.ghoti.

Zoom tubes, Berkley Power tubes and these; http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_51598_100009001_100000000_100009000_100-9-1 I very seldom use an internal jighead, or T-rig them. I almost always rig them on an EWG hook, tex-posed, with an internal weight. This has worked the best for me, by far. With this rigging, I can and do throw a tube into anything, and know it will come through it. I use light weights, so this is a rig for less than 10 feet. Wood, weeds, rocks, it doesn't matter. This rig will go through it all My other favorite tube rig is one of the 3X plastic tubes, weightless on a big EWG hook. The 3X tube will float a big hook, and is a great bait to throw on top of the weeds first thing in the morning, or all day on overcast or rainy days. Blue/black works a lot of the time but I prefer "natural" colors; greens, browns smoke, etc. Cheers, GK

Got to see it last night. Great fight. Taylor has had a couple of pretty lame fights lately, but for this fight, the Taylor that beat Bernard Hopkins showed up. He looked like a champion until Pavlik turned out his lights. Gotta give the man from Youngstown a lot of credit. Not many men would have gotten up from Round 2 like he did. Gotta give a lot a credit to Taylor also. He showed the class a champion should have. In the after fight interview, Taylor offered no excuses. He did not complain about the stopage. He just said he got beat, and that he thought he was loosing the fight. I didn't think he was behind, and neither did the judges. Taylor was ahead on the scorecards when the 7th round started. I can't wait to see the rematch. What a great time to be fight fan. Look at what's coming up. Mayweather vs Hatton Calzaghe vs Kessler Barrera vs Paquiao 2 Cotto vs Mosley They say styles make fights. Well, take a look at some of those match-ups. Wow! Cheers, GK

What's this "maybe" stuff? Do what your doc's and PT's said. I want you to be ready, willing and ABLE to fish when we make it down there in January. Cheers, GK

I have 6 of the double-sided finesse size bags. Never had a problem with them. They hold a lot of plastics. Might have to order a couple more while they're on sale.

It depends on what I'm fishing for. For bass, baitcasting gear. 7' medium power fast action rod / 6.3:1 reel. You said you didn't really want brands, so I won't mention the Avid rod with Energy Pt reel, that, if forced to, I could use for all my bass fishing. Mostly baits from 1/4oz on up. Heavier line handles better on a baitcaster. I'm a better caster with baitcasting gear, and sometimes accuracy is important. 7' because sometimes you neeed a longer cast. Walleye, 7' medium power mod-fast action spinning rod. Airrus rod with Energy pt spinning reel. ( sorry, won't do it again. ) Smaller lighter baits, sometimes live bait, long casts, light line, all good reasons to go with spinning tackle. Pike/Muskie, baitcasting, 7' heavy rod / 5:1 reel and braid. Big baits, big fish, enough said. Crappie, 7'6" UL spinning rod / 30 size reel for long casts. Little baits. I get mostly 3/4 to 1lb crappie, and they're fun to catch on the UL rod. I get one every now and then on a baitcaster, and it's like reeling in a dishrag. And last but not least. Bluegill, 3wt fly rod. Because it's some much fun. Cheers, GK

Look at the size of the guys fingers compared to the fish. That thing MAY weigh 4 pounds. The guy gets an award for some world class B.S.

I have three of them. Great casting, slick cranking, smooth and consistant drag; what's not to love. Pretty neat finish on the new models.I have one of those, and two older versions. No problems at all. I think they will last for years. They just feel like they're very well made. A little heavier than some of the competition, but that hasn't made a difference for me. I think you'll like them. Cheers, GK

love the craws, haven't used the chunks. Cheers, GK

For some of the best prices check out this place. http://www.campmor.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=40000000226&storeId=226&categoryId=48189&langId=-1&parent_category_rn=246 I've bought quite a bit of stuff from them and had no problems. The items marked "Hot Deal" are usually about half price. I can't keep "good" sunglasses. Every time I spend some real cash, I loose "em, break "em, drop "em in the water, sit on "em, you name it, I've done it. I gave up. I now buy pair, or two or three, of el-cheapo's every year, and don't worry about them. I also get a new set of "cheaters" every year. They're reading glasses and clip on the sunglasses and flip down so I can see to tie knots, them flip back up out of the way. Ten bucks at wally world. I suffer from short-arm disease, and can't tie a knot without them. I wish I could manage to keep good glasses. These are definitely one of those "you get what you pay for" items. I've had Oakley's, Maui J's, Serengeti's, and Costa's. They were all so much better than the el-cheapo's. And, they are all gone or broken. Bream Master, check out Cocoons. Dorky looking, but effective. Cheers, GK

this may be what you want. http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/item-link.jsp_A&_DAV=MainCatcat21276-cat601336-cat600053_TGP&id=0022913016310a&navCount=2&podId=0022913&parentId=cat600053&masterpathid=&navAction=push&catalogCode=IH&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat600053&hasJS=true

