Spyder7723

Craigslist. I watched Craigslist for 2 months being patient and finally saw a great deal on an 1990 16 ft pro V tracker with a 55 hp 1977 evinrude. 1200 bucks, plus a coyote more doing title transfer and registration on boat and trailer and i was in the water. Now I've spent d**n near twice that outfitting it with electronics, and a new trolling motor plus new trolling motor battery, but none of that was required. The only required money i had to put into it was 2 new spark plugs and ten bucks to change out the lower unit oil. It even came with an extra set of carbs and spare tire. If you have any basic mechanical knowledge at all, i wouldn't be scared of an older gas engine. They are pretty simple to diagnose and work on.

Another buckeye transplant in North port would be great. If you don't have a boat give me a shout. I'm a novice fisherman so more than happy to trade boat access for tips and advice.

O.k. I'm excited again. This afternoon my 10 year old daughter caught the biggest bass I've seen in person. Unfortunately it ripped out of my hands and broke the line lifting it from the water. Lesson learned, start using that darn net every time. Hope he is able to spit the hook out on his own, its funny but i feel kinda bad about that. Based on how it felt in my hands vs others i have weighed it was easily 5 lbs and probably closer to 6. Nothing to write home about for experienced fishermen but for a couple newbies that was cool as heck. Also confirmed water temp. It ranged from 74.1 to 76.3 warning as we went upstream.

You say to use a leader. Do you you tie directly to the main line or do you put a swivel between them? Also can you clarify drop shotting. Isnt that where you put a weight at the end of the line to hold the bottom, and about a foot or so up the line you tee in another 12 inch line with the hook and lure/bait?

Yesterday water temp was 75 if i remember right. How that compares to typical for this time of year, i have no idea. To be honest i never have paid much attention to it, its just a number on the Garmin. Water clarity? A lot clearer than it was back in October when i last went fishing, still very murky tho. I usualy fish from my boat in a canal a couple miles from my house, its mostly flat bottom with a handful of depth changes and what can best be described as sand bars formed where a couple different creeks feed into it. One of those has a dam. Another dam going out where the canal dumps out towards the gulf. Several small docks scattered along the canal and 3 bridges. Also 75% of it has what i think are mangroves over hanging on each bank. Along with a barely submerged 20 ft wide pile of rock and a few scattered groupings of grass and lilly pads. There is always a little current, gets a bit stronger after a heavy rain I have almost unlimited options near me, heck Okeechobee is only an hour and a half from me but i focus on this one spot cause i was thinking that limiting as many variables as possible would make it easier to get the basics down. And out being so close o can go every day that I'm not otherwise busy, even if only for an hour or two. That's also the same reason i almost exclusively use plastic worms, to try and learn what makes a fish bite. Last cold front we had was a month ago. Ive been using 12 lb mono (green in color) cause its what the salesman at bass pro suggested when i bought the rod. Just respooled with 10 lb clear mono. No leader, tied straight to an offset worm hook. As for blue crabs, I've never seen any but was under the impression they infest every bit of fresh water down here. Think i covered all your questions.

I'll give crank and spinner baits a try. Thanks.

What gives? I wad under the impression this was the best time of year for fishing. In October i was catching at least a few a day. Dent get to go again until about a week and a half ago and can't even get a nibble. Is it the wrong time of year for bass down here or is it I'm just doing something wrong?

I didn't mean north port specifically. Just the general area. A 30 minute drive works cause it still gives a good hour of fishing before we got to get used back to the ramp to load up. Spent five hours on the canal today and got skunked. Not even a bite.

You are more patient then me. I paid the extra 40 bucks for over night shipping. Placed the order about 2 pm and had it in my hand at 11 the following day. And then ofcourse the weather turned to **** so I've only been able to hit the water once with it. Fyi, mine needs the software updated before the quick contours can be used so you might want to run out and get a micro sd card and adapter to plug to into your pc so you can update the software in yours right away. You can get 32 gig micro sd cards for 20 bucks at Wal-Mart. The usb adapter was another 20 but i had to order it.

