IwillChooseFreeWill

Braid is supposed to be the strongest so I don't understand the suggestions of using such high test... I have caught toothy 12 lb fish on 8 lb PowerPro without a problem, I have ripped cranks out of heavy weeds no problem, I have bent hooks on tree/stump snagged baits using 8 lb braid.... so personally, I stick with 20lb or lighter, I see no need to use 65 lb test unless you plan to target 40-65 lb fish

TIP: the best time to buy a boat of any kind is usually fall and winter... Boat sales usually correspond to the weather, the warmer it gets the faster they sell and higher price they sell for. So if you do find a boat for a good price, you better contact them within 24 hours of it being posted or it may already be sold.

http://www.dmv.org/ok-oklahoma/boat-registration.php All boats, including canoes and kayaks, must be registered. The Oklahoma Tax Commission (OTC) handles boat registrations and titles. 1. Complete a boat registration/title form. 2. Complete a Boat or Outboard Motor Serial Number Confirmation form if your boat's outboard engine has a horsepower of 10 or more. 3. Submit a Manufacturer's Statement of Origin if the boat is new. Or submit the boat's previous title if purchased from a private party. 4. Drop these off at any any Oklahoma Tax Commission office and pay all applicable fees. Here is the law for Florida: Is a non-powered vessel required to be registered and titled? If the non-motor powered vessel is less than 16 feet in length, it is not required to be registered or titled. However, if the vessel is 16 feet or more in length, it is required to be registered and titled.

I've never fished down there but my uncle always does and says Tarpon is the best right now and will be through late March

yep we deal with that a lot here along the gulf coast, make sure you rinse it either every few hours if you are out all day or when you are done. Even the stainless and aluminum saltwater gear they say to rinse it off immediately after use.

Pline has a great line of lines. I myself use 8-12 lb CX or CXX fluorescent clear for most everything except when braid is needed. edit: I was out there cleaning out my tackle box and double checked my line: my spincast has 14lb spiderwire mono on it usually for low weed topwater stuff, catfish or the river, and my spinning reel has 15lb PowerPro braid. Right now the only reel using the Pline CX is my light duty 1000 spinning reel on a 6' rod, with 6lb Pline CX that I use for small bass and large bream.

good stuff here... personally I love the Pline CX copoly line for worm rigs and tend to stick with 8-12 lbs., it works well for surface, shallow and deep presentations. If you like braid, I have had good luck with PowerPro green braid. It does lose the color after a while but that is no biggie, either cut off the faded part or just buy a green sharpie and color it if you feel the need.

lol I think it is neat just to tune in occasionally and on Wed. at feeding time

shhhhh I am trying to score some freebies

Check the local laws yourself, never rely on the person selling it to tell you for sure. They may have used it illegally all this time. Most of the time it is not required to be registered as is but if it has a motor/engine it may need to be. Here in FL, they are required to be registered if you use a power source to move it, such as a trolling motor or gasoline engine. Otherwise a rowboat, canoe, kayak, or jon boat 16' or less that does not use a motor or engine to move the craft does not need to be registered.

Considering even with WAAS correctional positioning, it is still only accurate to 3 meters (10 feet). So if you set a waypoint, it will only give it to you within around 10 feet of where it was placed, not the exact location. Usually that is where the real time sonar comes in so you can locate the same structure and move a few feet whatever direction you need to. With networked units, I am not sure which unit takes the "lead" role to display locations... 100 meters: Accuracy of the original GPS system, which was subject to accuracy degradation under the government-imposed Selective Availability (SA) program. 15 meters: Typical GPS position accuracy without SA. 3-5 meters: Typical differential GPS (DGPS) position accuracy. approx. 3 meters: Typical WAAS position accuracy. Note: if your unit does not have WAAS correction, then it will be within 10-15 feet depending on the GPS signal that day.

You see those are the type of swimbaits that catch the fish down my way since it mimics the bream, and that is the main diet of the bass in this area, shad are non-existent in most of the ponds and lakes around here except one. and if anyone has crooked running swimbaits in the darker green/baby bass style they don't want, send them my way, the bass down here love the weak/dying fish appearance of crooked running swimbaits I just twitch them instead of run them like a normal swimbait, or use them 6-10 ft under a bobber on a choppy surface

Welcome from a cheesehead in FL

theres the always on Lunker cam: http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/bassmaster/fishingtips/news/story?page=LunkerCam (make sure you use Internet Explorer, it keeps crashing my Firefox)

The classic lost plenty of anglers this year (retirement, switching to other tourneys, whatever), so that means more fishing in the tourneys/classics and less to visit the various stores. I found the listing online for who is going where... Hopefully this link works for you guys, this one shows the listing for my local Destin, FL store. http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CFPage?storeId=10151&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&appID=163&option=3&template=circular.cfm&catalog=sfcpop_10_tab&rfx_versioningid=016&storeID=17 edit: looks like Feb 28 we get Boyd Duckett and Fred Roumbanis... whoever that is... For Colorado, looks like the closest options there will be Oklahoma or Iowa

Better than the shows down here which concentrate only on the saltwater stuff and if you ask anything freshwater related, they talk to you like you are a moron and shouldn't be allowed to live, as if freshwater related activities are a mortal enemy to saltwater... ;D it is very annoying so I don't bother to go anymore.

I see plenty of info here: http://www.indianapolisboatsportandtravelshow.com/

lol thats part of the problem... I have so many "one bags of..." that I tend to start throwing them away after a year or two... ;D I have started writing dates on the newer bags so once they hit around 6 months old I will either buy new ones if they caught something or just toss them.

just tie on a brick and toss it over board ;D

gimme the hat and a cigar, lemme trim my mustache a little and I might pass for groucho

I am hoping to tank a little bream (2-4") when I find a decent tank and filtration system... maybe get it to grow up to 12-14" then at some point kill it and fry it, then replace it with another one... I may decide to get 2 or 3 to see how they interact... plus my daughters (and cats) would have a good time watching the fish too.

I have lost more lures because of various snaps through the years so I prefer a direct tie with bass gear. The only time I use snaps or swivels is with my panfish gear.

That is making it more complicated than it needs to be: just take the fish out of the livewell or where ever you have it, put it in the plastic bag and weight it.. the fish is not going to die in the 2-3 minutes you take to weigh it.

looks great, and nice catch! I would love to pick up some of those lures but I hate spending money on a 10 pack and the other 7-9 sit in the pack and don't get used for some time since I am more of a weekend warrior (I typically get out once or twice a month when my work schedule and wife allows)...

finger condoms are too thin for a fast spinning baitcaster