are quiet aren't they. If I was you i'd just take the head apart and see what I could find if anything, that was wrong. Thats just me though, I like taking things apart just to put them back together again. Hopefully someone else will chime in and steer you in the right direction.

Some sort of topwater bait would be my first choice. Throw it right over the tops of where the lilies are. Knowing what the vegetation is under the water is a huge advantage.

I'm in greenville sc and i wouldn't mind joining up with a small bass club. have you been to scbass.net? they hold a lot of tournament's during the week and weekends you just have to be a member of the organization to participate, not sure what the membership fee is.

One thing is for sure, you definetly came to the right place for education. Stick around, I can promise you'll learn a ton.

After every trip or before every trip, I like to put muffs on the motor and clear the filter out. Probably isn't necessary but I figure it can't hurt.

If I were you I would get the motor serviced if you haven't had it serviced lately, you won't be able to a whole lot better gas mileage than you already have with a motor that old. But the tune up should help a tad. I've got a 98 yamaha 15 and I only carry a 5gal tank with me no matter which lake i'm going to. I run all day with that and usually only use about half of the tank if that. On the other hand, my 85 mercury will guzzle a 14gal tank in around 6 hours and its a two-stroke.

I definetly would have said something to them. Thats very disrespectful, even in a lake that small, theres plenty of room to share, don't let them do that to you again.

I bought my first bass boat this past season, it doesn't have a hotfoot and I actually like the throttle arm better. But of course i've never had a hotfoot so don't take my word to heart. I can see why it is safer and more comfortable, but for someone who's 6'5" 220lbs, I don't have that much leg room under the console in the first place, trying to move my leg and foot around to suit the pedal. Just my opinion of course, heck you may see me out there next season w/ a hotfoot. lol.

shatty, don't have anything to brag about but a 6lb 2oz 24in, hasn't been my season, hoping that fall will bring them back up my way(shallow)

Ok I've got a ?. So since the baitfish will be running big and in large numbers. Would cb, sb, and jerkbaits be great choices to throw near the baitfish? Not eliminating the need for plastics, but putting them on hold for these few weeks would seem to be the way to act on this pattern of "fall" fishing. I'm getting cold already down here, its like 60's in the mornings with a cool breeze, makes me want to grab the jacket before headin out the door.

You just need to feel like you've worked the area over well with the bait your working. It's all about preference, I wouldn't feel right about telling someone how long is the correct length of time to use a certain bait especially w/o knowing the situation. You just have to feel it out for yourself, eventuall you'll aquire a pattern for this and then you'll feel more comfortable w/ changing lures or patterns. The only way to learn is to gain confidence and learn from your mistakes along the way.

How can you tell what it is when you're reading the graph? I still haven't mastered the art of reading my fish finder. I guess i'm going to have to get my hands on a tutorial of some sort.

Anybody use them? I've been putting my wallet and phone and stuff in a ziploc bag and it seems to be doing fine. Bass pro has a cheap dry bag, wondered if it was worth anything? Heres the link if you want to look at it. http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=59941&hvarTarget=search&cmCat=SearchResults

I know what you mean. They have mags for walleye, fly fishing, and saltwater, but no freshwater or bass fishing mags. I just ordered the marine catalog though.

Out of nowhere my transducer stops reading at speeds over 30 mph. It used to read just perfect at speeds over 60 but now when I get up to about 25 it freezes up. The speed is the only thing that will work right. The depth gets stuck at 2 ft and it won't give a reading at all of the bottom contour. Any suggestions?