BrianSnat

Not that I know of on the same day, but I caught the same bass repeatedly over the course of 3 years. It was a 4-pounder and had a distinctive mouth injury, probably from someone ripping the hook out of it when it was younger. I probably caught that bass 30 - 40 times during those three years. It didn't even put up much of a fight. I guess it thought here we go again, let's get it over with as soon as possible

I wait for it to dry out before I cover it. Covering it wet might create a science experiment inside. A few weeks ago I got home let the boat dry out and was going to cover it but decided I'd wait till the next day. It wasn't supposed to rain till later that evening. Well it rained that day and every day since for 2 weeks. Still haven't put the cover on it.

You definitely need oars for a jonboat. It should alreadly come with the hardware for oars. Just make sure the oarlock pins on the oars you buy fit in the holes. They need to fit snugly. If they are too thin for the holes they will pop out frequently and make rowing a chore. If they are too thick, they won't fit in the holes. A canoe paddle is not sufficiient for controlling it. A double kayak paddle? You won't find one long enough to use in a jon boat and if you do it is still far from ideal. A kayak or canoe will coast for a bit with each stroke. The jon boat won't. If you are fishing, a jon boat is a much better platform than a kayak. You can move around, carry more gear and people too. You can trick it out with comfortable swivel seats. You can turn it into a perfect fishing platform. But as others mentioned, get an electric trolling motor. You can find a halfway decent Minn Kota new for about $150. Cheaper if you look for a used one. If you are still looking for something else and want to bring the family sometimes, consider a canoe. A 16- 18 ft tandem canoe will provide room for the family and most tandem canoes paddle well enough solo if you flip them around and paddle from the "front" seat That will move you forward when solo and provide more control. Or buy a drop in seat that you can put towards the the center when paddling solo. A canoe probably fits your stated needs far better than a kayak.

I think they will both do the job. The H10 has an advantage in that it will be a drier ride. SOTs can be pretty wet rides, especially if there is a bit of a chop. That might be a concern if you do any fishing or hunting in cooler, spring or fall weather.

How you trick it out will depend on the type of canoe it is. if you have yourself a wider,stable canoe you don't need to do much beyond adding a comfortable seat, some rod holders and perhaps a depth finder. If you have a longer, narrow tripping canoe or one appropriate for racing, you might need to add sponsons such as Goose52 did. Those longer, faster canoes are usually not very stable.

A 50 to 55 lb thrust motor will push a 12 ft jon boat around quite briskly. No need to go crazy with expensive batteries. I buy deep cycle marine batteries at BJs or Walmart. They are LT than $100 and they last me about 4-5 years. I like to have two on my boat just in case, because I don't have oars or a seat to row from should the battery die. Since your lake is relatively small, you can get away easily with one battery. Unless you are trolling with it constantly, it should last for an entire day of fishing and if it does die, rowing back is no big deal. If you will be doing a lot of trolling then a 2nd battery might be a good idea. Add a few Berkley or Cabelas rod holders and you will have a nice fishing machine.

The fish don't care what color your boat it. Red is much easier to see on the water. I would leave it. Besides as someone else mentioned it may hurt the resale value. Even paints meant for plastic tend to flake and your painted boat will probably look like crap when it comes time to sell it. If you insist on painting it, sand it lightly with a very fine sandpaper. Then use a clear plastic primer. Valspar is the best I've found. I've tried others but Valspar is by far the best. The Krylon plastic paints don't last long alone. But put them on top of the Valspar plastic primer and they are much less likley to flake and the paint job will last way longer.

I have an old, 14 Ft Grumman with a 9.9 on the back. Though I wouldn't mind a higher HP motor, several of the better fishing waters where I live (NJ) have a 10 HP limit, so I'm kind of stuck with the 9.9. It does the job. If I'm alone, on flat water I can get it up on a plane and hiit 20 MPH. With a partner I max out at about 16 MPH, stilll plenty fast for my needs. I fish out of that boat about 80 percent of the tme. The rest of the fishing is out of my canoe (I tried kayaks but much prefer canoes for fishing) and wading in streams. Once in a while I will fish from the shore at my local lake, but I often take the canoe out there too when I'm in the mood to rooftop it down there. it has no ramp to launch my boat and doesn't even allow electric motors.

