NorthwestBasser

Finding bait... here in eastern Washington we have pretty clear water for the most part, so I LOOKfor the baitfish with my eyes, or as stated, use the graphs and find bait balls. When I roll slowly thru an area, I also rely on my nose. When a good school of bait is near, you can smell them. Listen for them "popping" the surface. Choice of lure is going to depend on location mostly, if multiple baits wil function it's gonna be a trial and error type thing Good luck!!

I was a non boater in my club for a while, and although I have a boat now, I still fish as a non boater in some tournaments. There is a lot to learn from the seasoned sticks you get paired up with in draw tournaments! Watch and learn, and if your boater doesn't mind, ASK QUESTIONS! the only drawback to fishing tournaments with only one set up, especially as a non boater, is not being able to throw different baits and techniques at a moment's notice. I'll be working a crankbait down a rocky bank and we roll up on a group of docks or some nice heavy cover and I'll drop the crank and have my pitchin stick ready to roll. Then look at the graph and see something interesting on the side scan and throw my dropshot in that direction. So, if your boater is clipping along at a power fish pace and all you have is crank bait tied on, when you got those weedy grassy areas you're s.o.l.... and by the time you tie on your t rigged senko, you've passed the grassy flat and are back to rip rap banks... the upside is sometimes committing to a technique is the best practice, certainly when it's your confidence bait. Check your club's by-laws, in my club the nonboater gets his choice of water for half the time, so if all you wanna do is drop shot, you can choose to fish where that is appropriate. Having said that, as a non, I've never dictated where my boater captains HIS boat. But I could if I wanted, and would if he was being a jerk all day. I'll take us out to 60foot depths and drop a bare hook for 5 hrs!!. Haha... ( I would never do that) Join the club, it's a lot of fun and a great learning opportunity

At one time it was a dropshot, that transitioned to the crankbait, which I found to be a seasonal bite in my area. Then it became pitchin a jig with trailer into heavy cover and under docks, now it's a Texas rigged plastic with a punching skirt that I fish just like my jigs except I can put it in the really really thick stuff and not get hung up, no rope or cable snags under docks. And I don't get as many bites but when I do, it's always a quality fish

When I first started using a baitcaster I bought a right handed retrieve because all the pros used them, for the most part. I thought that was the way it was done. And it worked fine at first, but as I started using it for different techniques I found it impossible to successfully perform the correct cadence and retrieve speeds. So I bought a left handed reeland haven't looked back, all my reels are now left hand retrieve. Find what works for you, comfort is key for the long days of tournament fishing and fun fishing for that matter.

I've definitely found this to be true with the smallmouth, find one there is usually 4 to 6 more with it, all of about the same size. They seem to run in age/size similar packs...

I should add that this advice was given to me many times when I was looking for a boat, I didn't heed said advice and have been paying for it ever since, haha... oh well, I do love my boat

New boat owner here, relatively speaking... fuel/oil has been cheap. Most replacement parts for the boat itself are fairly cheap... the motor stuff is where the money is gonna disappear. Better to find the motor you want in solid well maintained shape in the back of a boat you can "deal" with than the boat you want back packing a dud motor. Compression test the cylinders, run the motor, if possible get a test drive on the water so you can see the water pump is spitting water, the muffs can be deceiving here because they push water pressure through the impeller as opposed to the impeller doing the work. Motor, motor, motor!! The rest can be fixed or replaced easily. Unless you're wealthy, then just do what ever you want and dish out the coin! Good luck, people complain about the cost of their boats alot, I love having the freedom so I don't mind the expense

Ya I've sent Glenn a PM and he responded quite promptly... worth a shot

Id agree with everything already stated... minus the frog thing. Ive caught fish on a hollow body frog, but I don't think it's because the bass thought it was a frog, I believe they think it's a small blackbird, other Bird, or a smaller fish struggling along the surface. I've seen everything regurgitated into a live well from baby ducks, mice, rats, fish, random small birds... I've never seen a frog. This was all my own observations then read somewhere bass hate the bitter taste of a frog. I'm certainly not saying they DON'T eat frogs and I'm sure someone has seen proof that they do. But just not my experience or that I've even heard of in my area

@blackmax135 ya, new impeller good water pressure. Ended up being a stuck accelerator pump. Also was over propped, dropped down to a 17p. Other than that I'm just a little underpowered. By myself or with my girlfriend it pops right up on plane now. Me and my 245lb brother in law she has to work a little harder to get up there, lol

