Allaroundfishing

(Be me two weeks ago)Running down the lake during a tournament practice doing just fine, stop fish first spot (roughly 45 mins), Welp time to fire her up and go to the next spot. Hit the key and nothing, i mean nothing, not a click not a clack, not a "oh well i think ill try to crank" from the ol merc. eventually realize im 15ish mins from the boat ramp and need a ride back because no way the trolling motor is gonna get me there before i turn 30. So what else to do besides flag someone down to help me get back. luckily the older gentleman is very kind and was returning to the same ramp. I get back there and try to give him some money, to which he declines and says it was the least he can do. (did I mention how fishermen/fisherwomen are some of the best people around?) Get home start tearing her apart, turns out the starter went bad, 65 dollars and 4 days later the new starter is in and the old is out. (tournament day now)- she started beautifully and is running like a dream, screaming down the lake Wot and all the sudden she stutters and kicks around. I immediately come off pad and drop her to idle where she promptly dies. The mood in the boat went from kick*ss tournament hype, to oh lord what have i done in roughly .05 seconds. the rest of the day she runs rough and doesn't want to idle, I figure maybe bad gas or water had got in the gas somehow. A trip to the mechanic showed that the top cylinder was getting little to no gas and had I continued to run her hard all day more than likely I would have ruined the piston and possibly totaled the motor. So for now my baby is at the shop getting a carb rebuild/fuel line replace, and a top end tear down. The estimate was anywhere from 450-670, please yall i'm gonna need a prayer when I tell my mom what the final cost is, luckily dad and i have been plotting on how to keep her from her finding out until my birthday in which she realizes it wouldnt be a proper 19th birthday to murder your son ?

Many people love Stabil and we've never had issues with it, but several mechanics recommended "seafoam". so we made the switch and havent looked back, i have a 94 merc 60hp and she runs amazing even with 300+ hours on it. just my experiences though.

Yep I feel like they looked at everything that a modern fiberglass rig had to offer and tried to improve on it, i agree about the seating area it looks low, almost but not quite similar to a multi species, I know it isnt a Multi species boat but the seating and the step up to the deck is reminiscent of one slightly. Its a shame they only have 7 colors right now, but I do like that its isnt gaudy big flake gel coat and is more of a paint job similar to a truck or car, i can imagine a matte black suzuki would look pretty sexy on the back too ?

Just found this video, he describes the whole fiberglass/alum thing pretty good i think. He is a biased since he works for vexus, but he describes the boat in a fairly good manner.

I'll second that, they're slick and clearly the designers knew what a consumer would want and really pushed the bill on making a 20ft alum feel like a large fiberglass bass boat. I sadly didnt get to get a test drive one but i sat in and prodded around in all of their aluminum models albeit not the center-consoles. I felt better than my buddies ranger when i sat in the 20ft model (not to offend any ranger owners ? ) It was simply was an aluminum boat that was meant to perform like a high performance fiberglass rig, whether or not it will last its just too soon to tell. I definitely preferred it over the Rt series or the tracker alums. The man at the dealership told me the weight but sadly i cant remember what he said. I agree that they must be fairly light just based on hp ratings and the over all layout, but for a light alum boat they felt sturdy and seemed like they would keep you pretty dry on a rough day. ?

Keeping a rod to skip on is good for sure, it makes you want to skip/force you to. What really helped me get good was using a 3/8 jig with a ragetail craw on, the craw and jig skip pretty well because of the flatness of the craw. Find a target to skip and and much like shooting a bow for competition, pick your target and dont take your eye off where you want to hit until it hits there. As you skip and it hits the water you need to keep your thumb so the line is barely touching the pad of your thumb, also you will get longer and smoother skips if you raise the tip of the rod as the bait skips. If i were you i would start with a 4/0 or 5/0 hook with a floating worm or just a standard straight tail worm, put that on your spinning rod. it will help and as you learn with the spinning rod, THEN go to the baitcaster with a jig on it. A jig thats "arkie" style will skip the best, an arkie style is flatter on the back of the jig directly behind the line tie so it acts like a flat rock when it hits the water. Another thing to consider is starting off with light casts that dont force the bait to fly out, make casts that are light and more a flicking motion of the wrist. As for the practicing at home, i stood on a cooler (only fell once lol) and skipped with a wacky rig on a pointless hook into our pool. it certainly helped.

yea were looking for a multi species boat right now and super excited for the release.

I'm Pretty sure he is talking about having a second micro pole on his kayak. If I were you I would talk to someone at a dealership or even contact the people at power-pole, I hear the customer support is superb there. they could tell you if it was possible or recommended to put two poles on the yak'. Good luck with it though.

I will second that, I currently have the total scan transducer with side and down scan on my Lowrance elite 7 ti . its a learning curve but watching youtube videos has helped me learn. The Lowrance Elite 7 is a bit small so if you could pocket the upgrade to the elite 9 you will probably be more pleased. Definitely would recommend it.

So yea basically you're paying for the name and scheme but they have different lengths and powers that said Youtuber specifically "designed", I don't know how true that is but thats business I suppose. I own the "Defender series" and a Rigged rod, as well as a balance series and a white bird. All of them perform superb.

Yep i agree the bandito bug is my favorite but it has such a high salt content it isnt durable enough to go through more than a few bites.

