Red

I saw a picture somewhere, might be in this thread. A guy took an old trolling motor and replaced the motor with a rudder plate. This way you can mount it like the motor and just tilt it up when not in use or whatever. I would be doing this option if I had an old junky motor to tear apart.

I fish from an 8' Pelican and I get the feeling alot that the bass boat guys just figure I am not worthy or something. They have no problems geting right up near where I am fishing or whatever. I don't mind though. I just go around them or turn around.

I feel the same way when I land a nice one in my little 8' Buster right next to some dude in a huge glass boat. I can't help but smile really big!

No problems with the motor for me. The only reason the rudder slips off it because it is not "fixed" to the boat. No clamps or bolts or anything. Just a bracket the fits over the rear motor mount area. So when I am turning at higher speed, the pressure applied to the rudder plate causes it to lift off the boat.

My motor is on the front, rudder on the back. The wind will still blow you across the lake, but you will be straight. The rudder completely controls the spinning. Mine just slips on the back, no clamps or anything. So if I turn really sharp at higher speed it will lift and fall off. I use a short piece of rope with a "D" cip clipped to the carry handle to prevent losing the rudder. I really love my little rig, especially how the gas prices are. The only problem is when loaded down with two grown men, anywhere from 6-9 rods, three boxes, cooler...it gets a bit crampped!

All my biggest fish so far this year have come on a crank, a Bandit 200, pearl with chart back to be exact. and a crappie

I was reading a few previous posts about getting 3-4 hours on a battery charge. I don't know what kind/size battery y'all are using or how much time your spending trolling and at what speeds. I use the largest marine battery Walmart offers, I think Everstart is the brand. I have been out for an entire weekend, fishing for several hours each day, and barely drained half the charge. I am running a 30lb TM and a graph. A normal trip for me is 3-6 hours, I run the graph the entire time and usually have the motor going, I never anchor. A trip like this rarely uses more than 25% of a full charge. I also made my rudder, Couple pieces of 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 angle, 3/4 electrical conduit, 3/16 plate steel and about 5 minutes worth of welding. Then I sprayed it with galvanized spray paint. Get a rudder, it makes a world of difference!!

LOL!! That is pretty dang funny!

As of now it is looking like the wind is going to be down this weekend. I haven't been able to give them much of a chance due to high winds, I will be flippin a Rage Craw, and now, a Space Monkey as well. Looking forward to it!

I bow down to the master. Unreal man, nice job!

I'll tell ya what, next time your in town, let me know, I will take ya out in "The Bass Tub"....no charge!

No. I am fishing Lake Waco. There are areas I normally fish which seem to produce better numbers, same holds true from what I hear from the locals. However, being in an 8' Bass Raider, the wind has forced me to fish the protected side of the lake alot this year. Until this year I only ever caught super dinks at this spot. I have caught more keeper fish this year on this side of the lake, two of which were over 5lbs. I am just waiting for a calm day so I can fish around the backside of a certain point. There is another smaller point right on a transition from chunk rock to standing timber, drops down to 12 feet or so. I am fishing that spot hard next chance I get!! FYI, I have never fished the Brazos River, if that is what you were referring to. Cliff

I fish what you described about 95% of the time. My best producer in this kind of junk is a t-rigged Rage Craw with a 1/8 or 1/4 tungston bullet weight pegged. Next would be a crank of some sort, for me it is usually a Bandit 200 or a square bill. Spinnerbaits also have worked well for me. Whatever you use, make sure you have the proper gear. Just yesterday I was fishing some timber with a crank, but I was too lazy to switch the crank to my squarebill rod and was using a ML rod (which I normally use in open water for crankin) with 10lb test. I hooked into a good fish and actually had to use the TM to assit me in getting the fish away from the cover, with my HVY squarebill rod I know I could have just horsed her out of the junk. Good luck! Cliff P.S. If all else fails, try a weightless fluke, cast and let it die.

but it was a good one! Caught on a Bandit 200 in some flooded timber. Was a great fight on my Excel 703C. Bad pic I know but here it is. I also caught this crappie on the same bait, biggest one I have ever caught. This thing was jumping like crazy, think it had a little bass in its blood or something.

Mine is in my avatar pic, caught April 2010 flippin a t-rigged Rage Craw in some timber. You can make your own guess at weight, I have mine. Either way it was a big fish and alot of fun!

My workhorse reel is a Revo S-L. I have four of them, oldest one is going on four years. Love these reels!

Bottom line for me, there isn't a better place for me to get information on bass fishing. I would be here each and everyday regardless of how the site looks. Glenn and the mods have done/do an awesome job with this place.

Apparently I am am buying a Kindle for my wife for her birthday, she informed me of this last night. I don't know much about either the Kindle or the Nook, but if I am not mistaken there are still libraries out there, you know, those public buildings with all those paper books in them. I think you can take the books home, for free, then return them when your finished.

If y'all like Navy SEALs you should read a book called "Lone Survivor." You will really know how badass they are after reading this book. Warriors to the max.

Navy SEALs....if your gonna do a job like that, ya might as well send the very best!!

Good stuff. If I worried about scratching my gear I would never use it. I am rough on my gear, but I bought it for fishing not for show.

Awesome work. I had a few baits painted recently by Cliff. He is the man! He matched the color I wanted perfectly and I also had a Pointer painted in one of his shad patterns and it is wicked! Cliff P.S. Plus he has a cool name!

Cool, I had no idea he was a fighter himself. I believe he also does/did stand up comedy.

I just watched the two posted in the earlier post. Good stuff. Joe Rogan cracked me up after the Machida kick. "That's the crane technique, no can defend" Anyway, thanks for the links. Cliff

Raqe Craws for me. Green Pumpkin or Dirty craw.