FlyRod

The "dealer is pushing the 4-stroke hard" came as no surprise. One of my buddies got whipsawed into taking a 4-stroke when they replaced his defective Nitro (which had a NON-4-stroker). He still regrets it. Worse yet, it's a 90. Re: The suggestion that you should take a closer look at a Stratos....DO IT! Yer Ex-Army Fellow Basser, Rod, F. Branch? See below.

Subtitle: How Dumb--- FlyRod nearly got seriously whacked. Early in the AM, predawn, of the Glorious Fourth, Rebbasser and I launched his boat at Boerne City Lake TX. This is a "No gas engine" lake, unless in dire emergency. As the Nitro slid off the trailer, with me ready to deploy the TM and take control, I remembered we hadn't unhooked the...you know. The winch handle spun merrily and now we had several feet of strap in the water and a breeze from astern. The TM was still in the stowed position. I laid down and was reaching over the bow when "Whack!", the TM fired up and began massaging my face. Had I not had glasses on it might have been bad. As it was, I wasn't more than startled, scared poopless, and embarassed. The switch was on, you see, and my less-than-svelte tummy had depressed the "Go" button. I hope all of us will remember to "OFF" the TM when it's not deployed. FR

I have some experience with both the models you mention. If you purchase either, PLEASE get the biggest engine you can afford within the boat's rating limitations, or at least the 115 or 135, hopefully. This has proven critical to the Nitro in most cases. You'l be sorry if you don't, performance and fuel economy-wise, and your trade/resale value will suffer. BTW, a good friend has the 115 with an upgraded prop and his boat performs well enough even with my fat rear in it. Also, GET THE OPTIMAX! The 4-stroke adds a LOT of weight and this can cause issues as well. Don't let the dealer whipsaw you into the 4-stroke OR the 90 HP of either type engine. I cannot over-stress this . The Opti is the OPTIMUM engine for this boat. If you can, make CERTAIN that you get a 24V trollmotor. Either the Minn-Kota 74 or the equivalent Motor-Guide. One of the Nitros I've fished from has the MG Digital and that is the most well-mannered and easy-to-manuever TM I've ever operated, bar none, and the recessed pedal position on the Nitro makes it even moreso. There have been some issues with Nitro dealers. Of course, I doubt there's a dealer in the world with whom someone, somewhere, hasn't had an "Issue". LOL. Be careful and very, very, selective in that regard. Try to speak with other owners who have bought boats from the particular dealer in question, especially those who've had their Nitros for a year or more. Lastly, I agree with those who advise you to choose, in great part, your boat based on the waters you will most likely fish. If you are gonna be on "Big" water, a lake overrun with skiers, lake lice, and party boats, then you might be wise to "save up" and get a bigger, thus safer, boat. Lastly, save up, if need be, and get at least one graph that features GPS (If only one, then it should be at the driver's position, not the bow.)earn to use it. This can be a true boon to your fishing AND to your safety as well. Caveat: Do NOT rely totally on the GPS to navigate at night or in reduced visibility situations...take that Q-Beam along too and go slow. I'm not assuming you are a total newbie to all this, just covering some important "bases". Good luck, be safe, and enjoy your new toy! FlyRod Looking forward to my next trip in a Nitro! Peeyess: First after-market purchases: Spare TM prop! Then get someone who is really experienced to help you "tune" your new rig for maximum performance and fuel economy (Maybe an SS prop?) This WILL pay off. PM me if you want a recommendation as to how to learn more about that.

P-Line or Seaguar Fluorocarbon Leader! Not the fluoro line, the LEADER material. Berkley Van-Trans IS bad news! FR

Yes, I do. When I was 12, (circa 1955-6) and newly arrived at Fort Polk LA, living in Lovely Leesville, my parents exiled me to a church summer camp for two weeks. While there, I took my trusty "Miguel" 300, Shakespeare rod, and a red and white Lucky 13, wandered down to the 20 acre lake at the camp, and caught a BASS! Was maybe 14 inches long but is fixed in fond memory forever. FR

Joshster, We are thinking Boerne City Lake (NOT the one in Beautiful Downtown Boerne), mainly 'cause return traffic on the Fourth might be a pain AND Choke might be a long drive to get rained out or to spend a day dodging Lake Lice . If you've never fished Boerne you're in for a pleasant surprise (if the phish are in the "Mood", of course.) It's a little jewel and NO Lake Lice permitted! You aren't permitted to use the gassie 'cept in direst emergency, so trailering can be a pain (someone's gonna get wet!) and your TM batts need to be topped off, but the average fish is generally better than you find at Canyon or Medina and the place is pretty, especially up-creek. Lots of weedbeds, no 'gators, and the early or cloudy day topwater bite can be good. I'm a non-boater, but will be delighted to "guide" you so you can get an overview of Boerne. PM me if you'd like to get together for chat, lunch, or a little bassin'. Rebbasser can tell you what sort of partner I am, and that I'm pretty danged good at greasing the boat onto the trailer on the first try. Of course, at Boerne, we are allowed "mulligans", especially in a crosswind, ;D. Have some safe and super fishing at Choke! F.Rod

