Wayne P.

All that gold color must be solid 24 ct. gold and the silver color must be platinum.

Dan, the catching was better for me last year once I figured out the best pattern. I caught 1,989 bass there last year. It has taken me a few months to adapt to the higher water level, but after the submerged vegetation got to about the same stage as last year in about the same water depths, it's quite easy again. I don't even try to catch fish out of the visible submerged bushes and briars. Right now they are too shallow. I also fished it a few times after it opened for fishing in Oct. 2007 when the water level was even lower than last year. My first two trips there produced a total of 321 bass. Endless, that shot of the dam you took if taken last year would show an island that is now a hump at around 10'. In this picture, a boat is fishing the island shore.

Way2slow is correct. The older motors were powerhead rated and the newer motors are prop shaft rated for the HP. He is also correct in the shaft length determination. By you installing a long shaft motor on a short transom boat, you are not going to get the best performance because of lower unit drag. FYI, A friend of mine was in the process of buying a 14' Grizzley jon boat and already had a short shaft 8HP motor for his present jon boat. I asked him which boat did he order and he said the 20" tansom model. I reminded him of the motor shaft length, so he changed his order to the 15" tansom model.

whoopbazz, of the several dozen Owner Mosquito hooks I have, every one has the same bend angle at the eye as the Gamakastu Octopus, the Gamakatsu Finesse Wide Gap, the Gamakatsu Octopus Circle, and Owner SSW hook. You must have some mfg defects.

This pile is one of the best and is about 9' below the surface now.

There are a lot is this type cover now submerged:

If you notice the shoreline in the background from last year, all the weeds and bushes are now mostly submerged.

The Luck E Strike so-called Floating Worm kit is also available here: http://www.buehlersales.com/kit2.html If I see them at a Walmart, I buy them for a test. None I have tested have floated that claimed to be a floating worm.

The Strike King 3X red lable lures float, but I have never seen a Trick worm size in that material. All the newer marketed ElaZtech lures have salt in them just like the former 3X purple lable lures.

I assume you ment a resettable circuit breaker. Mount it directly to the positive battery terminal.

You will have better lure contact/control and better hook-ups with braid for the walking baits.

The BPS Pond Prowler is a house brand made by Motor Guide and is not a variable speed and is equivelent to the Minn Kota Endura.

BDubb, you can find reviews for both brands that have some type of failure. Lots of users had one brand that malfunctioned and they bought the other brand and swear they wouldn't have another of the first they had. You get that for both brands. It's somewhat like the Ford/Chevy debate.-both have lemons and both have adamant users.

Bass Junkie, if you notice the write-up for the Bass Pro worms ,"These highly-effective soft plastic Floatin' Worms stay near the surface"," I would guess that they do not actually float.

If you use the proper fuel treatment, you won't have any moisture problems whether it's 100% gasoline or E-10. There is no water in fresh ethenol or ethenol blended fuels. The ethenol attracts moisture. The Marine Stabil, Startron, or Seafoam will take care of it if you don't already have a lot of water in the tank now. Use one of those treatments in the proper amount all the time. As far as performance, yes ethenol fuels will deliver less performance and so will the warmer water temps and higher air temps in the summer. Older engines that don't have ethenol safe gaskets, seals, and fuel lines will have problems with ethenol blended fuels. I asked the Seafoam company about the moisture issue and the reply was the Seafoam keeps water in small molecules so it will stay mixed with the fuel and safely pass thru the engine. I assume the other products do the same.

You must be looking at a lower water level satellite picture where bushes are sticking out above the surface in the middle of the cove and elsewhere. There isn't any standing timber in the lake, only on the shore. All the islands on the satellite pictures I have seen are now submerged with some just having bushes above the surface.

cwb60, the Gammy split shot/drop shot hook is similar to an Octopus hook but not with the round bend and has a smaller wire size. whoopbazz, the Mosquito hook is an Owner and the largest size availble is 2/0. It is shaped like the Gammy Octopus 024XX but a smaller wire size. I use the 2/0 for weedless wacky with finesse worms in waters with small bass and or with little or no cover. Owner's version of the Octopus 024XX hook is the SSW hook and has the same wire size. Daiichi hooks of that style are called DROP SHOT'N For those that are not familiar with the Gammy stock number, the Octopus black nickel color in size 2/0 is 02412 and the 3/0 is 02413. The red color Octopus hooks are stock #023XX

basskiller, the whole lake is a hot spot. Just stay off the shore and fish the outside weed edge. There are so many bass in the lake that just about everywhere some can be caught IF you fish the right pattern with the right presentation.

An easy answer is you cannot have too much thrust when it comes to electric trolling motors. Get the most you can afford and afford to operate. Battery/s and charger/s are needed too. Of the two models you mentioned, the Motor Guide will give you more run time as compared to the MinnKota of the same pound thrust due to the electronics for the varible speed.

I have two fingers in front of the reel seat and two behind. I use my index finger against the spool lip to cast and control distance instead of hooking the line over my finger. I cast overhand, side arm, 3/4 side arm, 1/4 side arm, backcast, flip, pitch, wrist roll, slingshot, or just let the lure fall staight down ( like with dropshotting or spooning). I always close the bail by hand and never reel against a slipping drag. If I missed any method, I probably do that too. Whatever it takes to get the presentation to the location it needs to be.

Like a previous poster, you may break off a transom transducer when mounted on the trolling motor. This item will allow for it's use while elimating possible damage. http://www.transducershieldandsaver.com/home/

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If you like boat driving better than fishing, get a hand control. If you like fishing better than boat driving, get a foot control. I like fishing better.

Look at the Minnkota Fresh Water Bow Mount Maxxum or Edge trolling motor for the 55# 12V models. The variable speed motors in the Maxxum line are more battery friendly. The Foretrex models are the ones with Lift Assist and are not available in less than 80# thrust or less than 24V. Motorguide has a couple of 54# thrust 12V bow mount motors with the Pro Series being 5 speed and the Digital Tour being variable speed. The difference in the multi-speed motors and variable speed motors is around $250, but worth the extra for the longer run time.

Did you use tape on the reel spool arbor or use some mono backing with the braid?