thomas15

I'm just getting started with plastic swimbaits. Haven't got any mend-it but will get some post haste.

Collect em' all! It took quite a bit of effort on my part to get proficient at a bait casting set up but at this point I use it more than half the time. Glad I have both to choose from.

Does WalMart carry Rage Craws?

I seem to go in cycles. I fish heavy for a few years then go dormant for a few. The start over again. Right now I'm in a fishing kind of mood. So I'm fishing a few local Buddy Tournaments this year mainly to force myself to really work on finding where the Bass are and trying to hone a few basic angling skills for when the bite is non-existant. I have no expectations of winning, to me winning is having a good time and getting better at this sport. Some might think that I have a defeatist attitude but such is not the case. I know that I don't know a whole lot about Bass fishing in deep clear water impoundments that have heavy pressure. I'm willing to pay my dues though. Also, electronics are new to me as is the trolling motor.

Don't know anything about the Abu Garcia rig but the Pf. Trion combo goes for $59.00 at the big box stores, even wally world carries it. It is a good combo for the money.

Don't do this to me! Just kidding. I'm trying to branch out into swimbaits and swim jigs. I have a bunch of Netbait swim jigs ready to try, however I don't know anyone who uses them so I'm just going to experiment with them. I was thinking that the Keitech plastics ordered above might work but I have other plastics and some pork also. In the past crankbaits and spinnerbaits have been my lure of choice but I'm beginning to appreciate the drop shot as my local mudpuddle is tough to fish. In recent past TW orders not reported to this support group, I landed a collection of shakey heads but have yet to use them. Oh, and true confessions, I just purchased a Bogagrip (315) and Ranger Pro Series rubber landing net. There, now, I feel much better. Anyway, I want to put one more TW order together before winter (the budget has been totally blown for the year--bait monkey is to blame). I'm going to consider more Keitech swimbaits for sure.

From Tackle Warehouse received on Wed.: 1/Slammer Handcrafted Bait Bluegill 7" 3/Keitech Swing Impact Black 4" 3/Keitech Swing Impact Green Pumpkin PP.4" 3/Keitech Swing Impact Silver Flash Minnow 4" 1/Keitech Swing Impact Watermelon Blue Flk 3" 1/Live Impact Green Pumpkin PP. 4" 1/Live Impact Bluegill 4" 2/Keitech Crazy Flapper Black Cherry 3.6" 2/Keitech Crazy Flapper Green Pumpkin 3.6" 1/Live Impact Black 4" 1/Hightail Holeshot Shakey Worm Junebug 7" 1/Hightail Holeshot Shakey Worm Red Bug 7" 1/Hightail Holeshot Shakey Worm Watermelon Candy Eagle Claw Trailer Hook 1/0 Eagle Claw Trailer Hook 2/0 Gamakatsu EWG Weighted Hook 1/16oz 4/0 Gamakatsu EWG Weighted Hook 1/8oz 4/0 KVD HC Flat Side Chart Perch 1.5 KVD HC Flat Side Clearwater Minnow 1.5 KVD HC Flat Side Sexy Shad 1.5 Strike King KVD HC Crankbait Clear Sexy Shad 2.5 Strike King KVD HC Crankbait Firetiger 2.5 Strike King KVD HC Crankbait Natural Shad 2.5 1/Strike King Pro Crank Series 1 Firetiger 1/Strike King Pro Crank Series 1 Sexy Shad 1/Strike King Pro Crank Series 1 Sexy Sunfish 3/Wild Eye Swim Shad Baby Bass 3" 4/Wild Eye Swim Shad Chart. Silver 4" 4/Wild Eye Swim Shad Shad 4" 3/Wild Eye Swim Shad Yellow Perch 3" 4/Wild Eye Swim Shad Baby Bass 4" 4/Wild Eye Swim Shad Bluegill 4" The Keitech Swing Impact is highlighted because after 6 hours of nothing, I tied on on and within 5 minutes put one on the boards. Within a half hour pulled a lunker out the the deep. First time using anything by Keitech. Drop shot in 8 feet BTW.