Met "Rebbasser" here late last year. Since then, we've fished together on numerous occasions and on 4 different lakes. In fact, we have a tentatively-set trip for this coming Tuesday (early AM), weather permittin'. I'm certain we've averaged over two outings per month since meeting. We've become good friends as well, and talk often. We've pretty much moved to another site, popping in the door here far less often than before, but are certainly grateful to this place for affording us the opportunity to meet. On my own behalf, so well as Reb's, wishing all here the very best . FlyRod

Not once, but three times, I've had a bass jump into the boat. Case 1: Calaveras Lake TX. Old college bud came to town and we headed for Calavaras on a cool Fall morning. Nosed the boat into some weed to free a snagged lure and a 14"-er rocketed up outta the salad, beaned my pal, who was leaning over to reach the lure, and landed on the deck...Said pal ATE him...later. Case 2: Private lake near Hondo TX. Owner/friend and I TM'ed the boat into a narrow "ditch" lined on both sides with lilypads. When he turned the TM on "High" to try to manuever out, a bass erupted from the pads and wound up in my LAP! Weighed over three pounds, he did, so I walked funny for a while. Case 3: Medina Lake TX. Unseasonably balmy day in the Fall. I'm on the TM and my GF of that era, a comely and remarkably well-formed lass in her 20's is sunbathing "Au Naturel", her head and shoulders supported by the console and windshield, beside me on the front deck(more room.) Talk about distractions! I make a cast with a Spook, the lure tumbles and the line fouls the hooks. I skip the lure back so I can clear it and, as it leaves the water, it is pursued by a 1+ lb-er that leaps into the air, goes into a dive like a http://www.2worldwar2.com/images/stuka.jpg and lands, "coldnosing" her right "on target". I'll bet the scream was heard so far as Tahiti! The bass was released, unharmed, but with a big smile on his lil' green face. True story. She told all our friends about it. They were somewhat amused ('cept for her cranky old German grandpa.) Funny thing was, that bass tried three more times to jump into the boat! Had to bat him away with a paddle! FlyRod

Depending on my mood, blood sugar/caffeine level, and how tired I am, I can be a real "Yakky Doodle". But, if I sense my partner is in a taciturn mood, I'll adjust accordingly. The choice of subject matter depends on partner too. Some wanna discuss "locker room" topics , while others, one in particular, seem to need to rant about the government, businesses that have wronged them or whatever else is bugging them at the moment. In the case of one partner, however, I can understand since life has been tough for him for the last few months and he deserves far, far, better. (One of the best guys I've ever known.) Another seems to wanna relive his USAF career (non-combat), in detail, at every opportunity so I counter with factual (yes, factual) details re my happy times as an Armor officer in the US ARMY, circa the Vietnam era. I don't chat much re wartime experiences, mostly fun stuff. Yes, there are funny tank tales! This particular gentleman seems very uncomfortable with "locker room" talk so I tend to downplay that aspect of life when I'm with him. He has two quirks that get to me. One is that he picks his nose and puts his drilling finger in his mouth...and this is a USAF FULL COLONEL! The other is that he will, after we've fished along in silence for a while, suddenly cut loose with some comment or other in a LOUD voice. The first time he did it I nearly jumped outta the boat. Startles the Hell outta me. For all that he's still a brilliant and accomplished man who shares my love of good music (See: Sousa, Bach, Copland, Handel, etc.) with a great lady and a giving heart. Another (whom I met here on this forum) seems to be the perfect balance to my style. We discuss life, our favorite college football teams (TX A&M for him, OU for me), fishing ideas and tactics, and, sometimes, the two young ladies we loved, respectively, who both died young and unexpectedly. Sad coincidence, but it forms part of the bond that cements our deepening friendship. My newest angling chum, a few years my senior, is a super man (No, not the one with the "S" on his shirt) and a joy to fish and exchange chat with. The downside is that I have to drive 180 miles, round trip, to fish with him, but it's very much worth it. If the fishing is slow and we tend to daydream, then active conversation is a great help. If, however, one of us is "on point", watching intently in anticipation of the line twitching as the worm falls, then silence is in order. So, I have four partners. I wouldn't trade any of them for anything! Well, one writes as one talks, LOL! FR

