thomas15

I was going to bring in a bunch of newly acquired tackle items inside from the shed and organize my new stuff since it's snowing here in NE PA. But the snow has drifted against the shed door and I've shoveled enough today so I put it off.

I shoot IDPA, USPSA and some steel. In IDPA, ICORE and USPSA I use production semi-auto rigs with a few upgrades and/or Revolver and have Two G17s, a S&W 686 and a 929 plus all the associated gear and a well appointed handloading bench with three presses and plenty of supplies. But no question about it I have more dollars spent on my very modest 16' tin and the 12 or so rods/reels and assorted tackle. My marksmanship skills are in the same league as my angling skills, ie: I suck but I managed to win about $350.00 worth of shooting/reloading gear last year in a league I shoot in. And I came in 14th place in my division.

In terms of numbers of Bass caught, I reeled in more of them when I fished the bank with a $40.00 rod/reel combo and a total of about $150.00 worth of tackle than I do now with many thousands of dollars invested in a boat and thousands more in tackle. Looking on the bright side, since fishing from a boat I haven't lost a single lure.

We have a canoe that we have had for about 25 years (it's one of them Grumman Sliver Bullets). When our kids were little we took them both with us on the very tame south jersey rivers (Mullica or Batsto etc.) with no problems. While my skills handling a canoe were fairly good I personally never liked to fish from it and ours being aluminum it was loud. I always thought that if I were to use it for fishing I would make outriggers. I agree with getting a small pond boat. I would get a small jon boat and an electric TM but when my kids were starting to fish they bank fished with me and in all honesty their attention span would have made putting out in a boat somewhat disappointing. Not all kids are the same though.

Shallow and medium cranks used to be my confidence bait when pounding the shore 15-20 years ago. Now I cannot get even a hit on them from a boat in a clear deep lake. I'm sure it not the bait rather presentation and location.

^^^ Sam, I think alot of what you are saying applies to being a guest for a simple friendly fishing trip also. Granted you don't need all the technical knowledge for a day out but if your going to being tons of stuff onto another persons boat a certain amount of preparation should be included. But I believe you are correct as being in a tournament should be a team effort not just the sole responsibility of the boater.

I've got a couple (8-10) $30.00-40.00 swimbailts and an MS Slammer, none have seen water yet. The only pole I have that can handle heavy baits is an inexpensive Abu Garcia that can go 1.5oz. I had been thinking about something along the lines of a Mojo Bass that is 1-4 oz but that would also involve a new reel and so even carefully shopping sales it would be roughly $250.00 My plan is to actually get the reel first but it would be better for me to hold off for now as I have about 15 rods/reels and way more tackle than I have room to store. For 2016 I really want to concentrate on 2 or 3 basic approaches to things and not try to have every color, style and weight of bait possible. Finess baits, Jigs and senkos and an occasional topwater. So I'm trying to use some disclipline as I don't really need to buy a rod/reel to use 1 or 2 lures. I actually have enough tackle and baits to last me a while. It's hard though and I may need some help getting through the rough times.

A 2 cycle motor is never going to idle as smooth as a 4 stroke. Having said that, if your motor has a rough idle and you have checked everything ie: compression, air leaks in the fuel system, carbs, fuel pump, ignition, timing, so forth and it's still not right then take it to a mechanic and have him figure it out. A $500.00 repair bill is much cheaper than a $45,000.00 new boat purchase. If you borrowed $10,000.00 to buy a boat it would cost about $220.00/month every month for 4 years to pay the boat off. You might find yourself either too poor to put gas in it or feel that you must go fishing 5 days per week to justify the cost. Plus there are the usual repair and maintance costs of owning a boat. While I, and I guess all of us, admire nice, new, fully equipped boats, I don't personally want to put any kind of real pressure on myself because for me fishing is a hobby and I want to enjoy it without thinking about making a monthly payment. I acknowledge that what might be good for me may not be good for you. But I've fished in tournaments with my boat that has no debt and had a great time. This in-spite of the fact that most of the boats were bigger, faster and newer than mine. Right now I'm having a big debate with myself over electronics. I have on the bow a 7" down scan sonar and an old 5" monochrome at the console. I also have new in a box a 4" down scan with nav software that I've had for a year and a half and never installed. I wish that that was a bigger screen but that is what I have. Do I sell the 4" and buy a 7" or just use the 4"? But this is a several hundred dollar debate not a several thousand dollar debate. Still I think in the end I'm going to mount the 4" because it will, in the end, work and it's paid for. So that's my opinion.

