BassChaser57

I downloaded most of them and made an "E" book on my laptop. 8-)

That brought tears to my eyes. It has to be the funniest thing I have ever seen. 8-)

Some of you guys are really missing the point. This is not about individual idiots such as a redneck, or a goofball that kills an abortion Dr. (2 in history) or other individual acts. This is about organized terorist groups. Another thought is that I can not remember in the history of the world where an organized uniformed army beat an organized gorilla force. British in America--Nope France in Viet Nam - Nope U.S in Viet Nam - Nope Russia in Afganistan - Nope U.S. in Somalia - Nope U.S. in Iraq --Not so far We were able to have a swift victory in Kuwait only because we knew who and where the enemy was and unleashed the wrath of the U. S military on them. If you do not know who the enemy is, or where thay are, how do you beat them?

WOW- I am impressed with the depth of the information on this subject! In the thread you keep saying IF the U.S. could find an alternate energy source??? That would be wonderful as we hit peak oil in 1977 which means we use more that we find since 1977. The North Sea hit peak oil in 1998 and is suspected that the Middle East hit peak oil about 2000. Since those times the world is using twice as much oil on a daily basis than it finds. The U.S in the 1970's had Iran as a stable oil supply, in the 80's and 90's it was Saudia Arabia, now we have no allies in the region and whether we want to believe it or not--oil IS a national interest. 25% of the U.S. oil comes from the Middle East, imagine for a moment if we were 25%shorter on gas. The price would skyrocket, the availability would be scarce with a high probability of rationing and life as we have known it would change for ever. The Bio-fuel plants in the U.S. are just about to hit the maximum as they have all the excess crops in use now. Yes, the Government could and probably would loosen some of the idle farm land but as of now if we increased production of bio-fuel the price of farm products would increase causing their product to be a much higher price. As for Alaskan oil, much of the Noth Slope oil heads for Japan. Don't ask my why as I do not know but we do have mass reserves of oil in Alaska and a large new find in the Gulf of Mexico. These will not reverse the peak but it will help. There are no easy answers as our #3 oil supplier is Venezuala and they hate us also. Our oil money will not buy friends in the Middle East but IF we COULD find an alternate source of energy as was said earlier, we could cease to fund a set of nations that want to see us disappear. Ten years ago China's main mode of transportation was the bicycle, I will be in Shangi on Wednesday and it is unbelievable how modern EVERYTHING is there and the number of autos and trucks is amazing. China and India can take up most of the slack in oil from the Middle East if we get an alternate energy source so the Middle East $$ will not dry up. As I said before, it is not pretty, it is not easy, but this is fact and is our future reality.

Alpster, I modified my post and added to it. You may want to re-look. Kevin aka BC57

This is probably not the forum for me to give a modern history lesson so I will keep it short. I have spent much of my last 10 years in the Middle East (I am in Istanbul Turkey now) so I have seen it all first hand and here is my opinion. The Fundamentalist Islamist has a religious decree to kill Infidels which is anyone not a muslum. Iran has the desire to see the US and Israel disappear from the face of the Earth. Now they are very close to the means as they have had submarines for years and now the nuclear ability for a warhead is very near or they could buy one from N. Korea which is a 10 hour nonstop flight. They could take the nuke, put it on a missle, in the sub and then do what ever they wish. I did see on CNN the other day while watching some Senate hearings that the US Administration was prepared and expected to lose an American city in the next 5 years to terrorists. Yes I think we are headed for further confrontation. The Iranians will be glad to die for the cause so they have nothing to lose and everything to gain as they see death as a wonderful thing. It could very easily get UGLY. There will be very little happen until after the next U.S. election and the Democrats get in the White House, then tuck tail and run from Iraq. Then the Iranians will see we do not have any stamina to see hard problems through and will have won by default. It is a little bit like telling your child you are going to spank him and never following thru. It is quickly learned it is an idle threat. We did nothing when they bombed the Marine Barracks in Beruit, we did nothing when they bombed 2 American Embassies in Africa, we did nothing when they killed U.S. Soldiers in the bombing of the ship U.S.S. Cole, or when N. Korea exploded the nuclear device. Now there is such a gulf of opinion about the Iraq war and it is on CNN every day around the world. The Iranians know they will stick to their desires and the U.S will quickly lose the desire for confrontation. We have not shown that we will stay the course and do the right thing even if it is painful. I do not think the U.S. will invade Iran but I do think Iran will increasingly be a world problem with much blood on their hands. With China (needs the petro) and Russia(sells them nuke stuff) siding with Iran and telling us we are bullies it furthur complicates matters. This is not good news but I want to be realistic and this is very realistic.

If you develop a plan based on scientific fact you will have a much better chance of putting bass in the boat. Sure you might get lucky and beat KVD on a given day, but he will win in the long run because he and other pros will take the scientific approach. I would rather be smart and good over lucky every day!!! 8-)

I took photos and measurements of my big girl, kissed her and set her free to enjoy life and make more bass babies. I have a replica made of her with the colors and size correct. These last forever and the skin mounts need redone every few years. It is replicas for me in the future. This is a decision each one will have to make for themselves as it is legal so don't get too excited about it either way.

You will have to read the owners manual. Automatic settings should be turned off and adjust the sensitivity until you get a thick line above the bottom of the units screen, this is the bottom of the lake. If you adjust the sensitivity down you should be able to see your bait and fish hit it if you are in the sonar cone.

