Snakehead Whisperer

I'm part of a support group down here for that. We meet 6am at the boat ramp, if you're interested.

Let me know what you think of it.

I like 'Solarez 71502' for this. It is labeled as a gloss finish, but cures to more of a satin finish. It's a UV cure polyester resin, so it will cure completely in only a few minutes with the aid of a UVA lamp. It takes 10-15 minutes to cure completely in direct sunlight if you don't use a lamp. I recommend against curing with the aid of MEK, as this reduces working time. I've used this to seal crankbaits and it's tough as nails, and ready to fish in just a few minutes. I also use it to seal balsa baits prior to painting. Great stuff. On a side note, 30 minute epoxy is really hard to work with for crankbaits. You'd probably fare better with the regular 2-ton epoxy. They both take about the same amount of time to fully cure, but the 2-ton is workable for more than twice as long.

You'll actually generate more torque with the same effort using a higher gear ratio reel. I'm not sure what you mean about "harder to play a fish." It's true that you will make less turns of the reel to get a fish in with a higher gear ratio. Depending on the size of the gears used and the number of teeth, different reels with the same ratio may have large variations in the amount of line they retrieve per reel turn (IPT, or inches per turn.) Look up IPT for the reel you're considering, if you really want to get a sense of how fast it is. Get a reel with a good drag system in the gear ratio that works for you, set the drag properly, and you will be able to play a fish just fine. Usually I choose reel gear ratios based on what technique I will use the reel for. A simplified example would be to use a reel with a lower gear ratio for throwing deep cranks to reduce fatigue and work the bait slower, and a reel with a high ratio for throwing into deep cover to pull fish out quickly before they go deeper into the cover.

You're welcome. Post some pics when you tie some. I'd love to see them.

Buffalo Trace is a decent bourbon, but if you really want to get a taste for the mash you should try 'Eagle Rare'. Same sour mash, but aged 10 years in better casks than Buffalo Trace. It's about $30-35/per bottle, but a much better value in my opinion. Not as sweet, and a long smokey oak finish; almost peaty. If you can get your hands on the 17 year, it's worth every penny. Daily driver as of late has been Jim Beam Bonded, as I keep my daily drink to less than $25/fifth.

Welcome to the site @On Lake Time To me this one is obvious. Name her Dottie.

I use 210 Denier for pretty much everything bass related (feathered trebles, hair jigs, etc.) I would not go any smaller than that if it were me. You could go heavier if you're tying big hooks, like 4/O or bigger. I use the 210 all the way down to size 6 hooks, and all the way up to 2/O. I don't really use any hooks outside of that range for bass though.

I'm about to install one after I repair a few small nicks in the gel coat. What keel guard did you use the first time, and why did you replace it? I ask because I still haven't decided which to go with.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that water reaches it's maximum density at approximately 39ºF. Below that temperature water becomes less dense until it freezes, much like it does when warming. It's rare that there's a good jerkbait bite in water below 39º, but it happens.

I wish I could like your post more than once, as a single like hardly constitutes "mad props" in my opinion. Thanks for the link. I guess I never really thought much about whether the story was true or not. I use Uncle Josh trailers, but I'll make do without them if need be. Thankfully the recipe is right here in this thread too, if I ever decide to try my hand at making some. On a side note, I wrote an email to Uncle Josh the other day after posting. Hopefully I'll get a response. If so, I'll let you all know what it says.

I'm pretty skeptical about this "news." I've searched high and low, and the only article I can find about this is here. Every alarmist forum post I've read here and elsewhere, points to the same article with no other evidence of Uncle Josh going out of business. I've now heard stories of people stocking up on these baits and also paying upward of $30/jar for them. Pfft. Meanwhile, unclejosh.com continues to sell the entire line of their baits at normal retail price and has nothing posted about going out of business or discontinuing pork trailers. I just bought some yesterday, and they were the same price they always are (not cheap.) I challenge anybody to find another article, other than the one that I linked to in the first paragraph, that supports this rumor that Uncle Josh is going out of the pork rind business. I will give you 'mad props' if you can. Sorry if this is off topic. It's not meant to hijack the thread. Thanks for the good recipe WRB. I'd like to try this some day.

While aluminum is susceptible to galvanic corrosion when in contact with copper, I have used treated lumber many times on bunks for aluminum boats with no ill effects. Another option might be PVC 2x4's, although I have no experience with these for bunks.

Keep the boat. Upgrade the trolling motor and electronics, service your outboard (I highly recommend buying the Mercury official shop manual and doing it yourself,) and save the rest of the money. Keep the outboard in top shape, so that you can sell it for a good price next year when you're ready to upgrade to the 75hp. Then while fishing think about how much richer you are for exercising restraint, and relish in knowing that a bank doesn't have the title to "your" boat.

Welcome to the site Bigbasscav. Reapers, RoboWorms, Crosstail Shad, ringworms, and grubs are the most common baits that I throw. Pretty much any soft plastic will work on a drop shot. Like A-Jay mentioned craws work great too, as do lizards. I've seen people throw suspending jerkbaits and other hardbaits on them too with success.

Fished DC around the 14th St. Bridge. Caught some stripers, but no smallies like we were hoping.

I usually fish within DC city limits. Tomorrow I might head down around Bolling AFB/Blue Plains or go upriver towards Chain Bridge. Probably going to go lower with all of the rains we got these last few days. Are you talking the Rt. 301 bridge? Haven't fished down there much.

I received a nice assortment from @bkohlman, including a 1/2oz. EcoPRO Tungsten Spinnerbait, 1/2oz. ChatterBait Elite, Spro Bronzeye Frog, tube of MegaStrike, some Zoom Speed Craws and a Cabela's gift card. I have always been curious to try MegaStrike, but never picked up a tube. Will try it out tomorrow on the Potomac. Thanks again! I'd also like to thank @FishinDaddy for all of the hard work to make this exchange happen, and of course all of the BR members who participated and make it a reality every year. Merry belated Christmas to you all. Let's make this a happy and safe new year.

There's also a small blue line across the screen that indicates the beginning on new content since the last time you loaded the page.

That perch must have been hungry.

Are you 100% sure that it's breaking at the knot? A cracked insert on a rod guide or the tip top can eat up line like it's nothing. I read that you tried this on multiple rods, but if you're storing the rods where the tips can become damaged it wouldn't surprise me if more than one were cracked. A good way to check for damaged rod guides is to run a cotton swab over the guide. If cotton gets stuck to the guide, then it needs to be replaced. Tip tops are easy to replace, but the other guides are a bit more work. If it's breaking at the knot, I would sit down and tie away until you figure out what's going wrong. Make sure to follow all of the advice in this thread about wetting the knot, etc.