There is a guide service at my home lake. I think they run two boats basically like a party boat. The boats are pontoon boats and from what I can see their customers are basically tourist from the NYC/ Philadelphia area, not serious fisherman. They fish live bait and the customers many times keep their fish. The boats are big and stable and they can supply rods/tackle if necessary. They can fit a bunch of people on them. I see them doing 1/2 day trips where they drop one party off at noon and take another out right away. A local pizza place delivers lunch and they eat at the ramp area which is a state park. The boats are from what I can see are maintained properly but not high end either. Some of the locals are not happy with this company as they remove a lot of fish from the lake which is <1000 acres. But it is as they say all legal. There is also at least 1 if not more kayak schools using the lake. They don't fish from the yak though. They are just taught how to use the boat and there is generally quite a bit of them in each group. We are not far from the Lehigh River which also has whitewater so the school probably gets a lot of people that want to kayak whitewater but need the skills first.

I think that 30-40 MPH is not bad on a lake and if you need to be at a certain spot on a lake at a particular time it would be cheaper to either leave to ramp earlier or find a ramp closer to your honey hole. Now if you want to go faster and you have the cash to do so then that's a different matter.

Jeff I have a 2005 50 HP Mercury 2 stroke (ELPTO). I've had it for 2 years and use it a lot. I agree with what to other poster said citing his 75 HP. The 3 cyl 2 stroke merc is never going to idle as smooth as a 4 cyl 4 stroke. That is just the nature of the beast. About 2 weeks ago I finally winterized the motor so I had to run it on the muffs. Because of work it had been 8 weeks since the motor had been run. This motor fired right up which is typical when cold and sitting for a while. But for the first 12 months I had the boat once warm or when at idle for extended periods of time the motor would lose prime. Same thing when I arrived at the fishing spot, if the motor set for an half hour I would have to pump the primer bulb to get it running. I had replaced all of the fuel lines, fuel pump, filter, tried different carb jets, on and on which helped but still not perfect. A big part of the problem was that I have two 6 gallon fuel tanks and the problems happened with both tanks so I thought the problem had to be somewhere else. Out of despiration I took both of the tanks apart and resealed them. The problems went away mostly when using 1 of the two tanks. Still some minor idle problems continued. After much head scratching I finally found a small air leak in one of the new fuel lines. Fixed that and I'm very happy now. Starts warm, holds prime, life is good. So my advice is go over the entire fuel system start to finish and make sure there are no leaks large or small. ON EDIT: I forgot to add, my opinion re: keep the boat or sell. I grew up on the Jersey Shore and we had boats let me tell you. After college I swore I would never have a boat but my wife nagged to into getting one anyway. It had been almost 40 years since I boated so it felt like I was starting all over new and some things like bow mounted TMs were new to me. Anyway, my opinion of course, I would not ever want to owe money on a boat, not even a little. There is a difference in my opinion between owing a boat and a boat owing you. Some of my friends parents when I was a kid had large boats (25-40 foot big water units) that they couldn't afford to take out. Of course we are not talking about boats that size. When I bought my 16' tin I paid cash. I can go fishing all day and use less than $20.00 fuel and usually much less than $20.00. But things do break and go wrong and even little boats can cost big money to keep afloat so given that this is a hobby, my vote is IF the boat does MOST of what require of this hobby then keep the boat and fish the daylights out of it.

2015 not a good year as far as catching fish is concerned. The good thing is I learned quite a bit about handling my boat and different presentations. 2016 season cannot get here fast enough. Freezeout hasn't started yet and so the thaw is out there somewhere somewhere. Just before I winterized my boat I made a list of spring time to do's. But for now I'm going to go through all of my tackle and sort/re-sort and organize.

2016 is going to be much better. Can't be worse than this year!

I purchased my used boat from a dealer. I paid a fair price for it, not too much, not too little. Almost as soon as I got it, I started having problems with the outboard and had it back to the dealer 5 times from August to late October. When I put it away for the winter (last year), I made sure to dealer knew I still had issues and that I would be bringing it back in the spring. I also visited the dealer a few times over the winter just to remind them that I still have problems. I spent a lot of time researching my motor and trying to understand what was causing the problem. When ice out occurred, I put the boat in the water the first possible day. The main issue I was having was still present. So, I went back over my notes and did several things to the motor that were possible causes of the problem. In the end I fixed the problem myself and had a summer (2015) of basically issue free boating. I did at mid season replace the a few items on the motor and tightened the fuel lines. So I glad I got this from a dealer but in the end I actually fixed the motor myself. The people at the dealer are ok with me asking questions and I do ask a lot of them.

Sorry but the SS Minnow has already been taken.

