J Francho

You probably held it in the boat a little too long. My experience is that bass taken at depths of 20-35' don't have any problems and no special treatment is necessary, if they are immediately released. Just unhook them, and let them go quickly. Now, if you have a tournament, and need to keep them in a live well, then you'll have to learn how to fizz them, or avoid fishing from those depths.

Anything you can see well. If you don't see it anymore, set the hook.

Best bass boat for what? Where? How much? How often? To me, the best is Gambler/Sterling or Bullet.

You guys need to relax. Anyone can comment here. LC Flash Minnow 115. You can find them used for about $12. At $8 - $10, X-raps are a rip off. The bill isn't durable, and 3/4 of them don't run right out of the box. Husky Jerks don't seem to have that problem. Smithwick Rogues are a good option if you don't want to spend too much.

Even if the food wasn't good, it's worth it to hang out with catfish guys in the morning.

Matt, if you're ever up this way, I got an open seat for you on Erie. If it's in the fall, we could also hit up some big brown trout shallow water action.

I getter fuel economy out of my Merc 2.5 Pro Max Sporty on a 21' Bullet running under 50 mph than in my 18' Xpress with a Merc 115 elpto at WOT.

You can also double the smaller braided line with a spider hitch knot. I just find tying one knot easier and quicker than tying two.

That's a back to back Uni. Unless the line diameters are very similar, they have a tendency to fail for me. I use an Alberto knot, or modified Albright for a better mainline to leader connection.

I have so many lakes around me, it's worth making a trip two hours or more to hit them at least once. http://goo.gl/maps/88BUC

This is a great way to rig them. When the football head hits a rock, the tail kicks up. Give it a pause, and a hop after. You'll get bit.

I wouldn't say that's true at all.

I actually caught a bunch of LMB and SMB that day on that one and azure blue. They work best fished like a jerkbait. I'm sure figured out the "pop" to get them to turn 180* and look straight back at a follower - that's a cool trick.

You're paying for peace of mind that the boat is right. If it isn't, not your problem, you're only out the money for a compression test and inspection. Anyone not willing to allow this isn't worth buying from. Imagine, not being able to test drive and inspect a used car.

Not sure how you can call a production rod in a store "custom." Never handled one, myself. They do run a huge tournament up here on Oneida with a big payout in prizes and product.

$1000 deductible! Wow, mine is only $250. You get what you pay for!

You can easily get older stickers made from 3rd party decal companies.

They won't move far. They'll be right where you left them. Takes more than a few warm days to affect the deep water they're wintering in.

They were on clearance at my local BPS for $200 this past weekend.

Magic Swimmer, a proven fish catcher I've caught several fish on it, and it's not a bad bait, but there are better ones out there.

I like Zillion SHAs for burning a spinnerbait or traps, too.

LOL, I was just teasing.

Personally, I want them in deep, open water, and NOT in that weed edge. Just be prepared for it, and position your boat appropriately to gain and angle on the fish.

Just to clarify...The DSR, by definition, is then faster than the SYR. A mod-fast tip can be just a "soft" or "stiff" as an x-fast tip. It's simply how much of the rod is actually "tip." Compare, and keep in mind, equal force is applied to each example:

The transition from the tip to the backbone is the "voodoo" that is not in the typical rod's binomial (power/taper) rating. You're saying what I'm saying. There's no such thing as a "medium tip." Fast, x-fast, slow merely describes how quickly the blank tapers from butt to tip. There's a lot of variables along the way down the blank, and most rods have three section, butt, midsection, and tip. Two different med/x-fast rods can have entirely different transitions from tip to mid section. That a company would designate one as a "dropshot" and another as "shaky head" is arbitrarily decided by their pro staff, or marketing departments. I have yet to meet a well made $100+ medium light to medium power, x-fast spinning rod that wasn't up to the task of drop shotting. Anything more specific, is a personal preference that is developed time on the water, not leafing through rod specs. In other words, we agree - you gotta fish the dang thing!