Madhouse27

For me size and color each have their place on the priority list. The slower I am fishing the more color seems to be a key component. When bouncing a grub along the bottom I've made the subtle move from watermelon to green pumpkin in the same bait and had my day turn around almost almost immediately. I mean how much different can they look 20 feet down? On the other end of the spectrum I've caught fish on a fluke that was so off the mark colors wise from the baitfish that it was almost ridiculous. What it did match perfectly though was the size. It's crazy but I guess if fishing dealt in absolutes it would be more like math and none of us would be doing it.

Fivebass, I'm glad to hear you are happy with yours. I'd been leaning toward the Dual Pro and if money wasn't part of the equation I would have gone with them. I liked 5/5/5 BPS XPSi at $150 as a lower cost alternative. When I saw that $99.00 special price that kind of sealed the deal. As I understand it Pro Mariner is somehow involved in the BPS product so that was a plus. I'm sure I'll be posting about this again when I go to do the final installation.

The most athletic moves I've made while bass fishing usually occur in the moments after realizing the boat is off the trailer and the plug is not in it.

I'm not sure what the difference is but BPS is having a great sale on their XPSi chargers right now. The three bank one is down to $99.00 which is like 40 or 50 bucks off. Mine just came yesterday.

I would probably add Yamaha to Ben's list

If fishing is a sport, wouldn't its participants be considered athletes? In reality I think we kind of fall into some kind of middle area. There are alot of competitive "events" that are kind of in the same boat with us. Skeet shooting, golf, rodeo, racing, equestrian stuff, eating contests, skateboarding and even ballroom dancing are just some of the gray area endevours that involve a degree of physical and mental prowess and disipline. It's an interesting question. What's a sport and who's an athlete. We may never solve this one.

I'd definately check it out. I've always been high on Bumblebee boats. There is something that is just cool about them. I have yet to find a model year that I don't like the looks of and I believe customer satisfaction is quite high. I like the sound of "garage kept" and I definately like seeing "MUST SELL". Nothing better than a motivated seller with a nice boat. I'd check the blue book for the value and have someone look over the outboard. When I was boat shopping I found a Bumblebee very similar to the one you are looking at. This one was black/midnight metallic blue and it looked like a real bad boy. Unfortunately it was simply too far away and the time and cost of getting it would have swung the deal out of my favor. If you like it I think $6800 would be a reasonable starting point on your end of the negotiation. The boat is ten years old and not one of the big five brands. I think that can work in your favor. Keep us posted.

If the ice is out and the regulations say its legal it's time to start fishing.

I'm with Cajun, white perch let's get cookin.

1998 Skeeter SS17 aluminum w/ Yamaha 40 and a 1980 Mckee Craft center console w/ Mercury 50. Will trade both for new Skeeter I-Class ;D

Good one Avid ;D

The Stratos and Tracker boys are going to be bummed out that they got left off the list.

Basshunter, My vote is to buy used. Your dollar is going to go so much farther with a used rig. Bassresource is a great site with some busy message boards. You can read posts by owners of different boats to see what they like and dislike about them. Another great learning tool is ebay. For months I logged onto ebay and typed in bass boat. I did this every night. I must have looked at thousands of boats. I got so I knew some of the differences from one model year to the next and got a feel for used boat prices. This is going to be one of the biggest and certainly most awesome purchases of your life. Enjoy the process. Decide what rig you want and then be patient about finding it. Hopefully there is a nice used Skeeter with a Yamaha outboard in your immediate future

LOL Paparock. Filet and Release now that is funny! That hat is killing me.

Al Lindner's Lund has one of those type seats on his show Angling Edge. I kind of like the looks of them too. His appears to have an adjustable post. I think that is what I'd go with for that application.

Might be a good time to buy some stock in the beetle spin company lol.

I'd also try to get onboard with the other property owner. Obviously there is some crossover of fish between the two bodies of water. You guys could develop a joint plan that would benefit both ponds. He is certainly into it if he is stocking fish on his end. What an incredible oportunity to manage your own water for productive fishing. I'm sure there is tons to learn about improving a pond. Wow, what an awesome undertaking. I agree with Tenka about talking to the fisheries people. They may be able to get you going in the right direction without having to pay some kind of consultant. Good luck.

My only concern might be that an actual rating system sometimes cuts down on the discussion aspect of the board. Now I know RW is going to give the Yo Zuri Hybrid Ultra Soft line 5 stars, but I've learned alot more about it by reading the reasoning behind his opinion. If the post was just his rating I'm not sure I'd get as much out of it. I like the idea of a separate quick refrence product review section, just not at the expense of our awesome tackle talk area.

Can you get one with the universal transducer for 800 bucks? Man, that seems like a great feature that I really wish I had. I'm not sure at which price point those start being included. I'd vote for Minn Kota but for what you are looking to spend I'm sure it is going to be a nice motor whichever brand you choose. I have to think that some people lean toward Motorguide because they see it plastered all over everything BASS is involved in. The way BASS pushes its sponsors you'd think the only products available were Triton, Mercury, Lowrance and Motorguide. Somehow I ended up with Skeeter, Yamaha, Humminbird and Minn Kota. I guess I'm going to have to move to Texas and join Bass Champs if I'm going to get any tv time. Unfortunately I don't think a yankee deepwater smallmouth guy like me would fit in down there....they might think I'm a Lindner lol.

I'd get a good pair of polarized sunglass to help you see through the glare on the surface of the water. Alot of bank fishing involves a relatively shallow water environment. You may need some work on the deeper water aspect of your game. A few things to develop would be your ability bouncing a soft plastic off the bottom and getting started using a drop shot set up. These can both be deadly out in a little deeper water. Even if you have fished a lake many times from the shore it can seem like a whole new deal fishing it from a boat. I tend to start off hitting the points and go from there. I'm always looking for good underwater structure while I'm travelling around. Good luck with your new toy.

It's a steal. That set up is probably worth at least 3 or 4 times that. Rattlinrogue's got it right, you better jump quick.

Basspro, The important thing is you are hooking up with some nice fish. I'm sure there are guys reading this that wish they had your problems lol. I had a real heartbreaker last season so over the winter I got one of those Bassmaster nets from BPS. I probably won't get carried away using it but I'll have it ready for any real big ones.

Do we even know if this show has been renewed by ESPN for another season? I hope it is but BASS Saturday appears to be in a bit of a state of disarray. Charlie is cool, if it is he and not the producers making the call I'm sure he'll take LBH up on the challenge.

In addition to the actual line you can also get a "bass taper" leader that is designed to help you turn over larger flies. I use a fairly cheap Cabelas 8wt pack flyrod with a weight forward floating line. I'd get a few deerhair bomber style flies that are often used for Atlantic Salmon, an assortment of different colored poppers and maybe a couple of sinking leech type patterns that you can almost bounce off the bottom like a grub. Good calls from Basspro and FLechero on the diver and crayfish patterns. Good luck in your quest for a big bass on a flyrod.

I kind of look at it like I do "Field and Stream" and "Outdoor Life". It's not bad, it's simply to general for my tastes. I think for the casual angler who fishes for a variety of species and isn't a complete bass freak like most us on here it's an ok club and mag.