thomas15

We were out on the water for about 2 hours today. Now I'm thinking it's time to get the seafoam out. Seriously, I will have my wessel tucked in for the long night within the next three weeks. I hope to get out at least one more time but it's getting close to the end of the season for this camper.

A few swimbailts and a couple of topwaters: Jackall Giron RT Orginal Belly Bluegill Jackall Giron SG Threadfin Lucky Craft Real Ayu 178 Half Metallic Ayu Megabass Pop Max Pumpkinseed Megabass Pop Max GP Pro Blue 2

I'm going to whittle down on the number of kinds of baits I use. I think it's gonna be Jigs, drop shot, topwaters and swimbaits. So that means less use of spinners and cranks. I'm also go replace one of my sonar units and really learn how to use the electronics I have. Finally I'm going to replace most of the seats in my boat, not because they are beat up but I want to have a comfortable and useful fishing boat. I intend to budget more time on the water.

I live less than a mile from the Pine Run ramp at Beltzville. Just finishing my second year and totally understand your frustration. I would say that I catch 1 Bass for every 15 hours of trying. And like you I have all kinds of book knowledge and way more than $500.00 worth of lures. I can say this with certainty that Beltzville is stuffed with bass and nice sized ones at that. There are tournaments there quite a bit and I have seen with my own eyes what that lake can produce in a day. During the spawn they were in the shallows at the top of the lake, thick as fleas. The curse of Beltzville is that it's hard to 1. find the fish and 2. get them to react. That lake is very highly pressured from recreational boats as it is one of the few unlimited HP lakes in the area. Also, the lake is quite deep with steep banks and cool clear water. Finally the lake is packed with bait fish (alewives). I have taken less experienced anglers than me fishing and they have boated a few where I have done nothing. Live bait is what did it for them. Another thing is we think the bass should be in the shallows, they are not. In the summer find the outside weed edge on the main body of the lake, fish the entire water column down to 20 feet. There are weeds at 16 feet all over that lake. My plan for next year is after the spawn use only three kinds of lures, not sure what they will be yet but I want to limit the variables. During the spawn use finess drop shot. Again I'm no expert Beltzville is a frustrating lake. I have myself convinced that just being on the water is much better than cleaning out the garage or stuck in traffic on Rt 22 and this is how I keep myself plugging away at it.

Oh lucky me, I ordered my first Magabass lure (decided it was time) from TW, it arrived early in the week. Vision 110 FX Tour Premium in Pro Blue. Haven't tried it yet, haven't taken it out of the box even. Looks nice though, I hope a bass decides to eat it. Fairly expensive lure.

Here is my latest purchase.... Tried everything to get them orientated correctly to no avail. First megabass and evergreen purchase. A River2Sea and Lucky Craft. Also going to try out the ned rig.

I restarted bass fishing last year after a 15+ year break. I have the same problem you do. Last year was awful, this year a bit better. In the past I bank fished but last year we bought a small boat and this is what brought me back to bass. The kids are grown and I have a bit more money but not more time. I think the biggest mistake I made this year was trying too many different kinds of presentations. Next year I'm slimming down on the variety but in all honesty, I love to buy fishing gear.

This reminds me. Last weekend I wanted to move my air compressor 3 feet, install it on top of 4 x 4s and replace the water drain with a ball valve that extends out from under the tank for easy draining. Nothing went well and what should have been an easy 30 minute job took 5 hours. New regulator, new filter, a bunch of brass fittings and some 10/2 AWG romex.

I don't think it can be said enough that the cost of the actual boat is only the beginning. My boat is a fairly simple tin and not in bad shape but it seems like there is always something abit something small that needs to be fixed or replaced. Small thing I know but before it goes in the water next I have to figure out why the right trun signal on the trailer doesn't work. Might be the bulb, might be the wiring, will have to see. Every time I think that my 16' tin is a bit small I remind myself that an 18' glasser would mean getting a heftier tow vehicle. So $15K for a new boat and $25K or there abouts for a new vehicle is the actual cost. And yet the largest lake around here is 6K acres, my local pond is 1K acres, I can get 35mph out of my boat on a lake that has a 45 mph max speed. That's good enough and I have no debt on this craft. Having said this having the boat has really increased my enjoyment of the sport and I don't have any regrets.

Not too long ago I bought an MS Slammer. Prior to that I would wince at paying $8.00 for a lure. Since the Slammer purchase I've kinda decided that paying more might be worth it in the long run. I hate to loose a $3.00 lure but I also hate not using a lure because I'm afraid to lose it. Sometimes it's hard to keep this pastime in perspective money-wise. My gear and even my boat are modest in comparison to some but still 10 years ago I wouldn't have even considered investing the money I have in my gear now. So now I have several $20.00+ lures and appreciate the workmanship and action. really surprised at the lifelike action of my Spro BBZ-1 which is right at the $20.00 mark. Really love those baits. I guess I don't mind paying more for a good bait if it works.

