Scott F

Just google personal pontoon. There are a bunch of you tube videos. Keep digging and you'll find out a lot of web sites.

I replaced the seat on my pontoon with a seat that I can use from my Ranger. I've spent 12 hours on a float. The fact that you can put your feet up on the foot rests, let them hang down or just stand up (in shallow water) easily means you aren't stuck in one position. The comfort is one of the things I like best.

I've been using inflatable pontoons for years. For me, they were the perfect solution. They transport and store easily, they are very stable, very easy to get in and out of. I used mine primarily for river fishing. Put in upstream and float down to the take out point. Used the river current to move along and just used the oars for positioning. When you get to a shallow spot, you just put your feet down or stand up to hold you in place. For lakes and ponds, the oars are often enough to get you around. No boat is perfect. The negatives are that you really can't row them upstream. If the wind is blowing, you can get pushed around. Even floating downstream, if the wind is against you, you have to keep rowing or you don't move. They are slower than a kayak, but are easier to store and transport. For use with a trolling motor, the usual positions for the motor mount are directly behind the seat. It is very awkward to have to twist yourself around to control the motor. For river floating, you do need a second person with a car for shuttling. Because they fold up so small, you never need a big vehicle for transportation. I get two of them with all our gear in some pretty small cars. There are a lot of modifications you can do to them to suit your needs. There are a few web sites showing clubs that run tournaments out of them along with all the mods. At $250, that model isn't as sturdy as some others but it is a good price. The pontoons are pretty durable, they aren't pool toys. Pretty safe. Unless you do something really stupid, you aren't going to puncture one. If you have any questions, shoot me a PM

These are the two I use

I use 2 different spinner bait boxes. They do what I need them to do. One stores them without getting them damaged and tangled, and the other allows me to take them in the boat, letting me carry them in my regular tackle bag.

Any time I see a fish swirl, have a fish miss a bait or follow a bait, I follow up with a senko.

If, after you cast, there is some loose line at the spool and you start reeling, that loose line will leave a loop that sticks off the spool. On your next cast, the line coming off the spool will catch that extra loop and pull it off which causes the tangle you are talking about. Usually these are called wind knots. If you get in the habit of tugging on your line after you close the bail to get rid of the slack before you start reeling, you won't get the wind knot.

In the smallmouth waters I fish up north, I see beds in 6 inches of water, 15 feet of water and everything in between. It all depends on the suitable habitat. They'll be on shallow flats in the middle of the open water, or tight to the bank. In the lake I fish most frequently, there is a lot of water in the 4-6 foot depths where I see most of the beds.

A lot depends on where you are fishing. I fish clear water lakes and rivers for smallmouth. Longer casts are important to me. 10lb braid will cast lures farther especially true if you are using light lures like ned rigs. My casting distance suffers greatly as I increase line size. It's easier to break off when you happen to get snagged. It's also strong enough to land most any bass that isn't in heavy cover.

You have every right to feel this way. Just like I have every right to hate jerks who drive jet skis.

When it was standard for reels to come with spare spools, I always carried them. If I got a big wind knot, It was faster to change spools than to deal with the knots. Since I always use braid, I generally have the same line on every spool.

When I'm smallie fishing (most of the time), I like the 4 inch. I get more hits. When chasing largemouth, I do better with the 5.

I do a two week trip to Northern Wisconsin every year. I'm so worn out after two weeks, I know I could never do 30 in a row! Nice days, almost never too hot, lots of bass, so many lakes to fish, and most days you never see another bass fisherman. Wait a minute, don't pay any attention to what I just wrote. PLEASE go somewhere else, anywhere else. I like catching loads of bass in solitude and comfort. I don't need any company.

Why is that hard to believe? I don't remember anybody saying bass were line shy until the companies who sell FC lines told us they were!

I was exactly your age when I got hired as a service technician to repair restaurant equipment. I was always mechanically inclined, but I had no idea these jobs even existed. As you already realize, the physical stress took a toll on my body and I had to retire due to a back injury. At the time I was hired, I had no idea what I was going to do with my life. Like so often happens, the job found me. Just because you might hear of a job you might be interested in, doesn't mean you can get someone to hire you. Keep your mind open and find someone who wants to hire you first. Give whatever job you can get a chance. You may find a career that you may have never considered. If it doesn't work out, keep looking.

