dizzy5868

Nice chattin with ya jim, I'll be out all day tommarrow, got another tourny. It should be cold in the morning. Rob

I'll reccomend the I Finder, awsome unit, I have it mounted on my dash with a gimble mount. very accurate and reliable. Rob

Tracker makes a great boat, Mine is an older one but the new ones are a good solid boat. Some of the standard extras are a little on the cheap side but you can always upgrade. I do think most of them are under powered on the outboard and the trolling motor. But what do you want for the price? Rob

Try dead sticking a wacky rigged senko. Put it out there and let it sit for up to 3min. If they are bass, they'll hit it. If you can see them, the water is so clear, the splash will spook them. Cast and wait. Rob

I actually prefer to shop for my tackle at Cabelas, I think they carry more brands and stock more stuff. Everytime I go to bass pro they out of what I want or don't carry it. I go to the stores near harrisburg pa. Rob

Excellent job posting this, I watched it 4 times. I wish I could download it. I would have it start everytime I turn on my computer. Rob

What gph are the pumps? When I bought my boat the guy had put 1000 gph pumps, it filled the livewell fast, but same thing happened, the overflow could'nt keep up. Had to drop down to a 750 gph. Rob

My partner had a 175 with a 50hp on it, he sold it last year and bought a 185 inboard jet. We fished out of it in many tournys. Lots of room in that boat. The 165 is narrower and shorter, plus it sucks on rough water. Check the specs on them. The 40 hp should give you about 30-32 mph. Rob

I would definatly go for the biggest boat you can get. Trust me, you will always need more room. Under deck storage is the best, look for that, it helps keep the deck clear of trouble. I have every type of tackle I would ever need on my boat and woulod never know it. Fishing even a small lake or pond is alot more comfortable in a bigger boat than being cramped in a smaller one. Same goes for the motor, get the most hp you can. Just because you can go 50-60 mph does'nt mean you have to, but when that storm rolls in and you need to get to the ramp quick you will be glad you had that extra HP. Rob

I'd take a 2 stroke over a 4 any day. The 4 strokes are quieter but the 2 strokes are better runners. Rob

Well guys, thanks for your input. I started this poll to show just how different everyone fishes a body of water. As you can see there are alot of different aproaches to picking a lake apart. No one is right and no one is wrong, just how you feel where your strength is. I my self like to run-gun until I find a patten and then run to as many spots as I can matching the pattern and hit all the active fish. Most of the time my fishing is in tournaments, so quantity is what I am after. Get a bag and then slow down. This works for me but might not for someone else. Again, thanks for the input. Rob

It is definatly your footswitch. I had the same motor and sold it. I went through 3 pedals before I had enough. If you remove the cover you will find that the circuit board is very flimsy and more than likley craked somewhere in the board. The sun dries them out and they become brittle. You can call minn kota and pitch a %^&**, they will more than likley send you a new pedal free, They sent me 2 of them in one summer. It is a design flaw in the power drives, The first pedal that went bad, I lost left and right, the second I lost 4,5 of the power. Check it out, it sounds like the same problem again. Rob

That's the kind of answer I was getting at. I quess it was a bad poll. Rob

OK, what I meant was which one would you be more likely to do on any given day.

Lets see how many guys like to run or not. Rob

I think this falls into the knolledge catagory, or lack there of. I'm not saying the guy is dumb, just lack of knolledge. If you did a poll, and I might do it, you would probably see that the field is split on spot fishing or running. Some guys were taught to fish one way and never adapted. Nothing wrong with it, just not diverse enough. I personnally work a body of water the way the fish "tell" me to. If they are holding in a pattern where I can sit in one area and pick up 3-4 fish in hour, so be it. If not run & gun is the ticket. Of course running to 30 different spots and only picking up 3 fish is'nt too productive either. Alot of guys that run like this are'nt fishing the "spots" correctly. They pull up make ten casts at an open bank and leave. You have to at least give the fish a chance to react, unless it's a tourny, then your playing the odds. Cover as much water with the most casts of a search bait looking for the reactive or active fish. Not a very reliable technique, but it does work. I prefer to pick a spot apart a little before moving on, maybe give it 10-15min. Of course all of this pertains mainly to lake fishing, Moving water is a whole other ball game. Bottom line is let the fish dictate how fast you fish or move around, you don't leave fish to find more. Rob

