slinging southpaw

I probably spend more money each year on new Mustad Ultra point wide grip treble hooks than I spend on crankbaits(and I've got my share of crankbaits). It is funny( :'() how one fish will take you 5 minutes to unhook, then the next one spits it.

In the past I've always had a "puck-type" transducer on my trolling motor and have never had a problem, now I have skimmers front and rear, could that be part of the problem?

I bought a new/used boat this and put new depthfinders on it. My problem is that once I get to a depth of about 15 feet, my console depthfinder makes my bow depthfinder useless. It sends crazy signals and eventually stalls. Any advice?

I was wondering if any of you guys know where I can get a fizzing kit? I caught a smallmouth out of 30+ feet of water last weekend that needed to be fizzed and my partner had one and it worked excellent.

Let your confidence in each lure decide. If you start losing confidence in a certain lure, it's time for a change. If you lose confidence in everything in your box, go fish someplace else.

One eye watches for what the guy in the front fishes while the other is watching the other side of the boat, usually the deep water with a lure that can be used to follow the contour of the bottom(carolina rig, grub, swim jig, crankbait, heavy spinner bait.

My first smallie(all of 2.15#) of the year won me the first club tournament of the year and $120 8-) Yes, it was a rough day

I'm pretty sure you can get them at Northernbass.com I was wrong. They have some knockoffs though.

I haven't tried it yet, but I would think a wacky rigged 3-4" senko type lure would work really well under the bobber. Don't forget to pack some silver buddy's

I'm pretty sure you can get them at Northernbass.com

The problem your having with braid is a problem I've seen a lot. Braid simply cuts like paper on rocks. I've had the same problem with 40# Braid and know others that have also. It's perfect for C-rigging on mud, but rock makes the stuff "evaporate". :'(

Now that I've gotten some opinions, I figure I'd post my experiences. I've only used it a couple times, but what I saw was basically useless. If there was any wave action at all(even the slightest breeze) the camera showed a picture that looked like it was going 100mph. I might have seen a lot of fish, but I never got a good enough look at anything to tell what it was. I figured, that the thing was only good for ice fishing.

I think sal669 was on the right track. Your line and rod are huge. Using braid will make hyou tone down your hookset or get used to destroying hooks. Another important thing is making sure you take up enough slack before letting it rip!!!

Putting the rubber hose over the line sounds like a good idea, but only 1/4"? I always ad a rubber collar just before the knot to the swivel to protect the knot, but I would think, you would need maybe 4"-6" before the sinker to do any good. Thanks for the idea

With a baitcaster, I lose very few fish from the line breaking because I pretty much take the drag out of the picture. I set the drag lightly and use my thumb as the drag. I put my thumb on the spool when I set the hook to stop the spool then allow the fish to take line if need be and stop him if I have to. I started doing this over 20 years ago when the drag slipped on me while setting the hook. Plus, I find it much easier to tighten the drag(rather than loosen it) if I need to while fighting a fish. With a spinning outfit, just backreel.