Tpayneful

I fished Pline, Seaguar Pro, Invisix and then XPS. XPS is better than them all on my baitcaster in 14lb and 8lb on my spinning reel. My partner bought Trilene 100% Fluoro and he hates it! I thought he was crazy and tried to tie a dropshot for him. He was right. That line stinks! You can't pinch 8lb to get it to go through a dropshot hook!

This is the one that my partner uses: http://www.easyviewtackle.com/

The 898si is brand new and it will probably be a while before it comes down in price. I have a 798c SI and I would recommend buying a 898c SI or 998c SI instead. I love mine but in 20+ water the non-scan middle section can take up 1/3 of the screen on mine. Side Imaging is the BOMB. I found a sunken boat on my second trip with it.

Is that ProQualifier a baitcaster or spinning reel? I got a ProQualifier spinning reel for Christmas, I hope I love it as much as my Extreme spinning reels! A wider spool is WAY better than a standard spool. I have been tempted to buy the baitcaster but the Johnny Morris signature reel is on $119 I would rather stay with what works great.

Run it like you stole it........In the water, not in your driveway!

2009 Stratos 294XL Evolution 2009 Evinrude 200HP HO Etec

There were a few significant changes in this years catalog. The Nitro boat prices have been slashed! The Johnny Morris gold reel now sells for $169 and the Johnny Morris signature reel is $119 down from $179! They don't sell the Johnny Morris elite baitcaster anymore. These caught my attention right off the bat!

Venture, We have a lot of success on Zoom Finese worms. We have caught a lot of fish on Chartruse / Green Pumpkin and Chartruse in clearwater. As for we......that is my parter and I. The weight is 3/16oz and a 1/0 Gamakatzu finese / dropshot hook. The leader length is 12 - 18". Cast it to shore, jiggle it and slowly reel it in. Pause every once in a while. Throw it beside docks, grass or trees. If you throw it in the middle of a brush pile you might not get it back. It is the best techique for saving a day!

Great article George! I am almost positive that my boat is in the top right corner of the picture with the first fish. Our biggest of the trip was 7lbs and 15 oz. I have a new boat this year and everyone thinks I am crazy because I am taking it to Stick Marsh the first week of March!

Good to hear that the fish have not "disappeared" from Stick Marsh! I have already scheduled my annual fishing trip there for the first week of March and am bringing new friends this year. They start to doubt my selection when they read fishing reports from the likes of Jim Porter. I have talked to George Welcome on the water and he is extremely pleasent and helpful! Watching him weave his large boat through the stump fields is like watching a master paint a fine piece of art! Though he will rib you all day if you get bed bugs at your hotel of choice! Stick Marsh can cost you money to fish though. I broke the ubolts holding the axle to my leaf springs on my trailer. The next day we lost the fender and the bolts fell out of the bunks. On the fourth day we had to retighten a bunch of bolts. Have a bag of tools and a bag of nuts and bolts handy. The road in is the roughest six miles of dirt road and can play havoc on your trailer! The lake itself can destroy a prop or a lower unit. It think it is my favorite place to fish but you should hire George Welcome or Randy Sanders to take you on your first trip. It will give you an idea of how rough the way in is but also get the lay of the lake and where you can or cannot run your boat on plane idle or even trolling. I can't wait to go and start catching fish again because we are frozen out around here!

Jim Porter has weighed in on Stick Marsh and sayes that you need to go somewhere else. Do you guys agree? 7 December 2009 We started up our 2009-2010 guide season on 1 November, hoping to take up with the same great fishing we finished up with last April. Boy, what a rude welcome Mother Nature gave us!! 14 straight days of 20-30 MPH winds just shut everything down. The waters dirtied up badly and it was another few days after the winds subsided until it cleared sufficiently. Our first trip out was with Dave Culler and his old friend, Lance Herrin. I was somewhat apprehensive about the trip, since I had not had a chance to check the fishing conditions. I explained the prior weather events and that we might be taking the trip a little early, but it was the only time Lance could go. So, with a boat full of expensive shiners, we headed out onto the Farm 13/Stick Marsh impoundment not knowing what we'd find. And, what we found was absolutely nothing. The water was sufficiently clean, the winds were light and the weather was warm. In the seven hours we fished, I cannot say we even had a bass strike. In fact, we had one gar and one catfish roll at a shiner and that was all the action, all day. Totally devastating. We later went to the impoundment and found the shell beds void of fish, as well as negative results out in the open water drifting for the big crappie. However, we went to Garcia Reservoir and did well on crappie with both minnows and jigs. What you should know: Since the late 2004 hurricanes killed all the open water grass in the impoundment, the fishing has steadily gone downhill. We were able to compensate each successive year after that simply by knowing the water so intimately. I can still catch fish, but the quantities are not as high. But, somehow, I am lucky and catch a big bass (8 lbs +) most every trip. The Stick Marsh/Farm 13 crappie quantities sizes are also down, but Garcia is still good for 10-12 inch fish. Bluegills in Garcia remain tremendous. Without grass, there is a lack of basic food chain and protective zones for the new spawns and the small baitfish. There is also a significant decrease in oxygen levels in the waters. Grass normally filters the water, knocking down suspended sediments and absorbing pollutants, such as pesticides and fertilizers inflowing from the surrounding farms and ranches. All this would appear to have a negative impact on water quality and habitat. There are still fish in the impoundment, but I think the populations are way down and the spawns have done poorly. That's my best shot at excuses for the poor fishing. So far, I have canceled four bass trips to the Farm 13/Stick Marsh impoundment and I will not recommend the place until I see improvement. However, with people still fishing the place, I am sure someone will stumble upon a way to catch fish. I hope I am one of them.

