james 14

Photos look great! That's a pattern that certainly works this time of year...I just didn't see anywhere they were bedding and went a different route. I ran into a batch of little ones on topwater first thing but couldn't get a bigger bite. Even went back later on to flip the grass and got nothing. I'm hoping those guys were planning on sticking with the club because what I was told is they only fished Kissimmee cause they won out there the week before on a different trail. If that was their motive it wasn't very smart since they probably didn't make enough to pay for their gas just to fish one tournament. BTW - it's James

You must've been in the same spot I fished on my two previous trips out there. The only thing you had that I didn't on those occasions was a South wind blowing into the spot and activating the baitfish/bass. Anyways heck of a job. Any idea what the guys were doing that won? I heard they were in Cypress.

Check the weather and follow the wind. You best bet with the shad spawn will be where the wind is blowing. If there's too much of a ripple for topwater then pull out the shallow cranks, spinnerbaits, swimjigs, flukes, etc., however, it takes a lot of "ripple" to mess up a walking bait like a spook or a chug bug. If there's not much wind check what the wind patterns have been the last few days and get close to those areas...even better if it's near a spawning flat.

The things at the end of his rod are to cushion it when it digs into your gut while fighting a fish or setting the hook.

I wonder if this is why most of those downriver, "delta" bass never grow very large??? I grew up fishing the Escambia River and a 5lb bass out of the lower end is a giant.

You'll be fine. Like you I was worried when I bought my glass boat a few months ago. Of course I have a 5.3 v8 but my boat is also 21ft. It's not a problem at all and I don't even use the trailer brakes. The guy I bought it from towed it with a v6 SUV without the brakes. If I had a smaller truck I'd probably want the trailer brakes. You also have 4wd so that takes away most of your concerns about getting it up the ramp. I have an auto-locking differential on mine and it's come in handy on a couple occasions.

I've seen a few more of these and was told by a reputable source that this was an acceptable route to take and is MUCH easier than mounting between the motor and plate. My JP is 10" so I shouldn't have any issues with clearance unlike some of the others who needed spacers. I wonder if I can get a big L-shaped piece of alum to use instead of the $150 bracket???

Be careful not to go too thick on the alum or it'll be just as heavy or heavier than ply. I decked my old jon in 3/8 ply and braced it well. It was fairly light and could hold anybody with any business in a jon boat. If I went with alum I'd do the same with 1/8 alum. As far as bracing is concerned I would look in the screen room section at Home Depot. The alum 2x4s are MUCH lighter than PT 2x4s and plenty strong.

Ok I've seen in a couple of places now where guys are drilling holes in the side of their jackplate for their Power Pole bracket rather than going between the motor/jackplate/transom. So long as your jackplate is out of warranty I don't see any problem...am I missing anything?

Did you clean the carb before or after you started having problems? When you say "blow itself up" and "revving on it's own" are you saying that it all of a sudden ran up to a high RPM? Did it stay at the high RPM? I had a carb issue with an early 80's Yammie (which I think is similar to the Mariner) where the float was sticking due to debris in the bowl. It would rev up like this to where you thought the thing was about to blow until you hit the kill switch...even then it took a few seconds to get it to shut down. I also had issues with setting the float height. In my experience it takes VERY little movement to make a big difference. About 1/8" was the difference between the engine not even starting and running perfectly. What you're describing with the wet plugs and inability to run under load sounds like the engine is getting flooded. It's either dumping too much fuel in or it's air supply is getting choked out somehow. Did you adjust the air/fuel mixture? There's a little screw on the side of the carb (not to be confused with the little screw adjusting throttle position at idle). This screw adjust the air flow into the carb to make the motor run rich or lean. Did you check the spark plug gap? Are you sure you cleaned the entire carb? Try spraying some carb cleaner through the intake while the engine is idling. Don't do too much at one spray or it'll stall and flood. Hit the throttle simultaneously with each spray. If it seems to help you'll need to pull it apart again and make sure everything is clean. There are a lot of little holes that the air travels through. You may also want to check your butterfly valve to make sure it's opening as you push the throttle. This is another setting that could be out of whack where the valve is staying shut too long. Ideally, it'll be perfectly level at WOT. Maybe even play with the idle RPMs. If it's idling too low it could be flooding when you give it gas if you push the throttle too quickly. I'm trying to give you all of the easier possibilities since 95% of the time it's something like this. I would start with the air/fuel mixture screw. If that doesn't work adjust the bowl height in smaller increments. Start out with it too lean and gradually increase from there. Once it gets enough gas if it still wants to choke out the play with the air/fuel mixture a little more. If it doesn't work set that screw at a medium level and check the butterfly valve and idle RPMs. If that doesn't work spray the carb cleaner into the intake while hitting the throttle. If that doesn't work check the spark gap (should probably do that anyways). If none of that works I got nothing for you.

We may see this play out on a local lake down here next year. One of the guys who consistently pulls in 25-30lb bags has joined a BASS affiliated club to be eligible to fish the Opens. I'm not sure the pros can match him especially if he gets on them like he often does.