Jim seems to have covered it pretty good. Anyone can beat the banks all day, Targeting small areas on the banks is what I would have done. Trying to put the pattern together is the hardest part. I find locating fish in cold water a little easier because you know where they "should be". Start there and work out. There are always active fish, finding them is the hard part. There will be many days the bite just is'nt there for what ever reason. Confidence and patience, I can't stress this enough. Even the pros get a goose egg every now and then. This is why it's called fishing not catching. Unfortunatly You have chosen one of the most mentally challenging sports in the world, Too many variables. Rob

If your club holds tournaments the insurance will cover all the officers of the club if someone decides to sue if they get hurt in an event. I t has happened. Usually it does not cover boats or gear, just the officers. It's pretty expensive also. It's around $10 per boat per event. I spoke to a lawyer and my insurance co and they said to get 2 seperate liability waivers signed at each event releasing the club from any responsability, this way they can't say they were'nt told they were fishing at there own risk. Certain utility owned lakes require insurance to get a permit to old an event. Rob

I don't really gear up for pre-spawn because I never stop fishing. I just change techniques and areas. I do tend to throw rogues in february. Rob

I have'nt fished too far south of here in Wilkes Barre. The bite up here is great. Looks like the river is gonna go up alot again this weekend though. It will be another week before it's safe to fish here. Rob

I swear by Minn Kota. I also guide the susky and I have a Maxxum Minn Kota 74lb 24volt. I love it. I go all day holding in current on a single charge. They do take a beating but I hav'nt had any trouble. I have always owned a Minn Kota. The 36/101 is a great motor, lots of power. A friend of mine has one, even in fast water it pulls his G3 up river. The best part is there service dept. My old one, about 5 years, I had left the motor down without relizing it and start running the outboard up river and slammed the TM into some rocks. The only thing it did was put a fracture in the shaft. I called Minn Kota and the Fed Ex'ed one free overnight. That's service. Rob

You can get the program from Quakemap. Do a search for quakemap and you can download the program for free. If you buy a license for I think $25 you can unlock the program features. It's a great map program. I use it for all my fishing. You can zoom in to abot 100 sq yards. I have the program now for about 6 years and have sattelite maps with gps waypoints for just about any body of water I fish. If you need some other help or have some more questions give me a call. 570-332-7237 I would be glad to help. I am usually up until 11 or 12. Rob

Don't be nut's, buy the eagle, but get a 480 instead. The pixel count is much higher and it's only a couple bucks more. I gave 2 Humminbird 565's away. They were worthless. Very hard to read and would not keep up with boat. The 320 is a great unit, but the 480 has better target seperation. You can also download a demo model from eagle's website and play with the unit on your computer. Everything works just as if it was on the boat. Rob

I think that would be a good call if there are some deep to shallow areas on that bend. Try to work the bait casting to the middle not up or down. The fish should be looking upriver so you could possibly pull through some schools. Here is a better pic for you. Rob

All the fish I got today were in less than 2' of water. There are some suspended at 10' in 28' of water. The key is to find breaks in the river. Not just the ones you see on the bank. There could be a deep fast moving stretch that hits a flat and then drops again. Also fast is a relative term, You have to figure in water volume also. I gauge the speed or volume by using my trolling motor speeds. If I can hold the boat in the current at 50% and then drift a bit and it takes me 60 % to hold then i want to be fishing In 50%. 'This is the exact scenario I fished today. The river from the bridge runs 25-30' deep to the first red dot, it then comes up to 12' for about 50 yards. then it drops to 18'. Thats where the fish were staging. Right up tight to the bank on a small flat shelf 2' deep. I was burning Bomber 6A cranks right off the bank. They would hit them about 4 turns into the retrieve. Rob