Jon/ Fishing boats... Teach me.

Lowrance here too. Actually took the Jon boat out for a bit over an hour today. Only 1 bass about 2lb, not even worth weighing. But toasty out today at 94 degrees and humid as hell.

 

Weighing? Guess im gonna need one of those, uh?

 

Yea. You don’t need anything fancy. They can be had for $20. More for him.

Www.tacklewarehouse.com

Good site to browse through

 

Nice, at least you had some wind. It was stupid calm Sun and Mon. Like glass.

 

Per the specs, it’s good out to 200’, but 150’ is kinda the best realistic that I’ve found. I run it on the 72-something or other. Most of their new units have he capability to use it. Just need the stupid expensive transducer upgrade for it. Nothing money can’t fix, though.

 

I was going to post this earlier but now seems like the right time.

If you thought racing was expensive, fishing called and said hold my beer. Lol


I need to find a guy that’s running one around down here and get on the boat with him. 150’ is good.

I’m guessing it’s just were you’re pointing? I use spotlock a good bit as most of the lakes I fish I’m in at least 20’, even if I’m casting into 6’

 

It’s pie/cone shaped ... narrow at the transducer, then widens out. Now, that’s 150’ out, I don’t honestly know about down, as I’m almost never deeper than 20’, chasing bass in the shallows.

And yes ... this hobby can get to be stupid expensive. My wife about killed me this spring. Here I thought I had tapped out on lures. She was happy. Then I rearranged my boat and made some changes and shifted my tackle storage. Suddenly I have 3 entire boxes freed up to buy more stuff.

 

Sounds like you need a bigger boat. Selling mine at the end of the year. Can’t decide just yet on what to get. All have really good payouts.

 

It’s stupid. Ceramic bearings, carbon this and that, don’t even start with custom rods. I probably have 3k in bass tackle easy. Last count I had over 250 bags of plastics. I always buy stuff just in case but what I fish with is pretty standard but you always need a back up

 

This spring was the first time I ordered most of my stuff online. She saw box after box coming day after day. Then she made me open one and was all “What the hell? You need 6 of the same stupid lure?!” At least!!!!

 

I have 5 or 6 Plano organizer boxes (the big ones) that are all stocked the exact same jerk baits, it’s quite comical.

 

While we are one the subject, Lets talk fishing rods and reals and storage. When buying a rod and reel what do I want or need to look at?

I don't need no $500.00 rod and $200.00 reel. But what are some things I want to pay attention to?

Tackle box? Lets see what setups you guys have. What do you guys like and pros and cons of some boxes.

 

Rods/reels is a HUGE topic. I’m an Abu guy, myself. Starting out, stick to spinning reel. Easier to get the hang of. General rule of thumb, more bearings equals more better. It really means smoothness. I just use straight mono for ease. Some swear by the whole braided line/fluoro leader deal, but I like the kiss method. It hasn’t hurt me any in 37 years. I personally like a 6.5’ medium light for feel and ease of throwing lighter tackle (ned rigs).

Tackle box, I had a Flambeau box with individual boxes that I could arrange how I wanted. That way I had it all with me, but could just pull one tray and keep the mess to a minimum, but had everything there should I need it.

In the end, it comes down to what you feel comfortable with. Fishing what/how someone else tells you won’t do you any good if you’re not comfortable with it. Just get out there and figure out how you like to fish. There are TONS of YouTube videos that will show you various techniques and such, too.

 

Like Funk said, it’s a huge subject.

What you want is a rod that’s going to give you the most flexibility in what you’re able to throw. You’re going to want to stick with a spinning rod for now. I’m a big fan of Cashion Rods but there’s so many out there that are good. Personally I’d say get a 7’ or 7’3” Med/Heavy with a fast tip to start with. This will give you a lot of flexibility. Ned rig,wacky,Texas rig small swim baits, light crank baits, soft plastic jerk baits, drop shots. But it’s got enough backbone to give solid hook sets at distance and to pull fish from cover. Look into Favorite Rods, they have some good stuff for the money. I like #6 Fuji guides as I use braid and leader on my spinning tackle. I use high vis yellow braid when wacky, Ned, Neko fishing. The bass a lot of times will just pick it up or grab it on the fall and you won’t necessarily “feel” the bite but you’ll see the line move as they generally will run with it and it’s easier to see that yellow braid move than mono or fluorocarbon. By to keep it simple to start, Run 8 or 10 lb fluorocarbon until you’re comfortable with tying different knots. You want to see 7 or 8 guides plus the tip in most cases and all the good rods will have this. Cabelas Tour is actually a decent rod for the money, $100 and you can get them on a combo deal a lot of times. A lot of Cabelas reels are made by Daiwa.