Research by Berkley indicates that salt or anise(garlic) does not increase strikes or increase bait retention times very much if any. Water based natural attractants will increase strike rates a small portion on plastics and by about 40% on hard baits. The bait retention time increase significantly with water based natural fish or crawfish scents. In some tests the retention time went from <1/2 second to almost 3 seconds. It is my understanding that Bass can not follow the scent trail because of water dispersion but instead if they smell food they become aroused and start searching for prey creating the strike. In these same tests, human scent along with gas, oil, and soap smells did NOT have a negative effect on strike rates or retention times for bass. Sunscreen and DEET(insect repellant) smells shut down the stikes for up to 3 hours. However Salmon are VERY sensitive to human smells and will avoid that scent with great effort.

I bought the Eagle 500C which is a Sonar and GPS in one unit. I LOVE it and with the $150 lake topo chip in it -- it is hard to beat. I would buy another one unless I would buy that Hummingbird side sonar unit. $500 for the Unit +$150 for the chip ------------------------- = $750 ready to go x 2 units ------------------------ = $1500 for two top of the line color sonar/color gps units and you are SET!!!

I was flying sailplanes on the North Shore in Hawaii when I looked down on the beach and saw a huge airliner crash. I was told it was the movie set for Lost. It is unbelievable how close it is to everything. There is a blacktop road about 20' in front of the airplane but they pushed a sand bank along it so you can't see it and they stop traffic when shooting. The airplane was a Delta Lockheed 1011 that crashed in a thunderstorm in Dallas (Delta Flight #191) about 1988. Ther first time I saw the plane you could see the Delta stripes, I pointed this out and the next time they were painted out. The show is a bit weird but the crash scene is fun to see. 8-)

Well KW--do we have issues??? :-?

I like Mark too and think he does a great job. He was a boat salesman when KVD got him the job at ESPN. He has a good gig and would probably make much less trying to compete on the tour. Smart guy--good carreer move. Making money and fishing for fun is a good way to go because any hobby you turn into your job--turns into a job! 8-)

Well, she was living proof that God doesn't often give beauty and brains to the same person. No doub't you are right Glen as the National Enquirer will say Elvis killed her or something else equally as weird. Thanks 8-)

This is a funny thread but right is right. I can't wait for the day to get some personal lessons from R.W. After my Cabelas Reels mess, S-H-I-M-A-N-O and L-o-o-m-i-s and YO Zuri Ultra Soft it is. The only thing left is for me to find that fat Ida chick. 8-)

I am overseas and American news is a bit sparse. Just wondering what happened to her??

I sit and watch a little while to see what they are using and what quality of anglers they are. I have followed others with slowww baits and did fine while they did not hookup. What do have to lose if it is a honeyhole.

What about Jimmy Houston. Normally you guys have a Jimmy rant. Did he get overlooked?? 8-)

What is this world coming to if you can't even get sponsored by a strip club?? My only question is; What were they going to do for you --- 1. No Cover Charge? 2. Free Drinks? 3. Free Lap Dances? 4. Free Valet Parking for your Truck and Boat? 5. (My Favorite) Having a stripper be your co-angler? HMMMM--Question Of The Day--Does a surgically enhanced stripper need a life jacket or if they fell overboard --will they float?? It could get very interesting. If I had a strip club as a sponsor, I would soon need a divorce attorney as a sponsor. 8-)

Try it on those post cold front days when finesse fishing is a must. I don't understand why but it works. Try it--you will like it. 8-)

Muddy, I have looked over every page of the BPS catalog and couldn't find that bait--what do you catch on it? Mermaids??? 8-)

RW, I have used a green 1/2 oz jig with green watermelon frog type trailer with great success. I have fished behind guide boats that have not caught anything and I will catch unbelievable fish, 6, 7, and 8 lbrs on the jig. I have had the most success working feeding flats or gradually sloping points near a drain (we call it a creek channel.) That time of year the fish will be staging in the deeper water (drain) and coming up on the flats for baitfsh and to spawn. Here the normal bass fishing tactics work fine. Work the outer edge of stickups, isolated cover, stickups closest to the drain, always make repeated casts to any angled stickup as the bass can get under it. This will normally be associated with a downed tree with lots of cover associated with it. For some reason most all my bigger fish have come from angled stickups, forked trees where more than one trunk is visible above the waterline with the bass always right in the middle, and of course sight fishing. Most all my nicer fish took repeated casts to the cover to entice a strike. Just figure where the bass should be and keep hammering the spot. It has been my experience that the larger bass at Fork will have to be caught on a reaction strike and the smaller bass on a reaction or a feeding bite. I can not recall catching a hawg on a feeding strike. If you would like, I will make a copy of some areas of the Fork map, mark it and fax it to you. Fork can be VERY unforgiving if you try to be a bank beater. There is way too much pressure along the banks to do much good. Find a flat or hump away from the bank and your success will increase significantly. One problem you will have at first is learning where to start as the whole lake looks soooooo fishy. It is my understanding that the guides use the trap so much as they have so many clients that cannot cast to a spot and do not know how to use a jig so the trap is a bait that novices can catch bass in the grass with. Fork has been harsh to me for the first few trips then I finally learned and now love it. I have seen MANY guys fish it all week and not even catch one fish. I wanted to go to Amistad the end of this month but I am finishing up on the house so I may have to use my vacation the full moon in April to go to Fork instead so knock a home run and report back. 8-)

Hi RW-- I use watermelon & red flake for plastics, green for jigs for general fishing and white or chartruse tubes or salamanders for sight fishing. Try white first and if you have trouble, try chartruse. I do not know why they demand the different color but they do. Of course 3/8 or 1/2 oz red rattle traps ticking the tops of weeds on a feeding flat is a must. The bass will strike when you are pulling the trap free from the weeds. Even though I caught my big girl on a 1/2oz chartruse colorado blade spinnerbait, for me that has been a low numbers bait. Most of my numbers and bigger fish came on the green jig fished aggressivly on the 5th to 7th cast to the same cover. Good luck!!! 8-)

I am in for the next years trip--<'')))><