HPBB

Here in Pa it is as soon as the water isn't hard anymore. that is usailly in mid march. and as for active, well that is some of the best fishing for big fish in the year. My club has a early tournament each year in late march or first week in april. at this one lake and its the tournament that always puts big weights up. this seems to put up the lunker every year. there are many 5, 6 and even 7 pounders caught at that tournament. every year when we have that tournament our TD tells everybody the same thhing ( its more for the new guys than anything) "when you get that 5 pounder in the livewell and you think you just won lunker. well, don't count your money just yet. 5"s are common"

any autoparts store

Anyone towing with a new body style GM Large SUV (Chevy Tahoe, Suburban, Avalanche, GMC Yukon, Yukon XL, Cadillac Escalade) 2007 or 2008? I have a 2001 Chevy Tahoe, this is only about the "new" Body style. It has to do with the hitch. I am looking at a 2007 Chevy Avalanche and the hitch is really high. When my Tahoe sits next to it, The Avalanch sits only about an inch higher, but the hitch on the Avalanche has to be 7-8 inches higher. It sits in the rear bumper, where the older Tahoe sits under the hitch. I already use a 2 inch drop. Anybody that tow with one of these trucks, what size of drop do you use on your hitch? The guy across the street has a 2007 Yukon and he tows a camper trailer with it and he used an 6 inch drop, but the camper sits high to begin with. And when he tows his quad trailer it drags the rear of it when hitting dips. My boat trailers sit low, and I like my trailer to sit level.

With the 4.0L you will have no problem. These motor have lots of power. low end power. And pulling with a 2wd. as long as you watch what kind of ramp you launch from you should have no problems. What kind of Jeep do you have. a friend has a Jeep Grand Cherokee with the 4.0 l and it tows great, he tows a 20 foot Crown Line openbow runabout with a 350 V8 Chevy motor. It is a 4wd, but he has never need to put it in 4wd while towing that boat. we have had to put it in 4wd, but that was launching jet skies off of the beach. I have been boating since 1988 and in 2005 I got my first 4wd. I always pulled with 2wds. mostly Chevy S-10 with a 4.3L V6. As long as the ramp wasn't really muddy or very loose gravel you should have no problem. Do you have a posi rear end on you jeep? If you do it will be even easier. I really never had any problems, and the v6 towed great.

see if you can find a trailer shop in your area. it doesn't need to be a boat trailer shop, just a trailer shop and they should be able to get you a new set. I know there are many trailer shops within an hour of me, car trailers, horse trailers, even camper shop can get them and install if you can't

to bad the floors are bad. a guy in my club fishes out of the same boat and it runs well, not real fast, but good and handles lake erie well. no its not a f/s modle. that is how they made bass boats back then the decks sat deep in the boat. you will see that alot with older boats, also the decks are not that big.

BASSFISHERMAN homedepot is the place to find it all. that is where I did, and you saw my set. the peg board is in the lumber side where the plywood is. Its sold in 4x8 sheets,(white and bronw colors) sometimes you can find some in culled lumber. If you know the size you need they can cut it there for you. get some 1x2 to make a frame on the back and screw it to a wall. all the pegs are found in the tools section. they have lots of specialty hooks that might make it easy to custonize your rack the way you need. You already saw mine but here it is again .

Ok its 20 degrees outside a few inches a snow, all the water is hard, even the moving water. the snow has been here for some time and do not look like its going away soon. then it happen. It took alittle longer than I thought it would....... but it happen......... when I woke up this morning................ I had temp..... a fever............... its offical.................. CABIN FEVER!!!! :'( can't wait till spring anyone else sick?

Its an older boat, but if everything check out ok on it. Motor to. have it checked buy a shop. then get it. you can easily spend that much converting a jon boat and only have a 10hp motor or less. and that is alot more boat than a jon. don't wait too long . there are lots to worry about with old boat, but there are some that are well taken care of or redone and hold up well. I have a 1988 starcraft that has been well maintain for all its 20 years and is as good as new, and have seen 4 year old boats that are junk. take someone else with you that knows alittle about boats. or when you have it check out ask them what they think of the boat. is it a private seller or shop? if a private seller. tell them you want the motor checked out and you will pay for it as long as all is ok with it. then you will buy the boat. if something is wrong with it they have to pay for the motor check. It may cost you a couple extra $100 up front but save you $1000's in the long run.

