BassChaser57

Try www.escrow.com

It has been my experience that high end equipment is nice but you reach a point where it is just personal preference. It sounds like you have plenty of equipment to be successful. The largest fish I ever saw caught was with a $3 yard sale combo. I believe success comes when you have the proper location with the proper bait with the proper presentation. Of course that doesn't sound so tough but mastering these variables is the diference between KVD and a beginner. Keep fishing with the best anglers you can find, learn what they do to be successful, keep learning and it will all come together. It is not the scalpel, it is the surgeon. Work Hard, Learn, and you will Have Good Luck P.S. If your wife asks -- Tell her I said you need ALL new stuff

Roy is also who I use. He is awesome. Let me know if I can help in any way.

I had a day where we were catching a small buck bass on about every 4th cast on a watermelon red flake lizard, I ran out, switched to a watermelon pepper lizard, same brand, same size, and did NOT get a strike. My partner started melting some of the torn up watermelon red flake lizards back together, used them and started catching again. Color of the flake sure made all the difference on that day.

I rarely flip but pitching is one of my favorite techniques in spring. I like to pitch a 3/8 oz jig with a modified zoom baby brush hog. I cut off the front just behind the arms, cut the claws to resemble a pair of claws, and thread it on the hook of the jig. This gives me the fall rate I like. As for color, that will depend on your lake. I fish Lake Fork which has a greenish tint so I go with a green (watermelon) jig and watermelon red flake trailer once the water temp reaches about 60. With a lower temp I use a black and blue set up. If your lake is more sandy color, then I would start with a brownish pumpkin color. I start with a color that is about the same as the lake, then as a change I go to a match the hatch color. I prefer pitching over regular overhand casting in the spring as I have to hit a pie plate sized spot to get in the strike zone on most days. I pitch structure and need to make repeated casts to each stickup. If it is sunny, start on the shady side as they should be hanging tight. Good Luck

The Beaver Bait (Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver or Yum Wooly Bug) is my go to bait with the right water temp. I caught a nice one over 9lbs on a Watermelon Red Flake in '09. As with any crawfish bait, they work best in water temps in the 50-55+ degree water as the crawfish are not active until that water temp. The color is what I use at Lake Fork but color will depend on water color. If your water is greenish, use a green pumpkin, if brownish then use a watermelon color. I always like a flake in my bait. I use a 5-0 Wide gap hook and you can Texas Rig it but I prefer to use a weighted hook (with the weight on the shaft) as this makes it fall flat like a falling leaf instead of nose first like a normal Texas Rig. Just cast it very close to cover, watch your line as it falls as you are likely to get bit on the fall, if not let it sit a few seconds then just twitch it slowly hopping the bait about 6-12" let it sit, then repeat. Fishing it in the grass also works well. I have had some of my best luck with the Sweet Beaver/Wooly Bug after the water warms just a bit. Until that temp it is jig and chunk trailer time. On the colder side, black and blue seems to be better. Good luck and keep chunking it, you will love it.

I have been fishing Fork about 8 years now and have an RV across Williams Cove from Fishermans Cove Marina and Motel. Fishermans Cove is plenty good enough for you and the wife and your boat will have a covered dock with electricity to charge your batteries. Yes there are MANY stumps, ect. so many it can be difficult to find fish as it looks like there should be a fish anywhere you cast. That may be the case but Fork can be stingy if you do not do your homework. Having fished there every month for many years now it is interesting that some people catch nice fish on a regular basis and some have given up bass for crappie or catfish as they can not catch a bass at all. Sometimes Fork can be stingy if you do not do your homework. I did not go over 10lbs last year but did catch 3 over 9lbs and several 6's and 7's. last year was horrible with weather and floods during the spawn. You will be there in April and it should be a great sight fishing time. If you sight fish, you can catch many good fish, just takes work and some talent. There is a great guide I use every year to improve my skills and find new hot spots. He would be great for you and your wife in your boat for $150 per day. I would HIGHLY recommend him. Let me know if I can help in any way. Do your homework, get a guide to show you how to fish Fork and show you how to get around the lake. If the weather will cooperate, you should catch some nice bass. Google - Lake Fork ETS for LOTS of info.

Hey Russ, Many of these are awesome but what about making an amature class for guys like me. Of course we would not be competing against the pros for the prize but it might be interesting.

I have lived in the South East Missouri Region off and on all my life and know of no lakes that produce double digit bass in the area. Please let me know as I will harass the bass.

