TOXIC

If you are going to use the "sandwich" brackets just make sure you check you transom bolts often....like every other trip often and remember when tightening always turn the nut and not the bolt and make sure your bolts are sealed well. Doing the monkey hang with your arms underwater in Lake St Clair in the spring retightening transom bolts is no fun. Ask me how I know.

Keep us posted. Congrats!!

You can store outside if you are prudent and attentive. I will say that if I bought a new boat (within the last 2 model years) I would find a place to store inside. There's no way my 21 foot boat will fit in my garage, even at an angle so I do the next best thing, I bundle it up like it's going to be in storage for a year every time I bring it home from fishing. I made fender covers out of an old cover and I keep a good coating of wax on the glass. I've been storing it this way for years and so far not a bit of sun fade or damage. I keep the plastic trim, the seats and tires coated with 303 protectant. I did have a mouse get in and chew up some foam and a microfiber towel (I dispatched him with extreme prejudice) but other than that it's been fine.

You only need 2 colors of frogs. White and black.

I fish the Potomac. It can be 3 miles wide at some points. In a casual day of fishing I may travel 15-20-30 miles hitting spots/creeks, etc. Even on a calm day the river can be testy with current, boat traffic and wind. Most Kayak fishermen launch where they are going to fish and stay fairly close to that area all day. I could never cover the water I fish in a Kayak. I have nothing against a Yak, it just doesn't fit my style of fishing. I will admit there is a certain amount of pleasure from running down the river, kind of like riding a motorcycle, could you get there on a skateboard? Sure. Different strokes for different folks.

Yes, a JP will help hole shot. If you have a good setup now, adding poles won't make that much of a difference. The best excuse for you to get a JP is to be able to mount the pole brackets to it. Sandwich mounts between your motor and hull for the poles are not the best. They tend to work loose over time. Mounting directly to the hull was totally out of the question for me. I was not going to drill my hull for poles. I have a heavy 21 foot ranger with a 6 inch hydro plate and a 3 blade yamaha prop (4 is better for holeshot) and I lost nothing on holeshot after adding the poles.

Easy answer: A way to get out on the water in a craft that can be customized for fishing that doesn't cost you 30k or more. I'm 6 foot 300lbs and have fished from a Kayak........I have a 21 foot boat with a 250hp outboard. My preference is the 21 footer and all of the associated costs that go with it. There's a long list of pros and cons with a yak. To each his own, getting on the water is the important thing.

Yamamoto 5" Pro Senko on a Ned head will get your arms torn off. At least on the lakes I have fished in Wisconsin. Also a drop shot with a Shad Shape Worm by Yamamoto.

True dat!! One year we dedicated a day (and a lot of fuel) to run from the island all the way up the St Clair river and vertical jig for them. Caught 2. Lost $50 worth of jigs.

The Potomac is a very complicated fishery but a good read nonetheless. I've had banner days fishing the grass....or fishing barren mud banks, fishing the tides both incoming and outgoing, fishing creeks or the main river, flipping docks or wide open water. One thing to ALWAYS remember on the Potomac is that she can turn dangerous at the drop of a hat. Always keep your eye on the weather.

Call me an "Old Timer" but I think with the advances in electronics, it's more like video game fishing and the "young guns" are experts with it. With all of the "Live" electronics, you can find the fish and watch them in real time. You can drop your lure down, watch it, see the fish come up and take it, rinse and repeat. You don't have to be a master at finding fish, you just have to be a master of your electronics. I'm thinking that if you take that out of the game, it would get interesting.

We are already doing the food menu for our trip to St Clair (Harsens Island) in May. We are also setting aside a day to go Walleye hunting for a fish fry. We caught a LOT of Walleye last year in our pursuit of the brownfish. We need to target them and get some of the bigger ones for the fry. We feast pretty well every year. I always smoke about 6 racks of ribs, we always get 20lbs of King Crab legs, we have had Russian Boar, Prime Rib, a lot of Venison, some great Italian dishes and usually a fish fry due to one of our group having a good friend who lives on the island and is strictly a Walleye fisherman. We want to catch our own this year.

Don't miss my point. Tipping is not ever going to make up the difference and like I said, tipping is never "expected". I was just highlighting some off the top expenses that change regularly and cannot all be included in a guide's base pricing and if it was, it would be much more expensive. The business model of a guide service is to offset all of those costs with number of trips, that's how you turn a profit. Tipping is a sign you had a good time and to me validation that I did my job. Some of my biggest tips came from fishermen who never boated a fish all day.

