fish-fighting-illini

If they were new and clean a small dab of crazy glue might be some insurance for holding the 2 skirts together

I've got a question about the impact of tournament sight fishing during spawning on the overall Bass population. I've heard several people say that fishing during the spawn has no impact on overall Bass population. In the case of immediate catch and release I could easily buy it but what about tny fishing where the bass is brought back to the weigh in maybe well over several miles from where the fish is caught? Does the fish in fact make it back to the bed? If the fish's job is to still be on the bed then does it have an effect on the viablility of the offspring? Do me a favor and before you post a patented answer consider the possibility that it might have an effect. Maybe it has no effect but if it does should sightfishing during the spawn be off limits? Does anyone know of any actual biologist studies? Maybe it is just a dumb question but I have just always been courious about it.

I used to tell but the better I have become at fishing the less I am willing to share. I love to catch fish and when I go I want to catch them. If I don't I may as well throw away my equipment. I do mainly catch and release so they will be there the next time. One problem is the lakes I fish are fairly small and up untill now most fishing was from the bank. Good spots are hard to come by as things get crowded. I will share with my buddy but I hope he doesn't share with many others. On my small lake I had gotten to the point that I used to only fish from around 1/2 hr before dark untill around 10pm. I didn't have to worry about crowding and clowns ( lake is ver small). Now I see more and more people coming at that time of night. I've shared some info ( and will still share some ) but I'm being more careful about it. I think some of the problem is the "saving for a fish fry" mentality of so many people. They catch fish after fish and have to keep them all. They say lake so and so had good Crappie but now they are all tiny. These are the same people who are catching the 25 fish limit 4,5 and 6 times a week. Recently I posted that my dad caught a trout in a small pond near his house. Someone came by and asked if they were biting, I told dad right after he caught it that if we ran into someone to keep quiet. Heck the next day the lake would have been full of every greedy fisherman who owned a knife and fork. I know that is not the most popular opinion but just my .02.

RW LOL good comeback I enjoyed that. Can't blame a guy for trying?

Hey RW how does one enter the free Stella give away contest! LOL

As of today I hve joined the Shimano posse. I just bought a new Symetre 2500FI via E-bay ( lets hope this purchase goes better than the last seller ). It should be here in a few days but it will prob be a month to get it on the water. I want my badge and spurs! Actualy I joined the posse a couple of months back with an older Aero Symetre from E-bay but this is the first modern / legit one.

Was courious what pound test most of you use. Maybe give 2 answers 1 for thick cover and one for open water. maybe tell what type IE braid flouro lb test and if you know it give the equiv mono size Ie Thick cover - I fish 30lb braid = approx 60lb mono dia I use several types and haven't settled one yet. I like 8lb mono for normal stuff. I like braid on spinning rods too because I don't get near as much line memory loop mess. I'll use 10lb braid.

IMO go ahead and add the circuit breaker but if the swithch is already there keep so. It is not hurting anything and you never know when you might want the convenience. Suppose the bilge pump or TM shorts out and your wiring starts to heat up or starts smoking. It is a lot faster and safer to reach over and shut off the switch. In fact a switch for ea device would be handy. I just got back from BPS and they have pre-made switch boxes for 4-8 (?) devices for a relatively cheap price. The are the top panel only with all the wiring. You have to buy an enclosure or make a wooden one but it would be sweet. Very handy for lights, livewell pump etc.

If you are trying to save costs in my opinion save your money and forget the building. You can find a john boat for $600 - $800 with a trailer and a motor. When you were done it wouldn't be as heavy as a tank and it woulldn't leak! If you just want to make one for the heck of it and work your tails off though then by all means go for it.

I think one of them ( 95% sure it was a Lindner not sure if Al or Ron) battled some substance issues in his personal life. I saw a pamphlet by him at a fishing show last year and it detailed his struggles and how christianity has put him on the right path. They did sell out their show some time ago and yes Al (?) has the Lindner Angling ... show. It is a good show, I always like his voice and they fish for different stuff than the old same old thing.

Some were so bad that I had to count them two and 3 times. I was up to 458 before the calculator broke!

JDW I did almost as you described. I bought from seller with 99.7% feedback and no neg for long long time. Sells a lot of items and I bought it "buy it now". I'm not sure if the seller was a crook or just very stupid. I do know that it had damage, also looked used and had line on a supposedly "NIB reel". also note: the picture advertised with the reel had no line on it but my reel showed up with line on it! hmmmm? I ended up sending back and getting full refund and refund of shipping. The seller goes by the name of hot_n_sweet ( I think it is a guy though lol ) I would stay clear of this seller.

