haggard

1/16 oz double-eye jig head with a 1-inch grub with flapping tail. Like a Charlie Bee without the spinning blade.

I use only tungsten, mainly to avoid adding toxic lead to the lake if I lose a lure. Home lake here is clear and clean and supports loons and bald eagles.

Incredibly beautiful yes, but fragile was not this one - it was as feisty as @jbmaine says and was gone in sixty seconds. It won this round, and for that I salute it

On my list of fishy things to do this season, one of them is to catch a trout (new species for me). Stopped by a reservoir today on the way into work, expect to get nothing but dinks, used the 5'6 UL/F with a Charlie Bee. A few nibbles on the bee (jig with a spinner) but after a while downsized to a smaller jig without spinner but using the Charlie Bee plastic. Something bit and it looked like a perch but when it came out of the water I saw the beautiful pink/green colors... rainbow trout about 8 inches long. It flopped off the barbless hook into the mud so I thought I'd rinse it in the water before the photo, and it had other plans - took off fast and I got a blurry pic. Not much of a pic, but I swear it was a rainbow trout Wish I could start every work day like that. Doesn't compare to @A-Jay's lunker trout but I'm happy.

Nice fish - I've caught a few, but none that size!

The shop I bought my boat from in NH has a MotorGuide X3-55FW in their warehouse. Variable speed digital, 12 V, foot control, 36" shaft (should work for my 14' jon which sits very low up front, and it it's wind and chop, I'm probably not fishing). Good price, no shipping, no tax, pickup tomorrow Thanks for the help everyone.

Thanks everyone for the responses. I'll be ready to try the gill method next time.

Thanks NGB - the Edge 55 lb is what I was initially looking at; the only thing I'm wondering about is battery efficiency of conventional controls vs digital controls.

Looking for a trolling motor, but product pages at Minn Kota and MotorGuide create confusion and aren't helping my selection process. Using the filtering tool on one site gives results that aren't in the filter I applied; both sites are heavy on product/brand names and generic descriptions with marketing terms, but do very little to facilitate easy side-by-side comparison in terms of features. So as usual I turn to the forum.... Any help is appreciated. Specifically, I'm looking for - 12 volt, single battery system - foot control - digital power management - cable steer - (no need for for wireless or GPS) Boat is a 14' jon, max ~1,000 lb launch weight (gear, gas motor, people), being used for pleasure fishing on a ~1,000 ac lake.

Why are soft plastics more likely to get gut hooked (and why is a senko even more so)? Just easier to swallow? I can see how a dual treble lure may be less likely, as there are so many hooks it's more likely to get snagged on the way down. What about hard baits with single hooks? What about jig (swim, arkie, etc.) with a skirt and trailer - where does that fall in terms of gut hooks?

Fished a bed today (which I rarely do) and deep hooked a smallie with a 5-inch plastic paddle tail worm. Knew I wasn't getting it out so reached in with long-reach cutters and cut the hook (actual hook, not just the line) as deep as I could. Barbless hook. Fish swam back down but I can't help thinking it may not survive and feel awful about it, like I just killed a generation of bass, as this (presumably) male can no longer guard the bed. I know it happens, but it really put a damper on the rest of the day, ended up putting the rods away and just slow motored around the edge of the lake looking at people's camps. Couldn't get into fishing much. So... what are the best ways to prevent gut hooks? Am I waiting too long to set the hook? I wasn't sure if I had a bite or not; maybe waited too long to set the hook. If I switch from mono to braid am I more likely to detect the bite and set the hook sooner, getting them in the lip as opposed to giving them time to inhale it into the gut? Are some lures less prone to gut hooks than others?

Twins complicates things: twice the motor maintenance; twice the cost; synchronizing speeds, steering and throttle controls. Speed and power can be a blast but the only advantage I can see for bass fishing is to get you to the spot faster. Once you're there, you shut it down and run the trolling motor. I think you'll spend more time tuning and synchronizing than actually fishing. A single motor of decent hp will get you 90% there. Twin motors, you're getting into "point of diminishing returns" territory.

I never looked forward to catching one of these things, knowing they have teeth, but when I finally did a couple weekends ago it was very exciting - a new species. I was targeting crappie (hoping for bass ) with a 6'6 L/F and 2-inch paddle tail grub on a 1/16 oz jig head, in the kayak. Netted him and he took a while to settle down in the net, kept flopping around, loads of energy. Used the fish grips, barbless hook popped out easily and released him. I love how the chain link pattern on the body matches the mesh of the net. I'd guess this one is about 14 inches long - didn't measure him, just wanted to get him back in the water. And his teeth away from the vicinity of my fingers Beautiful fish.

I want/need a trolling motor but haven't ever used one. I see some models include reverse. Is this necessary? Can forward-only motors turn sharp enough to literally spin the boat, or do you need a larger turning radius? What do you do if you "troll yourself into a corner?" If you had a chance to buy it again, would you get a trolling motor with reverse, or only forward speeds? Boat here is a Tracker MVX 1448 (14' Mod-V jon), total weight probably around 1,000 lb (includes boat, myself, 15hp gas motor and gear). Hoping to keep it to a 12 volt, single battery system for simplicity and weight savings. Minn Kota Edge 55# or similar, with foot control. Purely recreational, no tourneys and I don't fish in big wind. What about shaft length? Edge comes in 36, 45, 50, 52. Suggestions welcome. The jon sits low in the water; with me at the front the deck mounting surface is about 1 foot from the water surface. I assume the shafts are adjustable - having one too long is better than too short?

Heritage, Flag AND a Ram? I think you've got it covered Nice photo!

Think of it as finesse boating.

Been skunked a time or few but never had a bad day of fishing. Annoying, yes. Bad, no.

4-inch TX rigged worm, watermelon with red flake, 1/4 oz bullet weight, unpegged.

Spro Rat-30 (1/2 oz). Swimming, articulating rat lure. Haven't caught anything on it yet but in 2018 I will

Too many choices is not necessary and sucks the joy out of it in my opinion. It's important to a certain extent: keep it natural looking for where you're fishing it: crawdad shape for the bottom; worm for bottom to midwater; natural colors. There are some exceptions and it's always good to experiment but for starting out, keep it simple. A 4-inch TX rigged, bullet weighted plain old worm in a natural (dark green or brown) color is highly versatile (bottom, mid, shallow, deep, easily made snag resistant) and while you might catch larger bass on a longer worm, you'll probably catch more bass on this one, which builds confidence and experience. For a spinning setup I like to go weightless to 1/8 oz; for a baitcaster, 1/4 oz. Paying more attention to where you're tossing it is more important than the shape and size of the plastic.

Yeti The price is nuts but i just love the thing. You pay for quality. I'm not saying we NEED that quality in a cooler, just saying it sure is good.

In my (limited) experience fishing, but all with StC rods (okay with one exception) the difference between 1 and 2-pc is all about portability/transport, not sensitivity. While 1-pc is my first choice (purist), I'd have no hesitation using the 2-pc if I need easy storage or portability. I own the same power/action StC rod in both 1 and 2-pc and in terms of performance and sensitivity I can't tell the difference between them.

Wrap it around four fingers of one hand, put scissors through the void in the center and cut it, toss it all in the trash or recycle bin. This results in many lengths of ~8 inch lines that are short enough that nothing's going to get caught up in it.

That's good to know, thanks. I guess there's a reason the rod says "jig 'n worm" on the blank.

I have a Rat 40 that I haven't thrown yet, but plan on using with my StC Mojo Bass 6'8 MH/F (rated 3/8 to 1 oz). PM me and let me know where you are in southern NH. I'm in Kittery ME. You're welcome to try it out.