CoryRobertLowe

Thanks @MN Fisher. I just purchased some of those EWG hooks; excited to see how they perform.

I'm split-shotting for panfish. (split shot sinkers dragged across the bottom 2 feet above the hook.) I caught a few bluegills, and missed a lot of bites. I have a small Aberdeen hook. I'm looking to try to make it somewhat weedless. There is a little weeds where I'm fishing. If I "Texas rig it, the baits are too big for the hook gap (size 6 hooks). They have small mouths, so I don't want to go much larger on the hook size. Any tips for a weedless setup? Any small soft plastic baits you can recommend? How do I rig them? "Texas rig"? Or put something to act as a hook weed guard?

I'm new, and figuring this out. Tips (how to and safety) for jacking up a boat trailer? I need to do it for a few reasons: I need to replace the trailer jack wheel (on the front of the trailer) I read I should spin the jack tires when I put the oil in them, so it spreads out. I have been skipping that, but to do so, I should jack them up. At some point, I will probably get a flat tire, so I should learn now. How do I do it? (I have a general idea from doing it to my car, but I wanted to get your experience) Any safety tips (other than common sense) I should know? What equipment do I need? jack stands? What type of a jack do I need (scissor vs hydraulic)?

@Team9nine @WRB, I purchased/watched Doc Samson's DVD on 2D sonar. Very great info. Thanks for sharing. I'm waiting for Technological Angler's DVD to come in the mail.

Can you elaborate on this part: "tied the high side to the guide pole". You mean you would tie a knot (using a short section of rope) from the cleat to the guide pole, so it can only drift a few inches ( or a foot or so).

How do I load my bass tracker boat? I think one side is "dug out" with debris and the other side isn't. Also this launch is shallow. When I go to back in my trailer, one side of the bunker goes in the water before the other side. As a result, the trailer is at an angle. I have always manually (wench) loaded the boat, but this is difficult, as one side is fully submerged. Then when I wench up the boat, I need to try 4 times, as the boat floats around and it inevitably is too far on one side or the other of the trailer, so I need to back it down, and try again. (even without the uneven ramp, I have this issue - this just makes it worse). Any tips? Should I just powerlaunch this? I haven't done this before, and it' super shallow. Or any ways to wench this up, and estimate (hold) the boat steady, so I am able to get the boat in the center of the trailer.

I would like to get better at interpreting what I am seeing with my 2D sonar. Is there an online resource you recommend? Either free or paid: Class, DVD, YouTube, etc. For example, I want to get better and seeing soft bottom vs hard bottom. Weeds, Brush Piles, etc.

I'm new to crappie fishing. Where should I look? It's ice out. The water is 45 F. How should I locate crappies? Where will they be? Which lures should I use? (I don't want live bait). If anyone has any info on their behavior this time of year, that would be helpful. Are they pre-spawn? Thanks!

@Bolar, do you like this style? Or do you think it's basically the same as the standard style? Also, where/how do you use them? Basically when you are docking? Where/how do you use your fenders? When you are docking?

I purchased these Taylor Made Low Freeboard fenders, as I saw some people use them on this site. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000MJJK1Y/ref=dp_iou_view_item?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Maybe I need a different stye? They don't seem to work, with my cleats. I think my cleats are too far forward, so it doesn't sit correctly. If these are the style you recommend, how should I "attach" them. See pictures. If I need a different style, please let me know what I should get.

@Tennessee Boy, It's a 2003 (I think) 60 HP Mercury. MERCURY NITRO TRACKER 60 ELPTO Out of curiosity, how can it start without a battery? It must be storing a charge somewhere? *** I misread...please disregard this post.

@DinkDonkey30, Thanks. I took a small engine class, so I have some knowledge, but I just want to be 1000% confident, so I don't do anything stupid. @GitInMuhBoat mentioned what I read in the manual (I purchased the official one and read it), but I just wanted to ask online, to see if there was any other dangerous things I should be aware of. I appreciate everyone on here, for your help. Thanks!

I'm working on the propeller. How do I prevent the engine from turning over? I should take out one/all of the spark plugs? Or just take off the part that hooks to the spark plug? What if the battery is unhooked already? Can the engine turn over without a battery? How about static causing a spark by the spark plug hole, and turning over the engine? Is that a thing?

@SC53, I would love to learn from you, since I want to use artificial. I know it's a vague question, but what are some of your strategies? How do you approach a body of water? Any tips would be most appreciated. Do you cover water, or do you basically know where the fish are at every time? Mostly weeds?

https://lakewatch.ifas.ufl.edu/extension/information-circulars/ "Circulars" from "Florida LAKEWATCH" Great detailed topics here.