The days of my youth were the opposite. We lived on the Jersey Shore and fished almost every day as long as it wasn't raining or snowing. Mostly salt water or if fresh, it was stocked trout in rivers. I didn't do any bass fishing until my kids were old enough to go so I had to teach myself how to do the bass thing. After a while I got to be fairly good a pounding the banks, I thought I knew how to do this. Well, because of other things in life I stopped fishing for almost 15 years. In that time we moved to PA, too far to fish in the Manasquan River! So last summer we bought our little boat and off to the races for me. We started in late July last year and I fished from August till it was too cold (probably around the last week of October) without a single fish in the boat. Over the winter I read everything I could and added much to my tackle collection. As soon as the ice melted last spring (literally three days after it actually melted) I was out there in search of a fish. I have done better this year, I mean how can you do worse than catching nothing? Generally though I get something for my efforts but in the last two or three outings nothing. I know the fish are out there and in my head I believe they are in deep. But for some reason I hesitate to go deeper than 16-18 feet. It appears to me that Large Mouth Bass are particular, sort of like cats. If they are not interested then well, they are not interested. When they want to play then they play. Having a boat, nice as it is, hasn't increased the numbers of fishes I reel in. In fact, in the good old days I actually did better. But it's worth it because getting out on the water, with 6 fishing poles, three tackle bags stuffed with tackle and a dry livewell, is in fact, still better than being at work. Just keep trying my brother, keep working that bait. You will get it.

I don't know what it is but I want one

Welcome to the forum Bpett

Placed an order on Friday the 4th will get it on Monday the 14th which is fine as far as I'm concerned.

Good question. I'm up to my eyeballs in both shooting and fishing but my shooting budget is a mere shadow to that of fishing. But it's hard to imagine giving either of them up. Even as I write this I'm having an argument with myself, do I finish my reloading bench this weekend or do I go fishing? Of course the only correct answer is: do both!

Personally I always use an ethanol stabolizer, the Mercury brand Quickare #1 is available at Walmart for about 6 or 7 dollars and treats 150 gallons. When you get ready to put your boat up for the winter your fuel system will be protected and all you will need is to fog your motor with something like Seafoam. The TC-W3 2 cycle oil you will use does a good job of protecting the moving parts. If you start out with a clean fuel system, use good fuel and maintain everything and use your boat enough to keep fresh fuel in the tank and carbs then you really shouldn't have any problems with the fuel delivery system. Now that I have my fuel system working properly and the motor adjusted correctly (took a while) it is a joy to use (mine is a 2005 Mercury 50 HP). Just so you know, most if not all of the 3 cyl Mercury 2 strokes are not the smoothest at idle or slow speed. Nature of the beast. No additive is going to smooth out that idle!

Unlimited horsepower?

Time to: Bust Out Another Thousand Ask me how I know? Good luck with your new ride!

I just happened to be on TW and put some YUM Dingers in my shopping cart. So I would day just now or right now is a good time to buy tackle I hope.

My best fishing this year has been using 4" swing impacts in green pumpkin drop shotting.

You are welcome. And you remind me, I need to block off a day from work also to go fishing, and nothing but fishing. The summer is getting on and I don't fish through the ice. Too many projects, too few fishing trips. sigh...

Next time you are in the area stop in at the Wacky Worm on Rt 209 in Gilbert. This is just south of Broadheadsville. You might want to google them for their hours they are closed on Sundays and I think Mondays. They are very knowledgeable on the area and have a great selection of plastics and misc tackle. I don't wan't do discourage you from the area as it has many good points. But there are a few issues.

I agree with you. The only exception was/is when I go fishing with my kids (they are now 24 and 21 years old). When Mrs thomas15 wants to go out, I'm good. lets go! Neil McCauley. also I agree with you. I'm have a heck of a hard time figuring out a local lake and one of my friends is always wanting to go out. He doesn't know what he is doing and seems to think it's easy. It's not easy and I really don't appreciate the attitude. I spend hours planning my attack, selecting location, presentation, time so forth and to my friend it's fishing it cannot possibly be hard. I don't have a complex, it's just I don't enjoy making umpteen numbers of suggestions to someone who has no clue when I'm having my own problems trying to figure things out.

Not very often that I get annoyed with myself.

I hope so too my friend. I've also noticed that my Mercury doesn't care for 87 octane fuel, 89 or higher is needed.