Personally, if I were to judge my enjoyment of this pastime based on the amount of and size of the fish I catch then I would be forced to find another hobby. Yes, I want to be a good angler and yes I'm willing to put in the time. But getting outside and on the water is a reward in itself. If you fish the same basic area often then you will make friends and this will most likely be of a great help. Also, your local tackle shop may be of help, they should be able to tell you where the fish are at a particular time of the year and what bait and presentation to use. An earlier poster mentioned live bait, this is a very good idea. Speaking for myself, I have little trouble making friends. But I have to admit that I'm a bit intimidated at the thought of joining a club. I have fished a few tournaments and have enjoyed myself though. My collection of books is quite large but one in particular is my go to when trying to decide on what to do on a particular day. This is actually a 3 volume set, the In-Fisherman Critical Concepts (vol. 1-3) for largemount bass. It is up to date and cover a lot of different locations. You may be able to find a deal on Amazon. You might consider this set of books for your library. I wish you the best in your retirement. I could retire myself at almost anytime but I really want to keep going for another 10 years. No more than 10 and when I do i plan to do as you are, fishing and pistol shooting/handloading ammo, working on my home and in the garage and generally trying to stay out of Mrs thomas15s hair.

I thought you were implying that you would need to have a welder fabricate an extended ball mount. If you are going to all that trouble why not ask the same welder to fabricate a swing tongue? It doesn't have to be an complex thing as your trailer is quite light.

Install an extended swing tongue to your trailer. This way it will fit in your garage and you will not have to change ball mounts.

Nothing really works for me.

Hate to say it but I think this is the weekend that I winterize the boat. : (

I keep my plastics in the original package. The ones that I'm going to be taking on a fishing excursions go into one of those little duffle bags that I got from renewing my BASS membership, the rest I put into 6 quart plastic shoe boxes. Sometimes I put a shoebox or two into one of the storage compartments in my boat. The shoe boxes are designated with "4-7" worm, finess, creature, craw, and so forth. I have one labeled "Beltzville" which are the ones I bought especally for the local mud puddle.

My boat is a 16 foot aluminum. It's not exactly a "Bass Boat" but close. It has a live well, a platform in the bow plus a TM with foot controls and a bicycle seat also. I'm going to put a small platform in the stern with a seat for the co-fisherman. As it is now, a when fishing with a second person I pull the passenger seat and they fish standing from the floor which isn't as bad as it sounds. The boat has a 50 HP 2 stroke, not the fastest but on a good day I can get 36 MPH out of it. There are two sonars, one at the console and one at the bow. I can fish tournaments with this and have done a few. Compared to some of the rigs around here it's not much but I have no debt on it and my actual cash outlay at this point is about 6K including trailer. I can pull this rig with my Ranger 1/2 ton or my better half's Escape. I can launch and reload this boat by myself no problem. The only things I would improve on is more storage space, a little more beam and of course a bit more speed. And a few more feet longer and better electronics and a more powerful TM... just kidding the boat always puts a smile on my face! Speaking of Trolling Motors, my TM is a Minn Kota All Terrain (Edge). It is a 40 pound thrust 12V TM. When I'm actually using it while fishing I have it set on 2 (out of 5). I have been out on that boat all day and half the evening and using the one battery which also powers one of my sonars, it not only moves the boat but I have still more than 50% battery left. I say this because I think it is easy to get yourself convinced that you need a 24-36V system with 80+ pounds of thrust. Maybe on a 20' glass but not on a 16' tin. We have a canoe, its a Grumman Aluminum that we have had for 25+ years. I have fished from it but could never convince myself to turn it into a fishing machine. I would not do it without outriggers but still I think a canoe is too small unless you are fishing alone, have one already or are limited to a canoe because that is all you can afford or your lake will not allow a boat. I would personally rather have a small 12-14 foot jon or v boat for fishing than a canoe.

From 1986 until 2004 we lived in Little Egg Harbor, literally right around the corner from Scotts Bait and Tackle. Really miss that store, bought lots o tackle and some Black Powder stuff also. Very fine folks, they actually got me started fishing for catfish. Little Egg is one of the best places on the planet for spring/fall stripers. But I'm not complaining, NE PA is a great place to raise a family.

Grew up on the Jersey Shore. We had boats and I fished a lot and generally brought something home. When my kids were little we decided to get them started on fresh water. We had the most luck catching Yellow Perch and Catfish. Over time I started trying to catch LMB. It was a struggle to get that first one but after the ice was broken I generally was quite lucky. 11 years ago we moved to NE PA. The first year I fished a few time and had zero luck. Then I didn't even try for about 8 or 9 years until last year I bought a little boat. Caught nothing at all last summer but things got better this year. Still it is not easy here in PA, very frustrating. Honestly, I'm really thinking about giving up LMB and trying to catch something else or perhaps take up recreational drinking.

I think this thread has cured me of any desire to fish from a yak.