WIGuide

You can use just about any soft plastic bait to dropshot with. My personal favorites include the Berkley Havoc Bottom Hopper Jr., Missile Baits Fuse, as well as the Strike King Dream Shot and Baby Rodent.

It think it could be ok but, but it'd be a lot better to have it on it's own battery. If you don't have a starting battery or one for electronics, I'd suggest getting something a lot smaller series than a normal marine battery.

Not a problem! Best of luck to you!

There's quite a few good lakes down there (at least from what I hear). Only trouble is most are super busy.

It should be ok to use it for that.

You gotta kiss them and then release them to know for sure. If it's a female, when you let her go she'll jump up and try to get another kiss, if it's a male, it'll just swim off and then you're left having to live with the fact that you kissed a male bass. Obviously this method will be skewed if you aren't a good kisser!

It depends on where you fish. I think it totally would be and had one on my 10' boat when I had it. They just help you to locate fish and or structure/cover. These days, the features I'd be looking for a basic locator to have would be a color display and gps as well. Side and down imaging would still be effective on a small boat like that it just depends on how much you want to spend, and how much you plan on using it.

They're both great sticks, but there is going to be a bit of a difference in sensitivity between the two, so if you're looking for a bottom contact type rod, the LTB is definitely the better choice. It also has a better build quality and better components. As for the reel seat and handle, those could be a personal preference. I have big hands as well and I palm my reel when fishing and I find the reel seat/handle very comfortable. Either way you can't go wrong, but I'd pick the LTB.

I've fished in two so far and will possibly be making the trip for the 3rd time this year if I can swing it financially. Overall they are great tournaments and comparably not very expensive at all. They have great payouts and I believe if they meet the set quota of anglers they pay down to 7th place now. It's so much different strategy than the normal tournament. You could have the worst few days of fishing of your life and all it takes is 1 cast and 1 fish to put you in the winners circle. They send you text updates halfway through every hour and then again with 10-15 minutes left to update you on what's been weighed in. My dad and I have went down and fished these together the past two years. The first year was on Fort Gibson and the second was on Grand Lake. Neither of those lakes are anything like what we have up here so it was definitely a different experience that way for us. Overall, I don't think we did too bad. Both years we had the Friday before the tournament on the water that we used to cruised around just checking things out and not fishing. We had been looking at places to check out on the map for months, but until you're there you never know exactly what you're in for. Unfortunately the first year at Fort Gibson the area we had liked the look of the most was closed off due to a sailing race going on. OBB was only made aware of it the morning of the tournament by fish and game officials so that threw us for a loop. The first day my dad weighed in one that was just a few ounces shy of the money, and then the second day did make it into the money one hour. This last year at Grand Lake, we both fell short by a few oz. Had my dad held one until the next hour he would have been in the money again. If you're looking for a fun tourney to get into, I think you should definitely give OBB a try. Get someone you enjoy fishing with and go have a great time. Oh and if you register early online, you get a free rod that would retail for close to your entry so that just sweetens the pot. My only knock on the whole thing is that they don't have tournaments further north up by me haha.

Awesome little cameras that are fun to play with. Accessories can get pricey in a hurry though, but if you buy a few things to start and slowly work your way up it's not as bad. If the camera you are looking at has wifi capabilities you can control it through your phone and get a live preview. The other nice thing about it is it lays out all the options in the easiest way possible to navigate. On their latest app update they added in a highlight feature so you can highlight a part of the video so you can go right back to it when you start your edit. Otherwise you can stop recording as 00 mod said. For recording on the water, if the camera is inside the boat I usually use the skeleton housing for better audio quality, but if there's a chance it's going to get wet I use the standard waterproof housing instead. The other nice thing about them is you can go back and take pictures from your video here's a few as an example: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10202909440489480&l=0d04d5f4b6 https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10202909440169472&l=3a1803a83d https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10202909443529556&l=68ef192597

I've switched over to Trokars for just about everything. I still use the VMC Spin Shots for drop shotting, but now with the release of the helix drop shot hook I'll probably be switching that over as well.

No idea what I caught my first one on. I was too young

Mono- Trilene XT for casting reels XL for spinning Fluorocarbon - Trilene 100% for casting and Trilene 100% XL for spinning

I've been using 50 lb Power Pro the last few years and it's done just fine. I'm planning on running some 50 lb test Berkley Professional Braid when the water softens up in a few months.

I'd say either a President as others have said or a Revo S

Congrats on getting after it. Hopefully you're prepared for all those crazy little 5th graders lol

You shouldn't have any issues finding a decent boat in that price range. My best advice is figure out what you need and go from there. Take a look around and find a specific model you want and get a feel of what they are going for. No reason to overpay for what you're getting either.

Lucky to have picked up one of the Gold Carbonlites when they were closing them out. Between the sale and the extra points I had I got it for $30. Can't be beat for that price!

I've been really impressed with my Revo Premiers. Silky smooth and nice and light.

I used the Mustang KVD braid cutter this past year and it did an alright job for fluoro and braid. It would be nicer if it was stainless so it didn't rust but for $7 it's not too bad. Used to use Rapala pliers with the carbon cutter which worked slick until a partner dropped them in the drink.

It is torture, but just be thankful you don't live up by me. Winter set in about two months ago now and will keep a death hold on us until late March early April. Even then you can only fish for panfish until the season opens in May unless you go fish Ol' Miss

If you primarily fish Texas rigs, I'd recommend using a EWG style hook. Although size is not an industry standard on hook size between manufactures, sizes 3/0, 4/0, and 5/0 should cover most baits you throw. As far as quantity, only you can decide on that. It all depends on how many you use. If you like the guy who loses 4-10 each time he fishes then you're going to go through more hooks than someone who might lose one every few trips. If you're looking for brand suggestions, most name brand hooks will do the job. I'm really partial to Trokars though since they penetrate so easily, are super tough, and are also made in the USA.

I think you'd be happy with either of the Rangers. The one draw back to the 117 is the rod lockers are only 7' although you could put a 8' on the rod ramp on the passenger side. The RT188 will give you the 8" rod box and a slightly bigger front deck as well as a little more storage.

The major difference between the standard vests is the fit, finish, and comfort. I would still keep the inflatable vests and keeping them well maintained.

I'd go with a 36V if possible.You can never have too much power or run time.