Muddpuppy

Sounds like a wire is crossed. When you hook it back up try them one at a time and make sure they are controlling what they are supposed too. Also check your ground, it may be feeding back through the wireing.

I have tried a couple of times to pick up some chatterbaits for you over here in Tyler, and no luck so far. I haven't been able to do an extensive search, though. If you fish around alot of branches and sticks the floaters will often unhook if caught or can be stoped then fished over the tops. I like the suspending over grass.

I think it was haveing to pay extra for the tips, is what did it for me. When I picked up one magazine and it bent over like a weekly salespaper, that was the final straw (maybe a slight over exageration, on my part but that's what came to mind at the time). I had gotten where I didn't even bother to open them up anymore nor do I plan on going pro anytime soon. I let it go this last time no matter how many trinkets they offered for my renewal, funny though they still send me the $30.00 books.

Here you can get what they call a Day Plus licence package that can be purchased for one or more specified days.

I wouldn't go as far to say I use them exclusively that way, but it probably falls some where in the range of 80 - 95% for plastics in general and about 40%of that weightless, depending on the bait, season and weather conditions and lakes were on. Plastics are perfectly suited for the conditions we mostly fish and best of all they work and work well, but we do use throw an occassional spinnerbaits and a few hardbaits from time to time. It's not that I don't have a decent selection to choose from as the reason that I choose not to use the others, but because the plastics fit my situation more readily. Weightless is good up to 8 -10' depending on the type of bait, weather and water conditions, So unless your trying to get down inside of weeds beds and brush, I prefer to use them that way if I can. Sometimes it just doesn't happen that way and a little extra weight is needed to increase the fall rate, depth or even change the apearence and action of the bait or to cast in wind. I still don't like to use any more then needed, even then. Most of the lakes around here are fairly shallow where bass fishing is the best through out the majority of the year and there is a lot of vegitation in it. Not many of the other baits work as well as plastics, for me, as plastics do. It doesn't hurt to have a variety of different lures on hand and be skilled with there use, especially if you plan to fish an array of different places.

Just about everybody I know uses cedar, some have used tires and a couple that have even sunk an old car body in theirs. I "read" somewhere that ceder might retard algae growth that attracts smaller fish and woods like oak or willow might be better for that, but I haven't tested it myself. I don't see that it would matter in a smaller body of water.

We keep one rigged almost all the time just in case a fish misses anouther bait and use it as a pickup bait alot. They often will hit it when they seem to have lost interest in the other.

Years ago we bought my parents a perkalting coffee pot to take on trips, it worked off of both ac/dc and had a bracket to mount it in the car or use in a hotel room. I think that it might have blown a fuse a couple of times and created quite a mess when useing in a car don't know about a boat. It made a couple of trips and ended up in an out of the way cabinet, never to be seen again. They went back to a their trusty thermos or stopped some where with a rest room. That was quite a few years ago, so I'm sure they make them alot more gooder now.

The limited amount of plastic welding I have around was very simular to heli arcing except it uses pre heated air to melt the filler material instead of electrictical current. The rods are like and fed in pretty much as you would tig wire. It might depend on the area, but around here there wasn't an a lot of of shops that do that kind of work for the general public, that I knew of a few years ago. Mostly tank and vessel shops that installed liners. There also is one place that builds pvc bird and bat houses that has one too. I have see small units advertised in a local sales papers for a lower end retail tool outlet chains like Northern Hydrolics or Tools and More. These weren't very expensive, so I don't know how well it works . Even though I have always wanted one I never had a much plastics requireing welding.

Own both / do both or get an aluminum if you can launch in the ponds

I have an older Schumaker and it has an automatic breaker inside. If it gets hot, because a battery is severly drained it will shut off sometimes, I suppose that moisture could cause that too. I just unplug it and usually after a few minutes you will hear a click and it starts to work again. Sometimes it might shut down a couple of times until the rate is decreased. As far as wet I have left mine in the rain, carried it in the back of the truck durring storms and stored it in the boat. It has never quite for long. I do let it dry out completely before plugging it back in. The newer ones may have a circuit that could be damaged I suppose. It might not hurt to blow it lightly out with air.

With shallow lakes not all water even with timber and grass is productive, so even though it looks like a haven, the fish may think otherwise. I would focus on any weedbeds and timber close to channels working the sides outward. Points are good, shorelines might be good in evening and mornings, pads are usually good for a fish or two. Rat-L-traps silver, silver/blue, Flukes should be good, senkos, wave worms brush hogs and kreatures of all kinds brushing the tops of weeds and sinking in pockets, try weightless and if that doesn't work add weight. Remember channels in low laying lakes may not be as defined as you are used too so I wouldn't expect much of a sharp dropoff and more of a slope. We are haveing pretty good luck on flats 8 -10 ft. water, up in N.E. corner of Texas right now. Blue/black, junebug, watermelon, watermelon candy is a killer, cotton candy, smoke/ red pepper and shad at times. Chartruse spinnerbaits have brought in a few.