That's the canal I've been going to almost every day cause i live within 3 or 4 miles of it. Was just looking for different waters to check out. Have you ever fished shell creek or the reservoir it runs into?

looking for freshwater boat ramps near northport, preferably at locations known to hold bass. I know i got a lot of lakes within a two hour drive of me like sebring, lake placid and okeechobee and those are great for when i have a full day but id like to find something closer that i can hit for an hour or two with my daughter after school during the week. Any suggestions or recommendations? Keep in mind my f150 is 2wd so i need an actual ramp.

599 for the chirp version. Bought it this morning.

I did get the garmin. Echomap chirp 73 sv model. Supposed to arrive sometime tomorrow. Hopping to get it early enough to install and figure out the controls a bit so i can get it in the water the next morning. If you get anywhere near Sarasota Florida you are welcome to give me a shout so you can check it out in action.

That was the echomap model but not the chirp. This morning i ended up ordering the Garmin echomap chirp 73 sv from cabellas for 599. Plus another 40 +/- for over night shipping. Hard to believe that cabellas doesn't have a single store in the state of Florida. So ended up spending about twice what i originally planned on but from the reading I've done it looks like i got a much better, more useful unit.

Not a problem. Just keep in mind i don't know Jack about fishing, boats, or marine electronics. I'm brand new to this hobby. Anout a month ago my little girl asked to go fishing so we went to Wal-Mart bought a coupe cheap rods and worms, each of us landed a 2.5 to 3lber (almost back to back, this creek beside our house seems just loaded with them) and we were hooked. Less than a month later we've got a nice older 16 ft tracker hooked up behind the f150.

I've spent the last two days doing nothing but reading about different model fish finder/gps units. I have found several used and factory refurbished(full manufacturer warranty) garmin 73 sv for under 400 dollars. Don't know if you want to spend that much but thought I'd mention it since i haven't seen any other side imaging units in that price range.

Thank you sir. Will call them in the morning.

I'm not entirely sold on Garmin. But two things are making me lean heavily in that direction. 1: many moons ago i got a lot of hands on experience with their avionics equipment. At the time they were so far ahead of their competitors three might add well have not been any other manufacturer in the market. Basically i trust the brand. 2: my google searching has not found a similarly priced fish finder/gps with side view.

What store was that? Im sure they could ship it.

Do you have a link to the bass pro shop add for the 73 sv? Looking at their website i can't even find an echmap 73 sv.

No built in charger. That will change when i tear the wood out and redesign things to suit my wants/needs. In the mean time I've got a couple trickle chargers i hook up when i get back home from the water.

Well the options that appear useful would be both down and side view. That way i could slowly make my way up the river/stream/canal/ bank of lake/etc and see everything around me. A good gps is something id almost consider required equipment. It just seems way to likely to get lost while exploring all the twisting interconnected streams branching off the rivers and channels around here. I also like the idea of auto mapping and saving for when I'm off the beaten path in the smaller waters around me that won't have a preloaded map of them. Take 9 mile canal here in north port. I highly doubt this little canal is going to be on one of the included maps of any of the units. 13000 included lakes is great for when i want to start making fishing trips to larger waters like Okeechobee but id like to be able to make my own maps for the waters within 5 minutes of my house that i can be hitting a few days a week, even if only for an hour. Edit to add: and for what it's worth the boat i picked up is a 1990 tracker pro v 16 ft with a 55 horse evinrude. And i got it for a song. 1200 bucks. The carpet and wood could use redoing but that can wait till the new enthusiasm slows down enough i am willing to spend a weekend redoing it vs being on the water. Also another question. Do fish finders require a separate battery or can i just hook it into one of the 2 i already have?

So i got my first boat this past weekend and am looking to outfit it with a fishfinder/gps thingy mabob. I know jack about fishing and boats. Literally started fishing less than a month ago, hooked a bass and well.. looks like I'm the one that got hooked. My limited research has me deciding between a garmin striker 4 for 110 bucks or a lowrance hook 7 for 300ish. However I'm definately open to suggestions on a different fish finder gps combo. My main question is: is the more expensive model actually with the extras money or is it just bells and whistles that will never get used? Will it actually translate into making my fishng outings more productive and more importantly help me learn how to be a better fisherman? My concern about the cost isn't budget related, i can afford the more expensive model, however i hate to spend money on unnecessary items. Im the kind of guy that gets 20 years out of a vehicle. I guess thrifty is the term. Waste not want not.