Elkins45

I used to make lures back in the 80’s when I only worked part-time. Now that I am retired I might take it up again. I didn’t just make topwater baits, I made some Rapela-like lures as well. Tuning them was a challenge it took a while to learn.

I have never passed anywhere near Atlanta when it wasn’t the same.

I've lived in KY my entire life. Although I love it there's no denying we have a tax problem here. We have income tax, property tax AND a 6% sales tax. Most states have either/or but we have them all. We're as heavily taxed as some of the northeastern states. Truthfully I wouldn't choose to move here if I didn't have a pretty good income. Our gun laws are excellent, however.

Wait, I’m not supposed to be throwing black/yellow?

I think I’m going to take a week in the spring to fish Alabama or Florida. If you were picking a week in advance, when would you schedule your time off? I know you can’t predict the weather, but when is the bass fishing usually taking off?

The Strike King and the Z Man elaz tech worms both will float a 3/0 hook. Danny Joe’s original floating worm, Roboworm, and the Gambler floating worm will not.

I ordered some of them, so we shall see. Thanks for the tip.

I’m going to wake up this old topic to see if anyone has a reliable source for the super floater worms? Fished like a soft jerk bait with a light wire hook, these things have been super bass lures for me for 40 years now. But now I’ve run out. Anybody know where I can find some purple floating worms?

I didn’t even consider the hurricane damage.

So I'm retiring at the end of October. I've never fished Florida and I would really like to give it a try, especially since it's getting pretty cold here in Kentucky. I have my own boat but I don't have a lot of money so I would prefer to camp so I can stay for several days and minimize the expense. Are there any good Florida bass lakes that also have the possibility of shoreline camping, either primitive or in a campground? When I used to fish Kentucky Lake in the summers, I would just pull the boat up on the shore and camp at the Land Between the Lakes. Give me a reasonably flat spot and I'm happy, but I don't know if any Florida lakes are surrounded by public land. I've been trying to use the State Parks website but it's not as helpful as I had hoped. Any suggestions? Since I'm coming from Kentucky, lakes in the northern part of the state would be ideal so I wouldn't have to drive as far. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

My boat launching experience for the last 15 years has been a big, light Jon on a mismatched double axle trailer that was probably intended for a MUCH heavier boat. It sits very high, requiring me to back way far into the water. On a shallow ramp it would probably flood the cab. What I do is tie a bow rope to the winch riser, then drive backwards very fast, "sling" it off the trailer with inertia then pull forward as gently as I can and grab the rope before it gets taut. Getting it back on usually involves getting wet, often involuntarily. I really need a different trailer.

Well, here's what I ended up with: It's a 2007 G3 16 ft deep V with a 50hp Yamaha two stroke. It looks like it has spent most of its life in a garage. Everything was in exceptional condition and I got to take it out on the water before buying it. $7000. I think I got a super deal, so if I decide I don't like the V hull I can probably trade without taking too much of a hit.

Well, that Ranger Cherokee didn't last long...

Yeah, I didn't say that very well. It CAN displace more water before it swamps because it's taller. I really like the floor layout of the Lowe fishing machine. The only thing that bothers me are the photos on the Lowe website. There's one of two guys standing in the boat and there is a LOT of boat sticking out of the water below them. I can imagine in a decent breeze they will find themselves sideways to the wind and drifting pretty easily. Oh well, like everyone has said every decision is a compromise. I suppose if I do buy the V that just means I will have extra room for a couple of 5 gallon buckets to tie out as sea anchors

Thanks for the links. I hadn't seen the Sea Nymph because I limited my searches to newer boats. It looks pretty good but I'm not sure about a boat that old--by now I would expect the wiring to be cracking and maybe the deck/carpet to have begun to rot. I know condition is more important than age but time seems to take its toll on stuff, especially when it's just siting around. There's a dealer nearby that has the same model Lowe in a 2014 still unsold for $14K. I'm going to go take a look at it this week.

Kentucky, and I generally fish in-state. The only time I really see rough water is on Kentucky Lake because the main body is really wide but quite shallow outside the river channel. On summer afternoons the whitecaps really jarred my teeth out in my heavy old bass boat.

