senile1

Nice one. ;D

Welcome to the forum.

Failing to understand that one should generally write and speak at a level that communicates not only to those with knowledge, but also to those with the least understanding in his or her audience. Sorry, I just had to throw that in there.

I believe most of these anglers are good people too, but you know they are human with faults and foibles just like everyone else. It is a part of their job to accept defeat graciously. Otherwise, no one would want to sponsor them.

That's poetry, Catt.

Nice one, Big-O! It looks like the time is right in Texas.

Wow, what a day. Glad you made it safely.

Welcome to the forum.

Nice fish, guys.

I think it starts with the way boys and girls are raised. Some families are more likely to point a boy towards fishing and hunting than a girl. I'm not saying everyone is like that but I think there are still a lot of people, especially some men, who still think this way. Regarding the BR women's forum, in my opinion this specific forum is about bass fishing and news or issues that relate to women participating in bass fishing. There are other forums about rods, reels, boats, equipment, lures, etc. in which some of our women do participate. I could be wrong but I think this forum is idle for long periods because most of the subjects related to bass fishing are covered in other forums on this website. Additionally, there aren't as many women participants in the membership.

Welcome to the Bass Resource community, Laus. It's all about treating others the way you want to be treated, no matter the gender, race, or belief system, isn't it?

I'm not extremely interested in the lure KVD used. I'm more interested in how he used it. Sometimes, I think he could tie on a block of wood with a hook and a lip and still compete.

Winter is so different for each of us depending on where we are located geographically. I enjoy Winter fishing but most years the water has been hard from late December to early March. Unless I ice fish I'm not going to be fishing much in this season. We had a week of highs in the 50s to high 60s last week so I took a drive to check the lake conditions on Saturday. It looks like we need another week of the same type of temperatures because the lakes are still frozen. Unfortunately, that's not going to happen. Winter has returned this week. It would help if I had some bass-holding rivers nearby. I can't wait for March and warmer temperatures.

A-Jays earlier post hit the nail on the head. I read the same entry in the Classic blog yesterday about how he moves his wrists when he reels in a crankbait. In a nutshell, I think he does it by fishing normal lures in an extraordinary manner with an uncanny, intense concentration.

Chapman is making KC proud. Lake Quivera is a suburb of the Kansas City metro area. With his 5th place in the Classic last year and his performance this year he is raising his visibility. I would love to see him win, but it wouldn't bother me if KVD won his fourth Classic either. And it sounds like Remitz is going to bring in a monster bag today. We have a competition.

I haven't read every entry in the blog but I didn't see that there was an argument between the two, just a fishing battle because they are sitting so close. From the entries at 1:54 and 2:03 it sounds like KVD is getting irritated at spectators and is experiencing some backlashes. The blog is huge. There was something in there that made it sound like and arugment and that one boat may even have bumped into the other. That's the entry at 2:03 but I thought "bumping boats" was just a figure of speech because they were so closed together. Edit: Sorry BadKarma. Your post happened the same time as mine. Thanks for the head's up on that blog entry.

I haven't read every entry in the blog but I didn't see that there was an argument between the two, just a fishing battle because they are sitting so close. From the entries at 1:54 and 2:03 it sounds like KVD is getting irritated at spectators and is experiencing some backlashes.

Nice fish, Big-O. By the way, how were you fishing it when you caught that big girl?

I bought the boat used back in 2007 but the original owner told me the brakes were part of the trailer package when he bought it new. The boat is a 2000 Stratos 295 Pro Elite. Since I wasn't there at the original purchase I can't provide 100 percent proof he is correct, but the paint used on the trailer and all hardware perfectly matches the gelcoat so I feel confident that this trailer came with the brakes. I guess it's possible he could have had the brakes installed at the time of purchase.

deep stated: The OP's question states that you have no prior knowledge of the lake and no electronics with which to locate appropriate structure for the season and the conditions. I assume no prior knowledge means no Google maps. I don't know if this is a hypothetical question but I'll answer it just for what it is and try to make it as concise as I can. Hopefully, some of the structure gurus will come along and fill in all the gaps for you. In the meantime this is what I would do. First, consider the season (prespawn, spawn, etc) and the conditions. Let's say it's prespawn with water temperatures around 49 or 50 so it's not warm enough for the ladies to move up on beds just yet. Let's say we've had stable weather for a few days so the water has been slowly warming. I would expect to find fish on drop-offs near spawning flats and some might even be up on the flats feeding at particular times during the day. So now I need to find these features. I can do this by analyzing the shoreline and noticing which features extend into the lake such as points, creeks, etc. These could be highways to the drop-offs I'm looking for. I would move my boat to these areas and use a bottom dragging lure such as a carolina rig or a jig to feel the bottom and map out the depths as I follow the structure that I have located. This will allow me to locate any drop-offs and staging points. You are looking for cover on good fish-holding structure. I would also use a bait such as a jerkbait, lipless crank, spinnerbait, etc to fish some of the shallow areas in case some fish are up feeding due to the stable weather. If I think I have found an adequate fish holding structure then I would saturate that area with whatever lures are appropriate for the season and the depth of the structure. Other things to consider are areas where you see birds feeding which can indicate baitfish, current entering the lake, water releases through dams, etc. All of these can indicate places where bass may be feeding. This could turn into a long day (or even longer) if I am on a large lake. Finding structure doesn't necessarily mean I have found good fish-holding structure. I may strike out a few times before I find the right areas. Your best bet is to always acquire some prior knowledge of a lake before fishing it by studying maps, fishing reports, etc. And I believe that electronics are essential when fishing large lakes. If you are fishing a smaller lake that you can cover in a day it's possible that you can chunk and wind all day and cover the lake without putting much thought into where you are fishing and you could still locate fish though I wouldn't recommend it.

What does the number of axles have to do with needing brakes? Weight is weight and unless you're pulling with a heavy truck (e.g. F250/350, etc), you're always better off to have some extra braking. Agreed. I have a single axle trailer with a 1575 lb boat and a 200 HP engine. This is the trailer that was matched with the boat when it was new. I have brakes and they are useful with this much weight.

The shakeyhead is definitely a presentation that I wouldn't leave out with water temperatures in the 40s.

There are a number of people who could win. I'm going with a dark horse - Todd Faircloth. He's often near the top but flies under the radar. He likes shallow water.

Welcome to Bass Resource.

x2 I'm fishing from the bank too (water still too cold to put the canoe in the water). After ice-out here I fished deep water within casting distance of the bank with jigs and soft plastics and got a few. Then, we had a couple of warm days and water temp came up so I started checking out small shallow coves that would warm up faster than the main lake and have been doing very well with spinnerbaits and lipless cranks. Got an 18"/2.91lb fish in 43 degree water just 90 minutes ago in fact! One catch was pretty good: http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1297129408 Good luck! I agree with Goose. At ice out the fish will tend to be deeper but under certain conditions you can find some shallow. Do you have access to a drop-off into deep water from the bank?