gulfcaptain

Yep sure does. We should spool up with $40 filler spools of FC every week because it's SOOOO much better for our reels. Now if you believe me on that one I've got some property to sell you.....don't worry about who owns it, I know a guy. Bottom line, I fish braid on EVERYTHING. I agree with everyone above that lack of cleaning and maintaining your equipment is a bigger cause of pre-mature failure.

Odds are the seller wanted both of you there as so it looked like it was in high demand. The other guy probably jumped to get it and since you took everyone's advice you saw things that caught your eye and were red flags. The water issue would have been a HUGE red flag. And I bet if you asked him to go take it for a test run he would have come up with an excuse why he couldn't. Take that trip as a learning experience and apply it to your "quest" to find the boat you're wanting.

I'm thinking I'd still rather have a 24v system and more power then I need which means I can run at a reduced speed setting which will still move me through the water and quietly then hoping 1 12v battery will do just as good a job with half the power and half the battery life which I must use even more power on the motor to get the same result.

Okay, you need to find someone that know's what's going on. Everyone here may sound like we are giving you a hard time, but we are just trying to keep you from well being bent over. A transom saver is a braket that keeps the motor from bouncing while trailering. Hence transom saver as it keeps undo stress from occuring to the transom of the boat. Water testing means put the boat in the lake and go run it. Check everything out. See how it handles, make sure things work, see how the engine sounds under a load with you and him in the boat. Compression checks mean you pull out a spark plug and shove the little tester in the hole and crank the motor over. It will give you an idea of how much compression each cylinder has then you can cross check to see what it's supposed to have. So say it's supposed to have 60psi and you find one that has 30psi and the other is 55psi. The 55psi is okay, but 30.....well you have an issue. If the seller won't let you test run the boat out on a lake, then well by at your own risk from that point on as I myself would thank him and walk away.

Those gems of places to fish are hard to come by. I have a few that are mine and have only shared with a couple people and they are told that they are only to fish them with me......no bringing friends back later. And if I do post a pic on here, then there are no areas to reference to see where I'm fishing. Keep your secrets secret and keep them closely guarded. Congrats on your little gem, now keep it quiet, go fishing and stop sharing.....you have fish to catch.

Put the unit in the water for a bit before using it. I carry a pond themometer with me when I fish from shore. I don't look at the temp right away, let it sit there for 10min and then it gives me a better idea especially if it's been in the trunk of the car and it's 80 outside. Just dropping it in and pulling it out isn't going to give me an accurate temp since it could have been 88 in the trunk.

Was this right after you put the boat in the water? I know my trolling motor temp will show way warmer after it's been on the deck in the sun right after I put it in the water before it reads correctly.

After years of working in the Southern Ca Sportfishing world, I still only will use Forschner Knives. I use 2 different knives, a 10" and have a small 6" which is my "Tuna" knife since you don't need a big blade to quarter a tuna. I have 2 of the 10" knives and one I've had well over probably 18 years and have cut tens of thousands of fish with it as there isn't much blade left to it. YEs, I said tens of thousands. I'm pretty good with those knives.

All 3 above replies are all correct. It comes with experience and you learn to ride your thumb just on or above the spool. You learn how the flow of the line feels coming off the reel and anything that feels different you instinctively touch and slow it down as most times it's the start of a backlash/overlay. All my reels have the braking at zero and tension knob set to where I like it which is looser then most. Now the argument is why cast this way when reels are made with all the extra bells and whistles to keep you from having to learn how to cast with an educated thumb. Simply put, when you learned a certain way you continue to fish that way. Even if I turn the brakes on and set my reels to cast without using my thumb it wouldn't matter. I would still use it and thus cut down on my distance in casting simply because it isn't reactive and second nature. It takes more thought for me NOT to use my thumb then it does to use it. Guess it's kinda like learning to drive a manual transmission opposed to an automatic. If you learn on a manual then driving an auto is easy, but harder to go from a automatic transmission to a manual one and get used to using both feet and the sound of the engine and when to shift without stalling out or jerking the vehicle.

I know a guy by the name of Uhaul. He may be close to you. Look him up and he'll set you up with that truck you need.

