5bass

You sound like my dad. He's been wearing my little brothers shoes for a couple years now but after little bro hit that growth spurt at 15 and jumped up 2 sizes, dad's out of luck.

Thats right, the crankbait king likes a low speed reel for deep cranking! I had always read articles about Fritts a long time ago using slow speed reels but being young and dumb, I didnt buy into it. Then I got schooled by an old timer in my club way back when, so I switched to see what the fuss was all about. I never switched back to the faster reel and thats been 20 years ago. 4.7:1 all day long. It comes down to personal preference. I have a tendency to throw deep cranks 80% of the time during the summer. There's no way I could do that with a 6+ reel. If I just threw deep cranks here and there it wouldnt be such a big deal.

Thanks for checking in Paul. Happy New Year to you as well.

Yeah, Fishers of Men is a good trail too, we fished one of those on Smith Mtn this past season.

I use the Loomis GLX SHR822S. I bought the regular SHR822S first and wasn't overly impressed with it. It was a good rod but the GLX is more sensitive. Heck, I'll even use mine to skip small jigs under docks every now and then. It loads well and skips small stuff no problem, then it's got plenty of backbone to bury the hook. In my opinion, it's the mac daddy shakyhead rod, hands down, no contest.

[movedhere] General Bass Fishing Forum [move by] five.bass.limit.

A jigging spoon, like a Hopkins Shorty will catch fish vertically no doubt about it and I use them but I prefer a flutter type spoon fished vertically as well. They sink a little slower than a regular jigging spoon.

Angler's Choice runs a trail on Kerr. I know it may be a stretch but it's a well run and popular trail. I'd be willing to bet that there's a couple different trails on the Potomac as well.

Spoons are awesome in the cold months. I buy blanks on eBay and they do pretty good. Cabela's sells blanks as well, at leats they used to. I havent seen any of the real big flutter spoons like the Lake Fork spoon or the new Strike King Sexy spoon in bulk blanks yet though. I generally use the small 1/2 oz spoons a lot and have no problems.

I have fished the Steez rods and reels before so I'm good. I'm just wondering what the security deposit is.

Oh no! Here we go again. : Boats are built to withstand a motor hanging on them, no matter what boat brand you have. Obviously, some are better than others. The use of a transom saver is just extra 'insurance'. I own one of the best built boats money can buy but I still use a transom saver. It's a no-brainer.

If a transom saver was used for keeping the lower unit from striking the ground it would be called a 'lower unit saver', not a TRANSOM saver. A transom saver is meant to keep the excessive weight of the motor from bouncing up and down and putting extra stress on the TRANSOM, causing it to wear out or become weak faster than it normally would without use of a TRANSOM saver. I'm not sure how the lower unit got brought into this, other than it's the part of the motor that the TRANSOM saver attaches to. The tilt lock is to keep the lower unit from striking the ground and to keep stress off the trim unit. It has nothing to do with the transom, or the saving of the transom.

[movedhere] General Bass Fishing Forum [move by] five.bass.limit.

[movedhere] General Bass Fishing Forum [move by] five.bass.limit.

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[movedhere] General Bass Fishing Forum [move by] five.bass.limit.

[movedhere] Fishing Tackle [move by] five.bass.limit.

Man, thats awesome! Can I borrow some of your will power?

I'd expect no less from a Seattle Seahawks fan. ;D

Yeah, the numbers thing would have to be worked out to where it benefitted everyone involved. I would think they could get maybe 20-25 from the current Elite roster to volunteer to go west and then maybe have a few Open trails out there to fill the other spots making 75 in each division. 150 total anglers, top 25 in each division make the Classic plus whatever # of Open trail (east and west) Classic spots. Say they have 6 Open trails, narrow those down by point system, those fish a 'National' and only the Top 5 in the 'National' make the Classic, plus the automatic bids. I know this could work. Just hammering out the numbers thing would be the hard part, like you said. I do think it would add another dimension to BASS and they'd be represented out west every year. Plus, the east guys wont have to travel west and the west guys who just want to fish will be able to.

Would this work? I always hear the left coast guys grumbling about not having many Elite events out there and there are none in 2011 out west. Would it be feasible to have an Elite Series West and an Elite Series East? Having 2 divisions would create a little more buzz and there would be added attraction and rivalry to the Bassmaster Classic, of which the location would be alternated each year. I'm still wondering whether they should have a full field of +/- 100 (like now) in each division or cut it back to 50 in each and split up the guys they already have by taking volunteers to fish out west? Maybe 75 in each? I guess the total # of spots for the Classic would depend on the # of anglers in each division and add in some spots for anglers from the BASS Opens. Obviously there are enough lakes on both sides to do it but would there be enough guys from the West (or willing to fish in the West) to have a full field out there?

Make it happen. You da man.

Thanks Big O and right back at you man!

Thanks Big O and right back at you man!

Thanks Big O and right back at you man!