WIGuide

There's a lot of conflicting information out there about them. I feel like a lot of it points to the ones that fail....fail hard. I've heard horror stories of fenders just falling off of trailers going down the road, gel coat messed up from the factory, lids coming completely unattached, etc. etc. They are a budget minded boat, which doesn't equate to them being bad and I'm not trying to knock them as there are plenty out there that look and fish just fine. I'm not in BPS or Cabela's that often but I usually check them out while I'm in there and some of the features are nice but there are also things about them that just make me scratch my head that you don't see on other brands. Overall, they're a good budget option that gets people out on the water. Based on the size of White River Marine, their tie to BPS/Cabela's, and their ability offer incentives unlike other manufactures they'll be around for a long long time. As long as you get a good one, there's nothing wrong with them.

I'm not as fanatical about the looks of my combos as some, but at the same time, if I'm paying a considerable amount of money for something I want it to look better than a polished turd.

OP states his lure weights are between 3/16 - 1/2 oz. the 7'1" M/F is rated at 1/4 - 5/8 so it would be pretty spot on. I've fished most of what he talks about on my M/F St. Croix's at some point or another without any issue.

For the price difference I'd go Mojo hands down. The Bass-X is basically the old original Mojo which was an SCII blank. Jumping to SCIII there is a significant difference in weight, balance, and sensitivity.

Generally I'll help if I see someone struggling at the ramp or at least ask if they need help. When it comes to giving help on the water, it really depends. Most of the time if you're close enough to ask though you're already on my bad side though haha.

Fished with a guy on a tournament series for a few events. I had known him for a while but had never actually fished with him before. Morning of the first tournament, we're sitting in the boat and all of the sudden he pops up out of his seat and tells me "I'll be right back." I'm thinking he had to use the bathroom before blast off, but see him walk right past them back up the hill to the parking lot. A few minutes later he comes down, gets back in the boat, and leans over and puts his shiny pistol in the passenger console glove box. As he's doing it he tells me "I grew up in Florida...I never leave the dock without it." It definitely made me second guess who I was getting in the boat with! It sounds like this must be fairly common down in those parts. Guess that's why "a Florida man" search trick works so well on the google machine.

"we've got some plug issues" ? What are you talking about...isn't that how it's supposed to look?

Hang in there and get better! The fish will be waiting for you when you're back to being able!

My first boat I ever purchased was a Bass Hound 10.2. Scouring the interwebs it looks like the same hull is made by Sun Dolphin although it's only rated for a 6 horse now instead of a 7. I ended up putting a trolling motor and an 8 horse Johnson on mine and because of it I also had a trailer. It was a great little boat for small lakes and I'd take it out on bigger lakes too since it'd handle water just fine. The manual stated it wasn't built to be a plaining hull, but with the 8 horse it would plain out despite the hull flexing a little and by the time I sold it I'd have to lean forward a bit to help it out. It was a stable little platform that you could stand and fish from and was more stable than most jon boats. There are times I wish I still had it to bomb around in. The only reason I sold it was that I got a steal of a deal on an older Ranger and selling the Bass Hound paid for all but $400 of the upgrade. If you aren't planning on getting a trailer for it the one drawback would be handling it solo. They aren't super light and pulling them in and out of a truck bed although possible, isn't the easiest. https://sundolphin.com/pro-102/

Their add says it won't harm painted surfaces or decals, but I haven't used it personally so I'm not sure if that holds true. It sounds like you might have more of a first had experience with it?

I can usually ball park them pretty close when I see them, but in a tournament where a few oz. difference means making the cut or not, I wouldn't trust an estimate especially since I've seen enough times where one that looks slightly bigger side by side is actually lighter. Smallmouth are most certainly weird that way. A lot of times they'll turn sideways in the livewell. When you open the lid for a few minutes they'll turn themselves over and swim normally. When you release them they swim off just fine. Largemouth will do it occasionally, but for whatever reason it seems to happen far more often with smallies.

I had the other pictures posted but the link must have changed. It looks like the bolts inside the plate that hold the yoke and lift piston let go which let the slide plate come up and out. The force of the water on the lower unit, coupled with the heavy V8 block tipped the motor forward onto the back deck before it laid over sideways. You can see where the cowling hit the top cap at the front of the splash well.

