Bass2124

Awesome! That is it! Thanks!

About 5 years ago before I had taken off my cable driven trolling motor there was a plastic sleeve that I had purchased that attached to the shaft to control the shaft from spinning around crazy. I can't remember the name and am having a hard time finding another one. Does anyone know the name or have the link to such product? My new boat has a cable driven trolling motor and would like to get one for it. Thanks!

I have 4 Shimano reels-2 Curado I's, a Citica, and the Casitas and they are all great reels. Personally the Citica is my favorite out of the group and is cheaper than the Curado's. The Casitas is a nice reel for the money and I would not hesitate to buy if you want a quality reel in that price range. I got great deals on the Curado I's but I wouldn't spend the extra money for them personally. If you are in the 125-150 range looking for a Shimano reel the Citica is the way to go in my opinion. Daiwa are my favorite reels though....Nothing beats a Lexa 100H in the 100-125 range if you can find them. I lost mine overboard and man do I miss that reel!

Anybody have any experience with these trolling motors from Cabelas? Wondering what the difference is between this and the V2 if any? Looks like the same but is sold exclusively through Cabelas.

My Minn Kota edge 70 after 2 years has fried the lower unit......I bought it right after my Minn Kota Powerdrive 55 also fried on me after 4 years. I don't know what the normal life of trolling motors are but for $700 units that seems a little short. So do I switch over to Motor Guide???? All the reviews say Minn Kota are the better motors but for me I haven't had much luck with them. I am looking at the X3 55 and the edge 55. Customer service has been responsive and helpful at diagnosing issues (alot) at Minn Kota but their product isn't impressing me. The X3 is $30 cheaper at Cabelas and I have a $250 gift card to put towrds it. What should I do? Take another risk with Minn Kota or jump over to Motor Guide???

Awesome info guys! Thanks!

Any products out there that I could buy in bulk to cover my rod handles? I have about 20 rods I would like to cover the handles with that has a grippy tacky feel. I have tried rod wrap but at $10 a handle a bit pricey.

Up north, the water temps are in the high 40's/low 50's through out the lake that I fish. It is a very shallow tanic water colored lake with average depths in the 10-20 ft range and the deepest part is 35 ft. I went fishing this past Sunday and the temps hit 70 and it is supposed to hit 70 again this Thusday. My son and I caught 2 fish in 10 hours, bookend catches as he caught his with a fluke within the first 15 minutes and I caught mine with a jerkbait 10 hours later with 15 minutes of day light left. I threw jigs, hair jigs, lipless cranks, carolina rigged lizzards, Biffle bugs, shakyhead worm and spinnerbaits and struck out. I am a river fisherman and do not get a chance to fish the lakes much, especially this early, but this lake is a 100 bass a day lake at times in the summer. I am guessing that the temp will be in the solid 50-55 range on Thursday. I am terrible at reading my electronics as everything looks like a fish to me so I thought I was fishing the right spots. I know that the smallies are schooling this time of year but I would like some advice on locations. I tried the shallows 2-4 ft thinking they might move up to the warmer waters with the sun out, but both of our catches were in the 6-8 ft range. I should have stayed put but I went to my summer time honey holes and got skunked. Any suggestions? The baits are what I am supposed to be using according to what I have read. Springtime fishing is all new to me as I normally don't start until June as in the past I have focused on springtime salmon and brook trout.

I am buying a new prop for my boat 2001 90hp 2 stroke Mercury. Currently, I have the Mercury spitfire 12.5 x19 inch pitch. I am wondering if going to the 17" pitch would be better. I have read you would lose top end speed but hole shot would be better and I have also read just the opposite. Any suggestions?

I often find a faster retrieve after the drop works best, again depending on the conditions. When I am doing s turns while trolling during the outside turn when it is raising it is moving very fast. This is when I get my most vicious strikes. I started swimming them with baitcasting equipment mimicking the same movement as the s-turns and find after the drop to the bottom followed by a very fast retrieve the bass smash them.

Great info smalljaw! That is exactly what I was looking for!

