Russ E

most flourocarbon line has a lot of memory. I always spray KVD line conditioner on the line when I first spool it. this takes away a lot of the memory. if you use the conditioner it works better if you spray it the night before instead of right before you use it.

not good when you are planning a trip to fish the warm water. With no KC traffic, it is a good hour drive from my house.

Thanks, . Hopefully they fire it back up. I was planning on fishing it later next week.

The ultrex just came out when my boat arrived . Decided to wait for a power pole or talon. After using the Ultrex for a season, I honestly cant think of a time that I needed the anchor. On the lakes I fish, when fishing shallow water, I am usually sitting in deeper water.

Are you talking about the high seas grand slam? I was wondering how it preformed. It is only 8 dollars at walmart.

I agree . C&C custom baits bighead wobbler bladed jig. You can buy them online at mondo tackle. They seem to go through cover better and have a high hookup ratio. I use 3/8 oz. Almost exclusively. Love the baby gill color.

like @Bluebasser86 said they work great around rock. Here in Kansas a lot of our lowland lakes and reservoirs are silted and lack vegetation. on those lakes i fish them along rocky shore lines, boat docks, and scattered timber. I stated earlier they were terrible in timber. running them through brushpiles or standing cedars will probably result in a lost bait. they do work fairly well around sparse standing timber.

that is how I fish it. Much slower than I fish a spinnerbait. slow rolling them along deep weed edge produced several quality fish last summer. sometimes a lift and drop retrieve works well for deeper summer bass.

I throw the chatterbait (bladed jig) around weeds and rock. it tends to attract large fish. I always use a trailer. either a twin tail, paddle tail, or fluke. It is terrible in timber. when the blade deflects off of wood it often drives the hook into the snag. there are weedguards you can buy to make it better around wood, but I have missed several fish using them. When fishing around wood I throw a spinnerbait.

i have a 7ft. MH speed stick and the 7 ft. 3in. MH Veritas. my Lews has a softer tip and seems more sensitive. they are both decent budget rods.

while trying to save money I tried 12 lb and 15 lb red label last summer. I did not have much luck with it. it had a lot of memory and after losing several fish to breakoffs, I gave up on it. sunline sniper is my favorite flourocarbon. I also occasionally use berkley 100% flourocarbon.

if you plan on beaching your boat much, it helps protect the Keel. in the 30 years that I had aluminum boats I never had a keel guard and my boats were no worse for the wear. My current fiberglass boat has one but I still try to use a dock whenever possible.

I would say deep diving crankbaits are my weak point. I do well with squarebills, but dredging the deeps is not all that successful for me. I do well in deeper water with other baits. Part of my problem is , as @Bluebasser86 mentioned, dealing with the zebra mussels. after awhile cranking the depths, becomes more work than fun in my opinion. that may be why I am not all that successful with it.

i have owned 2 boats similar to the tracker. the mod v tracker will be more stable than a v bottom with the same dimensions. generally the v bottom will handle rough water better.

If it is a 2015 it has 3 year old technology. Plus it is a floor model. chances are there is no warranty. I would offer them $499.00. if they don't accept it, pay the extra $100.00 for a new one. Hummingbird has made quite a few improvements the last couple years. I had a 2015 helix 7 on my old boat. it was not bad. The Helix 7 SI/GPS/G2 on my new boat, has the g2 technology which gives you chirp sonar and auto chart live. auto chart lets you map the bottom contour on lakes that navionics or lakemaster does not support.

I was a big chatterbait fan, until I tried the C&C custom baits bighead wobbler. It runs true and seems to last forever. (or until I lose them) they are made and sold locally.

if I am in the boat alone, I always wear an inflatable. I have a Cabelas brand and a BPS brand inflatable. the BPS is a lot lighter and less noticeable while fishing. this is the one I use the most. It cost $80.00.

While Glenn is a legend in his own right. I was referring to Hank

jerkbait is my go to cold water bait. if that doesn't work I will drag a shakyhead or ned rig around the rocks. usually have the most consistent action on afternoons fishing rocky banks open to the sun. on the bigger reservoirs I fish the rip rap around bridges.

that is awesome. he is a fishing legend.

grew up in a town of 600 people. job moved me to Kansas city. lived in the city for awhile. did not like it. when I retired we moved to the outskirts of suburbia.

welcome. this forum is a wealth of information.

I buy the $10.00 soft side coolers at Walmart and remove the plastic liner. I have one for each style of plastic. I label the top with a sharpie. I leave the plastics in their original bag, and put the bags in the coolers. they seem to last a lot longer this way. I can also stuff a lot of these under my boat deck.

The Cabelas fishing department,here in Kansas City, was pretty bare this fall. now they are restocking the shelves. They sure aren't dropping any prices. I went to Bass Pro, because they had some sales going on. they redeemed my Cabelas points on a bass pro gift card.

we got 2 inches here, this morning. this time last year I was on a local reservoir breaking in my outboard and jerkbaiting the rocky shores. that reservoir is partially covered with ice this year.