gatrboy53

fla. born and gator bred and when i die i'll be fla. gator dead!!! i live in lake butler, and my home lakes are sampson/rowell as well as others

i bought a semi custom cover and wish i had a custom cover but am happy w/ the quality and fit.i trailer 150+ mi. one way to fom tx. w/o any probs...YET. i would not trailer very far w/o one for the very reasons mentioned above. i just heard of a new boat seat burning up from a flipped cig.

i am not on the hi dollar lure bandwagon ...yet...but, quality cost ...the detailed baits that are making quik inroads in the bass fishing industry do have great credentials.the detail plays more to the fishrman than the fish but ,the quality of these hi dollar baits do have some bering on catching ...more...fish. they run truer, they last longer,unless u lose one to a fish,the consistency from one bait to the next ,the sounds they emit,are different than lesser quality baits.quality also comes w/ knowing how to get the most out of a particular bait ,thats why i dont think they perform much different than lesser quality baits for the avg. angler.to the pro's i would say it does. most of the lifelike lures are reaction baits, they dont look at the pretty lines or detail but they do strick because of the distinct action or sound.... i believe as w/ all of bass fishing its what you can afford and be comfortable with. meaning i catch just as many if at times not more fish out of my $1500. jon-boat than i do out of my hi-dollar bass boat but im more comfortable in my hi-dollar bass boat.thats why life is so interesting were all different in how we approach everything

as much as you can afford. i have a 65# on my 19' and it zips around pretty good ...i wish i had a 80# to get thru the heavy vegatation. another thing you need to consider is 12 or 24 volt(1 or 2 batteries) everybody has their opinion but motorguide or minn kota are quality t.m's..on a 18' boat fishing current i wouldn't go any lower than 55# thrust.

i have and fish reg. out of a 14' bass tracker w/ 15 h.p. 25# t.m. and eagle d.f. ,this past spring i bought a 19' gambler that will do 70 m.p.h. i fish out of my tracker about as much as my big boat. the one thing the tracker taught me to do was fish a area instead of zippin all over the place. i can also get to a lot more fishy areas than the big boat. i dont get as wet in big boat cause if a storm comes up and they do every evening in fl.i can out run them .w/ the cost of fuel i may be fishin tracker a bunch more.

once he's hooked keep constant pressure at all times.a big bass will exploit every weakness us anglers have don't give him a inch and pray that its ur time to win. i lost the biggest bass ive ever hooked this summer over 10# did everything right and right at the boat he spit lure at me and winked when did it...and poof he was gone...thats fishin...just glad i had the opportunity

the shad will most likely still be there ,a change in conditions could change that. the bass will be there there also but they will not feed like u experienced all the time . u triggered a frenzy. even if they are not busting shad on top some r still feeding in the pods ...deeper. try different tactics ,sometimes a reaction lure will trigger them but sometimes it will scare them away.when they're busting on top throw some reaction type baits, small spinnerbait waked, spook jr. and i like a weightless fluke worked on top, also , try for some of them that r feeding deeper,lipless crank, shallow crank ,i like shadrap #4 that suspends, small jerkbait. i'm fishing shad balls right now and it can be very frustrating sometimes ,it seems no matter what u throw they wont bite even when they r all around other times it seems it doesn't matter what u throw they bite..go figure... if i found shad and knew there were bass around i would stay there and try to catch them..i think the biggest challenge is finding fish and if i found rhem i would stay there and try to catch them

my philosophy is fish when i can .cant answer ur ? though

w/o any info...fishin blind , i look for points structure or grass

it depends what u want in a boat. speed ....good choice....fishability....good choice,durability....there r better,...handling alright unless u fish big water then there r better,....price ,avg. bullets r for the speed freaks that like to zip from place to place and look cool doing it..personally i wouldn't trade my gambler for any of the hi-performance knock offs

at least 16' especially for 3 people, wide transom 48" preferably for stability. if using in saltwater get a saltwater type trolling motor or salt will eat ur investment. at least 25 h.p. kicker u can go lower h.p. but w/ 3 people in rough water u will wish u had at least 25h.p. the 1st. boat i fished out of for both fresh / salt was a fiberglass 16' tri-hull w/ 40h.p. and t.m , f.f. paid $2,000. like new. we even went out in ocean with it,( on calm days).

congrats guys , have enjoyed ur post and am sure u'll be a big help to Glenn!

