Wayne P.

You didn't chip/wear down a rod guide insert by having a too tight drag using braid, no matter which brand you use. You dropped/hit it on a hard surface to crack it. Or you may have reeled a lure line tie into the insert and cracked it. Walmart carries rod tip replacement tips in sets of three, with one that may fit your rod. If the guide set doesn't include the hot melt glue, get some of that too.

Where do you live?

The width is an important factor also. The wider it is, the less it will sink in the water.

If you use circle hooks, let us know your hookup ratio of hits to catches. Of all the hook types available, that is the least desirable type of hook I would use for artificial lures.

When the barb is mashed down on a quality hook, it will break off most of the time and if it doesn't, just maintain pressue with the pliers and rotate the hook a little and it will be gone. A Gammy Octopus or Owner Mosquito hook are my choices.

Take your present one to a glass shop that does plexiglass and have one made to match.

All of the fad baits/colors are just playing on the gullibility of fisherpersons that think there is some magic lure that will overcome their lack of fishing ability.

Try the Texposer hooks in the appropriate sizes to match the Flukes. The straight part of the hook bend makes rigging the bait straight easier.

An easy and effective way for hook removal. I use the Octopus or Mosquito style hooks and highly recommend them for wacky rigging. REMOVE THE BARB. I use Trick and finesse worms wacky style most of the year and catch many hundreds of bass with that presentation. Most are hooked at the base of the throat due to the way the fish takes the bait which is weightless. Without the hook barb, all I have to do is turn the hook 180 degrees and it pops right out. I use curved jaw hemostats to assist with the removal. The lack of a barb does not result in any lost fish either.

The dotted lines mean there is a navigation hazzard like shallow water, stump, rock, etc. Look at the symbol on the key and find the one like it on the lake map.

If you change from forward to reverse or the opposite way without a few seconds pause, that will attribute to the weakening of the pin. Of course avoiding lower unit collisions will help too.

Thanks flippin4it, I was in no way bothered by your message. I really was interested in Fountainhead and it's potential. When I discover a productive body of water like Hunting Run, my intent is to let others know about it so they can have the opportunity to have the same success that I experience. In one's lifetime, the chance to fish a newly created body of water is very low. I have been around long enough to have fished 10 different newly created lakes at the time of opening for fishing.

Thanks Paul, I can see your point of view.

Use a high quality trailer hook.

Thanks for your comments flippin4it. I was wondering about the quality of the fishing at Fountainhead. Thanks for the website- it looks like it is not worth a trip there. I have caught 30# + for 5 bass at Hunting Run. You should try Briery Creek Lake sometime if you like to target big bass. There are schools of bass in the 3#--5# class-lots of fun when they are chasing shad on the surface. The lake record is 16 pounds and 2 ounces.

Wrong, Skip2mybass, you don't keep slot fish, those are the ones that must be released.

slomoe, all those little fish are the result of successful spawns and being undisturbed for 5 years. The lake was stocked in 2003 and 8# bass are being caught now. It probably won't be better in a couple of years with all that fishing pressure.

Thanks SimonSays, that is why I don't fish on weekends any more.

I looks like you added the deck higher than the top of the tank seats. I'd be interested in the boat's stability while fishing when the job is complete.

3/4 oz Hopkins Spoon jigged at the depth of the shallowest fish.

In your case all you would get is extra drag and go slower. About the only thing you can do is reduce drag by maybe raising the motor on the transom as much as you can, reduce the amount of weight you carry and balance the load so the boat is not nose heavy.

Was there a lot of fisherpersons/boats on the lake today? What time did you guys quit. The best times for catching the most and largest bass is from about 11:00 to about 4:00. Can you catch 50 -- 100 bass a day at Fountainhead or a 30# limit? I've never fished there.

Just compare the XL with the XT and you will see a diameter difference in the same pound test and the XT will have a higher true breaking strength.

Another way to look at it, a heavily pressured body of water means fish are being caught. Otherwise, no one would bother.

Thanks, flippin4it, I only need to show the bass what I got for them. Good luck to all you guys. A word of advice- POINTS