Marty

Structure refers to the changes in the lake bottom, such as dropoffs, ledges, islands, humps, points, etc. Cover is objects in the water such as weeds, rocks, wood, docks and the like.

You may very well be right. It's possible, although unlikely, that he could win the Big Ten and go to a BCS bowl. His two losses were out of conference, so he's 0-0 at this point in the conference standings.

I use a 5# dumbbell for less than $3 from Wal-Mart with my canoe. Works great on the soft bottoms where I fish, don't know how it would work on hard bottoms.

I can't say "current" is the right word for me. I made lifestyle changes 19 years ago, making permanent changes in my eating habits and starting to do some aerobic exercise 5-6 times weekly. From my reading I learned that one pound of body weight was roughly equivalent to 3500 calories. I estimated my calories burned from some book and then computed how many calories I needed to eat in order to lose weight at the rate I wanted, which was about 1.5-2 pounds a week. For awhile I wrote down and kept track of everything I ate with respect to calorie count. After awhile I no longer needed to, since I knew what I needed to do. I lost 55 pounds and have kept it off, although there have been some minor ups and downs. I also learned that I could binge with no consequences from time to time as long as my eating habits were good on a day-in-day-out basis. Good luck.

I love buzzbaits, but I lack confidence unless I'm using a trailer hook, which I use at all times. I switch to Ribbits or similar baits when the weeds won't allow a buzzbait to be retrieved cleanly.

I'd take it back to Academy. I wouldn't trust a two-pound dumbbell to weigh exactly that, but it certainly doesn't weigh two ounces. These scales can't be calibrated to the best of my knowledge. My preference for checking scales is to weigh stuff that has already been weighed on certified scales at the supermarket. P.S. Look again for some instructions; I never heard of a scale that comes with none, either Rapala or Berkley.

Not a good idea. All other things being equal, larger diameter spools handle line better. Nobody needs 250 yards for bass, so follow the previous poster's advice and use cheap line as backing and 50-60 yards of the line you actually fish with. You'll save money on line, cast better and have fewer line problems than with a smaller model.

Best of luck with it. When I was shopping I was not aware of these boats. But $500 for a boat that serves your needs is a great bargain. It's working out very well. It's stable and roomy and meets my needs. The tradeoff for width and stability is paddling inefficiency, but all the places I fish don't require going very far from the access point, so that disadvantage is pretty much negated. My fishing results have been less than satisfactory, but I can't blame the canoe for that.

I think you're right on both counts. I've been told that Royalex is virtually indestructible and I know Kevlars cost twice as much. But I bought a Kevlar (Wenonah Fisherman) this spring. I felt I had no choice, as it had to be ultralight or I couldn't buy anything. At my age there's no way I can carry around and hoist onto a roof rack a 55# boat.

Hydrilla is an alien species, but water lilies are native plants and I never heard them referred to as "nuisances." I love to fish them, as they often hold bass. As far as I'm concerned, the people at city hall work for YOU (even though they don't seem to realize that at times) and I wouldn't hesitate to pursue the issue with them if you really want answers. If you are treated rudely, just take it to the next level. I believe the bird you have in mind is the cormorant, which is believed to hurt the fishing in many areas.

Very nice pickerel. I'd rather catch bass, but I don't consider pickerel junk fish because I believe they fight better than largemouth. With my biggest, I'm just the opposite, I know the weight but not the length.

That's on the high side. Both the Wenonah Fisherman and Heron weigh 36 pounds. They're very expensive but that light weight doesn't come for free.

I use trailer hooks on mine. A trailer hook used in conjunction with a soft plastic trailer is not a problem. However, based on other lures, a curly-tailed grub as a trailer interferes with the trailer hook, but the straight-tailed trailer on the Chatterbait and other lures does not interfere with the hooks.

When I read or hear about a given water temperature somewhere, unless otherwise specified, I assume it's the surface temperature.

I've always felt that tackle manufacturers in general, and rod manufacturers in particular, provide too little information on their products. And rodmakers compound the error by often using the word "action" when they are describing power. I'm no expert, but I'd interpret a soft tip to equate to what we might consider moderate-to-slow action, i.e., the tip bends to 50% or possibly more. As a general rule, soft tips might be used with treble hook lures and firm tip with single hooks.

Sorry it wasn't what you hoped for, but that type of stuff is all too common.

I read something in an article a few years ago that referred to Rapala as the world's largest tackle company. I agree that they don't sponsor as much as others because they don't need to. Go into any tackle store and if it's like the ones I've seen, there is more shelf space devoted to Rapala than any other brand of hard baits. I don't know what the current sponsorship situation is, but as of a few years ago Rapala sponsored David Fritts, who was considered one of the best when it comes to crankbaits.

The Countdown is an outstanding lure that will will catch anything that swims, including SM and LM bass. It is an underused and underrated lure.

A variety of soft plastics can be tried, dropping them into holes or at the edges. Weedless topwaters are a good bet too, a category which your Spro falls into. If that's too boring you can always try a faster-moving bait, like one of the buzzing frogs/toads.

Is the reel OK other than the weight? Do you like it otherwise? Is the weight actually bothering you or are you bothered because you know what it weighs? I know nothing about the reel, but the answer to your question is no, the reel is not too heavy for bass fishing. I've been using Daiwas for years which are in the 11-12 oz. area and they are not a problem.

If a bass can get rid of a buzzbait (or other hard bait), he's not going to wait three seconds. He'll get rid of it instantaneously. Also, from my contact with fishermen in person and on forums, I don't get the impression that the buzzbait is overlooked and underrated. Otherwise, a nice article.

Not everybody has a livewell. I hate to kill a fish, but for a potential personal best, I'd have weighed it.

I used to use them a lot more. They come through the grass pretty well and attract fish. I don't recall the hook being very good. At any rate, I stopped using it as many more weedless topwaters came into the market.

I just pull out the line and adjust to what feels right to me. Like RW, I use a light drag, although I haven't measured it lately, but it's probably less than 25%. I always thought a light drag can offset some other problems.

If you mean drum on crankbaits, yes, I've caught numerous. My biggest was 7.5# on a lipless, either Trap or Spot, can't remember.