Jig Man

So we have 2 for the calendar and 2 for the thermometer??? :-?

I use Power pro 8# and 30#. I fish clear water so I use a fluro leader. The Alberto knot is the best for me. I start with a 4-6' leader and it usually lasts through breakoffs all day.

JB Weld for sure.

The 783 is my fav. spinnerbait rod. I also use it for tubes. The 843 is my jig from 1/4 oz to 1/2 oz rod and buzzbait rod.

If I were in your situation, I'd take the battery back and get a bigger one. A battery with 135 reserve amps in a 24 series is a very minimal sized battery. If you want to be able to stay on the water you need at least 185 reserve amps in a 27 series.

The smallmouth should be spawned out by this time here in MO. Normally we would find water in the lower 60s but it is in the high 40s to low 50s and depending on the lake from 16-40' above normal pool. The shallow water is so far back in the trees and brush that there is no real way to fish it. There are trees and brush everywhere out to about 25'. My question is: Will the smallmouth have gone into the brush and spawned because of the daylight hours or will they be holding off because of the colder water?

I am a San Diego jam knot user but will have to admit the Palomar is a bit stronger on fluro. I hate it but am using it.

Here is a pretty good read. http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/Reel_Care_tips.html

go to www.tackleunderground.com for info on what and how You can get components at Jann's netcraft, Stamina Inc., Barlows, and Ztackle just to name a few places. A gallon will make more than you will want to pour. Do a search here and find out how to make your own 2 part molds from plaster of Paris. It will cost you less than $5 and you can have any size you want.

Jann's Netcraft

I carry 20 in the boat. I only take 4 or 5 if in another guy's boat.

Mercury has the lion's share of the market. You will find more dealers and more techs who are Merc trained than any other brand. Example; A tech friend of mine has been turning wrenches of 8 years. He just got Evinrude training this past winter. He has been Merc cert. for 8 years.

Some things to consider before you buy: you don't need a DF like the 527 or 525 unless you fish really deep water, the 527 like the 522 has an internal antenna and can cause a lot of trouble unless it is mounted someplace (not in dash) where it won't be tilted a lot. Another thing you need to know is what the different cone angles are for the DF units. I had an LMS 480 and the cone angles were 34° and 12°. One was so wide it was unuseable. The other was so narrow I couldn't find my bait in any kind of wind. Otherwise go for a unit with external antenna like the 520. You can network 2 520s with one antenna.

Here in MO if you have it after July 4th you expect to winter it. Most dealerships are on a floor plan with a bank or boat mfg. They are paying interest on new and used boats. By the first of August many are willing to make units go away. By the first of October fall fishing is picking up and boats have more value so deals are a bit harder. Things taper off again in late Nov but dealers are getting ready for boat shows so deals aren't quite as good. If I were looking for a buy from a dealership, it would be late July to mid August. That is when my sales people were lean and the owner wanted rid of anything.

Merc oil injection I trust. The old OMC JohnRudes not for a minute.

I make my own jigs so I trim all the skirts but I trim them long as I want a slow falling big profile bait. I use 3 kinds of weedguard: stainless wire, fg 12 and fg 30. The stainless gets trimmed to just touching the hook point when bent back. The fg 12 never gets cut. The fg 30 gets cut at an angle just above the bend of the hook.

Storage and deck space are most important to me. I am a junk hauler and need all the space I can get. I also want extra space for the guest's stuff so I won't be underfoot.

DO NOT HOOK SERIES!!! That will make for 24V and kill your tmotor. You can get longer life by hooking up another 12V battery PARALLEL. That is + to + and _ to _. Then you will get the benefit of both batteries. You can also hook up a 12v charger and charge both at the same time.

The trailers I make with salt impregnated I take off so they won't rust the hooks. The non salt ones I leave on because they won't do any damage.

I use a hole punch and punch out plastic disks. They are free and the hook makes the hole so nothing slips.

The main thing to look for in tmotor batteries is reserve amps. That is the number one factor in how long a battery will last. You will probably have to go to a marine dealer to get high reserve amps. You should get at least 185 and 200 if possible. Don't settle for 140s or 160s if you don't want to paddle.

That all depends on your unit, water clarity and wind. I always run my units with upper and lower limits set to get rid of surface clutter. I run the sens as far as I can and still see good images. If the water has a lot of gunk in it from rains, etc I back it down a bit. It is uaually 80-100 %. I also get rid of a bunch of stuff like amplitude scope and zoom bar. I don't need them and have a wider screen.

http://www.ibsa.com/www/faqs/tech_talk/maintenance/charging.htm

I think with your baits listed you would be better served to go for a MH instead of M. I have some M St. Croix and Gloomis IMX spinning rods and I wouldn't use any of them with a spinnerbait. I only use plastics and jigs up to 1/4 oz on those rods anything else seems too heavy. The rod RW recommended is a MH and will do most of what you want. I had one and it was a bit too heavy for my purposes so I traded it off.

I used a candle flame for years to do that plastic repair job. You can even weld different ones together. They hold pretty good. I finally bought a Power Zap so I could use it in the boat.