I like the idea of having a U.S Open for bass fishing with qualifiers much like you have in golf. The biggest problem I see is that there is no overall governing body in bass fishing such as the USGA in golf. Yes we have BASS and FLW but unlike the PGA they don't answer to anyone except sponsors and viewers/readers. For something like this to happen BASS and FLW would have to work together.

My cover is an original Pro Craft cover that came with the boat in 2000. I had also thought about the fan idea because I HAVE to do something to prevent the water from getting in even if that means completely sealing it off. My floor in the cockpit is soaked after any good rain with the cover on.

I want to find something to spray on my boat cover to make it more water resistant. I have some experience with a spray I found in the camping section at Walmart but after replacing the rusted hooks on several crankbaits and washing mold out of my fishing gloves I want to make sure I get something that will work.

I wonder what the liability is if a marshall is killed in a boating incident caused by poor weather?

My fear isn't so much for my own safety as it is for my boat's safety. I can't help but feel like something is going to break when I'm pounding waves and catching air. Maybe my fears are unfounded...I see those guys on tv skipping waves and flying through the air but never hear about them cracking stringers or transoms or anything like that.

Now you gotta change your name!

We were talking about FL. I still plan to get SI as well. For those concerned about the torque on the transom someone needs to post that test video JL Marine put out. It was posted in another thread a couple weeks ago. They yanked on those things and even drove the boat with them fully deployed...over rocks...and moving side to side.

You can go lighter with thinner ply so long as your boat has ribs in the bottom. Then you add some 2x2s on the outside edges to make it solid. Coat with water seal, carpet and screw it down into the ribs. I've also seen where guys found old road signs from a scrap yard and used those across the ribs with expanding foam underneath. You just have to find a way to keep a channel open for water to flow under the foam. This is probably the lightest option if you can find the signs.

A fellow fisherman I know and trust gave me this exact advice when I mentioned the fact that I needed a bow unit and wondered what he thought about SI. "If you don't have a power pole you're losing money and you're wasting money if you buy a SI unit down here before a power pole." I'll have one or two on my boat before this year is over.

You can get by with thinner plywood if you brace it well. The only problem is the bracing adds weight. I did one in my 12' jon and it didn't add enough weight to make a difference. My top speed went from 26 to 25. I used 15/32 ply laid over the ribs in the bottom with some small 2x2s on the outside edges between the ribs to firm it up. In the end I think it was lighter than going with 3/4". You can also save weight by not using PT wood which could go either way on the scale of necessity. A few coats of water seal on regular ply is the way to go I believe. You have to be careful with PT and aluminum. The copper used in the solution reacts with the aluminum in the boat when wet and will eat away at the boat. I don't know HOW big of a problem this is as I only know the theory and have not seen the effects in person...still it's something to consider.

I spent some time trying to figure this out a few years ago when researching the cost difference between a small HP outboard and a high lb TM for a small jon boat and found no real answer. Best guess I have after all I read is an outboard is measured in HP at the propshaft and a TM is measured in lbs of thrust with the supplied prop. They're two different figures so there's no real way to compare them. Even if you COULD come up with, say, 3hp of TM (measured at the propshaft) you couldn't compare it to a 3hp outboard because the props are designed for two different purposes - the TM for quick accel and power and the outboard with a MUCH greater pitch for speed. Then there's still no telling which one might push your boat faster.

I found some Plano 3700 boxes that are the deep version and they're perfect for keeping my bags of soft plastics since I don't like the ziploc bag idea. They make a version with the dividers (lengthwise only) which are good for separating different types in one box and they make a version that has no divider and is just a big deep box. If you use the one with the dividers the top portion of the bags will fold over the divider under the lid but the lid still shuts easily. I'll probably end up moving my crankbaits into them since they hold the deep divers better and will likely also turn one into a tool kit.

I had this problem for a couple of weeks several years ago when flipping with braid and EWG hooks. What I didn't realize was that over time the hook had straightened out a bit and need to be turned back in with a pair of pliers. It wasn't much of a difference that you could see but it was a HUGE difference in hooking fish. I was literally ripping fish out of the water and over my head with them still getting off. I was getting VERY frustrated until I took a closer look at my hook. After I fixed the hook my problem was over. Any other time I've had this problem I simply needed to let the fish eat the bait a little longer. There are a few other fluke occasions where this can happen to you but not like the pattern throughout the day you noticed. Check your hook and maybe let the fish eat it a little longer.

If there is some clear coat left you can sand it and wax it. Depending on the depth of the cracks they may still be visible but you can get the entire surface smooth and shiny otherwise. Here's how I did mine. Wash 500grit wet sand 1000 grit wet sand 3m marine paste wax - high speed electric buffer Keep your surface wet and add a little dish soap to the bucket. Change out the paper often. I haven't had mine done long enough to tell how long it will last but I have a hard time believing it won't stay looking just like it does now so long as I keep it covered and waxed.