charlie.m.jr

If it ain't black and handsome, it ain't on my transom. Lol. I've had 1 Yamaha hpdi and it was a great motor. It was a 225. I bought it new in 06 and had it on a ranger Z20. I never really had any problems out of it other than Yamaha paying to replace a lower unit due to the wrong thrust washer being used on it. ( factory recall ) The only down fall to that motor was the oil consumption and the lack of top end speed. It did have an incredible hole shot though. In 2008 I traded that boat on a Z520 with an E-tec and it was the biggest piece of $h!t I've ever had. In one year I put 2 power heads on it, 8 injectors total (all at various times ), a lower unit, and a power trim motor. All of that took place over the course of 1 year. I'll never ever own another evinrude product. The next 3 boats (4 motors) have all been mercury pro xs 250's. Nowhere near the problems from them. I did have a piston go through the side of the block on a 2010 that had about 200 hours on it in 2012. I repowered it with a 2012 which caused no problems whatsoever ( it was slower on top end by about 3mph though ) In the spring of 2014 bought a new boat with a mercury and just blew it up Saturday. Piston was shot after 260 hours on it, so I traded it on a new boat and motor. Lol. Can't go wrong with the pro xs.....now motor guide trolling motors are another story. Lol.

I'm surprised no one really threw a bull shad out there. Lol.

You guys really need to see Kentucky lake during the ledge bite as well. There are people from all over the US and Canada that come here for it. Heaven forbid that someone sees you catch a fish because they will be on you like sharks. People have no respect here when it comes to pulling in on top of you. Bent rod fish finders is what they all use., and they aren't afraid to bump boats with you. It beats all I've ever seen. I'm sure Florida and Cali guys have horror stories as well and I couldn't imagine all the $h!t ya'll have to put up with.

I've had the older hummingbird units 2 boats ago, and at first they were much better than the Lowrance units. After a while Lowrance caught up, and I switched over to HDS gen 2's and they have been great. I just purchased a HDS gen 3 and used it this past weekend, and it's incredible how much better it is over the gen 2. I think it all comes down to personal preference on the manufacturer. (They all tell you how deep it is and where you're at) I personally prefer the way a Lowrance unit operates vs. Hummingbird. I also think that Lowrance has better mapping. Once again that's just my personal preference. I like the layout of Lowrance Insight maps better than Navionics. I suggest finding buddies that have each and ask them what they like and don't like about each of them and go from there. If you're able to, go fish with them so you can see how each unit operates and how they function. Both units have their pros and cons in my opinion and it all comes down to the cons that you can live with.

On my home lake of Kentucky Lake, starting from about now until October there are several tournaments every weekend on all parts of the lake. Last year the Triton owners tournament had almost 300 boats and the next week, B.A.S.S. elite series came there. It's not uncommon for 2 or 3 tournaments with 100 + boats to come out of different marinas within a 30 mile span from each other on any given weekend. The lake takes a pounding every year yet still produces monster sacks of fish. There are times when it is definitely hard to find fish and make them bite. just for reference, at the end of march there is a 1 day tournament coming out of the Dam that will have almost 500 boats in it ( Some of those boats will go up lake Barkley though ).

After I posted my statement about no glide bait knowledge, I actually watched that video. It's a good video. With these glide baits, I'm wanting to fish one on ledges in mostly 10 to 15 feet of water. Do you guys with experience think that is actually feasible or is it a waste of time. My home lake is not ultra clear by any means. Clear to us is being able to see 3 feet at the most. It's full of giants though and I know this would be something they've never seen here, or if they have, it's very very limited.

I will have to look into that. I've never fished a glide bait. Do you work them like a spook, but just underwater or is it all done by just reeling? That's probably a dumb question, but I have no knowledge about glide baits whatsoever.

Will do. Are those both geared more towards a shallow water bite?

I have a buddy I used to creek fish with when we were in high school that threw nothing but a rebel crawfish on 12 pound fluorescent line and there were days that he absolutely wore me out. I never figured it out. He would always " luck " up and catch a good fish as well. Some people are just lucky like that.

I appreciate all of the info so far guys. I'm a tournament fisherman with a swimbait sickness. Lol. Do you guys catch numbers on the glide baits too or are they just donkey baits only. I catch a lot of fish on hudds and savage gear soft baits, but the hard baits are something that I've always been curious about. I haven't had a lot of luck with them but I know I was fishing them out of their element as well. ( On ledges ). I still have the feeling that if I can figure something out with them deep it has an amazing potential on my lake.

Only way to do it

Thanks Mark for the point. I get the point about show them what they're used to eating. I just know hard baits have a lot of movement and I want them to look as natural as possible. I guess if there's a school turned on that's munching then it really wouldn't matter. Lol. Glide baits are something that I THINK would work on my lake but I wouldn't know where to start with them.

I was curious as to what water temp you all started throwing jointed baits? I'm fairly new to the hard bait scene and haven't had much experience with them. I know with spring right around the corner it will be time for fish and baitfish to start moving a little faster. I caught a few fish over Christmas on a bull shad in 53 degree water but I feel like that was really pushing the edge for the movement that a hard bait has. ( that was also on a big school of fish that were feeding, and I was crawling it ) I just wanted to know what some of you that have more experience with them have to say. What is a general rule of thumb ya'll follow? Thanks for the advice in advance

Last summer some buddies of mine snagged a big rope with a jig and started pulling it in. It was attached to about a 75 pound anchor. They cut the rope and let the anchor go back to the bottom. They kept the rope though. LOL

If the guides are spaced properly on the blank, then the line should never touch it anyway. At least that's what I've always been told. Of course I don't own any spiral wrapped rods either.

Same way with me where Navionics cuts off on the far south end of the lake I'm on. It shows you the river somewhat but once you get in a creek it disappears and just turns blue. From Paris Landing north to the Dam Navionics is pretty legit though. Shows a lot of things just like a paper map.

Palomar knot or trilene knot depending on the size of the bait I'm fishing. Trilene knot on braid with a couple of overhand knots on top of it to keep it from unraveling.

In my 12's I use both Navionics and Lowrance's cards. Both have their time and place and depending on which end of the lake I'm on. If I had one choice in my lowrance's it would be the lowrance card or insight if your unit has it

Looks kinda like a Frankenstein version of " Ol Blue " only the front nose shape is different than what "Blue" usually is. They are the same color and they had a prop front and rear, and the length and hook placement looks about right, but they weren't jointed.

I still can't throw them on mono. Lol. I like the sense of feel with flouro. The only thing I throw on mono is red eye shads. I have much better luck keeping a fish pinned with it versus anything else. I'll throw some top waters on mono too but mostly use braid for that too.

I've got a one that looks like the bass off of Bill Dance's tv show. He even has a Tennessee hat on. I named him bill in homage. Lol It weighs about 6 ounces and has several small chains on it and you clip it on your line and lower him down. I've saved thousands of dollars from that $20 rig. I have him tied to small diameter rope on a what you use to put down a chalk line. By far the best fishing investment I've ever made. I've got about 25 feet of rope on him and that's all I need. I'm not sure how it would work from shore, but from a boat it is ALMOST guaranteed to get your lure back. If it won't knock it off, I try and get the chains to grab the hooks or whatever they can and just pull it all up. You'd be amazed at what all there is to hang on the bottom of the lake. Lol