The term "High Pressure refers to a High Barometric Pressure Weather System on place over the area which will be seen as blue skies, light or north west winds and probably cooler temperatures than have been in place the past few days. The high pressure will be behind the blue pointy line on the weather map. Fish are normally difficult to catch in these conditions. A "Low Pressure Barometric Weather Area" is normally known as increasingly coudy skies, south or southwest winds, and an approaching cold front (the approaching pointy blue line on the weather map.) These are normally associated with more active fish with a larger strike zone. I have said it many times. When you see jet contrails in the sky--this is a great indicator of an approaching front with a dropping barometer which means the bass will probably be more active. I talked with a taxidermist who said most all the BIG bass photos he was shown, the anglers were in their rain gear, it may not have been raining right then but the anglers were ready for it. To me this means when the weather starts turning rainy--GO FISHINGi

MY TOP TEN CONSIDERATIONS IN BASS CATCHING BIG BASS 1. Choosing The Right Lake There have to be catchable numbers of the large bass I want to target. 2. Seasonal Phase Of The Bass Winter = Deep (--), Pre-spawn = Mid-Depth (++), Spawn = Shallow (++), Post-Spawn = Mid-Depth (-), Summer = Deep (-), Fall = Heading Shallow (++) 3. Weather Stable (++), Warming in Spring (++), Approaching Cold Front (++), Passing Cold Front (--), Precipitation (+), Cloudy Skies (++), Clear Skies (-), Windy (+), Calm (-), Glassy Water (-), Choppy Water (++) 4. Water Temperature Below 50F (-), 50F-65F (+), 65F-75F (++), Above 75F (-), Warming to 75F (+), Cooling below 75F (-) 5. Water Clarity & Rising or Falling[/b Less Than 18 visibility (-), 18 36 visibility (++), more than 36visibility (-), Rising Water (+) Falling Water (-) 6. Cover Is the cover mainly vegetation (++), wood (+), rock (+-) 7. Structure (Fishing Pressure Also Dictates) Creek Channels , Drop Offs, Points, Flats, Man-Made such as road beds, old bridges, ruins, ect. 8. Strike Zone Large for Active fish (+), Small for Inactive Fish (-) 9. Lure Selection Speed, Depth, Action, Size 10. Lure Color Bright, Natural, Match the Hatch Note: (+) is positive, (-) is negative, (+-) is neutral With more (+) I use a shallower, faster horizontal retrieve With more (-) the slower, deeper, more natural color vertical retrieve Very dark days or night with choppy dirty water I go dark and loud baits. With these considerations I hope to put together a pattern where I put myself in the best possible situation to intercept active fish. Of course I do not write all this down but consider these situations when choosing locations, lures, and style of fishing. With 90% of the fish being caught by 10% of the fishermen, I just want to be part of that 10% of the anglers. What is your top 10 list?

It sure is. I was NOT throwing stones at the crew. Wind shear is the most unpredictable force in aviation. Windshear in an MD-11 when you are low and slow--well we saw hat can happen. Just a fatal set of circumstances. Very sad.

I fish in Canada every summer for Walleye, Smallies, and Northerns. I have had the most fish on inline spinners (#5 normally and downsize on bright still days) spinner baits, and the good old spoon. I will go to a jerkbait after a cold front also. My spoon colors have been trimmed to red and white, 5 Of Diamonds, and Firetiger, all with the nickel back. My favorite size is the 3/4 oz as the larger ones have to be retrieved too fast for my liking. The same colors work for about whatever bait you choose. If you tie on a spoon and your buddy will tie on a different color in an inline spinner you should get bit. If not, try a slow firetiger jerkbait. You will catch them. Good luck

It is sad to see two fellow airmen make their last "probable" mistake on world wide T.V. (I am watching it in Dubai on the Persian Gulf) It appears the plane got slow for whatever reason but the leading guess would be wind shear. There are procedures used in such instances but the MD-11 airliner is not forgiving at all of getting slow and loosing lift under the wings from the low airspeed. FedEx also had a very similar crash in Newark NJ a few years ago but the crew was mostly unhurt in that accident. In the video of the Tokyo crash clearly shows the plane hitting hard on the wheels, bouncing, hitting hard again when the entire tail broke off right behind the wings. The MD-11 has an engine up on the tail with all the weight that goes along with it - probably did not help. After the tail broke off the plane rolled left breaking the left wing off and ending up upside down onfire. Sad day in aviation with two fellow aviators losing their lives.

Didn't get to go this year but have been 3 different years. What an awesome event. I agree, it is the most amazing equine event going. For anyone that loves horses it should me a must see.

I use 20# Fireline with a 12" to 18" fluorocarbon LEADER. Not just the fluorocarbon line but the leader line. This allows me to have a heavy tough line with thin diameter to take the punishment to horse them out of the thick stuff and an almost invisible fluorocarbon line near the lure. The Fireline takes the brunt of the punishment and I get the castability of the Fireline on my baitcasters with the invisibility of Fluoro. Tie them together with a surgeons knot and all should be fine. I have never had a line failure while catching some nice Lake Fork Bass in some tough conditions. You will need the clear Fluorocarbon leader with the sight fishing also. Good Luck <' ))>>>>><

