Susky River Rat

@TOXIC the kill switch isn’t just safety for you or the people in your boat. It’s for everyone on the water. You fall out and your boat kill someone it’s your fault for not having the kill switch on. @Johnbt you aren’t going over slow no wake speed with a TM. You should not be standing going on the casting deck going faster than slow no wake. I do agree they should change that portion as of the chart.

@Johnbt I see what you are saying but it clearly states in PA it is illegal to not have it attached to the operator. The chart looks like copy and paste from the USCG requiments. PA can make their own laws. The electric falls under fuel type not propulsion type. Electric motors are considered outboard drive. @TnRiver46 I think the coast guard has a specific definition of what a kill switch is. I think it has to electronically interrupt the ignition. I would need to double check that.

@TnRiver46 I don’t think the PA fish and boat commission will.

I know the coast guard made it mandatory for kill switches if the vessel came equipped with it for boats 26 and less to wear it while at greater than slow no wake. I was paging through the 2025 boater handbook for PA and now it must be on regardless whether it came with one. Just wanted to let anyone know that could be coming here. I think there is going to be a lot of unhappy people on the river. I always wear mine. I keep it attached to my life jacket.

My boat looks like a disaster right now. Tackle rods new stuff car products. It becomes its own storage and work bunch in the winter time

There is only one fish that haunts me to this day. It was a musky def high 40s. My dad was trying to net it fouled the net job up a few times. The musky got hooked on the outside of the bag. Quick thinking I told him just flip it over. Which easier said than done but got it in the bag the correct way. I jump up fist in the air and yell in the ******* bag. I look down my dad let the brim of the net dip into the water and the musky starting to fall over the side. The hook that was still in stuck in the net snapped and the musky went out of the net and gone. I completely lost my mind on my dad than didn’t talk to him for a week. bass? I’ve never really had a heart breaker. I just do it for fun. Sure I’ll get a little frustrated if I was fishing a tournament but, over all I just keep at it there will be more. My mind set has changed a lot from the days I musky fished. Fishing for me was almost toxic. Now I just go out and enjoy my day. Not saying I do not have bad or frustrating days but, if I come back my boat and self in one piece I am way ahead of the game.

Speaking of this I need to buy my license, charge my flasher and get my ice gear ready going to be sub zero windchill temps here Monday finally a real winter.

Yeah, ain’t worth pulling a gun on someone that’s being a chump. You want to be a man you start ripping lips in front of them. I guess I am just used to everyone fishing ontop of me to care.

I pay $39 for two years. I renew my boat policy in March so I can’t comment on that.

If I have the time to go bank fishing I have the time to take my boat out. I walk 6-8 miles a day on a normal day. The last thing I want to do is walk all over trying to fish. I enjoy fishing out of my boat. All my gear. My dog and I just feel so much more free and relaxed. The boat is my happy place not just a tool to fish off of.

I’ll be ice fishing this weekend. Man, I’m dying to be out on the boat with my doggie and dad though.

Welcome! I am a terrible angler but have a bunch of fun doing it

Welcome aboard buddy! You are in my neck of the woods. I fish primarily from fort hunter down to bainbridge. I have gone to long level , up in the north branch and various other places. I have not fished the air port stretch or Goldsboro. City island up I do. What kind of boat do you have? Shoot me a message if you ever want to chat man.

It would vary from boat to boat. My guess is a 45” trolling motor would be plenty.

I have never done it for bass. Other species yes.

It’s river fishing. They pile into areas. There is only so much fishable water.

It really depends on the time of year for me. Most times though I’d say I’m about a 2-3 on the movement scale. Fishing the river flow dictates a lot of what I do. I can very well be on a big school if smallies and not be throwing the right bait. Sometimes I will even leave an area and come back to let it cool down. The fish reset and I can sometimes bang them out again. There are so many times where I haven’t caught a fish in awhile and next thing I know I am banging them.

I’m sorry for your loss. I admire your commitment to keeping her even once you found out she didn’t get along with other pets. The bond we develop with our pets is strong. If they are ever just a dog or just a cat you shouldn’t have them.

@Koz not sure if you use a net but you may know something.

When I musky fished I would use 130lb FC leaders with 80 pound braid at times For bass I use 10-15lb braid and use a 17lb FC leader across the board. Mine is for rocks. The susky pretty much all rock. It helps greatly for this. As far as protection from musky? No way I get bit off just as easy.

All my spinning reels are ultegras. You can get them for around $110 so I feel they are the best quality reel at an extremely reasonable price.

In theory no matter where the plant is they should be able to make the same quality reel. I can promise you that is only a theory. Not every plant does everything with exactly the same materials, quality workers or tools. I know this first hand by visiting a company’s various manufacturing sites through out the USA. (Not fishing reels) another example is you go to any fast food place. There are ones that serve better food than others even though it’s the exact same item. I prefer made in Japan but, will buy a reel made somewhere else if not available.

@gim didn’t really help I did horrible all the events. I thought my dark horse Ike would pull through and never did

Muskies will forever be my favorite. However around here is terrible for them and I don’t have the time to put in for them. Smallmouth bass on the susky have my priority. They are a blast. They are abundant. My earliest days where elementary school years wading the susky with my dad.

Ahh gotcha is it your brother or brother in law that has the renegade? I think i remember you saying someone had it.