papajoe222

One last outing this coming week-end and then it's time for me to put the boat in storage for the winter. Actually, I wish I had someplace to store it, but for it's entire life, it's sat in my driveway with a winter cover and the trailer up on jack stands. I know many of you that live where the water never freezes, so this isn't a concern, but for those that deal with their fishing holes iced over, When do you put your boat up for the winter? I've been doing this for 50+years, so I don't think much of it, I just do it. I know there are first timers on here and I also know there was an article, or video on what you should do here, so I won't cover the basics, but if you'll be storing your boat outside, or inside there are a few things you may not think of that can cost you some big headaches when it's time to get her ready in the spring. The first is the water in your livewell pump and possibly the bilge pump. Run some RV antifreeze through the lines to eliminate the possibility of water freezing in the cartridge. Don't close your storage lockers, leave them cracked open to allow ventilation. You'll eliminate that nasty smell that comes from trapped moist air. Critter proof under that tarp. Chewed up seats are a minor repair compared to wiring insulation being chewed on and exposing bare wires. That problem may not come to light at first, but somewhere along the line, you'll hit some rough water and that bare wire will make itself known. Moth balls, or coyote urine will deter mice, and small animals and the odor won't last but a day or so once the cover is off in the spring.

4in. Storm WildEye Swim Shad https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/storm-wildeye-swim-shad They also offer a 9in. version.

I wouldn't consider either of those finesse, but they do have advantages over finessing deeper structure off shore. They all will get down and stay down allowing you to cover water faster, or just reed the bottom easier (for the jigs and C-rig. Speaking of a C-rig, one can be fished with any sized bait and a TRD on a light wire hook is a perfect example.

I don't believe that cooler weather will change/shrink brass gears (if that's what that reel has). I do know that some forms of grease will thicken before others under cold conditions. Some reel manufactures will use thick grease on their less expensive models to give them a smoother feel. I'm in that group that says it's the grease. If you'd like that feel all the time, you could switch to a higher viscosity grease, but I'd do just the opposite and just go with a light coat of something like Ardent or Lucas that are made for reels.

I'm a firm believer of showing them something different, new....not so much. I'm from the school of hard baits and although I got hooked on bassin' fishing a plastic worm, I soon transitioned to hard baits. Around that time, fat bodied crankbaits and spinnerbaits were the hard baits the fish saw the most and the ones the marketing gurus were pushing. Every serious basser was throwing them and the bite began dwindling after a few years. I started showing them something different, minnow shaped cranks and casting spoons. I'd add weight to a #9 or#13 Rapala to get them to run at a certain depth, or I'd remove the treble hook from a casting spoon and replace it with a single hook. That's when I started going against the grain and I believe it applies to soft plastic presentations as well. MIxing up my bait choices, presentations, and colors always works for me. Sometimes all I need is to speed things up. Try a Wacky Worm reeled fast with twitches and you may just agree.

Yes the gas has ethanol in it along with fuel stabilizer added. It’s a built in fuel tank on a Tracker. It really irks me because I topped off the tank with pure gas back in September and now I have to waste 15+ gal. The Mercury is oil injection so the gas shouldn’t have much color if irs still good.

Its a 3 cylinder oil injection, 2 stroke

I went to start my 50hp Mercury outboard over the week-end. It started and then shut do a few seconds later. I checked the bulb for firmness, it was fine, fuel gauge showed 3/4 and the cranking battery was fine. I gave the intake a shot of starting fluid, it started and shut down as soon as that fuel supply was exhausted. I have a clear fuel filter in-line and when I checked it, the gas was off color (very dark). It appeared that the fuel line was deteriorating, so I replaced all the fuel hoses and pumped the bulb until it was firm. It still wouldn’t start. The fuel in the filter looked okay, but when I checked it on Sunday, it was dark again. I’ve drained all the fuel from the engine and carbs, but I don’t want to push what could be bad gas back into it. is there a way to check the gas in the tank. I’m thinking of hooking up a portable tank with fresh fuel If it runs on fresh gas, I will know for sure the fuel is the problem. If so, should I replace the tank, or just drain it a partially fill to check things out? Thanks for any and all responses.

I went to start my 50hp Mercury outboard over the week-end. It started and then shut do a few seconds later. I checked the bulb for firmness, it was fine, fuel gauge showed 3/4 and the cranking battery was fine. I gave the intake a shot of starting fluid, it started and shut down as soon as that fuel supply was exhausted. I have a clear fuel filter in-line and when I checked it, the gas was off color (very dark). It appeared that the fuel line was deteriorating, so I replaced all the fuel hoses and pumped the bulb until it was firm. It still wouldn’t start. The fuel in the filter looked okay, but when I checked it on Sunday, it was dark again. I’ve drained all the fuel from the engine and carbs, but I don’t want to push what could be bad gas back into it. is there a way to check the gas in the tank. I’m thinking of hooking up a portable tank with fresh fuel If it runs on fresh gas, I will know for sure the fuel is the problem. If so, should I replace the tank, or just drain it a partially fill to check things out? Thanks for any and all responses.

