Osprey39

Yeah, that was a good book. I really enjoyed it. He's a smart cat even if he is a tad excitable.

My guess was the fuel pump but we shall see. One thing I know, I'm going to be a sad panda until I get my boat back

Yeah, I have some satchels I use for soft plastics that basically keep special ziploc bags on a 2 ring binder. I've never had any problem with it, especially since nowadays they don't drench everything in anise oil. I have another post in this forum regarding Ragetail baits. Those apparently should be kept in the the original packaging because they have a plastic clamshell inside the bag to keep the tails the way they should be. Other than those however, I think you're fine using ziplocs.

Well, no pictures to share this time. I got to the lake in the wee hours this morning to get a practice day in before our club tourney this weekend. I was going to take the opportunity to get my dad out with me today. Dad called me about 4am to tell me that he was on his way but since he's been in Florida since February, his fishing license was expired (they expire on March 31st here in NM regardless of when you buy it) and he needed to get a new one when Wally World opened. He helped me put the boat in and told me he'd give me a call when he got back to the dock. I ran a short distance over to a spot I'd staked out last weekend and just like last weekend, I saw shad being busted all over the place. I started trying to figure out what I need to use to get the fish to bite. Tried a Spit'n Image and a floating Rat-L-Trap with no luck and then the phone rang. My dad was ready for me to pick him up. I idled out of the cove I was working and opened it up. After a minute or two, the RPMs on my motor dropped, then picked up, then dropped and finally it died out. I started having issues with the engine getting fuel last weekend and I changed out my primer bulb hoping that would fix it but obviously it did not. I got the motor running again, ran back over to the launch to get my dad and it ran fine. Got him on board and started to head back to my spot. As soon as I tried to put the boat on plane, it died out again. I decided to do the wise thing and turned around and loaded the boat back on the trailer and took it to the mechanic. So no tourney for me this weekend and worst of all, I didn't get to take my dad out with me. I'm trying to get him more into bass fishing. He is a hardcore fly fisherman and also enjoys saltwater fishing but has never been big on bass fishing. Today didn't help my cause any >

As much as I enjoy the pats on the back, I have to say this bass is not as big as the picture makes it look. It went just a tad over 3 pounds. It looks twice that because I had to hold my cellphone in one hand and the fish in the other so it's fairly close to the camera. It's still a pretty decent fish for New Mexico. Our state record is over 15 pounds but I think the last 5 or 6 state records have all come from the same power plant lake. In our normal lakes, you don't catch them that big. I think the big bass in our last club tournament was just under 3 pounds so I was happy to catch this one.

That's what I needed to know. I'll figure out how to fit them in my bags. 8-)

My buddy is kind of like that too Raul. There have been multiple times he moved from one side of the boat to the other so rapidly he nearly threw me out on the front. I finally had to ask him to be a little more subtle in his movements (ie: don't rock the boat!)

or anybody else that might know I suppose. I just got some Eeliminators and Rage Hawgs and I notice they have a molded hard plastic container inside the bag. My question is this: Is it detrimental to the bait's action if I store them out of that hard plastic? I don't have to but it would sure make them fit in my satchels easier.

Here in New Mexico, we have almost zero vegetation in our lakes. Because of that, I have no idea what it looks like on a graph but I'm curious. Do any of you have a screenshot of it you can link?

What fun is that? Spending money is like 1/2 of the fun of fishing. You can't be on the lake all the time so buying a new lure gives you a little something to remind you of fishing until your next trip, lol.

I think I'm going to try sunset today on a different lake nearby here. I'm just dying to hook one topwater! Let me give you some helpful advice then. Don't set the hook immediately when fishing topwater baits. Wait a second after the strike. A lot of times fish will swipe at it and miss. If you don't jerk the bait away from them, they will often hit it again. That said, it's d**n hard to do but try anyway

Thanks for all the advice guys, that's what I love about this forum. I'll be giving it one more practice day on Friday and then the tourny on the weekend. I'll work what you all have said into my fishing on Friday. I'll let you know how I do.

Another good way to tell the difference between largemouth and smallmouth is with the mouth closed, the hinge of the jaw on a largemouth extends behind their eye. On a smallmouth it won't. Color is a good indicator most of the time but on one of the lakes I fish, most of the smallmouth have a greenish tint as well. The jaw hinge never lies though.

From the time I've started using them, the Pop-R has produced for me so I haven't really ever used much else. I think as the others have said, it's more a matter of how you retrieve it than brand. I can make a Pop-R make that blooping sound pretty easily.

Interesting, did not know that. I still lived in Florida at that time but I was a kid and we pretty much just fished saltwater. When we fished freshwater it was for panfish. I didn't get into bass fishing until well after the family moved out here to New Mexico unfortunately.

I didn't know they had peacock bass in Florida. Were those introduced intentionally or did someone sneak them in?

It's interesting that many of the things listed are related to actually hooking/landing fish (hook selection, line maintenance, knots, etc.) To me, catching the fish is easy. Finding them in numbers is the tricky part along with actually getting them to bite. Some of the mistakes I make: 1. Moving too fast through an area 2. Working baits too fast 3. Bank beating way too often I'm sure I could think of more but those are three things I've been trying to work on getting better about.

I've been looking for beds in areas that I think the fish would use for spawning but it's difficult because the water clarity is not good. The best visibility I've found in this lake is maybe 2.5 to 3 feet. This lake used to have really clear water but they have drawn it down so far over the years that the north end of the lake is basically gone and the muddy water coming in from the river is making the whole south end murky.

Hmm, not familiar with the knot you describe. What I consider a 'loop knot' is this: http://www.animatedknots.com/rapala/index.php

Honestly, I don't know if it will continue but I know there is still snow in some of the northern mountains so the run off is not through. Will they continue to let the lake fill up is the question. I would guess they will at least for awhile. The lake is nowhere near it's full level. There are a lot of farms south of the lake that use water from the river for irrigation. The lake level has always dropped a bit in the summer time as long as I can remember because of their water demand but that is at least a month away.

Yeah they are fragile. I was using one Texas rigged this weekend and just from a couple of failed hookset attempts the end tore. I tried flipping it over and using the other end and then it tore so I bit off about a 1/4" of the original end and put it back in service.

Good for you. I'm taking my dad out with me Friday. He loves fishing but not a big bass fisherman. I wish he'd go more often but spending time with him is great.

Gotcha, thanks. I think I'll invest in some of those. For such a dense plastic, those Senkos don't seem very rugged.

So do you basically just put the o-ring on the hook instead of the worm?

Title says it all, I've read a few guys talking about them on here and then I saw them in one of those 'you should buy this' side frames on the BPS site. What are they for?