Christian M

12# Berkley Transition, I can't count how many times I've caught the slightest line tick or jump thanks to the color. Its also really thin and strong. Total confidence in this line for jigging.

The fish in Jersey have definitely been shut down for the past week or so. Actually the only days where I've been able to establish a pattern have been on the rainy days. I went to one of our "Lunker" lakes this past Thursday and caught a limit of 15" keepers, plus I had the lake to myself from 6am to 2pm because of the light rain and overcast. The day before that I was fishing a smaller local lake and caught a few hawgs, a giant pickeril, and a bullhead cat all on the same spinnerbait along the same road bed. I don't mind catching snot rockets, the big girls put up a heck of a fight and are really beautiful. My advice would be to slow waaay down, cast as close as you can to cover, and lighten up on your tackle, you should see some results doing this.

I ALWAYS use a trailer, but it depends on what type of jig and where im fishing. Sometimes its a twister grub, a craw, a straight tail worm, a fluke, or the end of a swimbait. I like to trim the weed guard at a 90º angle and thin it out by a few strands if its stiff, then push it back to fan it out. With spider jigs, I'll trim down the strands of the skirt if I want a faster or different action to the fall.

Welcome, I wish I found fishing at such an early age. If you're going out on a kayak it would be wise to find out what type ( SOT or SINK), then practice paddling, maneuvering, and overall safety before you try to fish out of one. Good luck!

I love fishing spinnerbaits, theres nothing like feeling that lure stop dead in its tracks and watching the rod double over as the fight ensues. I'm always playing around with trailers, skirts, blades, etc...however, over the years I've had some really nice spinners rendered useless due to blades oxidizing or tarnishing. With the day off and rain all day, I started going through my tarnished baits. I found a Terminator double willow blade pumpkinseed, took a wire brush, some soap, and actually brought it back to life. Then I found another white Booyah with gold hammered willows and it worked again. Two hours later, I had about 8 spinnerbaits that will be getting some use this week.

Im gonna give mine a second chance. I have a couple bags in simple colors, but haven't had much luck with them. I'm a trick worm go to guy also.

Thats a great idea to get rid of an invasive species. Does the state sponsor the tournament or is there a buy in?

Your buddy should definitely take his prop off and clear that line out, if not he will definitely have the same experience. What happens is the line begins to melt, the friction becomes worse and worse, and the line gets pushed further and further back until the seal on the lower unit breaks and water gets in. Thats when the electrical problems start to happen. I was lucky and caught it before the metal components in the lower unit rusted, but it still cost me $265 to fix. After I got it back the motor was like new, way more torque and I can fish for a full day on a single charge. Now I take my prop off after every trip. As for the boat, I have a 97 PT17 w/a 9.9 Merc Tracker and I love it. There;s TONS of storage, the only thing is I wish the rod locker was longer, but I can live with it. I can get it into 6" of water with no problem, its really stable and even with a 9.9 it goes about 20mph depending on how much gear and how many people are in it. I've always loved Trackers because they hold their value and are SOLID welded boats. I have a leaning seat or a butt seat and it makes fishing while steering the boat so much easier. I've been on all kinds of bass boats, and for the money I don't think it gets much better.

I have a pond about 5 minutes from my house but its in a retirement community. Thankfully my uncle has 2 houses in the community and I've been able to make friends with one of the guys who lives near the spillway which is the best spot for fishing. Since the pond is private and 99% of the residents don't fish, the bass are big and dumb. I love going after work and catching 10 bass in an hour. I've caught them up to 5# but the average is 2#-4#.

Where were you guys fishing? From the Walleye I'm guessing Swartswood. I've caught rainbow trout on rattle traps before. I was fishing Carisaljo a few days ago and I caught a bullhead catfish on a spinnerbait.

I dont think thats the case here, the power cord you have works on a TON of Humminbird units. They're two completely different companies with products in competition with eachother, so naturally their power sources are going to be different.

I think the main reason you are gut hooking fish and having a hard time detecting strikes is that you're using 10# mono. Mono floats, and has a lot of stretch, so you're always going to have slack in the line whether casting or drop shotting right on top of a spot. Try going down to 6#-8# FLOURO. This way it'll be much easier to keep your line tight, you'll have much better bottom contact, and you'll have much more line sensitivity making it easier to feel the "tap tap tap" and set the hook at the right time without line stretch. Also, if you're using a 4" senko you can probably use a smaller hook, instead of a 1/0 try a size 1 hook. Finesse is the name of the game, if you have the right rod and a smooth drag on your reel, this should improve your game big time. I've caught bass over 5lbs in over 20' of water using light flouro and smaller hooks.

I don't think jpb was trying to offend you, I think he was just bustin your chops. I get bass thumb pretty bad too, it does get annoying but its just par for the course man...now post up some pics of those bass ya pansy!

I've had a few scary ones. My family lives in a 120 year old house on 4 acres. The property had a school house on it for many decades before the house was built. The Schoolhouse was relocated to a tourist village in south jersey. After moving in we were having a BBQ with about 50 guests. Four guests that did not know eachother and had arrived at different times asked who the little girl standing in the bay window was. There were no children at the house at any time. Several people have also claimed to have seen a pale man standing in the attic window. I've been in the house when door slam shut with no windows open, it just happened this past Sunday. I live in a separate apartment on the property so it never bothered me. That is until one night while watching TV in my room. A cross I had hanging above my bed came apart and hung there upside down. When I took it down to look at it, the nail holding the cross sections had somehow come out as if someone pulled it apart. I had a hard time sleeping for a while after that.