I am always picking up a new bait here and there and eventurally they pile up so some trips I do nothing but test these that I have stockpiled. I really like doing it when fishing with a friend. This allows me to see how they are compareing against the old faithfuls we normally use. I do like to try or repeat useing a new one that didn't pan out on a previous trip almost everytime I go when the conditions vary.

North east Tx. voted weeds although wood is alway good, this time of the year weeds are where we have the best luck especially near channels.

Definetly size, in fact I loose intrest with dinks. I would rather catch one or two of substantial size then 25+ smaller fish and will make changes with what I am useing or locations when there is a definite pattern forming. Ironicly, I fish alot with somebody that loves numbers, although sometimes it's tough due to the difference in styles, we make due and still have blast.

It sounds like a boat kit in reverse and a $1000.00 headache to me. I would stay clear. For the money you are looking at for just what you know is wrong or missing, which sounds like everyhing that you've seen so far, I would think you could find a running boat in good condition that hasn't been wrecked and salvaged out. With everything pulled out and disconected it may have electrical probems too. It sounds like the previous owner might have felt it was cheaper to pull all the acc. off of that one and stick them on new one, then it would be just to fix it.

If you haven't used brush hogs or sekos much make sure that the hook point isn't set too deep in the bait when T-rigged. Try different size weights, go lighter to vary the fall and down thru limbs or heavier to get deeper and into weeds or none at all if the water is only about 6-10' and is clean for a slower fall. I prefer to fish unweighted, but we fish shallow water, 1/16 has been recomended that and 1/8 up to a 1/4 may also be a good start. Throw next to any trees or weeds letting it go to the bottom, and let it sit for a several seconds, then twitch it a few times lightly, then sit and repeat before you start your retrieve. Pay close attention while the bait is falling that is often when it is hit. Also if this lake has more obstacles to pull over or thru then some of the others that you fish, then there maybe a possibility that you just aren't feeling them as well as in the other lakes or if they are just lightly tapping the bait. I would try to go as much as possible when there isn't much traffic until you get it figured out. We have a small event on a lake I fish alot, this weekend, but next weekend is a major local anual open touney. There's no telling how many boats might be on the lake this weekend pre fishing so it maybe tough to find any fish and we know the lake.

Cart-jon boats? :-? Are these what we are talking about or am I just confused again like normal? http://www.wacomfg.com/JonSeries.html These are what I was considering, until the dealer offered me a deal on a Ranger that was way to good to pass up.

There are quite a few of them down here, I haven't heard anything negative that I know of about them. I think they make a good combo boat for hunting and fishing. I believe I might even had been inquireing into one at the time I found the boat I have now. And I'm also aware that I am not much help in this matter. :-/ Cart-jon boats

Were you fishing from a boat or off the bank? And if you were hitting the same places that others had previously covered then the fish had already been exposed how many times to the same baits you were useing also 10 hrs. isn't a lot of time to get to know a lake in. At 100yrds. x 15 miles it sounds like not only do you have a lot of visable cover, but probably even more structure underneath that you aren't finding or getting too as said. Twist your friends arm and get him to take you a couple of trips to show you the ropes.

Are you sure that they were useing things like Brush Hogs that day? If the fish are feeding heavily on something like shad, they may not hit a brush hog or anything else resembling a crawfish, although you might get lucky and pick up one or two, if you get the coloring right and you vary the style you normally fishing them, for the most part they may show no interest. I throw creatures quite a bit, but have sat in the boat throwing brush hogs, Kreatures, Ikas, Senkos and on down the line, in every imaginable color and way I can come up with, still not getting much more then a nibble. Mean while, my friend on the other end of the boat is steadily pulling them in on say a fluke. I knew the fish were there, and that they would bite, but I was determined to see if I could make them take something they didn't want in the first place on that day, and they didn't go for it, and have proven it to me more then once. (I can get a little stuborn at times) Try other types of baits when they won't respond.

I also use a small Honda generator for chargeing when camping. I had checked into an onboard charger at one time, but after talking to a couple of dealers, I didn't feel like I ran my motor near enough to help me much on an average trip. They both had similar systems to the stealth on there boats and liked them, but were pretty much in agreement with me for my use.

I'd go around 9.5 she looks solid.

I voted foot, but I also have back trouble and the pedal can get to be a problem sometimes with balance. My next one will probably be a remote or hand control.

It is recomended to use distiled or dionized water. The minerals and chemicals in regular tap can shorten the life of a battery. As far as looseing the caps from what I have read that is no longer recomended. Alot of automatic chargers don't bring a battery to a full charge. I always check mine with a meter.