Bass Dude

You might also want to address the temperature preferences of bass and how it dictates their behavior and presents limitations.

I saw, on another site, that Rick Clunn is running an 18 foot Tracker for the Classic and a couple other events(one is Amistad). He's running it for the Classic to get into the backwaters. He's running it in other events to show people that you don't need a $40,000, 20foot bassboat to be competitive. He thinks that the pros have been giving the wrong impression all these years in making people think they need all that "fancy" equipment to compete. He also wants to show the other benefits of running a lighter rig, like the fact you don't need a big tow vehicle and the gas mileage will be a lot better on both the boat and tow vehicle. I think it's a good move. His name and reputation will really make people think about his message too. I just want to add that Rick is still THE MAN!!! He may not be up in the standings like he once was, but I don't think there is a better, pure fisherman out there.

I think it's amusing what some of us do to the pros. We put them on a pedestal, wishing we were doing what they were doing. I mean fishing for a living, what a dream job!! We use the lures they use, we use the boats they use and we take all the information they will give us and use it to make ourselves better at the game. Then what do we do...we have a tournament to interfere with their livelihood. We say we can beat them any day. We gripe because we can't play with them anymore (and we really need to let this go!!!). We really need to decide---are the pros what we look up to and what we want to be or are they just spoiled fisherman that got all the breaks needed to become a pro? They are either our allies or our enemies, I don't feel it can be both. For me, they are what I want to be and they are where I want to be. They have all worked their butts off and sacrificed more than we could understand to get where they are and I think we should give them the courtesy to do their jobs and do it without any additional obstacles.

I've been playing for about 15 years. Guitar: Fender American Strat 40th Anniversary Edition Amp: Fender Performer No effects--just the clean pure Fender sound! 8-)

Personally, I think RW should close all threads on this subject!! When "smack" is talked about the other pros, it gets closed down because we are spreading negativity about them. In the end, all that ends up happening on these threads is that the women get bashed for not being good fishers (or at the very least, not being as good as the men). Not only does she get bashed, but the entire WBT gets trashed for the lack of talent. It really does nothing constructive for the sport or for this forum. I think we need to step back and realize we're all fishers and love this sport with equal passion. We should be doing whatever it takes to promote the sport and move it forward, especially in these times. One really good way to do this is to spread the love of our sport to women and children. They are the demographic that our industry is lacking---and would be better off including.

Hey SimpleJoe---Quick question--I got online this weekend to listen, I got a prompt that says as of March 11 you can no longer listen to Sirius for free online, unless you renew your subscription. But even if resign, after that subscription runs out, then you have to pay anyway. Have you heard or seen that same thing?

I've owned my 285XL w/the Yammy VMAX for 4 years and love it. My Yammy isn't the HPDI, but it is still an awesome motor. I've clocked mine at 63 on the GPS, with no equipment onboard. I get to about 58-60 with all my equipment and a partner w/their equipment. The livewells are great, I've never had a dead fish. As someone else said, I would buy ANY brand of boat less than 18'. The 18.5 footer is a great size and it can take some big water, trust me!! Not that you're looking at new boats, but the Stratos Evolution series is SWEEEETTTTT!!!

I've tried Vicious Fluoro and had a lot of breakoffs so I never tried it again. Maybe I just had a bad box, but I didn't want to experiment, so I switched lines.

Good thread---unfortunately, I have the same issue. It's tough during the summer there because they move around a lot. I can catch the snot out of those 12"-16" but can't find the big ones either.

A good thing about the Loc-R-Bar----in a lot full of boats, they will skip yours because of the bar.

I see a lot of posts stating that the competition in the WBT isn't strong. Then in the same breath it's stated that you don't follow the WBT. So how is the level of competition so freely thrown out here, when no-one really truly knows. Kim Bain is a fisherwoman. I don't know if anyone else has seen it, but her and Andre just won an Southern Kingfish Assoc. event. Now I'm most of you are going to give Andre all the credit, but again we aren't out in the boat with them so you don't know. I'm guessing that with her being from Australia she has probably caught some fish that are bigger and smarter than our beloved bass. Just because they fish the WBT does not mean that they aren't true fishers and have more fishing knowledge than us, and we shouldn't think of them as anything less than the men fishermen. If she does win, which means she beat the best of the best, will you guys against her being in the Classic, consider her as a true World Champ? Or will you still think she didn't deserve to win because she shouldn't be there in the first place?

