NJfishinGuy

yeah im almost sure im gonna go with aluminum now, i love the pretty sparkles but i can live without lol. i did for a while plan on a john boat and converting it to a bass boat. my other uncle has a 15' lowe john w/9.9 merc on it he put front and back custom decks and some other goodies. i wanted to buy it off him but he wont sell it even tho its been sitting for like 10 years. my only issue with that is he told me its stable but not the greatest for standing and its really weighed down with the custom decks.he also was over taken and sunk on round valley one of our larger lakes in NJ when the wind picked up, i reallly like the water and id like to have the steering wheel for comfortable cruiseing. in NJ theres not much to do around me and i think me and my friends would have alot of time spent just goin and cruiseing and tube/sking and stuff with it when were not fishing. i dont want a fish/ski boat but i know i could do some with a bass boat. i would be rarely fishing alone. i have a good buddy ive gotton into fishing now and he has the itch to go quite a bit. my gf also likes it but is very uncomfortable on my 12' john boat and her back problems put her in alot of pain most of the day. a nice deck would allow me to fish and she can just sunbathe or take a nap when shes bored or hurting. yes she naps on my 12' also lol. my dad has been sick for years and cant really take me fishing but now that im 20 and getting my own boat its my turn to be taking him fishing so hes kinda excited for me to get a boat. he and my uncle fished for years on his tracker. if all else fails i can call a couple other friends but i would go alone if i need to. im really planning on spending around 3-5k my buddy got his 1998 tracker for 3 w/ 40hp like i said tho if i have to i may get a small loan and spend around 8 for somethin nice,

http://www.walmart.com/search/browse-ng.do?ic=20_0&ref=125872.125909 yup 99 bucks, i dunno if they still have em i dont see them on there website anymore but they did when i got mine, they do have a motor guide for 97 bucks same power in this link. heres a 30lb from dicks http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1194954&cp=2367824.2291514.2291523.2291550&pg=2&parentPage=family&searchId=17374084791

whats the diffrence

ok i see your points and i see that other companys seem a little better built. i will not be on BIG WATER i think NJ's biggest lake is around 4k acres. with that in mind larger gas capacity is not a big issue. as far as warrenty i dought a boat i buy will even have a warrenty because im not lookin for a new boat. when i say beaching a boat i mean in an emergency, i wont have to say "if i beach i will crack and really f'up my boat" if i have aluminum. well i guess aluminum is the way to go for me. im guessing ill probably wind up with a tracker due to there being alot of them forsale and there cheaper price but i will definatly keep and eye open for the other brand, i did like the xpress and tritons a good bit but i have never seen any near me for sale. i will probably be fishing almost every weekend from spring to fall and a coupe times during the week when i can, so it wont be sitting to often

what makes these other aluminums more stable or better than a tracker out of curiosity, i see the tritons are pretty wide so that might explain them, the g3 looks like almost the same boat the tracker in comparable size actually has a slightly wider beam than the g3 but 2" smaler on the bottom width. the triton is bigger both ways. it seems along with the xpress slightly. other than a inch or so either way between models and companys they apear to have the same hull deisgn in shape is there somthing im not seeing? alpster thanks for the invite to see your water machine i may come take a peak one of these days but im guessing your talkin about a deep v style lookin boat with decks. i know they are great but for some reason i have somethin deep down i hate about deep v lookin boats just somethin i grew to not like growin up no real reson just never did. i always wanted a bass style boat

ive been on that list of the nj lakes but i dont see where it say paddle only or boats allowed for that matter, some say electric and N for outboard but i go to a couple lakes that say N for outboard and people use trolling motors all the time so i dont see how that tells you. maybe you can explain to me if bass trackers are unstable then i cant even imagine a bigg fiberglass boat, my 12ft is the most unstable thing in the world and the bass tracker seems like a yot to me lol. what aluminum besides the xpress are better than the trackers because it seems aluminum is the better wy to go for me

well thats kinda why i was lookin to the tracker with a 9.9 on it. i was gonna build a 14-16ft john into a custom home made bass boat but i kinda want the real thing with more stability and a steernig wheel for fun times. how do you find out what lakes are paddle only?