Thanks for the info. I also thought that 6000rpm was OK but maybe on the cusp of to much. I have been trying to get him to get a new prop. When I check Merc's prop selector, it says that a 24-26 pitch prop would be the best for overall best performance. I think he is going to try a few different ones out this year. He needs a good all-around prop. the boat is use for double duty. He fishes out of it and also takes the family out in it and tubes, wakeboards & ski's behind it. with the 21 it pull a skier out of the water with ease, but that 6000rpm is worry some. Cart7. do you mean "Black Birds" up here by Pittsburgh? If you do. they didn't do the rebuild, but did the machine work on the block. Why is there something I should know about them? I know many guys that have had motors rebuilt by them and have heard nothing bad.

I too say Yes to tungsten. I switch a few years ago and don't use lead very much anymore. on jig heads yea, but on T-rig or C-rig it is tungsten only. I like it a lot better when flippin into heavy weeds. it seem to slide through the weeds better. Just one note. if your boat has windshields (like a walk trough windshield) watch how you set the hook. last year I was flippin with very light weights 1/4 and 1/8 oz and having a great time. well I missed a fish and when I set the hook the bait and weight came flying back at me. missed me but hit the windshield of my boat, and it looked like someone shot at me. it went right through it and shattered did that make me switch back to lead? no. I put a Plexiglas windshield in and still use tungsten. Posted by: Raul Posted on: Today at 11:44am How come nobody ever mentions that tungsten has a lot better acoustic properties than lead ? Hey did you just metion that?

I think this question came up 2 years ago. Yes I have caught fish in the late winter on a buzz bait. I was fishing an "Ice out " tournament up here is Pa. Mid march was the day. Ice just came off days before the tournament. water was around 40 degree and air temp was mid 30's. could not catch a bite for anything that day, then the snow hit. It was a white out, couldn't see 50 feet. at one point had 4 inches in the boat. I wasn't really fishing open water, but the water was deep. 35-50 feet right off the shore rock face. I remember that artical about Clunn and thought "what the heck, nothing else has worked" so I tied on a double bladed buzz bait and started tossing it. I soon caught a fish, a keeper fish, my partner ( buddy tournament) didin't have any buzzbaits with him and I only had one. (too early in the season to carry them we thought) so he tried a spinnerbait and kept it rite at the surface. making a wake with it. we didn't get out limit that day but we ended up with 3 or 4 keepers. So yes it will work.

Hi, my brother asked me this the other day and I can't answere it. Hopeing someone could help. What is the max RPM's a 125 Merc 2 stroke should turn at WOT. My brother has a Alumacraft Throfey 17 ( alum, deep V) with a 125 merc turning a 21 pitch prop. The motor was rebuilt two years ago, before the rebuild it would turn 5500 rpm and get 49 mph. The shop that rebuilt it is a very respectable shop. they said they set the motor up on the transom for better porformance. It does sit a few inches higher on the transom than it did. Now it turns 6000rpm and runs 53 mph ( GPS). The boat has a wicked hole shot He is just wondering if 6000 RPM is to high?

I am a die hard GM guy, but I will say buy the Toyota over the Chevy. I have pulled a lot with S-10 and the 4.3L V 6 was a great motor. these new colrado's with the straight 5 don't have the power (that 3.7l is a straight 5). Go with the truck that you like the best. but figure out what the weight of you rig will be, and make sure you truck can pull more that that. I know many guys that have trucks/suv's where their trailer cap. is just as much as their boat weighs. I always say go bigger than you need so you will not get in trouble. I now tow with a Chevy Tahoe 5.3L V8, it has 7800lbs trailer cap, so I can easily tow any bass rig.