flippin is usually w/in 15' of the boat into precise cover that cant be gotten to any other way. it is a very precise quite presentation into the basses hideout. pitchin is from 15' on out to what u feel comfortable with it is also a precise quite presentation that u cant reach w/ a flip

good thread... i learn something all the time ... i knew this but i learned that what u read on ur graph is not always what is under ur boat... i fish a reclaimed phosphate mine that the whole bottom is structured ...points ,drops ledges, none of the bottom is flat for long.... it is loaded w/ shad.... and they relate to the many different types of structure... i troll looking for bait and relation to structure when i locate bait or structure i turn around to go back over it to pinpoint position ....many many times i cant find it ...it aint where i think it should be.... i just realized the tranducer is not in exact relation to my boat position..... i also hardly ever use d.f as a f.f. but sometimes i can see fish in the bait pods they show up as a bigger arch

points are a distinctive change in shoreline they r usually magnets for bass to hold to to ambush bait that is ther for a number of reasons. it also usually means a change in water depth, from shallow to deep water which bass relate to as do bait. i always fish points , i also follow the point out into deeper water to see how far out it goes and how the bottom transitions off of it. especially in warmer months. they r obvious places to look for fish and a good chance of finding some. shoreline points i find the fish will be on the side of points but neat the tip. i also search for uderwater points they r harder to locate but can be very productive.

i have found that coming in contact w/ structure ,bottom included triggers more strikes than retrieve speed unless ur using suspending baits ...jerk baits...etc. just yesterday i was fishing shad pods w/ shad rap could not buy a bite untill i got it down where it was bouncing off bottom , then i started getting bit.like previous response u just gotta keep trying different retrieves untill fish tell u what they want

this time of the year i fish shad pods a lot they are more predictable to locate. in larger lakes w/ coves creeks, underwater structure like points ,drops humps, ledges, the bait will congregate i will search these areas w/ my d.f. smaller lakes that are void of any features shallow small round bowls its pretty much by sight or luck running across them. some lakes i fish they seem to be in the same area yearly. fall they tend to congregate in backs of coves creeks indents, and r usually productive because the fish r feeding up for the winter.

any straight type worm u fill comfortable with ,as stated above the curly tail worms tend to wrap around the cover ur fishing and u will experience the same problem u have now. any of the creature baits work well, sweet beaver doesn't have as many appendages ,wolly hawg tail, brush hawg r very good flippin baits ,if they tend to get caught in the cover ur fishin remove some of the appendages. i even flip cigar type baits like senkos in deeper cover. tubes cant be over looked they r one of the best heavy cover flippin baits .u specified worms but i would try tubes and creature baits first.

19' gambler outlaw W/ 150 H.P. e.f.i. MERC.

kana, from ur info u r in the zone . 30' w/ no splash is great. i live in fl. and pitch mostly into heavy cover, (I) cant get away w/ using 12# test the constant abrasion weakens and frays my line to often and am constantly retying. if i dont that is when i get on a good fish and lose him.i am a proponent of light line when appropriate but i pitch around cypress trees, in and around laydowns and stick-ups grass pockets lilly pads and a 4# plus will use u in those places where i have better sucess landing him w/ haevier line.i also dont use braid pitching to me it is to unforgiving and have better control w/ mono. i am fishing for that 10 plus bass that i know on any given cast i could have him on matter of fact i have had several on over 10#s and haven't landed him because he used me in the cover i was fishing and wrapped me or broke me off (I) have a better chance of hauling him in w/ heavier line. hope u don't have the same probs . i read on these forums there are a good number of fishermen that use 12# test all the time.i'm one that cant

fishing weightless depends on the depth ur fishing if its 10' or more i use a weight so i can get on the bottom faster. if ur talkins cigar type baits i agree i hardly ever use a weight on those, but on worms i do

ur fish seemed to be in a active mode. feeding!... they were relating to the top, i would have tried any lure relating to the top 1/3 of the water column. top water such as pop-r spittin image ,...i like a devils hose or even a small 1/4 oz. buzz bait. if they didn't want that i would have switched to a small spinnerbait ripped or waked to illicit a reaction strike. if that didn't work i would have tried soft plastics weedless first then w/ a weight slow falling to see if they would it it on the fall. chasing or top feeding bass want to bite u have to find what they want

deadsticking iseffective when bass are nuetral or inactive.they bite out of instinct or curiosity,not hunger or reaction. it's an effective way to fool a bass into biting when they don't want to .the bass comes across ur motionless bait and picks it up instead of u imparting a action to get him to strike. it is a most natural looking morsel to a savvy predator.

This topic has been moved to [link=http://bassresource.com/cgi-bin/bass_fish/YaBB.pl?board=Fishing_Tackle_ID;action=display;num=1130142803;start=0]Fishing Tackle[/link] by Chris.

i mostly fish spinnerbaits around and in heavy cover. i never use lighter than 17 # and usually 20# because of abrasion. i never use floro becaue of the sink rate plus you don,t need a invisible line for that type of lure.i only use floro on finesse and leaders and baits that i need to watch the line with .i do use flor on crankbaits to get the bait deeper because of the sink rate and thin diameter. but thats me! also always wet your knot and try the trilene knot it woks well w/ flor.