RSM789

I don't believe a rudder in the bow would accomplish much. The issue we run into with the TM on the bow is that when you attempt to turn, the stern tends to swing as opposed to the front turning. I believe it has to do with the motor pulling the boat & not having any resistance to pivot off of. With the rudder in the stern, the boat pivots off the rudder & the front is dragged wherever you aim the motor. It really works well when positioning yourself or moving down a shoreline casting. With the TM in the back, you are pushing the boat, so it pivots off the motor. You probably notice that when you go in reverse with the motor in the rear, the boat swings all over.

That is too cool. That crankbait put in the overtime, grabbing hold of a bass you were fighting and trying to help you land him, even after being abandoned. Maybe he thought it was a suicide mission

Wait, what? Was the crankbait sticking out of the side of the fish or the side of the tree? 3 beautiful fish, congrats.

I have never used a guide, but for me it would depend on how & where we were fishing. If it was a situation where we were targeting loner fish in isolated spots & he was in the front of the boat, then I would have a problem with it. However, if we were fishing deep water structure or for schooling fish, I would prefer he fish. We could use different lures or techniques to see which is currently working better and often multiple people fishing the same school can keep them fired up. As I thought about this, I don't think I would ever hire a guide for LMB fishing. Part of the fun for me is figuring out where they are & how to catch them. I know enough about where to look during different times of the year and am versatile enough to figure out how to catch them once I find them. Plus I don't want someone else netting my fish, I want to grab him/her by the lip!! (the fish, not the guide). If I wanted to learn something new or was aware that I should be using a technique that I don't have a need for locally ( such as using a chatterbait in grass), then a guide would be of interest. Otherwise I would kind of feel like the 6 year old who gets handed the pole after dad set the hook.

It has changed 3 times already this year, all because the fish told me to. Started with the 7" Berkley Gulp Turtleback (light pumpkin), then the 4" Zoom Dead Ringer (pumpkin with chartreuse tail), now it is the 6" Roboworm in Aarons Magic. I'm not too loyal...

I vote that netting doesn't count, since it wouldn't count for largest PB if you just scooped her up with a net. I would also suggest that all candidates need to be no more than 150% of the length than the lure they were caught on. This means that most entrants would be caught on crankbaits & topwaters, but I did snag a LM smaller than a football jig once. I can only imagine that he pecked the head of the jig & then didn't get out of the way when I set the hook.

Like many others, mine was caught in less than 10 feet of water (about 7 feet, in front of a dock). However, for the lake she was in, that would be considered medium, not shallow. For her to get deeper than 12 feet, she'd have to burrow like a groundhog.

+1. I keep torn up baits off to the side for the day and toss them in a bag of the same when I get home. Every few weeks, I get them all out & use some Mend-it on them while watching a ballgame. There is some odd sense of satisfaction from catching additional fish on a fixed bait (& I'm not even Scottish!!)

I re-read his initial post & I see what you are saying. He was talking about putting the odds in your favor. Since the two lakes in my example are so close in proximity, my point was that targeting the larger population may best be served by changing locations (assuming you had access to both lakes). If your goal is to catch bigger fish, one lake will out produce the other. It wouldn't be a stretch to imagine Barney with his Senkos fishing on MV catching as many big bass as the expert using big swimbaits & jigs on Lake Forest, because Barney put the odds in his favor by choosing the different location. Now if he changed his tactics & lures, his percentage would go up even further. However, I am not a big bass expert, I just enjoy finding & catching bass. Like many folks, I have limited time to get on the water, so part of the enjoyment is action. If someone who does target the larger population says that I am wrong, I really don't have the credentials to disagree.

Five - California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas & Florida. The last 3 were all from shore on small lakes, yet produced fish over 4 lbs. Arizona was the real surprise because the lake was part of their urban fishing program, meaning I had to dodge a homeless guy sleeping & a cheating couple making out on the bench in order to reach the water. Caught some trout in Breckinridge Colorado, but was told there were no bass in those upper elevation ponds & streams. Almost made some trout aficionado choke when I recommended stocking some smallmouth in his private trout stream. I told him that won't eat too many of his 8" rainbows...

In 1986, a friend told me about a small lake he "found" in an undeveloped part of our county. He said it was used as a feeder lake to a local development lake, i.e., water was taken out of it as needed to keep the development lake at a consistent level. It was about a mile hike from the nearest road to get it & there were no private property or no trespassing signs. The fishing was unbelievable, at least until the Sheriffs helicopter buzzed us and the patrol car crested the hill next to the dam. Turns out that this fishing hole was not such a secret & the developer had asked the sheriffs department to keep folks like us out. They ended up writing us a trespassing citation. Believing I was Perry Mason, I went about putting a case together proving my innocence. I returned to the lake with a camera, taking pictures of the hike in to illustrate the lack of no trespassing or private property signs. Halfway there I was met by a truck driven by a "rent-a-cop", for the developer had beefed up security by hiring a firm to watch the area. I explain what I was doing to the rent-a-cop, he gives me the okay to continue taking pictures, but says that I will have to ride in the vehicle with him for insurance reasons. Once we get up to the dam, he stops the truck, radios in to his office (this was before cell phones) & has the sheriff come out to arrest me. I get cuffed, taken in for booking & released hours later on my own recognizance. Good news was when I later appeared in court, the judge dismissed all charges & fines because I had a valid state fishing license & showed that there was no signage. So my point of view is it doesn't matter whether you ask for permission or hope for forgiveness, either way you are going to get in trouble