You've obviously got an active and producing nest in there. You MUST kill the adults and remove the nest. The first thing I'd try is to make sure all hatches are closed and that the ONLY exit available to the little spear-butted demons is via the drain plug hole. Then, sneak up on them, preferably at night when all "pilots" are asleep, place the spray nozzle of a bottle of some INSTANT kill wasp spray as close as possible to the drain plug opening and let 'er rip. So soon as the spray is exhausted, quickly place the drain plug in place. READ the data on the can to see if there is any hazard to the materials in the boat before doing this. I'd avoid the "fire and forget bombs" because they may do damage in such a confined space. Maybe not, but with my approach YOU are in control. In the AM, carefully open a hatch cover and step away quickly. Observe to see if any wasps exit. If so, you'll need to close the hatch, remove the drain plug and QUICKLY spray a conventional, misting type, flying insect spray into the drain hole. Replace the plug and wait for perhaps 15 minutes. Again, open a hatch and watch for flight operations. If none, you should be able to open all hatches, observe from a safe distance or perhaps through the closed window of a nearby vehicle, and decide if you've gotten them all. Once you are certain that all adults are deceased... :-[, you can locate and remove the nest, crushing it underfoot (wear shoes!), then flush the hull out with a hose to remove the bodies and so much of the spray as possible. Be thorough! In the event that some of the wasps might escape through ill-fitting hatch covers or a floor drain you might cover the boat before doing anything. Then you might lift one small corner of the cover, AFTER the initial treatment, and spray some of the conventional mist underneath to "fog" the space. Please note: You may, without knowing it , be hyperallergic to wasp venom. Make sure you have some over-the-counter Benedryl handy (read the cautions on the bottle!) and another person to assist you or call 911 in the event of trouble. Good luck and keep us posted. FlyRod

Come on by the house and she'll pour one for you...BUT ONLY WHEN I'M THERE TOO! FR

Hmph! You call THAT an Alewife? Here's MY favorite ALE WIFE! http://members.shaw.ca/lolaland/shelley1.jpg FlyRod..Hic!

If them thar sunnys is WALKIN' 'round that thar perry-meeter, yew'd best be danged careful down by that thar pond. If'n they'se walkin' they be some tough critters! Yer Fren, Ol' Uncle Fly

Hey! Whatsa matta you? Lighten up on the Sons of Guilio Cesare! After all, they've given us Ferraris, Lasagna, Olive Oil, Veal Saltimbocca, Parmigiano cheese, some OK vino, The Renaissance, Lucrezia Borgia (nice girl, much misunderstood), Guiseppe Verdi's *Operas (trans: Joe Green), Galileo, Puccini (more operas), some great fiddles (Stradivari, Guarneri, Amati, etc.) Sophia Loren, Gina Lollabrigida, Da Vinci, Michaelangelo, and Vince Lombardi, Rudy Guiliani, Dean Martin, Perry Como, Frank Sinatra, (and the Mafia!) Soldiers they ain't, but lovers they are! And, I'll bet they are great plastic worm fishermen (they gotta da softa touch.) Flyenzo Rodinnelli (German boy, ekshully.) *Opera is OK, 'cept for all that yellin' and folks gettin' dead and stuff. Operettas (no, not girls working for the Atlanta GA phone company) are better 'cause, at the end, they're all laughin' (sorta like the "Lassie" show), not "decomposing".

Hmmmmmm...could be-eeeee. 8-) FR

I'm loyal to Shimano...well, sorta, so long as they continue the Chr. 50MG and the Castaic as they are. If, however, they do to those as they've done to the 'Rado (RIP :'() then I'm back to Daiwa. I've already relapsed in that I've been gifted with a new Viento and have bought two 153HSTs, one for myself and one as a gift to a buddy. Adding $$ and a LOT of weight to the 'Rado (save for the 100, weightwise, but which they also excessively jacked the price on!) was a downright crime. The weight gain is unforgivable, even if they'd LOWERED the price. The Citica may be improved mechanically, but it's downright obese. Long live the Green Machines! FR

Lookie here! There may have been a good reason why he was such a grump. So, just kill his dog and pour a quart of termites under his shop. Works every time! Heehee! FR

