Shad_Master

When I say "awsome" I mean "awsome for Zorinsky" . One of the guys in our club traveled way up the creek almost to Center Street and reported that he was really hitting 'em up there. Now granted this was back in the spring and fishermen do tell tales - so who knows :-/

You won't get much confidence in the big "Z" from me - I fished it three times last year and once this year -- result = 1 12' catfish and one bass smaller than the baby ring fry that I was throwing. I know they are in there, but since the standing timber has all dropped off they seem harder to locate. What is the water level like right now? Have the rains raised the level - if so, I have heard that the far west side can be pretty awsome unless it is real muddy.

If you are looking for something really shallow - check out the Mann's Waker http://another site/tv_play.asp?id=109 this is supposed to be a link to a video on another site in case it doesn't work. Since I apparently can't list "the other site" - PM me for more info

Actually the only thing you need to have a "club" is several people with a common interest. My local club is not affiliated with either BASS or FLW. The club actually began before either of these groups were established. Later on the club looked into an affiliation with BASS, but was told that there were certain requirements of the members (specifically no outboards of less than 50 hp) and so the club told them to go pound sand. From time to time members of the affiliated clubs leave and join in with us and vice-versa. But our club still goes on.

One thing you want to check out when buying a GPS is battery life - I have a Magellan SportsTrack and that sucker eats AA batteries. I have been playing around with it for a while and it works well for marking waypoints (brush piles, ledges, etc.), but you can probably get by a little cheaper. Don't be roped in by all the sexy buttons and screens, you may only use a few of them.

Here's my story that is similar to yours - a couple of years ago I had been fishing in a pond at a local park - most of the guys laughed at me for telling what they called "fish stories" about the fish I was catching there. I had just come from getting my hair cut and my barber was one of the guys who had been teasing me. I headed over to the pond and within three casts, hooked a "pig". There I was with no camera and no way to hold the fish. So I ran to my truck, called home and told my son to put water in the cooler and rushed to the house (I decided that if he died, I would have him mounted). When I arrived (maybe 5-6 minutes) he was still flopping and I immediately dunked him in the cooler. He continued to flare his gills and I measured him (21.75" with a 14.5" girth). My son and I loaded the cooler, with the fish, in the truck and headed back to the pond. On the way, I stopped by the barber shop to show the guys what I had. On arriving at the pond, we lowered him back in where he lay stunned for a while and then swam off. I always suspected he was brain damaged and probably died from swimming head first into a stump, but at least he was alive when I left him.

I got some earlier in the year, don't remember what I paid for 'em. Frankly I don't see the hype. Can't really say that they are that much different than the regular Senko, they just look funny.

Several years ago when I first joined my local bass club, we had a tournament that was won by a guy using what he called a "half-senko". I went to the local bait shop and tried buy some :-[. Later I asked him what a "half-senko" was and he explained that he bit about 1 - 1.5" off the head of a regular 4" Senko :-[ :-[. This was the first tournament of the year (April) and the bass were just starting to move up on beds. I have always considered this guy to be kinda spooky for knowing that this would work when a regular Senko wouldn't . A 2" Senko might have worked in that situation as well :-/.

Last week end I pulled a guy's boat to the lake with my truck. His trailer set higher than mine and bottomed out before we covered the ball. So we reversed the ball and now it sits higher but will still hook up to my trailer. He said that boats tow easier if they sit higher. Is this so? How come?

All hooks are really made from wire, I suspect you are referring to what is called "light wire" hooks and yes these can be a problem, depending on where you are fishing. On the other hand, they can come in handy if you are fishing in lots of laydowns and brush piles. Use heavy line and pull them out if you can and then re-set the hook with a good pair or needle nose. You really don't have to pull as hard on the hook set with these and if you are straightening them out on the hookset, ease back a bit.

I wouldn't mind fishing with either one of those guys either, but I would sure need a strong cup of coffee to spend a day with Zel - otherwise I might be tempted to doze off after listening to his drawl.

First of all, as a wise old fisherman explained to me years ago, "they are not backlashes - they are 'professional overruns'". My favorite tool for picking them out is a simple ball point pen. You can usually see where the loop has crossed over the line and you simply pick that up while backing the reel until you feel it come loose. (Does this sound like I have done this a few times :-[?). Be sure to check you line afterwards, especially on flouro-carbon as the line can get a kink in it that will make it weaker and can lead to a major melt down >.

Well Clausen is up again next week - this time against Boyd Duckett -- I wonder if there will be any repercussions from his outing with Brent Ahler (there was a little inside joke between Larry Nixon and Zell Rowland in yesterday's match about "comming to the front of the boat and taking a warning penalty" - did anyone else catch that?).

Has anyone used or have an opinion on Black Widow line by HiSeas?

Here in the upper mid-west, January is about the time that withdrawl sets in and I start dreaming about soft water. Just be glad that you can find a shady spot to stick a few even during the hot months and don't have to put it all away for several months each year. That's when the forum becomes my only link to reality.

btlva, I have had just the opposite experience - I have never known that a bass (SM or LM) has ever spit out a GULP! - the problem I have had was when they short strike and bite off the tail (this happens with both bass and blue gill).

FLAKES - I recently read an article (could have been in either BASSIN or BASS Times) where they were saying that they were fishing a translucent stick bait with black flakes and the theory was that this mimicking a school of fry - I believe this was in the Spring, so it seemed plausible. Never really considered this before. But I do know that the FLAKES can be a factor by fishing behind guys using the same bait with different FLAKES. It would be interesting to see a longer discussion about this.

I use GULP! to locate the fish - they will be attracted by the scent - but GULP! is more expensive and doesn't hold up as well, so after I locate 'em I will switch to either a Power Bait or a Zoom Worm. If I'm throwing a Sinking Minnow, I will switch to a Senko.

The best set up is a spinning rod with lots of bend in it - you don't want to be jerking the bait out of the fish's mouth - just sweep the rod tip until it loads up and then bring it in. Because you are using a rod with lots of action, you want to use light line - I usually use 8# test, but a lot guys say that is too heavy.

The only time I don't use a trailer hook is when I don't want to catch a fish

Okay, granted it was meant as a joke - but I have a problem with boaters who talk bad about non-boaters and then sign up for "draw tournaments". We have had this controversy in my local club and that's why it's a sore spot for me. I fish some tournaments as a boater and others as a non-boater. My major goal is to spend a day on the lake with somebody with similar interests and somebody I can learn from -- I do learn from my backseaters. Just don't really like it when any particular group gets singled out for bashing just because they are in that group.

Nitro, this may have been intended as a joke - but it strikes a sore spot with me. If back seaters are all such horrible people, why do you take them along?

Interesting question: over the course of this season I have caught a speckled bass (my partner called it a crappie) and a wiskered bass (my partner called it a cat fish) -- neither one counted though ;D

This wasn't fishing, this was "rasslin". I even think Joe Thomas had a hard time dealing with it. I also remember last year when it seemed like everybody had something negative to say about the way the G man was mistreating poor Luke. Sorta makes you wonder what might have been behind all that, doesn't it?

The problem I find in most "tackle kits" is that you don't really get good quality lures or if you do, they are mixed in with some lower quality stuff. I think you would be better off, buying one of two bags of better quality stuff and just working 'em until you are comfortable with them and then move on to something else. You may find that you actually save $$ in the long run.