IndianaOutdoors

Here in northern Indiana the shallow creek smallies have been great the last week or so. I guess the cold nights we have been having are starting to trigger the fall feed. I will be very sad when they move out to the big river where i don't have as much access to them.

While I have nothing against 12yr olds operating a boat, DNR may feel otherwise. Can't remember for sure but I think Indiana law says they have to be 16 with a valid driver's license to operate a boat without an adult on board. I know it's just for a launch but I think some of us know how the DNR can be sometimes. Not sure if this applies to OP or WRB just something to think about. I would recommend teaching your son how you solo launch. I always held the rope for Dad. When I got my own boat I had to learn the hard way. Edit:you may still teach your son how to operate the boat as well. He'll need to know that down the road and may be useful in case of an emergency now.

It depends on use, motor size, battery capacity, boat weight, boat size, wind, current, etc. I have only ran a battery dead once and that was fishing on a river with strong current, using full thrust almost the entire time. I would say 4-6 hrs run time. If I'm fishing a lake and it isn't very windy, I can run all day bc I'm only actually running the motor maybe 50% of my time on the water. I can't say what time you will get out of a battery but you should definitely start with a trolling motor unless you know you need to cover a lot of water to get to a particular spot. A trolling motor is much more useful for the actual fishing part of boating. I just found the Walmart motor you're talking about. I wouldn't waste my money unless you just want to run it for a weekend and return it. Might not even last that long. Get a big battery and go fishing.

I think you would do best sitting in the back so you can watch the kids. Throw a tiller trolling motor on the back. Move the fish finder back there and connect em to the same battery. Looks like you'd need to wire up the bilge pump too. You could reverse the wiring, put the battery up front and the plug in the back. This would help keep some won't up front. Just make sure the kids stay safe. Life jackets are a must.

That's about what I see for used prices too. I won't pretend I understand why the prices are what they are but I never thought they were out of line considering what a new boat motor costs. You may consider looking for a used trolling motor instead. I fish mostly smaller lakes and usually troll the whole lake without ever firing up the outboard.

Sorry man can't find my scale. I think my buddy has it.

I might have one at home. And I might have a scale too. I'll see if I can get a weight for you when I get home. Why do you want to know?

This is the Jewel j lock jig. The wire on the bottom of the jig has a small j hook on it. You just poke it through your plastic and hook it over the hook shank. Spring tension holds it in place. I have not had one come undone and because it holds a lot more of the meat of the plastic it doesn't rip the nose out of the plastic.

Bluegill works for me. I've been using it in a shallow clear river.

Any jig you prefer and super glue. I also have some jewel brand jigs with J-lock wire bait keepers. Sorry I don't have any experience with Seiberts yet. I wonder about the jigs with screw locks. Looks like it may be challenging to twist the plastic on there without catching the hook point.

I leave my wading bag in the Jeep with trds in it. No problems. The only zman/elaztech that I have seen melt has been mixed with other plastics. I keep mine in the original bags or in its own section of a tiny flambeau box. I know it's a philosophy/mindset thing but to me, elaztech is what makes the Ned rig a Ned rig. If I'm just looking for something to stand up on the bottom I'll fish a shaky head. Anyway I think you might try a big bite trick stick. They are very low salt if any and sink very slow.

Caught the bigun with a power bait 4in grub on a 1/16th mushroom jig. Pulled downstream just fast enough to keep off bottom Also caught some on a chartreuse zoom fat Albert grub. It was kind of a random choice. I ran out of trds last week so I threw a 3in keitech on the jig. All it caught was dinks so I wanted something with a larger profile that would still work on the tiny jig. Happened to have the grubs on me and whada ya know, that was the ticket. I have fished the White River very little but I can tell you it's at least 4 times the size of the river I fish. You can see in the picture how shallow it is. Most of the river is 6-8in right now so I'm just looking for the deeper holes, the pools above and below the riffles. Good luck

The river was on fire yesterday! Caught 12 in 2hrs. Broke my PB smallie again. 18 inches and much heavier than the 17 I caught last month. Really wish I had a scale with me. Anybody using one of those lip grip scales with tape measure? I think it would be handy for getting pics while I'm out by myself.

I had though about removing the tail hook or going to a single in the back. All of the smallies that hit my 90 had the front hook in the mouth. Most of them had the rear hook in the gills, spine or belly. I always catch and release so I'm not a fan of the extra holes. Hook removal would be much quicker as well.

You need a police inspection and a bill of sale. If there are registration numbers on it the bmv can sometimes use them to find the boat in their system. Take pictures of both sides of the boat with you. Sometimes they want them sometimes not. Good luck.

I've been catching smallies on a 3/16 booyah gold willow with a green skirt. I think they call it summer craw color. 3/16 is light enough I can fish it in less than a foot of water without dragging bottom and still control the speed. I believe the smallmouth in my area have begun transitioning to deeper holes because the river has been so low. They have been harder to find but the bite is good when I get on em. Whopper plopper bite has been good for me as well.

Just yesterday, I rammed a dock and broke the prop on the trolling motor, left the boat tied up at the bow cleat only and came back to find the stern banging on the rocky shore. Last week I launched the jet sled with the tie downs on and forgot my backup paddle. Got a warning a couple weeks ago from DNR for not having enough life jackets on board. Honest mistake. I had been sharing pfds between boats but after that incident I now have life jackets for both boats.

That sucks man. I'm not an expert but I think it should take longer than 3 min running without water to score a piston or blow a head gasket. You remembered to put oil in the fuel right?

Is the tail not spinning or is the bait submerged? When I make really long casts sometimes the bait will submerge as I begin the retrieve. If I wait for it to float back to the surface before I begin the retrieve it whops and plops all the way back.

Austin, if you are running a trolling motor you can mount the transducer on the motor housing. Just zip tie the cable to the shaft. No need to make up an extra bracket and figure out attachment points.

Stealing a man's boat should be a capital offense

Four wheeler ramps laid sideways? You lost me.

10-15lb should do the trick. If you have trouble with line twist try braid with a fluorocarbon leader. If you have trouble hooking up or keeping em hooked on the baits with trebles, use mono. Edit:. Welcome to the board. I'm new here too.

Sometimes I use a keel weighted hook if I'm hanging up. I seem to be able to glide the bait as apposed to diving into the crevices. Most of the rock I fish is in current so that makes a different too.

I was just in the Indianapolis store. Looked like all Cabela's brand fishing products were 20% off. Line, lures, rods, reels, tackle trays. Shelves seemed pretty well stocked.