But I really like the Red and Grape flavors!!!!

Sapphire Blue!!! What are bass thinking when they eat this bright blue worm with silver flake in it? I don't know but I won't ask either, I'll just keep throwing it since they seem to want it in some waters I fish.

It got into some of the marshes true. But the media over hyped it. How do I know this, because I was down there. So much was made up. The marsh grass dying, the oil they were finding 3ft below the sand and blaming the oil spill. I don't think so. So many I've talked to were shocked they burn the marshes every year. Yep, light them on fire. Where do the hydro carbons go....into the bottom muck which if you disturb and dig into will produce a sheen from the organic break down. My friend, the rice fields were not affected by any oil. You're worried about the crayfish, what about the rice and sugar cane that is produced in those same areas where they harvest crawfish? The oysters they still export and sell from down there, the shrimp, the snapper, the blue crab? All have been shown to be safe and they DO come from the Gulf. If the media actually told you what was really going on down there (mainly a lot of people ready to clean up a spill sitting around doing nothing in a big tent getting a paycheck) then it wouldn't have been that great of a story. Sorry to tell you, the oil never made it to the ponds that they harvest them from. Saltwater kills most plants and rice would be one of them. The rice fields are far from the Gulf and any salwater. Besides most of the crawfish ponds are located in the central and southwest sections of the state. The spill affected a small portion of the delta and a couple bays around Fourchon just west of Venice LA as well as some areas of Mississippi to the mouth of Mobile Bay. The crawfish are safe to eat. Just like the ducks and geese that fly down to the delta every winter and then travel all over the US. They eat the marsh grasses from the delta. Got a better chance with them then the crawfish. But highly unlikely to find anything there either.

Yep, unrefined light crude that emulsified from the warm waters and water turbulance which is better then the spraying they did. BUT that isn't an issue with crayfish/crawfish as they don't live in saltwater very well. Most crawfish harvested in Louisana are from flooded rice fields which are nowhere close to where there were any issues.

Flash Mob Jr (willow leaf), 2 1/16 or 1/8oz dummy heads on Big Bite 3" Shad baits, 3 Kietech Swing Impact 3.5 or 4" on 1/8 Kietech 2/0 or 3/0 Tungsten heads. Rod, I use a BPS MH 7'6" Crankin Stick (older model) with a Carbonlite 5:4.1 reel with 30lb braid with 20lb mono leader. The Crankin stick gives me enough to cast the rig but the softeness of it keeps me from pulling the ligher wire hooks out of the fish or straightening them out.

Word of advice, DO NOT USE LIVE BLUEGILL FOR BAIT!!! THIS IS ILLEGAL AND WILL COST YOU $$$ when caught. The rangers there are on it and you will get busted and there are a few regulars that fish there and will let you know it's illegal at which point you take the hint or blow them off. I've seen several local lakes ruined by guys fishing live bluegill. You loose the forage fish and most end up gut hooking the bass.....well done, killed two fish with one stone. Most regulars have the rangers cell number in their phones and will use it to protect their lake from people that choose to fish illegally even after letting them know. But that park can be a good fishery at times, just gets a lot of pressure.

You may not have to replace the part in the boat. If the drain plug is bad get a new one. Also check and see if it has an o-ring on it. If the o-ring is missing or cracked that may be your issue right there or if he cross threaded it a new one with an o-ring should fix the problem. But without seeing the actual picture and damage it's hard to really give you an exact answer.

