Ellesar

lol, no I haven't played that in a while. No need now that I can do the real thing again!!! Beside my 4 year old is good at it now, dont want to get beat by a 4 year old. He already beats me at boxing and tennis.

Its not an issue with my Lowrance. I can adjust the brightness so that its easily readable. But, I've never had to do that. The LED's don't create enough glare to washout the display.

Had a decent sat Morn on Guntersville. Fish seem to be starting to move to their Fall behavior. Starting to find them back up in the grass in the coves. They are still out on the main flats/points/etc, but some bigger fish seem to be moving up already. Usually don't expect this quite this early.

Bluewaters LED's are easy to install most places. I installed a one in my trolling motor tray and in the passenger side rod holder. I've seen lots of really cool looking things done wiht these lights.

Since Ive been seeing a number of posts about Ethanol gas and supposedly ethanol free gas, I figured Id post a link to a good test kit for those who are interested. Just because it doesn't say it contains Ethanol, doesn't mean it doesn't contain some. Only way to know for sure is to test. http://www.fuel-testers.com/order.html

lol yeah.... but his favorite song right now is "She thinks my tractors sexy"....

You have a few options right about now on Guntersville. You can fish the grass mats with frogs or flipping/pitching. The strange weather we've had this year has had the grass growth behind all season but its finally topped out and started scumming over. Your best bets are going to be using something like a Spro over the top of the grass, or getting 1 1/2 + ounch weights and a creature bait and punching through the mats to the fish underneath. You can fish the slightly deeper grass with a combination of topwater baits and big worms. You should look for grass in 5-10 ft of water. If you are fishing early, start with topwater. If you don't get any hits, try slowly swimming th big worm through the grass. You can even try a swim bait like this. There is still alot of fish being caught on main channel ledges and humps using deep diving crankbaits or bouncing a big worm or jig down the ledge. The thing to look for are ledges with shell beds around 20-30 ft. The bass really like the shell beds. In the past week the temps have dropped and some fish have moved back into the coves. I caught a 5lb way back in a shallow cove yesterday. That surprised me a bit. The fish are still schooling. These are usually smaller fish, but sometimes a 3-5 can be found in the area. What they lack in size, they make up with in numbers. I took my daughter out one day and we caught 94 in 4 hours. They aren't always that worked up, but you can still catch a lot in a short amount of time. You have to keep your eyes open for them schooling up and attacking the shad on the top. They seem to do this the most late in the day, atleast I've seen it a lot more in the late afternoon. The key to finding fish on Guntersville is grass. If you aren't fishing grass, you aren't catching bass (with the exception of shell beds on ledges). Almost everything about bass fishing on lake guntersville revolves around the grass. Forget your standard shore fishing, that won't work this time of year. Get out on the grass flats that are on the edges of the main channel of the river that cuts through the middle of hte lake. If you want some specific areas to go, send me a PM. I will tell you that the Mink Creek area has been really hot lately as well as up around Goosepond.

I think the fact that you still have a high paying day job pretty much answers the question. If you were a pro, fishing and dealing with sponsors and such would be your day job.

If I asked you what is your job, what would you say? If the answer doesn't involve fishing, then I don't think you are a pro.

In a grass lake like Guntersville you can T-Rig with 1/8 weight and slowly swim through the grass. This is a tried and true technique during the summer!

Nah, my old car wpuldn't have qualified it was a 2002. But they do have some nice rebates and so forth going on right now so there are good deals to be had without CFC. ;D

The livewell ones are nice too, also used some with mercury switches for my engine compartment. Can't beat bluewater for led's!

One of the things that we're starting to learn as we become more aware of the problems ethanol causes is that a lot of the gas that you think doesn't contain ethanol, does. The only way to be sure is to test it at the pump with a hand tester. Some gas that was supposed to be ethanol free has tested to contain %5-10 ethanol.

