done

Awesome ideas guys. I went out and picked up some vibrating/rattling jigs as well today. I have already got some vibrax spinners, buzzbait, some Rapala rattling crankbaits. I will put them "on deck" for Sunday. I have a couple good plastic worms that have built in little spinners on them and some good beads that rattle away when you work the thing. I greatly appreciate the advice guys. Lets hope I can return with some good photos on Sunday.

The guy who was chiseling the Mayan calendar got tired of hammering. Thats all. Humans have been around a long time, at least 4000 years right. Controlled and produced electricity has only been around for a little over 100. The Earth is over 4.5 billion years old and has changed over and over and over. We are weaklings on a cosmic scale. Worry about today because tomorrow will never be garanteed. Well the Mayans apparently had enough time on their hands that they saw that we would have this galactic alignment. Which to a primitive culture would have likely meant to them, something big HAD to happen. The alignment has actually been confirmed to be a truth. Now whether that means anything will happen because of it. We are guessing. We barely know anything about our own rock much less the nature of our galaxy and the forces within it. Anyway...since the natural world loves irony, you know what will finally wipe out this planet will be a completely unforseen and unknown happening. Like sitting at the train stop waiting for the train to come in and getting hit by a porta-potty dropped out of an airplane at 40,000 ft. LOL. Personally, I plan for the reasonable happening, and try not to sweat things you have no control over. It is such a big universe there are probably twice as many things that can kill us that we dont know about than the things we know can kill us.

Hey everyone, I am a few months out and really pulling in all the ideas I can. I am looking hard at the tracker 175 TXW http://www.trackerboats.com/boat/specs.cfm?boat=2998 . What I like: - Motor is not HUGE (meaning I can go out without draining my life savings yet still move around at a reasonable pace) - Aluminum hull just prefer the lower maintenance, lighter weight, ect. - Features - comes with a TM, and fish finder - Console steering and 3-4 person capacity (my main reason for a larger boat, I want to take all my daughters out with me) - Size - I want something I can still get easily into my drieway, easily tow around while still be large enough to be stable for me to stand up front or back and fish. - Price - seems reasonably priced - Dealerships _ I have 2 tracker dealers within 20 minutes of my house. Makes any warranty/service work easier to get done I plan on buying a new boat. I want something I know the maintenance record on. I plan on keeping it till it rots into pieces and sinks into the lake. I do the same thing with my cars (buy new and keep till they have 150,000 miles on them or more) So, all that being said, I wanted to throw this out there, to see if there are any other similar brands/models you guys have seen/owned that you would rank up there (particularly with my reasons for wanting this one), as well as any gotchas with these specific trackers that I would want to know about before buying. Thanks everyone.

Go to work at State, Redhed...There will never be that problem....lol As a side note......My daughter is going to unc In August.....Will they still cash my checks If down on the memo part I write unc sucks.? lol j/k..

You've got to come out to gastonia some time this year for this. I went a few times at night last year but never got anything but catfish. I have learned quite a bit since then, Wylie is so peaceful and quiet at night, it really is worth just going.

2012 coincides with the peak of activity for the current solar cycle. So there is an elevated risk, so far as we know, of such a CME occurring on that year. Incidentally, Dec 21,2012 is also one of those Armageddon days. There is some type of alignment with the galactic center at that time. It was either the mayans or aztecs whose calendar ended at that date and they predicted the current era would come to a sudden end on that date.

Really!? There is one in Belmont on Wilkenson that has a big fishing area, the one in Gastonia just off I-85 does too. There is Gander Mountain off I-77 (north of Huntersville) that I know has a mess of seats and the Walmart next to it too.

LOL. Are we not a lucky bunch of men that apple dapples are the worst marital issues we have right now? I hear you on the generic food. Some I don't care about, jelly for me is fine generic. PEANUT BUTTER though, absolutely not. I HAVE to have my name brand.