what are your top 3 Bass and what did you catch them on 18" about 4-4.5lbs on a chart spinnerbait a couple smaller ones on spinner baits

what about the xpress do you preferover a bass tracker in an aluminum boat. they seem almost the same to me from the pictures just the xpress seems a little more exspensive. im definatly not lookin into spending 20+k not even 10+ thousand but if i see one used ill definatly check it out.

im guessing that means they dont get blown around as bad when trying to fish spots

looks pretty good to me, ive seen 2 larger guys fishing on those little plastic boats they seem to do fine and for 100 bucks you cant go wrong if thats all you deisre to get out on the water, i never actually knew they made 1 person ones i might actually look into gettin one for myself, dont worry i wont steel your boat ill find my own hehe

ok im still working on selling my 2001 trans am $15k obo if your interested, and when i sell it im buying a truck and a used bass boat. i was planning on a bass tracker but i sure do love those fiberlgass boats and im really fond of the one for sale on here for like 5800 the 1992 stratos. my uncle had a tracker and said aluminum all the way because its lighter takes less hp and you can beach it anwhere in an emergency even a rock pile and u wont kill your boat. what is it that makes so many of you buy the fiberglass boats over an aluminum? besides that they can handle more hp.. this will be my first bass boat i have a 12' john now so what do you guy recomend i definatly want stability for standing and being able to walk around on the boat if needed. probably 18ft is my cut off dont want bigger than that, also NO deep v boats i hate them(just a thing) my gf hates unstable boats so i want somethin she will be comfortable on so she will actually go, i also will do a little tubeing off of it but thats not a concern cause i would do it on my john boat to hehe. i know how stable a bass tracker is my buddy has a pro team 175tx so if you want to compare another boat to that i can judge. just trying to figure out whats the best for me. big hp is not an issue most nj lakes are 10hp limit anyway, my buddys tracker has a 40hp and to me thats hauling *** after having a 35lb troller on my john boat for 4 years. i cant think of other points to make to help u guys with recomendations so if u need to know somehtin as away. im gonna probably spend somewhere between $2,000-$8,000, id like to spend less but ill take a small loan to get somethin nice if i have to.

go wallmart you can get a 35lb thrust minn kota for $99 bucks ive been useing mine for like 3years and it works great. also u can get a everstart wallmart battery 115amp hours for like 60 bucks is what i got and its goin on 4 years now also still working good, usually id fish from about 4am till like 2pm and not have it hardlly loose any power i aso have a 12' flat bottom john boat with 2 people in the boat. atey i rigged a foot pedal on the front but thats another story

yeah like i said the jumpings sorta cool but id rather land fish than see them jump and get loose, im not a tournament angler recreational for now, i may start with some small local tourneys buti just wanna catch when i go out not loose thats all

ive never swam for a lure if i can get to it in the boat ill put my top half and hang over the boat to grab it, i did have a huge pickeral take a jitterbug and 10 mins later it floated up

when i was a little kid my dad always made me wear a hat to protect my head well one day i was throwing a rapala for snappers and i took my hatoff cause it was annoying and i casted straight over my head and got the trebbles 2 of them stuck in my head hadda go to the hospital and have them taken out they had to strap me down cause i freaked out when they tried to take em out. sense then ive had a hook in my left pointer finger and my right thumb both to deep to push threw and had to be hospital removed. lol

ok thanks for the info i definatly have a little better idea what to do with it now, the battery is a wallmart EVERSTART 115 amp hours if that helps at all

ok thanks guys ill give it a try next time. i do love seeing them launch out of the water but at the same time if im gonna loose alot of them id rather see them out of the water when my thumb is on there lip hehe

just wondering how to tell when a battery is fully charged, i havea 2/10 amp charger i forget the brand its my dads but i usually charge my battery all night on 10amp setting . the little meter on it i think goes from 0-12 and usually will get down to about 4-4.5 and stop, would that be the point its done at if thats where it stops? the battery finally seems to be acting like a normal battery its about 3 or 4 years old now and for a lng time i could fish all day it never seemed to even loose power but lately its will get a little slower at the end of the day. just tryin to figure out if im charging it all the way or maybe not do they make peak chargers thats shut off and go to trickle when its done like r/c cars have.

almost every bass ive ive hooked into lately has been a jumper, and ive lost to many of them in mid air even tho i try to keep tension on the line at all times, so what technique do you guys use to keep the bass in the water?

i have a question for someone more expeiriacned myself. is this correct though? when you lift the bait keep your rod up till it hits bottom again. i always lifted it and then dropped the rod and waited to watch the line stop sinking then reeled up the slack.