I like BPS Squirmin Lizards in Green Pumpkin and Magic Pearl. Lizards are the best plastic in my opinion on Carolina rigs, especially when trolling. This is my go to method when searching for smallies especailly when the river gets muddied up. When my kids invite their friends who have never fished before this is a sure way for them to catch bass, and safe. My wife loves carolina rigging a fly rod and trolling using s turns. The rise and fall of the bait drives them crazy and they always hook themselves, no setting hook required. I have caught bass on every body of water doing it this way.

Thanks kickerfish, I will check them out.

I was reading an article today about spring river smallmouth fishing and that hair jigs are amazing in below 50 degree waters. Any recommendations on types and brands of hair jigs I should look into?

What are you all's favorite bladed jigs for river smallmouth? I love the action of a bladed jig but I haven't had much confidence with z-man chatterbaits in the river that I fish. I have caught some largemouth along grasslines In some of the lakes that I have fished but very few bites in the river. Also what are your favorite jig trailers? Seems like I always see a swimbait on the back of a bladed jig vs a craw or chunk trailer. I always use a rage craw. The forked tail swimbait that comes with the z man I always chuck. Just doesn't look like much??? Maybe that's my problem.

I bought 5 bags to try out. Worst case scenerio I'm out 10 bucks.

There are a massive amount of Trigger x swim and stick baits at my local surplus store for 1.99 a bag. Checked out trigger x's site and they don't even have the same products any more. Now all I see are smaller baits with all these vibrant colors which don't interest me at all. I'm guessing they were not all that successful??? Anybody have any experience with the flutter worm or slop hopper?

I use jerkbaits and crankbaits all of the time. No problem getting bites with those. Just curious if people have any experience and success fishing jigs for smallies on rivers.

Haven't had much success catching smallmouth in the rivers with jigs. I have caught a few in lakes flipping docks but I really want to give it more of a chance in the river that I fish but I just can't get bit. I even spent almost entire day just using a jig last summer in August trying to get comfortable and didn't get bit. Maybe it is a river smallmouth thing? I don't have many jigs but the few that I have are the SK Hack Attack black/blue and green pumpkin/craw in both 3/8 and 1/2 oz sizes. I have only used rage tail chunks for trailers in the same colors. I just bought some zoom chunks that were on sale for the heck of it as I have seen great reviews. My question- when should I use the zoom chunks over the rage tails? To me I would think the zoom chunks would be inferior as they have little action compared to the rage tails and smallmouth seem to be a little more aggressive to movement. Are my jig choices good for river smallmouth?

4" Zoom trick worms in green pumpkin flat out catch more river SM than any other plastic that I have used including roboworms and dreamshots, They also offer the best bang for your buck.

I love the TWS on my Tatulas......Anyone who says it doesn't give extra casting distance must not be using braid. I use braid on all my reels and I get 30 extra feet easily compared to any other reels that I own. My favorite and most expensive reel is my Curado I but the Tatula blows it out of the water when it comes to chucking lures that need distance.

I can only remember 1 time. It was a Stanley Ribbit Frog. It was not nearly as painful as the $240 rod and reel setup that went with it (Daiwa Ballistic T3 paired with a Fenwick silverhawk). Hooked the frog hooks during the backcast on the back of the boat somewhere and when the hooks freed up it catapulted the whole setup 30 yards down stream in the river. Darndest thing you could ever imagine. Still hurts to this day.

Anybody have one of these reels? I wish they had a 1000 series reel but I didn't see one on their website. Looking for an ultra lite setup and I have always liked the smoothness when I have tried out there 2000/4000 size reel at my local dicks. 500's are small but with the ultralight set up I am looking for hoping this would be a nice reel. I have 3 Presidents but the Mitchell reels seem a little smoother.

Looking for a one piece ultra light/light rod under $100 in the 5'6"-6'. I read a lot about light tackle/small baits and the success and enjoyment of it and tried it this past summer and had some fun with it using a $25 ultralight spinning combo. I think I want to upgrade with a better rod and match it up with a 500/1000 size reel. Any suggestions?

I also thought that would work better especially in the river. There is very little cover to go through where I fish. I am guessing the only reason you would Texpose this bait would be to go through cover. Maybe a jig hook would be the way to go?