Jig Man

The age of your motor may have a bearing on whether or not you can do this. I saw something similar to this on a different forum and they told the guy his opti was too old to work with the hds stuff. He was advised to get a smart craft gauge. I put one of them on my opti. It was a simple plug and play after I installed it and snaked the wires.

One of my favorite banks is a 1/2 mile long stretch of rip rap leading to a dam. When I am doing the top water, crank bait, etc. I fish it with the boat in less than 20 fow and run the bait at about a 10° angle back to the boat. That gives me several feet of variance in depth on each cast. When I use jigs or plastics I set the boat a cast away from the bank and fish back to what ever depth it takes working the bait up and over the rocks. On my rip rap bank a cast away puts me in 40-50 fow. I use worms, jigs, and tubes in the lightest weights possible to minimize hangups. I have found that the lighter weights come home better than the heavier ones and I don't go after hung up baits and plan to lose 6 or more on each pass.

Most of your questions were answered by R520. One he seemed to miss is the xducer selection. You can choose either one off the menu when the units are etherneted. You also can look at the down/side scan at either unit when they are etherneted to the LSS1. If you spend more time in the front seat than behind the wheel, you may want to consider using the larger unit up front. Check your pm for a possible better deal than the one you have seen.

We have been doing a double rig with a jig/wacky worm for many many years, way before the term drop shot came into being. It is effective and sometimes produces a double. With the advent of better electroincs, man Table Rock guides make a living dropshotting for spots and smallies. Many of them run a weight, a worm 10-12" up and another 10-12" up they add a second worm. That gives the client twice as many chances for a hook up.

Here in MO the conservation department accepts fishing stuff. The have special kids fishing days on stocked ponds and supply everything.

Melon pepper tube for me.

A couple of hundred tubes per year. I fish them in rocks and never go after one that is hung up. For that reason I have bought some molds and now make my own.

The bubble gum was my top pre spawn bait. Since then I can't get them to do anything for me.

I use a drill and bit to clean out the holes after I bake the paint on. That is all that has worked well for me and it costs nothing.

I have done it more than once. I'd not want to do it this tme of year because of the cold weather, heaters, and fumes. To get the old carpet off you can use lacquer thinner. Like stated above, do some research before you jump in. A commercial job would run you about a grand.

As batteries get old they tend to give up water more readily than when they are new especially if you keep your charger plugged in a lot. I'd check with the Wally World before I bought any batteries if I were you. In lots of places they no longer warranty the deep cycles because so many people have been bringing them back for new ones.

For me it is the toys: good reels, good rods, the electronics, the glitter sled, running from one spot to another and trying out my newest creations. I do my relaxing at home in a soft chair with a cold beverage.

I buy buck tails from Stamina Inc. 10 or more at a time gets a discount.

I run the white marine crank 875 cca from O'Reilly Auto Parts. It is about $85 and keeps my hd units going and starts my Opti in all kinds of weather.

I use a lot of hair jigs but I don't add any feathers to them. I use them for walleye and sandies mostly.

I had a bow mount hand controlled tmotor once. I'll quit fishing before I put up with another one.

I like to fish Trigged salt craws right smack in the middle of brush piles. I use a 3' mono or fluro leader and braid. When I am pulling the braid over a limb it feels like a hack saw on a dowel rod. When it gets smooth I know it is the leader. I also know that in 3' the bait will contact the limb. When the bait touches the limb, I gently wiggle it over the limb and let it fall. I repeat the process until I get a bite or work over the brush pile. Jigs I like to count down and swim over the top just barely nicking a limb or two. When I am fishing jigs down in the brush, I switch to my brush jigs which have a much smaller hook so they don't get hung up so often.

Two piece rods used to be inferior to one piece but in today's world they are not that much different. I got a couple of 2 piece rods as gifts. I don't really know if I have one in my hands unless I inspect it.

I use 30# Power Pro and have used 8, 10, 12, 15, and 17# mono and fluro leaders. I only use the Alberto's knot because it hasn't failed and all others have. I do a 6 wrap both ways (spit, no glue). 5 wraps won't hold and I have never tried more than 6.

For me it is front drag because I can take them apart completely and clean everything if I so choose. Not so for the rear drags. I have never been comfortable trying to disassemble those so I have given all of them away.

That is what I was told when I couldn't get their buzz baits from BPS last year. I called the number and the lady answered Rapala. When I said I must have dialed the wrong number she replied that they had been bought out.

No I haven't. I had done quite a bit of babbett. It is good but you can't do it in a Lee pot because it melts at over 1000° so it has to be heated really hot and ladeled.

I have never paid even 1penny for lead and I must have at least 300 # of it in the barn. Check around there are lots of free and or cheap sources.

If he really is a kid and needs some baits, I'd send him some of my surplus. I have done it a few times when I was sure it was a kid and he wasn't asking for freebies. I guess there is no way to be sure though.

I have used a lot of lead sources in the years of making jigs (wheel weights, printer's lead, plumbers lead, radio active medicine containers, X-ray room lead coated walls, etc.) The softer the lead the lower the melting point. One of the most important things you can do is learn how to flux your lead. If that is a new term, do a google search and find out about it.