Jig Man

You might check out the Fenwick HMG. I like them better than my Avids.

If you don't have a convenient place to put the boat while you do the work, you can put a board under the boat, loosen all the tiedowns and jack up one side at a time to change them out. I have done it both ways and tend to like the parking lot at a lake when the weather is warm and dry.

The year isn't over yet. I'm shootin' for 500 but may not get them.

I use them for everything cause that's all I got.

If you truly know what the strike feels like and you know that fish don't have hands SET THE HOOK when you feel the bite 'cause there is only one place the bait can be. Your reaction time is 3/4 of 1 second while a bass' reaction time is 1/25th of a second. You are already way disadvantaged in that game without waiting.

I do a 1 minute at first on new and old. Then I do 30-45 seconds with a lot of stiring. You also need to get some heat stabilizer to keep the scorching down.

(brown paper bags from the grocery, coffee filters, vaccum cleaner filters) I use them all and they do fine.

Old table saw motor armiture windings.

I use a fluid bed to get a thinner coat of pait. To keep the hook eye clean I hold the jig with a pair of needle nose pliers hanging on to the hook eye so no paint gets on it. After dipping the head I tap it to get most of the paint out of the wg hole. After baking I take a drill and bit and lightly drill out the wg hole so I can glue some in. I used to keep the pins in but did not like to mess with them and did not like the way the hole looked after I too the pins out.

Marine Tex may work for you if you can find it.

I use them instead of grubs all fall and winter.

Guys I have to disagree with the comments about Optimas so far. The reserve numbers had me worried until I did some research on them. I am an old man and have been running boats since the 60s. I have tried most of the flooded cell batteries in this area, except for Wal-Mart, and I normally go for the 200 reserve amps. Like I stated I decided to give Optimas a chance and installed them in my boat. I rarely motor more than 10-15 minutes total on an outing. I do a lot of white bass fishing in the fall and winter an those things only seem to bit when it is windy. I am lugging around a 21' boat with an 82 # thrust trolling motor. The Optimas are strong all day long. I had been hearing about big crappie being caught trolling crankbaits so I decided to give that a try. My 225 Opti idles too fast for trolling so I had to run the tmotor. I ran it on close to high for hours without power loss.

I fish all winter long. Here is my routine: 1. load the boat and pull it out of the way, 2. trim the motor down and wait for all of the water to drain while I pack up everything else, 3. tilt the motor up, wait a few seconds and trim it back down so it can drain some more, 4. tilt it up again, wait a few seconds and trim it back down, 5. tilt it up, put on the transom saver and go home. That may sound like overkill but with the price of a new lower unit I can take an extra 2-3 minutes to keep mine from freezing.

I got tired of having to keep adding water to my flooded cell batteries and opted for agms. I was reluctant to get less reserve capacity than I had been using. However, I went with the Optimas because I could get a better deal at Auto Zone than Bass Pro as well as a third year warranty. I am pulling around a 21' boat with a MG TE 82 trolling motor. So far I haven't been able to touch the strength of the Optimas no matter how long I stay out or how much the wind is blowing. Time may change my mind but right now I am glad I made the switch.

My first suggestion to you is get a long rope and keep it in your boat. I always carry at least 2 40' on board.

Heavy braided line so you can straighten out the hook.

Close or being upside down is not a good thing. Check with the dealer where you plan to buy. I used to be in the business and had over 20 lending agencies with which to work. The better your credit rating the better interest they can get you. However, I'd be surprised if they can beat your credit union.

Credit unions are generally hard to beat. Are you buying new, used, from an individual or dealer?

I don't know about the number. What I would be concerned with is the warranty period. It should start when you put them into service. I recently switched to agms and decided to pay a bit more and go for more warranty so I bought Optimas at Auto Zone with a 3 year warranty.

You want really smooth deep crankin try the 3.8:1. It is pretty slow but easy to turn no matter how big the bill is on the bait.

You could buy a set of gears for an E5 and have both possibilities for around $30. I did that with a 3.8:1 crankin reel and switched it to 6.2:1. In less than 5 minutes I can switch them back and forth.

If your problem persists you should let your physician look at it. You may have the beginning of arthritis. I had a wrist problem that would not go away when I fished and found out that it is karpal tunnel. Now I fish pain free with a nsaid once a day.

Another thing which can help while pouring and getting clogs, heat the tip of the pot with a propane torch for a few seconds then let out some lead into a container. This often lets the clog run out so you can continue pouring. I don't have a drill bit small enough to work on the tip so I use a spinnerbait wire and clean it while it is hot. I think this is the stuff he uses. http://www.opticsplanet.net/frankford-arsenal-6-oz-drop-out-aerosol-763758.html

Are you melting new plastisol or old worms? There is a difference.

I marked hundreds of stumps, rocks, logs, trees gravel bars, channel swings and brush piles with my gps units before I had the side/down. I would definitely opt for the gps.