I was afraid that might be the problem.

You also need to establish a line of credit.

I just went out and checked my inventory of plastics. Out of probably 200 unopened and/or almost filled packages of plastics I have no rage claws. Is this possibly the reason I have an empty livewell? I do have craws from other makers. Are these no good? Are the fish that particular?

Have you considered either Fairfield county/Danbury, CT or Northern NJ? I'm in PA and have a lake literally right around the corner from me but if I want to catch fish I have to travel 1 to 1.5 hours.

Hey Adam. Welcome to the forum.I grew up in Belmar and we lived in Little Egg Harbor (Tuckerton) for 20 years before moving to NE PA in 2004. I worked in Lakewood from 1983 until moving. Most of my bass fishing was in ponds, there is a small pond right across from where my company was located on Cedar Bridge and Oberlin Ave. South that I fished during lunch break. I never actually fished the Manasquan Res., it didn't exist when I was a kid! And quite frankly bass fishing took a back seat to the huge variety of fishing available as you know. In Little Egg we mainly fished Stafford Forge for cats when my kids were young. Anyhow, one good thing about NJ is the fishing. I find it harder here in PA, my home pond (Beltzville) is very tough. Nice here otherwise.

Welcome back to bass fishing artrigis91. I was in your exact same position about a year ago. Thankfully I had 2 spinning rigs and a baitcaster from about 15 years ago. As of today in addition to the above mentioned sets, I've added another spinning outfit and 4 bait casters. Plus a lot of tackle and other goodies. I think I have made up for the lost 15 years in tackle purchases but that's another topic. The Pfleuger outfit is in my opinion a good buy. I have the Trion ML 6' for finess and for the money it is nice. While I think that if you are going to use your gear often then it pays to get good stuff and the $60.00 I paid is I think as low as you can go if your going to fish often. Don't forget to pick up good line, if you are using top waters then mono will work, if going deep you may consider floro. You can get good deals on plastics at walmart and even some good terminal tackle deals. One other thing there is a mountain of good information on this website that is free. The forums are good but don't forget to check out the articles and videos.

Hey Rob welcome!

I would have to say that back up on the ramp was the high stress aspect of getting started boating. One thing to you might try is putting one hand at the bottom or the steering wheel and point your thumb in the direction you want the trailer to go. Turn the wheel in the direction your thumb is pointing. Go slow and as other have said don't be afraid to pull forward and start again. Think about what you need to do and how to do it before you start moving. If you are using an SUV as a tow vehicle it may be helpful to put the back seats down and open the liftgate. If you have a pickup, lower the tailgate. Use your side-view mirrors. Backing up with your trailer is not as hard as you might imagine but it does take some practice. I would say it was about the 10th time doing it that I began to feel comfortable. Now in my second year I know that I can do it in just about any situation and with other boats on the ramp but I still make mistakes. As another poster stated don't forget the plug. Also don't forget to have the outboard in the raised position going up and down the ramp. You will see long streaks in the ramp pavement where boaters pull their boats out forgetting to raise the motor.

Good luck with your new project. I'm considering a boat rehab in the future. The main thing you should determine is the condition of the transom core and the hull stringers. Both are wood covered with fiberglass. Also, there should be some type of foam under the deck, this gives the boat structural strength and keeps it from sinking if it gets swamped. The foam needs to be inspected to make sure it isn't full of water. Most likely the only way to find out is to rip up the deck. If you find soft spots on the deck, you will have to do this anyway. What I'm trying to say is you need to make an honest and informed assessment of what you have. You can spend many hours reading about individual hull repairs and restorations here: http://forums.iboats.com/forum/boat-repair-and-restoration/boat-restoration-building-and-hull-repair For the motor, here is a good place to start: http://forums.iboats.com/forum/engine-repair-and-maintenance/mercury-mariner-outboards Trailer info here: http://forums.iboats.com/forum/general-boating-outdoors-activities/trailers-and-towing Main forum directory here: http://forums.iboats.com/ I'm in no way connected with anything marine or internet based business but I found that the above forum to be a treasure to the boat fixer-upper. Other places I'm sure on the web no doubt but some of the posters go into great detail and post many pictures of their work in progress. That particular forum is sponsored by a boat/parts retailer for full disclosure. If you need parts for your motor or would just like to see a parts diagram, try boats.net. Click of Mercury and then put your motor serial number in and this will access what you need to know. You have a huge project ahead of you. If you take the time to check out the above and join them it is possible that you will find the information and encouragement you need to do this. You may also determine that the scope of work is beyond your willingness to commit to. Personally I hope you continue and get her back ship shape!

