senile1

Hmmm . . . . maybe your boater isn't doing so well when you aren't there and you just aren't aware of it. Stories can be told.

First of all, I have to agree with Glenn. By calling someone out on what we "think" is a poor estimate of a fish's weight we create bad blood between us and the person called out, and probably others who are privy to the conversation. And what have we proven? We didn't weight the fish. We didn't measure the fish. We weren't there. This is a case of us calling someone out and pronouncing them guilty with only a single piece of circumstantial evidence - a photograph. And what if it turns out that we were wrong? Who is the jerk then? That's not to say I haven't seen pictures that were so far off I couldn't help but drop a hint, but it has been a few years. I have learned some lessons. There are obviously some photographs that just scream "I am only a 3 lb fish" but there shouldn't be too many people on this forum who don't realize those weights are off. Other than making the poster feel like a cad, I'm not sure that calling them out accomplishes anything else. And what if the person posting the weight sincerely thought he was making a good guess? He or she could have really made an honest mistake and now we are going to berate them until they crawl under a rock? I agree that we should weigh our fish with a scale and state that weight, but some anglers aren't at that point yet. Again, there are obvious exceptions to my examples here, but I am just saying I don't think we should paint with such a wide brush. Not everyone that posts a questionable weight is a liar. It has been my experience that absolutes are rare and the truth usually lies in the gray area. People aren't just immoral jerks or saints. There is a middle ground. There are some people who lie about their weights and there are some who just make mistakes. It all boils down to this. Are you ok with asserting your superior moral code over someone who just made a mistake, or who maybe just took a bad picture?

We're still trying here in Northwestern Missouri but I am not even getting close. I caught this 6 lb'er today at Smithville Lake. She was 22 inches long but too slender to carry a lot of weight. Maybe a month ago she would have been a bit heavier with eggs. So 6 lb/13.875 lbs x 100 puts me at a pitiful 43.2 percent. Getting my wife to fill the frame to make the fish look good is something else that I am failing at as well.

Blue, I have a 2002 Tundra with the old 245 horsepower V8 and 145,000 miles on it that I will sell to you. My plan is to put 200,000 on it but if you want it, that will give me an excuse to buy a new one. Unfortunately, it does not meet your requirements as it is a 4 x 2 but it pulls my 19.5 foot Stratos and 200 HP Evinrude fine. Seriously though, Tundras may cost some bucks, but from what I have seen, they absolutely do not quit. I know of a few of the older pickups like mine that were still running fine with 200,000 - 300,000 miles if longevity and reliability is your thing. Mine hasn't cost me anything at all except for routine maintenance.

I bought the rod in 2006 based on that review as well.

I guess I didn't see you. I have never used that far north ramp. I assume it is deep enough up there to put in a full sized bass boat? Also, do they charge the entrance fee up there?

The 683 is an awesome rod at its price point and can do many things well. I have the original Powell Max 683c and it works well with Senkos, and t-rigs. Also, as a lighter medium-heavy rod, it woks well with deep crankbaits, jerkbaits, and spinnerbaits, though the length could be longer to allow for longer casts. The 683 hasn't changed a great deal since Tackletour first posted its original review in the link below. They even tested it with a swimbait. http://www.tackletour.com/reviewpowell683cxfast.html

Yeah, that was me in the red Stratos. I wasn't way up on the north end. I hit a couple of coves on the west side just northwest of the boat ramp. The first cove was more of a pocket really but it was full of fish. Later I moved a few coves north so that is probably where you saw me. What boat were you guys in?

Well done, Speadbead. Well done.

Same here, without a scale it can make it difficult to know when you break your personal best. I think your estimate is accurate. That's a beautiful fish.

He is really studying that bass. Perhaps we have another future "bass professor" on our hands here?

