TOXIC

I guide on Anna (when the urge hits me LOL!!) and I also fish year round. I have access to the hotside of Anna in winter. I have broken ice to get out of Sturgeon Creek on Anna in the winter but never on the Potomac. We normally just Crappie fish on the Potomac in the winter and if the creeks freeze we will go to the hotside of Anna. I pull my boat to Wisconsin every year (2 days up and 2 days back) so I have to be VERY attentive to maintenance especially to the trailer. Another consideration you will have to address is towing. I have a 2016 1/2 ton Silverado. I traded a 2004 3/4 ton HD Silverado for it and it tows great. You need a good tow vehicle with the larger boats. As for storage, I cannot get my boat in my garage period and I have a 2 and a half car garage. I keep my boat outside but it is never really put up for winter since we fish all year. You can store outside but you just have to be super attentive to covering the boat and keeping moisture out. You have to remember in the winter months to drain the motor after every use and I keep a fan under the cover year round. Yes, my rig was a good deal but it didn't always look like it does in that picture. Long story but short version, my boat sat outside for 2 years under a bad cover and was FULL of nasty black mold after a lot of elbow grease and cleaning, I brought it back from the edge. This is how I store my boat EVERY time it comes off the water, summer or winter and I can guarantee you it looks brand new (2005 Model year). So it can be done.

Ever tried a drift sock? I go to Lake St Clair every year (for the last 15 years anyway) and wind is a constant concern. If we are drifting and fishing deeper than 8 feet, out come the driftsocks (1 sometimes 2) to slow the drift and then you just do minor corrections with the trolling motor. If we go shallower, then power poles will hold us in place to fan cast then we just lift them up and drift a little and anchor again.

Well, if you are not keeping it in the water then my answer changes from what I was going to say. I would not have recommended a glass boat if it was going to sit in the water. Hull blistering would be my biggest concern. But if you are going to trailer the boat the go for glass and if you ever want to leave the creek, make sure you at least go big enough to handle the river on less than perfect days. As for price, there's a lot out there you just have to be patient and search. I found my current rig on Craigs List (I still can't believe it) and got it for a little more than half what you claimed your budget is. My boat is 21ft with a 250 and it had 400 hours on it when I bought it. Get into a used boat cheap enough and then start upgrading as funds allowed. I have pulled a network and updated my electronics to a Gen 1 HDS8 and a Gen 2 HDS9 and will upgrade again when I feel the need. I have upgraded the Trolling Motor to a 112 Fortrex and this weekend will be installing Power Poles. Even with my upgrades I am well under your budget and if I get caught out on the river in the nasty stuff, I am still safe.

That Crappie pattern is suhweet!! One of my favorite bait patterns. The Gill would do great on the Potomac where they want that red belly.

Chatterbaits (any bladed jig) are catfish magnets on the Potomac. But then again so are spinnerbaits, crankbaits and plastics!!

I didn't see the other post and your system looks like it will work well. What I use is a plane guide series 3700 double sided stowaway. http://www.planomolding.com/fishing/stowawayr-utility-boxes/guide-series-two-tiered-stowaway-3700

Pull it apart and most likely you will need to replace the worm gear or line prawl. Different names for the same part.

First off, stop considering it a "slump" bad term with a bad meaning. I like "struggling" better. You have to break a slump......you succeed in figuring out the pattern when you are struggling. It's a mental problem.

I have my Grandfathers metal fishing rods and open face reels still spooled up cloth line in different colors for different depths. I also have the green Zebco 202 my Grandfather gave to me when he took me to Canada (Lac LaRonge) on my first real fishing trip. Caught an 18lb pike on that rod/reel (red/white daredevil spoon) and multiple 8lb walleye (white hair jigs). I still have the "slides" and projector from him and the memories of shore lunch in the Canadian wilderness.

Always pays to check out any "special" regulations for a body of water you plan on fishing. There are a couple lakes by me that require a permit in addition to a valid fishing license. Likewise some that are off limits completely after 9-11, that used to be fantastic lakes. One even had a marina to rent jonboats. You get caught near these lakes and you are guaranteed a ticket.

You have a good definition of "ripping" a bait. To simply reel very fast is called "burning" a bait in most circles. If you burn a crankbait or spinnerbait there is a point at which either will roll so you have to match your max retrieve speed to the bait.

