WIGuide

To me it seems fairly simple, black blends into the background in this environment better than the whiteish color braid fades to.

Sorry you're having issues, but I'd go with a dual pro charger. You can always take it out if you want to sell your boat. Mine was bought used and has been in my last two boats over 7 years without an issue. My dad's is the original that came with his boat and it just turned 19 years old and is still doing it's job. They are sealed to be waterproof, as well as serviceable. As far as I'm concerned, they're the best out there and the little extra cost is well worth it.

I fish from a boat about 99.99% of the time because I have that luxury. That doesn't mean I won't fish by any other means necessary, but I don't do it very often.

Not sure how old your sons are, but I would suggest anything from a 6 1/2' to 7' rod for them in either a medium power or medium heavy power rod. A medium power rod will be better for throwing the smaller, lighter baits so if that's what you're planning on having them throw I'd opt for a medium. If you're planning on throwing something bigger and heavier I'd go with the medium heavy. That would also be the rod of choice for average sized spinnerbaits, swim jigs, lippless and diving crankbaits, as well as the bigger topwaters and texas rigs/jigs. If your kids are still very young, I'd probably drop down to a bit shorter rod so it's easier for them to control, and I'd go with a medium power, if they're older I'd stick with my original suggestion and probably go with a medium heavy.

X-raps are good in the smaller sizes, and Rapala also has the new Rip Stop, which I haven't got to try out yet, but I did buy one the other day. It could be worth a shot.

Although I haven't used that exact rod, I've got the previous version of the Frog-n-Slop Mojo and I use it primarily as a frog rod, but I've used it for pitching into heavy cover and punching as well and it works well for that. The 2nd gen Mojo's have just a slightly softer tip but still have just as much power, so that will help make it even better for pitching giving you a little extra distance and control.

If I remember correctly from talking to one of the workers at the customer appreciation day this past summer, they're reworking guide spacing on them as well as possibly a different style of guide. Regardless of what they do to it, being that it's a St. Croix, you know it's going to be a great stick.

Personally I wear a decent pair of running shoes or athletic slides and they work well for me.

I've fished in some pretty nasty stuff over the years, cold, rain, wind, snow, it really didn't matter. I still went. Last year was the latest I got to fish up here, I made it into December. The ramp was iced up, skim ice on parts of the lake, 20 mph winds, cloudy overcast skies, and a high that was never supposed to make it over freezing. The trip started off on a bad note before I even left....my locks were frozen on my boat and needed to be unthawed with a hair dryer before I left. It was cold enough I couldn't make more than a cast or two without my rod icing up regardless of which one I tried. It was one of the few times I didn't catch at least something, but it was still worth giving it a try and would do it again in a heartbeat.

Eric, if you're looking to get into a boat, you're going to have to keep in mind what you're fishing. I fish tournaments out of a 17' Ranger and have been all over WI in that boat. From Sturgeon & Green Bay, to the Madison Chain, and up into the far reaches of the north. I've fished in some of the craziest nastiest wind and weather mother nature can dish out on those ponds and have survived to tell about it. However, I've been a boat owner since about 12 years old, and am on the water more than most people. I'll be the first to admit as much as I love my boat, and it got me through everything safely, a bigger boat would have done it better. Being that you're going to be a first time boat or bass boat owner, and looking at your posts about your aspirations about fishing in the opens down south I really wouldn't go with anything less than probably a 19' at the very minimum and if you can afford it, something in the 20' -21' range. Until you figure out what you're doing, it's going to be far more forgiving than the smaller boats, and once you get things dialed in, you'll have more capability than you will in the smaller boats. Another thing to keep in mind when buying your boat is the amount of storage it has, and when you're fishing in tournaments, you're going to need room for your non-boaters gear. Boat companies have done a great job to maximize the storage capacity of newer boats, but there's only so much they can add so take a look at that while you're searching.

I use rod and reel gloves on all my setups and then my way of securing them in place is to make sure I cram my rod locker full of enough combos that there's no room left for them to bounce In all seriousness though, as long as you protect them, they can be jostled a bit and completely unaffected.

One of my favorite soft plastics I started using this year was the Missile Baits D-stroyer. It has a unique profile and action that I think leads to more fish.

Congrats on the new ride!

On something that small you should be fine, if you launch at any dirt ramps or any that can be rather steep I'd definitely opt for the 4wd version as mentioned earlier.

Personally I'd go with the 150, especially if you fish with friends or take family out. If you think it'll be fine with the 115 then go ahead, but I'd rather spend the money up front and have a motor that can handle whatever I'm going to put it through and not have to worry about if the boat will plane out if I take BUBBA along with me or not.

Personally instead of flippin, I'd just pitch to those places with a shorter one. You can still get into the water virtually without a sound and you can use a shorter rod that won't kill your arm. Maybe that wouldn't work for you but I don't see using one of the new super long rods.

Personally I wouldn't frog with that small of braid regardless of the equipment. If you're setting the hook like you should on a frog, you're most likely going to have major issues with line digging in. You can get away with using a little smaller line on a spinning reel, but if you're using a baitcaster I don't go any less than 50 lb.

Are you sure there's bass in the pond? The only reason I ask is that having pads from bank to bank would indicate very shallow water throughout the entire pond. I don't know if things freeze where you are in Oregon, but if they do this pond would be very susceptible to heavy winter kill, especially if it's not aerated.

For me, it's nice if it matches, but if it doesn't it doesn't bother me.

I would think that would be a decent rod for smaller boot tails, weightless soft plastics, finesse jigs, 1/4 oz spinnerbaits, lipless crankbaits, topwaters, etc. , etc.

For only 74 1/2 easy payments of 361.01 I'll send you a 3/10 oz bottle that will have that thing looking like new in no time

Haha that was over at Fireside last year. This year it got just as high, but I didn't fish it until after it started going back down and could at least get my trailer tires to the start of the concrete. Had I had my bigger tires on my jeep then I may have just made it back far enough to get the boat off.

At least you could get your boat off... I couldn't here then again in the background you can see the dock that marks the start of the ramp. It didn't stop me from at least trying though haha

Totaled? Naaah....that'll buff right out! Seriously though that sucks. There's some good info here to prevent that from happening the next go around. Glad nobody was hurt.

I'm a Dinger guy. I usually add a little weight to them, especially if I'm wacky rigging them. I like the Eco Pro Tungsten Pro Wacky Weights 1/32 for the 4" and 1/16 for the 5" using those also makes the worms last longer.