Something like this would be a good option for getting all the scum off. https://www.wholesalemarine.com/toon-brite-pontoon-aluminum-boat-cleaner/?gclid=Cj0KCQiA3eGfBhCeARIsACpJNU9YfjSS9ivoC7p9NrXv6l5hQZtD6Ld4JTcLnLmHJWWUFNYKnyviis4aAjdaEALw_wcB

There's a lot of bags on the market and the way they're built now allow for more of a modular system. How you organize them, is as unique as your personality. Personally group baits together by the type, for example I have 2 square bill boxes, one for normal sized and one for oversized, another one for crankbaits that run from 5-10', another for 10+, and another for flat sided crankbaits. My plastics are usually grouped together in original packaging and put into a larger ziplock bag. If I fish in someone else's boat I have a few extra empty trays where I'll pick and choose what hard baits I want to take and then pack individual packages of soft baits. I can fill up my tackle bag that way and I'm good to go. When I fish in my boat, that serves as my more modern tackle box and I'll have a lot more options. Keeping it modular though I can still take out what I know I won't use.

Sounds like you've got a keeper!

Really cool concept, but as stated definitely not for everybody. As others have stated, I'd need a lot more trays. I would be cool for the high end Jerkbaits or swimbaits though!

My first trip will be in early to mid April unless mother nature decides to remove the ice early. Regardless my starting lineup in no particular order will be: Jerkbait Lipless Crankbait Chatterbait Jig Boot Tail Swimbait Blade Bait

Based on the design of the boat and trailer the roller is used to reduce the friction coming off and going on to the trailer. I could try to explain it, but watching the video AJ posted at about the 2 minute mark, notice how when he releases tension on the bow strap the bow drops but it's still in contact with the roller when it comes to a rest. If you were to put a "Y" bow stop in the rollers place it would drag on the hull and would most likely cause the stop to come out of it's position. Keep in mind, AJ was using a very gradual landing and the steeper the landing, the more exaggerated the drop becomes. Referencing the picture I had posted before, the roller on the mod v hull is farther under the bow as well so the hull is in contact with the roller for a longer period of time.

I take it even a step farther and don't wait until fish #6. #1 comes in and gets weighed and tagged. I've had too many Mike Iaconelli "never give up" experiences catching a couple late in the day in tough tournaments and I can't afford to spend the time to figure out witch fish rides and which one swims. That is correct at weigh in, but during the day you aren't comparing weights to other anglers, only the fish you catch. A scale that is consistently off can still be be used to accurately cull fish. To clarify, consistently off would be that it weighs incorrectly by the same amount. For an example a scale that's 5 lbs. off would weigh a 2.00 lb and 2.25 lb fish as 7.00 lbs. and 7.25 lbs. respectively. The bigger fish is still the 2.25 even though it doesn't weigh as much as what the scale is reading.

I did see some weighing them but not others and have to agree, it made me scratch my head a little especially when things are that tight. I've had it happen plenty of times where the smaller looking fish actually weighed more on both the scale and the beam. To each their own though I guess, but I'll keep using my scale and beam the ones that are too close to call.

Haha I'd wish him the best, but ask that he keeps them out of my way!

I think you've got a good start there, but I wouldn't wait for the bait to make their way to the cover or structure you're fishing. Bass are opportunistic feeders, yes if the bait make their way to that spot there could be a feeding frenzy, but you can create your own by triggering a bass to bite. That's what many refer to as "firing up the school". Once you get them going you try to ride the flurry for as long as possible. FF sonar can tell you if the fish are there to begin with and where the school is.

I've got to meet him a few times and he really is a great guy, very humble and down to earth despite his successes.

I haven't made it to that point with my newer boat, but on my last one I did carry a spare prop for both the tm and outboard. I'm not sure if I'll be carrying both in the new ride or not. I do want to dial in my setup which may end up with me buying a different prop and I'd keep my current one as a spare, but I'm not sure if I'll have room in the back compartment to carry it with me like I did on the last one.

My top producers in cold water have been Jerkbaits, Crankbaits, Jigs, Chatterbaits, Swimbaits, and Lipless Crankbaits. Bought a few blade baits over the winter to give a try as well when the lakes come uncapped.