I was just talking to someone about this show. It is probably my LEAST favorite fishing show. For a show called "Fishing University" I'd think they should be teaching viewers. But they force the guys to fish only with a couple of the sponsors featured lures, not with the sponsors lures that might be best for the conditions. They have a little competition, all the while telling everyone about how fantastic the sponsors boats are and how fantastic the sponsors lures are. Then, the fishermen stand up in front of some school age kids and tell them to stay in school. Most fishing shows these days are not much more than an infomercial. This is nothing but an infomercial. Overall a pretty, in my opinion, worthless fishing show.

The built in transducer on the Terrova IS compatible with Lowrance, Humminbird and Garmin. You just have to buy the correct adapter cable to connect it to your depth finder. installation gets a bit trickier if you are going from 12 volts to 24. You need to replace both batteries so that they are the same age, and you'll need at least a dual charger. In the end, the additional expense for 24 volts and getting the Terrova isn't cheap, but it is well worth the money. You will quickly forget how much you spent when you see how much better it is.

I don't bank fish very often but when I do, I would never even consider a back pack. If bank fishing, I never carry enough gear to even fill one 3700 size utility box. I use a small sling pack to carry a couple bags of plastics, a spinner bait or two, and a small utility for 3 or 4 topwaters or cranks and another even smaller box for a few hooks.

I caught an awful lot of smalies on the jig and twister in my day. You can swim them along or just hop it along the bottom. Largemouth bass will eat them up too.

A few years ago, my wife picked up one of my fishing books that listed the weight records of every state. She saw the Minnesota record for smallmouth was 8lbs. Remembering a smallie she caught on Lake Vermilion MN, she was convinced that her fish was as big as the state record. I showed her the picture of the fish she caught, (it wasn't weighed, but was a fat 18 inches, maybe 4lbs.) but I could not convince her that her fish was not 8lbs. If we hadn't gone to an outdoor show where she saw a mount of an 8lb smallmouth, she would still be arguing with me about the size of her bass.

I have, Premiers and Avids and a Rage (SCIII made in Mexico). How much better one is than the other depends on who is holding the rod. I guess the least expensive rod I own is the Premier but I don't notice a significant difference between that and my more expensive rods. I'm sure my experience is not the norm but unless you are pretty sensitive you may not feel the added expense is worth it.

The C rods are not actually refurbished. What they are are rods that had the tips broken off. The tips have been replaced but a rod that originally 7' might be 6'6" or even less. They have a bin of casting rods and a bin of spinning rods. There is a big ruler next to the bin so you can see how much of the rod is missing. There is no warranty on these rods. They scratch off a section where the logo was so they know it was a C rod. You can get a $300 rod for $50, but there isn't much of a selection. I believe the locals frequent the store to scoop up the better values. I've never seen any of the high end rods in the bin that had less than 6 inches missing. The B stock rods do not have the full warranty, I think it is only 1 year. They are also marked as seconds. Most of the time, theyare marked down by around 30%. The blemishes on these rods are difficult to see and few people would be able to spot any problems. Be wary of anybody selling St. Croix rods online. I've seen the B stock rods selling as new by people. They also will have specials on different models that might be 50% off but you never know what you will find until you get there. Many times I've been there, there are no specials. When they were clearing out the discontinued Rage rods, the $150 rods were selling 3 for $200.

Well, the open season for bass ended on March 4. It will reopen on May 6. Fishing for bass in WI is not legal now.

Don't forget, the moon also effects ware wolves. Scientific studies have been done and none have ever showed any evidence that the moon has any effect on largemouth bass. Ocean fish are different. They have the tides, which are moon driven to deal with. Many of the other wives tales like the moon effects crime have also shown to be false. Most of the moon effects are more driven by folklore and superstition than actual fact. The amount of light reflected off the moon, whether full, new, or in between, can have an effect on night feeding of fish, which can have an effect on how they feed later during the daytime. Show me ANY scientific study that proves that moon phase effects bass especially during the spawn and I'll be happy to read it.

If you are trying to buy sunglasses in a store, you can check for polarization by using two pair. Hold the glasses so you can see through both at the same time. As you rotate one pair, you will see through them easily. Then, when they get to 90 degrees, if both pair are polarized, no light should come through.