Don't forget that in the UK and many other places, the Carp is a gamefish!!

Info from the factory is that a 5" Texas rigged weightless Senko has a sink rate of 1 foot per second. That's been the answer I have been told to give. My personal input: It will vary depending on line size due to tension on the water, wind, water temperature and exactly which color/flake combination you throw. But if you count down a senko in a known water depth, you will find the above rate is most common. Deepest I have personally caught a bass on a weightless senko: +-30ft.

For a real world example on brakes (the most important part of the towing equation IMHO), my 3/4 ton Silverado HD 4X4 spent it's life towing a 21 foot Ranger and a 3 horse trailer. I changed the pads and rotors at 159,000 miles right before I traded it in. They were due but still had life. We will see how my 2016 1/2 ton does but its only got 15,000 on it right now. I will say I can feel the difference in stopping power between the 2 and is the only thing I miss from my old truck. Smaller vehicles, smaller components so govern yourself accordingly.

Senko "Fan Boy" checking in...... There is one thing that you can count on in every Senko vs XXXXXX thread and that is there are Senko believers and non-believers. And guess what.....you are not going to convince either one that their opinion is the right one. Some Facts: Senkos will last if you use the right hooks and the proper rigging. I have caught 15 hard fighting smallmouth on one Senko before. Texas rigged. It's easy to match the shape and size of a Senko, you can even duplicate the weight (although as has been mentioned there are different weights depending on color and flake), you can add salt, silica, scent or whatever you think the magic ingredient is but there's one thing you can't duplicate and that's the formula. There's only 2 people who know that and it's Gary and the guy that runs the pour floor and they ain't tellin!! The one ingredient that ALL of these have in common is Confidence. Throw what you have confidence in.

Happens a lot more than I would like but we call them "Dues paying Days" sooner or later the payoff will happen. Just gotta keep grinding it out and approach each day new. As a guide, I use the following mindset every time I hit the water....Fishing is like a 500 piece puzzle, the more pieces of the puzzle you can put together, the better your day will be. No mater where or how I caught them yesterday or the day before, I re-think the puzzle every time I dunk the boat.

Yamamoto Pro Senko or Kut Tail. Can go all the way up to 7 inches. I feel that a Shakey Head is a finesse presentation so I stay in the 5 inch range. I also have given up on the Curly Tail because the tail gets bit off on the first cast!!

Least everyone forget that all it takes is one major repair from towing with a smaller vehicle (transmission, differential, etc.) to completely zero out any savings in MPG. And just because it's rated to tow doesn't mean it's designed to tow which means more in maintenance costs like brakes, oil changes and overall wear and tear. I tow a lot and at one time towed a 20 foot boat with a V8 Ford Explorer. Was it "rated" for the weight? Sure it was, even had the tow package but I put that vehicle to an early death and moved on to a truck. I tow a 21ft Heavy Ranger now and started with a 3/4 ton HD truck and more recently dropped down to 1/2 ton with an 8 speed transmission and Active Fuel Management which increased my MPG towing and I'm not tearing up the vehicle doing it. As long as you know going in what the risks are, then more power to ya!!

Most fishermen and women here know that legal harvest is good for a fishery. That being said, I have found many other species that just plain taste better than bass to me. And the good thing is that many of the species I like to release into lake Crisco are prolific breeders and the creel limits are much higher so I get multiple meals out of every trip. Crappie, White Bass, Stripers, Wipers, White Perch, Ring Perch, Walleye, Northern Snakehead, and various species of Sunfish, all come home for dinner if caught in an outing or whether I am specifically targeting them. The concern you picked up on was that "IF" you were going to release them then you need to give them the best chance of survival. Enjoy your dinner!!

