dizzy5868

I would have to agree with Whittler. Hit the moving water. Your best chance at some smallies is in the river. I got out today and had a great day. I posted in the NE reports section with some pics. If you follow the advice in this post string you can't go wrong. Just don't be in a hurry to move while your on the water. The areas these fish hold in are very easy to miss by the "average angler" (mini eddies) You can fish an entire bank and miss 50 % of the holding spots. You need to pick it apart from all directions. Look for the slower water areas on bends in the river. Here is a map of where I found fish today. Notice how the water is running into the bank. All the fish were caught between the red dots. Good luck Rob

You are correct that smallies do become lethatrgic in the winter, However I believe that really only pertains to lakes (my opinion) I fish the susquehanna river during the winter and can say with all confidence that smallies are not all that lethargic, at least in moving water. Think about this for a minute, in a lake the fish can just suspend off drops or points with very little or no effort at all. There is no current to "fight" thus no energy burned. In rivers, even the breaks and eddies still have some current and the fish will still have use energy up to stay there. The susquehanna has alot of deep pools but a stong current. I'm not saying it's a summer bite, you have to cover water to get fish but there are always active fish even in shallow water. They won't pass up an easy meal. If you want big smallies the winter is the time to get out. I never tried a float & fly rig but I think it would work. Crankbaits and tubes seem to be the best here in cold water. You won't catch quantity but the quality will be there. Rob

If I don't have to drill a hole my boat is on the water no matter what what time of year it is. As for fishing slow in the winter, ya it works just as good as fishing fast. It all depends where you are fishing. I burn crankbaits in the dead of winter here in Pa. Smallies never shut down here. They will grab any meal that swims by them. I feel I have a better chance covering water with a crank than fishing just a couple of spots real slow. So far it has paid off. Give it a try this winter, what do you have to lose? Rob

On the river I fish I use this to help me find the fish. When I launch my boat I trim my outboard down all the way and then look over the back of the boat at my prop. Muddy- I can't see the prop heavy stain--- I can just make it out Stained---- I can see the prop but no further Light stain---- I can see past the prop but not the bottom in 3' of water Clear ------ I can see the rocks on the bottom in 3' of water The water never gets gin clear around here so I think this is good spread. Rob

I would kill for that warm of water. Right now I 'm fishing 39-42 degrees. I would try dead sticking some senko type baits in the same areas. If the water is real clear try burning some small crankbaits through these areas and I mean burn them. You would be surprised at the # of fish that will hit it. Thats what I'm doing here in pa. Maybe even a burn and pause retrieve. Rob

Fish them he same way you fish short billed ones. hey just run deeper. I like to use them when fish are suspended and won't chase a shallow running jerkbait. This puts the bait more in the strike zone. Rob

I would start by targeting any sort of structure, wood, docks or rock piles. Rig up a spinning reel with a 4" senko type bait wacky rigged with a circle hook, in a red shad color. Fish it weightless as close to the cover as you can it. Let it fall and leave the bail open. DO NOT MOVE IT, let it sit there for a good 30-45 sec. Give it a little twitch and wait another 20 sec.Watch your line, you won't feel the bite. This also works well in grass and pads. Use a kahle hook in grass, it's a pretty weedless. If there are some baitfish blowing up try a silver shad color or smoke. If it's sunny and there are docks to fish. Put the boat so you can skip the baits all the way under the dock, right to the shore. The technique works you just have to give it a chance. This will work in water to 20'. Let the bait make it's own action. Rob

I agree with basschaser57 with some exceptions. Here in Pa. I fish the Susquehanna river in the wilkes Barre area and when the blows from the south there is definetly a tough bite. There could be 20mph winds out of the north and the bite is on. Anytime the wind blows upriver forget it. The bite sucks. Have'nt figured it out yet. The opposite is true on Lake Wallenpaupack. A north wind shuts them down every time. I think it has to do with bottom contour of the lake or river and how the wind effects the the water movement. I still fish in any condition, thats whay it's called fishing not catching. Rob

I use a 6' med weight berkley cherrywood rod with a Quantum PTI 20 spinning reel loaded with 10lb Trilene. Work great for smallies. It's my favorite setup for tubes and senkos. The rod isn't an expensive one but I am of the belief that price does'nt matter. I have owned $200 rods and $20 rods. They both catch fish. It's what is comfortable in your hand. I use the same setup in med/heavy for crank baits. Rob

It's pretty easy to change the impeller. The hardest part is putting the lower unit back on the motor. You will need someone to help you line up the shaft and gear pin. I change mine 2 times a year and the lower unit grease every month. It's more than needed but I tore up a lower unit 2 years ago because the seal went bad and I did'nt know it. Water filled the gearcase and cooked the gear set. Grease is cheap compared to $3000 for a new lower unit. Same goes for the impeller, $50 is better than a blown motor. If the motor does'nt get run much they will dry rot and crap out at the most inconvienent time. There are plenty of people online that can talk you through it. If you have a digital camera take pictures of the disassembly as you do it and then you have a record of how it goes back together. Good Luck Rob

Does anyone know where I can get 5/0 sickle hook tube jig heads? The largest I find is 3/0. I have had too many smallies throw the smaller hooks. Or can a mold be modified to pour them? Rob

