TOXIC

To you gents wanting to try Fluke style baits again do yourself a favor and give the Yamamoto DShad a shot. Made out of the same material as a Senko and has a killer fall rate weightless. I tear them up on this bait and never leave home without one rigged up.

I have a friend who has panels on the top of his boathouse (no power to it) and used enough and the proper size panels to run his on-board charger. Per him it works great and there's no chance of overcharging because his on-board will switch into trickle mode when the batteries are charged.

Most embarrassing.....At the ramp at o'dark thirty with 100 of my closest tournament buddies rapid fire launching for a tournament and I let my co-angler throw me off my routine for launching. Jump in the boat and he backs me in, boat floats up and spins towards the dock, he starts to pull out and the ass of the boat swings wildly towards the ramp. Yep, left 1 tie down strap on which was now twisted with the boat facing the wrong way. What a slow painful process it was to get the boat righted and then off the trailer. To make matters worse, it was on the lake where I was a guide....

When we go to St Clair, we fish no matter the conditions, sun up to sun down, eat like kings and party like Rock Stars for a week straight. Now don't get me wrong, we are overly safety conscious but on "blow" days, we will load the boats back on the trailers and take the ferry back to the mainland and re-launch in areas we know are more protected. Last year in the 20-40mph winds we were able to cut through from the island to Little Muscamoot Bay and still fish. We have had some downright brutal boat rides from the mile roads back to Harsens Island when the weather kicked up. We have drift fished with 2 drift socks out in 4 footers (and caught fish). We have fished the Firecracker when somebody has to stay on the big motor to hold us in place because the TM is out of the water in the swells and it's a 52" shaft. So yeah, we do battle when we are up there We start 2 months early here in Virginia fishing as much as we can (no matter the conditions) to get in "fishing shape" for St Clair. There's no fair weather fishermen in our group. Depending on the conditions, after a solid week of fishing, I need a vacation to recover from my vacation. Wouldn't give up this trip for a million bucks though. Makes my year, every year.

The original carpet was glued to the fiberglass so you always have the option to re-do it with carpet. There are also a lot of aftermarket floor coverings like Sea Dek that will glue to glass as well. You can also spray in a bedliner type material but that would be my last option.

Keeping in mind you are bank fishing....Muddy water usually pushes them up to the bank. Look for the biggest eddys you can find. What was once high and dry is now underwater. If you remember the shore structure before the high conditions, try to remember where there would be areas the fish could hold with minimal effort. My rule of thumb when the mud flows is that the fishing can be tough for 3 days. After that, they've got to eat, muddy water or not.

As my buddy who fishes St Clair says...."Skegs were never meant to be painted" The owner is obviously a somewhat serious fisherman as evidenced by the Tacklewhorehouse sticker that would explain the bunged up skeg. No harm no foul but take a close look at the prop because as it may be normal to bang up a prop in stumpy waters, it also may lead to a bent propshaft allowing water into the lower unit. I totally agree with WRB that the big motor is where all the risk is in buying a used boat. Questions to ask are when was it last serviced? Water Pump/impeller/LU oil/plugs etc... Normally I recommend (after a water test to verify everything works, electronics/bilge/livewells etc.) is to take the boat to a good mechanic and have them go over the motor (on your dime). Don't forget to check tires/bearings/seals on the trailer as well. Also check out the belly of the boat for "serious" damage. Scratches are normal but gouges into the fiberglass will have to be addressed. If everything checks out just know that you will probably have to do some additional things if not already taken care of....tune up, carb rebuild, ethanol resistant lines...etc. VERY IMPORTANT.....ask him the cold start procedure he uses for that motor. They are notorious hard starters the first time in the morning but with the right procedure they fire right up. Honestly, it looks like a good deal to me and I don't say that a lot. Good luck!!

