Elkins45

I was introduced to bass fishing by my grandfather who died in 1977. He swore a 6" Creme Scoundrel in purple was the finest bass lure ever produced.

I didn't catch nearly as many. In an effort to save money I've been casting my own heads and I'm experimenting with a Mister Twister 4" grub instead of a TRD. You can get 20 Mister Twister grubs in a package for around $3 so it doesn't hurt quite so much when I leave one on the bottom, but I'm not 100% convinced yet that it's as effective as the more buoyant Z man plastic.

My grandad used to buy lure parts from Netcraft back in the 60's. I used to love looking thru their print catalogs when I was a kid. I've ordered from Barlow's 2-3 times and have been well pleased. Once an item was out of stock and they called me to discuss what might be a good substitute. That's pretty good customer service IMO.

There are some amazing bargains in sparkly nail polish at the Dollar Tree that work well for just that purpose. My wife teases me that I have more varieties of nail polish than my she does.

I don't believe I've ever launched at a ramp with a dock next to it like that. Yes, it was your link that I followed to buy them. They were less expensive than some of the other options and the reviews were good.

This is what I ended up doing. So far I'm pleased with it.

I've caught more bass on a topwater floating worm than any other lure except perhaps a Texas rig.

I've taken to putting a dab of super glue on everything before installing a trailer, so I've not been removing anything. I just rigger up a bunch of new grubs on homemade Ned heads with light wire hooks and glues them in place. It will be a good experiment to see how they look in the spring. Since they are homemade the cost really isn't a big deal, but losing a big fish certainly would be.

Between 1998 and 2000 the only boat I owned was a 14ft Sears jon boat. In 2000 I bought a Lowe 1648 and mounted a 15hp Sea King that my uncle gave me. I fished from that until 2017. Other than being scary on rough water I considered myself perfectly happy with it.

I launch by myself 99% of the time. I tie a long bow rope to the truck and float the boat completely off the trailer, pull-up a bit, then get out and pull it back to shore.

I wonder if that applies with plastic bunk pads? Seems like the pressure treated wood would never actually touch the hull.

My G3 is 13 years old and I bought it three years ago. I think it must have spent 99% of that time in storage because it was pristine. Three years of hard use later and the only thing wrong with it is one of the switch leds stopped working and the spring broke on the trolling motor plug cover flap. Oh, and the paint is all scratched up from brush and the skeg is bare from shallow bottoms. I have been seriously impressed with it, but I know nothing about dealer support or service since I bought it used and haven’t needed anything beyond diy maintenance. I would absolutely buy another.

Thanks for all the info. I’m going to pick up some from one of those Amazon links.

I have to replace one of my trailer bunks (long story involving a week-long trip where the lake level dropped dramatically between launching and loading in a shallow lake) and I was wondering if I really need to go to the trouble and expense of buying and installing carpet? The boat in question is a 16ft aluminum V hull that probably weighs no more than 1100 pounds. Is the purpose of the carpet just to protect the finish of the boat or is is supposed to make it easier to winch the boat? I figure I will replace both bunks because the trailer is 13 years old now and I might as well do them both while I’m at it. Other that looks and expectations why not just give them a good coat of epoxy paint or some other sealer? Or just leave them bare and install those slick plastic pads that are supposed to make winching easier?

I normally use my jon boat for a couple of local F&W lakes with 10 hp limit so it almost always has a 9.9 Evinrude mounted. Yesterday I decided to start my old Sea King (Gale) 15hp for the first time in almost 20 years. It started and ran fine and is spitting plenty of water out the exhaust ports, but this is happening under the cowel: Any ideas where the leak might be coming from? My guess is the head gasket has a break on an outside cooling channel because it's running too well to be a compression problem. Any other likely source?

I bought the DoIt Midwest finesse mold and it specifies #1 hooks but I cast some of the lighter ones with #4 and I think they don’t snag up quite so bad. If I’m fishing with braid I have a pretty good chance of bending the hook and pulling them free.

So just to follow up: Sportsman’s Warehouse had a Shimano Cardiff 300:in stock so that’s what I bought. I haven’t hooked a fish with it yet but I’m really happy with how it casts and handles.

Do the Daiwa Millionaire reels have synchronized level wind?

I hate the skirts with loose strands and collars. I won't buy them, and any bait I buy that has them gets a thread wrap or a zip tie. Thread wrapping is a lot easier if you have a vise. It doesn't even need to be a fly tying vise, just a regular bench vise will do.

My grandad died in 1977 and was ill for several years prior, so these reels are from the early 70's at the latest. I'm using them with 65lb braid and casting heavy muskie lures so it's not so much of a disadvantage, but I don't think I would ever use one for bass fishing with normal lures.

I've been fishing with an old Ambassadeur that was my grandfathers but I'm used to more modern reels. All my newer reels have level winds that disengage when casting but the Ambassadeur level wind stays engaged and zips back and forth with the cast. To me it feels like this eats up a lot of the energy of the cast and makes it hard to cast lighter baits the same distance I could cast them with a non-synchronized reel. I'm wondering what advantage, if any a synchronized level wind gives to a reel?

I had a blowout a couple of years ago and it was a doozy. I had stopped for gas about 10 miles earlier and felt the tires like I always do, and they didn’t feel hot. It came apart at 70 mph and without warning. Within the first second of feeling it I looked at the side mirror just in time to see the plastic fender blow apart into big shards. The two metal stubs the fender mounts to were both bent and the rear one was actually torn loose from the frame and had to be welded before I could install a new fender. I stopped at the next big town and bought a new tire because it really makes me nervous to drive very far without a spare. The boat was 10 years old when I bought it. I’m guessing the tires were the original ones. I’ve learned my lesson regarding old tires.

There’s a campground on Sugar Bay and pretty good bank access.

Do the Daiwa Millionaire reels have synchronized lever wind?

The biggest fish I ever caught was a musky on a 1/4 ounce spinnerbait. I’ve also hooked them on squarebill crankbaits.