So that is the typical Texas rig fished the typical way. However, you can take the rig to extremes. Dead Sticking is a technique where you make a cast into an area you believe holds fish. Let it sink to the bottom and just let it sit, as long as your little heart can stand it. Just let it sit. This works best in areas where there is a little bit of current created by a river system or by wind. You may think the lure is not moving down there, but it is, ever so slightly. The other technique is called rip worming. This technique was stolen from a Walleye angler in Minnesota and works great on some days turning non-aggressive fish into aggressive fish. The rig is set up the same way, it's the retrieve that is changed. With the premise that fish hit a Texas rig as it falls, you try to create a retrieve that optimizes the falling time and uses fast motions to create reaction strikes. To do this, cast out and let it sink to the bottom. Then, let it sit a few seconds. Instead of just lightly pulling your rod to the 1:00 position, snap your wrists so that the lure jumps off the bottom. Then let a controlled slack in the line. You want the lure to jump about 3-4 feet off the bottom, then sink back down. Practice this in shallow water and watch what the lure does. Also be sure to make short casts with this technique, because you don't want the lure to move very far horizontally, you just want it to jump up vertically. I like to add a glass bead and brass clacker to my rig when doing this. It creates a clicking noise that sometimes attracts fish. I hope that through this article you have a better understanding of how to fish a Texas rig and are able to boat more fish as a result.

