thomas15

At my local mudhole (Beltzville Lake) we complain about how difficult it is to catch LMB and it is. It's difficult for us because we use artificial bait. Those who use live bait do catch them with ease. There are several guide services that run pontoons like a party boat. Their main customers are from Philadelphia and those customers keep their fish so I don't feel that we need to take any more because I feel that they have got us covered.

I'm in Carbon and fish Beltzville. I was off today and wanted to do some work on the boat and hopefully get it in the water this weekend. Not going to happen. I wanted to replace the waterpump and had been trying to get the shift linkage to separate, did everything (penatrating oil, heat so forth) finally the shaft broke, So I had to order some parts and I found out the water pump I ordered a year ago is not the right one. Anyway I went over to Beltzville this afternoon. Me nothing, but some dude caught a nice one about 100 feet from where I was fishing. So I'm just a bit bummed that's all.

I bought about 3 or 4 MBs to try and after reading this thread I cannot wait since everyone seems to like them so much. I have three POP MAX and one Ito Vision 110 FX tour premium.

I've been trying to make a decision on one, this thread is not helping.

TedderX I hope you realize these guys are just messing with you. There are lots of tackle/gear/boat/fish pictures here but most have so much tackle they need a bus to transport it to the lake. I'm a 4th tier piker and have 4 plano soft bags with the main compartments filled, they each hold (4) 3700 series plastic boxes and most of my bags have additional plastic boxes stuffed in the side compartments. I have more excess and overflow tackle today than I had total 4 years ago. I could probably make it to the end of my life without making another visit to a tackle store but that's probably not gonna happen, I have some line and another wopper plopper due to be delivered on Monday. This hobby borders on sickness. I keep my spinner baits and buzz baits in yet another separate spinner bait box and I cram about 100 plastics bags into a duffle. I have well over 1000 bags of plastics and again I'm a piker. But the beauty of bass fishing is you can be very successful with just a few inexpensive tackle items and having a bunch of stuff sometimes makes things worse because you can never find things and sometimes it's just too hard to make a decision on what to use. Welcome to the forum TedderX. You mods are actually quite nice and I thank you for sharing them.

It is good that you are asking for opinions and advice and more importantly taking it.

Strike King Bitsy Bug jig 1/4 with NetBait Paca Chunk both in Green pumkin. I didn't go to catch anything rather just to cast a few and smoke a cigar (Rocky Patel Decade Robusto). Off the bank where I don't think there were any basses in attendance. I'm planning on launching the SS Minnow this weekend and will probably start off with a shaky head or swim Jig or a jerk bait.

My wife has a Sun Dolphin not sure of the model sit inside and my son has an Old Town. Neither are used for fishing. We store the two in a rack inside our shed and the two compared side by side is quite a contrast. The Old Town is just so much nicer but more expensive. But my wife is a casual user and my son uses his on class 3 whitewater. I'm saying this assuming that you are moving past the Sun Dolphin but just to reassure you that time and patience Is, in the long run, a virtue. Save your money up and get more pleasure on the water.

This is probably the closest to absolute truth outside of the words of the Holy Bible.

Not to offend... The Ladies and Children, nice as they are, will probably not have the patience required to go through the nitty gritty of your list of things to look at when you go inspect the boat. But if you feel that they must be involved this experience, is the time. When you go for the test drive you will need to be concentrating on about one hundred things that are totally new to you. You do not need to be thinking about anything else but the boat and how to do things specific to that boat. You (and the owner, Mrs, and son) will probably not all fit in the boat anyway so having them there serves no real good purpose. I'm not trying to offend anyone but rather being completely honest. They are not going to be any help getting the boat off the trailer and operating the boat once in the water and reloading once you are finished. These are tasks that you will have to perform all by yourself anyway. You will have to consider your spouse and child, nice as they are, to be basically bystanders for at least the time being. All of us can tell you stories about adult relationships that completely dissolve at the launch ramp. When you take them out for the first time, you would be doing yourself a tremendous favor by knowing exactly what you are doing and what needs to be done. You are the one who will have to remember to put the plug in, I guarantee that neither of them are going to be thinking about it. You should be able to do the whole thing, start to finish, by yourself and with confidence. If you cannot do this your collective experience will suffer... a lot. Hopefully you will have years of time to experience the great outdoors together as a family unit. Me and my brother were taking small boats out into the Atlantic Ocean by ourselves at age 13 but at that point we had years of boating experience. Still, when I purchased my first bass boat, it took me more than one trip to get the hang of fishing for bass in shallow water with a bow mounted foot controlled trolling motor and sonar. You got a lot to learn so learning at lest some of it before you add the overhead of the rest of the family is I think prudent. But you are the skipper not me.

You might not but I would. And it wouldn't be me trailering the boat, it would be the seller. If he want's to sell it he will do what the buyer insists on. He want's your money, you want his boat. He is not doing you any favors taking your money. There are literally millions of used boats on the market not just one or two. Go over and see the boat. If you like what you see then arrange to meet him at the lake 40 miles away at convenience of both of you. Tell him to bring the titles and a bill of sale. Go out, test the boat let him show you how everything works. If everything is ok exchange money for boat. Simple. I cannot stress this enough, go by yourself.

Plan on getting boat insurance. It's not that expensive.

One other thing, you being a newcomer to boating will have to spend some time learning how to operate your boat before you head out for a fun day of fishing. There are a lot of things you simply don't know and will have to learn, from trailering the boat, launch ramp operations, rules of the waterway, how not to get lost on the water, basic how to act in a boat things. One little thing you may not know is just exactly how much fuel an outboard motor consumes. More than you might think. You have a 6 gallon fuel tank, once it's empty your dead in the water. Always always always know how much fuel you have and how much you need to get back to the ramp. Your welcome.