Get a 2500 series reel in Abu,Daiwa,13,Quantum or Lews. All very good reels. You don’t need anything more than that right now but it will be enough to handle bigger fish. Don’t get the lowest line but something in the middle, you’ll thank yourself when on the water. All these automatically flip the bail back when you start to reel, don’t start that habit, manually flip it back, it will help keep line twist away.

Tackle box’s, I do not like the old school one that we all know. There’s never enough right places and you’re always fighting hooks into hooks. For me it’s just a PITA. I have this little Plano that holds 6, 3600 series boxes and has pockets and a large bet on the back. It’s great for when I bank fish. Easy to carry and everything stays right where it’s supposed to. I use 1 of the boxes and put it on top to make a sorta day box out of it. You can get it in the 3700 size and it will be plenty.

 

For the kid, it's hard to beat the good ole Zebco 33 on a 5.5' medium action rod w/ 10 lb test monofilament. Cheap, reliable, easy to cast, and will catch most of what you're likely to encounter. A little more advanced caster can transition into spinning reels easily. I love my bait caster reels. I didn't have much trouble learning how to used them, but they could be pretty tricky for a youngster.
It's a pretty deep rabbit hole to go down, but the reality is whatever reel you're comfortable with loaded with 10-12 lb test line on a 5.5'-6.5' medium action rod will do most of what you'll ever want to do in fresh water. That being said, I have more fun fishing with ultralight gear than any other way of fishing. Wading small creeks in the summer with a box full of rooster tails and Rebel ultralight crank baits with an ultralight spooled with 4-6 lb test is a blast. I have a couple of ultralight combos. One is a Quantum reel on a 5' Ugly Stik Lite UL rod. I've had it for about 20 years and caught the majority of the fish I've caught in my life on it, everything from tiny panfish to carp and catfish in the 10 lb range. If there isn't a lot of cover in the water and you have your drag set well, you can catch surprisingly big fish on light gear, and it makes for a fun fight with smaller fish. I recently got a new Shimano Sedona 1000 reel and put it on a new 6.5' Ugly Stik Elite UL rod. I have about $120 in the newer combo. I'm partial to Ugly Stiks because they're not too expensive and can live in the trunk of my car without getting broken. The newer Elite rod is a big step up from my older one in sensitivity and fit/finish, but I doubt I'll ever catch more fish on it than I have with the old one.
For tackle storage, I've gotten into the smaller Plano boxes. I have boxes with ultralight lures, medium sized lures more suitable for bass, terminal tackle, etc. I can carry two or three of those boxes and mix and match them depending on what I'm likely to be catching. I'll put them in a bag or backpack. It keeps me from having to carry my big, heavy tackle box around if I know I'm only going to be targeting panfish, smallmouth, and trout in the creek.

 

No you don’t. I’m just an engineer who likes to keep data on stuff plus main reason I got it is to document my fishing memories and it eliminates the “fishing tales”. Well unless you fill you bass with ballast, I’m sure someone’s tried to add some weight to fish . I actually bought a scale a long time ago out of curiously when I started bass fishing which was only 5-6 years ago when I got acclimated down south. I am heading out on my buddies new hot shit ranger in about an hour, haven’t been on it yet but it has latest and greatest 2018 Lowrance stuff on it, I’d imagine upwards of 15k worth which probably means I won’t catch a damn thing. It’s already hot as f@ck here at. 76 degrees and humid as hell but no better place to do a conf call than next to a quiet trolling motor.
What is really interesting about fishing is I can have just as much fun on a 14’ Jon boat with a 20hp motor that besides electronics I transfer over from other boat, maybe is worth 3k, as I do on a 100k ranger. Bit different kinds of fishing but both still fun. Yesterday was first real day I’ve been out in over 3 weeks due to travel and family commitments, damn felt good. I’m taking my 6 year old boy out Saturday Am bright and early. Local diner for early breakfast, on the water when suns coming up, in by—— when ever the heck he gets tired of fishing which could be an hour or 8 but who cares as making memories is where it’s at. Make sure your kid has s good jacket, even on a small lake. They don’t like them but rules. I got my kid and auto inflator for when I feel we are in a bit more stable environment and I keep mine on just to set an example. The auto inflators aren’t too bad to wear, I wear mine anytime when moving with the main motor, on the boat at night or sketchy conditions. I fish alone 95% of the time so it’s not a bad practice, especially at night. I really just hope if they find me floating dead I’ve somehow injested enhough air and water there’s a photo on the internet of me floating dead on my back with a boner, might as well go out on a funny note.

 

Man there is a lot of information so far. I have learned two things so far.

1: I need to get to the store and get some of the cool tackle and bait

2: WTF have I got myself into..

 

Anything involving a boat = money pit

 

Get on www.bassmaster.com this weekend with him and let him watch the Elites live. They are not too far away from you this weekend.

 

Pffft, we are racing this weekend, that takes priority over fishing...