This is one of the reasons I am glad fishing CAN be so inexpensive. I have gone into extreme budget fishing mode lately. It can be done...it is not easy to resist temptation but it can be done LOL.

You really should not go this route. We can all understand the frustration with this person but all you need to do is screw up a little bit and you hit him in the face with your spinner. Not to mention, he can go out and call the police and now you get to lose fishing time talking to a cop. Personally, it is better to 1. ignore them, or 2. just move on. You ain't gonna chance their minds, they certainly ain't gonna change yours. IMO, any further dialog or actions between the 2 of you, is pretty much a total waste of time.

np....Lake Wylie, NC/SC has little top water vegetation, most of the areas I hit will be between 20-4 ft deep, some submerged stumps, rocky structure on the bottom. Any part of this lake has tons of docks and bridges to fish. For those with Google Earth ( 35° 9'18.48"N, 81° 0'43.74"W) is the launch point for the area of Wylie I hit. The current google earth photo actually shows it in its muddy glory.

I always liked the signs here that say "Do not pass". Cause apparently the solid yellow lines on the road don't say that and if I was ignoring those, the extra sign will make me think twice. That and in the mountains "Falling Rock". There is one sign in particular where that rock has been falling for more than 10 years. I know they want folks to be safe but there is a sheer cliff face. If a rock fell off it, there is no way I would ever see it coming, even if it was colored hot pink and screaming like a little girl all the way down. I also do not get the point of "Speed checked by RADAR", or "Speed checked by aircraft", or any variant thereof. I mean, are you going to suddenly decide not to speed because these guys got that new fangled RADAR stuff? If you are speeding, you know that police are out there, you know they likely have some type of device to measure your speed and you don't just have 2 of them on the side of the road going "So...how fast you reckon that one was going?".

Looks like my only day to get my father out on the lake while he is down visiting from NY is Sunday. This will be after 5 days of rain. I expect the water to have plenty of good ole carolina red mud in it. Any particular bait/technique y'all would recommend for water conditions like this?

Nice rig. I honestly would do little to nothing to it myself. Looks like a good platform for getting some serious Bass. Taken as it is in the photo, As long term possibly to do (cause I cannot ever leave anything alone) I would: 1. Build a portable livewell (assuming it does not have one, I did not see one) 2. Find some rod holders that mount up on the sides (my bud has one on his rig for a boat about that size) 3. Storage, I would probably make some type of small locker type contraption I would build onto the front of that console (where your box is now for misc gear, collapsable oar, spare life vest, flare, flag, etc etc) 4. internal lighting, extra electrical (extra battery). For mine I have a seperate circuit I currently run off a tractor battery for some simple lighting for myself to be able to see what I am doing when fishing at night. 5. Rod holders? I know...some folks consider them lame but I fish with kids, I cannot tell you how many times I have had to put down my line and help out one of my girls and THAT is when the fish hits mine. Also, every now than then, I will turn on the TM over a nice deep and long hole and troll all the way across. 6. question: how are your electronics on the boat? I could not tell. I want to stress though, with that rig, I wold not be in a hurry to fix any of it. Looks relatively open, easy to fish with, cheap to operate, and easy to control

Welcome on board!!! Where in SC you from? What is your home lake down there

And to add the posts here on ability and having passion for the sport. You need one other crucial "skill", and that us work ethic. I know of a lot of folks who are great at music, programming, art, sports, etc who have a passion and tons of ability. They fail miserably when they realize that even in a job you LOVE to do, there are still parts to it that you have to work and do things that may not be your favorite. I had a relative who is an awesome musician, when he played in front of a crowd he owned them. However, his career as a musician never came off the ground because when he needed to go to clubs and get on the lineup, call promoters, pay bills, practice over and over and over again, he would not do it cause he did not like it. I can imagine if we got a pro on this discussion they would throw up a dozen things about pro-fishing that would fall into that category. IMO, that is one of the most critical areas in any profession.

