ElGuapo928

Between keeping the aerator on auto, plenty of Rejuvenade and occasionally tossing a frozen 2 liter bottle of water in there, I’ve never lost a fish.

Here generally the best time to buy a fishing boat is spring when the snowbirds are headed home. They’ll buy a boat, use it 3-4 times and sell it with plans to buy a pontoon the next year. The next best time is midsummer, when the less hardcore of us get tired of wake boats trying to kill us.

It happens to all of us….I dropped a 5+ right at the boat last weekend, and I’m still pouting.

Slug-O

While I personally would use a little smaller trailer, I don’t think that’s the main issue. Sounds like you’re getting the yips, and concentrating so hard on the hookset, that you’re mistiming it. Generally with a chatter, I like to wait until I feel the rod loading up and then give a quick vertical set. Every time I try the “slackliner” set, I end up losing the fish. Even if they knock slack into it on the hit, I like to take it up and know d**n well that hook is going into the palate.

50lb braid is a lot smaller than 30lb mono, so should be perfectly fine.

I don’t really have an expiration date on it - long as it’s kept away from UV and at a consistent cool temperature, it’ll last just about forever. I keep bulk spools in the garage fridge for longer term storage.

The absolute best tool for sharpening a hook is not a hook sharpener….It’s an Ignition or Points file, available at just about any auto parts store for a couple of bucks. With a little practice, you can get just about the worst hook sticky sharp with just a few passes.

I only carry tubes in 2 colors - Bluegill and White.

I fish them on a MH/F rod with 15lb mono. One thing I cannot recommend enough is to sharpen the hooks, fresh out of the package. Virtually every non-bladed jig bladed jig I have ever bought has had really dull hooks. Few minutes with a file gets them nice and sticky.

I’m trying to convince my wife that it’s far more economical/rational to just go through my ‘96 GMC than take on something new. All it really needs is cosmetic - Vortec 350 and 5 speed manual should outlast pretty much everything made today.

We’ve been looking for me a new truck, and it’s not going well. I would like to know whom in the auto industry decided to dig out the relics from the 70’s “Brougham” epidemic and apply it to pickup trucks. I don’t really need “rich Corinthian leather” or all the tech gadgets….I just want something that runs reliably and can safely/efficiently tow my boat, preferably without being towed to a dealership every couple of months. Apparently that’s a big ask in 2025.

I would trade the wife’s Explorer for that thing in a heartbeat!!!

I personally like a longer rod in the lighter actions, but the most important thing is how it feels to you.

I haven’t personally, but I don’t see any reason it wouldn’t work.

I’ve got probably a dozen pairs of scissors scattered around the boat. The kids’ size Fiskars from Wally World don’t have any problem with braid.

More placebo than anything. Would look good on my shelf between the Color C Lector and the Hydrowave, with the Ph Guide and the EBS crankbaits framing it.

What I’ve always done is just ask how much to cover gas/oil for the day. A lot of times they say don’t worry about it, but I’ll still give him $50 and tell him to get dinner on the way home. When we fish out of my boat (which is AWFUL on gas), I’ll refuse it unless we finished fairly well into the money. Another one that I forgot to mention is to ALWAYS offer to help wipe the boat down and put stuff away. I’ve had a couple of draw partners leave their trash in the boat and go wandering off instead of helping clean up - that’s always stuck with me as the definition of disrespect.

Give the guy catching fish a minimum 50 yards of space Backseater buys the gas….period Be at the ramp and ready early. From the console forward belongs to the boater, non boater is console back. There’s thousands more, with slight regional/individual variations.

We had to quit doing the “who buys lunch” series - it got too cut throat. Somebody came up with drawing for where we went, and some of the establishments in the jar were going to get us lynched when we got home, especially if some well meaning busy body reported our whereabouts to our spouses.

It’s spawned some of the most ridiculous stuff I’ve ever seen. There’s an older 17’ tin boat that shows up to some of the tournaments around here that has no less than $8000 worth of electronics on it, with a $7.98 Force outboard running on 1.5 cylinders pushing it around. To steal a slur from Ish Monroe, there’s too many “Facebook Pros” out there that have taken a big chunk of the fun out of tournaments. Spending $20,000 preparing for a shot at winning $40 and a Waffle House coupon in a Wednesday Nighter doesn’t make you a pro, neither does quitting your job to practice for it. There’s a bunch of us now doing our own little “outlaw”, winner takes all derbies for $50-$100 a boat that have brought the fun back into it.

I don’t believe so. I’ve got my leads siamesed into the one connector.

I like the Owner weighted tube hooks (1/8 oz 3/0)

I like either a split tail trailer or just a 4” straight tail worm.

Another for the home team: Copperstate and the Hook Up.