Those are the same style of connector that they use in electric forklifts. I don't know if you've ever seen a battery for an electric forklift but if they are good enough for that then they are plenty good for TM's. I've worked on forklifts and batteries and changed these connectors and they are easy to take the old pins out. Granted these are a scaled down version but as far as ease of use and quality I think they would work the best. Probably much better to convert to these rather than staying with the old Attwood style connectors. A different style of mounting on the floor of a boat but not a problem. I didn't see replacement pins on the Cabellas site but it is only $15 for the M and female together. I wish I had seen this 2 weeks ago I just replaced mine with brand new but old style ones. Here's the link to the site. http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/item-link.jsp_A&_DAV=search&id=0001110011811a&navCount=5&podId=0001110&parentId=&masterpathid=&navAction=push&catalogCode=IH&rid=&parentType=&indexId=cat21380&hasJS=true

These replies are an example why this is such a great forum. Where else are you going to get this kind of advice this quick?

Switched to Palomar and switched from having a lot of problems to virt none. Easiest not their is to tie.

IMPORTANT Update. Rec'd my reel - Pflueger 6735 that was described as "new in box". 1) I rec'd a reel that had quite a bit of dirt under the top lip of the spool. It looks to me like everything had been cleaned but they forgot that part. Kind of tells me it might be used but not the crime of the century. 2) It also had fishing line on it. Who puts fishing line on a reel and doesn't use it? So it is obviously used. 3) the reel has big cuts near the bail but on the frame beside the bail like someone had used this reel extensively and misused it. The cuts fit the line perfectly. I had checked first and the seller had tons of positive feeback and only a few very old negatives. I e-mail them right away and got a bunch of "we test operation casting buttons" etc blah blah blah and complained that I implied that they might have deliberately mislead. They never addressed a single one of my facts. I've e-mailed tham again but they have not answered and have started the Paypal complaint process. We'll see where it ends up.

It would be a fishing trip lasting the next 40years or untill I keel over as this would last untill I was 87, better make it 50 years to be on the safe side! LOL. I'd fish all over the US and some in Canada & Mexico. I'd fish Can, WI and MN for Pike, Muskie and Walleye. For LM Bass I'd fish anywhere but a lot in KY, TN, Carolinas, TX, CA, AL, FL, ok, AR, GA and anywhere else that was good for bass. I also would fish El Salto and others in Mex. Maybe fish for whatever in Uk and Germany to site see while I was their and to learn what fishing is like in those countries. For LM bass and Crappie and the northern fish I find the neatest out of the way small resorts with quiet settings and good old fashioned food. I'd take guided trips for Crappie in MO, TN, KY, IL, WI and some others. I'm sure I'd grow to enjoy Peacock Bass but just in the great old US of A too many nuts in the exotic places and plenty of fishing here to keep me busy. I have no patience for Trout right now but I might learn to fly fish and fish the streams of ID, OR, Dak's etc if nothing else I know my good buddy would enjoy it. I would also do it for just the sheer beauty of the environment that comes with that type of fishing. The trip would not include saltwater fishing maybe I'd learn it but no interest whatsoever at the moment. If they guide I'd book trips with Al Linder, Jimmy Houston, Jerry McGuiness, Bill Dance and John Gillespie ( of Wisconsin Waters and Woods) because you would catch fish and be entertained. I know I dreamed big but what the heck its a dream!

Not yet for me because I haven't bought one of the high end ones. I do have some reservations on the overall cost of all the "toys" combined. But I try not to add them all up ( at least not in front of the wife. LOL

Man some well thought out posts that don't all agree but awesome opinions.

Between Senile and Alpster this is pretty cheap entertainment! LMAO

You hear all the Shimano posse quality info but here is a fairly expensive reel with 2 sets of weights and no instructions as to why? hmmmmmm LOL

Great topic I've kind of wanted to start a similar post but hadn't got around to it. I had never bought anything from E-bay until recently. I bought a used Shimano Symetre for $35 recently. It is not quite the modern version but is in excellent shape and seems like very good quality to me. Just yesterday I bout a Pflueger President new in box 6735 for $30 + $8 ship and they retail for $59 at BPS. So it was a decent deal. I would caution (from my limited experience) not to get caught up in the whole bidding thing. I've seen people bid $54 + $9 ship for a reel that sells localy for $59. Why someone would be buying sight unseen from E-bay that way is beyond me. Why not support your local people or a known reputable BPS or Cabelas or your local tackle store? Of course a Bass resource.com seller via E-bay is another matter without them I assume we wouldn't have this great site! just my .02c

Crazy glue or even RTV would help hold in place and wouldn't be permanent

I'd say $60 for a spinning reel is about the minimum starting with the Pflueger president. Next level goes to $79 for PFL Medalist and Shimano Symetre. I personaly couldn't justify more than $180 for a reel of any sort just due to all the other things that the money would take away from. If all the kids were grown and gone it might be a different tune. Due to a late in life double surprise package I've got another 15yrs left before even thinking about it! LOL As far as rods I don't have any experience with high end rods but $100 would probably be my top limit possibly $150. If it required higher than that and I might as well go back to golf for the exercise.

Yep I've made my own spinnerbaits and have highly recommended Barlow's on this site in several places to people wanting to get into that.