I have a 2001 Chevy Tahoe with a 5.3L Vortec V8 with auto trans and 3.73 rear. I tow a 18 foot V-hull & a 28 foot pontoon This is what MPG's I get at 70 MPH I get 17-18 not towing, 15 towing 13-14 around town best I ever got was 18.9mpg while not towing ( also at 60mph) I towed my friends Nitro 901 with a 200hp Merc and got 15mpg on the highway. and I just towed a covered car trailer with a 98 corvette in it and it still got 15-16mpg at 70 mph and that was an average over 700miles every summer I go to cananda, 1400 mile round trip. 4 guys all are gear for 2 weeks. my 18 footer on the back (loaded with more gear) and a 14 foot v-hull on the roof. with the a/c and cruise on at 70-72 mph it still gets 15 mph My 18 footer is heavy. I use my father inlaws tracker 175 PTX some times and it is lite. I get 16-17mpg while towing it. As for a set up. It has the heavy duty towing package, oil, trans coolers. I tow in overdrive with the tow/haul switch on. and get my trans oil changed every year. Truck has over 100,000 miles I put 5000 + mile towing each year. and its working great. This is the best tow viehicle I have had. also I only use synthetic oil

wow, this is going to open a big can of worms. I have days were a .99cent bargin bin spinner bait will outfish anything and otherday where a big $$ bait works better. My favorate spinnerbait are War Eagles. I am not a big spinnerbait guy, but I seem to catch fish on war eagles more offten than others. Just my .02cents

I would say buy a boat with a trailer. even a big boat is alot easier to launch and retrieve by yourself than a car topper. # 1 everything you need is in the baot so there is no lifting, aslo the boat is ready anytime you want it. no need to lift it uo and put in on the car/truck. If you want to stay small. look sor a small 12-14 foot jon or v hull with a tm and small outboard and a trailer. You can pick one up for $500 or so and they are light enought that almost any car/suv/truck can pull it. I used to have a 12 foot v with a 6hp and tM. had a trailer and pulled it with a old Chevy chevette.. My dad had a 12 jon and it was way easier to use the trailered boat than loading up the jon

Like I said and like "carp7" stated. Your numbers are way off. I would check another gps. You boat weighs about the same as mine. and same power. I know many many guys that ran 15 hp motors and could never get 20mph, Infact I don't know anyboby that can get 20mph out of a 14 footer with two guys and a 15hp on it. so they moved up to 25hp ( some local lake changed their hp limits) and those guys still are only getting low 20's, infact I am looking to move up to a bigger motor too. Ok my boat is a 1988 stracraft SS 14'11" V hull alum, 60 inch beam fatory floors, boat weighs about 400 from the fatory, I added front and rear decks. It runs a bow mout tm and a transom TM, two batteries and 6 gal gas, all in the back & a 15 hp Merc Tiller, with DF and a Mini Jacker. the max hp is 35hp. My boats runns better when the batteries and gas are in the back. Like i said the most I can get is 16mph on GPS. The fastest I know the boat has gone with the 15hp is 19mph and that was with my one friends running it and she only wieghs 115lbs, and only one battery and no bow tm. So I sill have no Idea how you are getting that speed. What kind of GPS are you using?

first off, your getting 26mph out a 15hp? I have a hard time believing that. :-?I can see maybe 20( and that is pushing it) and that is with one person. If you have enough power to push a boat to 26mph you should have more than enoght to plane it out I run a 15 foot starcraft with a 15 hp merc with dolefinns and a mini jacker like you showed. I get 15-16 mph by myself and about 13-14 with 2 guys. This is a V hull with floors and decks, 2 TM's, 2 batteries, 15 hp merc (tiller) and 6 gal gas. I borrowed a 25hp merc and only could get 25mph out of it. so I still question 26mph out of a 15hp. but anyway this is what I have found out. The dolefinn do not put that much drag to slow you down that much. even if they are still in the water they are made to slice trough the water and not drag it. I will say one thing maybe to much weight is up front. before I put the dolefinns on my 15 footer it would not plane. put the gas up front and the battery. a little help. put the dolefinns on and it planed real quick, but now there was too much wieght up front The bow was digging. ended up having to put the gas and battery in the back again and the speed came up. with the jacker the speed came up about 2 mph. Like i said I top out at 16mph