A used boat is only worth what someone will pay for it. Few things to look at to get an idea. #1 Boat #2 Trailer #3 Motor. #4 Extras Here's how I did the break down on mine I purchased. The boat... by itself is well lets say this, mine's about $2500 for a 16yr old 20' Champion. That's just the boat. The trailer....Is it single or tandem? Yes this makes a difference and even more so if it has trailer brakes. That figures into the price as well as the condition of the trailer. Mine was tandem in good shape with working trailer brakes....figure maybe $1800 The motor......THIS is where the money is. How many hrs? Newer 2 stroke, 4 stroke, or older 2 Stroke. Mine less then 500 hrs with maint. papers on a Merc OptiMax 225 with a SS 4 blade prop(about $250 in the condition it's in) from dealer of what has been serviced and when. It was well maintained and serviced. And the motor was one of the main things I had to have as our lakes require newer clean motors since older 2 strokes won't be permitted on certain lakes so this was a big deal. Figured mine is worth somewhere between $8-9000. Extras, trolling motor....$500. So with that said figured the way it sat at the dealer it was worth about $13,500 but it was listed quite a bit more, but paid a little bit less then what I figured. An $8500 boat......do a break down and see what you can figure out. Extra's are extras, old electronics are just that old. What's that mean, well they loose a lot of value quick. Figure out what the boat by itself would be in the condition its in, the trailer as well, and then the motor. The cost of those 3 should give you a good idea about what you should pay. AND ALWAYS TEST DRIVE A BOAT ON A LAKE BEFORE BUYING. If they won't agree, well then either they don't really want to sell it that bad or they are hiding something. Of course, the real price of a used boat is what someone is really willing to pay for it. Good luck on you search and future purchase.

My advice, find a used boat in the range of 18ft just simply because you want to start a fishing team you two are going to have to be able to fish WHATEVER waters the tournaments are on. What's your budget? Are you trying to buy new? Team events, a 16ft or 17ft boat can seem really small and if you're looking into national tournaments at college level, well you "little boat" idea may bite you in the backside. Look for as big as you can get within your budget.

Yep, just put a butt whipping on those guys. Coming back from 20lbs down and winning by I think 20lbs......Yep fading into the history books, but they keep having to write new chapters because he isn't done yet. Also shows how much respect those guys who fish against him have for him and the passion and drive he has for the sport.

Anytime the water is over 59 you can possibly get fish on topwater in the spring, fall sometimes as low as 55 at least from my experience. And well then there are times when the fish are up and schooling and it doesn't matter how cold the water is if they are feeding on top. Watched an event I believe on Bull Shoals where one of the guys had 25lbs on a spook in 30ft of water with 50 degree water or something like that. Everyone was dragging baits slow and he had a full on topwater bite on schooling 4lb fish.

The Howell version is a big road runner. The Ashley model's head is different, the blade is also upsized as well from the Howell version. I don't mind these for flukes but prefer the Northland Tackle version (Thumper Jighead) in a 1/4oz size for smaller swimbaits as it has a traditional swimbait head (works great with the smaller Hammer swimbaits) and I like the small colorado/indiana blade it comes with. Has just enough thump and flash and have done better with them then any other underspin version. Hope this helps.

Okay, just so you know Zach, this is just an observation and I'm going to approach this from the other side of the table. #1 Where did you go to school? What year did you graduate? Any degrees? #2 Okay, so you did good last year.....what else have you done? Any ABA, BFL, FLW, College Fishing, Highschool fishing success? #3 Why should I look at you? What value do you bring? How many followers do you have? How are you going to travel around the US representing my brand if you have a full time job you just started 15 months ago? #4 Already mentioned above, grammar errors. You send me that, well I'm going to file it next to my desk of important papers headed for the dumpster. Spellcheck....use it. #5 It does read like a cover letter, go research resumes online and work on it. #6 I wouldn't list companies either you already have for the reasons listed prior. It's a start and things may come with hard work. I'd get involved in the bigger tournaments and get noticed, network, make yourself known to the people in the industry. If you have as much success in the bigger tournament trails then you will get noticed and approached by the companies you're looking for. Use those points and questions above to help improve your resume. But the biggest seller is going to be you and your results in the bigger tournament trails.

You can find a good par of Gurnden's Bibs(Petrus 116 Bib Pants) which are a comercial grade. Used them in comercial fishing and they would last me 3-4 years before having to get a new par. Run just under the $120 mark. Still have a set of bottoms from over 10 years ago (think I got them in 2003) as well as a top I bought in 2005 and still using my lightweight set I bought back in 09. So that should tell you something about the quality of their products. http://shop.grundens.com/shop/bibs/petrus-116-bib-pants/#.VvWxuuIrLIU

Hollow body frog followed up closely by the 90mm Whopper Plopper. But that may change with the smaller versions of that Spro Rat.