Buzzbait, prop bait, floating minnow (Rapala type), Spook and a popper. You could substitute a Plopper for the prop bait, but I prefer the thinner profile of a Devil's Horse to them.

My problems with jigs in cold water is what type of skirt material is best. I settled on a combination hair/feather tied on a stand up, or ball headed jig. I've used living rubber skirted jigs with some success before the water temp drops below 40. From then until ice over, that hair/feather with a minnow is the best combo I've found.

Depending on the cover a C-rig can be an excellent choice, even for a hump that tops out at six feet. I would work it up the hump. There are a couple of other options I would try before going vertical in that situation, for soft plastics that is. A drop shot can keep your bait above vegetation as can a split-shot rig with a floating soft plastic. For humps that top out at 10ft. or more, most any presentation that works for that type of cover can be used as long as it can be presented at a targeted depth. The advantage of using a type of weighted soft plastic is that you can work the drop from its deepest to its shallowest without changing baits and then switch to a faster presentation once you find the depth to target.

I ordered some custom painted cranks from a guy on that auction site. Sent him a pic of our local summer craws and he did a fantastic job reproducing them. Got one each for shallow square bill, and knock offs of LittleJon and some Normans. The pricing was on par with store bought cranks and they do produce. I just pick one that will run deeper than the bottom depth I'm fishing, reel it down until it's bouncing bottom and slow crawl it along the bottom. Had him make up some bluegill ones too.

I love all the sounds of nature, but the sound That gets my heart pounding is the sound line makes when its peeled off the reel and through the guides as a big fish makes a run. Braid has the sweetest sound.

I keep my kill switch lanyard attached to my PFD so that it’s always hooked up.

Never, in my 60+yrs of fishing have I ever seen a blue/green algae bloom until today. Two weeks ago we had an algae bloom that turned the water pea green. That didn’t stop me from launching, but when I saw this today, I didn’t venture out. Anyone know what the name of this is and if it’s detrimental to the fish?

What kind of fishing is that? I consider a C-rig a fast moving bottom contact presentation, but I wouldn’t consider it a search bait.

I will always try changing retrieve speed, or action that I impart on a bait before I change to something different. When I do change,I will go to something similar, but having a different profile, or smaller size. I have confidence in my initial choice of baits, so I stick with what I started with longer than I care to admit. ‘Dance with the one you came with.’ doesn’t mean you can’t go home with somebody else.

Hopefully, for you, you released it as there is a length and creel limit on batfish and that one is undersized.

I rarely run leaders longer than the length of the rod for baitcasters, so I rarely have to deal with the knot going through the guides. For that reason, I use the Albright because I can tie it on the water with ease.

I'm partial to a short arm single blade spinnerbait in the fall. I fish it more as a drop bait than a spinnerbait, but I know fishing one more horizontal can be very productive too. Would I be better off throwing an A-Rig over a S/B with multiple blades, or am I overthinking things?

I recommend going with a long rod like the SC 7ft. MH/F. The length will assist in throwing those tubes as will the action. Tough to do with an extra fast 6'6" rod.

Two things. Set your brakes halfway and stop trying to cast for distance. The latter is the number one reason guys getting into baitcasters have problems with backlashing. You'll find that the beginning of your cast is where the biggest problem lies and your brakes or magnets target the end of the cast, so set your tension a bit tighter. You'll get there sooner than you think.

Is there anything worse than attempting to figure out fall bass movements? Consider spring, if you will. The bass begin moving shallow after a warming trend and then a cool wave swoops in and they move. We know where they move, back to where they were. Summer? Shallow or deep, if a cold front moves in, they stay right where they were, they just move tight to the cover and get lockjaw. Winter? You'd know better than me because I dislike ice fishing. Fall? Ha ha ha...... They'll move up from their deep summer homes, but let a cold front move in and poof, they disappear. They don't move back down from whence they came. They don't hide tight to the cover where they were. They don't move shallow because their forage hasn't made that move yet. I know the general rule is: Find the baitfish to find the bass. Maybe that works in waters where there is shad, but up here you can't find the forage either. You may find a clueless dink here or there during the course of a day's fishing, but those groups of fish that get you all excited to be out there in the fall are off somewhere unknown to you laughing their combined butts off. Rant over

I really can't answer to the size as I choose mine based on its weight. I will, however, point out that you're attempting to push the jig's head too far up into the tube to facilitate rigging it weedless. The best advice I can give you is to pick a jig and lay it along side the tube you intend to use it with if you were rigging it conventionally (hook exposed). If the hook point extends past the body and into the appendages, it won't work for Stupid rigging.