Krux5506

I bought a cover for my Lund, I believe in 2017, from Iboats.com for around $350. It's a travel cover but mostly I use it as a mooring cover. I have had it tied down on my boat for a 1500 mile round trip though with no issues. It's not a perfect fit - its not built to fit a trolling motor but they would have fixed that for me had I actually followed up with them. I just disregarded it, and basically "made it" fit by sorta pulling it over the trolling motor enough. Anyway, all things considered and for the fairly cheap price I paid, I think it's a good cover. The other option was to buy an actual Lund cover for about $1500. No thanks.

definitely 36v as long as you can afford it space wise and money wise. I would have done that, but settled with a 24v 80# due to space constraints in my Lund. Never had an issue losing juice but I think we all want a little more trolling motor power from time to time.

I'm an industrial painter by trade and for stuff this small you're better off having a powder coater do it. One, it'll be cheaper. And two, you don't want higher build paints on things like reels, so since most powder is applied to say 2 mils (this is how coatings are measured, a mil is a thousandth of an inch) you'll be better off. That's my opinion anyway, I really gravitate toward wet paint for most things however this is something where I would choose powder.

I'll fish either I can find, but 90% of the time it's R bend. Spinnerbaits are probably the #1 lure I throw so if I can catch 20-30? bass on a cheapo Strike King Banshee or something of the like then I consider that lure to have done it's job and I don't expect a whole lot of life beyond that. Usually the wires just break off, either from pike or the occasional rogue and fiesty smallmouth.

I'd say a 6lb SM here would be a beast but it seems they just keep getting bigger and bigger. Most tournaments in my area off Lake Ontario, if open to the lake, will win with smallie bags, not largemouth. So it's pretty much to the point where there's better numbers of 5lb range smallies than 6lb LM's around these parts. Even for me, my PB smallie is bigger than my PB LM.

I personally think top water is a method of fishing that can vary so greatly from water to water. On my home port I rule it out by the end of September usually, but that's only because in general, it's not a very productive method even during the good months. I've had many early mornings wasted by being so positive that a frog bite would be the ticket.

Honestly it's great to have both. But you'll get a whole lot more kayak for $1500 than you would boat for the same price....at least in my opinion. So, budget is a huge factor. I'd rather have a nice kayak than a crappy boat.

Not really a launching or loading story but the first season with my Lund, I went out on a very cold October morning where everything on my boat felt near frozen including myself. Got to the first spot, jumped up to deploy the trolling motor, and the whole thing just somehow fell into the water minus the cord that I was holding it all up by. Not all that embarrassing but I figure for anyone watching, it must have looked pretty funny. Especially how I almost went in the water myself, trying to keep a hold of it.

I fished them a few times including a trip on my kayak which, honestly at the time I didn't know was prohibited but nobody bothered me. Definitely good sized bass in there though at the time I was semi clueless and didn't catch much. Been wanting to go back one of these days.

People regularly pull smallies out of 20-50ft here in Lake Ontario

Same thing in NY. I only fish this time of year early mornings for a few hours then head back in when the boat traffic gets annoying. The dog days of summer is my least favorite time to fish. In the past couple years I've come to terms with it and just have kinda taken a break until the weather (and water) cools back down.

Fair Haven has been productive the last couple weekends. I know it'll die down as we get into summer but I'm enjoying it for now. Looks like it'll be a calm weekend on Lake O as well, have yet to get out there for any productive smallie fishing. Went out on the lake for a bit last Sunday, the water was pretty churned up looking kinda crappy from rough waters during most of that week.

Fishing robo worms in lake ontario has produced decent fish for me regardless of color. In my opinion or at least where I fish, if fish are hitting a drop shot then they don't care a ton about color.

This might be slightly graphic but, here goes.. The last bass tournament I fished was a couple years ago, we were out on Lake O doing pretty decent but the fishing slowed down as it got clearer and hotter out. Nobody was really around and the morning coffee kicked in pretty good. Long story short, I stripped down to my boxers, jumped in the water and took my first ever aqua dump. Great teamwork was showcased that day as my fishing partner took over the trolling motor as I held onto the transom of my boat with my back to it, in an overhand grasp. While being dragged along, this provided a nice, safe momentous motion for my poop to be swept away. No fuss no muss. We finished that day with a 20+ lb smallie bag.

That was the same exact issue i had with my motorguide, i absolutely hated it. Although, it came on my 17 ft Lund so a fair amount more boat for a 46# tm. I upgraded to 80# Minn Kota which is way more stable to control. When it's windy out you're gonna be happy you have more thrust, in my opinion. Especially on aluminum boats of any size that blow around like a cork out on the water in those conditions.

I have one that would strongly disagree with you, it sits all year and fires 1st or 2nd pull at the start of each season and I don't add anything to the non-ethanol fuel I run through it. It's about 10 years old. I do the same with my boat but for the heck of it will occasionally run sea foam through it, I just honestly don't think it's very necessary if you run non ethanol exclusively. I'm not against treatments though, I just barely use them.

I always go barbless on jerkbaits and most other trebles because half the time I'm catching more pike than bass especially this time of year and nothing worse than trying to get barbed trebles outta the back of a pike's mouth when they lock their jaws up, flop all over your boat and get slime/blood everywhere.

Don't mean to get off topic but how do you like the 93sv?? Thinking about buying one but don't know much about them quite honestly. I was planning on the striker 9sv but it's discontinued plus the 93sv is the same price + touch screen and loaded maps?

Give me thick cloud cover and cool temps this time of year or early spring and I'm at total peace with myself out on the water regardless of how the fishing is. Something about the dog days of summer just totally drains me mentally when it comes to fishing. It seems like everyone else waits all year for that perfect summer weather and I feel like I'm the opposite. Maybe it's the opposite of seasonal depression.

Best part about salmon trib season is it keeps so many people distracted from how good the bass fishing is.

creek smallies are fun. Ned rigs, curly tail grubs as mentioned. I like fly fishing them with woolly buggers.

Go ahead and wear it, not only will you look extra official but perhaps even get the respect on the water you deserve.

I have a couple buddies with the carhartt rain bibs who like them. I'm in the market for bibs too, and it was between the Carhartt and Simms. Usually I gravitate toward Simms for pretty much everything fishing apparel related.

I can't catch crap on swim jigs.

This is the total opposite of myself, lol. I don't think I've landed more fish on any other lure than a spinner bait - from the time I was a little kid throwing small ones for rock bass to now throwing the usual 1/2 oz burners to cover water and picking up whatever is in the mood to chase it. Granted it's more of a cooler season technique for me, but I've caught some of my biggest bass on dead calm summer days throwing them, likely after getting bored of finesse fishing. If you just like covering water when the fish are active and chasing then it's hard to beat.