I went from a 3/4 ton standard bed to a 1/2 ton short bed and I fish from a lot of my friends boats as much as I do mine so I am always loading 7 to 8 rods in the bed of the truck. Will be doing it Saturday as a matter of fact. In my new truck I have to load the rods corner to corner whereas my old truck they would almost go straight in. In all of my years of fishing I have broken 2 rods, both my fault because I didn't take the time to load them properly. There are a number of things you can do. The best way is to put them in a soft sided zip up travel case. It gives them support and protects the tips. I'm usually too lazy to load them into the case and for me the cases only hold about 4 rods rigged. So what i do is this...Most importantly make sure the bed of the truck is loaded so that nothing can fall on, slide into or catch the rods. Second, I am usually taking a soft sided tackle bag so when I load the rods, the butt ends all lay on top of my soft sided tackle bag. That helps give them a cushioned base and helps them from sliding or moving. I also keep an old packing blanket in the truck and I wrap it around the tips and upper sections of the rods. That keeps them from hitting the bed wall and if they do move they are protected. I have a sprayed in bed liner that is slick as snot and I went to Tractor supply and bought 2 thick stall mats that I cut to fit the bed. They are tough rubber and nothing slides inside the bed. I also have the folding cover and you just have to make sure the tips don't get wedged in it.

My record is 15 hard fighting smallmouth on St Clair with the same Senko. It's durable if rigged right. In a c-rig application, I would use a cheap knockoff because the action of the bait doesn't matter. Wacky rigging a c-rig is a new one to me since a wacky rig is all in the fall and a c-rig rockets to the bottom and is a drag bait but I go back to my same Senko saying and that is....there's no wrong way to rig a Senko. I don't understand the mindset of using the Senko as a desperation bait or if their not biting???? If the bait works, why not throw it....especially if the goal is to catch fish? I do understand that if you prefer an action bait (crankbait, spinnerbait. jig, etc.) the slow presentation of a senko is torture but if it catches fish, I'm throwin it all day, every day and twice on Sunday.

Easiest way.....Take a friend who knows boats!! Because all the studying in the world won't help if you are not experienced in looking at boats. There are so many things that would slip past the uneducated eye. That being said there are some things you can do like get the leakdown/compression test, on the water test to check livewells/gauges/graphs, etc., and don't forget the trailer because you won't make it to the lake without it!! Tires/bunks/hubs/wiring/lights, etc.

Your ID is correct but in Smallmouth's defense, they are not an ugly fish They are my favorite targets!! And just to add, if those are eating fish, you picked the right size. Nothing wrong with harvesting bass no matter the species (as long as it's legal).

The more of a bass' senses you can trigger the better. In low visibility conditions only one is eliminated....sight. They can still Feel the bait (lateral line), Hear the bait (rattles) and Smell/Taste the bait (scents). Bass have to eat or they die...period. Once 1 feeding method is removed, they rely on the others. That's assuming that what you are seeing on your graphs are actually bass Another fact to keep in mind is that "usually" muddy water will push bass shallow.

Being on the Bass side and a guide myself, you are getting too deep in the weeds as far as terminology goes. "Pro" can mean any number of things and as far as your agreements with companies, that is an individual thing usually based on what you bring to the table. Just like in any job there are levels of sponsorship (no matter what the terminology is) based on your experience and what you can do for the sponsor. I handle the Pro Staff for a couple of my sponsors and the details of those agreements are not public information. As a matter of fact, disclosing contract deals can be grounds for losing the sponsorship. There's also a marked difference between a sponsorship that is bound by a formal contract and those that are more of a handshake deal (or loose written agreement) where you get a bait discount. Discounted bait sponsorships are usually the entry level of deals and are done for a number of reasons. First to find out if the relationship works out and in some cases a cheap way for companies to get "word of mouth" activity without investing in you. In the bass world, some sponsorships involve paying of tournament entry fees if the angler is a competitive fisherman. What so many fail to realize is that sponsors are only interested in one thing.....moving product. That can be accomplished many ways and normally cashing a check in your local club isn't one of them. Competitive fishing is only one way and normally not a real good one. As you demonstrate you can move product, usually the deals get better. You admit you are just entering the bass fishing world and you are right, the difference between that and fly fishing are dramatic (I do both), as well as gear and techniques. You cant expect a premium deal right out of the gate with no way to show how you have, or how you propose, to move the sponsors product. Some sponsorships require things like added insurance. I have to carry a 1 million rider policy with one sponsor as the loss payee so that I can do seminars in their brick and mortar stores. I have a sponsorship with a Rep Group that requires me to travel all over the country and be knowledgeable in a multitude of products. My point being, no 2 are the same. Sponsorships are a negotiation and the pressure is on you to convince any company that you are worth what they are going to invest. The more skill base you have in areas like Speaking/Demonstrations/Photography/Writing, etc., all works in your favor.