You're disturbing HER fish? Haha. What a joke. Give her a call about 2 am in the morning and tell her she needs to go quiet down her fish, tell her they are jumping around getting water all over YOUR seawall and waking the kids up.

If you want a short term cheapo to last you till after Kentucky, just hit Walmart They have 'em for <$40 easy.

Dude that royally sucks. That is why I empty mine when I am done, course I am paranoid and it does not help with the damage they did to your boat. Hopefully Char/Meck PD get a hold of them and rip 'em a new one. Out of curiosity, was there anything unique about your stuff? I can keep an eye out when I am on Wylie for anything that would stand out.

I think there can be traits which give someone an advantage. I have a good bud I fish with a lot, this dude catches the crap out of fish. Dresses like a cowboy, but whether it is trout, bass, or anything else, he will always outcatch me, or anyone else I bring. One reason, he has a VERY patient and methodical nature. When he works a hole, he will work it carefully, very calmly, more so than anyone else I know. It is sometimes almost annoying but he will pull a fish out of a hole nobody else does. He always seems to know what holes to hit and what ones not to. You can always work on your patience, but if it comes naturally, you have an advantage. Someone who naturally can cast accurately IMO, also starts with an advantage. I also believe intelligence, can give you a great advantage, in learning the fish. Going to the pro section of this site, having a natural ability to sell yourself, product will get you sponsors. Based on what I have read there I would say a great salesman would get the sponsor over perhaps a better fisherman. Above all else I think having that passion for fishing helps you to learn and expand your skills further than someone who like it. There is obviously though a lot that can be learned.

So I got out, all the new gear worked well. A local bass club had a surprise tourney and those people were an inconsiderate bunch of wahoos. Wierdest thing. Only grabbed a single small bass on 4 ft of water. All the other fish I got were 6+ lb catfish. They hit everything, crankbaits, plastics, live bait, everything. I did not think they would be out this early. Anyway, even a bad day fishing beats a good day at work and the catfish bit was actually pretty fun. Those things gave a great fight.

I'd have to say this year so far, tournament fishers are the worst. First, on a public launch, they park like nimrods blocking half the parking spots in their hurry to get out on the water. On a public launch they set up a tent in the lot taking up half a dozen or more parking spots (when there is more than ample room off the lot in gravel or gassy areas). Keeping in mind, these guys do not "reserve" anything, they just plan it within their own org and show up and do this. Once on the water they are completely inconsiderate. Last weekend on 4 occasions had some dude fly into where i was fishing, coming within 8 ft of my boat and cut me off where I was trolling. They will block main channels, run at high speed well within 15 ft of you. I hate to be rough on fellow fisherman, but seems tournaments on Lake Wylie bring out the worst in people. The other issue I have had people fishing on the docks. Now, I have been on the shore for a while befoere I got my boat. I did occasional fish from the dock BUT when a boat came I got out of the way QUICKLY. On our launch these guys set up a dozen poles, tie them to a dock and walk away. The dock is posted "No fishing from dock.". I cut them some slack but they started getting real bad, I called the police. On one occasion I was coming in late at night and ran over 3 or 4 poles that were on the dock. Anyway, sorry for the venting. It is stuff that can just put a bad mark on an otherwise awesome day.

Greetings from Gaston county!!

Well if you are on this board you may be crazy. God knows I am..LOL. Truthfully though, may or may not make a difference but I would say, give it a shot. You never know until you do and could be interesting to see how it works out.

The deepest I got so far is a rapala Deep Runner Shadrap (rated 4-9 ft). It works pretty good especially for trolling over a couple good holes. I was looking for something that could hit 15'. Is there anything you guys would recommend for that depth? I generally use these to troll over holes that are 30+ ft deep, sometimes I will just sit over them and cast 'em out too. The ones I have found so far that have this depth usually just look HUGE. May be being to picky, just curious what anyone here would recommend.