Wayne P.

That gently sloping ramp is a challenge too. Here is a screen shot of the weed and brush edge where most of the fish are holding. It is about where last year's shoreline was.

For small stainless wire for weedguards: http://www.jannsnetcraft.com/ss-lure-making-wire/311665.aspx

This is one model that is discontinued---Shimano Curado CU200B Cranking Reel 3.8:1 If you can't find that reel in that ratio, you can get the same model and have the gears changed. Check with a Shimano repair facility and see which new reels can have the gear ratio changed to 3.8:1

Catt, since he stated that the "owner had added a jack plate", the motor wouldn't have been bolted to the transom. It would have been bolted to the jack plate.

The quietest superline I have used is Daiwa Samurai. The new Fireline Braid is a close second.

Micro, that is why I like to use it for bed fishing. I bought it for just that characteristic. Usually I am pitching or flipping with it.

Paul, I know what you mean with the weedguard. I have some Bass Buster Scorpion spinnerbaits with the brush weedguard. I also have a bunch of them including the Tarantula model without the weedguard and just bumping into a twig is an automatic hang-up. Sad day when production stopped on them.

endless, yep that's it. If you add the 1/4 shrink tubing like with the Trick worm picture I have posted several times, you will have a rig to throw in the bushes and vegetation that the bass will eagerly take.

No particular brand is the best. The best crankbait is the one out of several dozen of the same brand/size/color that just happens to have the right presence that produces time after time. Most fisherpersons that discover that '"perfect" lure will cherish it/repair it and have it tied on when money/recognition is on the line.

NewAngler, PM sent.

These are some of the casualties from yesterday. Many more than these were pulled off or thrown off when the bass jumped.

endless, I use a 2/0 Gammy Octopus hook #02412 with the wacky rigged finesse worms. When I use Trick worms, I use the 3/0 #02413. If you want to catch a lot, use the smaller worms 6" or less. If you just want casting practice, you can use all that other stuff you mentioned. This picture has a bubblegum color finesse worm and I just used that to get a sharper contrast picture.

One of the site advertizers has a similar spinnerbait----- http://cgi.ebay.com/1-4-oz-Spinnerbait-Style-F-Black-Blue_W0QQitemZ120454304927QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item1c0ba2d49f&_trksid=p4634.c0.m14

I caught a few in the 1-2 pound range and a lot that were less than 12". The largest was 6 pounds 2 ounces. I don't keep any fish. I fish wacky exposed point when I am not around weeds and wood. I use the Zoom worms with lots of flakes in them because they are real soft and they work well when rigged weedless wacky. You don't need a sonar unit at Hunting Run right now. Just have a Tx rigged worm with a 1/8 oz sinker handy and throw it towards the submerged bushes and pull it out of the weeds until you don't feel them any more. That is were the bass are--right at the outside weed edge in 7'-10' depths. Throw the weedless wacky rigged finesse worm in the first few feet of the weeds and work it to the edge and let it fall. " Piece of cake" I need to buy some more worms. LOL

I fished Hunting Run today. There are no livewells for rent and I only saw one jon boat with the "livewell" and there was no plug in it for the drain hole. There was one other rental jon boat out this afternoon with 3 guys in it and that boat may be big enough to have the "livewell" in it. The bass were eating up the wacky rigged finesse worms. Catching them that way is so easy, "even a caveman can do it"

I wasn't aware that there were livewells for rent. I'll check in the morning about that revelation. Some of the larger jon boats may have built-in water tanks in the middle seat though, but would be a stretch to call them "live" wells as they drain almost completely when moving about unless an extra plug is provided (which I doubt). The larger boats look like transplants from other county lakes that had them before Hunting Run opened for fishing and were quite "rugged" looking when brought to the lake at the beginning of last year. Some even had leaks and were taken out of service almost immediately.

Most of the tungsten bullet weights I have are the XCalibur and those are available up to 1 ounce. The somewhat flat base lets weeds get between the weight and bait occasionally.

NewAngler, just read the signs posted at the ramp. I'm going there tomorrow, so I'll get the the bass stirred up for you.

Newangler, the keeping of under slot fish is encouraged to help with the bass population. There are many, many, small bass in the lake and it was stocked about 4 years prior to opening for fishing. This year is the second full "season" that the lake has been opened to fishing. It was opened for fishing in the Fall of 2007 for about 2 months. Catching over 50 bass in a day's fishing is quite common. If you concentrate your efforts in the depth range of last year's shoreline and the thermocline, with the proper presentation, it's easy to catch a lot.

It sounds like you have a Johnson or Evinrude that has a failing power pack/rectifier. Do you get an overheating alarm when it happens?

Olebiker, I looked at that option when I was shopping for a charger. They didn't have any on stock at the time. I guess reliability was the "problem". I got the 10A per bank model because of its dimensions to fit the space I have.

I use tungsten weights also, but only in the shiny non-color.

When I had a 12' jon boat, I used this in a cooler when helping with kid's tournaments. http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_1283_100011014_100000000_100011000?cmCat=CROSSSELL_PRODUCT

I have never fished Ni, but I fished Hunting Run last Friday. I try to fish it at least once every week weather permitting. The bass I caught were mostly less than 1 1/2#. I did catch a bunch though on the outside weed line. This is the thermocline from last week---

Take a look at the Dual Pro models. They are very popular on bass boats. I have a 3-bank model.