Snakehead Whisperer

There are some great fishing opportunities in your area. If I were in that part of Oklahoma and stuck on the bank, I'd probably fish more ponds, retention basins and smaller rivers over huge reservoirs like Keystone and Tenkiller. The Illinois River above Tenkiller is a favorite spot of mine that doesn't require a boat. Float trips down the river are pretty inexpensive too. Really fun smallmouth river.

Spoken like a true Oklahoman. Was looking for this video. This style of fishing has always tripped me out when I go to Oklahoma. https://youtu.be/lfz29bBirfQ

My TM is hard wired to the batteries with a 60 amp breaker. Works fine. If I need to remove the TM for some reason, I can just detach it at the battery.

My experience is the exact opposite, and we probably fish a lot of the same waters. I chalk that up to my confidence in jigs, and my reluctance to throw a tube if there's another option. With that said I usually throw hair jigs regardless of the season, but I've also had tremendous success on small finesse jigs with silicone style skirts.

I find that hitting new water helps when I'm in that position. Try to branch out to some new areas that you haven't fished before.

It's the only way to get the water out of a foam filled boat like a Whaler.

I use them at high tide over hydrilla/millfoil, and also to fish the edges of those or spatterdock. They only dive maybe 1-3". If your area is choked out with vegetation try a Zoom Horny Toad or equivalent rigged on a 5/O single frog hook, then punch rig if you have the patience. The soft plastic buzz frogs are more versatile since you can fish them like a swimbait when you hit holes and pockets in the vegetation. I've caught quite a few snakeheads swimming a frog subsurface. If the vegetation isn't mucky on the surface you can also throw a buzzbait over/through it. Snakeheads habitat selection is pretty strong, so if you find one chances are that there are several in the area. Fan cast with a fast moving search bait until you find the concentrations, then punch the mat and fish slower in that area. I'm not sure that bait selection or color matters much when snakeheads are feeding. Casting accuracy and fishing the right areas is the most important consideration, in my opinion. That and varying cadence until you find the sweet spot.

While those are all effective, I really like throwing wake baits. Something like a Mann's 1-Minus or a BPS The Egg.

The marine JB Weld will work if you scuff the area first and clean it well. It's only going to hold for a while though, and then you'll have to reapply it. Depending on how well you seal it you may get a few months or a few days. You might want to keep the remaining JB Weld in your tackle box, because you might need it on the water if the repair fails. The good thing about the marine weld is that you can apply it to a wet surface, so it's not a big deal if you spring a leak out on the water. Carry a sponge or a bail with you. 3M 5200 will also seal it if the holes are small. The 3M product stays tacky so it will flex with the hull of the boat. This stuff will also adhere to a wet surface and cure under water.

I wouldn't split the 2 halves if it were me. I'm assuming that it's made of Ram-X, and that stuff is very difficult to patch effectively. The expansion and contraction rates are hard to match, and it will end up leaking. I'd try and do the heat thing, or just live with it the way it is. I've had a few Coleman and Pelican canoes (same difference) and they are nearly impossible to patch permanently. I had a pinhole in my last one and it needed to be patched about twice per year. Just a thought, but you might want to try the heat treatment while it's still cool outside. If it's air tight, the cool air in the pontoon will expand when it heats and it might just pop the dent out on it's own. It might just pop out as the weather gets warmer too.

Make sure it's legal to do so first, but this is what I do.... Go to the launch on a day when it will be empty (I like big launches with multiple ramps and docks so I won't inconvenience any other boaters.) Put your boat in the water and tie off to a dock. Lay down some visqueen and pull trailer onto it. Pull out cordless drill and wire wheel and hit any areas that may have any rust with the wire wheel (be careful around your wiring.) Prime with Rusto spray paint. Usually by the time I work from one end of the trailer to the other I can start to finish coat the part I first started on. Use Rust-O-Leum spray paint in gloss or semi-gloss to finish coat, do 2 coats and be sure to get the insides/bottom. Clean up your mess and put it into a contractor bag. Go fishing to give the trailer time to dry completely. Done. Pro Tip: If it's a windy day, you will want to detach your trailer and park your tow vehicle far away from it before spraying any paint.

I've seen waterlogged foam drained by just drilling a few holes in the hull, tilt it so the holes are at the lowest point, and leave it sit like that for a week or so. Then just glass over those small holes. I have water in the bilge every time I pull my boat from the water. It's mostly due to my laziness about replacing old livewell hose. My guess is that you have an issue with your livewell plumbing, or something minor like that. Regardless of how the water gets in the boat, you should be draining it before you leave the lake/river. Around here it is illegal to trailer your boat with the plug in, and I'm pretty sure it is in most places. Just a heads up.

Not trying to bust your chops, but the last I checked the number of ingredients in a cigarette was a very short list. Here it is. -Tobacco The combustion of the tobacco is what releases the laundry list of chemicals, and most organic matter emits a similar number of toxins when burned. I realize that most brands of cigarettes also contain additives, but not all do.

Here. http://www.rayjus.com/bassresource/ Not my style, but if I were to buy one I'd get one of these.

My friend got a 195tx (2013 model, I believe) and chose the vinyl flooring option. It started peeling like crazy withing the first year, and he ended up upgrading to a newer boat rather than deal with the warranty repairs. Mostly because the newer ones are rated for a 150hp, and his was 115; but that's a different story. What I had heard was that the vinyl flooring had been tested on the Sun Tracker pontoons, but not on the bass line. I'm not sure if there is any merit to this, or whether they've worked these issues out for the new models. I have fished off of his old boat, and the vinyl flooring was pretty easy on my feet. It also gave good traction/grip.

What everybody else has said. Set the drag properly and don't worry about it. I have caught fish that weighed over 40lbs on my ML-XF drop shot rod. My heaviest spinning rod is a M, and most are ML or lighter.

What a beautiful place to fish too.

Those 2 lower ones could mimic a shad, a sunfish or a perch. I like the ambiguity of those.

Welcome to the site @bwfish. I remember these things because they look like a glass boat. I've never been aboard one, but I've heard nothing but good reviews. The last one I saw for sale with a 150 was a 2008 and the asking price was $12k.

I still prefer to type with swipe/swift key. It's really great if you know how to type (not sure how many people do these days.) I use swipe 100% of the time now on my phone and tablet, with fingers or stylus. You can type incredibly fast with it if you know/learn the Dvorak key layout, but qwerty is also very quick.

This. The previous record was 10lbs 10oz, which may have been the source of confusion.