Honestly I really miss having a steering wheel. I think tiller steering is fine for small engines but at speed I like being further forward in the boat. I also like being able to stand up and steer, to look for logs, submerged timber or rocks. I almost always fish by myself. Two people at the most. When my wife is with me she's just boating.

Because when I'm first loading the boat it gets loaded with a tent, food/water for multiple days, backpack, etc. as well as the normal compliment of tackle boxes, rods and other fishing stuff. A flat deck makes me think getting to the console would be like running an obstacle course if I have to pile up all that stuff instead of just dumping it in the deep space. I used to own a 16' Glasstron (I think) from the 70's that I bought used. It was sorta like what I mentioned, with a flat spot in the front. Some previous owner had built a platform in the rear but I tore it out so I could use the floor space. I wish I had taken a picture of it. It had all the problems you would expect a $2000 boat to have, so I sold it about 20 years ago and bought a 16' Lowe 1648 Jon boat that I still have. I built a low platform in front to mount a casting seat and I am fairly comfortable fishing with it orher than the fact it wanders all over the lake in the wind. Because I most often fish a HP restricted lake nearby it has a 9.5 tiller steer. My plan is to keep it and add a boat for fishing bigger water with 40-50 HP so it has a bit of speed. If I had to I could scrape up 14-15K, but if I'm spending that much money I'm probably going to buy something new so at least I know I can get three good years out of it before the repair bills become my own. Edit: I think I'm wrong about the boat brand I used to own. It might have been Astroglass or something like that. It was a bass boat but it had sort of an odd modified tri-v bow configuration. It weighted a ton but it was great in the wind.

I think I need a tall front casting deck and just a bunch of open space down near the console and rear. Sort of a "semi bass boat." Is there such an animal?

I live in KY. I mostly fish for bass, but I also jug for catfish and muskie fish in the fall. Often I will fish and camp for 3-4 days, and as retirement gets close I hope to do a whole bunch more of this. I'm looking at used boats in the $10K range. Dealers have all sorts of "bass boats" but there are also a few deep V types at similar prices. Most of the Vs are configured so there's a lot more space in them for "stuff" as opposed to the bass boats that are mostly flat decks with storage spaces under doors. The Vs also have a much higher load and person capacity for the same trailer weight and the physics teacher in me assumes this is because they displace more water. What are the advantages of a deep V configuration as opposed to a traditional "bass boat" for use as an all-around fishing boat? I think I remember reading somewhere that the V is better for rough water? What makes a "bass boat" better for bass fishing?

I went and looked at it. It was beautiful. Was going to go buy it this weekend...it was gone. You snooze, you lose was certainly true in this case.

There's a dealer with a 2008 boat listed. It has a 2008 50 HP Mercury 2 stroke outboard. I have lived my whole life with 2 stroke motors and so I actually see this as a plus for a boat that will only get used 10-15 times a year. Less complex, easier maintainance. Am I wrong?

Back when I used to fish often there was really only one kind of line commonly available: monofilament. Now I see braided, mono, fluorocarbon and possibly others I don't remember. Can someone recommend a good resource to help me understand the differences between them?

Thanks for the recommendations. I have seen some pretty good deals on the lower ratio Tatulas that are worth looking into. Pardon another dumb question, but has counterfeiting of high-end reels been a problem? I saw a Tatula for $70 and wondered if the deal was too good to be true.

New member, first post. Life has gotten in the way of fishing for the last 20 years, but as I ease toward retirement I'm starting to anticipate returning to fishing. I went out for a little boating/fishing last weekend and discovered that my baitcasting reels are worn out. That's not really a surprise because my favorites were a couple of Daiwas (PMA1000 is the model) that I bought in 1987. They saw a lot of use and the bearings and springs seem to be pretty well worn out. So that brings me to my question: what's a decent baitcaster to replace my old reels? I paid $39 for them 29 years ago, so I'm thinking an equivalent reel would probably be around $100-120 today. I generally fish with 10-14lb line if that helps. If you were spending $100-120 on a baitcasting reel, what would you choose?