Decided to take off a little early and take my 4 year old fishing. Had promised to take him last sunday but my wifes father was rushed the the hospital with chest pains. He was excited because we got to go in my new truck. I just bought a 2009 Dodge Ram 1500. He really likes riding in the new truck and singing along to "She thinks my tractors sexy". So we went home and hooked up the boat. I was ready to see how the new truck did. We headed out to Lake Guntersville, stopping at the "snack store" to pick up the essentials (cokes, crackers, etc ). We fishing close to the launch to start with, which disappointed him a bit because he likes going fast in the boat. But he quickly caught a fish so his disappointment didn't last long. Once we got done there we headed up the lake a bit and hit some of our "go to" spots. Being a 4 year old, he gets antsy pretty quick if we aren't catching fish. On our first stop we landed this nice one. I was sure to not use my "stupid face" in the picture. We had to take several because he is only 4 and kept chopping my head off. He was a little afraid of this fish because of its size. So he wasn't too sure about getting real close to it. After that we hit some schooling fish because they are easy to catch. He caught several more before we decided to head back to the house. Overall it was a lot of fun, fishing withi him usually is. We only caught about 15-20 in the 2 hours we were out, but watching him catch fish is one of the most enjoyable things I do on the water. Seeing him catch a one pounder is far better than me catching a 5-6 lber.

One of the effects of Ethanol in the gas is that some of the hoses are being eating up inside, leading to pieces of hose in the fuel system. Best to take it in so that the problem can be tracked down. I've been hearing of similar types of issues because pieces of hose are getting stuck in the fuel system (at different places) and impeding the flow of fuel. Do a Google search on ethanol in outboards and you will get an education on the effects it is having on outboard engines. A lot of people are having fuel problems with their outboards now. It not only softens and deteriorates certain rubber components, it also disolves the resin from fiberglass fuel tanks and causes the fuel to absorb water. One common problem seems to be sticky needle valves. I have a just tuned motor that is already running rough after only a few tanks of fuel. I suspect we will all be needing regular fuel system service as a result of this stuff. I think the jury is still out on whether the new fuel stabilizers will control the negative effects as well. The longer it sits in your tank the worse the effects seem to be, so the guys that fish once or twice a week may be better off than us occasional fishermen. I have heard you can buy ethanol free gas in Alabama and I only live one hour away. I may just start fishing Lake Weiss and forget Allatoona. I'm no outboard expert by any means but my mechanic is really concerned about it. Back to top Be careful when buying gas that is supposed to be ethanol free, I've been reading about numerous instances where handheld testers showed that "ethanol free" gas really contained 5-10 ethanol in some cases. Seems that the only way to know for sure is to use a hand held tester at the pump.

One of the effects of Ethanol in the gas is that some of the hoses are being eating up inside, leading to pieces of hose in the fuel system. Best to take it in so that the problem can be tracked down. I've been hearing of similar types of issues because pieces of hose are getting stuck in the fuel system (at different places) and impeding the flow of fuel.

