WIGuide

Sometimes it depends on the day. I'd say I average about 80% hooking percentage, but when I first started I sucked at it. There will be days they absolutely crush it though and it's hard to miss, there's also days it seems like the fish are freaking blind and will miss all day long. One thing I have noticed though is even when they aren't as willing to commit, the bigger fish will still seem to get it. Tips to help hooking percentage: Stiff rod, braid, soft frog, sharp hook, shortening legs, also it makes the frog a little less snag proof but you can bend the hooks up just slightly to help stick them. Hope that helps a little, and the frog starts treating you well. To me it's one of the most exciting ways to fish!

When I was younger I used to use a very small jointed bait I got from my grandpa. The only markings on it say "inch minnow" and the bait is really only an inch long. I caught numerous bass on it, the biggest being a little over 17" so it would have been somewhere in the 3 lb range. I also caught a 19 incher while panfishing with a 1/16th oz jig and earth worm under a bobber.

I had grown tired of looking at the numerous wires for my locators and wanted a more professional looking install. I ended up picking up a cheap rod sock at Walmart for somewhere in the neighborhood of $3. For the price of that and a few zip ties, I had what I wanted and I think it turned out pretty well. Hopefully this helps someone out looking to do something similar.

Some motors actually run better with the smaller hub size. My dad's Ranger 519 with 225 Mercury was propped by a guy who used to race boats before we bought it. The best prop he found for the setup was a Trophy Plus for a 150 gearcase. This might be an application that it doesn't work well with, but there are some that it helps to do that with.

That's incredible dude! Congrats on the catch!!

In my opinion a good beginner reel would be one that isn't a hunk of junk. It offers decent quality while still being affordable. It's not too expensive that if you decide you don't like it, you're out a bunch of money, and not so cheap that you're only going to get a year or less of fishing out of it.

If it's under warranty, I'd take it back and exchange it. No reason for it to fall apart other than manufacturer defect. Yes some are saying it's only cosmetic, which is true, but you bought the rod with the understanding it wasn't going to fall apart within a few months.

If you aren't needing it RIGHT now, wait for the BPS Pro Qualifier to go on sale. Great reel at the retail price, but when they go on sale they should be in your price range and a steal! If you happen to have rewards points it sweetens the deal even further. The one I bought this year I think I only paid $50 after sale + rewards.

Here's a little bit of mapping I did on a previously unmapped lake with Insight Genesis. All the lines are representative of water depth. In this case they are 1 foot contour lines, so for every line you see out away from the bank the water depth is another foot deeper at that line. Where the lines are closer together the water gets deeper quicker, and where they are spread apart, the drop is more gradual. If you see a contour line that connects with itself (an example on this map is on top of the point on the bottom near the middle of that map or in the channel in the darkest blue area) it represents either a rise or depression. Most charts use some sort of shading to help your eyes out. In this case the darker the blue the deeper the water. Even though this is Insight Genesis, all contour maps work off the same principal. This not only helps you with navigation, but it helps you to identify fish holding structure. Hopefully that helps a little with the understanding what you're looking at.

I hear ya. I heard a bunch of horror stories too when I was looking into getting an automatic vest. That's why I decided to go with one with the H.I.T technology. It has to have hydrostatic pressure to fire. No matter how wet it gets, it won't go off until fully submerged. I can attest to the fact it won't as I've fished in many downpours with it on and it's still never went off. It might be worth looking into, even with the higher initial cost and higher re-arming cost, I think it works out to be cheaper in the long run because you don't have to worry about accidental discharges.

It should still switch speeds despite how low of power it's getting, granted it won't be turning very fast, but there should still be a difference. Check the switch and test it out next time before you go to sell it.

Congrats on the new rig!

I honestly hardly ever even look at the arrow on mine. To re-align it though, as others have said it shouldn't be hard, you can take the 3 or so screws out of the head to take it apart and check it out. Some models you can actually pull up on the arrow to disengage it enough to turn it back without taking anything apart.

Get yourself a Mustang H.I.T model instead, they need to be submerged to go off so fishing in the rain isn't a problem.

Any idea on what year it is? I know somewhere in the 1996-97 (could have been earlier) area OMC had the Quick start feature. This changed the timing to make the motors easier to start. One thing about those motors is they don't like to be fast idled to start. That said each motor can kind of have it's own preferred starting procedure. What I would try first is not pumping the bulb up too much, just until it stiffens a little, and then push the key in and hold it while you turn it over and hold it in until it starts. Something else to try would be to just tap it while turning it over. If your motor is a pre-quick start model, experimenting with the two above and also adjusting the fast idle. (depending on your controls it will either be a lever on top of the control box, or if you have flush mount there will be a button in the middle of the pivot point of the shift lever that you push in and advance the throttle to increase the fast idle level) Also, to answer your question about trim level, trimmed up should be the easiest way to get it to start as there's less back pressure from the water on the exhaust, although it shouldn't have that big of effect on it.

Get the 3 bank. You could squeak by with a 2 but you run the risk of being dead on the water. Sure your motor will charge while you're running, but it doesn't do it very fast and with locators and pumps running off your starting battery they get drained down more than they used to.

Yamaha also had this to say. http://yamahaoutboards.com/yamaha-advantage/news/boating-tips/boaters-log-vol-3-no20-bounce-beaters-save-your-transom

Are you using a cable drive or an electric steer foot controlled?

It has a lot more side to side body roll along with the tail kick. The other nice thing about them is when you kill them the tail still kicks as it falls which can be deadly at times.

I really like the Big Bite Baits Cane Thumper. Great action, affordable price, makes the Berkley Grass Pig look like a dead pig haha. I like it better than the swimin' super flukes as well. I usually have one rigged up on a rod about 95% of the time I'm fishing.

I'd go with the St. Croix Mojo Slop-n-Frog Rod. It does very well in heavy cover. Pair it with whatever choice of reel you want as I don't think you can go wrong with the ones you are looking at.

I've got some spinning reel spools that I do just that with. I like being able to go back and forth. A lot of times I'll throw the braid spool on for clients so they can't mess it up too bad haha.

I carry almost all mine in the locker. So I've got 10-12 in the locker and there are times I'll have 7-8 on deck if I've got some junk fishing to do, and there's other times I'll get down to 2 if I'm really on something.

I made a rack for mine out of a cutting board to put them almost under my console (close to my bump board and livewell controls) I'm thinking about changing them to put them in the livewell though.

Fishing in the Elites or FLW probably is not the way to achieve this. Many people overlook the fact that pro's have to do so many things other than fishing. Pretty much all of their sponsorship deals include x number of days that the company pretty much owns them that you have to do public appearances for them. Take someone like Jimmy Houston for example, I know in the late 90's early 2000's he was on the road around 280 days a year. Yes he was fishing some, but a lot of those days were spent at speaking engagements, personal appearances, seminars, etc., etc. I know there were many tournaments he didn't even have an opportunity to prefish for because he was booked right up until tournament day. You would get to spend more time on the water if you were a guide. Not saying this to spoil your dream as I totally understand the goal of getting there. I too have the same goal, but I just wanted to make sure you're aware of what it entails.