Nitrofreak

I think you are right. I asked this question some time back and it really was not about the money you bring in but more so about the knowledge and desire you have along with the personality and the willingness to teach others who so love this sport of ours. I do not consider myself a pro in the aspect of catching fish and no matter how good I get, I probably never will. KVD for example...If you were to strip all of his title's and sponsorships and put all of that aside... He is one who works hard and can catch fish on any body of water on any given day it seems. But to me if he were to have the...I'm better than you are and you are not worthy to grace my presence attitude then the pro status goes out the window. I know people who can fish like KVD and consistently can win big money tournaments but they wont do it, They are happy the way things are and they take the time to share a lot of their knowledge with others especially the younger generation and this is what I consider to be a pro.

WOOOOOOOOWWWWWWW!!!! Nice fish how long did it take you to land that one!! lol

I have used them in the past before it became illegal in my state and I would hook them just in front of the tail fin and as you would slightly pull on the line it would make the fish swim sideways giving it an injured look and bass would nail them.

How long has this site been here anyway? Me personally I used to read Bass Master mags a lot but you have this wonderful thing called a computer that you can ask it questions and it spits out a web address for you to log into and instead of waiting for the next issue to come to your house you can get your answer right away. And as a website gets more and more popular then you have more and more younger people who are computer friendly talking on it which to me is a good thing. That to me means that these younger people who are spending their time enquiring about fishing are not out doing things that make us as parents worried...Well for the most part anyway. That's just my thoughts.

My thoughts would be maybe not enough oxygen during a given time of year or the hot spot is so good that the bass does not need to take the bait if it does not look natural enough to them.

I don't believe in luck all that much, I believe that if you put yourself in a place full of structure and start establishing patterns you will find what the fish want...Most of the time... Now the wife on the other hand she will most often troll a cotton candy 6" worm behind the boat and catch more fish than I do...Where is the logic in that? I don't know but it works for her and believe me when I say she wont let me hear the end of it until I out fish her and when I do out fish her she has already made plans before we get the boat loaded for the next fishing trip.

I love that idea I need to look into that here in Va. Thanks!!

Have you been to a large lake lately and tried to fish or just enjoy the day on the water? I'm not saying it's not needed, I'm saying that you don't need to be an expert to instruct people on basic safety. Someone who has been boating for a few years should have enough knowledge and experience to help newbie boaters. I get what you were saying but I am wondering if these classes should surpass just the general basic knowledge of boater safety and move into a somewhat more aggressive type of class such as possibly putting in a smaller vessel and have the larger vessel pass by at different speeds so that everyone gets the chance to understand exactly what effect you have on other vessel's... now that's just an example please do not feel I am beating up on people who own larger boats... But having a visual of these and other effects can definitely impact the sense's and in my opinion should be a more effective way of teaching boater safety. Thanks for the reply.

J Francho, Thanks for the address.

Have you been to a large lake lately and tried to fish or just enjoy the day on the water?

None taken but I thought if I were to educate myself just as I did as a volunteer EMT for ten years I could serve as a safety instructor as well. I'm willing to do what is needed to better our community of boaters and help keep our waters safer for all. I have been a boater for several years, While that does not make me qualified to be an instructor by any means I am certainly willing to put fourth the effort.

Has anyone here ever gave much thought to the fact of volunteering to teach and or help boaters understand the proper way to operate a boat? It seems to me we have all had our fair share of people who do not understand how important it is to safely operate a boat (especially in crowded waters) In these times the law enforcement is becoming more and more scarce due to the cut backs in our states finances and it is letting people just jump in a boat or pwc with out fully understanding the impact it could have on others. I would gladly volunteer some of my time to demonstrate and teach if I really thought it would make an impact. Would people really listen or do you think it would be a waist of time, The boater safety class here in Va. is something you can take on-line and to me it really does not drive the point home!

Welcome, You will find all of the info here you will probrably ever need.. and then some.. There are a lot of great people here who know a lot about fishing and boating.