For some reason people always think the locals on their home water can beat the pros. It doesn't happen. When the pros come to Oneida Lake they catch consistant weights that blow our minds. People that have fished this lake for years cannot come up with the weights, for four days, that the Elite guys do. Even the Elites that call a lake "home" usually don't beat the other "visiting" Elite anglers. Boyd Duckett is one of the few anglers that have beaten this jinx. Back on topic...it baffles my mind how this tournament could be supported by us, the angling community. As Willzx225 stated, it's aweful to mess with the guys that have worked their butts off to get to the Elites, just to try and prove a point.

Did anyone see this episode? OMG it was the funniest GD thing I've ever seen!!!

Anybody listen to Sirius while they're driving to the lake, making lures or messing with your tackle. What's your favorite station? I would have to go with Jam-On---I love all the live stuff they play.

It's a good lure, as are all Jackal lures---personally I would save some $$ and get a Rapala Skitter Walk. Same type of body and really easy to walk---ohhhh and it really catches 'em too.

Don't even second guess yourself!!! In this day and age, you can never be too careful, especially with your daughter along side. I don't even trust people that are well-dressed, if I don't know them!!! Murderers and robbers seldom look the part.

I just read about that. It's going to be quite the cluster ****. I know they're trying to prove a point about the no-co-angler issue, but lets not forget that to the Elite angler, this is their living. With all the changes the pros have had to deal with, I don't think this is an appropriate time to make a stand. I understand it's public water and they have every right to be on the lake, but it seems their intention is more focused on messing up the Elites rather than just putting on a tournament. We are all part of this amazing sport and in these times we should have each others back, not be putting up obstacles. IMHO!

From Syracuse--grew up in Oswego. Fished for everything, but there's nothing like a bass---smallmouth or largemouth!

If you go to tackleunderground---make sure you post this in the 'Want Ad' section or you'll get a hand slap! They will send you a warning that the 'Want Ad' section is the only place you can post this type of request.

Their customer service has to be good. I'm sure they've had a lot of pratice in the return department!!!!

The people I think are good sticks do the following: Do they catch a 20 pound bag when everyone else is getting 15? Do they get a limit when everyone else is not? Do they always come to the dock with fish in all whether conditions?Can they catch fish on any kind of bite (ie jig bite, crank bite etc)---one trick ponies are not considered "sticks" IMO. One of my biggest criteria that you touched on...Can they do all the above in any body of water. I don't think it shows as much talent if an angler is fishing the same lake for 20 years and can only get 'em in that body of water. I think anybody on this forum can be consistant if they fish the same body of water for a long period of time. I would like to add that most of the great fisherman I know are not tournament fisherman. I don't gauge how good someone is simply by tournament results. I don't know if you were just talking bass, but another gauge I use for a true FISHERMAN is how well they do on all species. I could beat some of my friends bass fishing, but I have a couple friends that can catch anything that swims at any time.

I currently live in NY, but will be relocating to the Chattanooga area. I have a question.....Here we have the Finger Lakes which is five natural lakes, not connected by a river, with all having the same "bowl shaped" contours and weedline. Once you figure out one of these lakes, you can transfer what your doing there to the other 4 bodies of water. I was wondering if this is similar to the Tenn River Impoundments (Chick, Pickwick, Nickajack etc.). For instance if I fish Chick will the other lakes be on a similar bite or is there a huge difference between these bodies of water? If so, can you touch on some of the differences?

[quote author=596E79747776727770762C2C180 Gulp! Catches everything but bass.

Another example of what a good TEAM player he is: They said on ESPN yesterday that he told management he would resturcture his contract to keep Anquan Bolding on the team. The only other person I've heard do that is Tom Brady. He restructured his to get Moss on the team.

There could be a book written on this subject!! My definition of a flat is very straight forward--it's an area with very little bottom contours. The most productive flats are usually the ones closest to deeper water and with some cover. Personally I don't spend a lot of time fishing flats unless there is some form of cover. The cover narrows down the search on a big flat. For instance, you can go into a flat and just cover a weedbed rather than fishing an entire area of featureless, coverless flat. Although, there are times when fish will be on these bare bank areas, but for the most part, I always look for some cover.