papajoe222

Good to know. Thanks

I’ve decided to mount my Lowrance TrippleShot on the transducer rather than the TM and was wondering if there is a reason why I shouldn’t mount it on the port side? My console unit’s transducer and speedometer sensor are mounted on the starboard side. I understand that the prop rotation can interfere with signals, but as I’ll only be using the display at no wake speeds, is that really a concern?

Color selection is at the bottom of my list of choices, except when it comes to spinnerbaits. When I want to imitate shad, bluegill, or crawfish, I use one with a skirt and trailer that imitates that color forage. For blade choice, I choose by how fast, or slow I want to retrieve it. Unless, I want to crawl one in the upper water column, I don't throw a double Colorado. A single gets the job done and you can let it break the surface occasionally for added attraction.

Now if I can remember how I did this......

If you look at it logically, a sunny day, mid to late afternoon, in the northeast section, slight to moderate breeze from the southwest and you should be gold. Now if you wait for a day like that when you can actually be on the water, the bass will probably have spawned and the water temp will be pushing 70. Go when you can, you never know until you try.

On a side note: Musky are the only other fish I target regularly and from experience, I can tell you that repeated casts to a spot are often needed to get their interest. Chances are good that another cast or two by you would have resulted in a reaction. Your buddy just let you do the prep work.

I have two, medium diving cranks with coffin bills that have an awesome, tight wiggle (IMO). Yea, look good to me, but fish don’t seem to like a tight wiggle I guess.

You’ll get a lot more action on the fall if you don’t insert the jig all the way to the nose. I order my jigs from a guy that pours his own using a stronger, longer hook with a 60 degree horizontal line tie. He doesn’t, however, offer anything heavier than 5/16oz. Don’t know if I’d go the tungsten route when not rigging ‘stupid’ style because I hang up tube jigs a lot.

I had a way to keep the monkey occupied while I surfed through my favorite fishing sites. I found a site showing monkey porn 24/7. I'd put it up on the tube, grab my laptop and I could browse for hours without interruption. It worked for all of two seasons when a new monkey arrived. You guessed it, he's gay and they don't have a site showing gay monkey porn, so I just cut up my charge cards and the dang thing can only get me to spend cash.

Another thing that will help narrow lure selection down before you get on the water is to check the weather for a few days prior to your hitting the lake. Stable weather for a couple of days prior, or a front approaching should indicate a positive activity level while unstable weather prior to, or a front that passed a day or so ago, will likely see fish in a neutral mood, holding close to cover and unwilling to chase.

Sad to say, but the only time I tied on a spinnerbait last year was for slow rolling. I’d rather throw a swim jig, or swimbait. I haven’t, however, replaced them when it comes to deeper presentations, like Helicoptering a short arm single willow down a steep bluff, or slow rolling. Question: Have spinnerbaits gone by the wayside for you? If you still use them regularly, have you cut back their usage?

No, you can use it for attaching any leader to any mainline.

HookRz posted about this knot a couple of years ago and I was recently reintroduced to it. It's a very simple and fast knot to tie, plus I don't need to put my reading glasses on to see what the heck I'm doing. You can check it out here;

It all boils down to the individual. One has a right to do as they please whether or not I disagree with them. Fact of the matter is, if I ever caught the state record bass, I'd have a very difficult time deciding whether or not to get it mounted and I've been a catch and release guy for close to 50yrs. I have a mount my father had done when I was in my teens and I can say, with all honesty, that looking at that mount stirs more in me than viewing the picture I took of him holding the fish when he caught it.

That was the plan. Is there a reason why I shouldn’t? Curious as this will be my first side imaging unit.

My Humminbird DI unit took a crap not long after it was returned to me and I'm looking for a new unit that fits my budget. I'm leaning toward the Lowrance Hook2 TrippleShot. The main reason is that I'll be mounting the transducer to my TM and I've been told that it's a breeze to install for this unit. Any input would be appreciated as I plan on pulling the trigger within a week or so as I'm getting the boat prepped for the power plant lakes to open here, soon. I'm open to suggestions on other brands. I had looked at a similar unit that Humminbird offers, but I haven't had the best luck with Humminbird, other than my Super 60 from decades ago. My counsel mounted Lowrance is 12 years old and still serves me well.

I have more of these and Smithwick Rogues in my jerkbait box and was curious if you guys down south rely on either of them? The reason I'm asking those residing down south is because I know a lot of guys in the upper mid-west carry a good assortment of these and Rapalas.

In Boston, Truck Day is a Pre-Season ritual for baseball fans. For me, that day stirs more than just thoughts of baseball. I get worked up some by the The 'truck day' thing, but more so because it's also the day I start getting my fishing equipment in order. As I've been doing for many, many years, I have a progression of tasks I do prior to launching the boat for the first outing of the season. For me, that's the first week-end in March and pairing up my reels and rods is my first project. It's the first time I've held a rod since I put them up at the end of October and it really pumps up my anticipation a notch or two. For you guys and gals that deal with an off season, do you have a ritual that you follow that not only gets everything ready to go, but has you totally worked by the time when you can finally get out?

Two of my favorites are no longer in production; the Two-Fer, which has a buzzbait prop and the WoodChopper. Boy Howdy and the full size Torpedo are close seconds.

The other benefit is not having to concern yourself with your knot working its way into the split ring. I prefer oval split rings for crankbaits, but have gone the route of using snaps the last few seasons. I prefer duolock snaps. A number of companies offer them. As with any terminal connection, be sure that the snap is up to the force it may be placed under. A small, thin wire snap doesn't match up to a big, deep diving crank. The other option you don't hear a lot about is tying directly with a loop, or double loop knot. They're easy and quick to tie and allow the bait plenty of free movement. The only downside to them is you'll want to retie more often, especially when using big cranks.

I was paired with 'Frank' on more than a few tournaments. He only used ribbon tailed worms, but he could cover the entire water column from top to bottom and from fast to dead sticking it. He was in the same boat as I was when it came to first place finishes,0, but I lost count of the times he or I finished 2nd or 3rd. Sadly he passed a few years ago, but I learned a lot from him.

The biggest difference, IMO, is that they just aren't used as much as they were. Bladed jigs and swim jigs have turned away a big chunk of spinner bait anglers and the companies target the remaining diehards with adds and marketing ploys aimed at justifying their higher price tag.

A lot depends on what you're looking for in a tube. Some guys want one with a solid head and thick 'skin' while others prefer using them with internal jigs and like a thin skin. Then there's the salt debate; more, less, or none. How about color options. I only use three colors, but some companies offer as many as 20. If you're looking for a recommendation, give us an idea of how you plan on fishing a tube and what gear you'll be using. I use casting gear for a lot of my tube fishing and prefer 4in. and 5in.. tubes. That limits the number of offerings. See where I'm coming from?

The Fuego is my workhorse reel. I have three, one of which is the new (to me) CT. I don't own a Tatula, so I can't comment, though I am looking seriously at the 150