Interesting post...I'm naturally OCD, so when I started fishing I was really crazy about re-tying knots and leaders, re-spooling my line every few outings, using a new plastic worm every time I rigged up etc...As I gained more experience, and became more confident, I relaxed a bit. I guess I would say I'm with you as far as being in the middle regarding my gear. I still check my line before I go out and rinse my reels under the tap after I use them. However, instead of retying all my knots every time I go out and re-spooling so often, I do it when its necessary. Also if plastic worm or craw I used last time is still good, I use it until its bad. I'll also sharpen the hook on a jig instead of replacing it with a new one. There's one thing I still do that I've always done as a rule of thumb...if I catch a big fish, I ALWAYS re-tie before casting again. As far as my boat goes, I'm still pretty OCD. I try to keep my deck as clean as possible while fishing because I don't want to step on a $200 rod or lose a pig because I can't get to my net in time. I ALWAYS cover my boat and plug in my batts when I get home. I also vacuum my boat out about once a week and wash the hull as soon as I notice a waterline. Another thing that I've started to do is remove my props after each trip to make sure there's no line caught in them.

I enjoy fishing off land and from my Tracker, it all depends on where I'm fishing. When I started fishing off land years ago I would bring 4 rods and tons of gear. Over the years I've learned to narrow my rod selection down to a 7'1" casting setup with 10lb braid and a 6'10" spinning setup with 8lb flouro. I like longer rods for bank fishing because of the longer casting distance. I've learned to lighten up on the tackle. Instead of carrying all my tackle, I've narrowed it down to a sling pack with a medium plano box with my confidence baits, about 10 bags of soft plastics, and a bit of terminal tackle (hooks, swivels, weights, etc...). It makes fishing from the bank much easier and I find myself spending more time actually fishing. When I'm on my boat I bring 4-6 rods and much more tackle.

Take a look at tinboats.net ...they have EVERYTHING you'll need to know in regards to building a bass boat

X2... Outdoor companies have come a really long way when it comes to UV protective clothing. I have a couple long sleeve shirts that get cooler the more I sweat, they also block UVA/UVB rays. I also wear a light hat and a face buff. Its just not worth taking the risk.

Two batteries are plenty. Make sure that the Trolling Motor battery is a deep cycle marine with as many Reserve Amps (RA) as possible, Minn Kota recommends at least a size 27 battery for a 55lb trolling motor.

X2

The biggest and most ironic difference you'll notice is that when you're fishing a lake from the bank, you try to cast as far from the bank as possible, but when you're fishing a lake from a boat, you start casting as close to the bank as possible lol! Having a Kayak is going to open a whole new world for you. Good Luck!

I use Devcon 2 Ton 30 Minute Epoxy. You can get a pack of two 9oz bottles for about $18.00. I use a cheap disposable brush to apply it, the kind you can buy in packs of 20 or more, then I use a thin metal rod and turn it for 30 minutes then hang it using thin metal wire. The finish comes out GREAT and its really strong. You can also add glitter to the clearcoat which is something you can't do with MCU. If you're making baits for yourself and the occasional friend I would strongly recommend going with the Devcon 2 ton 30 minute. Moisture Cure Urathane is great if you're producing baits in large quantity for sale and quick turn around. It dries quickly and is very easy to use. However, it has to be stored in large amounts, and after each time you open the container you need to seal it with a gas that removes the oxygen. If you don't remove all of the oxygen from the container, the MCU ends up hardening and is useless.

I have the original Powerdrive, its definitely a good motor. The electronic foot pedal is a trade off, the pros are you dont have to keep your foot on the pedal all the time like you would a cable steer motor, and you can control the motor from anywhere on the boat. The cons are the electronic steering is rather niosy and its a bit difficult to make those slight corrections that you can easily make with a cable steer motor. The main issue I have with the powerdrive model is that you have to mount it with about 6" hanging over the bow of the boat. Other than that its a good motor for the price, when my powerdrive dies I'll most likely be buying a V2.

I store the pedestals in the middle compartment of my Tracker and leave the seats in place on the decks.

Since I bought my Tracker PT17 in March I've only been able to take it out about 5 times due to trolling motor issues. The control board on my MK 55lb Powerdrive blew and I had to order a new one discounted at $70. I installed it with help from a tech over the phone, took the boat out and on the 5th trip the board blew again. This time I called MK and was able to get a new board for free because the tech who walked me through the installation never mentioned that I dont get the 90 day warranty if I install the board myself. Yesterday I finally got the 2nd board and dropped it off at a certified service center. It turns out that braided line was caught behind the prop causing friction and letting water into the lower unit. Thankfully I caught it in time and nothing had rusted. After letting everything dry out and resealing the lower unit I can go pick my motor up today and be on the water ASAP. I also get the 90 day warranty that comes with the board. I'll be taking off the prop and checking for any line after each trip from now on.