Wayne P.

My biggest there this year is 8# - 8 oz. caught May 3rd. I caught 39 bass that day.

I haven't caught as many over 5# this year as I usually do. Numbers have been about the same as previous years (698 so far).

The small ones in the black area (water column)are schools of fish. The larger ones on the bottom on each side of the road is hard bottom areas. The creek channel is on the right side where a bridge used to be (the gap in the road).

I use the Chatterbait, don't use the knock-offs even though I have several of those in different brands and customs. The worse performing knock-offs are those that have a split ring between the jig eye and blade.

While your are in thar area, go into Clarksville harbor between the docks and the new bridge and check out the submerged road bed. Find the food=find the bass

Correct lake, but not opening day, I was at Lake Guntersville when it opened. It was the first day I fished there though and the next week I caught 146. That was Oct 4th and 10th, 2007. Opening day of 2008, I had one of my heaviest 5 bass for a day of 30# 11 oz. March 6th. I've caught over 100 bass in a day there 4 times this year.

Try around some of the bridge pilings on the new bridge at Clarksville:

The deal with Samurai and Saltiga is that it's rated breaking strength is actually close to the actual breaking strength. That is unlike the other superlines where the actual breaking strength is way higher than the package rating.

Yes the X52 is a very functional unit that will give you depth, show bottom contour changes and irregular bottom features like stumps, and show returns in the water column like fish and suspended debris. It will show bottom hardness changes. Its a good start in the world of fishing electronics. Your budget is you only limiting factor as to the level of electonics available.

J, Side Imaging is for looking for brush piles and fish under docks and scanning small areas if you want. I have three of those units. I was just helping some anglers a couple of days ago practice for a tournament and all we did was scan docks and channel drops. We already knew what the bottom layout was, we wanted to know where the fish were. Yep, found a bunch and established a couple of patterns without even making a cast.

Va. has some HP restricted waters also. I would guess your example is due to those that continually break the law by using larger HP motors and changing the stickers on them to the lawful size. A couple of years ago the president of one of the bass clubs in your state was bragging on this site how he did just that with motors that were about twice the HP as the regulation size. The marine police in Va. are aware of that and actually check the motor data plate of suspected violators.

I don't use a solid color worm with that rigging (just used the white for picture clairty). I use colors with lots of metal flakes in them since they are the softest. Color does not matter. I don't fish for those species, catch a few occasionally with bass lures though.

Just after I read all that stuff, I checked my e-mails and in my spam folder was this: "Dear Friend, Its just my urgent need for foreign partner that made me contact you for this transaction. I am a banker by profession from Burkina Faso in West Africa and currently holding the post of Manager, Bill and Exchange Department of the bank. I have the opportunity of transferring the left over funds ($15million) belonging to one of my bank's clients who died along with his entire family on 31 July 2003 in a plane crash. Contact me if you are interested. Ahmed Muazu." My first thought was to replay that I only deal with persons that have a bison tattoo, LOL I just sent a message to that site to see if they wanted to respond.

I'll add one more thing to your battery needs. If you have a lot of stuff powered by the starting battery, lights, pumps, electronics, etc., your starting battery should be the Dual Purpose type with enough MCA to handle the needed requirement of your outboard.

If the diameter of the new line is the same as the old line in the same pound test, that means each thread of the weave is smaller. That in itself would make it smoother. A super line cannot damage a rod guide, the line material is a plastic. The line guide grooving comes from silica (sand) particles suspended in the water that gets embedded in the line. Basically your dirty line cuts your rod guides. That can happen with mono too but just takes longer since the solid line cannot hold has much "dirt".

176 on October 4, 2007 at a newly opened-to-fishing lake.

Additional PM sent with info,

THE problem is your trolling motor is "broadcasting" RF on the same frequency that the sonar unit uses. Fix your motor. That issue can affect any brand of sonar on any frequency and from any brand of trolling motor. It is entirely random. There is no one size fits all. Some never get it and some never get rid of it unless they change motors or get the motors rebuilt. It just so happens with your unit, there are three freqencies that can be affected (83,200, 455 kHz). If you had a larger SI unit you would have an addition frequency that could be affected (800 kHz). If you had the other brand with that technology on the trolling motor, you would have the same freqencies that can be affected. Humminbird has some helpfull suggestions to try and "kill" that interference or a least add filtering that may reduce your issue. Call Humminbird Customer Service. What transducer are you using on the trolling motor? How is your unit wired for power and how is the transducer cable run? I have the 798ci SI and had the same issue with a Motor Guide Tour Edition and with help from Humminbird, I got it taken care of. I used that unit last year at the console and the bow and only got RF when used at the bow. A fuse may very well be your problem.

Both of those lines are as rough as Power Pro. I prefer a smoother/quieter line. They may work good for you if you are not familiar with using superlines. Basically those two are the same in constuction and will perform the same.

That means you have a stepped transom and getting satisfactory on-plane performance with a transom mounted transducer is marginal especially the Humminbird transom transducers. They are not as hydrodynamic as the Lowrance torpedo transom 2D transducer. The DI transducer can be used as a shoot-thru, BUT you have to install it correctly by testing for the best location BEFORE attaching it to the hull and using the proper SLOW CURE epoxy. Yes, you may loose some sensitivity with a shoot-thru mounting, but that application is very common for your hull style. If you had correctly installed your former transducer as a shoot-thru, you would have been able to get depth readings at the boat's maximum speed.

Briery Creek Lake Getaway has only RV sites with hookups, no restrooms, shower facilities, ect. Plus the three cabins. It is about 1 mile from the Rt.701 ramp. The other facilities are in the planning stage. http://www.brierycreeklake.com/

A maximum of 10 HP for gasoline motors can be used. In that area, Sandy River Res, and Nottoway Lake have the same restrictions. I see lots of bassboats there using the trolling motor.

Without knowing what type boat and hull material is involved, it is hard to recommend any solution. One size does not fit all. Post a picture of your transom.

The last picture I posted on a website of water and stumps was on Lake Fork at sunrise. Fork is a 27,000 acre Briery Creek Lake.

The Minnkota Endura 55# thrust you have is a transom mount like the two I have, the wire size is at most 10 guage. Neither conductor has the data embossed or printed on them. I have 8 guage and 6 guage wires in my boat and the TM wires are not that large. I checked a parts list and the cord is shown to be 10 guage. Depending on the year model, they are rated at 45 or 50 amps. This site has the parts list for all Minnkota models: http://www.northlandmarine.com/images/Endura/Endura%20Trans%2055-03.pdf