Hi RW, I had the BR trip on my calendar but the boat and RV is on Fork so the logistics won't work out very well. I will be on Fork two weeks in April and May then I am headed back to Canada for two weeks in June to fish for smallies. There are simply too many fish and too little time. Have fun on your trip. I believe there are nice fish all over Fork, especially south of the 515 bridge. My RV in on Williams so I know some nice spots there and I fish Williams and Little Mustang during the week with little boat traffic but on the weekend I will cut and run wherever I have to so I can get away from some fishing pressure. Normally Wolf or Ray. If I am sight fishing then a flat preferrably on a north shore with a channel swing nearby will hold fish and work well. I heard it said "If you always do what everybody else does, then you will always get what everybody else gets." I hear lots of anglers having a hard time on Fork and I believe it is because they get in the parade of boats going down the shore instead of getting out and finding a hump or a drop off all by yourself, slow down down and enjoy. The spawn should be in full swing very soon on the middle portion of the lake such as Mustang, Little Mustang, Williams, ect., I will be sight fishing some and backing off to 8' to 12' feet of water jigging the wood hopefully catching them hanging out in the prespawn mode. Of course I will fishing after dark with the lake all to myself. I will have to learn how to put photos on here as I HOPE there will be some beauties to show off. If anyone has any input as to my pattern please let me know--I am always open to new ideas.

Lake Fork once again proved to be "Lake Lottery" as it is difficult to hit it big but the prizes are there. After cold fronts and 40mph winds the big mammas were tight lipped. Most anglers were getting nothing as they were all lined up on the lee side of any shore trying to get out of the wind. What this did was to have one boat right after another all trying to fish the same shore. It has been my experience that when the pressure gets up the fish move out to the first drop at about 8feet of water. The only way I have any success is to back out from the shore and throw a Texas rigged Fluke or creature bait. Watermelon red flake is my first choice this time of year and once again it paid off with a one, two, and a four pounder during the busy fishing hours. With the weather I considered that a success but wanted more. About one hour before dark the other boats were heading to the docks and I headed out. I caught many bass and ended the night with a 22" long 17"girth 9lbr. There is no doubt that she had been hanging in deeper water waiting for quiet water to come shallow. At Fork I usually catch more bass in the first hour after dark than I do all day. One again this pattern proves to work. I am headed back for the first two weeks of April and will see how it goes as the March spawn appears to have largly not taken place because of the temps.

Lake Fork does it again with 2009 Share A Lunker #1 for Texas. If you are not familiar, in TX if you catch a Bass larger than 13pounds you can turn it in to the TX Conservation Dept. (TX Parks and Wildlife I think.) They will take the bass to the hatchery to use her genetics for a year to get her eggs. You get a fiberglass replica for free. The bass will be tagged and returned to the lake from where she was caught. Following is the info: On Thursday 2-12 Bruce Peel of Granbury TX. was fishing a creek edge in 16 ft. of water with a big bite beaver in watermelon when he caught Share a Lunker #459. She is 25.75 inches long and 20.5 inches in girth. It is big fish time on Lake Fork!

I don't think I wouldliketo see his wife but I bet she can cook. Now that is living!

Will be there at our place on Williams Creek from Feb 27th thru March 9th with a couple days off to go to The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Should have a seat at least some of the time if you will be there. The mammas should be prespawn and hopefully some on the beds. Let me know.

Hi Russ, Sorry I did not get back to you sooner but was in Hawaii and just landed in Sydney Australia. It is easy to visually see the ice buildup as it will appear on the winshield wipers indicating ice in other places. There are lights that shine on the wings for the pilots to visually look for ice, the plane will feel very slugish, the airspeed will drop off, and most airplanes (and I suspect this one) has an instrument that will detect ice and turn on a light on the panel indicating ice. Some airplanes (probably NOT this one) will automatically turn on the deice/anti-ice equipment. On this model I would think the crew would simply turn on 3 switches for ice protection. The winshield heat should have been on already, (1) The propellers have a switch to turn on electrically heated panels, (2) The engines have a switch to open valves allowing heated air into the front to keep ice from forming, (3) The wings, horizontal and vertical tail fins have di-ice equipment on the leading edges that is turned on with a switch and will cycle automatically. Think of a bicycle inner tube glued lengthwise to the leading edge of the wing and tail. When the ice builds up, flip the switch, the "inner tube" called boots inflate causing the ice to break allowing the wind to blow the ice away. The problem is if the crew inflates the boots without enough ice on the airplane the boots will, for lack of a better word, stretch the ice instead of breaking it. If this occurs then the boots become ineffective allowing ice to build up until the wings become so inefficient the wings don't make much lift and things become VERY difficult. Most airplanes can be flown with large loads of ice but you better be on your A game. Most always one wing will lose more lift faster causing the airplane to roll then the nose will drop drastically. With a load of ice, at night, in the clouds, at only 3000 feet, there is NOT enough time to recover. This is a sad day for so many families and these accidents hit very close to home. If there is any comfort at least the occupants passed instantly and their fear was VERY short lived. What a tragedy!

There is no such thing as a sputter on a turboprop/jet engine. It almost had to be sudden and my guess has always been ice build up on the wings/props and they crashed at the marker (5 miles from the airport) which means they just put the landing gear down. The airplane had so much ice when the gear was extended it could not fly with the increased drag and it rolled over on a wing and nosed in. I will bet you a Rapala X-Rap this will be the cause.

Some time ago there was a great article with diagram on how to define and locate secondary points. I have looked and could not find it. Does anyone remember where it is? If memory I think Burley wrote it?

where can I go to get the smileys?