Catt

That's why this sport is called fishing and not catching : Head up, keep chunking, and reeling

I've caught big crappie on ½ oz rat-l-traps and spinner baits ;D

ThomasL I fish Southwest Louisiana marshes where the average water depth is only 2'; I also fish Toledo Bend Reservoir In the marshes all that is allowed is a 25 hp maximum, I've learned how to fish both out of the same boat. The wider the bottom width the more stable your boat will be at rest, the wider the beam the drier your ride will be. I personally prefer a modified V bottom over a flat; this will give you a smoother ride & faster hole shot. The faster the hole shot the shallow water you'll be able to get up on plane. The speed with Yamaha 25hp 2/stroke on a 1548 will depend on how it's propped, setup, and weight you put in the boat, 25 to 30 mph can be easily obtainable.

Any where it's wet, I throw one 80% of the time winter, spring, summer, or fall 8-)

#1 Texas Rigged Gene Larew 7 ½ Salty Ring Worm Cinnamon Pepper Neon/June Bug Laminated (Camouflage). The rings give this bait a fatter/larger profile in the water, but the actual body where your hook goes is very small providing for a faster more solid hook penetration.

Texas Rig and Jig-n-Craw fished in the locations mentioned above 8-)

I generally believe the length of a rod should be based on the persons over size more the far a specific application. Since there appears to be no set standard for rod manufactures medium heavy means little, one should also look at the rods recommended lure weight and line class. For the Texas Rig application a rod with a length of 6' 6 to 7', Line Class: 10 to 20 lbs. Lure Weight: 1/4 to 1 oz. is generally preferred. My personal choice is length: 6' 10 Line Class: 10 to 17 lbs. Lure Weight: 5/16 to ¾ oz Line capacity in bass fishing is a non issue in my opinion, since you will probably never have a bass spool your reel.

Hey y'all, sorry I've been away for a while but a very dear friend's wife past away recently they had been married for 58 years. Avid & Matt I haven't been to Toledo Tackle in months but I'm sure they have some, I'll take a look at our local tackle shops. My best luck with mudbugs has always been in late fall and early winter with a crawfish color.

My personal preference is Cabela's Ripcord (Micro Dyneema 65) it has higher shock absorption, lower stretch, and stronger than Spectra. Ripcord is not a stiff as most Spectra lines this causing the dreaded tip wrap which I've found to be caused by the way one casts. If you cast with your rod tip instead of trying to power your cast with your arm strength this problem is minimized.

;D

Southwest Louisiana and Southeast Texas has gotten as unbelievable amount of rain in the past month. Toledo Bend Reservoir started the month at 161.26 lake elevation (ft mls) which is 10.74' below normal. With the resent rains the lake is now at 164.5 lake elevation (ft mls), which is a rise of 3.24' in less than one month, but still 7.5' low. The area rivers and creeks are still above flood stage but are expected to crest in the next day or two. All the new water has scattered the bass but this is a good thing because it has moved them shallow where they are being caught on spinner baits, shallow crank baits, buzz baits, and top water. Main lake deep water structure is still producing the best quality bass with Texas Rigs, Carolina Rig, and Jig-n- Craw the most productive. Catt (Tommy T)

Thanks for the input 8-) I have a bad habit of noticing tiny details, to some it's insignificant, and maybe ReelMech could enlighten us as to any differences.

Larry Nixon: Megaman." First BASS pro to win $1 million in BASS earnings, maybe old school, but believes in K.I.S.S. Shaw E. Grigsby, Jr.: Fished a top 150 back in 2001 which was delayed on the first day due to fog, every one was sitting around talking, and someone asked him about his GPS (which was the size of a TV) man did that guy go off.

Perfect example, so why the 200 series? Is it line capacity, gears, or what?

Lew's Speed Spool BB1 and Fenwick Glass Rod Never mind that's Old School

Thanks roadwarrior, I should have been more specific because I was actually referring to bait casting reels. I don't own a spinning reel but plan on buy one soon and will pick your brain and others on that subject. I just find it strange that says a Calcutta/Curado 200 size reels out sale the lighter 100s. Since nobody's answering may it's just me who notices things like this.

Here are some interesting facts about braid, along with a test of whose is strongest http://www.floridasportsman.com/gear/051148/

I noticed that many people buy a reel let's just far reference purposes a Shimano they will buy 200 series or larger. Is this a personal preference or is there some reasoning behind this choice? Just curious

better 4 of 10 ;D Not a historian, just good memory

I always say If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you always got Your catching they are not! Other wise just pray: Dear God, please put your arms around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth.

Fish Chris Given the cost of buying the tachometer and a new prop I serious doubt you see any major benefit on a 9.9/4-stroke or 2-stroke for that matter. Now if you friend is not too concerned with cost I would also suggest looking at put new reed plates under the carburetor. Another concern with any outboard is getting it set at the proper height on the transom.

NJfishinGUY There is some excellent information already posted on this topic, with roadwarrior giving a link to even more. In my personal opinion your should read every thing wrote under that link because you will find no better information than that which is wrote on this web site. Now with that said let me add and again this is only an opinion from a guy who has been around tournament bass fishing since the very beginning of the sport. My suggestion is you open a checking account that offers an ATM card and start depositing as much money as you can afford. With this account you will pay entry fees, gas, oil, tackle ect and deposit what money you win into the account. What you will be doing in effect is setting up a business there by at the end of the year some of your expenses can be deducted. It doesn't matter if you're fishing a small tournament trail or a large one, or if you're fishing as a boater or non-boat. Good Luck Catt (Tommy T)

Uh that would be a no, fuel additives should not even play a part in your "fuel/oil" calculations.

2 out of 10! Y'all call yourselfs bass anglers :-[

roadwarrior if you didn't know #8 we would have been disappointed :-[