For shallow spawning fish that are very spooky, especially clear water, when you get too close with the boat... Try this;

Take some golf balls with you next time; white, flouresent yellow or orange. Spot the bed... pitch a ball about 2-4 feet one side or the other, then back off.. wait and you'd be surprised how well you can see that ball, even if you cant see the bed!!!

Works REALLY Well in Clearer water and you can back off quite a ways to make the fish feel more comfortable...

You can even take a ball retriever with you to pick them up after you catch the fish.

Got it- Great idea- Thanks

I bought a golf ball retriever that extends to about 16ft, and cut off the top half the round part to form a u shaped end,I set my snagged line in the u and shove it down to towards the hung lurer and Im able to push the lurer from behind rocks without getting my boat in so shallow it gets banged up on the rocky shore. Cost:$ 9 and I've save over a hundred dollars worth of baits .When not in use I telescope it back in to about 3ft long.

Keep em coming- This youngster is learning

I keep an emergency heater I made in the boat incase someone falls overboard in cold water or wind up getting stranded after dark in the cold. I took a 1pound coffee can and stick a whole roll of toilet paper in it(it will fit just right). Get a bottle of rubbing alcohol and pour the whole thing in the can. Put the plastic lid on. The toilet paper will soak up the alcohol and will light easily if you need it.

+100!

Use a dremel tool to put your own serial# on all of your rods & reels. I use my initials, and then sequencial numbers behind that (RDB001, RDB002, etc). If your stuff is ever stolen, atleast you can positively identify each rod & reel. I have a log (make/model, & my ser#'s) of all my stuff in the safe.

I also use these serial numbers, and a seperate log to track what line is on each reel, when it was put on, and any other maintenance info for that particular reel has been performed.

Lots of great stuff! I especially like ^^^ #23. This has burned my behind from the beginning! Tired of carrying around a measuring cup. Just plain messy.

Thanks Monte for starting this thread!

Awesome responses thanks for the tips lots of really useful stuff!!!

Another thing I've done in an effort to be more efficient is to stop carrying every bait I own in the boat!!! I got a large soft sided canvas tool box like they sell at Lowes or Home depot it has a divider down the middle and pockets all the way around, it fits perfect in my Skeeter storage box. I put all my baits by type for example worms, tubes, senkos, etc in 1 gallon zip lock bags then keep them in the tool bag. If I want to throw a Senko I grab the Senko bag it has an assortment of all my different Senko baits same goes for everything else. When I get to the house I have one big bag to unload and my go to box and the boat is empty. No worries about somebody breaking in and stealing all my stuff been there and done that!!!

i started making my own jigs, i like the eakins jewel jigs alot so i started buying the material to make them, they are 6 bucks for 2 jigs, i can make the same identical jig for 1.10 each, best part is catchin fish on something you made, its a good feeling.

Some of you guys watched alot of MacGyver! Great tips guys!

I've done more MacGyver repairs on the water than I care to remember, mostly on trolling motors...

Thanks again, Monte...great idea to start this thread..

I saved a ton of money last year when I started pouring my own plastics. I can get approx 400 worms out of a $40 gallon of plastic, compared to $5.00 for a bag of 10 worms. Initial start up cost was about $350 for the molds, colors, flake, scents and plastic. It easily paid for itself last year.

I saved $350 last year by switching to Geico.


(Really)

Just some quickies ...

1. When fishing "weightless" baits, like flukes, I carry pieces of stripped copper wire in 10, 12, & 14 guages and insert little cutoffs (use the dykes) and insert mid body if I need more fall on the bait. When cut with the dykes you get a sharp tip.

2. The above works on wacky rigging too if you want a nose first fall.

3. Tube fishermen, I use the little compressible foam insert hearing protectors to stuff inside your tube when carolina fishing them so your lure will float just above the grass ... works best on short leaders in short grass. Fill your bait with scent before plugging it. In a pinch you can use styrofoam packing peanuts too.

4. If you know someone in the medical field get some syringes (I like the 10cc ones) with an gauge needle (pink hubs on this size) and fill with your favorite liquid fish attractant. Inject the attractant in your soft baits, the needle makes a tract that will exude a little juice as it bumps along and also when a fish clamps down on it. Watch out ... these needles are SUPER sharp.

5.This one takes some moxy ... the same 18 gauge needle can follow a hook shank down to the barb on a hook, cover the barb, then allows the hook to come out the way it went in without catching meat. (Stick your finger in some ice water 1st to deaden it some).

Don't forget the baby wipes.

Thanks for the great post Skeeter Don.

For moisture inside hatch's, Buy a bag of the Silicone kitty litter , nab a pair of your wife's pantyhose. (Not when she's around) fill to 5 or 6 inches, cut tie it off. Repeat until you have enough for all the closed spaces. This will help to soak up any excess moisture & help to stop mil-due in the hatch's. You should be able to fill & tie off enough silicone Pantyhose for every hatch in your boat with just 1 pair. Just don't get caught.

Rube it sounds like you may have been caught. Have you been over to Irving lately and saw how much it has changed?

You had some good ones Skeeter Don!

Get rid of your bass boat and switch to a kayak.

Yeah Joe, Mom still lives there. It's a pretty sad place now.

Thanks YellowMagic usually when I post something it goes straight to the basement!!!

Zip ties are a must for all kinds of on the water repairs one thing I've found them handy for is when changing boat batteries I zip tie all the wires together as I pull them off of each post makes it easy and quick when it comes to reconnecting.

I changed to tungsten weights several years ago and figured I had hundreds of lead bullet weights . I bought a box of cheap paperclips and turned them into drop shot weights. Straighten out most of the paperclip, insert thru bottom of weight, pull tight and make a loop around your needlenose pliers, cut off excess. Get fancy and you can powder coat.