Somethin i found on the NJ fourm thought it was a good article and might help some people out if they are unsure of some things i learned a few things from it myself. *taken from another forum* Fishing A Texas Rig To begin, I think that once you learn how to effectively fish a soft plastic bait on a Texas rig, you can fish just about anything. A Texas rigged soft plastic bait can catch fish year round in just about any situation by simply varying your soft plastic bait and your retrieve. The Texas rigged plastic worm accounts for more wins in the B.A.S.S tour than any other lure ever. For some reason it has lost popularity as of late, but despite it's apparent decline it is still catches fish. The basic set up for the Texas rig is very simple: a hook (depending on size of bait), a sinker (the lightest you can get away with, wind and water depth will determine this), and a gob of plastic (which I will get to later.) You can add other things to a Texas rig like a glass bead and clacker (brass piece) if you want. Depending on cover and water clarity, you want to use either a baitcaster or spinning gear in a medium/heavy action rod, 6 1/2 to 7 foot in length with 6-20 lb test. I will usually start with 10-12 lb test and go from there. The lighter the line, the more natural or realistic the plastic will work. The length of the rod is important for taking the slack out of the line during the hookset. The action of the rod is important in that you want the tip to be sensitive, yet not give yourself away if you are feeling if a fish is there. You want the butt section of the rod to have plenty of backbone to drive the hook home. The way to rig a Texas rig is to insert the hook into the plastic and run it into the worm about 1/4 inch, then pull the hook to the eye and turn it around and run the hook tip through the worm and skin hook it on the opposite side so that the rig is weedless. Be sure that the worm hangs straight or it will twist your line. I myself don't often peg my sinker (pegging is to make it so that the slip sinker doesn't slip, this is either done by jamming a toothpick tip in or running a piece of skirt material through the sinker, or a new product called "peg its".) (TIP: if using a toothpick, be sure to peg the sinker then push the sinker up the line and cut off the line where you stabbed the toothpick in. Usually you damage the line slightly when you do this, and it would not be good to loose a big fish from this.) The only time I peg the sinker is when fishing heavy weeds or when I am trying to skip the bait under cover (dock or tree limbs.) Fishing a plastic bait on a Texas rig is fairly easy. The biggest problem I see most people make is that they make too long of casts and they don't hold their rod in a position in which they are helping them selves feel bites. As a result, they often miss strikes. To avoid these pitfalls, Make short manageable casts to structure or cover. The only time you need to make long casts is in ultra clear water when there is little or no wind. Make sure you are casting to something. The Texas rig is not much of a search bait--you are casting it to a specific area or cover. Once the lure hits the water, allow the rig to have controlled slack. What I mean by this is that you want the bait to fall as vertically as possible, yet still have contact with the lure. It's also a good idea to pick a spot out on the line and to watch it for any jumps or ticks. The bass will hit a Texas rig on the fall 90% of the time. As the lure falls, keep your rod in 2:00-3:00 position. It is a good idea to keep a finger in contact with the line (many times you can feel the strike through the line that you have missed feeling with the rod.) When you feel the rig hit the bottom, let it set for a second. Then, slowly lift the rod to a 1:00 position and wait for the rig to settle back on the bottom. Once this has happened, reel in the slack line as you drop the rod to the 3:00 position again. Many make the mistake of reeling in the slack while the lure is falling and thus miss strikes. Continue this retrieve until you are past the cover/structure you are fishing. A hit or bite can vary a lot from the mood of the fish. It can be a smack that just about rips the rod out of your hand or it can be something that you don't feel at all but notice when your line is moving sideways. Remember: hooksets are free. If you think it's a hit, do something about it. To set the hook on a Texas rig: as soon as you feel the bite or think you have a fish, reel down to the 9:00 position and set the hook with a lot of force. A hard hookset is needed. When a fish eats a plastic worm, the bass will ball it up in its mouth, and you may have to penetrate the worm a few times before you hit lip. If you think you didn't get a good enough set on your first one, go ahead and set the hook again, but don't give the fish any slack in the line. The lure (hunk of plastic) is very important on a Texas rig. I hope to give you a few hints on what lure to have on at what times, but remember, there really are no rules, just suggestions that I can make. There are many different kinds of plastic lures on the market today in a variety of colors that leave a person a million different combinations. It's knowing when to use which color and what kind of plastic that will help put fish in your boat. I'll begin with color. The color of the lure can play a large part in how the fish will hit the bait. Sometimes if you are setting the hook and not hooking the fish, just by changing the color you will begin to hook the fish. The fish are trying to tell you something if you are getting bite and not hooking fish. I'm sure many have heard that light day-light color, dark day- dark color, clear water-natural color, dark water-bright colors. Most of that holds true in deciding what worm you should be throwing. I pretty much try to keep my plastic colors as simple as possible. In my opinion, you really only need a few colors. Watermelon seed is a great color for clear water, dark day or bright day. The other clear water color I use is Pumpkinseed. For stained water, I like Red Shad and Black. And for water in between, I like Tequila Sunrise. I can pretty much fish all water under all conditions if I have those colors in a variety of shapes and sizes. The shape of the lure can play a very large part in whether or not you get a bite also. There are plenty of plastic chunks out there in just about every shape available-some that don't even remotely resemble anything in nature. Yet, because the bass is the way he is, they still eat them. The more little frillies that come off the bait, the more underwater noise that it gives off for the fish to feel in vibrations. Lures like the Exude B.A. Hawg feel very different to a bass than a 4" finesse worm. When the fish are feeding heavily, if you put a larger profile bait, you can sometimes attract larger fish. But if the bite is difficult, downsizing is sometimes needed to get a bite at all. What I use to help me decide what to throw is this: if I am fishing clear water, I want to throw a smaller bait with few curly tails hanging off it in a natural color. I want that bait to sneak up on the fish. I dono:00 position. It is a good idea to 't want the fish to be able to look at it for a long time from a distance to see if he wants to eat it or not. In murky water you can get away with a lot more, I will use larger baits that make more noise (in vibrations) to help the fish find the bait. However, like I said there are no set rules, in high traffic areas where the fish may see a lot of pressure, downsizing is the key. No matter what the color of the sky and color of the water. Continue l l l \/

how many magazines do you get a year with bassin, i cant find it on there website.

well then i feel much better cause i did catch a large sucker probably 5lbs off a nest once i think ill be hitting those spawners nex srping hardcore now i dont feel bad. when do they actually next? late april/may