Bulletman20XD

Bottom of the lake-----On both occasions the fish took the hook side and gave me the spinner side which got launched---Always remember confidence is a large portion of success, Since I have "ZERO" confidence in them, i'll never buy another!!

They will spin and twist your line up if the prop shaft gets the smallest bit of vegetation on it. I fixed that problem by adding a swivel at the split ring.

Mines stays covered even in storage to keep the dust/dirt out. It's an Carver cover, Bullet sells the same thing that's supposed to be custom. It's really semi-custom and doesn't fit well enough for me to drive down the road with it. It's a nice cover and works well just doesn't fit well. I say strorage cause my HOA doesn't allow them to be parked here unless it's inside the garage--Yeah right my wife's car has to be parked sideways to get it in there!

I would like to ask everyone to say a prayer for the victims of Hurricane Harvey. The devastation is beyond belief not just in Houston and Rockport but in other central and south central Texas communities as well. The small town of Smithville for instance on the banks of the Lower Colorado river where the water is expected to be higher than the flood of 1903. There are also plenty of places for everyone to make donations as well. WERE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER! Thank You!!

Lots of good insight---I too tried FC and HATED it. I could not tell you how many times I set the hook on a fish and the knot snapped. An Elite Pro told me to try a different knot. I said why I use the same knot you use! Another Elite Pro told me that the reason why my knot was breaking was because I cinched it down too tight and burned the line when I tied it. This is the same way I do with mono so why is it breaking, isn't FC is supposed to be more abrasion resistant!!!! Another person told me I need to use a better quality (higher priced) FC line, the cheap stuff is no good. So I did just that. I put that spool on my cranking reel and you know it did pretty good and lasted a good while. When it was time to swap I bought the same stuff and put on it. Could not wait to get it off either. Could not tell you how many fish (and crankbaits) I lost in the first outing with it. So, now what I have left from a couple spools I use as leader material only when I'm fishing gin clear water and for drop shots (the leader down to the weight) lol. I have used Berkley Trilene Big Game exclusively for nearly 30 years. Folks this stuff is HARD to beat! Can I afford $30 for a small spool of FC, sure I can but why when I have confidence in a 600 yard spool of Big Game I paid $6.50 for. Does mono end up having more line memory--Yep! But for $30 I can change line on everyone of my reels several times and not worry about it. Does FC help you catch more fish---Didn't make a believer outta me!!

It''ll handle them but I'm afraid I'd have to put that 9 footer down after only a few casts!

I'll be the first to admit I've never done a complete rod build but while reading this it made me think of something. Maybe I missed something or it's just a stupid question--LOL! The guy ask if it were possible to put a foregrip on a completed rod. How on earth would you get the components over the guides?

FG------Tie the braid to something and free up whatever your holding it with (teeth) it'll also help keep tension on the braid which is a must for the FG knot. Instead of making a single loop at each end make 2 wraps per side. It speeds up the process greatly with no loss of knot reliability. Practice it a few times that way and you'll see it can be tied in a minute or so.

Many stolen rods and reels are sold on FB and eBay to avoid pawn shops. Someone selling something used at near new prices raises questions to me!!

I buy my rods and reels based on a lot of different reasons, color isn't one if them. If it happens to match all the better. If it don't so what. When it comes to my stuff, the only person I have to please is me!

Great advice----It's usually the spacer washers do not go back as before!

Bullets are light-weight hulls that owners setup and expect to run. Setup to fish they are heavy so a high pitched 3-blade prop has a hard time getting the boat on plane. A 4-blade prop will lift the bow and stern allowing for a better hole shot and top speed. Not all 4-blade props are designed to run at high transom heights. Very few Bullet/Allison owners run a 3-blade for these reasons. Some super light Allison's and a few light-weight Bullets set up to run for top speed can and will run a 3-blade but you can bet they are surfacing/sub-surfacing 3-blades for racing applications. You can't tell from the pictures but my boat will barely get on plane without the Allison Hole-Shot Plate that is installed. Many will say a boat that needs a planer board is not set up correctly. They have never set up a light weight boat loaded down to fish!

Not sure where your going with this but I will try and break down a bass' strike zone. Bass LOVE edges. Does not matter if the edge is vertical or horizontal. Weeds, trees, rocks, drops, mud lines, thermoclines etc... In small shallow lakes, and ponds, the strike zone basically disappears for many reasons. First and foremost would be competition from other fish. Secondly forage availability. Thirdly would be the number of fish in a given body of water. This being similar to competition. Hence the reason why you can fish a small cove on a large lake and catch a few fish. Fish a small pond and catch a boat load of fish. And finally water depth and clarity. I can assure you that fish will bite in zero visibility. Albeit narrow, the strike zone is reduced greatly. They then rely upon their lateral line to detect forage as it comes into that zone. Now, from day to day and even hour by hour a fishes strike zone may change for many reasons. Sunlight, barometric pressure, the depth forage fish may be running etc... What this comes down to is a fishes strike zone changes. As you are fishing you have to figure out what they are doing and adjust as necessary. Fishing a pond or small lake from the bank is extremely different than fishing a large lake from a boat.