Thanks SGT, If it was a movie at least it has a happy ending ;D I think the worst part of that whole day was knowing that my daughter wanted to compete in a tournament they were having for father/daughter that evening and she decided she didn't want to go because of all of the stupid boaters on that particular day. Out of all the bad things that happened that was the worst.

Seems fair enough but don't buy it untill he or she takes you for a ride in it and have a good tech look it over. Good luck

Now that you mention it I have had a scenario that my exhaust ports would get flooded and rob the engine of power when I loaded could this be what you are having an issue with Not sure if it would apply in your case.

Now that we have the rest of the story I have to agree this does wonders for getting fish off.

Thanks for the reply, I can't tell you how lucky or blessed I felt to have everyone home safe.

If it were me I would buy a pair of waders and move into the water a short distance and use a net and since these fish are in a farm pond they tend to be more aggressive if there are a large number of fish to fight for meals. If you feel you have to lower the number of hooks on your bait I would most likely remove just the front hook set and leave the rear But it may not be you who is doing the damage alone, other people may be using the same type of bait and helping the process of damaging the mouth's of these fish.

No I would not do that to anyone I would have politely asked permission, after all you were there first and if the answer was no I would have given you enough room to fish your spot without disturbing you, Most likely at least 100 yards or would have just moved on to another spot. Sorry to hear about your encounter please don't think that all of the people out there are like that. You did what you felt to be the right thing to do and I applaud you for doing so ( well with the exception of the spy glasses ;D ) But you should feel good about going back and catching fish it shows that you have a lot more wisdom than they did good job.

x2 I don't know if you are having these problems at different lakes but I have learned that some ramps are different in pitch and can hold the trailer nose up a little higher too. I always try to pay close attention to when the back of the boat just starts to lift from the trailer when unloading so I can make a mental note as to what the water level on the trailer is and this has helped me a lot when reloading at different lakes and ramps.

BassBrat, No not really at least not like some people spend, But that combo had a well rounded character and it really worked well for me and if I can retrieve it I will. I can always go get another one I just don't have the funds to do so right now. DRhodes, You are so right in saying that and believe me when I say I am very thankful it was not as bad as it could have been because someone I know had to be there, There is just no other answer for it. Thanks for the reply.

Thanks FFD, Say my buddys grandad has a structure scan on his pontoon do you think it will pick up a fishing rod? I have never seen one at work so I have no clue how sensitive they are.

Have you ever had one of those fishing trips where you think your ready for anything and you realise you were no where close? I just took my family on a week long trip to a local lake here in Va. the first two days were awesome we were catching fish and having a great time then everything started going wrong. My buddy's boat started giving him fits on the third day so we took the day to fix his issues and lost a whole day of fishing and cost him 270 bucks for the parts. The next day I took my youngest daughter out by ourselves and we were having a great time catching fish and I was having a blast teaching my daughter until we rounded a cove and I casted my line to a drop off when the lure or something snagged the rod and pulled the rod out of my hands and lost it so in a rush to rescue it I started emptying my pockets to jump in after it and my keys flew overboard, So while I realised I could do nothing and my youngest watching all I could do was thank the man upstairs for giving me the opportunity to fish with her and have some fun then I remembered my buddy's grandad had a under water camera so I waited there because I had no way to mark the spot and when he returned with the camera we had anchored one boat and set out a marker for having people in the water ( just as if a diver would do ) we had the boats at the most only 25 feet apart and low and behold a large boat came right between us and almost tossed my daughter overboard so after a few choice words I realised my boat was filling with water and had to bilge the hull for what seemed like an eternity after all of the excitement was over I decided that all that was lost was not worth getting someone hurt so we headed back to camp for some ice cold beer and wouldn't you know it we were up on plane and another large boat was on my port side towing two children in a raft and turned in front of me and crossed my path so I then lost it!!! I turned both into the VDGIF and went out only in the early am and stayed in the rest of the day for the following two days. Thinking the worst was over we packed up and went home and guess what it wasn't over yet, on the way home a wheel bearing on the boat trailer exploded. Thank goodness we were close to home and limped it in. Sheeeew I have never been so glad to be home.

Did you check your grounds? Don't just look at them they may appear to be OK take them apart and clean and tighten them.