Topwater98

I just bought a new trolling motor (Minn Kota c2 30lb) for my 12 ft boat. The battery is near the front of the boat but the trolling motor is on the back. I heard it comes with wires that are about 4 feet long. The distance from the motor to the battery is about 12 feet. How do I extend the wires so they reach the battery? I don't know much about electrical things. I heard it needs a circuit breaker but I haven't bought that yet either.

On my way home from fishing a few days ago the cover blew off of my outboard motor. I just bought this as my first boat so I didn't know there was a latch to keep the top on. I went back and looked but I wasn't able to find it anywhere. I have given up on finding it but I can't find it online. Is there anywhere to get a replacement or is the motor useless? I am pretty sure this is the model. 18802m

Thanks! I will probably get a friend to help since I don't know anything about how the trolling motor works. At least I know what is wrong.

I recently bought my first boat off craigslist. The trolling motor worked for a little while but then it randomly stopped. Since then, it sometimes works sometimes doesn't. I don't think it is a problem with the electrical because it sometimes starts if I tap the propeller with a stick. It almost seems like it is getting stuck. When it does work, it works perfectly and goes plenty fast. I have never had a trolling motor before so I was wondering if anyone has any ideas on what to try first. I'm adding a couple pictures of the motor.

maybe it was because of the angle that the rod was in against the edge of the canoe. I wasn't holding it at the time.

I bought it new off Ebay, I also thought it was very strange that it broke in 2 places. Wierd.

This past winter I bought a 7'3 Veritas off Ebay to use for fishing frogs. It is the first expensive rod I have bought. On a fishing trip this past weekend I went out fishing in a canoe. The lure that was on the rod was hanging out of the canoe and caught on a weed while we were moving slowly. I didn't notice until the rod snapped! I don't think there was really that much pressure on the rod because we weren't moving fast and usually in a canoe I notice small amounts of resistance. Here is a picture of how it broke. Any suggestions? I know it was off Ebay but is there anything I can do? Thanks for any help.

I have a few hollow-bodied frogs that have been ripped up. I was wonder if there is a simple way to fix them. Most of the holes are small but just big enough that they make the frog sink. Would something like super glue work? Thanks for any help.

Went out last night to a different lake than my usual. It is a much smaller lake. I caught 5 fish with the biggest just over 2 lbs. I used my frog, a stick-o, a small walk the dog surface lure, a buzzbait, a jig, my bbz1 shad 4 inch bluegill. I caught 2 fish on the stick-os, 2 fish on my frog and 1 on the walking lure. Most of the fish were small with only one fish over the size limit. The frog caught the biggest fish.

It would be easier if I knew what my PB was! Any guesses of the size of my PB. I posted a picture in the original post. I have a good working scale now so I will know how big they are. My biggest one on that scale was 3 lbs 4 oz but I think that one was bigger. I know for sure that it was longer.

I think I will be able to get out on a different lake than my usual one this evening. I have fished this lake a few times at it seems like it has almost no weeds other than lily pads. This lake also has a few brush piles and laydowns so I could try fishing them. I will try to force myself to use big jigs or plastics some(it is hard for me to get away from frogs!). Just to let you know I do own 3 swimbaits. I have a bbz1 6 inch perch, a river2sea S waver and a bbz1 shad 4 inch in bluegill colors. I know it probably hurts my chances of big bass but I usually use these baits with a wire leader to protect from pike bite-offs. I just can't afford to be replacing these expensive baits very often.

I was definitely excited when I caught it! Up here though that is not really rare. I haven't come close to it since but for the people who have boats and know where to go there are many of those fish available. I have probably caught 3-5 smallmouth bigger than my PB largemouth. I held it in the water so it could breath while someone got the camera ready but it shook free.

Are bluegill considered gamefish? I think they would be in a different category. I guess I should have looked at the regulations a little. I do basically all of my fishing in Wisconsin.

I usually fish out of a canoe so positioning near the fish is often a problem. Last time I went to the lake I saw a fish in the water that I am pretty much sure would have been a new PB but the wind blew me right over it and scared it away.

Here is a link where you can find a map of the lake that I usually fish. I have hardly fished any other lakes. http://dnr.wi.gov/lakes/LakePages/LakeDetail.aspx?wbic=2767100&page=more

The lake I usually fish is a 280 acre lake. It hardly has a single log or rock in the whole lake. There are a couple of medium sized beds of lily pads that I like to fish with frogs. There are also a couple areas of matted pondweed. There are quite a few boat docks in the lake. It has a max depth of 24 feet. Most of the lake is deep weed beds. Some spots have weeds growing up to the surface from 10-15 feet of water. I have tried to fish out there a few times but it is hard to get lures down. My favorite baits are mostly topwater lures. I have used wacky rigged stick-Os quite a bit as well. The lake is full of pike so there are some lures I don't like to use much because the get bit off.

I have only been bass fishing for the past 3 years. I have gone from using 1 rod and just simply casting spinnerbaits anywhere and hoping for a fish, to owning 5 rods and using a wide variety of baits. Last year I started catching bass more consistently. I rarely get to go fishing for more than 2-3 hours at a time so I think It is pretty good to get 2-15 bass a day depending partly on how long I am out. Most of my fish last year were 15-16 inches long. This year I have started catching lots of fish in the 17-18 inch range. My personal best is a little over 19 inches. I caught it during a trip to Minnesota on live bluegill(about the only time I have used bluegills as bait). I am catching lots of good fish lately but I just can't get a giant! In Northern Wisconsin I think a 4# fish would be great. Right now I have by far the most confidence in frogs. Here is the picture of my personal best. I had a scale at the time but it was an old spring scale that was rusty. It only weighed it to 3.15 lbs. I have tested the scale since and realized that it always weighs things too light. Any guesses? Since then my biggest bass is 3.25 lbs. If you are wondering why my personal best says 4-5 lbs it is because I got a 4.8 lb smallmouth in Chequamegon Bay.

Same here. Last time I caught 3 nice bass including my biggest Wisconsin bass at 3.25 lbs.

To me, there is only a bad day of fishing if you don't catch fish AND you lose baits or other fishing gear.

I bought one last fall but haven't had a chance to try it out yet. It is certainly a good looking bait!

Yeah it was great to get out fishing again! I had noticed the color difference between the fish. Do you think the darker fish has spent more time in shallow water? The other fish was really lightly colored.

Nice weather today for fishing opener. It took a while for me to get my first fish but when I did I got two in a row! They ended up being the only 2 bass of the day but it was still a good day. I started out fishing a spinnerbait and a bbz1 6 inch swimbait. I got the two fish almost right after I switched to the swim jig. Here are pictures of the bass.

Tomorrow I am going with some of my siblings on my first fishing trip of the year. Don't know what to expect right now this far north but we should be able to get some bass. We will probably catch some pike as well. We are doing a small competition as well. I will post back later, hopefully with some pics! Any suggestions where to look first for the bass. We are in Northern Wi.

I live near Chequamegon Bay in northern Wi. Just wondering how long it is likely to be until the spawn? Also any info on where the bass currently are? I am going out for the first time of the year tomorrow. We aren't fishing on lake superior. Thanks for any help

I missed getting a picture of my PB smallmouth. It weighed 4.8 lbs. I held it in the water because it took a little while to unhook and it shook free before I got a picture. Still wish I had a picture of that one.