Chris

That wasn't what I was trying to do I worded it wrong I apologize. It was 1am and I didn't proofread it.

winter- salt craw black/blue fall- zoom speedworm redbug spring- 5" senko greenpumpkin summer- 10 1/2" Culprit redshad

Your not doing anything wrong the fish are just not active enough to hammer the bait. I would change to something on the bottom.

We want to be recognized by others as great anglers who should be feared during the tournaments. It is human nature. There is a lot of truth to that statement. Think about it I know you have seen this. The guy with the new Triton shirt sporting a 10ft John boat. The guy that has patches all over his shirt because it is the products that he uses not sponsors he has. My personal favorite the guy sporting his Zebco patch because the company gave him a free patch and reel at a casting kids contest and felt like he was sponsored. Ever fish an open tournament and a guy pulls up in a new Triton boat with his tournament shirt on with tons of patches, $100 entry and an ego that takes the cake. Some people really do feel that if they look and act the part that they will be on a different level than the guy in the John boat. Look at that thread in the tournament section where you have a list of people trying to define what a pro is. The title "Pro" is a status symbol that among other tournament fishermen puts you at a different level than the average tournament guy. In a lot of cases the weekend or club guy want their own status symbol that sets them apart from the average Joe or other club guys, for them it is being sponsored. The implied reasoning is that if a company sponsors this guy then he must be a good fishermen because companies don't take chances on people that are not any good. The truth of the matter is the guy got a discount or something minor because large companies don't take chances on people that will give a small return. You have people that want to offset the expense of fishing tournaments. "Fish for free" but you need to keep in mind what is your return. You can go to a company and ask for a check but if your not going anywhere fishing wise, not giving the company a good return in exposure your going to reach a dead end and get dropped. What stinks is that you are putting up another hurtle for the next guy and the company will be less inclined to sponsor someone else. "Pro Staff" is a meager entree position that does nothing but make the company money at your expense. You are paying a discount price for the privilege of having your name associated with a product to build your ego among your club peers. What is worse is that you are paying money just to be associated with the product the company couldn't care less about you because they have a sale and cheap advertising. If your trying to seek a sponsor and all your getting is "Pro staff" or a discount then you need to take a hard look at what your return is. If you have a good return then you might want to rethink the company your dealing with. If your busting your butt for peanuts I know I wouldn't do it. I was in a situation last year where I was asked to help a club get sponsors for a few benefit tournaments and a discount to help offset costs for the tournament raffle prizes. The club is nonprofit and I was happy to help out. The club got free stuff to giveaway and a discount to cover anything else. The companies got free advertising and was associated with a good cause. It was a fair shake deal "sponsor trade." If I was needing to go out of my way for those things with large commitments then it wouldn't be a fair shake deal. You need to judge what is good for you because you don't want to be caught in a lopsided deal and get used for a small handout just because you want to feel special

But he sees pros filling up live wells, reads mags and sees pictures of fish caught with it. That is part of marketing. Ever watch a fishing show that the guy was trying real hard to cover up what he was using. Then you get a good look at it and at the end of the day they talk about a different lure? "Luke Clausen and his sponsor would really like you to think that the Classic was won on the Hardnose Worm. But we here at Gambler have the ESPN pictures that tell a different story. " I wouldn't advise this practice but when you are paid by a sponsor and catch fish on a non sponsor lure some fishermen are tempted to stretch the truth because it means product recognition, a check, and sales. The tournament pro might have caught fish on a sponsor lure in the course of the tournament but the public is lead to believe that the whole tournament was won on the sponsors lure. "Original Rattlin' Rogue the bait that won the 2005 Bassmaster Classic" KVD did use this lure and did contribute to his win but the lure that he uses bears little resemblance to the bait that comes out of the box. He tweaks that bait to do different things that the original bait will not do in the original form. The public is lead to believe that if they buy that bait it will perform the same. The truth is that he uses the old style rogue the most. (the one they don't make anymore) Now they came out with old style for $6.99.

You also don't want to be tripping over your stuff.

one maybe 2 rods the rest are in a rod locker.

Yep still use them I think they also had a cub scout size too. I wish the new ones had the belly fin on them like the old ones.

