basspro05

I was wondering if a guy was to go buy molds or make a few of his own, and start pouring his own soft plastics, is it cost effective, or do you just get the gratification of catchin fish on your own lures??

I bought a reconditioned one from Cabelas in Kansas City, and I put it on the night before the tourney, set the trolling motor in the water and went to hit the pedal and the cables snapped right away, well Cabelas did not have one they could replace it with, so i just spent the extra 150 and got a new one, i would never buy one again, thats just my opinion though

1990 ford f-150 5.0l 302, 113,000 miles on it, tows my 17.5' tracker alright, still takin a lickin but keeps on tickin

I wear a pair of H2Optix, they are owned by bushnell, very high quality sunglasses, everyday pair has lasted me two years only have one scratch, just got my fishing pair, i buy mine at the bushnell outlet store for around $50, but new they are around 75-125 i think, great glasses, made just for fishing

Thank you Senile, it was a blast, we have been so close so many times this year, then finally everything came together, if you go get up early, the topwater bite was just awesome, we just couldnt hook up with them, but we had probably 4 big explosions on spooks in about 15 minutes, id give that a try too

6-8-06- Smithville Lake report- Fished the Thursday night burtons tourney, again carolina rig is what i was using, we won the tourney had a 5 fish limit that weighed 12lbs good for 1st place, quite a few fish being brought in from spinnerbaits and jigs on rocky banks, i caught my fish on points biggest being 4.5 lbs and the rest being about 2 lbs, lots of fish being caught in both the main lake and the trimble area.

My grandpa always made me wash my hands with toothpaste and then wash them with a dishwasher detergent, always worked for me

well we had two out of rock creek in about a half an hour and left, and there was about three boats in there which isn't that much for how big that creek is, it was hard to find a place on the main lake, plus the weekend boat traffic was bad, my friend won the MSTA tourney on sunday he had 5 that weighed 20lbs he stuck it out on the main lake and just waited for points to open up for him to fish

Thanks Senile, these fish were definetely spawned out in the post spawn stage, these fish took a beating this weekend, during both of my tourneys there was a boat on every main lake point, thats why we went into rock creek to catch our fish sunday, much less pressure, the bigger fish i have been catching are coming on the secondary points and the smaller ones on the main lake points

Also fished Smithville, Wednesday had 5 fish limit in about 3 hours all fish in the 15-17" range, carolina rigging points, thursday night tourney had 2 fish 4lbs 14 oz lost a 6 pounder at the boat, again carolina riggin points, had two saturday 4lbs 8oz lost over 5 fish due to light leaders, carolina rigging points, sunday 4 fish 9.64 lbs, caught fish in the trimble area flipping tree lines

I am just finishing up my first year of college, and I am majoring in business administration. I am taking a public speaking course right now. My professor is the author of the text book we use, how lucky am I! This professor has been teaching public speaking and communications classes for forty years, he knows everything and has to be one of the best in the nation. We have completed three speeches already, my first one was on the history of tournament fishing, my second was on fishing the jig, and my third one was on lure selection. Not a single person in the class had heard of professional fishing including the professor. It is so fun to stand in front of the class and present a speech that is about something I enjoy so much. It is amazing how involved these people get into my speeches. Afterwards they are asking questions just like a fishing audience would. The lowest grade I have received on one of these speeches was a 91%, and this teacher rarely gives A's. This public speaking course is excellent, and I feel like I can get in front of any size crowd and talk comfortably. I think I am ready to pursue a few sponsors. Reelady your post has motivated me to get out into the market, thank you.

I have a 1999 pro team 175 with a 40Hp mercury, it is a great little boat, while all my buddies are working on their high end boats im out fishing, i have never had a problem with it at all nothing, in over a year and a half. Only thing is it is not very fast and not good in rough water, but it is a great small lake boat i love my boat

Thank you for the encouragement sir, i still love positive encouragement, rather than being put down

Thanks for the info, yeah I do not care what you call me, Just do not make fun of my fish lol. I will check out the website, do you think that it would be possible to start a JCCC fishing team?

Thanks guys, I apologize for losing my cool, but he made me really angry. I am very competitive with my fishing, and he just kind of pushed the wrong buttons if you know what I mean. CGS2004, I am from Shawnee and I graduated from Shawnee Mission North high school. I am currently going to school full-time at Johnson County Community College, and I plan on transferring to Emporia State to get my Bachelors in Business Administration. I fish any tournament I can or hear about, so the college related circuit sounds like a very neat concept. I would love to hear more information about it. Man that guy really got me heated, I hate losing my cool like that, like I said, I enjoy constructive criticism, it helps me realize my weaknesses. He was just being insulting though. The fish really was over 7 pounds lol.

