Jig Man

Some of the guides you might contact are (in no particular order): Bill Babler Buster Loving Jerry Snider Bill Beck There are lots more but those come to mind right now.

If the jumpers are bass and you can't reach them, I suggest you get a bait like a Zara Spook. You can cast them a mighty long ways.

I keep mine in plano boxes. Some have been in there for several years with no problems but keep the colors seperate.

It doesn't have a lot of reserve capacity but if it were me I'd give it a try and see how it does.

I'd get rid of the 5 and buy the LSS.

If you aren't doing these things then you should: change the lower unit fluid once or twice each year, change the water separating fuel filter once or twice each year, change the impeller at least every 3 years, take the prop off a couple of times each year and look for mono behind it.

Marine Repair Center takes the Bass Pro return motors and repairs them. BPS then sells them in their outlet store. You might get a good deal on one of them.

I have built them from marine plywood and aluminum. It all depends on what you have in the way of skills. I built a removable one for my champion with a storage box and a seat pedestal. You just have to make a plan and do some serious measuring.

I'd be looking for a welding shop that can do aluminum welding.

Copper wire from a hobby store about 24 g.

When I use hair jigs I hop them off the bottom in the winter bringing them 2-3 feet off the bottom and letting the settle back down. Otherwise I swim them with intermitten twitches of the rod tip. I use a light of a line and jig as I can get by with using. I never use a trailer on a hair jig.

I run AGM batteries. I run Optima blue tops for the 24v trolling motor. I run all my electronics and crank my Optimax with a Sears Die Hard 1150 cca AGM. What type of electronics do you have that make you feel the need for a dedicated battery?

I run a Champion 206 and my partner has a 19' BC Pantera II. I love the way my boat handles but being honest his Cat is as good as my Champ in the chop. My advantage is the size of my decks as my boat is 1.5 feet longer than his Cat. I live in Nitro country and have seen thousands of them. I have never owned one and don't plan to.

That must be a humdinger of a charger. I run a Dual Pro 3 bank with each bank 15 amps and it takes at least 7 hours to fully charge my batteries.

Battery chargers typically start out producing the rated amps but after a while they drop down so your 4-6 amp charger might take days to recharge your batteries. A flooded cell battery can safely take a charge up to 20% of its reserve capacity. So even if your batteries are rated as low as 100 reserve amps you could use a 20 amp charger. Personally, I wouldn't consider anything less than a 10 amp with a bank for each battery but prefer an 15 amp.

Which ever brand you pick be sure to look at the 2500 size.

I have bad knees and have to sit. My seats stay in the boat at all times. I have never pulled them out except to clean the pedestals and mounts.

I haven't been there since fall and plan to go on Sunday. Anyone got anything to share?

I have had mixed success using Super Glue liquid and gel to hold things that are going to be used hard. For most of my applications I have switched to a 2 part epoxy. I use both the 5 minute and the slow cure. I get a lot more bang for my buck with the epoxy and a lot stronger hold.

If you go over to www.tackleunderground and so a search you should find our all about dipping tubes and how to make or where to buy a tool to cut the fringe strips.

You only need 2 wires make the 24 V jump at the batteries. Check and make sure your wire is at least 8 gauge.

I only use one knot for all lines to baits... THE PITZEN.

I also use a round head most of the time. I sometimes use a minnow head.

There are lots of good batteries on the market. The only ones I have heard bad about are the ones from Wal-Mart. I think if you research gel cells you won't want them. Either go for flooded cells or AGMs. I have been running AGMs for a couple of years now and after checking around Auto Zone offered me the best deal plus a 3 year warranty. I bought the blue top Optimas and run them all day long on a MG TE 82. When I was running flooded cells and had one go bad, if it were only one year old I'd replace just it. If it were 2 or more years old I'd replace both of them.

I admire you and your skill level to take on a project like that.