Russ E

My fiberglass ranger z175 has seen a few nasty rainstorms. I have not had a drop of water in any of my compartments. Except, of course, the livewell

I notice it more with flourocarbon than other lines. Pretty normal.

While it may work, the WD40 company says not to do it. The petroleum distillate in WD40 is a pollutant. Granted you are not adding much to the water if you spray it on your bait, but why add to the pollution problem, when there are biodegradable attractants?

^^^^ this I have not had a gut hooked bass since switching to the Neko hook. for senko style baits I use 1/0. if i am throwing thinner worms like a trick worm, i use #1 hooks.

It's good that it came up. It has been low for a long time. That lake does not seem to get dirty with the rain.

is the water still clear?

I agree someone will pick it up. They are one of the most popular soft plastics company out there. Maybe Johny Morris will buy it. He seems to control a lot of the fishing market already.

In my experience, the lighter the braid the more chance for wind knots. I personally use 15 or 20 pound power pro on my spinning reels. Always with a fluoro or mono leader. anything less than that gives me issues.

The fish are a starting to get acclimated to the dirty water. Generally when it is muddy out there the smallies disappear..I caught three out there yesterday.

If you are going to throw jigs, fast action. The fast action will be more sensitive. To me moderate action rods are for crankbait or treble hook baits.. I don't use them for anything else.

I get approached a lot at the docks when loading or launching the boat. I only fish public lakes, so I don't deal with homeowners much. Don't ever remember of a time I felt harassed. Maybe it is the area I live, but almost every encounter at the lake is positive. Usually somebody asking if I caught anything or someone saying how their day was.

That thing looks old. unless it is super cheap I would walk away. most people sell old trolling motors, because they are near worn out. A power drive is functional in open water. if you fish around shallow cover they suck. Very difficult to control. there is no pedal feedback or resistance. you have to constantly watch the motor to see which direction it is pointing. Don't know many people that bought a power drive and was actually happy with the purchase.

I hope it works out for you. If there is no foot pedal I would assume it has a hand remote control. My opinion on a power drive is pretty low. My former boat came with a power drive. Out of owning around 12 bow mount trolling motors, in my lifetime, the power drive was by far my least favorite. The steering was very unresponsive and slow. I hit more objects with that trolling motor than all others combined. After 6 months and a fried control board, I bought a cable drive and never looked back. My current motor is a Minn Kota Ultrex. It is without a doubt the best motor I have ever owned.

I never turn my bow hummingbird off when on the water. It will not hurt the transducer to be out of the water while the unit is on. In regards to boat speed in previous replies you do have to be moving but, it depends on your boat and how much turbulence runs across the transducer. Generally I set the chart speed one notch higher than my boat speed. My setup paints a good side image picture from 2 to 5 mph. Faster than that and the picture starts to breakup. Slower the picture gets stretched and skewed. 4mph is where I generally run when scoping an area.

I previously was a megabass fan. This year I tried a few provokes and now they are my staple jerkbait. For about 1/2 the price I have no complaints. They are much more durable than the fragile megabass jerkbaits. Unlike most other jerkbaits, I use them right out of the box with factory hooks. Megabass jerkbaits were the only other brand that I did not change hooks.

I have a fairly new fiberglass boat and use bumpers maybe 2 percent of the time. They are a pain to deal with in my opinion. The only time I use them is if a dock has jagged corners or has no built in bumpers. Fiberglass boats have a built in rub rail. Ironically the only time my boat got scratched at a dock, I was using my bumpers.

WYCO has been weird this spring. Water has been dirty since it opened. I was out there Wednesday for 4 hours, caught 6 short bass and one 2.5 pitching a jig in the laydowns. Watched another guy catch a 5+ bass on a buzzbait.

a fluke, senko. and jig. I had 15 pound trilene big game line on the reel. it is cheap. cement is pretty abrasive on line.

I actually learned how to skip with my baitcaster, in my driveway, during winter. While not exactly the same as on water, bouncing a a bait across the cement helps teach you how to control the reel and bait during the skip.

Braid is actually less abrasion resistant than most fluoro or mono. Here in Kansas the zebra mussels wreak havoc with braid.

I actually skip more with a baitcaster than I do with spinning gear. While you can skip with any reel, to me a Diawa with the sv spool makes it much easier. Especially for beginners. I have three Diawa Tatula svs. they all see some skipping action. super flukes, senkos, and jigs are what I skip the most. I also never use braid on baitcasters when skipping. it is usually fluoro, with occasional mono. if the reel does backlash during a skip, braid usually involves a knife to fix. One problem I have seen anglers have with skipping is using baits that are too heavy. even with spinning gear a light bait skips much easier than a heavy bait. It is easier to skip with an easy fluid cast. I have seen anglers try to wind up and sling the bait. with a baitcaster that will leave you with an awesome birds nest. With experience you will learn to feather the skip with your thumb and the rod angle.

Pretty vague question. More than likely the bass are not located in the areas you are fishing. Without knowing your general location and type of water , we don't know where the bass should be located in april.

Wouldn't it be easier to just drive the boat onto the trailer. Looks like a lot of things that can break and ruin the fishing day.

until the nut on the other side comes loose and falls off. had that happen on a couple reels. does not happen with the exceler

never used the Legalis. I am not going to suggest a reel I have not used. I have used a diawa regal. they are functional, but not at the level of an exceler. I have used the exceler and fuego extensively. honestly can't tell much difference , besides price, between the 2.