Madhouse27

Road, I share your love and many of your techniques for chasing giant smallmouth. One area that I could use some guidance in is fishing with live shiners. Do you lip hook them or go through their back? What are you using for a hook and a rig? Any weight? My plan is to encorporate some large live bait into my deep water game.

I hauled my boat up to the graveyard today for repairs. I backed it into the corner of the yard where there was a pretty good collection of 14-17 ft fiberglass relics. Mine kind of fit in, but for the first and probably only time in my life I had the nicest boat out of all of them.

Low, count me in with the fly rod fraternity. We've got some great salmon and trout fishing up here in Maine as well as some killer popper action during the bass spawn. Even though I live on an island on the coast I haven't taken a striper or a bluefish on a flyrod yet. I definately have to put that on my list of things to do.

Man, I must be working too much. I usually get in a day and a half on the weekends and then maybe one night a week after work. I gotta get a new gig.

I managed to find a lower unit for my Old 68 Merc 500. As many of you are sick of hearing about, I'm shopping for another boat. I was just going to sell my boat at a discount with the bum motor because I thought it would probably be more trouble than it's worth to track down the parts and get it fixed. I happened to be up north fishing the river with a friend and was telling him my plans. He told me about a guy who had an outboard graveyard behind his house that amazingly enough was right up the road. We shot over once we finished fishing. His house was kind of out in the woods and there were easily 300 outboards in various stages of repair. It was quite a scene. Cowlings, props, barrels with motors attached to them everywhere. We walked over to what could be described as the Mercury area and sure enough there was an old Merc like mine with a solid lower unit. I should be back in business in time to get a good chunk of October fishing in and still get the boat sold before the snow falls. If anybody is looking for something obscure for an older outboard let me know and I can check with the graveyard man. Like most of his stuff, the prices are definately from yesteryear.

I actually learned about the effectiveness of this bait right here on the forum. Roadwarrior was talking about the Yamamoto Hula Grub. He must have been pretty convincing because I ordered some that night. They have definately produced and fit right in with my primary style of fishing. I ordered the double tails by mistake but they've paid off. I am definately going to order some of the single tails over the winter when I'm doing my restocking.

I haven't played with alot of different brands so I can't give much of a comparison. I was on a bit of a budget and bought the Humminbird 535 w/temp and have really liked it. I compared specs on alot of different model in that price range and decided on this one. The resolution is good, number of pixels was up there for the price and it looked plenty durable. It's got a lot of different features. Hell I'm still figuring some of them out. It cost around $150 and I feel I definately got my money's worth. I picked up a cool neoprene Humminbird cover for around $15 to help keep it looking good.

I don't know about that particular model but I like Astros in general. Does anybody know why those guys aren't making bass boats anymore?

I've been happy with my Minn Kota All Terrain 65 lb thrust with a 52" shaft. The thing is tough and has performed flawlessly. The foot pedal is a bit clunky but I've gotten used to it. Do you guys prefer the cable based foot pedal steering system or the electric motor style? The cable seems tougher and there is one less thing to break but the pedal and cable are large and a bit cumbersome. The electric motor ones seem to have a compact little foot pedal and small cord but I wonder about durability.

I see the ad gives the price and then says OBO. I'd call him and say I'll give you $650 cash right now and see how he responds. If nothing else you should discover what his true rock bottom price is. Who knows, maybe he'll say done deal depending on his circumstances for selling it. I didn't realize alumacraft had been around that long. Looks like a neat rig.

Think how many times a large bass has seen a lure enter its area and immediately begin to move out of it. Some fish probably see this same type of senario played out several times a day every day. If nothing else the deadsticking technique is different than what they are used to. It would be tough to do all day long cause it sounds pretty boring, but I could probably incorporate it here in there in those special looking spots that you know are holding a real tank of a bass. I have to agree with Zeke and Reb, most of my deadsticking takes place while I'm picking out a backlash or digging through the tackle bag.

