Oilpig

More information about where this location is might help us give better advice. Here's my general advice for fishing river system reservoirs in East Tennessee. (1) Know your prey. Are you better off targeting largemouths, smallmouths, or spots? In TN smallmouth are great but they have to be 18 inches in most places which means you need to be catching really nice smallies to count 'em. A 17 inch largemouth might be easier to find than a 18 inch smallie. (2) Know the current schedule (if it's under generation). Some spots will hold fish with no current. Some will only hold fish when the current is running. Find out where to get information about the planned generation schedule for the dams above and below the pool you're fishing. The currents will be different if they are generating from the dam upstream of you versus downstream of you or from both. Generation from the downstream dam only will pull some current and possibly drop the water level. Generation from upstream will generate current and possibly raise the water level. Generation at both dams will crank a pretty good current with perhaps no water level change. The last Bassmasters magazine had a good article about reservoirs with dams, check it out. I won't give advice about baits and such 'cause that's pretty wide open depending on where you live. Hope the little information is helpful. Be sure to report back and tell us how you did. Cheers!

Great post Catt! One thing I might amend on that post is the sentence about moving 20 feet between pitches. My experience pitching big jigs on Guntersville has taught me something about big fish in the summer. Often you'll find a "school" of bass (3-4 good fish) in an area about the size of a boat or smaller. Because of that, I'll try to pitch to every little stalk of hydrilla I see along the edge of the mat. If you're only pitching the bait every 20 feet, you might go right over a "school" of good fish without them ever seeing your bait. I also try to zig-zag in and out from the really scattered grass to the dense edge of the mat looking for that density of grass the bass are holding in on that particular day. If you're only fishing the very edge of the scattered grass, you might be missing the pattern that day of fish holding in the heavier hydrilla mat, or vice-versa. The other thing I try to do is to pitch the bait right on top of the hydrilla stalk, as opposed to pitching it into the openings between stalks. The fish are generally holding in the stalk. Having that bait shoot down right on top forces them to make a reaction, either react by eating it or get out of the way. Often enough they'll decide to react with a bite. At that point you have to be able to tell the difference between a jig not falling to the bottom because it's hung in a stalk of hydrilla versus a jig being caught half way down by a fish. That will take a little practice. Just thought I'd share my 2 cents...cheers!

I posted this on the texasfishingforum.com a little over a year ago when I was fishing a BASS Federation Nation club out of Houston, TX. Thought it might be useful to post here too. I fish a BASS Federation Nation club and the SE TX Federation regionals as a nonboater. I have a couple of rules I go by. 1) I always offer money for expenses before the tournament even starts. Offering to split half of big bass if you happen to get it doesn't hurt either. 2) I try to never cast to any spot ahead of the driver's console. Anything off the sides behind the console and off the back are fair game, but the boater gets first crack at anything they choose to position the boat to. 3) I'm new here and haven't prefished any of these lakes. I can't offer any experienced advice on this hole or that spot. So I try to approach my day as a personal challenge in two aspects. First, it's a challenge to make the absolute best of the water I'm presented. Secondly, it's a personal challenge of me against the fish...not me against the boater, other boaters, or other nonboaters...just me against ole mossyback. The other little things are important too. Don't try to bring every rod and every piece of tackle you own. I went to BPS and bought a new Bassmasters soft sided bag that holds 6 big trays. I figure if I can't fish a tournament out of that box, then I must not have a clue what I'm doing out there and I'm trying to throw everything but the kitchen sink at 'em. I simplify my tackle into that (much more neatly organized) bag, read the water when we get on it, then work what I have to the best of my ability. It also doesn't hurt to ask up front how the boater wants his/her fish handled should he/she hook up. Want the net immediately? Want to call for the net when needed? Want me to jump in with it and talk the ol' hog into the boat? Whatever he/she wants, it's best that it's known up front. Hopefully they'll be courteous enough to ask the same info from you should one of those little green gals get past the driver's console and end up on your line on a lure that fit into a small, organized box, presented on one of your 4-5 rods, that rode to the lake that day with at least $40 in gas money. Did I just about cover it all fellas (and ladies)? That's how I do it and it's how I hope to see it done when I'm distracted by the trolling motor, worried about the next spot, netting fish for my nonboater partner who just caught big bass 6 inches behind the console of my boat next year. That'll be the day! I've thought of a few more since I posted that. - Be careful while in/around your boater's expensive investment of a boat/gear. Don't step down from the back deck onto/using the seats. Use care when opening/closing storage compartment lids. - Ask about safety equipment as soon as you get into the boat. Where's the fire extinguisher? If your boater has a cell phone, ask if he has an emergency contact in his phone should anything happen. - Be sure you know how to start/drive the boat just in case your boater should become unconscious. All that being said, I haven't had a bad experience with a boater yet. Treat them as more than just your ride on the lake and you'll likely have a much better experience with your partner for the day.

