BassChaser57

Parents teach two things. What to do and what not to do. You are wise to see the mistakes your parents made and try to do better. I am NOT dogging your parents, we all make mistakes but if you can learn and do better you are #1 in my book. 8-)

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL RIDE!!! It reminds me of not so long ago when I rolled into a drive thru of A Dairy Queen in my Firebird Convertable. The young girl came to the window all big eyed, and said " WOW I hope I can afford a car like that before I get old." That was a bit funny but gave me a reality check. Sold it and bought a truck. 8-)

My Table Rock MO trip was during the coldest April weather on record. Oh well, I was there so lets see what happens?? The week before I arrived it was 80+ degrees and the fish were on the beds everywhere. When I got there there had been a cold front which lowered the temps to a high of 45 the first day, 25 at night and a high of 37 after that with winds of 15 out of the North with spitting snow. I targeted Smallies as I thought they would tolerate the colder temps better. A watermelon pepper lizard TX rigged was the ticket and the first day the fish were still on the beds, after that they pulled off to the deeper water. Nothing huge but steady action, I was surprised to catch anything especially catching several decent hard fighting smallies and largemouth. It was sad to see the perch demolish the beds without the buck bass there to protect it. After three days of these cold temps the largemouth bass were almost white and such light biters it was quite an education, once hooked they fought rather hard but it was the lightest bite I ever felt. I was the only one in our party to catch anything and I credit my Loomis GLX's and Vanish Transition with the sensitivity to feel the soft bites. Table Rock was good to me even though the weather was very harsh, even miserable. I have been to Lake Fork when the slightest cold front would shut off the shallow bite, guess MO bass are more adaptable. Can't wait to try it again soon with better conditions. 8-)

That is such an open ended question. I would buy the best unit I could afford. Since money is always a consideration I would go for the most pixels possible over color. Of course color is fun, but I would go for the crisp display in the grey tones if I had to make a choice over a lower end color unit vs a high end black and white. Before everyone yells at me, I have a color unit with GPS with the lake map chips with 1foot topo increments. This is a great unit but of course the $go up with it. The GPS Lake Maps are great to find underwater structure that someone without it will not be able to find. This enables you to cast to fish that have not been pounded so hard. In pressured lakes I have MUCH better success fishing away from the bank so my electronics are the difference between casting and catching. 8-)

Hi Redliner, I think this is exactly the place to share with oyur BassResource.com friends! Thanks for sharing your loss with us. I lost my fishing buddy to cancer almost 4 years ago and still have a huge gap in my life. I understand what you are going thru and am very sorry you have lost your friend. I heard once the hurt does not get less with time, it just hurts less often with time. This has been my experience. Hang in there my friend.

I have one and it is the greatest. The only problem with the BPS reel is the thumb bar spring might break. Not a big deal but that is the only thing bad I can say. LOTS of good stuff about the reel.

Ummmm- Is that an attractant??? I suppose it would be a natural smell that would remind you of home. 8-)

Tom it seems like a great idea. You are not asking for personal info like an address, just a general location would be nice. Since I have done that I have received several pm's from guys that are close and hopefully we can get better aquanted.

I agree that you should find a method that you enjoy and try to become an expert at it. Look at Larry Nixon(worms), Dave Fritts (crank baits), Denny Brauer (jig), KVD (power fishing). You get the idea. These guys have found their niche and exploit it to their benifit. I feel I am a fairly good jig/plastic angler but work on spinnerbait and topwater whenever I think the fish are active as those are methods I want to get better at. If things are slow, I go to what I KNOW works to keep my interest up. Good Luck 8-)

Electric brakes are cheap and easy it install but it might be a point that water in them might cause some problems. A dealer could tell you more. OR--you could do like Fred Flintstone and drag your foot. 8-)

GLoomis GLX 7'0" MH (MBR843C) with a Shimano Calais APV GLoomis GLX 6'6" MH (MBR783C) with a Shimano Calais 200A Cabelas XML 6'6" MH with Cabelas Prodigy Cabelas XML 6'6" M with Cabelas Prodigy BPS Pro Qualifer 6'6" MH with Johnny Morris Signature Reel BPS Pro Qualifer 6'6" MH with Shimano Curado 200 GLoomis IMX 6'6" M (SJR782)with a Shimano Spirex (I know you only asked about Baitcasters)

BassCatcher- What size x-rap do you use. I normally use the #10 but have ordered several #8 size for my upcoming trip to Table Rock in Missouri? Just wondering what size Blugill will hit?

I have a 14 yr old blonde hair, blue eyed daughter --I NEED A TRUNK MONKEY!!! 8-)

I take it with me on work trips and find myself reading all of it then looking through it several times prior to it getting put in my library. It is one of my top 3 mags with Bassin #1, In-Fisherman #2.

I have a tough time catching with Colorado blades so I almost always fish a Willow. Maybe it is time to try the Indiana. Thanks for the thought. 8-)

It seems that power fishing outfishes finesse on the trail but finesse seems to work better for me. Maybe I need power fishing lessons? How about lessons on Lake Baccarac, any teachers available? 8-)

I simply use the $3 sock from BPS and thy seem to work fine. 8-)

Your question is a good one and can not be answered here. Take it to a shop you trust and they will take a look at it and tell you VERY quickly if it is damaged. It will probably be very little if any charge and worth your time and money. 8-)

Where are you located in MO?

Ditto

THE CORRECT ANSWER IS---YO-ZURI ULTRA SOFT. Just having some fun RW. I have gone to more florocarbon and yes Ultra Soft so that would make me lean toward the low stretch crowd for my more finesse styles --although-- when sight fishing there is nothing spooled up other than an inexpensive green mono which of course has stretching tendencies. I am not sure why the mono works so well for sight fishing but a guide on Lake Fork turned me on to the technique and it made all the difference for me. My 11year old daughter caught a 7+ lbr on the 3rd cast sight fishing with green mono (with stretch.) It is my guess that the small amount of stretch helps as the adreneline is pumping and it is easy to see the lure disappear in the bass' mouth and do the Bill Dance hookset so the stretch helps me. 8-)

There is nothing more fun for me than walking the dog with a Heddon Zara Spook. I have best success with the clear with blue back model. These are as much fun as any in the boat! Good Luck 8-)

I use rattles in stained to muddy water if it is normal fishing pressure. I rarely use a rattle on Lake Fork as those fish are hammered and I think they could get rattle shy. It is conventional wisdom that they are trolling motor and sonar ping shy at Fork.

It is just some fun stuff. Still wonder where the lure company got it's name? 8-)

For aviation Garmin seems to be the GPS of choice but my Eagle is great for the $$$.