Ranger 251

Catt, Here it goes. First I see a huge flat starting near the bridge and going north. I see a couple of interesting spots along the way as I head north. The first is the Sabine River about mid way up the flat with a huge horse shoe bend that at one point is very near the flat. To me this looks like a good place for a plastic worm. Now I know there are some small humps in that area that I would try a spinnerbait over. The next spot is the intersection of Clear Creek and Patron Bayou. The intersection forms a point at N31.49196 W93.75282 in about 8-9 feet of water. Now I see another long point on the south side of this intersection which extends to the boat lane--the point ends in about 26 to 28 feet of water. (yep, I can't get away from the Hook-n-Line). Beings the shallow water type I would most probably fish the point in 8-9 foot of water with soft plastic or jig-n-trailer. Then work my way down the north side (along Patroon Bayou) of the longer point until I reach the boat lane.

Jack, Our thoughts and prayers are with you, your wife and family. Loosing a child has to be one of, if not the most, terrible things to face in this world. May God Bless.

Catt, OK, I now have Acme Mapper and have been following along with previous posts. Now that I have access to Acme Mapper I can start to see and understand the structure you bring up. This is great and I really want and need to understand it much better. I have been looking at the topo map further north (near the Pendleton Bridge) but have not been able to locate any offshore structure as you pointed out. Can you point an some structure near that area? Thanks

TBendBassin, Many thanks, I have it saved in my favorites. I looked around it tonight but will need more time to get familiar with it. Any information I can get my hands will greatly help. I joined this site the latter part of last year but it is one of my daily must reads. I have learned more on this site about TB than any other thanks to Catt, Jack and others. Having fished the TB tournament earlier this year with Jack and some of the other members was a blast as well. I am looking forward to learning as much as I can. Paul M.

Catt, I have not been following on Acme Mapper. I looked on the web site but frankly don't have a clue which map to get. :-/ Is there any particular map on the US Geological Survey sight you recommend. As always, thanks for the information and keep the classes coming. I will get the correct maps and will start participating.

I have been one of those "lurkers" on this post for some time now and find if very instructional. I read it daily. I was having a difficult time following the last insructional series on my Hook-N-Line map and decided to go for the Hot Maps Explorer DVD. I looked on Three Rivers site, located the Hot Maps Explorer and noted it didn't list Toledo Bend. I called today and sure enough Toledo is not included in the Hot Maps Explorer. Am I missing something? Is there another more detailed map of Toledo and if so, where can I purchase it? Thanks

SoFloBassAddict, You mention Lowrance will be coming out with updated electronics and the DSI was introduced at ICAST. Is there any information on the internet about (DSI) and/or the new electronics? I just recently installed a HDS 5 and am seriously considering installing a HDS8 with side scan to both. I wonder if I should hold off a bit until the new electronics are available.

And Yamaha no longer produces the 200 to 300 HPDI. The largest HPDI shown online is the 175.

Many thanks for the quick response. I will contact Lowrance.

I went out today and used the new HDS 5 installed earlier this week. It worked great and I was impressed with the clarity on the sonar. Only problem I have is the water temp does not work. Granted the transducer from the X51 previously installed was not replaced with the new transducer that came with the HDS 5. Is there a way to turn on or off the water temp or do I need to replace the X51 transducer (it has water temp built in)? I have looked in the manual but can't locate any information regarding this subject. I suspect I will need to replace the transcducer but want to make sure I am not missing something before I start tearing into the bow panel

I have been using Stabil Marine for about a year now and have not had any problems.

Ranger 47, I know of two landings for the basin in Morgan City. One is Doiron's landing (outside of the basin levee) and the other is Adam's landing (basin side of the levee). Academy should have maps of the basin although not very detailed. If you have a GPS that takes a Navionics card, you can get a card for the Gulf of Mexico that will provide good navigation and names of canals and lakes from Henderson Lake all the way down to the Gulf.

Well, my lasted five and a half years and is doing the same thing. Only thing different is the screen will come on if you leave the power button. I sent an email to a Lowrance rep and he told me the power button was shorted out. Either send it in for repair or buy a new one. I was thinking of a new HDS and now have a reason to buy one.

I have had a Ranger for five years now and really like it. Their support is second to none. You can actually talk with someone that knows about their product--very helpful. Smooth ride as well and plenty of storage. I had a Skeeter before, it was a good boat but I rather the Ranger.

I have had one installed on my trolling motor for at least three years now and really like it. More power, less vibration and handles the grass really well. I have a Minn Kota 36 volt 101 lbs thrust. I understand MK changed the shafts style on the newer trolling motors that the Kippewa prop won't fit anymore. They may have since modified the props to fit by now.

Have a safe trip Jack. Let us know how you faired on Lay Lake. Paul

Mike, You are absolutely correct. I have been posting on this site for only a few months. I was fortunate to meet Dan, Jack and Bass-Fanatic (sorry I can't remember the name) at the TB meet up. Great people all sharing the passion of fishing and always willing to give a helping hand. I look forward to meeting more of the Bass Resource members. Dan PM sent Paul

What a tragedy. The family is in our prayers. Please keep me in the loop if a benefit is held.

Good to hear you made it safely Bass_Fanatic. It was a pleasure meeting you and hope you can make the next one.

Jack, Looks like the weigh in as too early this past Saturday.

Jack/Dan, Good to know you guys made it home safely. No honey do's for me on Sunday, after cleaning the boat I was flat tuckered out. Rena and I had a great time. We look forward to the next one. I really like the idea of having one later on in the year as well. Spring and Fall, great idea. It reminded me of the LOBI with all of the boats on the lake. Heck, if I would have known there would have been that many boats out there I would have left mine at home and walked from one to the other. This was the first and hopefully not the last. We learned a few things on this one and as time goes on it will only get better. Looking forward to meeting more of the members on this forum.

I fish Henderson and the Atchafalaya Basin. No bass club for me.

I made back safely from the Toledo Bend tournament and I hope all the other attendees made it back safely as well. The wind was up and fishing was down (for me anyway :'() but the wife and I had a great time. Only one bump in the trip--someone had a slumber party on the Saturday night with about 20 little girls in the one hotel room right above ours. It sounded like they had tumbling classes or cheerleading practice with all the racket going on. Several calls to the night clerk and one visit from the Security Guard did not do any good (so much for adult supervision) At least the hotel didn't charge us for last night. Didn't help us catch up on our sleep. It was great to meet some of the people from this forum. Great bunch of guys. Sorry some of you who had planned could not make it. Hopefully next time. I am ready for the next one. Paul Mouisset

My wife and I will be leaving tomorrow morning. I will be driving a grey Suburban towing a grey and dark blue Ranger with a Yamaha on the back. My cell is 337-278-4651. I will see all of you Saturday 5 AM at Harborlight.

$25/boat and $10 big bass sounds good to me. Where is Harborlight located? Wesley, can you give me your cell number in the event I get delayed or something comes up.