Looks like you got a nice little fishing machine at a good price. A 9.9 on the back will push that along nicely. Unless you already have one, be prepared for sticker shock though. A used 9.9 in good condition may run you almost double what you paid for the boat and trailer. But it will be fun outfitting the boat to fit your needs.

I'm 250 lbs and I have never had a problem with the cane seat on my MR Explorer A used 19 ft Grumman might be a good option. Not the greatest canoe, but better than a OT Saranac in many respects. The Saranac isn't exactly light at 79 lbs. And you can probably hand the Grumman down to your children when they are adults and they can hiand it down to their chldren. They last practically forever. The Saranac will be warped and virtually unusable after a few seasons unless it is garage kept. Flimsly hull.

Landau mde some pretty solid boats. $500 for a boat, trailer and fishfinder isn't bad at all if they are in good condition, when you consider that a cheap kayak or canoe will cost you at least that. I would hope to get a trollling motor included with that , but you can get a decent transom mount Minn Kota abut 40 to 50 lbs thrust for under $200 if you shop wisely. Less if you buy used. Figure another $80 or so for a battery. That should push the boat around well enough for a day of fishing on a smaller lake. If it doesn't have rod holders, figure about another $60 for a pair of Berkely or Cabelas rod holders. Once you add all that that you are still parking a pretty good fishing machine for about $800. Eventually you may want to add an outboard. Even used, that will probably cost you well more than the boat and trailer combined but it would certainly add to your fishing possibilities. Something to consider down the road. But we all know that untimately the outfit only cost you $500. The add ons don't really count.;)

I have Diawa, Shimano and Lew's baitcasters. Though the Diawas and Shimanos are fine reels I've found the Lews reels to consistently provide the most bang for the buck. At the price point you seem to be focused on I would definitely go with Lews. You might be able to pick up a Lews Tournament MB on sale for under $100 and it is a very good reel at that price. This summer I bought a Lews Super Duty on sale at Cabelas for $99 and it was a steal. It is an excellent reel and every bit as good as my Shimanos that cost twice that.

A lot of responses mentioned durability, that the high end reels last longer. I've gotten 25+ years out of my cheapie Shimanos. Even when I upgraded them it wasn't because they broke or didn't work properly, it was because I had a nice, new rod and thought it deserved a nice, new reel. But even my nice, new reels are generally in the $50 - $70 range. The fish don't seem to care. Baitcasters? Sure, spend as much as you can afford, but the sub $100 sipinning reels will catch fish as well as a $300 reel and they do last. Well at least Shimanos do. I have no long term experience with other brands. The jury is out on my Pfleuger Presidents. I've only had them for a couple of years, but I like them. Heck, even if I only get 5 years out of them, I can replace them every five years for the next 30 years and they will still cost me less than a single high end reel. I figure by that time I will be 89 years old.

An 18 foot boat should handle fairly large waves, depending on the hull design. I've been through some pretty big waves in 25+ MPH winds in my 14 footer and piloting it carefully made for a wet ride but we never feared for our safety. But the bottom line is do you want to fish in those conditions? Once the wind starts to top about 15 MPH, fishing is no longer fun for me in a small boat. Heck, it's not even fun in my buddy's 26 footer.

The Saranac is OT's cheap placstic model made with a crappy plastic hull. Those seats go all the way to the floor for a reason. To provide support for the flimsy hull. They also prevent you from kneeling, which is something you would need to do if it gets a bit windy and the waves kick up or if you go through riffles on a stream. You can get away with paddling with yourself and two kids but once the rods come out there won't be much room for casting. It's asking for a trip to the ER for hook removal. My girlfriend and I sometimes have close calls in our 16 ft Mad River Explorer, and that is without a third person between us. I would suggest a longer canoe if you want to fish with three in a canoe. Check Craigslist or similar sites for something like a used Old Town Tripper or a Wenonah Minnesota II or III. Even an 18 ft Grumman if you can find one. Other than the Grumman they may cost slightly more used than a new Saranac, but you are getting a far better canoe and some extra room. .