We lived on the Jersey Shore and fished both salt and fresh water. My first rod/reel was a boat pole that I received for my 6th birthday. The pole as a Sears fiberglass rod and the reel was a Penn Long Beach 65. I still have the reel and even the box it came in but the pole is long gone. That reel is 51 years old! When I was about 8 or 9 and starting to fish fresh water my parents gave us each a Diawa light weight spinning combo. It worked for a while but wasn't very good quality, I think it cost about $3.00 at the time. I liked using a spinning rig but hated my particular set up. For many years I equated Diawa with inexpensive stuff. Then over the next several years I went through a progression of ultra light rigs working up to finally getting a Garcia Conolin 5 star with a Mitchell 308 reel. That set up put me in fishing pole heaven! I used my paper route money to buy this. I no longer have any of that stuff, but when I was in college I went to the local department store (Hechts in Clarksburg WV) and bought a Hechts (Berkley) 6' spinning combo, forget what reel, probably around $15.00. That was about 38 years ago. I still have that pole which has a old Shimano reel that I found at a lake one day. The last time I used that pole was just last night at my first bass tournament. I did and still do love to buy and collect fishing tackle.

I fished my first tournament tonight. It was a local buddy tournament, cost $25.00 to enter per boat. A friend went with me. Although we used my boat I let him take the bow and I co angled. There were 30 boats entered. We weighed fish and I had a great time. Another thing is that once I got going my fishing was much more focused than normal and I think i added about twenty feet to my normal casting range. My time to tie on a new bait also got a lot faster. I made some mistakes and learned a lot. I will certainly do it again it was a lot of fun.

You may have a point. It took me quite a long time to get fairly good with a baitcaster. I literally spent hours upon hours practicing in the yard.

I'm planning to spend the day at the pack, Friday June 26. I haven't been there and have no idea what to expect, where to fish or what to even fish for (LMB or SMB). I have a few charts and have read a few things on the interwebs though. We are going to approach the lake from the south and would like opinions on which ramp to use. Expect to be at the lake at daybreak. My boat is capable of using the DCNR ramp and traveling to the southern end but would it make sense to pay to use the fee to use one of the PPL ramps? Should I fish for smallies or LMB? And what bait and techniques are working at this time? Thanks in advance....

As I said I second guessed myself for a while. But in the end, I noticed that some of the pros (KVD for example) cast with their right hand then switch to the left. I also concluded that since most people in the general population are right handed and most reels have the crank on the right side, then probably most right handers cast with their right hand and switch for the crank.

Something to consider. When I got my first bait caster I wasn't thinking about flipping or pitching. But now I do both. Holding the rod in my left hand, the bait in my right, I flip. Then I can reel in with my now free right hand without changing hands.

There seems to be some debate on this topic, should a right handed person cast with the right hand and then switch hands and crank with the right? When I purchased my first bait caster I thought about this and finally decided to go with a right hand cast, switch hands, so I got a right hand crank. I made the decision based on the fact that at the time I had a few Zebco spin cast rods for the kids and that was the set up. After I brought it home I began to question the decision so I watched a lot of bass on TV and some of the pros switch hands, some don't. So now I have 4 bait casters and find that it is no problem switching hands. I bought a bait caster for my brother to give as a gift. He is a lefty and hasn't tried a baitcaster yet. I got him a right hand crank because has always fished with the same gear I have and even shoots a rifle right handed. So we shall see

Good. Now get out and catch some fish!

^^^Exactly right!^^^