A live mouse held to a large treble hook with a rubberband. Can you say DY-NO-MITE? ;D Try it out. The folks at the pet store will not be happy if you tell 'em why you're buying mice, so keep that hush hush

What these guys are getting at with hair jigs used when the water is below 50 degrees is that plastic doesn't have much movement in cold water. It gets a little stiff. Hair jigs on the otherhand have lots of movement no mater what the temperature.

You could also try putting in a lower rated fuse as a safety precaution. It might save you from burning up your TM until you get the issue solved.

Check boattest.com I've never seen a peak fuel efficiency at 4500RPM on any test they've reported. Most big engines (200-250HP) have a max fuel efficiency at about 2500-3000 RPM with a peak of about 5-6 MPG. Just what I'm reading from the experts, that's all.

Just my opinion here... You might as well buy a sail boat cheif! That big, stupid windshield that serves what purpose I don't know, acts just like a big sail when the wind is blowing and you're trying to hold your boat over a piece of structure to fish. You'll be happy when you're pleasure boating with the family, but you'll be one pain in the a$$ to tourney fish with 'cause you'll be grumpy the whole day when the wind blows even slightly. When I was a kid, my dad did the same thing. Saw 3 kids in the back of the Buick and a wife in the front. Sold the bass boat (which only him and I ever used) for a stupid combo boat. First year I think my sisters and mom went on the boat maybe 5 times....3-4 the 2nd year....1 time the 3rd year...after that dad and I were stuck in a stupid boat so in case the girls wanted to go ski, we could. It would have been much easier to rent a ski boat 5-6 times a year than to fish out of one 100 days a year. Good luck, god bless, & stay strong!

I bought a Humminbird Legend 3005D from ebay a year ago. Most of the time it works right, but most of the time ain't why I bought it. The problem with mine is when you power it on, it goes to a depth range of 0-2000ft as default sometimes. So then you have to manually turn a knob about 500 times to adjust the depth range to something reasonable. I sent it back to Humminbird during warranty. They said they couldn't get it to do it for them, it must be fine. Oh well, you live and you learn. Next finder for me won't be a Humminbird, I learned that. Good luck in your search!

I think some of you are on the right track, others may be a bit off here. The problem isn't figuring out how you can carry all this stuff, it's how to eliminate a lot of this stuff you're carrying around. My thinking is that if you carry everything with you all the time, you'll be thinking more about what lure will catch the fish, instead of what you need to do with a lure to catch the fish. Most of us think about the lure too much, and not enough about the fish eating the lure. Here's what I did before I bought a boat and was carrying all my stuff. 1) Get rid of all the stuff you find in your box that makes you say "Oh, when did I get this?" or "Hmmm, didn't even know that was in here!". Obviously you aren't using that stuff anyways. 2) Start marking stuff when you use it. For instance, if you keep your soft plastics in their bags, mark on the bag with a marker the date or even just a tick mark when you use it. At the end of this season, any bags without marks get put into your reserve that you don't carry with you. 3) Start asking your wife before you buy a new lure or bag of lures. Invariably she'll say no or complain about how much you spend on them already and you won't feel like arguing about it so you'll do with what you have already. (NOTE: Not my wife, she's a good one ) Next year you'll be all set to gallop merrily along the countryside with a much lighter bag of goodies to tempt your prey from their hiding places!

Ok, then I guess I'm in the wrong forum. Good luck with your search all the same

That's a real nice unit Bud My only regret from buying the Magellan Meridian Platinum is not getting the color screen version. At the time $150 for the color screen seemed a bit high, but it would be a nice little added bonus. For those of you who are using Magellan products, they recently added a line of software with lake maps called MapSend Lakes which comes in 3 regions. Check them out at.... http://www.magellangps.com/en/products/product.asp?PRODID=1058

If you're talking about the inflatable pontoons, I'm looking at the same thing. Been researching them for about a month now and I've come across some good sites to check out. 1) This is a good float tube & kickboat forum http://www.calfishing.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=6 2) Good place to start researching http://fkpfishing.net/Kickboater/models.html 3) Outdoor Engineering Pontoons http://www.outdoorengineering.com/boats.htm 4) Dave Scadden Boats http://www.northforkoutdoors.com/2005Boats.html 5) The Creek Company Boats http://www.creekcompany.com/ From what I've gathered here is a list of features & things to consider. a. Will you be fishing by yourself or do you need a two person boat? b. Will you fish still water (ponds/lakes) or moving water? If moving water, is there any whitewater? c. How much weight capacity do you need? Are you a big fella or will you be packing a lot of gear? d. Aluminum frames are lighter and don't rust list steel frames do. e. Double bladder pontoons are good for whitewater so if you pop one bladder on one side you won't sink. f. Do you need a motor mount for a trolling motor? Some come with a mount, others can add a mount. g. higher numbered denier is more durable than lower numbered denier fabric on the pontoons. If you're fishing moving water, go with high number denier (800-1200) or PVC outer bladder with nylon inner bladder. h. Check around with local fly fishing stores and guides. They know more about these boats that traditional anglers. Hope all that helps you out. Good luck in your search.