I have to agree with borderbasser 110%. You hit it right on the head. I fish rivers most of the time and I have eyes glued to the screen most of the time. See fish, catch fish! The only thing I can add is in water less than 20' your bottom coverage is minimal, meaning you are only seeing the area pretty much just below the boat. The 480 comes with a 200khz transducer which is a narrow cone, but is very usefull for finding fish. I don't reccomend the gps combo though. If the graph or gps quits the unit is junk. You are better off buying seperate units. Any graph will show you fish, however it's up to the user to understand what they are looking at. Rob

OK I took everyones opinion that the boat can't go that fast and decided to test it. I took he boat out with my gps and a friends gps. Right off, at the launch both units said I was in different spots. Mine said I was on the other side of the river and my friends said I was at the launch. Confused already I proceeded to run the boat. I made 4, 4 mile runs wide open. Each time my gps said I was running between 79 and 82mph, my friends gps said I was running between 66 and 71 mph. The faster numbers were running down river. So I've come to the conclusion that my gps is in need of some repair. I can't use my speedo because it only goes to 65 mph and it's pegged. So even if both gps are wrong the boat will do at least 65 +. I apologize if I offended anyone, I just had to prove it myself. I should have realized my gps was off before when some of my waypoints were not where I thought they were. I will sending it back to Lowrance on monday. All in all I still think it's a fast boat for and 18 footer. Thanks Rob

What kind of bass are in this lake? Largemouth and or smallies? Also where are you located? Rob

I use sunami baits, which are a senko style bait only better, in all temps. The only thing I change is the color and size. Below 45 I like to throw 3" in smoke hologram, clear smoke or silver shad. Always wacky rigged and dead sticked near cover on the sunniest bank. Once the water gets into the low 30's these baits are deadly on a drop shot for smallies. Rob

I have 2 Eagle 480's on my boat. These units are great for the price. The target seperation is really good on them. Using the different modes of grayscale, reverse grayscale, fish reveal and bottom black you can pretty much find fish in any condition. I have the dash unit transducer epoxyed thru-hull and the graph keeps up with boat even at 60 mph. The sceen is large enough to read without squinting and the menus are easy to use and understand. Eagle has a demo version on there web site you can download and play around with. I would reccomend this unit over the 320 only because of the pixel count. Rob

Mike I'm glad it worked out for you. When all else fails read the directions. You will notice that boat will move a little quicker with motor set right. Less drag. Rob

Being a river angler by heart, I would not recomend throwing anything out there to slow down your drift. You are taking a huge risk in damaging your bow and mostly yourself. You say the current is smokin in the area you fish, just imagine having 30-40' of drag line out and drifting at a fair rate. All of a sudden the chains get hung up and one of 3 things is going to happen, you will be thrown from the boat, Damage the boat or the rope snaps and backlashes at you. Not a good idea at all. Not even with a drift sock. But a larger TM or learn to fish from the drivers seat. We do this all the time on our river. Tighten up the throttle tension and let the engine do the work. You can control the boat pretty easy this way. Rob

S&F is where I got alot of the info on this motor. The exhaust port was changed to the 41419 model, which is the same tuner for a 200, and the timing advance module has been removed and the max timing was set at 22 degres btdc.The gear ratio is 1.87:1 With all of these changes the motor is closer to a 175-185. Add in a high pitch prop, set the motor height, lighten the load and there you have it. I loose alot of water pressure when I am running this fast, sustained runs are'nt reccomended. S&F told me to get a bob's low water pickup for it but why bother. I don't plan on keeping the boat. I want a jet. Rob

Yes it is true gps 83 mph. I know it is hard to believe and many othes have doubted it. The boat is a 1989 Tracker TS1800. It is a glass boat. The motor is a Merc XR4 150 with the tuned exhaust port with a couple of other tweeks in it. I am turning a 28 pitch Trophy Plus. 1" below the pad. The boat is an animal. At 83mph I was turning 6200 rpm, just a little above the recomended rpms. About 400 to be exact. I only ran it that fast 3 times on flat water. Way too fast for an 18' boat. It chine walked all over. Now Usually cruise around 65-70 with lots of power left. The guy I bought this boat from was a speed freak. It's max'ed out on hp and then some. Rob

I personnaly would take the Triton. The Mercury will out perform any Evirude. As for the boat, I would go for the longer length. It will handle better in rough water. The stratos is a fast boat but the Triton is no slouch. If your getting 70 mph out of either rig then your going fast enough. I have an 18' Tracker with a 150hp on it and I am hitting the low 80,s. It all depends where you are fishing and if you tournament fish on big water. Don't forget either of these boats will eat gas. Check the milage for each engine. I would say the Merc has better gas milage. The boat has to be comfortable for you, don't just but it on someone else's opinion. Every boat has it's flaws and drawbacks. Choose for your needs. Just my opinion. Rob

You forgot to put Bass Boat in your list. But a jon boat will do in a pinch.

What type of bass are you fishing for. Largemouth or smallmouth? It makes a big difference in the answer. Rob

Glad to help, Try it out. You may have to play with height a little to get it right but that sounds your problem. Transom mounted trolling motors are famous for doing this. It has alot to do with how the motor is mounted. Motor Guide shafts are made of steel and transfer vibration very well. Minn Kota shafts are composite and absorm alot of the vibration. Proper height will solve 90% of the problem. Good Luck and let me know how you make out. Rob

If the shaft is set too low in the water it will vibrate. The more shaft in the water means more flexing in the shaft. You need to set the motor height. It sounds like your too deep. The top of the bullet should be even with the bottom of the boat. Ifthis does'nt fix it then there is a problem with the prop shaft.