Catt

FEAR THE HAT

I'm going to take a guess here, your trailer have 8 wheels?

I would not use WD-40 for firearms unless I had little other choice. The "WD" stands for "water displacing," and WD-40 does that task well. That means it is good for hosing down and flushing out that duck gun that fell overboard, at least until you can get it home for a proper cleaning. However, WD-40 tends to gum and turn into a varnish with time. So WD-40 may be fine for an external wipe down, but it is potentially devastating to moving parts that require lubrication.

I wouldn't use iron because it's hard to weld iron to aluminum; you can buy aluminum extruded angles from Lowe's or Home Depot in 6' lengths. I don't know why but they are called ice runners down south, like there is ever ice around here. Aluminum flat and modified V bottom boats are notorious for sliding when cornering adding this extruded angler greatly reduces this problem. To get into many marshes in South Louisiana you have to pull your boat over a levee, this is accomplished by a set of rollers built up and over the levee; the ice runners reinforced the boat bottom.

There are no rules of engagement forbidding the use of top water baits in rough water; as a matter of fact they can be quite productive. While I have not used a Super Spook in rough water I have used buzz baits with excellent results in a 2 foot chop. Fishing top water baits in rough water is a highly productive for catching Red fish using Top Pup®, She Dog®, He Dog®, Super Spooks and Skitter Walkers.

This is what Florida Love Bugs do to your car >

On aluminum hulls they are simply ridges; down south we add 1 V-shaped aluminum angles welded on top of the strakes to provide better bite when turning sharp thus keeping the hull from sliding.

Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner! This is the exact answer I was going to post. Externally mounted transducers don't work very well, if at all, while underway using the big motor. Cart7 explained the reasons very well. There you have it

Florida Love bugs; don't what they are good for other than running your paint job

How Y'all Are?

Other than the ones Russ mentioned Jerry Mckinnis: The Worldwide Leader in Outdoor Television Larry Nixon: first angler to a million dollars; one of the quietest, humblest, most easy going, laid back anglers you'll ever meet. At 57 still highly competitive Tim Tucker: the greatest bass writer ever; Did more for this industry with out a rod than just about anyone.

Creek cannel with a Texas Rig or Jig-N-Craw

If y'all got an Academy in your neighborhood they have a trolling motor bracket for under $7

Dude between you & Tom Redington I see a vacation in the near future

Life in the fast lane

Matt, it takes a rare breed of fisherman consistently catch big bass; some of the guys here will never stay with your baits long enough to see the results.

The Louisiana Top 150 on Toledo Bend February 25, 2001 Day 1: Heavy, thick fog limited visibility to the point that B.A.S.S. National Tournament Director Dewey Kendrick had no other choice but to call it a day. Day 2: A cold front accompanied by muddy water and 20 mph winds changed fishing conditions from what the pros found earlier this week during practice. Day 4: "The winds today aren't just hard, they're life-threatening," said Alton Jones. The 2000 BASSMASTER Megabucks winner and nine other finalists must wait until Sunday to decide the Louisiana BASSMASTER Top 150 on Toledo Bend. Day 5: Rojas, who won with a record-setting catch at Kissimmee, Fla.'s Lake Toho last month, sacked 21 pounds, 2 ounces in the finals to compile 55 pounds, 8 ounces and leap from third to first. That's a 3.7 pound average under post frontal conditions

Some things else most people don't consider is a ½ oz bait is the weight of the lead required to form the head, add to this a wire form, hook, blades, swivels, & a skirt. Now how much does your bait weigh

Bass will spawn in the same general area but not in the exact same location of last years nest. Keep in mind last years nest has went through a whole year of environmental changes and may very well not appeal to the male again.

My #1 priority is simply to be on the water, I love the smell of smoke from a fireplace, tears streaming down my face from the cool crisp autumn air, listening to the sound of a 2-stroke in the distance. My #2 priority is to catch

I have seen it happen twice in person and both times were in salt water; the first time was on Calcasieu Lake (Big Lake) at Hebert's Landing, all you could see was the cab light underwater. The second time was actually my sister-in-law driving but in her defense on of her kids had fallen off the wharf, she jump out leaving the brand new F250 in reverse. I drove my aluminum boat on the trailer and had it come off the ball (wrong size) the only thing stopping it were the chains. Kinda gets the adrenalin going!

Step 1: learn how to read structure, on a map, & with electrons; if you can't find em you can't catch em! Step 2: learn how to find bass on said structure; how is this done? Find the forage fish, learn how to track the forage fish year round and you will be able to track the bass. Step 3: be versatile; learn one top water technique, one med depth technique, & one bottom technique. Step 4: recognize patterns; this doesn't mean seasonal patterns. Say you in an area with buck brush, button brush, and willow brush; your fish are being caught around button brush so don't waste time fishing the other two. Step 5: set yourself a budget to cover expenses; if you cash a check replace what you spent out of that budget first. Just because you win big in one tournament doesn't mean you're win big in the next. Limiting your budget will kill your confidence! Step 6: set realistic goals; you aint KVD accept it and set your goals to at least finish high enough in the money to cover expenses. Once you finish consistently in the top 25 set your goal on the top 15, this doesn't mean accept defeat, it means set goals you can accomplish. Step 7: buy quality equipment, not just tackle but clothing and every thing in your boat; you don't have the time on the water to be fixing things even though this will happen. Step 8: learn how to operate your boat in rough conditions; anyone can run a boat in calm conditions. Set 9: prepare yourself mentally, do your home work on maps, check out NOAA weather.com, talk to guys here with experience on the lake you'll fish. Set 10: remember once you sign that entry form 75% of your holes, baits, & techniques will quit working for you.

Don't worry Davis my answer wasn't meant to knock younger anglers; the term young guns was used because they were supposed to come out here to shot us older guys down but they soon found out they had everything but the ammo.

Back in my younger days when I couldn't afford new batteries while tournament fishing I was working at my ex-father-in-laws auto mechanic shop I had access to car batteries that we had changed out. These batteries in many cases had nothing wrong with them so I would take them to the lake, charge them, and use them in my boat for 3 or 4 hours a day. I simply carried 2 of them in the boat and keep 2 of the on them charger. Like LBH stated this does kill em but it wasn't costing me anything, so when one would die I simply took it back to the shop and swap it for another. This actually led to my first big time sponsor Interstate Batteries; I received 2 batteries a year.

I use Gene Larew 7 ½ Salty Ring Worm which have a curl tail that is 3 ½ & these tails are notorious for wrapping around grass strands. Straight out of the bag they have a lubricant already on them but after several casts they start to hang up more, a couple quick squirts and I'm back in business.