I admit that I have, over the bazillion years I've been fishing, I've often become fixated on one lure, brand or model of rod or reel, line, etc. That applies to both fresh and saltwater fishing. It's so bad at times that if I reach the lake, beach, cabin-at-the-coast, then realize I have forgotten to bring along a supply of 4.81 inch Super Whizzle fo' Shizzle lures in THE color (Pepperoni/DogVomit) I assume a fetal posture in the boat, on the sand, whatever, and moan that there is no point in even making a cast...that's how bad it gets. Thankfully, I can report some progress in the battle. For the last 10 years or so I have been forcing myself to engage in "Research and Development" in the area of tactics, methods, and (perhaps more importantly) lure selection. I'm so into it now that one of my partners (not Rebbasser. He is of like mind.) says he can't wait to see what I'll try next. Now, as to being a "sheep" and following the herd, so far as it applies to recently developed, revived, and/or rediscovered stuff, specifically lures for this scribbling, OK, I'm guilty. While I didn't pay $3,745.98 each on EBay for them, I DID order some Chatterbaits and SwingBlades as an add-on to a rod purchase. I was so impressed with the way they looked and felt (vibrate your arm off!) that I made certain I started the day with one a few weeks ago. Result? Zilch. Undeterred, I bought some more at Academy, convinced that THOSE colors will do the trick TODAY at Choke Canyon. Rebbasser and I will meet at 0445, make the trek to CC, and entertain the alligators. I'll FORCE myself to toss the new WonderBladedChatterSwinger until I either catch the new lake record OR drop dead from exhaustion. Be aware, however, that, every five casts or so, I'm picking up some other rig and throwing a "confidence" bait...perhaps a Tiki Stik? BTW, I made an impulse purchase a couple of days ago. It's a lure called a "Johnny Rattler", made by Luhr Jensen, and it's reminiscent of the old Dalton Special topwater lure. It comes in two sizes and ain't pricey. I bought more than one, of course, on both sizes and two different finishes...Chrome/Black back and ALL Black for night bassin'. It's a "crossover" lure...useful in fresh or saltwater environments. http://search.netscape.com/ns/boomframe.jsp?query=luhr+Jensen+Johnny+Rattler&page=1&offset=0&result_url=redir%3Fsrc%3Dwebsearch%26requestId%3Da09610b00afab3e7%26clickedItemRank%3D4%26userQuery%3Dluhr%2BJensen%2BJohnny%2BRattler%26clickedItemURN%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.bubbajackstackle.com%252Fluhr%252520jensen%252520Johnny%252520Rattler.htm%26invocationType%3D-%26fromPage%3DNSBoom%26amp%3BampTest%3D1&remove_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bubbajackstackle.com%2Fluhr%252520jensen%252520Johnny%252520Rattler.htm I'll be tossing one today, when the Chattering SOB fails to produce, that is... FlyRod

Well, to each his own... I'll wager I know so much or (likely) more than most Americans re WW2. I sure as H--- know that Gary isn't same man as the Yamamoto who planned the Pearl Harbor attack. He'd have turned 122 years of age last month, fer cryin' out loud. Further, he was an honorable man, within the framework of the Bushido Code, despite the fact that he was the enemy. In further fact, it was he, post-the Pearl Harbor attack, that obliquely foretold Japan's defeat when he said "I fear we have wakened the sleeping giant." That fate did not allow him to "go down with the ship" seems almost cruel. It was a flight of US Army Air Forces P-38 Lightnings http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hangar/8217/fgun/p38-b.jpg that got him as he sat helplessly as a passenger in a Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" bomber. http://home.st.net.au/~dunn/g4m1.jpg. Since we had broken the Japanese Naval Code early in the war, we were able to determine when the admiral would pass a certain point on a flying inspection tour and...bingo! That same "reading the enemy's mail" was what allowed us to win at Midway. Looky, if I'm willing to risk a joke here fairly often, (and most are well-received,) then I accept that I can't please everyone. I'll bet a few folks got a snicker out of that one, however. And if I'm willing to put up with the frequent assaults on English grammar and spelling on this forum, I'm willing to take the barbs directed my way as well. So, let us march on. Shall we? Rod. F. Veteran and avid wanna-be military/naval historian.

While I like soft stickbaits, I buy Wave Worm Tikis instead of those overpriced things from Yamamoto. Besides, he's never apologized for bombing Pearl Harbor! > http://search.netscape.com/ns/boomframe.jsp?query=Admiral+Yamamoto&page=1&offset=0&result_url=redir%3Fsrc%3Dwebsearch%26requestId%3D5936539700ce4c5a%26clickedItemRank%3D2%26userQuery%3DAdmiral%2BYamamoto%26clickedItemURN%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.angelfire.com%252Fia%252Ftotalwar%252FYamamoto.html%26invocationType%3D-%26fromPage%3DNSCPTop%26amp%3BampTest%3D1&remove_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.angelfire.com%2Fia%2Ftotalwar%2FYamamoto.html FlyRod

You indeed SHOULD have called the authorities immediately and remained available to give a statement. Gut up, dude, those kids were in danger. Besides, it's fun to watch the MPs engage in creative headbeating. "God forgive me, but I love it so!"-George Patton

These can be a problem alright! http://www.shannonwoodward.com/cat%20tails.jpg But don't go losing your head over a little tail! FR

These work well too, 'cept I always singe my thumb and forefinger protecting the knot when I burn off the tag end. http://www.imagedesignersinc.com/images/bic_litr.jpg Rod, F.

Not only do they change colors, they sometimes grow eyebrows! http://home.comcast.net/~diamondcjdesign/portfolio/beuregard-bass-colored.gif Honest! FR

Through these portals pass the most accident prone... Never mind. I've gotta go change my bandages. FR