Cabela 10, do not assume that I do not know the responsibilty and the effort it takes to keep a sponsor. I have worked a few sports shows around Kansas City with one of the largest boat dealers, moving boats in and moving boats out. It is not easy at all. There is so much to it, I know, I am not ignorant as you assumed earlier. BTW, constructive criticism is fine, it can only help others, but I think I need to teach you a little something. In your earlier statement, you bet me that I had no idea, what were we betting lol, because what ever it was I win the bet. Before posting on this forum read your thoughts you seem very arrogant, and cocky. My statement about catching one break is confidence not arrogance or cockiness, that just shows my determination. Fishing has been my first priority since the age of 11. How old are you, can you say you worked 80 hour weeks while being a full time student to buy your first bass boat at the age of 18 with your own money. Let me know a little about you, so I can give you some constructive criticism. BTW. go to this website www.burtonsbaitandtackle.com click on 2005 tournaments, then thursday night tournaments. scroll down to july 14 2005, yeah that is me 2nd place 7lbs 3 oz. and big bass 7lbs 3oz. You know I would love to fish against you where are you from, we need to set up a little friendly wager on this, you are very negative and I would imagine that people do not enjoy being around you at all.

That is a picture of my 7 lbs. 3oz big bass i caught in a Thursday night tournament, it also took 2nd place in the tournament.

I am fishing on a budget, so I pull my boat with a 1990 ford f-150 2 wheel drive with a 302 v-8, no problems yet, just really bad gas mileage. the boat is a 1999 tracker pro team 175.

Back on the autograph topic, I have a hat signed by: Roland Martin, Jimmy houston, kevin vandam, shaw grigsby, brent chapman, woo daves, dean rojas, rich tauber, edwin evers, david fritts, mark davis, denny brauer, chad brauer, mark menendez, gary klein, joe thomas, gerald swindle, and Davy hite. I also have crankbaits magazines and trading cards signed by these pros.

I am 18 and have been bass fishing since I was 3 0r 4, I just recently bought a bass boat, and a friend of mine asked if he could go with me someday, cause he hadnt been fishing for like ten years. I took him out the past two days, and he has had a blast. We haven't caught a lot of fish, but he still doesn't want to leave the lake, he is even thinking about being my partner for some local tournaments.

I fish docks at least 90% of the time I fish, because somewhere on the lake fish are holding on them, and because docks are so easy to pattern. Most of the lakes I fish have docks from 2ft-30ft, and I can catch the fish by using the same pattern on all of these docks. When I pull up to a dock, my first cast is a pitch to the swimming ladder if there is one, this is normally using a soft plastic or a jig. this will normally draw a strike. My next pitches are to any posts or pilings that are visible. If I am fishing a floating dock, I always cross behind the dock and fish inside the cables, again with a soft plastic or a jig. After I have picked apart the dock with those lures I may have a fish or two in the boat if I am lucky. I will then take a crankbait and cast it directly down both sides and bang it off of whatever is there. I think the key to dock fishing is catching one fish, and finding out where it was holding, the ladder, a post, in the shade? whatever. Then you can go from dock to dock, whether it is 5ft or 35ft, and fish the same way. throw to just that spot and leave and find another dock, it is very quick, and you can catch a limit in a hurry, then go back and pound the docks hard to pull those kicker fish out.

this year instead of working so much so I can buy a boat, which I did, I am going to spend almost everyday on the water since I have a boat now, it is nice to mooch off of your parents for a while, so I can better my skills of course ;D

I just bought my first bass boat last week, it is a tracker pro team 175 with a 40HP merc. I am just wondering if anyone has driven one, and do you have any tips, I have never driven a bass boat, the only boat I have driven is a pontoon, any tips will help, I plan on taking it out this weekend, so keep me from killing myself ;D thanks

I agree completely, I fished my first tournaments last year, as a co-angler, well 3 out of the 5 guys I was paired with, made me feel like I was at home, the other two, would grumble and cuss whenever I got hung up, and one guy got really mad when I caught the first fish of the tournament, the crazy thing was, we were fishing as a team, so you would think he would be happy. I am going to fish as both a boater and non-boater this year, and I will definetely treat my non-boater with respect, I know how it is to be the guy who is worrying about making the bad cast, or getting in the way. Great article BTW

Shawnee, KS