Early in the year i find that a white or black grub on a mushroom head jig swam along just off the bottom, or hopped is killer. just cast towards the middle and let it fall then hop it or swim it, A ned head works well for this as well. Another option is a weightless wacky rig, with either a 4 or 5 inch stick bait. in a black blue flake or grn pumpkin. just cast it to any sight fish (if you see any) or cast it off of any points and work the sides of the point from deep to shallow. The best retrieve ive found is a twitch- (reel in the slack so it falls on tight line or semi slack) then let it fall or a twitch-twitch pause.

We have a Bimini top on our boat and we love it, However don't expect to fish underneath it. We use it during the summer when we need a break from the heat or like recently when we want to get under it out of the rain so we could eat or re-tie. I would definitely go for it if you think you will use it. Ours came with our boat and we didnt expect to use it much, now we use it all the time. we have never had a problem with running with the bimini top up. However when it gets really windy you want to tighten it down so you dont catch wind as bad.

I used to have a buddy that made custom "slider" style heads, they absolutely crushed Bull Bluegills (Aka Gillzillas) and crappies. We would thread a 2-2.5 inch twister tail grub on the slider head and with a small gold or nickel blade for the spinner. The slider head seemed to give the bait a slow shimmy on the fall I didn't get with teardrop or darter style heads. ?

I use a graphite rod for all my shallow to mid diving, I personally use a Lews 7ft MH fast taper. Even though the rule of thumb is mod fast and mod action the fast taper has worked wonder for me. I truly enjoy that rod for squarebills and lipless cranks. If i'm throwing something like a Dt-10 through Dt-14 i use a Favorite Fishing "balance" 7ft MH Mod-fast action. those are my two main cranking rods and both are graphite, so i wouldn't be too worried about it, graphite has more sensitivity and really allows me to feel the bills grinding on rocks or hitting grass. I would definitely keep with graphite if it works for you.

I use a Lews American hero laser edition. I throw weightless wacky rigs on it and see no problem throwing floating worms on it. the 6:4:1 gear ratio is kinda mid range but works for me. Its a 7ft fast taper Med.Heavy. I own some custom rods made for my fishing team and I have caught 3 times more fish on that cheap combo than my 240+ dollar rods. Its fairly cheap and reliable. Ive had mine going on 3 years and its smooth as can be. The fish below was caught on that combo (6 inch finesse worm on a 1/16 wacky rig)

I fish exclusively with non barbed hooks when i smallie fish on rivers. In my personal experience it hasnt lost me any more fish as far as I could tell, just makes it easier to get hooks out of my pants or shirt that my little nephews seem to snag ? Buy a pack or two of "Mister Twister" or other brand "squiggly tail" grubs and some 1/16 1/8 jigheads and let them go to town. The ol lead and grub has caught me many fish including my two biggest smallies. also plenty of opportunity to catch other species.

If you tied directly to the bait not split ring or line tie, use a "Rapala knot" or any other loop knot. it will give you a similar action. I know walleye guides that fish Lake Erie that only use loop knots because it give the trolling baits a different action. Just my Experience

I prefer the chartreuse strands because it seems different then just dipping the ends of a trailer in chartreuse. just my opinion

Where i live in Nc i striper fish in the late fall and early winter. We throw 4.8 keitechs and 3.8s. I use a 1/8-1/4 jig heads for back in bays in less than 8ft of water. When off of points 1/4 to 1/2 jig heads is what I throw. The heavy one I throw on a 7'10 Skeet Reese large crankbait rod. It is wayyyy over kill but it allows me to throw a 1/2 or 1/4 70+ yards with ease. anything else i use a ugly stick G2 spinning rod 7ft med heavy. I dont really like belly weighted swimbaits because they have a tendency to sometimes fall in a circular motion or get wrapped in the line. As for jerkbaits i am not well versed in fishing them. someone else might be able to tell you more.

I climbed around in one on the showroom a few weeks ago, i really liked the lay out and for a smaller boat it sure seemed sturdy. I would err on the side of caution in really rough water especially in that boat (16ft?). It sure seemed like it would be a good boat for two people to fish in and be comfortable. Good luck and i hope you have fun in it!

I bought my power drive v2 to put on my 18ft Jon boat i use to bass fish with. I have knee and back problems so the foot pedal appealed to me. It can be a little cantankerous to pull up but i found that if you take a buff pad and some polish and put on where the joints meet to slide up it makes it much easier to slide in. The only complaint i have is mounting a transducer would seem rather tricky, i haven't put a transducer on mine personally i know it can be done though. The few times my outboard has quit on my i used it to put the boat on the trailer and had no issues with it. just my experience.

if you were fishing for suspended bass I wouldn't hesitate to use one of your UL rods. using a small jighead with either a minnow style or paddletail style trailer dropping vertically on them you would have amazing feel for the bites and the ability to play them and have fun with it. just my opinion but you should have some fun using it.

I use pink for fishing for bowfin in the winter and also skipping docks when rigged weightless. Another color ive never caught a fish on is watermelon red. I have lord only knows how many worms and craws in that pattern and never once caught a fish on it, maybe it says something about me?

We picked up our spare carrier at a tractor supply. it was meant for going on horse trailers I believe but it mounts safely right beside where the winch pole is on our boat trailer. I cant remember the name I can remember it was in a red and grey box though, sorry if not specific enough. it is a bolt on though I can attach pictures once I get home to show what it looks like.