Nope...never.....nothing.....deny, deny, deny.........Well, there was this one time where while fishing the Fox river in Wisconsin, we stopped at riverside restaurant for lunch and about 1/2 way through my burger some guys come in and ask who had the gold/black bassboat because it's floating down the river. All of the walleye guys got a good laugh since bass boats aren't the norm up there but one of them did take me to retrieve my boat. I tie better knots in my ropes now.

Personally, I wouldn't use it on anything bigger than a tin 17 footer. There are plenty of manual style of stakes you can use as well. They've been using them for years in Florida where shallow fishing is the norm. Power pole is based in Florida and just expanded the application to bigger bass boats. Ideally, the "driver" style is great on yaks where you don't have the ability to hand drive a stake into the water and to also store the stake when not in use.

Sorry to hear about your ducer. That river claims more equipment/lower units/props and boat dings than any other place I know. We concentrate on the lower portion and rarely venture above the Quan unless we are really struggling. Aquia Creek and the surrounding areas normally hold enough fish to keep us occupied. Problem is in drought times the salt line moves up that far and spoils the bass fishing. We have caught Bluefish, Redfish and even flounder around Aquia. That area is also fishable when the weather kicks up.

And just to raise the stakes, we have a Facebook fishing friend whom I've never met (my partner has because he travels worldwide for his job) flying in from Australia to sample some of the legendary St Clair smallmouth this year. He has taken my buddy Barrimundi fishing in Australia and we decided to show him some of what the states have to offer. We'll get on some fish no doubt but I sure would like St Clair to show him her good side. I just hope he is up to what we call "combat" fishing because we are 100% hardcore when we come up.

I've been coming to St Clair for the last 15 years straight the 21st to the 28th of May. I've been rained on, hailed on, snowed on, blown around and sweat 1/2 to death. This is the longest I think in those 15 years it has taken spring to show up. It will be interesting to say the least. When timed properly, we normally get to fish the smallies in all phases...pre-spawn, post spawn and on the beds. Last year we had 20-40mph winds the whole week but luckily we rent a cottage on Harsens Island and can cut through to Little Muskamoot. We ended up in there almost all week and did really well. You just never know.

The age old conundrum.....Boat fishermen try to cast as close as they can to the bank and bank fishermen try to cast as far out into the water as they can.

No matter which way I spool a spinning reel, when finished I open the bail, prop the rod in something in my garage and walk the line down my driveway, yard or even street and then rewind it on the spool. It is the only way I can g-u-a-r-a-n-t-e-e there is no line twist from spooling. When changing or retying in the boat I will occasionally feed out a bunch of line (nothing attached) and using my fingers for tension, rewind it back on the spool.

Have no choice due to the late spring, I'm going to throw Jerkbaits more. I am also going to fish the Ned rig more since I am a finesse guy anyway.

There's plenty of grass up right now, it just hasn't topped out. So much so that it's already impossible to fish a shallow running crank in some areas and I've had to downsize rattletraps to keep it above the grass. Make no mistake, there's still a lot of growth still to go on the grass and it will help clean the water but with the amount of rain and tides we've had it will be a while for it to clear and I agree 100% with BrianinMD that it is not a clear water river although it has it's days.

You can thank Mother Nature for wind, rain and crazy Lunar tides that have drained and refilled the creeks on a regular basis. There is no "normal" on that crazy river but it usually takes about 1 week of normal tides to clear up the river after a moderate rain.

Yepper, everybody knows about the beach and there will be a chorus line of boats in there but I will say this from my experience last weekend watching 17 boats (including me) work the area. The big girls have not moved up yet and since there was no real warming of the water during the week it will be tough to get a winning bag out of that area. There's a lot of bucks and a few bigger females but I would be surprised if the winning bag comes from there.

I do not throw a Senko on a Baitcaster......unless it is the trailer on a c-rig. That's not to say I don't throw other plastics on a baitcaster, I do. Just not a weightless Senko. Don't get me wrong. I am not criticizing anyone who does but having been sponsored by Yamamoto for the last 20 years, giving seminars and demonstrations, writing articles and fishing them heavily when I was guiding, I have developed what I feel has produced the most fish for me in most situations. That being said, there is one thing that ALWAYS holds true......There is no wrong way to rig a Senko.

