surfer

Marine epoxy. Right next to the 5 min epoxy in homedepot or lowes. Same dual syringe style applicator.

If you just want to focus on shore fishing from the house, it will be more peaceful, but less productive than a guide. So from shore, start with the senko recommendation made earlier and use quality hooks (gamigatsu or owner). Cast and walk everywhere. Pay attention to what you are feeling on the bottom (weed,rock,sand). Use that info to develope a mental map of the areas you are fishing. Also pay attention to where you catch fish. They are in that spot for a reason. Since you will be there for a week plus you could feed the fish morning and sunset to draw them closer. Takes a few days or months to work so don't go overboard. Dont wory about what the bass eat, feeding the bait fish will bring the bass. Yes it's cheating, but it's still fun. If you wanted to get real fancy you could catch some of the bait fish you are feeding and float it under a bobber. Again cheating, but...

One thing I am a stickler for and didn't see mentioned is a compression check. If you are buying a used motor I would do a compression check. A cheap gauge is about $20 at most auto parts stores. You pull the spark plug and attach the gauge to the plug hole and turn the engine over for a couple seconds. It should read somewhere around 110# or up to 150# or so depending on the engine specs. The important part is that all the cylinders read about the same. Within 10% of each other. If they don't then something is wrong and you don't want that engine. There are at least a few different reasons that a cylinder or two would have lower compression. All of the reasons are costly to fix and require some mechanic-ing.

If you add in a plywood floor yes that will add more than enough strength to replace the ribs. If you are not getting on plane with the 10 ft jon then it will be fine without the ribs.

I can also ad that the Etec uses much less gas and is much quieter than older 2 strokes. Not sure of the exact comparison to the honda though.

Each lake is different. Heck different sides of the same lake can be different. My favorite lake just warmed from 59 a month ago to 75 last weekend.

But I don't understand why she would need to do it 3 times. Maybe she has been taught that trick before and has learned not to hold on to long.

caught an 8lb that was about to pop. caught a half dozen others that were just healthy. not that fat yet. so some are spawn some are prespawn.

That sucks. If tracker dosnt resolve the isue for you then I would beef up the rib with some additional aluminum chanel. If you were to simply weld the cracks they woud most likley crack again. And there is always the "it still floats" aproach. I have seen boats on the water with bigger problems than that. Even with those rib cracks I think your boat has a lot of float left in it.

I have a rule that I never set the hook unless I feel the bass on the end of the line. That rule helped me land a new personal best yesterday. I dropped a worm at the base of some pads where the fish tend to stack up on this one pond, and then I waited. My line tightened and then slacked. So I slowly lifted my rod and the line behaved as if there was only the worm at the end of it. Having moved the worm just a couple of inches for this test I waited again. And again the line gently tightened and slacked on its own. As I see the line do this I am lifting the rod to get the little bit of slack out in hopes of the bass being there at the moment the slack is gone. But again only the weight of the worm and I have moved the worm a couple of more inches. So I wait. My nerves are tense and my focus intent by now. Line starts to tighten I lift the rod and feel a tick or twitch and set it. 8+lbs. She was so full of roe I thought she was gona give birth while I held her. Of the 5 other females I caught that day none of the others were fat. They were just healthy. So in Central Florida I guess some fish are on spawn, but not all. She must have picked it up and let it go twice and on the third time I caught her in the act. Maybe that's not what actually happened, but it is out of site under water and that line is all I have to go by. That's the best I can figure of it. Tanner

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my fishing glasses are the biggest ugliest wrap around costa del mars i could find. they block light from every angle so no mater where the sun is it is not gettign behind the lense. i always buy glas for its scratch resistance and i also upgraded to the 580 lens. as for lense color i agree with what costa del mar exspains on their site. mostly cause i dont know any better. ;D My glasses, black mat, 580 blue mirror, bought on sale. http://www.costadelmar.com/store/BVModules/ProductTemplates/Costa%20-%20Product%20Layout/Product.aspx?productid=fcd48761-4af8-4ffc-9faa-240b1c2c5d8e

not sure what you were looking at. niether of the links above have recoil guides.

http://cgi.ebay.com/SHIMANO-CRUCIAL-72-MED-LT-Drop-Shot-Spinning-Rod-NEW_W0QQitemZ280324200949QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item280324200949&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50 i posted this on another thread also, so be carefull you dont bid against each other.

http://cgi.ebay.com/SHIMANO-CRUCIAL-72-MED-LT-Drop-Shot-Spinning-Rod-NEW_W0QQitemZ280324200949QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item280324200949&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50 i posted this on another thread also, so be carefull you dont bid against each other.

another vote for upgrading the trolling motor. pontoons boats have a lot more above the water to catch the wind than a bass boat. If you can aford it i would get a 101lb. if the old battery charger is fine than just laeve it onboard for convienence. but if you do get the 101 trolling motor you will probably need more bateries and another charger. i use 2 anchors also. preventing the boat from swaying in the breeze alows you to read the botom conture, structure, and cover quicker.

turkey lake park is the best shore fishing i know of. they have about 5 diferent docks.

http://www.backcountryoutlet.com/outlet/group/200/Mens-Rain-Jackets.html i have a North Face Rain jacket. i can stay dry through hours of floridas down pours. check the link above for some good discounts. you can also check out snow board or skii jackets that are waterproof.

one more vote for the variable speed. mine is hand control and if i could do it over i woudl get the 3x steering. this eliminates the need for reverse. reverse is less powerfull than forward and collects weeds. both due to prop design.

dude.... the hull or the motor were most likely worth $500 by themselves. score.

cool. i understand it is nescisarry on ramps that already have a hole at the end, but just an FYI for the ramps that dont have holes at the end. if posible dont power load. its bad for the ramp.

why does it need sealing?

One more note. Power loading. Don't throttle heavily to get you r boat up on to the trailer. Your prop wash will wash the sand away from the end of the ramp when you do this. This is what creates the hole at the end of the ramp. In many cases this hole becomes big enough that the ramp collapses into it. If you notice next time you are on a private ramp where people don't power load you will see the concrete ends and the sand begins. You can back your trailer out on to the sand without any problems as long as your truck tires remain on concrete.

What if they had killed a bass? What if they accidentaly poisoned the tank and killed them all? disrespecful... but i still laughed. ;D

Advantages: Sensitivity due to no stretch Castability due to much thinner Disadvantages: Visibility, can be remedied with a leader Will tear out treble hooks unless you adjust you're fishing to it or get a softer rod to absorb some of the shock.