senile1

I'm so disappointed in Roland Martin. I liked him back in the day, but between the constant plugs for products on his show, endorsing junk such as this, and yelling "I gotta' a big bass, I gotta' big bass . . . . " over and over every time he hooks a bass I'm getting where I can't stand to watch him.

Same for me regarding big bass. I caught a few 5's, but no hawgs at all.

I've been close but I've never broken the 7 lb barrier. I think this is the year. I'm really looking for an 8. I've got this large pond that I've been fishing and the owner nailed a 7 lb'er during the spawn last year. He doesn't fish it very often. I've caught quite a few 4's and 5's from it in 2006. I'm going to try to do this in January and February because the few other people that fish this aren't winter fishermen.

This is downright wild!!! Wow. Great pictures. Be careful if you like to wear a coon skin cap.

I wouldn't want technology to do everything for me regarding locating and catching fish, but I would welcome improved livewell technology.

Very well put Ronnie, it 's funny, many of you guys think that spending 3 or 4 hundred dollars in a rod and a reel combo is waaaaaaaaaayyyyy too much, however are willing and spend 10,000 dollars and more in bassboat. I think this might be comparing apples to oranges. A new $10,000 bass boat is the low end of the price range, and therefore would compare with the low end of the rod and reel range. Due to the boat's purpose and the expense of making it fill that purpose, it is naturally going to cost much more than rods and reels. Of course, here I still follow my principles. I bought a cheaper used boat that meets my needs fine. Well, we all have our own opinions. I don't think anyone is ridiculous for whatever they buy. If it's good for them, great. Much earlier in this thread, before some of us started getting miffed, I stated that for me the benefits received from the highest price gear aren't enough to justify purchasing anything more than around a couple of hundred dollars . . . for me . . . . maybe not for anyone else. And as always, I'm more than open to changing my mind if I find that some of the highest priced equipment proves me wrong. My opinions aren't set in stone. We are all trying to achieve the same thing . . . . catching that big Momma bass. We just have different priorities and different ways of reaching the same goal.

This is always a good topic for generating many thoughtful posts. As I have said, I tend to stay in what I consider mid-range equipment (rods and reels below $200) but I am always open to persuasion. There is no reason to be close-minded about which equipment is the best for the money. I read an interesting article about how our own expectations will influence the value we perceive that we receive from a product. The link is below. http://finance.yahoo.com/columnist/article/moneyhappy/19279

I agree with the concept of "you get what you pay for," but only up to a point. Once you leave the bargain basement and are purchasing mid-range to high end equipment I believe that "you get what you pay for" is a bit simplistic. At the risk of offending every Harley rider on this site, I will say that Harley-Davidson motorcycles are the perfect example of this. I have ridden motorcycles since the early 70s and raced motocross in my teens. At one time, I read four motorcycle magazines cover to cover every month and I used to do all the mechanical work on my motorcycles. During that time, Harleys have never been close to being the fastest motorcycle, the best handling motorcycle, the most powerful motorcycle, or the longest lasting motorcycle. Why then do they command the highest prices and the best resale value? In a word . . . . . image. They sound cool, look cool, and they are marketed as individualistic and against the grain. If they are so against the grain, why is everyone buying them? The success of Harley's marketing is so phenomenal that the Japanese motorcycle manufacturers have tried to copy the Harley mystique with their own big V-twins. None of these bikes perform to the standard set by other Japanese and European bikes but the almighty dollar is what business is about and these bikes sell by the truckload. Are they the best for the money? If you are a performance afficionado like me, the answer is no way. If you like a solid bike that looks cool, sounds cool, and gets attention then maybe they are the best for you. Are they the best performing bike for the money? Absolutely not. (For years, Harleys have been awesome in flat track racing, due to the tremendous torque produced by the long stroke V-twin engines. This successful performance hasn't transferred well to their street bikes in most instances. The recent introduction of the V-rod in 2002 gave Harley one production motorcycle that could be considered high performing but you can get the same performance for a lot less money in other bikes.) I think the same can be said for high end fishing equipment compared to some of the best mid-range equipment. The high price doesn't justify the meager benefits received over mid-range equipment. So I buy mid-range rods and reels: $115 - $200 for reels and $110 to approximately $200 for rods. I am open to being persuaded, however.

Hawgin, you guys missed a couple of bags. After I got the PMs from you and Fatman I went out there and bought a couple of bags of the Kinami palm trees as well. I'm pretty sure there are none left now. BTW, Dick's out at Zona Rosa carries Fat Ikas.

There's a number of good ones, but I agree with some of the other posters here. KVD's Bass Strategies contains a lot of information in a concise format and it is very well organized. I've had it for quite awhile but I still refer to it now and then.

I might just take you up on that. I know this is a sweet reel. The only thing I'm afraid of is that I will be hooked once I try it, and then I'll throw my principles out the window and buy one anyway.

RW, like you, I've studied the climate change issue and history doesn't lie regarding the warming and cooling of the earth. It has always occurred and always will as long as the earth exists. In my opinion, no one can absolutely be certain whether the current warming is a normal part of this climate change. However, we do know that the things we humans add to the atmosphere aren't good. I think we should always look for ways to decrease the pollutants we are adding to the atmosphere, regardless of whether we are the main cause of this warming period or not.

The best for me is Southern Pro Triple tailed grubs on a 1/16 or 1/32 oz jig. Favorite color is the white grub with chartreuse tails. Other colors that work for me are blue grub/white tail, red grub/chartreuse tail, and Black grub/chartreuse tail.

