Tim Ford

I just bought 3 of these baits for $5 each. Are they worth it? I didn't realize how expensive they were going to be. If nothing else, I enjoyed the RI website for its comedic value.

Buzz Baits are one of my favorite baits to throw at night. Also, just right as the sun is barely rising, until it burns all the fog off the lake, I like to use a Rebel Pop-R or Bass Pro Shops XPS Top Water Popper.

7' Abu Garcia Conolon Premier Rod (Medium) Abu Garcia Silver Max Bait Caster Reel Abu Garcia Cardinal 102 Spinning Reel 10 lb Berkley Vanish Line 12 lb Spiderwire Super Monofilament Line 20 lb Power Pro Braid Line 2 packs of Berkley Powerbait Critterbugs 2 packs of Zoom Baby Brush Hogs 3 packs of Yum Tubes 1 pack of Zoom Horny Toad Hooks 4 Bass Pro Shops XPS topwater poppers 2 Rapala Original Floating Minnow F-11 2 StrikeKing Red Eye Lipless Crankbaits 2 Yum Dancin' Eels I feel good about these purchases

I have one, but I only use it on large stripers.

If I understand you correctly, you're asking if there is a such thing as tiny gar, striper, and bass that you could put in a home aquarium. If so, the answer is no. If you have a huge aquarium, you may be able to keep some small bass, but eventually, unless you have an aquarium the size of the one at BPS, I'd say the fish is going to outgrow it.

Great point. Having enough food and drinks is essential. Trust me, the last thing you want on your boat is a hungry child....

It looks like he tried to drive down the ramp truck first to get the boat into the water! ;D

I use quick silver exclusively. I use 87 octane gas. Also I mix my oil with about 6.1 gallons of gas, rather than the traditional 6 gallons. However, my outboard has had a lot of modifications, so be careful with that. But it sounds like you may be blending the oil too rich. Also, I always put the gas in before the oil (~6 gallons at a time). It may be psychological, but I feel like the oil mixes better that way.

The funny thing is, I wasn't even going to go. My son begged me, but I didn't want to go because I didn't have my boat. I finally "gave in" at about 4:30 in the afternoon. Had we have left the first time he asked it wouldn't have been out of the question to catch 50 or more. Also, if I would have had my boat: #1 I wouldn't have been fishing that location, #2 I wouldn't have been able to align myself for the optimal angle. I would have either been sitting right on top of the fish, or casting in the opposite direction of the bite. You're probably wondering why I left at 7:30 if I was catching all those fish. Well, my wife's best friend was leaving to go to Las Vegas at 4 am Monday morning, and we had to babysit her daughter. It was a school night. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't have slept Sunday night. :-[

Here's my boat and truck:

By the way, my boat is a 1999 Triton Tr-186, it has a Mercury XR6 outboard. I hope to post some pics after it is done.

I am having the following maintenance/repairs on my boat and trailer right now: gel coat stripped, buffed, and polished new seats 2 new optima trolling batteries repair depth finder transducer repair speedometer replace bilge pump repair wind shield replace ratchet straps on trailer rewire trailer replace trailer lights (if needed) replace steering cables inspect and repair fuel and oil hoses replace tire on trailer repaint cowl and replace decals whoever had the boat before me sprayed it with automotive clear coat, and it was peeling and looking nasty. I'm excited about getting my boat. It's going to be like brand new hopefully!

Thanks for posting that link, I've never seen that before. Awesome!

I would also like to add, that I agree it's good to take days and focus totally on the kid, but at the same time, it's also okay to just fish, and let him learn from his mistakes. If you fix every tangle, or cast for him every time, he isn't going to learn for himself. Teach him to be patient and keep his line tight. From there, he'll be learning just like the rest of us, one trip at a time.

My son is 4 and he caught his first bass yesterday. I described the trip in another part of the forum. He has been going with me since he was 2. At first, he would just go sit in the boat and play with toys while I fished. Then, I got him a little Sponge Bob rod and reel set from Wal-Mart and I would practice casting with him, and letting him reel it in. Then, last year I started taking him bream fishing. He can catch bream just as well as anybody now. I progressed him up to a real Zebco reel, and 3 foot rod. Now, I let him cast real baits. Usually T-rigged plastics with heavy sinkers, so he can throw it further. Also, I let him reel in bass for me a lot of times. He loves to fish, and begs me to go practically every day as soon as I get home from work.

Yeah, he's an awesome partner for sure. He loves to fish and he begged me to go Sunday when we caught all of our bass. I originally didn't want to go because I didn't have my boat, but we ended up having the best day of the year.

That's cool. I'm from Bay Minette in Baldwin Co. My brother lives in Foley. I went to college at USA. My brother does a lot of brackish water fishing for bass and red fish. I love going with him when I go down there.

I look forward to posting, and reading other posts. I am 28 years old. I love to fish, and I have been fishing since I was old enough to walk. I mostly fish Tims Ford Lake, but I get down to Guntersville every chance I get. I bought my first bass boat about 3 years ago. It is a 1999 18' Triton with a 150 HP Mercury XR6. Besides fishing, I love Alabama football, Mixed Martial Arts, Video Games, and Hiking. I'm married and I have a 4 year old son and 5 year old daughter. I'm a physical therapist. Bass fishing is my favorite thing to do, outside of spending time with my family (although my wife and son love to fish, and my daughter loves to go out on the boat with us). So fishing is usually a family activity. I'm trying to get serious about fishing. Really trying to learn the art. I DVR every fishing show that comes on during the day, while I'm at work, and I watch them every chance I get. My favorite shows are "The Bass Pros," and "Bill Dance Outdoors" I recently drove down to Decatur to watch my first Bass Master Elite Tournament weigh-in. Hopefully, I'll be on stage with them one day 8-) My dad is the best fisherman I know. He lives in Orlando, and we go there to visit often. I have fished Lake Harris, Lake Toho, Lake Butler, Lake Minneola, and Kissimee Lake. I'm still looking for my first 10+ pound bass. My current biggest bass is 8 lb 9 oz. My wife has actually caught a 9 lb 1 oz bass. So really I need to beat that worse than anything else ;D I'm sure I'll learn a lot from you guys. I look forward to it!

Yesterday evening. He did everything except tie on the hook. I had him rigged with a Texas rigged Zoom horny toad. He made the cast, set the hook, reeled him in, and took the fish off the hook. We got two great pics, but when my wife was going back to her camera to look at them, the camera said that the memory card needed to be reformatted, and if you reformat you will lose all pics. > She took the camera out this afternoon to see if she can find someone that can get the memory card to work. Hopefully she can, so I can post the pic here.

I found a causeway that was being pounded by wind and current. Pushing the bait fish right up onto the rip-rap. The bass were having a feeding frenzy. I was using a silver rapala x-rap, my wife was using a chartreuse and white spinner bait. I caught 18 and she caught 13 from the bank! Most of them were 1-2 pounders, but my wife caught one 4 pounder. We got there at 4:45 and left at 7:30 pm. We had a blast. I also had some fun with a buzz bait when the bait fish came to the surface.