TOXIC

What angle is your motor at when it is on the toter? You might have to let it set more vertical which reduces your ground clearance but helps keep the motor straight.

Common problem with Rangers because of the distance to the trailer from the Lower Unit. The best way to minimize it is to use Steering clips to keep the side to side action to a minimum and make sure your motor is straight and very snug down on the transom saver.

Every "advantage" is not "unfair".

What kind of "Transom Saver" are you using? Trailer to Lower or those that attach to the motor rams?

I fish the very weedy Potomac and I use a 2 blade but added the Grass Goat to the shaft. Best of both worlds.

Yes I do. If I knew then what I know now, I would have never sold either one. I watch Mecum and Barett Jackson waaaay too much......Who'd a thunk the 64 Ford would have jumped the way they did?? I used the Charger for street racing and it ate trannies like M&M's but it sure would haul the mail. 68 is a rare year to see anymore. Midnight blue with a black vinyl top, white pin-striping and just a few motor mods.

Somewhat the nature of the beast with frog fishing, you are going to lose a few more than normal. On the hollow bodies you can tweak the dual hooks by bending them out slightly but you will catch more weeds. You can also go to the softer body hollow frogs to help with the hookset. I fish both and both have their disadvantages. Getting a solid body frog to run straight and not flip is sometimes a challenge. Like has been said, frogging is one technique where your setup does make a difference.

Like I have always said.....Smallmouth are fisherman's crack!! Great Catch!!

I had that phase until the speeding tickets finally caught up with me. 57 Chevy 73 Formula 350 Firebird (blueprinted) 68 Charger 440 Magnum (my favorite) 64 Ford Galaxie 390 Police Interceptor I moved into more fun balanced with comfort. My current commuter (I bought it when I was in Florida) is a first production 02 LEXUS SC430 Hardtop Convertible with a 4.3 V8. One of the first off the line when they built them by hand before they got the factory tooled up. I've put 200k on this little runner and it's a blast to drive. I'll probably sell it when I retire next year and just drive my 16 High Country Silverado.

The chain of lakes I just got home from in Wisconsin is exactly the opposite. Used to have a healthy grass population and the fishing was easy and the fish plentiful. Then they decided to spray the aquatic vegetation. It's taken me 5 years to re-evaluate and find the fish again. Every year it's different. I always find them but it changes without the vegetation to hold them. This year was record heat and the air temp was in the high 80's every day and the water temp was 83 degrees. I had to go deep.....really deep. I was dropshotting bluegills out of 17 feet of water. Took me 3 days to put together a pattern and to be able to consistently catch smallmouth and largemouth. Moral of the story, unless there was a big fish die off or the fish got physically removed from the lake, they are there you just have to find them.

There's nothing like cranking the motor over before sun up and idling out of the marina for a day on the water. I love the smell of a 2 stroke in the morning!! And then running down the lake alone with the water as smooth as glass. Then pulling up on a spot and throwing that topwater bait out. Fishing, in general recharges my internal batteries so that I can deal with a high pressure day job and I look forward to my retirement next year so that I can stay in my happy place much more often. I have been blessed to also wade out into the moving waters of the Shenandoah river at sunup, in the mist and have a herd of deer wade within 10 feet of me crossing the river. Nothing like feeling you are part of nature. Finally, my grandfather who fostered my love of fishing and passed when I was 14, is by my side every time I get on the water, no matter in what capacity. That alone is worth every second I can spend fishing.

If Yamamoto doesn't make it, I don't throw it. IMHO their line up covers all of my plastic needs with quality baits. I'm a bit biased but it's been that way for over 20 years.

Motor, fuel lines and fuel tanks would be my biggest concern. Those are the things that "sitting" affects.

Substitute non-boater with "client" and I could write a book.

Weather Tec floor liners that I am about to take a picture of and send to them. The passenger front has curled down in the front edge of the doorside. Truck came with a bedliner but stuff still slides a lot so I cut and installed rubber horse stall floor liners from Tractor Supply for over the top of the liner. I got an OEM tonneau cover that is aluminum and folds to the front of the bed or you can open the cover at the back or front both have locks. I like the toppers but don't want to have to take it off if I haul anything of any height. Not a big fan of lifts or leveling kits. Too much chance to throw off driveline angles and towing stability. Stock rims and tires look good. I bought the top of the line trim package (High Country) so that I didn't have to add much of anything.

My best spots were at the upper end of the lake in the creek channel that feeds it. That was from a boat.