You will only have a fun fishing adventure if your vessel doesn't leak and your motor runs properly. If it leaks or is otherwise compromised or if the motor has issues then your adventures will turn out to be sheer misery. Sorry if that offends but you are asking for friendly advice and we are trying to do the right thing. You might not appreciate the advice anymore than we appreciate spending the time to educate you. There really is not a whole lot in this for us.

I'm going to agree with Kevin22. As I mentioned earlier I have a 2005 StarCraft. Mine is laid out a bit different, there are some plusses and minuses between the two Starcrafts, I will just say that they are solid little boats. I'm not sure if the 1999 above has a live well, it looks like a live well inlet on the transom. My live well in positioned on the bow platform and there are two hatches there also for storage. The hatches lead to a connected storage space and it has a place for the trolling motor battery between them. So the wiring from the battery to the TM may not be very difficult to set up. I thought my bow fishing platform was small until I looked at the pictures for the 1999 model. Regardless storage space is a problem on this size boat, just saying. One of the upgrades on my boat compared to the 1999, not that it really matters is the 1999 is riveted instead of welded. Use this as a bargaining tool. I mentioned earlier that the space between the transom and the console on mine is small because the console is far astern. This is not the case with the 1999 model, so that is a plus. One last thing I would much rather have the 2006 Mercury than the older Force. Neither boat will be a speedster but I would imagine the StarCraft will go close to 30 mph which is fine for a first boat. Get it in the water, run it at WOT for at least a few minutes, make sure everything works including the running lights, power tilt on the motor, bilge pump, compression check on the motor, steering is smooth and the boat tracks in a straight line. Look at it while it is tied up to the dock, does it sit level in the water? Note everything we have spoken about, make a list. Make sure the seller has clean titles for the boat and trailer. I don't mean to sound like a jerk but go by yourself, leave the spouse and child home you will do much better by yourself. Flash the cash if all checks out. Don't forget to put the plug in. Good luck.

I think I average 1 bass for about every 15 hours of trying. Still worth it, love being out on the water.

I haven't lost anything yet because I haven't fished but for an hour this year. However, I'm poised to lose a lot this year because the bait monkey has been very active and I now have a lot to lose.

Your gonna need a suitable rig to go with it.

Thanks, advice taken and appreciated.

Amen Brother, well said. ON EDIT: Your story reminded me of when I was looking for my boat. We took a trip to look at one about 2 hours away at a dealer. He had several in my price range but all of them were in disrepair and most had been moored with all the water stains, etc. BTW, it's not that easy to clean those stains. I took a pass on all of them and on the way home I hit a piece of sheet metal on the interstate and ended up doing almost $1000.00 worth of damage to my car. In the end I purchased my boat locally after many months of searching. Boats are a luxury item, always keep this in mind.

Kevin at first I didn't agree with you but on second thought I think your post has considerable merit. I come to this discussion as an individual who was the son of a commercial fisherman. I knew from a very young age how to operate a small pleasure boat. Since this is not the case with the OP perhaps a larger boat is a better choice. I had my BIL out for an afternoon in the SS Minnow and he not being an outdoors type had no real feel for being in a small boat. This is just something I have always taken for granted.

If you want hours of care free family recreation on the water then consider something other than a Force. Stick with basic no frills well cared for power. Mercury, JonnyRude, Honda. On the other hand if you want a project motor there are plenty to choose from low cost even.

Thanks in advance. I have a St. Croix Mojo Bass Casting Rod 7'10" Heavy with a Shimano Cardiff A Series 300A which I want to use for A-Rigs and swim baits up to about maybe 3 ounces. I have some 65 pound braid Sufix 832 Braid Lo-Vis Green that I was going to use but I'm having second thoughts. At least at the beginning until I get used to the reel maybe I should use something a bit less expensive and user friendly. I have a few moderately priced swimbaits that I don't want to lose. I'm not new to baitcasters but have never used braid and/or any bait over an ounce in fresh water. So, opinions please, I'm open to using a mono backer or perhaps just mono (I have some Berkley Big Game) for now 30 pounds. I don't see me punching through heavy mats and I have a different rig for pitching/flipping. If the optimum is to use the braid with a backer what backer is suggested?

I mentioned in my post above that we had a 14' homemade Bay Skiff when I was a lad. My Dad and Grandfather were old time seamen and my Dad built two absolutely beautiful boats in his lifetime. Our skiff was flat bottom, lapstreak cedar sides, Mahogany transom and seats. It had as I said a 5.5 HP rude, later a neighbor gave us a 14HP rude. We had that boat out on the Barneget Bay many times and in the ocean several times. Small boat in big water but truthfully it is scarier in the Bay when it's choppy than in the Atlantic Ocean with 1-2 foot seas that just roll. We had our kids in our canoe in small south jersey rivers when my daughter was small enough to curl up on two flotation cushon. So I agree with you Allen totally. If taking kids out on the water make sure the weather is ok first but a small boat that is seaworthy is better than a larger boat that is unseaworthy and has motor issues. With all due respect the child you are thinking about isn't really mature enough to be in a small pleasure boat. Some adults are not mature enough either.

Compression on that motor should be around 110-120 psi, the three cylinders, the high and the low should be within 10% of each other. For example my 50 HP merc is #1 114psi, #2 116, #3 118 This is acceptable. If it is 60psi then walk/run. Warm the motor first with muffs (a device that lets you hook up a hose to the motor, $6.00 at walmart), then check compression with the dead mans switch in the off position. There should be almost no flex in the transom. Also, does the motor have power trim and does it work? In one of the pictures it looks like a block of wood holding the motor in the up position. If this is true a good question to ask is "why"?