Well, to the OP, you've heard from Guides and clients (some who tip and some who don't). Pretty universal from those who guide that they don't "expect" a tip. Tipping is a personal thing. There are no rules. I'll end my involvement by saying to those who think that a guides costs are all built into their price....In order to cover a guides cost 100% you would have to have a sliding scale for every trip. Guides don't like upping prices on a regular basis. Some things to consider: What does a guide do when gas jumps .20 a gallon mid season (both for the boat and truck)? What does a guide do when insurance jumps (remember they usually have commercial policies)? What does a guide do when they have unexpected maintenance on a truck or boat? What does a guide do when they have a client(s) that breaks rods/reels or loses a lot of lures? What does a guide do about all of the extra hours and cost of staying on the lake even on days they are not guiding to make sure they are on fish for your trip? What do the guides do when they have to advertise or maintain a website? What does a guide do when they may have license fees in multiple states (there are 3 states in my area and a few special permits) or jurisdictions along with business licenses? Those are just off the top of my head........You try to average those costs and spread it out. What I am saying is that not all trips are the same, not all fishermen are the same and if a Guide tried to price his/her services to what it actually costs, you couldn't afford them or wouldn't be willing to pay the price. Guides live in the "gray area" most of the time hoping they have a large number of trips and can balance out the good with the bad. They try to get sponsors to help offset the costs of lures and tackle which are bottom line expenses. Some fish tournaments to try and fill the gaps. They do seminars and tackle shows in the off season to help with sponsors. Most of all they try to stay in the black more than the red and with the way the tax laws are evolving there's less and less you can write off in those red times. I know some very successful Guides and some that just get by and some that shouldn't be on the water. I'll tell you that your tip may not be that much to you, but to me it was always a sign of a job well done, no matter the amount. Off my soapbox and slid back under the table.

Spent many an hour carp fishing. And to top it off carp are delicious if you know how to cook them. https://www.joetessplace.com/ Joe Tess Place began as a neighborhood tavern in the 1930's. Ever since, the humble carp has been the driving force behind Joe Tess Place. Now a successful family restaurant in the tradition of friendly service high quality fresh fish, we since and transport our own fish for guaranteed freshness.

I'm just the opposite. While I like the MLF format, change it up so that you only have the basics. Boat, motor, trolling motor and gear. No electronics, no powerpoles, no hydrowave, etc. IMHO, 1/2 the field would be lost.

Oh the stories I could tell. I had a deep fear of spiders so what do I do.......order one out of a magazine along with an iguana for chits and giggles. I was young and stupid. Long story short the Mexican Red Legged Tarantula I received lived 17 years and grew bigger than your hand!! I've got 17 years worth of stories on my "pet". The Iguana got to be 6 feet long and I ended up giving it to a guy who had an entire room in his house devoted to them. They ran free in that room. I had a plexi cage for the iguana (Devo) that was 10 feet long 4 foot deep and 4 foot tall but he roamed the house and went in his cage to do his business. The tarantula (Natasha) had a 55 gallon aquarium for a home. Took her out a lot but she was an escape artist as well.

You found an awesome deal. Enjoy your boat and add all of the upgrades as you can afford them. That's what I did with my boat although I went with a 21 footer just because of the waters I fish.

Great approach and execution. Sometimes they just don't bite.

I was beginning to wonder if those were your painted toes in the picture.

Good place for me to look for my retirement house on the lake..........

How is the current one mounted? Are you going to try and save it? Normally and epoxied puck can be removed by using a razor knife and a scraper to cut the epoxy and pry it loose. Clean the area really well and with the new puck, epoxy it down and put something heavy on it to let it set up. Clean surface is the key. No bubbles in the epoxy is the second most important thing. Some that I know weight the puck and put enough water in the bilge to cover the puck and take it to the lake to see if it is in a good position and reads well.

Exactly why I like the SPRO Aruku Shad. Sits on the bottom nose down - tail up and helps from dredging the bottom.

Catch the winning bag first. Worry about the polygraph later. The only time I have ever seen it used was to settle a protest. The "random" statement is meant to keep options open and an honest man honest.

If the Guide is fishing and you are not catching any fish then you need to rethink why. That's exactly why I fish. I can guarantee you, I am not catching every fish and it's not the reason you aren't. Now if the Guide is flaunting it in front of you, that's bad form but everyone who gets miffed because the Guide fishes will be the first ones to say that the Guide didn't do his job and put you on fish. It's pretty amazing how some people will find a way to criticize. Case in point, I was hired by 2 tournament anglers to pre fish for an upcoming tournament. I asked them what they wanted to do and they said to pattern the fish but wanted to learn some offshore structure. I said fine and told them that right now the fish are up shallow but I'd be more than happy to show them how and where to fish deep structure. That's exactly what I did. We caught a lot of fish up shallow and these 2 yahoos got on social media a ripped me a new one because they didn't catch anything off shore. One of the few times I did get on-line and call them out.