Jig Man

Steak sandwich with mustard, lettuce, tomato, and onion

I use good locking snaps but not snap swivels. I've seen too many of them fail. http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_7816____SearchResults

Mostly they are a waste of time. You will paddle yourself crazy trying to stay in the shade which will only happen at noon on a few summer days. My wife bought herself a deck boat a few years ago. That thing was 8' wide and had a bimini top. She like to have driven me crazy when I was trying to fish from it because she kept saying, "Fish the other way so the shade will be better."

You can check the specific gravity with a cheap hydrometer. If you don't own one then you should buy one. When the battery is fully charged it will show 12.7 volts. The load test is usually done free at auto parts stores. You probably should have both done.

My B-I-L was so long legged that he had to put 2 of them together. Then it was too tall so he cut one down and moved the teflon to the new shorter made to fit one and it worked just fine.

I wouldn't buy anything smaller than a charger with 10 amp banks. I had one for several years and was happy with it. I now have a 3 bank 15 am and like it even more.

You can use any of those settings but with the 2 am and heavy use it may take more than a full day to recharge the battery. If you don't own a hydrometer, get one with volt showings not ball floatings. Charge the battery to 12.7 volts.

I have found that stacking too much on the back causes a lot of trouble with too much line coming off and making a nasty bird's nest.

For me it is the side of the boat that makes the choice which is determined by the wind since I fish into the wind. I use spinning on the starboard side and bc on the port when fishing plastics and jigs under 1/2 oz. I get a much better hookset on the starboard with spinning than bc.

Fishing and doing a good job of it takes all the concentration that one can muster without being impaired by alcohol. I'll drink a beer with you but not in the boat.

You probably need to add a little worm die to the melt.

Our lakes have literally thousands of brush piles in them. Some were put in by the COE, some by the MO Conservation Dept and many many illegally put in by individuals. I find 'um I fish 'um.

Since you have narrowed it down to rock bottoms I use 3/4 oz football heads because they are big enough to not hang much or light weight banana heads. Since buying the poison tail molds, I am going to give shallow rock piles a try with the pt 1/8 oz jigs a few times. My rod choices are Gloomis and Fenwick HMGs in 6'6"-7' MH-H. Like GMAN I roll my own.

I just bought a new set of gate cutters 410507 from Barlow's. They do a great job of cutting and there is very little filing left to do and some heads don't need any. http://www.barlowstackle.com/acb/showdetl.cfm?&DID=6&Product_ID=2227&CATID=115

I prefer by my self. If I have someone in the back it is twice as hard to keep the boat positioned. I can tolerate someone in the back if they don't talk all the time and mess with my concentration.

I picked up a pack of them. They work just fine. Thanks G3.

If he wants to stick to that budget, he might look at the BPS Bionic Blade. They were on sale a while back for about $50.

I have done that for melting various sizes of lead to cast ingots but not to pour baits except one time with babbit because it wouldn't work in my lead pot.

If you are a first time boat buyer you will probably be happy with the Tracker. If you are looking at other boats look at the Xpress, GIII, Lowe, etc. If you plan on good service then you had better get a good local dealer because you won't get much from corporate.

Try the Alberto's knot.

Better add a couple of Xraps to your arsenal. The last two trips out we have caught 151 bass and the Xraps have accounted for at least 130 of the them. I could only get bites on the size 10 Xrap today. My pointers were useless and weren't much better on Friday.

I fish the spook post spawn. I do a double sided walk the dog, left walk, right walk, or dip. It all depends on what area I am fishing. I only use mono to fish that bait. I find it very effective in choppy water on long points.

I only use jigging spoons. I jig them vertically over structure and cover and I fan cast them and let them sink with twitches. If they make it to the bottom without strikes, I hop them back to the boat and make another cast.

I like the FLW beaver as a jig trailer but can't find them any more.

I have a friend with an 18' Xpress. It has large livewells, large rod lockers, a large storage between the rod lockers and lifts and rides like a fiberglass boat. He has a 115 four stroke Yammy on it. That thing will run better than 50 mph and only uses a smidgen of gasoline each trip.