PDB

Nothing wrong with a paddle boat. The fish have no idea whether they are being yanked into a canoe or a 100 mile an hour Allison.

If I was up that way, I'd sure join you. Here is one I caught a couple weeks ago in south MS.

The Triumphs are made in China and not up to the standard of the US made St Croixs. For close to the same money I'd take a made in the USA Falcon Original.

I am interested in getting into local tournament fishing. Nothing serious, just looking for a little challenge and something fun to do. I have done a good bit of bass fishing in the past, but was never seriously into it. At the present I do not plan on doing any big water fishing. I will fish the marshes and rivers of coastal MS, LA and AL. I just bought a Procraft 165 with a 90 Mercury. It should do just fine. Here's my background. I have spent a lot of time fishing these coastal waters, but here's the hitch. I normally fished from a canoe or kayak. The places I fished were small steams and bayous off of the main rivers and bays. If the water conditions were good I could almost always find fish. Small water is what I know best. When I say small, I mean sometimes I fished in waters I couldn't turn my 12' kayak around in. Local tournament winning stringers rarely top 10 pound by much. A five pound stringer will typically land you in the top 10. If I fish the waters with which I am most familiar, it will involve a very long run to get to where I'm going. If I get there and it's not happening, I might be able to hit one more of the spots I know about before time would force me to head back to the scales. As it relates to the tournaments should I try bigger waters or should I put all my eggs in one basket and take off for the headwaters and backwaters that I am familiar with? Dance with the one that brung me or branch out and try new and different strategies? A follow on to that is how should I approach a new body of water? Let's say a small lake maybe 4 miles long by 2 miles wide. My natural inclination would be to head directly to coves and cuts. I will not have a GPS with advanced charting capabilities, so how would you recommend I study the features of any given lake ahead of time. I have an unlimited number of questions, so if you have any useful suggestions, I'm all ears. I know I could do the co-angler thing, but I think it would be more satisfying to try my own approach. Thanks, Paul

I'm a serious bargain hound. I have been scoring some good deals lately. Just yesterday I picked up 4 Quantum Accurist reels on clearance for $44, regularly $94. I also bought two American Rodsmith titanium series rods on clearance for $29. I remember when they first hit Academy they were over 100 bucks. A couple months ago a regional sporting goods distributor's warehouse burned. The salvage company that bought the stock started selling it at 40% off. I bought tons of offshore tackle. When they went down to 60% off I picked up several Daiwa Tierras for $45. After they went down to 80% off I was still scoring deals on Senkos, Norman hard baits, Terminator spinner baits, P-line CX Premium, and more. Last week I picked up this brand new ProCraft 165 pro with a 90 HP Merc and trailer. It came with a MG trolling motor, a cheap Lowrance fishfinder, a 3 year warranty on the motor and a $300 gift certificate to Bass Pro Shops for just $9999.

First off any day on the water is a good day. A good bass fishing day depends on the body of water. In the Louisiana marsh I have caught over 50 in a trip. It takes about a dozen for me to consider it a good day. In the lake I live on I need to get about 6 before it's a good day. On the river systems, some days catching anything is good. If bass fishing is slow, I don't mind switching over to ultra light for some pan fishing.

Or you could just use the reel as designed an reel the bail closed, taking a quick glance down to make sure you don't have the loop. If for some reason your line becomes twisted over time, let all the line out without any lure on it and reel it back in applying light pressure with your fingers. No sense in making something more complicated than it needs to be.

Your analogy with the golf equipment market is a good one. Truth be known all the different types of line have their place. I use P-line CX premium almost exclusively. I suppose if I had an unlimited budget and my livlihood depended on it I'd do the flouro or braid thing.

Unlimited budget choice goes to St. Croix. My budget choice goes to Falcon.

I have just started using the 5" Kut tails and have had great success. June bug and Black with blue flake seem to be my top producers.

Each lake in each geographic region is a little different, so I can't say for sure. When I approach a new body of water I like to start with light tackle and small lures. This helps me locate the fish as it seems the smaller ones are more enthusiastic feeders. Once I locate the fish I start go for the larger ones. I have started using and have fallen in love with 3" Senkos, mauve in particular. My first two casts with them resulted in losing a 3+ and catching a 1.5...this on 6# test and a UL rod. By the end of the trip on a 40 acre lake I only had 3 of the 10 pack left. I have been Kayak fishing for about 4 years now, and prefer it to any other kind of fishing. You might want to consider one fot the lake you mention. Cheap, light, manueverable and stealthy.

I recently bought Daiwa Tierras in three different sizes and am thrilled with the quality and performance.

I can't offer any useful insight on your choices, but I can on the state of the boat market right now. The boat market nationwide is depressed right now. It is a buyers market. Don't be afraid to wheel and deal, shop around and lowball offers.

Shellback, thanks for the response. I forgot about Mercs prop calculator. I'll have to check that out. Were you prior Navy?

I'd like to take an opportunity to introduce myself to the forum and bug you with a few questions. I'm Paul and I spend most of my free time on the MS and LA coasts. I have been an avid saltwater fisherman most of my life. I have done some bass fishing on a friends boat and have done a great deal of kayak bass fishing. I finally decided to get a boat. I won't ever seriously do any tournament fishing, so I knew I didn't need a new 21' rig with a 250, but I might do some local stuff. I shopped around and found a brand new Procraft 165 with a 90 horse Merc 2 Stroke and trailer for $10000 even. On top of that I get a 2 year extension on the engine warranty and a $300 gift certificate from BPS. That's the background and now for the questions. The boat has a smallish 22 gallon livewell. How do you think this would limit me in local tournaments with either 5 or 7 fish limits? I rarely run WOT. I will need to take off in shallow water on occasion. I'm looking for a prop that will give great holeshot, great midrange and reasonable top speed. I read where one guy was spinning a 26" on the same rig and getting 59 GPS. His hole shot must have been horrible though. What are your thoughts on propping this rig? I'll typically run alone. Any other tips for a beginner? Thanks. Paul