Hillbilly_Hooker

Ok, now I'm officially bummed... no '06 BPS catalog here I guess BPS just ain't showing me the love...

I think I've been blessed with a fishing partner... my 6 year old grandson. It doesn't matter if he's catching anything or not, he's happy to be at or on the water, no matter how long I stay. He's nearly hyper with any other activity and quickly loses interest in most things... but not with fishing. If I want to stay out on the boat for hours, he's always right there with me... never complaining, no matter how slow the bite might be. No matter what my largest fish of the day is, my greatest pleasure and excitement is in watching him catch something, no matter how small

I fish a number of smaller lakes that are electric motor only. I have a 14' jon for those. I also have a 16' bass boat for larger lakes, but the majority of my time is spent in the jon.

Al, I'm in nearly the same situation as you. I am planning on joining a local bass club and paying the dues. The majority of the cost, however, really depends on if you fish all the tournaments or only a few. Even if you fish all and the cost is $260, that's about the cost of 2 Bassmasters University Seminars and less than the cost that most guides would charge for a single day. My bet is that the local club guys and fishing multiple tournaments would teach you considerably more than one or two seminars or a single day with a guide. I'm very new to the sport as well but I'm putting my bet on the local club. Aside from the tournaments, I'm also hoping to make some friends that I can fish with regularly, and hopefully, some new friends that can teach me more about bass fishing.

Ben, Thanks for a great post that answered all of my questions. Robert

Please help this newbie boat owner... I need to replace one of the two trolling motor batteries in my boat. Today, an experienced boat owner told me to pay attention to the 'class' of batteries that I already have (i.e. are they size 27, 31, etc.) and not to mix one with another (i.e. don't have a 27 & 31 together). As best I can determine, the 27, 31, or whatever, refers only to the size of the battery case. If that is correct, does it really matter... is it ok to mix different sizes as long as both are deep cycle and not one deep cycle and one starting battery?

Try Boat Trader online if you haven't already. You can do a Google search for it... but I think it's simply boattrader.com On their site, you can narrow your search by zip code, area code, geographical region, etc. Good luck

RW or others, Are the rubber nets the WalMart carries as good a quality as any others?

I think I would have had to say something to them as well. When I've had that happen to me in the past, I've usually said something like... "guys, you're in a boat and can fish the entire lake while I'm land locked and only have so many choices... would you mind?" I've yet to have anyone not move on then.

Raul, If those Cohibas are Cuban, I wanna fish with you!!!

Oakleys for me! They cut the glare but don't darken things too much. They work great for fishing and for driving. I drive about 50,000 miles a year with my job and I couldn't live without my Oakleys.

Basspro, Welcome aboard from a fellow Virginian. I used to live in Richmond and then Charlottesville and I still get to Mech'ville quite often. You might check out www.vabass.com That's the website for the state BASS organization. If there isn't a listing for bass clubs in your area on that site, I'm sure there's a link or someone there can get you the info. If you don't find it, PM me and I'll get the info from another site.

The Bait Monkey got me last night for a new Curado (Woo Hoo!) and as soon as I can get back to BPS, in about two weeks, I'll have that new Avid to mount it on ;D

Glenn, I wanna apply to be the pro team poster child. I think I'd make a great one, because if this forum can teach this newbie anything (and it already has), then it can teach anyone!!! If it involves getting a free tournament shirt, I'll even make appearances

Hans, I was just preparing to do the same thing, print this out and keep with me on the water. Raul, Wanna be my fishing partner???

Raul, And if one is fishing from a bank (as I often do) or in a boat with no electronics? Are we back to luck or what can be determined, if anything, if you don't know the depth the fish are at or what structure exists below the surface of the water? Thanks, Hillbilly

Bassackwards, Go the the BASS website 'www.bassmaster.com' and look to the right side of the welcome screen. There should be a link there to Bassmaster U. After you click on that link, be sure to scroll down all the way to see the description and schedule toward the bottom of the page. As an afterthought, here's the direct link to the Bass U. page... http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/bassmaster/news/story?page=b_bmu_2005_schedule

my mistake... I'd been to the BASS site and looked at the schedule previously, I just didn't scroll down far enough to see the 'Basic' and 'Master' courses. Thanks for the heads up.

I've read (I think) that Bass U. has different levels of the seminars (i.e. beginner, intermediate, advanced, etc.). When I look at the schedule for upcoming seminars, however, the description always reads... 'for advanced anglers.' Any ideas or does anyone know if they truly do have something for beginners? Thanks

I recently spooled up my first braid ever, SpiderWire, onto my baitcaster. It was a strong line, but if you get a backlash, you can forget getting it out... Suffice it to say, I removed the last of my SpiderWire last night, I'll never use it again!

Phishn Phool, It is really different now than it was BF(before Florida) Now I have my boat exactly 8 step from my back door so all I do is lower the lift and trolling motor and I am fishing. I wanna come to your house ;D

My morning hours are usually taken by work, home, etc. I usually hit the local lake around 5-6pm in the evening and stay until dark or an hour after dark.

I use an '03 Chevy S-10 pick up, 4.3 liter V-6 and 4WD. I only have a 14' jon now but I'm in the market for a 15'-17' aluminum bass boat. I've been told that my S-10 is plenty of truck to tow a bigger boat with.

I recently acquired a 14' jon. It easily fishes two people and I added 7" pedestals on top of the stock seats, then added fold down seats on swivels. So far, it's been a great set up. I did develop a leak around the drain tube and I've used Water Weld by J B Weld to repair it. So far, so good.

I would think that it's fairly common for companies to run out of catalogs near a year's end. My concern would be how early Cabelas or BPS plans to print their '06 catalogs. It could be that their '06 books are due out in a few weeks, even though we're still several months away from the new year. I'm a sales rep for a major distributor of motorcycle/atv parts and accessories. As an example of the above, my company ran out of '05 motocross gear catalogs early, but our '06 catalogs were printed and available starting in July of 2005.