Alex from GA

The locators on the Ranger are much better. Hooks suck.

Flex Coat has a series of youtube videos about rod building that are good to watch. I also use their High Build epoxy for my guide wraps and have been for 50 years.

Before I started using plastic worms I used night crawlers T rigged and caught many bass. Today I use finesse worms with 6 lb line and a 1/16th oz sinker for most of my bass fishing. Last week.

A couple of days ago I saw an otter swim across our pond get out and chase a buzzard. They are fast. Just yesterday I was fishing a river and a couple of otters were swimming where I was fishing; I left.

You're looking so shallow your cone is very small and you'd have to run right over the rock pile to see it. Side finder will help along with the maps.

I've been using a President 25 for 3 years with no complaints.

As far as I can tell all reel pawls are the same size so any junk reel you have can produce one.

I've been using Basspro Excel for many years with great results. I use mostly 6, 8 and 10. My small spinning reels work great with 6. It's the same diameter as Trilene and Stren.

Mudhole has free shipping.

Heavier guides soften the action also.

Use the plug on the back of the unit if you need to remove it.

As spoonplugger said change all the guides for a more sensitive rod. I've done this to a couple of store bought rods. I used minima guides in place of the stock heavy ones and it really works.

Security systems batteries are 7 or 8ah batteries and they're the same size. As others have said hook the + to the fuse and fuse to + side of the battery. Amazon has universal 8 ah batteries for less than $20 as does Walmart.

I have a Hook 7 that I've been using for about 3 years and am not happy with the slowness of the GPS. Getting on my waypoints is hard unless I'm going directly to them. Basspro has the Elite 9 Ti on a black Friday sale and I'm researching whether it's worth it. I'd like real users input. Thanks

Last fall I was running down the lake and, I thought, the engine locked up. It was an old boat, '74 Astrocraft, so I bought another inexpensive boat and continued fishing. A couple of months later I pulled the lower unit to sell it and it was locked up solid and the engine started and ran fine. Enjoy your retirement.

I put the trolling down and start fishing in the first place I see that looks fishy. Laydowns, points, rocky banks, etc.

I regularly fish for spotted bass in a deep lake and small rivers and usually catch quite a few on every outing. In fact I got home a while ago from the lake and we caught some big spotted bass. Most of the bass I catch are with a finesse worm and 6 lb line but today I used a buzzbait. Our lake, Lake Lanier in GA, has probably about 90% spots compared to LM.

I agree about how strong 6 lb line can be with a steady pull. It'll pull my tin boat easily when I get stuck. I use light wire hooks on my Texas rig and usually can straighten them.

I do quite a bit of wading while kayak fishing if the bottom allows. I always feel with the paddle before jumping in.

Besides fishing everyday I have to chase the deer out of my wife's garden.

The place I live isn't smallmouth country although I've caught several up 3 lbs and the hardest fight I've had were with Alabama(spotted) bass. I fish several times a week and catch 3 to 1 Alabamas vs LM. A 13 to 17" spot fights much harder than a LM of the same size. We have, in GA, a bass slam put on by the GA DNR for 10 species of black bass if anyone is interested.

I started with a t/r nightcrawler and graduated to a plastic worm.

Have you ever noticed that people in a boat fish close to shore and people on shore always cast out in the middle of the lake. The boat people catch the most fish. Use the most sensitive rod you have or get one for plastics. You have to feel the bite. Buy or borrow a kayak and get off shore, use an anchor and fish in wood.

I don't know anything about the boats you're interested in but I do know about tillers and not. If you're bass fishing you have a trolling motor on the front along with a locator and getting from the tiller seat to the front is a PIA. I have a bass boat and a 14' tiller boat that I use. The bass type, side console, is much easier to use.

I do it the way Harold and the previous clip said but with a different tool. https://www.amazon.com/Baker-BSF65-Straight-Scissors-Forceps/dp/B001448WDS/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=forceps+with+scissors&qid=1567469675&s=gateway&sr=8-1 They're thinner than all the needle nose pliers and can turn the hook even in smaller fish. I also flatten the barbs to facilitate removing the hook easier, in the fish or me.