I've been a co-angler for a while, fun fishing, draw tournaments and opens (team) tournaments. My brother in law and I are in the same Bass club. We both have had great experiences with the boaters we've fished with, and some not so great. I've been with boaters who all but re-tie my lures for me. They offer advice and wisdom beyond my years, serve up awesome opportunities at prime targets, always provide angles for me. I've had plenty of days where I felt like slinging a 1/2oz. jig right past my boaters head because I can tell he is purposely shafting me, cutting the angle, casting back then wworking the water forward leaving me nothing but used targets. I swallow hard, fish harder and thank him for the ride at the end of the day. I bought my own 18 and a half foot boat and now I'm captain. My brother in law fishes with me most of the time. I try my hardest to accommodate him while he is on the back deck. We don't have any "rules", just respect. I leave him targets and try to give him angles. I like to offer him half the day fishing water of his choice, even if I hate the bay or point, docks or rocks he chooses. We have fun with it no matter what. I'll be fishing my first tourney as a boater this weekend. Luckily, with my brother in law. But in future club draw tourneys, I won't be setting any rules for my nonboater, other than this. You respect me, I'll respect you. We are competitors today, but respect can still be given. And at the end of the day, I want him to have enjoyed the experience and vice versa. Those few guys that have treated me poorly while on their boat, won't be getting any invites from me though, he can burn his own gas being a jerk. And any non boater that complains about my boat, tactics or techniques, well he can fall free to buy his own boat, or beat the banks from shore. Either way, I'll be having fun.

Vehicle tires and trailer tires are different. The tire shows max pressure, not needed or in most cases desired for your car or truck. I pull a lot of trailers, cargo, dump and my boat. Tires on all of them get maxed out...

Go to menu, then settings, then units, under "depth" change it to feet... youre on fathoms. There are lots of customizable settings you can play with on the navionics web app. I've played with mine quite a bit to get it dialed in the way I like it

For reference this is a 4lb 9oz smallie, around my neck of the woods, smallmouth seem to be a little more dense than the LMB. So a smallie of similar length and girth of a largemouth tends to be a bit heavier. You caught a nice fish there, but I'm thinking you're lingering in that 3lb area. Good catch man! I'll take those all day!!

I'm two weeks from fishing my first tournament as a boat, always been a co-angler in the past and just recently bought my first bass boat. I have two large livewells that work great as far as filling and cirulating. However, I'd like to clean them up before I use them. Aside from some expensive products made just for this purpose, could I just use dawn dish soap and rinse well or is there another "household" product that would be better for the fish? Thanks guys!!

Where in the northwest are you? Here in Eastern Washington we have a great topwater bite. Especially mid July through the first part of September. Even now, I throw topwater, either frogs, buzzbaits, or a popper in the mornings and evenings and do great...

Snowmobile actually, haha...

Trebles I sweep to the side, single point I pull up and slightly left like you described... I'm not completely sure a small 10 degree difference in hookset angle would affect the solidity of the the actual hookset. Could have been coincidence that your first hooksets just weren't seated well, possibly by no fault of your own, but if you made a change and that made a difference it sounds like you solved your issue.

So helpful, thanks for your input...

1988 Skeeter SF 175 Merc 1150 "tower of power" 42# Minn Kota 812 with autopilot She's not new, pretty, or fast... but she's MINE!!

@fishnkamp I've heard differing views in the Seafoam... one side says it's great stuff, the other says never use it as it could eat up head gaskets in older motors, you know of any truth to that?

I'd say more on the sorta dead side, it's still running smooth, I just can't bring it back up to higher rpm's without bringing it fully back into neutral, then throttling up again. I've considered the throttle cable/sheath and haven't discounted that yet, also thought about the prop being spun as the prop on here is very beat up (just bought the boat) and plan on a new prop in the next week or so. Fuel lines are less than a year old and look in new condition still, at least from the outside. @fishnkamp thanks for the reply, the issues you listed are ones I was hoping to hear feedback on. They seem like less expensive repairs than motor work. But I'll get it into the shop this week and see what they say. Plus a full tune up.

I plan on taking it in to a mechanic, just trying to see if anyone had some similar experience and could shed some light on what i may be dealing with. And no, I'm not continuing to "slam" the throttle. I suppose that was a poor choice of verbage on my part...

Guess I did the impossible and stumped the vast wealth of knowledge that is BassResource!

You will be fine. I'd just pay close attention to your brakes coming down steep grades. Maybe add trailer brakes or at least surge brakes of the trailer doesn't already have them. Aside from that, as long as your suspension isn't taking a beating.