Saw someone started a thread on Booyah Frogs and wanted to get thoughts on Booyah spinnerbaits. Heres mine: On 2 separate occasions while fishing tournaments, I had 2 Booyahs break right at the R bend causing me to loose fish. These spinnerbaits were practically new and had not been abused, bent etc.. The fish were not that big either--LOL. Won't buy another one!!

Close livewell drain and put some water in it. Plug the aerator fill at the back of the boat somehow and run water BACK from livewell. If any water gets in the bilge area you know if a hose is leaking.

A Bigger Picture

The clear tubing is a neat trick. Lake Fork Tackle has a cool system I use at times when I want a wacky rig to fall a little faster. Most all senko type worms are near the same. I believe color is more important that whose senko I use. However, just like Yum Money Minnows, I refuse to spend $9 on a bag of Yamamoto's based simply on price. I use about 3/4 different brands and some locally made ones as well. Which one I purchase is based on color and not who made it.

Fish about anything as long as it has a large profile, displaces a lot of water, and makes a lot of noise and vibration. Jigs, cranks, long arm spinnerbaits with a large colorado blade, Zara Spook.

The cover I fish will determine what type jig, trailer, and if I trim the weed guard or not. When in heavy cover I spread out the weed guard a bit and trim just a bit of of it. When fishing rocky cover I will trim more but leave it in tact as much as possible. I almost always trim my skirts about 1/8 to 1/4 inch past the bend of the hook. I use Net Baits Paca Chunk Jr/Sr. 90% of the time depending on the size of the jig. The claws on the Paca Chunks flutter and make all kinds of commotion with ease. The downside of them is the claws are really thin where they attach to the body and easy for a fish to pull off or even sometimes throw them off when fighting. So I keep a large supply of the colors I use. I will also use a speed craw at times. These have little action but make a more compact profile. Water clarity also determines if I use a rattle on the jig or not. Cover, type of cover, depth should determine the weight of the jig. Water clarity determines the color and/or rattle. I use the BOSS Football Stand-Up and their Invader jig heads almost exclusively and tie my own skirts (mostly living image) Like all baits I fish I limit colors to reduce as many variables in fishing as I can. Colors will range from watermelon variations, PB&J, black, browns, black/blue, craw, and even white at times, some with a little chartreuse and or purple in them.

I only read the highlights of the thread so forgive me if I have repeated something here. The depth per pound of line you are using all depends on the crankbait you are using. Each has an optimum and some will dive deeper some shallower than what the package says! The ensure I am getting my bait down to where I want it to run I'll use a deeper diving bait based on that depth (i.e. fish one that runs 15 ft when fishing 12 feet etc...) How fast a bait dives again depends on the design of what you're throwing. Berkleys new Dredger series baits probably get down really quicker than most any others I've ever used. Base colors simply on water color. Leave the wild, loud colors to the bait monkeys. This is not to say that some will not catch a fish here and there. I am a tourney angler, I am not out to catch one here and there. Narrow down your selections to craw, shad and local forage fish colors. These are for clear-stained water. When visibility drops use something like powder blue back/chartreuse, chartreuse, white/splatter back, fire tiger etc... You don't need a box full of wild colors. Watch some of the top pros when they are cranking and you'll see these colors over and over. All this takes lots of experimentation and experience with lots of baits on different bodies of water. What works today on this lake may not work tomorrow on a different lake!

Handling the rod is not the issue. Just saying the hole in the trigger doesn't work for me. Having 6-8 rods on the deck of my boat it takes up space and gets hung up more than those with keepers on top of the rod. 1). With a big topwater, crank, etc.. hanging off the bottom of the trigger the rod will not set on the deck of my boat the way I like. 2). Placing a bait on the trigger widens the overall width taking up precious space. 3). Being on the bottom instead of the top of the rod trebles hang up in the carpet. 4). With T-Rigged worms you have to remove the hook from the plastic to insert the tip of the hook instead of just looping the hook bend over the keeper, taking up time to reinsert the hook every time I want it.

Axle was not hung up so It's fine---Rear tires were over the edge of the rock. Front kept the axle up

Very nice work-----Can you do a Chartreuse/Black Back with a scale pattern??

How deep does your 2.5 size SB run?

Well aware of that tidbit of information---Thanks