Sounds like Papa is on his way to being a GPS expert now Since Glenn would like all of our new questions to be new threads, I have an idea. If you post a new thread with a GPS question, come back to this post and put a new reply with the subect/title of your new thread so we can all find it. I know that I usually don't search the board too often, I'd rather be notified by email when one of my posts is active. This method should keep all of us active with the questions/answers for GPS stuff. Is this method ok Glenn?

Papa, I have a Garmin Etrex (the yellow one) that I don't use anymore. I'll pull it out and maybe I can give some more detailed instructions. I might even be able to post some screen pics from it that will be helpful. I'll take a look at it tonight.

Ok, let's start a thread rule for the following questions and answers. Start out or end your question with what type of GPS unit you are using. This might help me give better instructions, otherwise I'm giving basic instructions that won't help you on what buttons to push, or what different menus you might see. In general you mark a waypoint at the dock where you launch the boat. You can give that waypoint a special name, or use the default name given to the point by your unit. I give all of mine special names and keep a little log book of the waypoint names with descriptions. That is much easier than trying to come up with special codes since most units won't let you type in long comments. Marking locations where you caught fish is the same operation, you're just marking a waypoint. Most units will map a track of everywhere you go. It will look like a trace of your path. In the simplest form, you could just follow that path to get you back to the dock. Some units have maps loaded to them so you can see the outline of the lake, roads, etc. Those are better for navigating without the trace of your travels. If you don't want to just backtrack over your whole course, but would rather go straight to the dock, most units have a "go to" function that will let you select one waypoint that you'd like to go to. it will then draw a line on your display straight from your location to the point you want to go to. That doesn't always work since you might be in a cove or around the bend of a river and the line goes as the crow flies...straight over the hill or bend between you and the dock. Every unit is a little different. Many have "backtrack" features that will allow you to make a "route" back to a location. This is accomplished by making temporary waypoints as you travel. When you want to return, you select the "backtrack" feature and it pulls those temporary waypoints to build a route back to your original location. Again with this type of route, you will be following your old path back to the dock.

"We got a little convoy, truckin' through the night. Yeah, we got a little convoy, ain't she a beautiful sight. We're gonna roll this convoy, truckin' it all the way. "We're gonna roll this convoy across the USA....CONVOY!" However we gotta do it fellas, I'm up for it. Let the questions roll. Do we wanna start a new thread for questions and answers?

LOL, I ain't skeered of no dummies! 8) One word of advice though...if you ask for help you gotta be honest with your questions. I gotta know exactly where to start. Sounds like we'll be starting from square one here which is probably a darn good place to start with most things instead of acting like we know more than we do. I look forward to your questions Papa, and from any of the rest of you too. once you learn some of the details to GPS data you can really do a lot of fun stuff with it. ;D

If you're going to be using your GPS to get back on top of brushpiles (or other pinpoint accurate things), be sure to get a unit that has an electronic compass. Most units require that you are moving at least 2 mph in order for them to tell which direction is North. An electronic compass feature allows it to read direction without moving. Most times when you're trying to find a brushpile with your trolling motor, you'll never move fast enough for the GPS to work without the electronic compass. The Etrex Vista has that feature (http://www.garmin.com/products/etrexVista/). Another good one to look at would be the Magellan Meridian Platinum (www.magellangps.com). I've been using the Magellan model for about 2 years now and couldn't be happier. Unlike some models that claim they are waterproof, this one really is. I tested that intentionally the within 6 hours of opening the box. It floated too.

I'm a college student getting a degree in geology. Between the amount of time I spend in the backcountry doing research and all the time I spend hunting/fishing, I've gotten pretty good with my GPS unit. I've also taken a few college classes that have been a huge help in understanding GPS and any spatial data in more detail. Ok, that being said...that gpsnuts website really ain't worth a hoot. If you don't know anything about GPS, that website ain't the most user-friendly place to go find out about it. Generally the user manuals do an ok job of explaining basic operation. If you're just looking to use the GPS to make a track of where you've been (so you don't get lost), you don't need to know anything but how to turn one on. The only way to really learn is to just go out and use it. Once you start wanting to enter your own waypoints from fishing maps, you need to know a little more about how that data is collected and managed. I'm always happy to help my fellow outdoorsmen with stuff like this. If you ever have any questions, you can feel free to email me at stevewelch2002@hotmail.com Good luck with your new toys.