I wish I had known you were out there, Blue. I fished Mozingo last Friday as well. Fishing was awesome in the morning and did get tougher as the day progressed. My lucky 13th fish of the day was around 1:30 in the afternoon and was just shy of 5.5 lbs. I caught a 4 even, a fish in the low 3s, and the rest were 1 or 2 lbs though most were keepers. 5.4 lb on my Boga Grip and spawned out. Check out how tore up her tail fin is. 4 lbs even

I tie direct for the most part. I like to use certain lures with split rings such as jerk baits, so I guess a snap could replace the snap ring. Long Mike made a good point, though, about the use of a snap when tying knots is an issue. I am very far-sighted and I need a new prescription on my sunglasses. Working with knots up close with an out-of-date prescription is sometimes frustrating.

Similar to Bluebasser, I am absolutely better alone. I find myself always trying to position the boat so that the other angler has as good a shot as I do at the fish. Usually, this results in a less than optimal shot for both of us. In the back, I try to be too polite and stay out of the front angler's way. I just feel too much of a responsibility to the other angler and this divides my concentration.

I was thinking it was a Ned rig fish.

Now THAT is a fish! Nice work, Speedbead.

Shimmy stated: Those are nice fish, Shimmy, but you don't have the lowest score. I guess I'll post these. I caught a 4 even and a fish that was just under 5.5 on my Boga Grip. If I call the biggest one a 5.4 I have 5.4/13.875 x100 = 38.9 percent. The 5.4 is the top fish. I definitely need to prepare more for fishing photographs. My quality doesn't compare to yours.

I assume you mean George Washington's proclamation of neutrality on April 22nd, not his birthday? The original OP thinks that the Earth Day designation is significant, as do others. That doesn't take anything away from George Washington and his contributions to this country.

I can't tell you from experience because I don't use my Powell's for deep cranking, but I can tell you what I would probably use from looking at Powell's website. Most of the Powell CB rods are a bit soft for my tastes for deep cranking though I do like them for shallow and mid-depth cranking. I see that Powell's recommendation on the website is the Endurance 755 CB Glass/Composite for deep cranking. It is a 5 power so it has a lot of backbone but a soft tip to avoid ripping out hooks. And it is long enough to be able to get a good long cast. The 804 CB might be worth a look as well, but from the description, it may be a bit soft for a lot of deep cranking.

Here is another vote for Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. One can still catch fish on a busy lake, but if your boat is in danger of capsizing much of the time that you are on the water it makes for a harrowing day of fishing. Another lake that is very bad between Memorial Day and Labor Day is Smithville Lake. I have heard it dubbed Little Lake Ozark. I fish Smithville a lot and it isn't uncommon to catch big air on a busy summer weekend if you aren't extremely careful.

Zero for me. Lakes were frozen until the beginning of March. We remodeled our master bathroom and added other home improvements in March, and I wasn't really able to leave the house. At the end of March and beginning of April I had a huge VoIP network upgrade for one of our customers which I just completed. So . . . . now it is time to wet a line and I am ready and dying to get out on the water.

I am in.

No one knows the answer to this. I suppose bass could be put off by hooks, hardware, line, trolling motor noise and vibration, sonar pings, etc., but we really cannot know for certain with the current state of study regarding bass. And just because bass bite lures with hooks doesn't mean that there aren't some bass out there that won't bite our lures because of the hooks, just as there could possibly be some bass out there that won't bite lures because of that unnatural line extending from it. It seems to be a common human condition that many of us can't handle ambiguity. There is nothing wrong with saying, based on the evidence, I don't know and I can't know. We don't have to commit to a stance when perfect empirical evidence doesn't exist to support our stances. This can be applied to many other things that people debate as well. We just have to handle this on the water in a way that gives us the most confidence, and that will be different for each of us.

I would be interested, Mike.

You can flip and pitch with a spinning rod though I usually use a baitcaster. The videos below have been out for a few years, but this guy is pretty good at it with the spinning rod. It definitely takes some practice like anything else.