Jig Man

You can order your molds directly from Do-It. If you have a tax # or know someone who has then use Shorty's Hook Sales for hooks. Otherwise Captain Hooks. Powder Paint is way cheaper directly from the mfg by the pound. Living Rubber can be bought directly if you buy in quanity.

Most of those babies are made within 100 miles of Springfield, MO. There will be a significant charge to ship them 1/2 way across the country. There is also a rigging charge which the dealers add on. Maybe you could negotiate with the BPS in Springfield and drive here to pick it up if you can save money. You could take in some shows at Branson and fish Table Rock while you are here. That might make you a hero with momma if there is one in the house.

You mentioned 4 different types of jigs so that would be $120 for molds. A lead pot is about $50. Powder paint is about $6 for 2 oz. I suggest that you look at Jann's, Barlows, Stamina, and any other places you know for prices of already poured and painted heads. They you can order them and some skirts and assemble them. That would give you an idea of just how deep you want to get into making baits.

Nitro is definitely not in the top 10 of any list of good bass boats. I live in Nitro land and see a bunch. They just plain don't hold up.

If the plates are still covered just add distilled water. If the plates are dry then the battery may be toast. It won't cost much money to put water in and try to recharge.

I went back yesterday and found the bite tougher. Only 9 bass would cooperate. However, 2 of them were smallies. They came about a mile apart. 1 was about 12' deep and the other one was in 18" of water. No others seemed to be in the area.

Thanks for the ideas. I am heading out at 6 am to try again and see if smallies are on the other end of the lake and maybe deeper.

I assume you are talking lead. I clean mine a couple of times each year because of sediment and some rust in the pot. When I get the lead out I take a small wire brush and brush off the side walls and a screwdriver to clean up the bottom. If necessary I heat the pot up to clean off the bottom. Then I use my compressor to blow the junk out of the pot. If you blow a hot pot, be sure to wear safety glasses and gloves, point the pot away from you and reach around with the air because the stuff will spray out everywhere. To keep mine going longer I run an old spinnerbait wire up the spout when needed.

Today I fished one of my fav lakes which has a lot of smallies in it. They were no where to be found. Neither were the spots. We caught 29 largemouth on a lot of different kinds of banks, points, bluff ends and ledges. I thought surely we would get a few smallies. We fished from 15-35' deep with tubes and various jigs. The water temp was 39.6° most places with 40° being the warmest. Should I have fished deeper than 35' for those rascals?

No I do not but sometimes the battery being low in voltage causes depth finders to shut down. Check your battery before you send the df back.

The last I heard Pfleuger had the BPS contract though it may have changed since my info is a year old.

You better rethink this advice.

Take the lids off the cells and see if the plates are covered with liquid. If they are then charge the battery before adding water. If they are exposed then cover them with distilled water before charging. You only want about 1/2" of coverage over the plates.

Most any kind of plastic bait should catch you some fish. Get some and spend some time learning to use them. Brush hogs, senkos, tubes, worms just to name a few should do the trick. Colors vary with different waters so I'd start with some shades of brown/ green/ and some black.

It sounds like you are way down the road to getting what you need. The main thing I'd be looking for in the boat is one that doesn't leak.

With that budget you will need to determine the size of the bodies of water you are going to fish. Once you have made that determination, you will have to decide how big or little of a boat you will require for safety and comfort. Then you can start looking around to see what is on the market.

fc line=long piece fc leader= same line short piece

I dont use glue, and i cinch it very tight with lots of saliva. Make sure the wraps dont cross, and I trim the tag ends extremely close (<1/32"). For the flyfishermen out there this is a VERY handy knot for leader construction and such. Avid put me on that knot last year. It is all I use for joining 2 lines. I use it on all my braid setups. It is the smallest knot I have found and holds the best.

Round trip airfare and a week in a condo in Las Vegas along with tickets to a show while there.

Now IB if you spread that over time and amortize it you will find that it is nearly free. I have some on reels that has been there for 6 or 7 years. When it looks like I need to replace it, I am going to turn it around and respool it.

Some patience and a propane torch can make most hooks fit it most molds.

X2

I only use HiVis Yellow because it is easier to see on windy days which it when I fish mostly.

Why did the population of smallmouth explode? Does anybody know? A buddy of mine went out looking for them and he said he saw a small pod of them about 5 and he got a few hits but no hook ups. On Table Rock lake about 5 years ago they had a big kill with largemouth viris. That allowed spots and smallies to prosper. On Stockton lake no one seems to know but they sure are doing well. However, 30 miles from Stockton lake is Pomme de Terre lake which has very few smallmouth and is the same age as Stockton.

I don't know why they wouldn't make it. They are scattered from TX to Canada. We have smallmouth in our lakes in SWMO. They have been there since the lakes were built over 40 years ago. Smallmouth catches were rare until just a few years ago, then the populations exploded so that today we catch as many smallies as we do lmb and spots.