I'm somewhat new to fishing with a boat. (I started last year.) Do we have a resource for the fundamentals of using a bass boat? A know it's a big subject, but this would be a helpful video series. Also, Does anyone have any "books" they recommend I read, on the subject? I wanted to post this, as I think this would be helpful to others too. I know this is a "big" question, and could be broken into smaller, more specific questions. The high-level view is helpful, for beginners, so they have a starting place to dig deeper.

Thanks @Swamp Girl. Great answer!

I'm finding some more great resources on this subject ("Natural Lake Resources"). I'm reading and watching them during the winter. I will keep adding them, as I read them. A lot of them are on ecology/limnology, which will be helpful for anyone wanting to understand what's going on under the water at your lake. It will probably be helpful if you wanted to compare why 2 different lakes are different, how they evolve over time and also for multi-species fishing. I thought there might be more interest in this subject ("Natural Lake Resources.") It helps to understand the "why." If anyone else has any good resources, please paste them below. Books: Beneath the Surface: A Natural History of a Fisherman's Lake - Bruce M. Carlson A North Country Lake Throughout the Seasons - Bruce M. Carlson Understanding Midwest Aquatic Invasives - Bruce M. Carlson The Secret Life of a Lake - The Ecology of Northern Lakes and Their Stewardship - Peter Tobiessen Videos: Limnology - Lake benthos and benthic habitats

I'm fortunate to be living in the land of 10,000 lakes. I'm currently renting in the Brainerd area. I work remote, so I can live anywhere. I'm super blessed. Any considerations regarding how to pick a spot to start looking for houses? I want to be next to different lakes, so I can enjoy fishing them. There are so many lakes, but then driving distance becomes a consideration. I feel like I'm too close to the situation, and I have never purchased a home before. How do I pick a spot? Thanks! P.S. Reposting from here (I put it in the wrong section):

Where do you cast for them? Weeds? How about when the weeds are thick? I have fished a lot of aged lakes with a lot of weeds. I wonder if I should make a hole in the weeds a drop a jig in there (I saw that in a book). I am still learning. I did bobber fishing as a child. Now I'm doing more casting lures. I just don't know how to target sunfish with lures, as they are slower to strike, and have such small mouths. I guess throwing a 1/16 oz jig by weed lines would do the trick. Last year, I was trying to target sunfish with small spoons. This kind of worked, but I found that worked better for crappies, which makes sense as a spoon is more like a minnow, and sunfish eat bugs, which more closely resembles a jig. @Eric 26. I meant to tag you.

@Team9nine, at one point, I created an account here, but I think they needed to verify it, and it was never verified. Then I found out that they have a facebook page, with the same name, so it appears everyone went there. I had reached out to the owner of that page, and I was never accepted, so I wonder if they just stopped managing it.

@volzfan59, honest question...I'm trying to understand panfishing better. Is there a community out there, that does more "sportsfishing", meaning they pursue them with lures (casting to them), vs just using live bait? It seems to me the fun part would be using soft plastic jigs and casting, vs putting a minnow on a jig and a bobber. I would like to get more into pan fishing (I have my rods set up), and I would like more the sportsman's perspective, vs trying to catch a lot on live bait, to take them home and fry them up. To clarify, the way I learned (along with most) to fish, is what I said above (bobber and worm/live bait). It's a great way to be introduced to fishing. I plan to teach my future children the ropes this way. I think it's a great starting point, like "training wheels". I know that people will disagree with me, but that's my perspective, having a sportsman's view of it.

I am learning about fishing natural lakes, meaning how the lakes develops, how the fish behave in them, how to approach breaking them down, etc. A lot of other info is on reservoirs, so hopefully this is helpful to lake fishermen. Here are the top resources I found (i.e. something substantial in them, not just basic info.) Books: Fishing Natural Lakes (The Hunting and Fishing Library) - Dick Sternberg Largemouth Bass Fundamentals (Critical Concepts 1) - In Fisherman Largemouth Bass Fundamentals (Critical Concepts 2) - In Fisherman Bass Strategies - Kevin VanDam Finding Fish - A Practical Guide to Locating Gamefish in Any Warm water Lake - Cliff Hauptman Bass Fishing Minnesota: Where and How to Catch Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass in Minnesota - Steve Pease Videos: Webinar: Bass Fishing in Natural Lakes vs Reservoirs Where to Fish Offshore on Natural Lakes | Fish the Moment Live Stream #32 How to break down a NATURAL LAKE! // Project E // Catching large mouth + small mouth bass up North I spent a long time trying to curate/find these resources. I wanted to share this with the community. If anyone else has and recommendations, please share below.

On the pics above, they are under ice, which is why they look weird.

First pic upload. I used the site Glenn recommended on another post: https://picresize.com/ I lowered the resolution.