The money you save is on oil, not gas. 4 Strokes aren't more efficient on gas usage, you just don't have to burn expensive 2-stroke oil. If you are comparing new 4 strokes to old 2 strokes, then thats apples and oranges. New 2 strokes don't require choking, several starting attempts, etc. Mine cranks first try every time, no choking. The reason to let it idle before getting on it has nothing to do with 2 stroke or 4 stroke. You do that to allow the engine to come up to operating temperature before running 6000 rpms. This is especially important when the water is cold. Cold seizures happen in both 4 strokes and 2 strokes. Tell you this much, call your local OB mechanic and compare the cost of rebuilding a 2 stroke powerhead and a 4 stroke powerhead. The 4 stroke is far more expensive because they are more complex. This is something the Motocross industry has been dealing with as many of the bikes are switching over to 4 stroke motors. I guess I have never used a two stroke younger than a 2003, but that one sure wasn't how you described. From what I have seen, the charts on gph on two stroke and 4 stroke motor comparisons state nothing about oil used, just simply the 4 stroke gets better gph, period. I wasn't wondering why people left them idling, Ive had experience with HAVING to leave them idle so they won't die when rev'd, even on warm water. And why would I want to worry about which one is more expensive to rebuild? Don't blow your motor up to begin with and you don't have to worry about it. Matt, your exactly right, they are much easier to pass. MStarr, I heard the same thing. In fact my Yamaha dealer anticipated they would quit making them all together in the near future due to environmental issues... sure would make parts and fixing them raise when all two strokes get discontinued... a point they seemed to emphasize. When I had a 4 stroke I didn't have to buy 2-3 gallons of oil at $25-$35 a gallon every few tanks of gas. All I had to do was put gas in the tank. 4 Strokes don't require that the oil used for lubrication to be mixed with the gas. Looking at the charts on Mercury's web site, the mpg between the Verado and the Pro XS are almost identical. I've found that I use the same amount of gas with my 2 stroke that I did with my 4 stroke, my "gas" budget hasn't changed. But having to spend $100.00 a month on 2 stroke oil in addition to the gas was a bit of a surprise.

The money you save is on oil, not gas. 4 Strokes aren't more efficient on gas usage, you just don't have to burn expensive 2-stroke oil. If you are comparing new 4 strokes to old 2 strokes, then thats apples and oranges. New 2 strokes don't require choking, several starting attempts, etc. Mine cranks first try every time, no choking. The reason to let it idle before getting on it has nothing to do with 2 stroke or 4 stroke. You do that to allow the engine to come up to operating temperature before running 6000 rpms. This is especially important when the water is cold. Cold seizures happen in both 4 strokes and 2 strokes. Tell you this much, call your local OB mechanic and compare the cost of rebuilding a 2 stroke powerhead and a 4 stroke powerhead. The 4 stroke is far more expensive because they are more complex. This is something the Motocross industry has been dealing with as many of the bikes are switching over to 4 stroke motors.

Glad you had a good time on the G. Everyone I talk to says they've never seen it so good as it has been this year. Its spoiled me from fishing a lot of other places!

Me too. Me three.. I was wondering if there was something to all these celebrity deaths lately.

Just watch and you'll see why. Starting with Alabama. Clemson said the same thing last year.... VT > Clemson Alabama > VT > Clemson Very clever. Matt, it must be that magical spell that the SEC has on the pollsters. We sure are lucky that we've fooled all those pollsters, because we certainly haven't done anything to earn our rankings. :

They have 2 because they dont play anyone and are likely to end up undefeated or with just one loss, which will get them ranked that high. The polls do consider the schedule strength, its not necessarily how good you are, but how good you play given the competition you face. Penn State and Ohio State play each other. So one will have a loss. I wish I had said something about one of them having one loss... Oh wait.. I did.... ;D

I do often find myself "woundering" what its Worth throeing live BAIT. Usually I think its about $0.05 a cricket when I do it.

I've been approached twice to try out a new bait before it was released. I think I was approached for a variety of reasons, it certainly wasn't smoething I was looking for, just sort of happened. In one case a buddy of mine gave my name to a guy because they were looking for someone who fished a lake like Guntersville and someone that fished pretty often (but wasn't a pro). The second time I sort of stumbled on it when I was in a tackle store. Just started talking to a guy, not knowing who he was, and he took my name and contacted me a bit later and asked if I would mind trying a couple of new baits and give him my honest opinion. I think our conversation was the key that time.

Just watch and you'll see why. Starting with Alabama. Clemson said the same thing last year.... VaTech is no Clemson either. Last year, Clemson was ranked in the preseason top 10, why? it sure wasn't cause they ended the season ranked in the top 10 the year before. Bama didn't deserve to vault up the pole 13 spots either, but they did. Go VaTech!!!! 8-) Clemson was overrated for sure, but I wouldn't say Bama didn't deserve to move up that much. After all, the didn't lose until the SEC championship game.