On the expo, weather to go or not? One word, yes!!! I would say its not to buy stuff, but to see what the industry is doing and checking out the new stuff. now that we are all done bashing Pittsburgh. the fishing was tough, bad time of the year?maybe ( think early june would have been better. I would say bad water, not where, but how it was flowing. we hadn't had rain for a month or so and the rivers were very low, clear, and very little current. with more flow it would have been better. But there are lots of excuses. But #1 The BassMasters Classis is to show the "best of the best" if the fishing is great then we see who is better at that, but when the fishing is tough ( which most of use have seen when we are out) its great to se what the best pro's will do. now on the south doing it right and nobody else knows how to do it. You know not all of use have a closed mind. come on guys it is 2008. we want this sport to grow. right? then lest see it every where not just in the south. I would like to see it up north, out west, and yes down south. If the superbowl ends up to be a 3 -0 game does that mean it sucks?

ditto on the everstart. I bought 3 two years ago and they never let me down. also if they do no matter where and when, there is always a Walmart close by and always open. That is why I have them my other 3 died after a tournament and the store where the were from was not open till the next late moring. that ment no boat. I bought the new ones at walwart at 4 am right befor boat check. I run the 29's on a 36 volt TM

mine stay in the boats outside in the winter weather ( 20 degree tonight and snow) plugged in 24/7/365 on my on-board chargers, always fully charged and ready to go and have no problems

The FNF will work, but on some days its like drowning a worm. It take some time to figure it out and if your not doing it right it will drive you nuts. Its like a drop shot. If you don't know how to work it right it will not work that good. first find fish, if they are not suspended then forget about it. figure out how deep they are and set the float so the fly is either right at their noses or just above them. The slip bobber is good and also the set bobber works. I like using a slip bobber if the fish are deeper than 10feet. I only use a 7 foot light action rod and trying to cast with more than 10 feet of line out is hard. If they are shallower than 10 feet i will use a 3 way swivel and tie the float to the 3way. This way I can still use my 8# main line and use smaller 4# for the fly. The big thing is not to over work the fly and let the natural action of the water move it. This way the fly will seem to swim in the water really natural. I have had a few trips where we have caught a ton of smallies and others where, well 0 fish. Like I said you have to find the fish. find a nice school of them susupended and get the bait at the right depth and it will work. If they are on the bottom forget the FLF. I don't think it will work well in a river with a slip bobber, the current will keep the bobber against the fly. a set float will work better. but you will not be working it the same way. you will be letting the current "carry" it down where in calm water you work the bait.

when I read that to I said "wow" is used something like that to, but they do it differently and I never thought of it. why? I don't know, but I'll be trying it next season. See I never thought about light weights and soft plastic in shallow water, but I am sure it will work. also I use it for walleye not bass. I know the other way I use it works. what I use is a heavy sinker 2-4 oz flat catfish sinker( depending on how fast the water is and how big the lure is) 3 way swivel a nd a small crank bait or minnow bait ex rapala, thunder stick or a big O or baby 1 minus I use this in bigger rivers then they showed. Around bridges and points where the current is ripping and a nice eddy is made, usally when the water is higher than normal. I tie my main line to the 3 way. the sinker gets 1 -5 feet of line (6-8lb so if it snags I can break it loose, this depends on how deep I want to run the lure) below the 3 way and the lure gets 2-4 foot of line behind the 3 way. I put the boat either in the back of the eddy or anker it along side the eddy in the faster water. i try to cast above the eddy and let the water slowly pull the weight down till it on the edge of the eddy and try to hold it there. The bait will dart in and out of the calm water with its swimming action. We use this for walleye, but do catch smallies alot and even a few Muskies & flat head cats to. I am sure with soft plastic they way they do or the way i used it will work. I bet a fluke will work great. I think I might also try some kind of shad body(like a swim bait body, basstrix anybody?, swimming senko? ) that swimming action should drive them nuts

that 465 is for everything you put in the boat. you fishing gear, lunch motor (TM and/or small gas motor) battrey (& gas if its a gas motor) and any extra stuff you take with you. you would be amazed how fast the weight adds up lets say you and a buddy go fishing, the 2 of you average 200lbs each that is 400lbs now and that leave you only 65lbs for gear. a small battery and tm and you are at the max wieght. and no fishing gear. even if its just you. don't know what you wiegh, but say 200lbs. ok you 200lbs tm & battery 60-70lbs that leave you 200+- lbs for fishing gear, cooler ect. those thing add up and I would rather be under a max wieght than at it or over