I just had this conversation with a guy who fishes with us.. he is an engineer and seems to overthink everything. he says...the two trolling motor thing is silly. The 55lbs thrust motor is already pushing the boat faster that the 30 lbs so you are negating most of the thrust of the 30 lbs motor. adding the 55lbs motor to the 30 lbs motor does not make it 85lbs of thrust...more like 60 or 65 lbs of thrust at the most because the 55 lbs motor is already pushing the boat faster than the 30 lbs motor can catch new water to push the boat. I do not know about that... I think though that your speed would be about the same. Your engineer buddy has really over-thought this one. There's no way that 55lb motor will pull that, or any, boat fast enough to negate the thrust from the smaller motor. If you want to prove that just lift the small motor out of the water while the front motor is running full tilt. Turn the small motor on high. When you drop it in the water you'll notice it slow down. It's slowing down because it is being loaded. You'll notice the boat speed up, and that will be the end of that argument. I'd leave the bigger motor on the front. It's a lot easier to fight the wind by going into it, and the bigger motor will be better for that. Cheers, GK

RW likes big tubes. Well here's a big arse tube. http://www.lurenet.com/productdetail.aspx?id=ydz612 I bought some Saturday from BPS, but they don't have them on their website. The above link shows only the 6" size. They also make an 8" size. That's what I bought. Black/blue, watermelon and smoke were the colors BPS had. Got one pack of each to try. Wish now that I'd bought more while I was there. Tried them out yesterday with excellent results. About half the strikes I got, I missed and the bait was pulled down the hook. I'm assuming some smaller fish had it by the tail when I set the hook. The bass I caught on this bait were all good ones; 2 lbs plus. The largest was 4 1/2 pounds. Most of the fish I caught on a T-rig; 5/0 EWG hook and 1/4oz weight. The biggest one I got weightless on top of the snot weed and duck weed. I was throwing the bait to the edge of the gunk and letting it drop as straight as I could. I missed a couple of times, throwing right into the snot. One one errant cast a big bass blew up on it as I twitched the bait out of the slop. Being able to take a hint, I rigged another Doozee on my Senko rod and threw right back into the same place. He hit it again on the second twitch. Caught two more nice ones, and missed two more blow ups, doing that. Time will tell if this will be a truly productive bait, but it looks good after one trip. When trying out a new bait, a nice fat two pounder on the second cast does inspire confidence. Check "em out. Cheers, GK

RIGHT ON RAUL! The threads would be easier to read and probably more helpful for the members who are actually looking for honest opinions of other (insert brand here) owners. Amen, brothers

Nice tip, man. I'll be looking for one of those, ASAP. Nice looking family too. A whole flock of girls!! How the heck do you find time to fish? Cheers, GK

Beautiful place with really clear water. To me that means fish deep when the sun is up. You've already proved that the fish are there. They just moved deep when the light hit. I'd try a Fat Ika. You can cast it a long way, and you can fish it a lot deeper than a Senko, when it's rigged "backwards". I saw what looked to be a lot of healthy weed growth. The bass could also be buried down in the weeds. Punching a t-rigged plastic down into the pockets and channels in the weeds could be the ticket. That's gonna be hard to do from shore. Cheers, GK

Sounds like a good place for a shallow running crankbait. Welcome aboard. Cheers, GK

A gravel pit that's only 12 feet deep? That would be rare around here. I'd suggest that the fish are in deeper water. Your best bet from shore would be a C-rig. You can toss it a good distance, and you'll be able to "read" the structure from shore. The fish may have just moved to the first drop-off away from shore line cover, waiting for conditions to stabilize. You can find that drop with a C-rig. Any plastic will work on the C-rig, including your favorite Senko. Cheers, GK I just re-read the first two sentences, and they sound a little snotty. Please don't take it that way; I didn't mean it to be condescending.

