jhoffman

Keep in mind, the slower the rod the more it protects light line. For example, if you decided to go to lets say 2lb breaking strength a very fast rod would snap that on the hooksset. The slow rod would be more forgiving and when the fish surge you could protect that line better. Having a very fast action rod with light line is a recipe for disaster. This can be seen with flyfishermans love for bamboo. The reason is, its a very slow rod when your protecting a 6x-8x tippet.

He smoked em every day

I was bundled up pretty good that day, it was just above freezing, this fish was caught at the break of day. Theres a powerplant in front of me and behind me is the warm water discharge. I actually caught a bass that day on a piece of a red plastic bag. Never seen anything like it. You could throw any and everything into the water and catch a fish. I caught one also on a piece of pepper jack cheese from my sandwhich. My buddy took me on this trip and I cant remember if his boat had a jet or not. Havent been able to get ahold of him lately. I want to run my boat there if its deep enough. You used to be able to walk to this spot pre 9/11 but they shut that down. You need a boat to get there now and theres no floating down stream. You must go up from below.

http://www.flwoutdoors.com/flwondemand.cfm

You wont find that bait selection here. My guess is they just dont sell that much bass tackle. Ive found a couple deals over the years. If my walmart had netbait chunks for a $1, I wouldnt be leaving any of those behind.

I bought my veritas for $79. Go to dicks sports, buy a cheap item. Take the receipt home and get the $10 off coupon online. Then go when they are on sale... $79

If the pixy comes down it might be more than I can handle. If it gets anywhere remotely close to $300 I would buy one in a heartbeat. Probably going to get a 100% dedicated topwater rod/reel. I wont be spending a fortune on it because I dont throw topwater that much at my home lake. Its not nearly as effective as other places.

Take the back of the sticker, spray the backside with the dishsoap/water mix and the cowl. Lay it on, adjust, smooth it out and done

Mike already puts a pretty stout hook in his jigs. I put the owner version next to a regular one and the difference is not that great in my eyes.

The original berkley gulp shad in white/chartreuse was packaged as saltwater. I saw them and just KNEW they would work and they worked well. I dont live anywhere remotely close to salt. About 6-8 hours of driving.

It doesnt happen too often among friends where I am the one getting the short end of the stick but its because I do my homework and all they do is show up to fish and want me to tell them what to do. Sometimes it works out for them and sometimes not. If I have a fly rod in my hands I have made people just stand back as if someone had reached over and cracked them up side the head. Its not that I am that much better than them, I simply focus on what exactly is going on and in the trout world at one point in time I had to quit for 3 months because I deadsticked nymphs for a week strait from daylight to dark and got tennis elbow. I used to fish for trout on the low side 150 days a year. There were days I would step on the water, fish one 30 yard stretch and go home cause I knew it wasnt going to be good. People would think I was nuts, they would fish all evening and do terrible. We will never know why someone did better. I know in current one split shot more or less can turn your day into record book numbers or the worst day of your life.

Im gonna be the odd man out for a second time today. While there is only so much forage I dont think that has anything to do with you not catching them. Id bet its more than likely pressure shutting them down. Some lakes see wicked pressure, my home lake sees at minimum two tournaments a week every week the season is open. You could go draw a zero, hit a full moon about 3am and pull a 20lb sack.

Congrats

In moving water there is also a pecking order. If youre catching small fish at the head of the riffle the big ones are likely further down stream but not completely out of the riffles.

When the water temps rise in the river systems find the rapids, fish relocate here because a: its an easy meal and b: theres more oxygen present in the water

Id put it at the helm on a ram mount and just swing it around when I stop to fish. SI to me means like was stated... driving and finding it, backscrolling, mark with gps. Even if you just came over it, could be as little as 15mins IF you even spook them that they come back. They are there for some reason!

Wrong thread?

Im going to go against the grain here and tell you that if you spend your money on a small boat its just taking you further from what you really want. Lets say you buy a boat for a $1000, pay taxes, registration fees, your trailer will likely be shot cause some idiot didnt take care of the bearings. Youll end up at $1500 before you ever hit the water if it stops at that with needing life vests and what not to be legal. Youll go to a remote area to fish some day and as you pull out it will be dark, about an hour from home youll look back to see one of your rims looking like its being held on by a hoola hoop. Youll spend the evening in some back woods town trying to find a trailer bearing only to have to leave the boat and come back later to put bearings in along the road. Youll then decide, this isnt any fun I wanna go fish and when I pull out at night I never wanna see this happen again. Youll get home, weigh the options and decide to sell. Youll sell the boat for $800 or maybe less and be back at square one. Some people out there think that certain items must be worth their weight in diamonds and then theres another guy who is going to miss his mortgage and truck payment if he doesnt sell his boat. Save a little longer and find the guy who is at rock bottom, you get your boat, he keeps his house.

It would also help to add your location to your profile, i would take a look for you as I am pretty efficient with searches but I have no clue where you reside.

My first boat was a 14' jon i decked. I paid $800 for it on a trailer with the trolling motor and a 5hp gas motor. It needed a new transom which wasnt fun but I did it with a drill and a saw. It was a 1979 terry you can find it in the show your ride thread. All said and done I had $2500 plus my time. My current boat is a 17' tracker tx17. I didnt have a pile of cash but I knew from my first experience I wouldnt even consider a boat without console steering. It has a 25hp 2 stroke evinrude, both the boat and motor are a 92, on the trailer with tax I paid $3500. When I bought it I had to buy stuff for it and that easily took me into $4500(onboard charger, new batteries...). Ill add new rims/tires and another fish finder with gps here soon taking my grand total to $5100. The boat needs scrubbed and polished and the outer edge of the fenders is just starting to rust a little but ill fix that too, then give the trailer a carbon fiber finish. Next summer it will get all new carpet($300) and Ill be done with it till I sell it to buy the next one. Ive seen ready to fish really nice boats for $4000 that dont need ANYTHING. I guess we need to know what you want to spend.

I gotta say, Roland really let me down today. I know hes an old hand but one would think he would have some sort of pattern. To weigh 1... 1lb fish on a lake that you own a resort on... what can be said

My boat is in this thread, I just bought it last year. Its nice, I catch fish out of it but I would like something a tad newer with more juice. Daycare costs are astromical these days, along with insurance. My 18 month old son runs a monthly bill of $1000 before feeding or clothing him so all my expendable income for a boat payment is SHOT for another three years. My boat is free and clear and I like that. Its good enough till he goes to school or I win one. Back on topic, sorry for getting off track.

Post wasnt directed at you bud, more to anyone who reads the thread. I wouldnt be getting rid of that either, its a nice boat.

Only five of us in the FLW league... wow We all picked a different winner! On a side note, crankbaits on okeechobee??????

Nice rigs both of you have... ill be buying a newer one in a few years. My buddy called me the other day with a hot deal. Ill be passing it on to you guys to see if you want it cause with a boy in daycare I cant afford the payments at the moment. I should have pics and full details next week. If youre in the market for a newer tracker keep your eyes on the for sale forum.