Sad story on how I came to purchase my Ranger. When I finished my 2 year assignment in Florida and was ready to move back to Virginia where my wife and daughter were, I sold my old guide boat that I had taken with me (929 NITRO). I got all moved back and began the search for a new to me boat. Looked at a few used boats but none were "blowing my skirt up" as a fishing friend always said. Then my tournament partner called me and said there was a nice Ranger on Craigs List. Normally I don't buy anything from that site. Too many scams. I decided to go ahead and email the poster. Come to find out a lady was hosting the ad for a friend who was a blue water Captain in the Outer Banks and he had a home and lawn service business here in Virginia. He was too busy to take calls so she was helping him out. I got his number and set up a time to go look at the boat. When I got there, the boat was sitting outside with a tattered cover and it was literally full of mold and gunk. I had a good friend with me that is a good mechanic and while I talked to the guy, he crawled all over inside and out on the boat. We had a little sidebar discussion and he told me the boat was solid, just neglected and we came up with a fair number. We thought. When I offered, the guy turned me down flat, wouldn't budge so I wished him good luck and we left. 2 weeks later the ad pops back up on craigs list. I let it run for another week and I give him a call and ask him if he's ready to make a deal. We met 1/2 way on price and I went to water test and bring it home. As I was hoking it up, I noticed he was all emotional. I asked him what the deal was. Come to find out his brother retired from the Gas company and bought a place on the Potomac in Pohick Bay on the water and bought his dream boat from an FLW pro (the Ranger). Hadn't had the boat 6 months when he decided to buy a cheap kayak from wal mart. Went out, turtled the yak, got caught in the weeds and drowned. Brother got the boat in his will and couldn't part with it. I told him it wasn't doing anyone any good rotting next to his machine shed. And that's how I got my boat from a guy who didn't wear a PFD. Sad, sad, story.

Great tip on leaving the tag end longer to act as a weed guard!! I do almost the same thing with my finger but I additionally grab the head of the shakey head so that my fingers are up to the bottom of the hook eye. That keeps the line from cinching on the shaft of hookeye instead of itself. On a dropshot, in order to reduce the amount of line the knot has to travel down to the hook eye, I pull it down loosely on the hookeye with my fingers positioned like I explained on the shakeyhead to keep it from cinching on the shaft and to also eliminate a long pull of line from the tag end. Flyfishing taught me that to keep from wasting a lot of tippet when you retie.

Looks good. Report back on how that flooring works and if you like it.

Not an admin but this is an ongoing thread updated as questions are asked or reports made.

Personally, I only pull the tag end to cinch because the friction on the line will possibly weaken it and I want that possible failure point on the weight side not above the hook. Your hook is hanging vertical because you have the bait on it. If you want to check if your hook is facing the right way after you tie it on put a little pressure on the tag end without your bait and it should stand up. If it doesn't, run it back through the hook eye from the top. I Texas rig my DS baits with a #1 EWG hook but that is just me. I don't like to nose hook DS baits.

I like fishing alone on my boat. I also like fishing with a partner but what I really like is fishing on the back deck of my buddies boat. I spent 15 years guiding, I know how to handle a boat and keep people on fish but when I am on the back deck of the boat, it's not uncommon for me to out fish my partner. Along with that, we have a great time. He always comments that he's never seen anyone fish the back deck like I do. He never has to worry about placement, speed, or anything to do with fishing because I know how to make the back deck work to my advantage. I have a system that allows me to catch fish no matter what my partner is doing. I can relax and we have a great time.

Brittle is also stocked with Walleye. Crocket Park/Germantown Lake has a very good bass population and 8lbers are pulled out of there every year. They also rent boats. Lake Orange rents boats. Others to look at but without boat rentals and limited shore access are Mountain Run, Lake Pelham and Curtis. Mountain Run and Pelham you need permits. You can wade fish the Shenandoah at the state parks likewise the Rappahanock. The Rapp has a pond at the Phelps WMA and different access points in Remington.

"A Jack of all trades is a master of none" comes to mind. Since most of the big bait companies share wholesalers for some product offerings, I can't say there is one Brand I could honestly say could provide best in class products in every category. What I could do is to narrow it down to companies who provide the best in certain bait offerings. Plastics/Hard Baits/Terminal tackle, etc. It would make my head hurt trying to find one company who offers everything.

A google search will give you a lot of choices. I would go to one of the Yak specific sites and see what they use.