Elkins45

I’ve taken to gluing my ZMan plastic baits to their jig heads, and you have to store them in their original bags. I’ve noticed that the Zinkers (which have a lot of salt) will rust up a hook pretty badly. I don’t reallly have a solution other than to stone the hook whenever I tie it on.

You could always have hydraulic brakes installed on the trailer, but the real issue might be the transmission. IIRC the transmission has been the weak spot on the Odyssey so you might stress it past the limit. I would also worry about a steep, slick ramp.

My Michigan Wheel prop has a square rubber insert that is specific to the boat. I bought the hub kit separately from the prop. Maybe post a picture?

Do you happen to remember the brand of these shirts? Are they in the men’s clothing section or in sporting goods?

Just placed a $78 order. All soft plastics. I'm trying out some varieties of floating worm I haven't used before, plus the usual stuff that's on sale and a bag of Z Man Fattyz to replace the ones I've lost recently. I can't find the blue/black ones in stock anywhere around here.

I have it bad because my grandfather was a bait hoarder too. He left me boxes of old wooden plugs from the 40’s and 50’s. I doubt they have any collector value because none of them have boxes and most are in pretty sad condition. There’s really no social activity around fishing where I am, or at least none I’m aware of, so I guess my wife will toss or auction it all after I’m gone.

I had a big bottle of the DAP Rapid Fuse Gel and the whole mess solidified after using only a few drops. Guess I should try the Loctite brand next time.

How long did you fight that guy on 6 lb line?

I just recently discovered the idea of using super glue to keep trailers attached to jigs. Unfortunately my bottle of glue only lasted one trip. When I pulled it out yesterday it had solidified in the bottle. Any tips on keeping your super glue from going bad?

To me the thing that makes the Ned rig really work as opposed to other plastics is how they stand up off the bottom, and the floating plastic helps with this. Regular dense plastics tend to flop down on the bottom unless the head happens to hit just right.

I think I’ve whipped this problem. I took all my Zman soft plastics and individually separated them with Saran Wrap then put them back in the bag. So far it’s keeping them from sticking together.

Isn't that weed guard a little tall?

If anyone is interested, wrapping them in Saran Wrap seems to be effective and so far the worms don’t seem to be reacting with the plastic wrap. I spent about an hour rolling up half of the Z Man soft baits I keep in my boat in plastic wrap so in a few months I should have a definitive answer whether this is a long term storage solution. I took the other half and put them in the basement so I will have some if the others should get ruined.

I would have to go get some glycerin. I do have some lanolin I could try.

The canola oil experiment was a complete failure. After a day lying on the lid of my livewell on an 85° sunny day my canola coated Zinkerz (Bama Craw color) were fused together into a single mass. Since they had already been priced apart once they were beyond saving this time and I tossed them. My next experiment is with a bag of Strike King finesse worms that are also elazatech. They have also been pried apart once, and (maybe not coincidentally) are also Bama Craw colored. I rolled them up in Saran Wrap so they weren’t touching and put them back in the bag on top of my livewell. I rinsed and dried them first because when I pried them apart they released a whole much of salt crystals. I wonder if the color matters, since both of the worst bags were Bama Craw? I also wonder if the amount of salt matters? None of my fattyz or Finesse TRD worms have melted together quite as badly. I think that may only be one factor because I have some of their floating worms which should have little or no salt and they also have melted, although not nearly as badly.

I took the two worst bags and coated them with some canola oil from the kitchen. I took another bag and separated them with notebook paper. I’m going to put them out in the hot sun and see what happens. They’re pretty well trashed anyway.

That’s not the case. I always store my Z Man baits separate from any others in their own box.

I pried apart a bag of ZinkerZ that were so melted together they shot salt all over the place and were a ragged mess. By the time I got home they had melted back together into another big clump. I don’t know how you have been so lucky.

I fish them in similar ways but on different gear. Ned is on 6-8 lb line and a spinning reel, so it gets fished on the edge of cover or otherwise relatively snag-free water. 3/16 or 1/4 ounce jig worms get fished on baitcasting gear with heavier line so I will toss them into heavier cover. I also prefer them for deeper water because I get to the bottom faster and that’s where they seem to be the most effective. 50 pound braid and a heavy weedless jig worm are a lot of fun to toss in gaps in the lily pads in southern lakes.

Another thought I had was rolling them individually in Saran Wrap, but I don’t know how they would react to the different kind of plastic. Maybe just use notebook paper?

Several of my Z Man baits are all melted together in the bags. They have been stored together in their original bags and away from any other plastics. It’s hard to keep them out of the heat when summer fishing, but this apparently happened over the winter while stored in my garage. Has anyone tried some coating or treatment to keep them from melding together into a big clump? I’m getting ready to try an experiment to see if I can save the ones I have left. Maybe Individually coating them with peaunt oil?

Before I go out and spend money on electronics I would like to have some understanding of what various features are available, what they are useful for, and which ones are worth buying. Is there a good website or maybe YouTube presenter to check out?

Long story, but a leaking oil seal on my brush mower led me to discover 00 grease. It’s a thin grease that is thixotropic, which means it behaves like a grease when under pressure but can still flow more like a heavy oil. When I’ve opened up my baitcasting reels I’ve noticed that most of the “reel grease” ends up being flung off the gears and just accumulating in the crevices of the covers. I’m thinking of packing one of my older and very worn Daiwa PMA series reels full to the gills with this stuff and see how they perform. https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/super-s-cotton-picker-spindle-grease-00?cm_vc=-10005

A Lowe 1648 Jon boat https://www.loweboats.com/jon-boats/l1648m-jon/ weighs 275# dry. Add 400# for a 10HP outboard, trolling motor and battery, gear and misc. Put it on this 160# trailer from Academy https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/mcclain-14-17-single-axle-aluminum-jon-boat-trailer#repChildCatid=161404 and you are comfortably under your limit and even have enough extra weight capacity to build a casting deck.

I welded my own from steel tubing for my first boat. It’s probably still out there somewhere.