Merry Xmas

http://stores.gorgeflyshops.com/Categories.bok?category=Inflatable+Boats%3ACompany%3AFishcat I got a boat by colemens like one of these that also is a paddle boat that I use on small water. You might look into it for the short term and it is alot cheaper than a trailer. :-?

When I lived in Florida I used redshad, tequila green flake, junebug, black/blue flake, pumpkinseed, and blackgrape.

I disagree. In todays cut-throat business world, performance is secondary. You must be able to consistently catch fish, but more importantly, you must be marketable. That means being able to speak coherently, present yourself as a professional at all times, and have full knowledge of the product you are representing. You are essentially a salesman for the company. If you arent marketable, you arent getting the attention of major companies. That's right

Happy Holiday

When you have a trap style bait that does different stuff then you are able to present the bait in different ways that at times can be more effective than the original. You are expanding your fishing knowledge and versatility when you use them. With some baits you are able to do things that other baits can't. I talk a lot about a sugar shad for example. There are a hand full of rattletrap style baits that when they hit the bottom on a fall the bait will sit upright and the sugar shad is one of them. Rattling spot had one and spro has one also. If I was to pitch a rattletrap to a bed the bait would lay flat and look dead. The other baits because they sit upright look like a feeding shad. You can also use the bait to fish sand bottoms real well. You take the bait and let it fall to the bottom and hop it like a worm. The bait will leave small puffs of sand or mud and look real natural. I have also used the bait to pitch into pockets of grass before. Because the bait falls upright and sits upright in some areas you can get away with it and it can be killer. If I was to use a different lure the bait would fall like a flat stone and hang up.

I use a twin straight tail like what is on Hank Parkers spinnerbait, twin curl tail, single curl tail, long skirt material, pork chunk, tube, worm, plastic frog, zoom swim chunk, colors-white,black, chartreuse, flat yellow, black/yellow, pearl, frog pattern.

You can also you a stirafoam packing material and stick in it. I use it a lot in the summer time on top or early spring, late fall if the fish are sluggish. I use the foam to counter balance the weight to slow it down for flipping. It also works well for a carolina rig or topwater.

Yeah they do float but you will only have the tail up at the surface.(mine does anyway it could also be the line you use) The bait works well on shallow grass and for schooling fish. I just toss it in the middle of a school of shad and make it look like an injured shad. Sometimes I just float it and twitch it or just rip it and let it float up. (It is a slow riser) I also like it around rock banks because it will run shallower than a regular trap. More important is that the bait doesn't sink so you can slow it way down and not worry about it hanging up. The bait is not going to be as loud as a regular trap because it has plastic balls in it instead of bb's. They also have a suspending model that works well in cold water or when you want to pause the bait around cover before you rip the bait for a reaction strike. I do this a lot around wood cover or docks. I also like it if I want a stop and go retrieve because I don't need to worry about the bait sinking down enough to hang up.

That's right RatONaStick ;D Water temp, stable conditions, and moon phase is what effects the spawn.

Welcome to the forum!

Welcome to the forum!

Welcome to the forum!

Do fish from different regions have different metabolism? Aren't cold blooded animals, cold blooded period? For the most part yes but Florida bass act different in cold water. They slow way down in water temps in the 50's. Cold fronts also shut down Florida bass faster than northern bass.

Welcome to the forum!

Docks are the same situation just because the top or exposed potion of the dock is hot it is not enough surface area to raise the temp of the water volume under it. Fish do use docks for the shade but not because the temp is cooler than the surrounding water. They use the dock for the shade to give the bass cover or an edge over baitfish. If you are sitting in a dark room it is easy to see out into a lite room. If you are sitting in a lite room it is harder to look into the dark room and see things inside it with great detail. Bass hang around rocks in cooler water because it has crawfish, and other baitfish that use it. Most of the vegetation is gone and baitfish tend to gravitate to hard cover and structure.

key lime pie BOTTOM - 15 drops Light Watermelon 7 drops White Top -- 10 drops Green Pumpkin 15 drops Light Watermelon Pinch of Green Flake .35 Pinch of Gold .08 1/4 cup plastic Chartreuse chartreuse blue hi lite or you can use pearl