thomas15

I put the SS Minnow in the Beltz for about an hour Sunday Evening. Got a tad chilly but everything went well. Didn't do any fishing though. The A town Hawghunters had their tourney earlier in the day. I guess the fishing wasn't too good.

Looks good for the weekend. I'm going to try to get out one of those two days but I have a lot on the agenda and a few items that need to be taken care of on the boat. I had to go over to see the docks In place for myself last night. They are in, the pictures don't lie!

Dyna7329, They must have place the docks in today as they were not in last evening. Plus, there was still a lot of ice looking in the direction of the dam. I don't see any in you pic!

Thanks for the information. You may be hearing from me. I stopped over there and it is possible that it will be open by the weekend. Lots of open water now.

My boat is a Tin StarCraft P16 with a 50 HP Mercury. I believe it is roughly the same size and weight as the Pro17 others have spoken about. I pull mine with either a Ford Escape with a 4 cyl or a Ford Ranger with a 4.0 ltr 6 cyl. If I'm staying local the Escape is used. But anything over an hour I use the Ranger. But both pull it fine. We are in the hills of NE PA by the way. I don't know if I would use a small FWD car to pull it though.

I went over to Beltzville on Friday 4/3/15 to test out an old pair of hip boots (for Trout opening day in Lehigh county). There was enough open water to test the boots but that was it. No where near enough open water to launch a boat. Ice did seem to be getting thin though. Hopefully with temps in the 50s and 60s this week, perhaps it will be boatable next weekend. I took the cover off the SS Minnow and woke up the outboard. It lives!

I checked my local lake, still ice 100% coverage. We received a few inches of snow today and the evening temps will be below freezing for the next few days. I put ice out at the earliest April 11, but probably will be closer to the 20th. Amazing.

I'm just up the road in Carbon County. Been in PA for 11 years so I feel you pain. Did you get any snow today? We got 2 inches!

Good for you! Still iced over here in NEPA

Wish you the best with your boat! I have a 2005 Starcraft PT160 (Tinboat). My boat isn't a "Bass Boat" as such but has a platform on the bow and works as needed. It isn't as big as yours (16 foot) and has a 50 HP Mercury, I get 35 MPH out of it so your boat should clip right along. I think Starcraft is a great boat, they really are nice/well made. Now, if only the ice would melt.

Can't help you with finding your part Jim but I'm sure something will pop up. When I was a kid, we had a 1952 fastwin 14HP. Basically the same motor. We used it on our 14 foot wood flat bottom bay skiff. With just me in the boat (don't forget I was a wee lad at the time), the boat would actually get up on a plane. The motor really ran and ran. A couple of random thought about the motor, since my brother and me were small, the only way we could start the motor ourselves was to put it in reverse, which would lock the motor in the down position. This allowed us to pull the cord with both hands. The other big thing, even back then 1968 and on, the motor was louder than most 100 HP outboards of the day. That motor was really loud as I remember. There was some kind of coating on the float in the gas tank, for the fuel level indicator. One time we (my dad me and my brother) were in the Shark River Inlet (Belmar NJ), just returning from being off shore. Some of the coating on the float decided to separate from the float and this material got caught up in the fuel system. We made it in but the motor surged then almost died numerous times. All it took was flushing out the system but I remember being quite concerned for a while. We also had a 1948 Evinrude Zepher. That was a direct drive 5.4 HP (4 cylinder) motor. Neither myself or my brother had the upper body strength to pull start that motor. on edit: Don't forget that that motor is NOT a 50:1 oil/fuel mixture. And of course the above is correct, the tank is pressurized. The thumb plunger on top of the tank is used to pressurize the tank when you first start out. Post a pic when you get a chance.

A meat grinder for your moss bunkers. You know, to create a chum slick.

About 28 deg now. I checked our local puddle (Beltzville) it's still frozen over.

May I ask what makes a swim jig a "swim jig"? How is it different to a regula skirted football (or other shape) style jig? I see there are also vertical line tie and horizontal line tie jigs. How/why/when?

I have the same unit:The Elite-4 HDI but haven't mustered up the courage to install it (got it last summer). Having read through the manual and read everything I can on the matter, my understanding is thus relative to the OP: Here we go... to get the best result in fresh water the OP should have Lowrance P/N 000-10976-001 HDI Transducer 83/200 & 455/800 This transducer will give both conventional sonar and down scan. The unit can overlay both images for the "Hybride Double Imaging". I'm I correct on this?

Question: I notice that some Lowrance units come with dual 83/200 455/800 KHz HDI transducers. I think the "HDI" stands for "Hybrid Dual Imaging". OK, but do these transducers perform down imaging or will the user need the optional 83/200 KHz transducer mentioned above to solve the OPs problem? Thanks.

Thanks Sun Fish. Very good information and the video is great. I think I know that exact spot you are fishing. I've tried it a few times but closer to shore and not on top waters. I probably fished that area the Friday before you made that video. Thanks again. I have much to learn.

Question: Do you look for bass on structure in the main body of the lake or way up in the shallows in the arms and the coves? Should I focus on deep holding fish?

Let us know how well it works for you.

I was talking to an individual who is knowledgable on the winter conditions with respect to fishing through the ice and he said the winter season was very good. And I have to say I'm very happy that the water level is back up. I live literally right around the corner from the Pine Run Boat ramp and seeing it every day soo low was quite depressing. At one point there was less than 30 feet of ramp left. Now the level is at the full mark, 120 feet of ramp. Dyna, how well do you know Beltzville? I've lived in Franklin Twp for 11 years but never fished it until last year. I guess I'm asking if you would be willing to give me some direction?

Welcome back. I also returned (last year) to fishing after about 10 years off. Same reason... life. A word of caution: stay away from that bait monkey. He is worse than you can ever imagine.

Welcome I'm in Carbon County, to the east of you somewhat.

This is Beltzville last evening (3/17/15) at around 6:15PM. About a foot of water showing at the ramp. The shoreline is frozen to the edge. The Ice was recorded in some places as deep as 23". The good news is that the water level is back to normal. On Edit: It might be a little early to take the cover off the SS Minnow. Friday's weather forcast (3/20/15..Hey, that's the first day of Spring...) Another storm system will affect the area on Friday with snow arriving during the morning and lasting into the evening hours. Snow probabilities for Friday: Chances for 1-3": 60% Chances for 3-5": 30% Chances for <1": 10%

12 packages of Berkley Power Baits, shakey head and finess. 10 pack of shakey head jigs 6 hair jigs, various colors Got some soft swim baits, a couple of umbrella rigs, some scents, sinkers, assorted hooks and a few boat items on the way. I'm ready now.

I wait. (For the Ice to melt)