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Not new to fishing, and I've had my own baot (Tracker 165 for a couple of years, but in that time I have always had someone help me get it in the water. If I wanted to get it in myself, how do I do that? SOunds silly to a pro, but I can imagine, the boat sliding off in the water and me having to risk hypothermia. Ive seen it done before, but havent paid close attention.

Newly sub,merged cover was where it was at--did well on a buzz bait. And that is some story about Bull Shoals! Nice. And thanks for the info.

Here's the deal--it is absolutely pouring here and I was planning on an early morning fishing trip--4:30 a.m.--The rain should be over within an hour or two. So the question: would you fish any differently after a huge rain? I am on sinclair in middle georgia. ONly parts of it get murky after a rain, while others stay fairly clear, so I don't know the total effect, but we have probably gotten four or five inches in a couple of hours. What would you do?

A new sonar is what I've been looking in to. I just need to bite the bullet and get one. I KNOW it would make everything better--right now, anything the Humminbird picks up looks like a fish. Yet I don't catch 'em--anyhoo, thanks.

I like the weed flats. But I usually stick with those longer than I shouyld. I get addicted to them this time of year because it is so simple to just chug a plastic frog through there and wait for the explosion--awesome!!

It does have shades of gray, but quite frankly I don't trust it. Of course, I could run a treble down there (why didn't I think of that??) but the last time i noticed it (which was when I really started thinking about it) was when I was motoring to a new spot, just before taking off. It was in about ten feet of water near a bank.

Ok, I'll be honest, when I hear or read about someone discussing grass beds, I think of grass that grows above the water line. BUt I know from watching some fishing shows, that a lot of these grass beds are beneath the surface. So, my question is this: I have a low end Humminbird sonar unit (factory model with a Tracker boat a few years old) and every now and then it will show the bottom with thin lines that rise up form the bottom. Is this underwater grass? How do I know and how can I find out? I know these areas can be productive but unless i actually see them I don't know how to find them. Little help on this one? Thanks :-?

I prefer to fish alone, but after several solo trips--nice long days on my own--I usually enjoy someone else in the boat. But there are only a few people I am fully comfortable fishing with because I KNOW they will give me their opinion on a spot or a lure instead of sayin, "You're driving, so whatever you think." I like having someone who is not afraid to say what they think. Also, I have a handheld transistor radio i got on ebay that pick up some local stations.

That's what I figured. And if I don't have luck until sun is on the water then I guess I know what the bass want. Thanks.

I like to fish in the wee small hours--starting around five-thirty--but this is usually during the summer through late fall. Here, the water temp is significantly higher (low 80's in backs fo coves) in late afternoon sun. Does that mean that a lower temp in a shaded cove at sunrise leads to less active fish? I'm tready for the early morning bite--but does shade effect them?

And how about location?

I don't much like to disturb the bedding fish. As spring approaches here in Mid-Ga and the water reaches the low-70's, what other tactics does anyone suggest that fall outside the relm of sight fishing?

Makes me think twice about all the complaining I do. What a great guy and what a story--especially these days, when certain touring pros create such a negative display of sportsmanship for forgetting to keep their fish alive. And others who get busted for cheating during tournaments. And others, with all their arms and legs in other sports, who complain because they are under the microscope for taking performance enhancing drugs.

It was a short in the trolling motor, an easy fix for the boat guy I had look at it. Should be out on the water agin tomrrow!! Finally!!

I've heard two views on this: 1) Charge your battery AFTER EACH USE, no matter how drained it is. For instance--you go out, and only use 25%, come in and charge it to full again. 2) Wait until it is fully drained, or at least close to it. The logic behinmd this is that if you do it everytime then the battery develops a memory of sorts, meaning, if you charge it every time, then over a period of time it starts to die quicker. Does this make sense? Anyhoo, I like the first option simply because I hate going out for a couple of horus to find that I've drained it almost completely.

Auto float switch? Can't say I've heard of that but sounds promising. Is it simply somethign that turns the bilge on and off? Would be great. Thanks

We live on a lake but our boat house has only one slip. Before I pay to build another one, which i don't think i can afford right now anyway, does anyone have any quick ideas for covering my 16 foot tracker. We recently got a used pontoon boat that is covered. Lats night we had huge rain--i mean big big rain (central georgia) so much so that when I woke up and checked oon the tracker, it was half-filled with water. Bilged it out and its fine. But now I was wondering if anyone knows of a decent, economical, and failry easy way to keep most of the rain out. A tarp would be worthless because the water would pool in anyway. Perhaps I could construct a cover out of plywood to go over the boat during storms? I don't know.

Ok, before I fo out to take a look, what exactly am I looking for? From what I remember, both wires are insulated and therefore even if they are touching, I wouldn't think it would matter? But I'll take a look. Thanks.

well, battery is fine--but the problem is bigger. Put in a new fuse (figured it out myself) and it blew immediately. Put in a circuit breaker, plugged everything in, put my foot on the trolling motor, and-- *click*-- tripped the circuit breaker. So there's a short somewhere, but I have no idea where or how to find it and what to do once I do. The worst part about it is I have next week off from work and my @!*trolling motor seems to be dead. And all the marina's around here are packed because of a BFL tournament this weekend. Should I just buy a whole new trolling motor?? :'( :-[ :-/ > >

Well, tried the wire brush thing on the posts and nothing. Have a freind who works at AUtozone, so I'm taking the battery in this mornign to see if it has a bad cell. Hopefully that's the fix--yes it costs money, but I'd rather spend thatl get a better battery, thatn haul the boat around to a fix-it guy here who will charge me just to look. I'll keep you posted inf you're still interested. Also, checked the connections and everything looked ok.

Great!! Thank you all for the info--I'm out of town this weeknend but shoudl be back on sunday to give all of this a try. I'll let you know. Thanks again!! Anything I can do to save some $$!

The only noise the pedal makes is the click--there is no "electric" sound or the whirring of the motor, as if it's trying to work. And its actually a newer boat, a 2002, and the trolling motor came with it. I thought about the connector build up issue and that may be it, I'll check it tomorrow. But the wierd thing is I was trolling along at about half speed. Took my foot off the pedal for whatever reason, and then when I went back to trolling nothing happened. It just didn't work. There was no stuttering or dying down, just dead all of a sudden. And I'll be honest, I have no idea if there is a circuit breaker, but there is, underneath the console, a fuse panel with a series of fuses in there. But before I call anyone to take a look, I'll clean off the connectors. Also I have a meter that I touch to the connectors that tells me how much power is in there, and it lit up full. Would it still do that if there were a bad cell in the battery?

Thanks--all good help. I just hope I know what I'm lookign at. :-[

I was just out fishing and all of a sudden, my trolling motor just stopped working. Checked the battery and it looks good, plenty of juice. Looked beneath the pedal and coudln't see any issues there, everything looks ok. Any ideas?? I have no clue about boat electricity, etc., but nothing was burning, no funny smells, connections look okay. Before I get someone to take a look at it, what can I do? Again I know nothing--is there anything in particular I should look for as far as fuses, etc.?? By the way, it's a 43Lb thurst Motor guide, factory model on a three year old Bass Tracker 165. Thanks

My confidence in coldwater, murky where I fish is in the darker colors: blue and black for jig and pig and finesse worms. Lures, I look more at the wobble than the color--the wider the wobble the better for me.