Very good point. I was thinking the same thing earlier today. Many of us on this forum spend our time talking with like-minded fishermen and since we're surrounded by these people we aren't aware that we may be a decreasing minority in the sports world.

I think your pretty close on your observation about pricing points, RW. I tend to see Citicas and Curados as mid-range reels, though their prices are around $120 and $200 respectively, but I also can see these prices as the lower spectrum of the high-end range.

Anytime I've seen KVD give a how-to it has always been detailed and informative. Thanks for the heads-up on this show. It looks like they'll be doing the shakey-head show again on the 5th and 7th. I'll be watching.

I agree with this statement totally. Everything you said is true. But suppose the best reel you can afford IS the most expensive reel? It may mean a few sacrifices, but like Ronnie, my fishing gear is my greatest pleasure. I'll have to listen to my wife complain anyway so I may as well catch hell for buying that new steez I'm lusting after than for not power washing the lanai. Or whatever the "honey do" de jour may be. Avid, do you mean "What if the best reel for the money is the most expensive reel?" instead of "suppose the best reel you can afford IS the most expensive reel?" I can afford the most expensive reels, but, so far, I haven't found one that I think is the best for the money spent. However, I would agree that if I thought the most expensive reel was the best for the money spent, I would buy it. Maybe if I used one of these high end reels I would change my mind, but, currently, I can't imagine gaining enough extra benefit from these reels that would make them worth it to me to switch from my Citicas, Curados, and Stradics. It's like my car. I can afford a Lexus, etc., but why spend the money on it when a Toyota lasts just as long, and I can pour the extra money into my retirement funds? Everyone has different priorities. It's neither right nor wrong. If any of you guys want to send me a Stella to try out for a few weeks or months to possibly change my mind, I would be open-minded enough to try it out.

I've used the 4", 5" 6", and 7". I like the 7" senkos, but I use a MH fast tip rod for this. The 4" is good for dropshotting.

Thanks for the very informative and stimulating article, Fish Chris. I, for one, appreciate this. We have to be informed anglers, and to be informed, it takes more than just reading the newspapers and watching the TV news programs which promote a shallow understanding of most issues.

Very interesting. On my last post every time I typed in the word liberal in quotes, the word, democrat, was entered in its place on the post. I don't necessarily think the two are synonymous.

Every single one of these threads which revolve around the politics of foreign relations evolves into democrats bashing republicans and republicans bashing democrats. (Or conservatives bashing democrats and vice versa.) democrats rip Fox news but they don't see the bias of CNN. Conservatives rip CNN but they don't see the bias of Fox news. democrats always want to mention Nixon when they talk about Vietnam. Conservatives always want to mention President Johnson when Vietnam is the subject. Why don't you all try reading the columns and watching the network you hate and just listen to it for a few weeks. You'll find some truth that is good and some that is bad regarding your favorite party or politicians. Objectivity is becoming a lost art in America. Mellow out guys. We're all American fishermen. We're all on the same side. We just have different ideas about how to accomplish the same goals.

You took the words out of my mouth. LBH stated: Sadly, our environment may be unable to support fishing a few decades from now. I don't know about every coastal city being washed out though it is a definite possibility. I do know that our present pace of population encroachment on wilderness areas can't continue.

I don't want to make this another of those debates about whether the most expensive is the best. Everyone has their reasons for buying what they buy, and when it comes to fishing equipment, what works for you is what you have to do. And maybe the car analogy isn't the best for the situation, but these are my reasons for buying what I buy, however faulty my reasoning may be. A great fisherman with a $120 reel will outfish an average fisherman with a $500 dollar reel most of the time. And if you take care of the $120 reel I venture to guess that it will last as long as the $500 dollar reel. This is why I don't buy the most expensive. Plus, I don't have to hear my significant other complain about the money I'm spending. (At least not as often. ) So the number one reel choice, if you think like me, is to buy the best for the money. If you don't think like me and you buy the best, regardless of the money, then you'll buy the highest end reel you can get your hands on.

We had some good discussions regarding this subject during early to mid-summer. You will have to resign yourself to a lot of work if you don't have a fish finder. You will be searching for areas that would be the most likely to hold fish. First, you need a good contour map of the lake. This will give you an idea of how the structure is laid out on the bottom. You'll want to mark the location of underwater humps, channel banks, points that drop off to deep water, flats with deep water nearby, etc. Also look for cover on this structure such as weedlines and stump beds. If you find prominent structure with some form of vegetation on it this is a prime location to begin your search for bass. None of my maps show weeds but they do show timber, stumps, and rock. Once you have located some areas on the map that meet these criteria, then you need to narrow down the areas you are going to search by choosing those that would be used by bass in the current seasonal pattern. For instance, right now where I am, water temperatures are in the 30s and the bass are in their winter patttern, so I would begin my search on deep structure. Once you determine this on the map. Drive your boat to the general location. Since you don't have a depth finder I would throw a Carolina Rig in the general area, dragging it across the bottom to get a feel for what is beneath. You will have to count down your bait to get an idea of how deep your are fishing. After combing an area this way you can get a good idea of what is below and you can discover some of the structure you found on the map. I would limit myself to a small cove or smaller area of the lake that matches the areas I'm looking for, because there isn't time to do this to the whole lake. Before you do all of this work, I'd check out some bait shops or other anglers who know the lake to see if they can give you an idea of where the bass are. Keep an eye out for baitfish as well.

This is what I had always heard regarding chartreuse.