I agree with you JayHC2. I'm learning as I go and my budget and patience have both gone up. One thing about the forum, sometimes the posted question outlives the situation. I've tried to take bowjunkie's advice on taking my time and waiting for the cooler weather. He was right because I am already seeing the prices softening as we head toward winter. In the meantime, I've narrowed my search to a specific size range, ideal horsepower and desired age. I've got three or four boat manufactures that I would be interested in and certainly have a top two in the outboard department. It's been fun getting into the process. This will be one of the more important purchases of my life so far so I don't want to screw it up. I certainly appreciate everyones input.

Ben thanks for the information. Would it be safe to assume that most bass boat manufacturers from the early nineties on have been using the closed cell style foam. This is one of my major phobias as I am looking at used boats. Thanks

Ben, if possible could you elaborate a little more on the open cell/closed cell types of foam floatation. I'm assuming the closed cell is the more desirable. Are the newer Stratos boats still using the open cell or has that changed. I've had a boat with "waterlogged" foam and it definately adds alot of weight. I certainly want to take any and all steps to avoid this as I shop for my next boat. Thanks

Man, I learn something every night on here.

Thanks for the help guys. I checked out both the website recommendations and the Bumblebee definately seems like a well made boat. I'm sure you long termers have watched the process that I'm going through on here over and over again. Buying a boat is a such an agonizing decision. I'm looking for used in the $6500-$8500 range, 17-18 foot with a 115-150 hp. I can't go much bigger right now due to towing limitations. I can only imagine how the process is when you are going to lay down some really big money. One thing that must definately be better about buying new is that you get to pick your boat, pick your outboard and then choose your accessories. Actually with all the great rides out there making that decision would probably be pretty hard as well. Please bear with me while the search continues.

Hey no fair, smd70's boat is newer than my Mercury outboard.

Tonight on the evening news "Can bass fishing and political correctness co-exist?" They seem like strange bedfellows but our panel of experts will conduct a complete investigation. Stay tuned folks.

I was going to try not to drive everybody nuts with excessive questions about every boat I look at. Unfortunately I have already done that to all my family, friends and loved ones around here and you are all I have left. I just sold one of my old toys (Toyota Land Cruiser) so that money was put in the bass boat pile. I am going to look at a 1999 Stratos 273 with an Evinrude 150 over the weekend. It's a nice tight ride but isn't exactly screaming my name. In my searching around I also stumbled across an 18 foot Bumblebee with a 150 Merc. There is something about the Bumblebee that I really like. It just seems like some love and care went into building it. Anyway, does anyone have any info on this brand of boat.

Glenn, this might be the start of a new modeling career for you. I'm sure there are some bassin gals out there that just found themselves a new screensaver lol.

This forum is hands down the best I've ever found. There's something about being able to learn in a fun atmosphere that just makes you want to keep coming back. Plus it kind of scratches that fishing itch when you can't actually be out on the water.

It's not easy being green

As a follow up. The distrutor that I am now working for has Samuel Adams as part of its portfolio. Those higher profit margins also translate into higher pay. Hmmm I wonder what the sales reps at Lucky Craft are making these days...

The time, money and effort spent on marketing is meant to develop a brands image not to just simply drive sales volume. That hard won positive brand image then allows you to position your product at a desireable price point. Many times that retail price point has little to do with actual manufacturing costs. When I worked for Budweiser one of the most challenging things facing us was the fact that we could sell a six pack of Bud for $4.99 while watching Samuel Adams sell a six pack for $6.99. Now, it wasn't costing Sam Adams any more to brew up a batch of beer than us. They had simply developed a brand image that commanded a higher price point in the market and thus a much higher profit margin for them. For our lure discussion Rapala and Yamamoto certainly come to mind as a couple who have had similar success. Of course with a higher price point you have to deliver a quality product or no amount of advertising money willl keep you rolling long term. Great topic.

Pass me a stinkbait, I'm going catfishing with Dum_Bass.