Spring Fishing Boat Check

Outlaw Angler, Alex Kolody, with  a few good tips for prepping your boat for the first fishing trip of the year as well as great ideas to keep it running smoothly throughout the season.

Hey guys its that time of year again. The boats will be coming out soon. Whether you have a bass boat with a big engine or a small john boat with a small outboard, you owe it to yourself, your engine, and your fishing partner to make sure it is in top running condition.

Here are a few things you can do to help keep your engine in good running order:

1)  Make sure you have the enough oil.  If you pre-mix your gas and oil, always mix a little more oil then needed.  This will smoke a little more, but will guarantee to keep your engine form seizing.

2)  Inspect your impeller and water pump housing and make sure they are in good working condition. they are not functioning properly your engine will overheat.This is the most common cause of motor problems. On big engine they should be replaced at least every other season.  If you run your boat shallow, sandy, or muddy areas this should be done every year.

3)  Replace your spark plugs.  New spark plugs will help your motor start on every turn of the key or crank of the flywheel.

4)  New fuel filters are a must these days. Fresh filters will help keep your spark plugs and carburetors from fouling out.

5)  Lastly, with today's gasoline containing 10% ethanoI, T IS A MUST TO USE a fuel stabilizer with every fill-up. There are several types such as StarTron, Sea Foam, or my favorite, Stabil Ethanol treatment. It does not matter which you use, but it does matter that you use one. This will prevent major problems down the road. 

Keep these few tips in mind this spring when you head out for your first fishing trip.  They will keep your engine running strong and keep you out on the water.

Alex

Blade Baits and Jigging Spoons - The Original Workhorse Baits

Blade baits and jigging spoons have been around for dozens of years and are among the oldest lures designs still in use.  These baits have fallen out of popularity to more modern baits, but can still be produce a lot of big bites when nothing else will – remember Kelly Jordan’s jigging spoon clinic on Ultimate Match Fishing?

There endless numbers of spoons and blade baits available:  Silver Buddy, Vibe, Cast Master, Hopkins and Tru-Tungsten are some of my favorites.  It is not so much the one brand is better than another, it is more the way they are fished and there are several ways to fish them.  You can fish both a blade and a spoon vertically – letting them sink to the bottom then jerking them up to entice a reaction bite.  You can also cast and retrieve them or cast and yoyo back to the pier, dock, or boat you may be fishing from.

The thing that you need to remember is that blades and spoons come in all colors shapes and sizes so it is very easy to “match the hatch”.  If the bass are feeding on two inch baitfish then you want a spoon or blade bait that is two inches in length and similar in color: Silver, gold, blue silver, and black silver are good color matches for most baitfish.

If you would like to know more about fishing blade baits and spoons for bass, I will be giving a seminar at the Gander Mountain in Rochester New York on March 2nd at 7pm.  These seminars are always a lot of fun and I look forward to seeing you there.

Gander Mountain

300 Jay Scutti Road

Rochester,NY 14623

(585) 424-4100

GPS Coordinates:

Latitude: 43.0907110

Longitude: -77.6282760