Jig Man

That short of time isn’t enough to have any effect on your battery. My batteries were out of my boat for 2 months last fall while it was at the factory for warranty work.

To me a long cast is one that went too far and got hung in the rocky bank otherwise they are too short or acceptable.

I had no clue what type of mold it was. That puppy is going to be a hard pour for anyone.

I wasn’t referring to ffs. I was referring to quality units with decent sized screens. On the power poles idea. Give that some serious thought before you sink that kind of money. I put them on my last boat and used them very seldom because my boat is normally deeper than they will reach. I lost $1500 on that little experiment. Now spot lock is a different story. I use it several times a day. Spot lock jog is one very great feature also. I can tell you that I fish 4 lakes and normally go twice each week. With the hundreds and hundreds of boats that I see with “electric anchors “ I have never seen a boat with them deployed.

Okay you have chosen a boat. Keep in mind most of them come with small sonar units and lower powered trolling motors and low amp chargers. In many cases you can get upgrades a lot more reasonable at purchase or order than you can later on.

I think I can offer you a site where you might get info but I can’t list it here. If you pm me a phone number I will send you a text then you can decide for yourself.

Don’t scrimp on the trolling motor if you get a tin boat. I’ve had 3 of them and they blow around a lot. Spot lock will help.

The electronics guys that I use coil the wire and zip tie it.

Tom I used to smoke molds before Cadman introduced me to Frankfort Arsenal Dropout spray. I had a mold that no amount of smoke worked. It is cleaner, stays on longer and works better than smoke.

Our water temps are in the mid to low 50s right now. The bass on upper Table Rock seem to be scattered though still shallow. Rarely do we catch more than 1 or 2 in an area. The baits we have been using are jigs, jerks, shaky and Ned. The jerks aren’t producing much and Ned (which should be good) is worthless. Jigs and Elaztech worms rigged shaky are all that have been producing.

Lead melts at around 620°. If you have alloys in it you need higher temps. When I used a Lee pot I ran it on 10 all the time. Frankfort Arsenal drop out spray will help. I have it on all of my molds. If you have acetone clean your mold with it. Dry it and let everything evaporate before using the release agent. Wait a few hours after coating the mold before you pour. Try holding the mold up to the filler when you open it. Sometimes that helps. If you are working in a cold area you may have to heat the hooks. Once in a while you run across a mold that has to be “cracked”. That means slightly opening the mold as you pour. I had a Poison Tail mold that would not fill one of the cavities unless I put a couple of pieces of paper in it next to the handle. A penny wrapper was perfect for that job. Please report back on your progress.

I’ve been trying fg knots for a few months and like it. I’ve had 5 hand surgeries and could use a good tool. I looked it up and saw several offered. Any of you have experience with them and can point me to the best one?

You can take pliers and dip the jig in the pot to melt off the lead but you will have to clean residue off the hook. I prefer to hold it over the pot with pliers and melt the lead off with my little propane torch. The hook comes out clean and can be reused as soon as it cools. I have reused 100s and had no problems with the hooks.

If you are needing more room for your larger hooks you might try Kalin Mogombo grubs.

I switched to it late last winter. I’ve used the Albright, Alberto, uni to uni and several others. It is the only knot for leader that I have used and not had the line break at the knot.

If you can swing it get the 19.

The closed eye wire has gotten hard to find locally so I switched to the R wire. I have had good luck wrapping braid or floral wire around the R. Then I cover it with shrink tubing.

I can’t say why it is better. All I know is that I have tried ball head, minnow head and aspirin head jigs. They didn’t get me as many bites. I’ve never tried football as my mold only goes down to 1/8 oz and uses hooks that are too large for me on a TRD.

Normally I fish it to 30’. I use from 1/16 to 1/8 oz most of the time. I can go up to 1/4 if necessary. Up to 15’ with little wind 1/16 is my choice. As I go deeper I use heavier heads. I have tried several line sizes and found that I get a lot more bites on 6#. My line of choice is Yozuri hybrid.

I’ve tried 3 or 4 brands and have settled on Seaguar red label. It is super strong and I haven’t noticed stretch. I have it in 12# on my jig and shaky setups as well as spinner bait. I also use it for leaders on my swim bait setups. I just bought my second 1000 yd spool. It came through Wal Mart they were cheaper than anyone else. I’ve tried it in 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, and 20# and settled on the 12 as my go to. It by far isn’t the most expensive but guys who regularly fish with me are switching over.

I also fish Elaztech worms shaky style all winter long. Sometimes they want the little guy but like yesterday they didn’t and took the worm.

I’ve been trying your beaver but like the TRDs nothing so far. Our surface temperature is about 58°. It probably needs to drop some more.

Check the Q and A here https://humminbird.johnsonoutdoors.com/us/shop/accessories

I will when they start biting them. So far no love here.

We made it out. It was a cold and windy day. We struggled to catch a dozen bass. All but 1 were caught on shaky with Houdini being a good color.