Around here the park police are hip to that trick. If they think your boat is moving a faster than a 9.9 should push it they will stop you and check the serial number and fine you if you are using a 15 HP.

For reels look at the Lews line. The Tournament MB is is a great value. I find that Lew's reels at any price point are better values than most other mfrs at the same price point. I also like the Fenwick HMG and HMX lines of rods for the price. You can usually find a HMG or HMX for under $100 but they fish like more expesive rods. At the $150 or so price point I really like the Shimano Crucial rods. For a little less money the Shimano Clarus are also really nice rods. If you shop around you can park a Lews Tournament MB and a Fenwick HMG for under $200 for both.

If you need to carry camping gear, then why not a canoe? You can load it up with far more gear than a kayak, with large coolers, camp chairs, portable grills, etc. and still have plenty of room. If you like the kayak style of sitting on the floor with a double paddle, there are canoes that do that or you can rig many canoes to do it. Something like the Old Town Next or various "pack" canoes are the best of both worlds. I know kayaks are hip and canoes have that old "summer camp" image, but canoes are one of the most versatile boats that mankind has ever invented. I find that canoes are in most cases a better fishing platform. Stand, sit or kneel . Easy access to gear on the water without having to beach it and get out. Easy in and out. I've fished from kayaks and canoes and most of the time the canoe is the better choice. Kayaks are better in the wind, but for nearly everything else, canoes have the edge.

I have a 14 ft Grumman V hull made in 1983 with a 1992 9.9 Yamaha on the back. It does the job and the Yamaha starts on the first pull every time. The fish don't seem to care how old the boat and motor are.

I think that is huge for those of us who use tiller motors. I operate the motor with my left hand and the rod is ready to go in my right. Some people who responded said they cast equally well with either hand. That is a nice skill to have, but I suspect most people cast best with their dominant hand.

Rememeber that it doesn't have to be all that cold before hypothermia sets in. If you flip in 45 - 50 degree water and for some reason you can't get back in the boat, you might not have enough time to be rescued if you are far enough from shore. if you flip in 60 degree water with 45 degree air temps, you can be in trouble even if you do get back in your boat.

When I started with baitcasting after a life time of using spinning gear I decided to go with LH retreive baitcasting reels. It just seemed so natural after years of spinning. I like working the rod with my dominant (right) hand and cranking with my left. Also not having to switch hands after casting was a bonus. But it seems most anglers who use baitcasters crank with their right hands and work the rod with their left. They cast, then switch hands. So I was wondering what everyone here does. How may go the opposite, like I do and how many crank baitcasters the normal way with thier dominant hand and hold the rod in the other? It seems to be the most popular method so there must be advantages. What are they?

I bought my first baitcasting outfit five years ago after almost 50 years of solely using spinning gear. I now have seven baitcasting outfits and find myself using them most of the time. I now use the spinning rods for certain applications, but baitcasting is my go to. I can cast farther than I ever did with a spinning reel and I'm gaining accuracy. After all of those years with spinning rods I could pick out a floating leaf and hit it or come within inches. I'm still not there with a baitcaster yet, but I'm getting better. The learning curve as far as backlashes was a short one.I was quickly able to cast without too many backlashes. I still get one now and then if I stop paying attention to what I'm doing, or if I fail to adjust the brakes when changing lures or casting into wind. If it happens, I tighten the brakes a bit, then loosen them slowly until I can get a good, long cast without a backlash.

If you use a LH retreive, Cabelas has the Lew's Super Duty L on sale for $99. It is a really sweet reel for that price. I bought two. Though I'm a righty I prefer LH retreive for my baitcasters. I prefer to work the rod with my right hand and crank with my left. Probably because for the first 50 years of my fishing life I used spinning reels and it is what I'm used to.

I use Seaguar floro. The fish don't seem to complain.