Who said we have to get every fish we hook into the boat? Most of the time I win, sometimes the fish wins. Either way is all right with me. It's a sport, right? A big part of the fun for me is to see "em jump. Of course, if you're fishing a tournament, kindly ignore everything I just said. Others have already posted some great advice for when the money's on the line. One thing you might try is backing off the drag as you get the fish close to the boat. You can then use your thumb to keep some bend in your rod and some tension on the line. Cheers, GK

The bass I eat are the ones I kill. I fish a lot of plastics, and it's inevitable that I'm gonna kill one now and then. It's usually small bass that have been gut-hooked that end up on my table. The ethic I was raised on was "if you kill it, you eat it". I do not target bass for the the skillet. The small ones are good, but there are tastier fish out there. When I want fish for the table, it's usually crappie. Tasty and plentiful in my waters. Or, I'll take my 3WT fly rod out and get a mess of big bluegill. I take enough for one good meal, with a few left-overs for the next day's lunch. I never freeze any. If I wanted frozen fish, I could buy all I want at the supermarket. Selective harvest is something I wish were practiced more often. Keep a few small, but legal sized fish, for the table, and release all trophy candidates back as breeding stock for future generations. There are a lot of bodies of water that could benefit from this. Conservation officials regularly report that their slot limits, designed to improve the fisheries by promoting harvest of selected sizes, are not working because the anglers will simply not take the fish home. Granted, there are waters so fragile that a sustained harvest would be disastrous. But, for every one of those there are many that suffer from over-population, and could be greatly improved if we would all take a few home for dinner. That's the case for most of the lakes in my neck of the woods. Many things can happen to bring down a fishery. Drought, flood, disease, contamination, etc. None of these are in our control. The harvest is just about the only management tool we have that we can control. It's shame it's not used. Cheers, GK

Great setups, gents. Mine are just a bit cheaper. I don't fish for smallmouth very often. Wish I could; they are great fighters. I do use a lot of tubes, jigworms, and some grubs. Jigs sizes are mostly 1/16 and 1/8, but I'll go heavier if conditions dictate. The main setup is a 6'9" ML BPS Finesse rod with Johnny Morris reel spooled with 10lb XL. This rod has either a jigworm or a tube tied on almost all the time. The second rig is a 7'2" Airrus spinning rod and Daiwa Capricorn reel spooled with 8lb test Sufix Elite. That line is clear green, and very hard to see underwater. I can cast a 1/16oz jig/3" grub combo about the same distance with either rig. I tend to favor the baitcaster, but I'll go to the spinning rod, with the stealthy line, when the water is really clear and/or the bite is tough. Cheers, GK

I have a magazine that I saved specifically for a pair of ads. I think it's an old issue of Bassin; not sure. On one page is an add for red hooks, touting their ability to produce more strikes. On the facing page is an add for red line touting it's invisibilty. Gave me a nice little chuckle; I had to save it. The hype never stops, and we're all suckers for it.

When I buy new fishing gear, I am intensely loyal. Loyal to a bargain. I tend to buy only when I can get a deal. I have a totally random selection of rods and reels. Almost everything was bought on sale, on clearance, or used but not abused. Most, but not all, of the stuff I use every day has been called junk by somebody on this forum. Well, everybody is entitled to their own opinions. Just wish some of them grounded in fact, or actual experience, and not hype. If you post a comment like " I use ( insert brand of choice here ) and everything else in junk", know this; I will give your opinion the respect it deserves. Cheers, GK

Awesome! Nice view, too. Cheers, GK

Looks like a great idea. I like the idea of having the spring more in line with the hook point. Did you also try it without trimming down the spring? Might hold the bait better. Cheers, GK

I read somewhere that saoking the plastics in hot water, and then stretching them out to cool off would restore their original shape. Don't know if this works. I've never tried it. Maybe some of our home-made bait makers could weigh in on this. I do know that one of the best afternoon's catching I've ever had was on a super fluke that had a bent down tail. The bait came out of the bag with the tail bent in a curve that was pointing straight down when rigged on the hook. It would straighten out when twitched, then curl back up. I caught a whole bunch of fish on that fluke before it became too ripped up to stay on the hook, and the last fish slung it off. I wasted several more trying to modify them to do that again. Never got it. There's an idea for an enterprising home pourer. I agree with Brent. Don't thow them out, without a hook and line attached. Cheers, GK