Madhouse27

Bigbadaaron, a couple of the guys talked about trying to catch a few of them. This is great advice. That way you can get a feel for the size and color of the crayfish (excuse me, crawdads) in the water you're fishing. There can really be quite a variation from one body of water to the next. Good luck crawdad hunting.

Perhaps I've been up north a little too long but if I'm fishing someplace that's infested with water snakes I'm probably going to find a new spot to go fishing.

I think some of the lakes around here still have three feet of ice on them >

I like number one usually in a 1/8 oz size with a 3/0 hook.

While I may have worded it a bit differently I think I agree with Susky (welcome aboard btw). If you're going to chase the bronzebacks you might as well get on board with the soft plastic baits. They are simply way more effective. Now I'm not saying you can't go get a few on that crawdad colored crank, I just think learning to fish the soft plastics (grubs, tubes, senkos, jerkbaits etc) are going to bring you alot more success. Good to have you here blake. This is a great place to learn. Just be careful, time really flies by on here when you're reading about bass fishing. It'll be midnight before you know it.

Catt, I think we need to go over to the Skeeter dealer and crawl underneath these two and check the models out side by side. I couldn't seem to find anything in their literature or on the Skeeter site that got into the subject of actual hull design. Here's a little comparison on the specs of each from the site. ZX is listed first. 180 Series: Length both 17.8, beam 89/88, draft 14/12, weight 1500/1270, max hp 150/130. The next model is the 190: Length both 18.5, beam 92/90, draft 15/12, weight 1500/1390, max hp 175/150. There certainly is a price difference between the models. Great question. Keep us posted with what you find out. My goal is to trade up to a ZX 190 someday. It sure is fun using the "build my Skeeter" interactive part of the Skeeter website. Hell, I bet I've done 50 different versions over the past few years.

Hey we could have a pool about what brand of bass boat Wishin4Fishin ends up with. I'm saying the combination of performance, style and storage layout in a Skeeter is going to be too much for Wishin to resist. I'm taking Skeeter.

As far as the seat situation goes, what's the total width of the seating area? I have a similar boat (99 Skeeter Alum) that has a bench style seat with storage underneath it. To access it, the backrest folds down then the whole seat tilts forward allowing you to get in there. I think the whole thing is a little over 4 ft wide. I know BPS and Cabelas both sell a replacement for this style. It might just work for you and you could get matching front and rear seats at the same time. Hey did you work St. Patty's Day down in Beantown?

Congrats on the first run. As far as the backing up goes it seems to me that the shorter the trailer....the harder it is. I'm assuming that your 9' boat doesn't have a real long trailer. It definately takes some practice and even then it's pretty tough. I have no problem maneuvering my skeeter trailer around but the short single trailer that I have for my atv is entirely another story. It's all I can to actually get it into the garage. Enjoy the new boat.

I've had a couple from both manufacturers and I'm definately on board with Minn Kota.

Simply incredible

Chris, On your way home from the next outing, drive through MacDonald's and pick your roomie up a delicious filet o' fish sandwich. Tell him you thought about what he'd said and wanted to bring one home for him to eat.

I bought a 4 piece travel rod from Cabelas just to keep in the vehicle. It came with a nice carrying case and was pretty cheap. If I remember correctly it was around $35. The only issue is that the case is for the rod only so you end up spending a few minutes getting the reel mounted on the rod and then assembling the pieces. Cabelas does make a "telescoping" rod if you are just looking for something you can whip out of a bag and get fishing immediately. Neither of these is by any stretch a new Loomis when it comes to feel. But they certainly have some value if they allow someone to sneak a little fishing in when they otherwise couldn't. Now, if the telescoping rod becomes your favorite rod we may need to have a little talk...

Man, can somebody pass Branuss04 an Abu Garcia reel, this guy's fishing hard and needs some bulletproof gear

Rattletraps. The situation has to be pretty desperate before I resort to one of these. The only thing I can recall catching on a rattletrap is the back of my own head.

Took another recommendation from your lists and watched Hook N Look. The episode I caught was incredible with some killer underwater footage of big bronzebacks feasting on crayfish (ok ok crawdads). If every show is as cool as this one consider me a regular viewer.

Glenn, Incredible job! This site has certainly come a long way. Who'd have thought we'd have our own original programming on here some day. What's next? A BR television show?

I'll agree with most of the gang here that the Lightning Rod is a pretty decent rod for the money. I've got an old ultralight one that has been used primarily for brook fishing that still in good shape despite the hell it's been through. Great bang for the buck.

Alpster, I have a little custom made Loomis IMX 3wt that is one of my faves so I know where's you're coming from on your GLX flyrod. My post probably could have done without my own opinion on the Sage/Loomis flyrod comparison. I was looking for a way to demonstrate for the non flyrodders that may not know the Sage brand name that these two are at the top of the food chain in that rod category. They're both world class manufacturers. Their competition kind of reminds me of Benz/BMW in the automotive world. I guess that's why I find it kind of strange that Sage would not make the plunge into the obviously popular and profitable world of bass-specific spinning and casting rods. As you noted they are dabbling with rods for trout, bonefish, steelhead, barracuda and probably even permit. I think they're missing a great opportunity in the bass world and competition tends to drive innovation. I would consider them a welcome addition to the bass fishing fraternity.

G Loomis has obviously been extremely successful with their line of bass fishing rods. When did they branch out from just fly rods and add the casting/spinning rod category to their portfolio? Any idea what percentage of their overall sales these non fly-rods represent? It has to be a significant chunk. A couple of years back I predicted that SAGE fly rods would see what was happening over at Loomis and jump into the premium bass rod fray. Like in the beer world, it seems all the industry growth is occuring in the high end segment. I'm still kind of suprised we haven't seen Sage at least test the waters. Don't get me wrong, I love my Loomis dropshot rod and certainly plan to add a few more Loomis rods to the arsenal. But when it comes to fly rods, I've owned them both and consider Sage to be the superior product. It just makes me wonder what they could bring to the bass world. It would certainly be the clash of the titans.

Since money's no object I'm going with the G Loomis Bronzeback GLX 6'10" (SMR822S-SP-GLX) and a Shimano Stella 1000FB. While we're at it can I put together a new boat package too?

Bet he gets a nice little fine for that on Tuesday. Tony must hate tuesdays.

I've had quite a bit of success on the Strike King Pro Model Bleeding Bait tube. I'm not really convinced that it's necessarily the red color that's getting it done for this bait. It may just be that the tube itself has a nice size and fall to it. I like some of the color combinations whether they had the red mixed in with them or not. Not sure of the concept, just pleased with the results. This is the one product among the "bleeding baits" that I'll continue to use and purchase.

A couple of you had listed Scott Martin Challenge on your lists of good shows. I hadn't really checked that one yet so I DVR'd it this weekend. Just got done watching it and I'm totally impressed. Great call!

Wayne, that's some good looking wacky you got there brother.