The Minnkota website recommends the correct depth to run the motor. I used that information to determine how much to cut my shaft. I used a tubing cutter and a hacksaw. Just remove the head, cut the shaft (making sure you don't cut the wires inside), slide off the excess, drill a new hole to mount the head and reassemble. It is really easy to do. You can bend a Minnkota shaft as far as you want and it will not hurt it.

Here is a picture of how to press down on the shaft when you slide it out.

I had a power drive motor for many years and had the same problem but I figured it out. Right above the motor is threads with a ring on it. The deploy system hooks onto this ring. Grab the ring and spin it until it is as high up the shaft as it will go. This will move the motor further out on the deploy system and easier to deploy. The other thing that you need to do is push down on the shaft at the same time you try to deploy the motor.

I have a BPS Extreme reel which has the same dimensions as a Johnny Morris and I outcast my partner from the back of the boat. He is using an equivalently priced Shimano. I have less line twist with the Extreme. I have two on Johnny Morris Signature rods and they are the best spinning combos that I have ever had! My partner is questioning his loyalty to Shimano this year.

Weekend Bassers fish Aquia Creek and Occoquan in Jon boats with trolling motors. My partner liked to fish Occoquan out of his jon boat until he bought a bass boat. Make sure that you have all of your safety gear and don't go out if the wind is above 8 MPH. Do not leave the creeks and get off the water if the wind kicks up.

Junebug senko, swim senko and zoom baby brushog. Did I mention that a good color is junebug?????

I have a 1980 Skeeter 1977 70HP Evinrude CMC PT-130 Tilt and Trim 40lb Minn Kota Power Drive Humminbird Matrix 17 up front Humminbird 535 at console Humminbird Speed / Temp sensor 10 Amp 2 bank on board charger

Take your tool box out to your trailer and make sure that you have a wrench and socket for every nut and bolt on the trailer. My plate that holds the u bolts that secure the axle to the leaf springs broke on the gravel road out from Stick Marsh. I was only 875 miles from home! We had to disassemble the jack and use the jack mount plate to hold everything together until we could get to Northern tool. Good thing I had all of the right wrenches and sockets. The next best thing that I had was a good old corn fed farm boy to help fix the trailer!

I use 8lb xps flurocarbon line on a BPS extreme spinning reel without any significant problems. A wacky rig will ultimately result in line twist but you deal with that event when it happens. If you really want to solve line twist, rig a barrel swivel 12 to 18" above the lure.

My boat is small but really old so I didn't mind getting into the stump field. A lot of the guys with the newer boats stayed out at the edge of the field because they were worried about their boats. I can tell you this......I am buying a new boat this year and next year I will take it into the stump fields on Stick Marsh because that is where the fish are spawning! We caught a ton of fish with a good percentage of them over 5lbs. I could not find an opening last year to go out with George on Stick Marsh but I will say that he is a great guide! Last year I introduced myself and George was always pleasant on the water and gives you helpful information! This year I started fishing into his area and I asked him if he wanted me to take a wide path around him. He responded that their are plenty of fish and to go whereever we wanted! What kind of guide shares water? We had a fantastic time, we all caught a ton of fish and George is good for a few laughs! If you want to fish Stick Marsh I would suggest that you hire George to show you the lake. His navigational advice and lure tips and techiques are well worth the money!

Got back from Stick Marsh on Sunday. Been busy catching up with everything else. This one settled out at 6lbs 14oz. My partner's biggest was 7lbs, 7oz.

Another great Stick Marsh Bass! Of course I broke the U bolt plate holding my axle to the leaf springs on the rough gravel road. The fender on my trailer broke off. The screws holding my on board charger came out. I lost both screw out butts to my extreame rods all of that on the way in or out. On the water I only broke the transducer mount. With all that said it was well worth it!

I caught this one not far from George on Stick Marsh a little over a week ago.

I am right handed, cast my baitcaster with my right hand and reel with my left. I don't palm my reel so I don't have to switch twice.