I was a doubter on the need for poles. While I will admit they are waaaaay overpriced, I am now a believer in their usefulness. Since I held off, my fishing partner had a pair fairly quickly. We fish the Potomac and use them every trip (not at the ramp). They are a tool to hold you in current and specific depths. We have used them every year on our trip to St Clair since he has had them. They actually saved the trip last year when we were fishing in very strong winds. My other buddy who did not have poles tried an anchor and it just did not work. He almost could not fish. We would put the nose downwind. anchor with the poles and fan cast the area. When we wanted to move we ould lift the poles, let the wind push us ahead, drop the poles and fancast again. I quickly realized that they are not a gimmick and a very useful tool. Those that buy them for the "cool" factor may not need them but I saw the benefit first hand over a long period of time. I bit the bullet last year and went as cheap as possible but still spent a good chunk of change outfitting my boat with 2 8 foot Powerpoles. How did I go cheap? First I bought a pair of Gen 1 poles lightly used ($2,200). Gen 1's are not Bluetooth compatible (I can add that option for $250 and a unit that sits on the pump) so I had to pull wires for my foot switches at the bow and my panel switch on the console. I don't have the "double tap" or remote options that automatically raises and lowers the poles, I have to keep my foot on the switch. I also had to fab a mounting plate for the pumps and run the lines. I also had to buy mounting brackets for my Jackplate ($200). As in most things there are costs built into a base price and one of those things is Customer Service. Powerpole has a VERY generous customer service policy and I feel that's where some of the higher price comes from. As an aside, my partner also has an Ultrex with spot lock. Also a useful upgrade for a TM but not a replacement for poles. I won't own another boat without some type of shallow water anchor system Powerpoles/Talon's or whatever may hit the market to compete in the future.

You ain't seen nuthin till you've had to deal with a full grown swan. Had one get in the boat with me and it was quite the battle.

In my experience most new to baitcasters have problems due to coming from spinning reels where you snap your wrist once the rod is loaded. When using a Baitcaster that is a g-u-a-r-a-n-t-e-e-d backlash. You have to move more towards a fly casting type of motion with your arm.

1 pole or 2? What year boat and motor type/size? If 1 pole you still need to back out all of the transom bolts (which you'll need longer ones) to put in the spacer on the non-pole side. So, you will need a lifting ring or some way to support the motor. As an aside, I opted out of the sandwich brackets and went with the Jackplate mounts even though I had to drill the Jackplate because of the experience a friend of mine had with the the sandwich brackets always working loose. Even with new bolts and nuts. Whichever way you go reseal the new transom bolts well.

Totally different applications as has been said. I use both. SPRO Hollow body (usually popping) for slow retrievs and pausing over opn spots and Yamamoto solid body Buzz Frogs for a steady retrieve. I have been known to let a SPRO fill up with water and let it sink in mat holes as well.

I had a friend in a past life that had an Earth Home and the entire back wall was an aquarium. Probably 1,000 gallons. He had it set up as a natural ecosystem with an overabundance of filtration (an entire room behind the wall and face of the tank) that kept the water crystal clear. He had turtles, bass, catfish, bluegill and crappie as well as crayfish and other food fish for the population. It was pretty neat to say the least. The biggest problem with keeping bass and the like is the amount you have to feed them to keep them healthy. Then you have to deal with introduced disease if you use shiners or minnows. It is a pain. Now for those that keep some of the Southern fish like Oscars and Peacocks. Those are non native and actually Cichlids that were originally aquarium fish to begin with. I had 6 tanks of Chichlids at one time and got into them as a hobby, biggest tank was 85 gallons and went down to 40 gallon tanks for quarintine and spawning tanks. I had some real exotics shipped in from Africa. I would never even consider doing a natural tank for gamefish.