That plays into the location argument, in this case "location" meaning the body of water. For example, there are 2 small private lakes here in Orange County, CA that are less than 5 miles away from each other - Lake Mission Viejo & Lake Forest. Both are "development" lakes built in the 1970's to help sell homes but that is their only similarity. Mission Viejo is gin clear, over 50 ft. deep at the dam, has FLMB and stocks rainbow trout in the winter. They don't allow fishing within 30 feet of any private dock and have a full time marine biologist on staff. Lake Forest has much less visibility thanks to runoff from the street, deepest spot is 12 feet, has NLMB and hasn't received a stocking of any fish for decades. It has the feel of a pond more than a lake. Mission Viejo regularly pumps out DD bass, including the 13th largest ever, a 19.7 in 2006. It is a big bass factory. Lake Forest on the other hand produces maybe 1 or 2 fish over 8lbs per year, even though it has a healthy bass population (main forage is bluegill). While a bigger bait will increase your chance to catch a pig at Lake Forest, your odds increase exponentially if you instead fish Mission Viejo. You can't catch what isn't there. I am not trying to say that the baits don't make a difference, they do as long as you keep the environment in perspective. It is kind of like if you went catfishing & used night crawlers or chicken livers as bait; your experience will be like Barney. Frozen mackerel would remove the smaller fish from the equation and increases your percentage for a big catfish dramatically.

Oh yeah, here is a picture of my rudder. It isn't as trick as the one that came from the Hobie cat, but it was simple to make and does a good job.

When I first began considering a small boat, I found this thread in a google search. What a great source of information & ideas. Last month, I ended up buying a 10 ft. Pond Prowler and have done a few of the modifications mentioned, with more on the to-do list. Unfortunately, fishing keeps getting in the way of working on the boat I chose the 10 ft. model over an 8 for space, even though most of my fishing is done alone. I had been using a small paddleboat previously & while I could fit the 6 rods, 2 tackle boxes & 2 worm bags in it, I really tired of being cramped. IMO, the extra 2 feet make a world of difference and allow a 2nd person to come along without being on top of each other. I already had a 45lb thrust Motorguide TM, I just switched the head & mounted it on the bow (the PP was prewired for stern battery & bow motor). The back of the boat did indeed swing a bit, but when I added the rudder as suggested, it completely changed. If you are maneuvering the boat & casting to targets (as opposed to still fishing or trolling), bow mounted with a rudder will give you the most precise control & most stealthy movement. For the rudder, I used an old trolling motor with the head removed & motor cut off and added a plexiglass rudder (I don't have any welding experience). I convinced myself that the clear plexiglass gives the fish one less thing to see poking into the water . The mount attaches easily to the stern & can be lifted up in shallow water. I also already had a Hummingbird Fishing Buddy 120 depth finder, which I also bow mounted to the left of the TM. The Pond Prowlers have a more square front than the Bass Raiders, so the portable mount attached simply. I put it to the left to keep it out of the way because I am right handed and prefer to cast from the starboard (right) side of the boat when moving along a shoreline. I find it a more natural motion when side arm casting ahead of the boat or skipping under docks. In the back with the Voyager deep cycle battery is a collapsible oar & small anchor. I will most likely mount it the oar like others have, but not sure if I want it outside of the boat. Up front I added a Big Foot switch for the TM. I have used both switches & foot controls in the past & for a small boat while sitting, the Big Foot is actually easier to use. A foot control is a necessity for a full size bass boat, but a bit cumbersome these smaller ones. Since the boat is docked at my brothers house, there was no need for a trailer, but I did get a cover from BPS. Works well so far, & will stretch over the raised TM & depth finder mount. Y'all have convinced me to do the floor modification. The plastic does get hot & in the summer, I prefer to be barefoot in the boat. For now I just placed a towel down near the Big Foot, but a boat full of either marine carpet or that other stuff someone posted 40 pages back will be much better. Although the raised casting decks look real cool, I think I am going to stick with the current rail system & seats (padded & folding). One of the benefits of these little boats is the stealth and sitting a few inches lower helps in clear water situations. Now the best part of this never-ending first post. After the initial modifications, I took the boat out for the first time 3 weeks ago. In the first 30 minutes, I caught 7 bass, including five in six casts. A few minutes later, I had another soft peck on my Roboworm, set the hook & watched 20 yards of line get peeled off the reel. At first I thought it was a catfish, for we have a bunch of big ones here that love grabbing our plastics & crankbaits. Instead, a big green head & gapping mouth broke the surface and I realized I had hooked a pig. After I landed her, I quickly went back to my brothers house, woke him out of a deep sleep & made him take a picture of me with her. She was 8lbs even and a beautiful fish, perfect coloring with no marks on her. She seemed no worse for the wear as she swam away & I realized what a great way to christen a boat!! The next 2 times I took the boat out, I had 50 fish days. I really believe the boat had a lot to do with it, for it truly allowed me to position myself as I needed easily without alerting the fish. Remember, I was using a paddleboat before that, which served its purpose but in no way was designed for stalking largemouths. The right tools for the job make a huge difference. Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread, it really made a difference for me.