Avalonjohn44

Man, great advice guys. Thanks. Sounds easy reading it, hope its as easy on the lake.

So I got my Tracker in June and I've only used the trolling motor so far to get used to that and to learn the feel of my boat (except starting it once to pull off of a stump). I've only gone to electric lakes so far... I'm hitting a big lake in a couple of weeks (midweek to avoid the weekend crush) and I've been reading up on breaking in my motor and then running it. My manual is telling me to trim all the way down when starting it up and then slowly trimming up as I get on plane. I realize that this will be a learning process and eventually it should be something will be second nature, but I'm kinda alarmed at getting up to speed and then adjusting the tilt on the motor... I used to run a 25hp in the bay and never had to adjust/tilt it... Any quick tips/tricks/advice that a noob ought to pay attention to? Tracker 190tx w 115hp 2 stroke btw...

And they smell great.

Daiwa Tatula is pretty darn good too.

I like trick and finesse worms on the shaky head a lot. My favorite bait on the shaky head though is the 7" Rage Tail Thumper... That tail going on the fall is like magic.

Haven't fallen out of my boat yet. I did jump off and began swimming away last weekend to try and freak out my wife and kids. ..They didn't really care...

Looks good. I tried that with a regular 3700 by plano and it was a mess.

People claim dryer sheets drive mice out. At the very least it will help get rid of the smell of mouse p***.

For the price of boat insurance, I would leave it covered for the whole year just for the peace of mind.

I only played around with Progressive and Travelers (chose Travelers) both required a years worth of payments for me, so I couldn't pay only for the months I use it. Also, don't assume your homeowner's policy will protect you, a lot do not protect 'out buildings' which your barn probably would be. It's safest to call and ask. And if they say yes it would be FULLY covered in the barn (fire/theft/etc), request a copy of that in writing.

Just wait until they make Talons or Power Poles that go 25 feet. I have always used a fluke anchor and had good luck with them, never gotten one stuck on a log (although now I will since I said it...). The plow/scoop anchors look good for sandy bottoms as well. Here's a link for a description of the plow/scoop anchor: http://www.westmarine.com/WestAdvisor/Selecting-The-Right-Anchor When I was in my kayak I used the mushroom style anchor and hated it, I did better with a brick tied to some float rope... I can't imagine it would work well for a bass boat, even a 17 footer.

I dunno how similar they are, but I tried the Bombshell Turtle a few years ago, but never got a bite on one. They've been in my 'sell on ebay' box since.

There are so many options available from various companies that the best way of knowing is to call them or go to progressive's website and build a quote

The boat itself might not be worth having insurance on, but I think the value for you would be coverage in case you accidentally hit somebody and damage their boat or hurt them... Certainly this is a remote possibility, but with how litigious society has become, I would find peace of mind in paying ~$200 to avoid medical costs and buying somebody a new boat if you have an accident.

I almost bought a skiff instead of my bass boat, and Carolina Skiff was my main choice. Great boats, and they draft shallower than most bass boats. I ultimately decided on the bass boat because I am fat and the bass boat gave me a little more room. It also had better seating for my wife and kids...

I snip one wire off because I felt two was overkill. I snipped it before testing it out with two, so never had the experience of losing fish with the two wires... The single wire does not seem to affect my hook up so far, but I haven't used it enough to say for sure.

Yep. Here is a link to some more info on them. http://kenjonesfishing.com/2014/02/pier-fish-of-catalina-island/

The anchor toss actually sounds a little fun...

x2 Looks like a black sea bass to me.

Z-Man has a shroomz hook with a little wire guard. Not exactly T-Rigged, but more weedless than the normal ned rig. I have a pack, it doesn't seem to get in the way of setting the hook and I don't get hung up nearly as much.

I've found a '44' works well too.

This must be a generational thing, my kids say the same thing... I'll tell you what I tell them. If you won't talk to a person about something you want, then you don't really want it enough. Just call them.

I can't imagine that BPS would keep two stores within a few miles of each other open. If they do close a store, there will be huge sales at the closing stores, and whatever doesn't get sold gets will be moved to existing stores as clearance inventory. In the short term it could be great for the those of us that want to beef up our collections... I've picked up a ton of gear that way from my local Gander Mt. It seems they are the repository for all of the other Gander Mountains nearby that have closed. I was buying Zoom, Power Bait and Lake Fork bags of soft plastics for as low as $.75 a bag, various hard baits for $.97 and Skeet Reese rods for $20 (love em or hate em, 20 bucks is a dang good deal for those)...

Aren't those boxes free? Go grab some from the PO and see if the reels fit. You don't want it so snug a fit that you can't add some padding. And get insurance/delivery confirmation. It helps keep those postal workers honest.

No choice really, I'm two+ hours from anything other than a couple of shallow rivers with current and big rocks. Not ready to chance that until I'm more comfortable with my eq. Lol, no kidding...