Jig Man

I put the hook in an eyelet close to the reel. I then hold the rod up and swing the weight letting the line wrap around the rod. It will usually wrap tight. I reverse the proceedure when I want to use it again.

I have been using it for 4 years without any problems. Like stated above you must have a bad batch or a spot on you rod that is nicking it. The only problem I have with it is it frays in rocks and needs to be checked once in a while.

You could put in a pop rivet and JB Weld around it.

I just put a Lowrance 520c on the bow and on the console. I have them networked. I had them on the water together for the first time today. The console unit loses the bottom at 30-35 mph. It is connected to the same transducer that I had on an LMS 480. Nothing about the transducer has been changed. Do you think this new unit is more powerful and causing the transducer problems? Do you think lowering the sensitivity would help?

Sounds like you did ok to only have a $20 pro rate. Hope the new one works well.

That is really a nice looking rig. I have a Champ and they are fine boats. Is this your first Optimax?

I don't seem to get as much distance with braid as I do mono on a baitcaster. One reason your casts might be shorter is the braid may be packing on the spool. You might walk it all off and wind it back on to see if that helps. As for the reels, I would be about cleaning them if they had gone for a swim.

Yes it is. Shimano is changing the Stradic again this year so several places are closing them out.

I thought that they were just another gimic to get your money. I saw some at the Bass Pro shop outlet store for $2.66 so I gave them a try. I have been using them for about 5 months. I don't plan to ever be without them again. I was in the store last week and they had a bunch more so I bought up for the future. BTW: If you buy large or XL there will be enough to do two rods from the reel down. That is all I ever touch and lets me take the reels off without moving the wrap. I also use them to color code rods.

At least with the Citica, you know who made it. The BPS stuff gets rotated around with contracts.

This is pretty good for rigging and techniques. http://www.richz.com/fishing/articles/dropshot.html

When I use a trailer, it is normally a single or double tailed grub.

If you use your unit for serious fishing instead of just depth, a 480X480 unit is a must which ever mfg you choose. I just sold an X125 to a friend. It is a great unit and I really liked the amber back light for night fishing but I decided to move into the world of color.

I have high speed cable with a new puter and I rarely find it fast. Sometimes it is soooo slow I get tired of waiting and go to another site.

California had poured worms. Gulp also has some pretty good ones but they would stink a dog offf a gut wagon.

If you have access to sycamore trees, they will sink without any weighs tied to them. A guy on Bull Shoals lake has put lots of trees in and last year he put sycamores on flats like you described. Within a month he was calling them his walleye hotels. He caught over 100 keeper (18"+) walleye from them. They were in about 40 fow.

I would network them so they can share waypoints. You can slant a skimmer transducer either forward or backward or to either side. However only for say about 5°. I have a "spooning" transducer under the livewell pointed forward and starboard.

That is the smart way to mount a transducer on any aluminum boat. Lund the best aluminum in the business comes with a transducer board.

Del at Aurora Canvas made the cover for my Champion. It has several thousand miles on it and spends around 100 nights each year in campgrounds. It is the best cover I have ever seen in my life. It is way better than any which my friends have.

Wow. I wish I could afford that stuff. I just put in 2 520c units for the tune of $1500 and networked them.

Actually August is a good time to buy a boat. The dealers ordered them last summer and have been sitting on them for several months paying floor plan interest. Most bass boats sell from mid winter to early summer (boat show to hot weather). Boats in inventory during August-Dec are not moving. Many dealers will sell them close to cost to get rid of them before the new ones arrive. If they are new noncurrents they will sometimes sell them below cost because they have been paying interest on them for over a year. Contrary to what many believe, cash won't get you the best deal. Dealerships arrange financing and get a kick back from the banks. So if you are buying and can get a financed deal with a no penalty payoff it is better to finance for a month or so then pay the bank off with no penalty. It could save you at least a new reel and a Gloomis rod. They also get as much as 50% kickback for extended warranty, so there is a barganing point if you know how to use it.

That price is well below NADA guides. If it is in decent condition, it seems like a pretty good deal.

I use Restore. Spray it on and wipe it off.

Pushing the BS aside. Use your depth finder. It will show them to you if you pay attention.

I use lime away. It is cheap and works as well as wonderfoam which costs 4X more.