VekolBass

LBH has a gift for statistical/trend analysis. I caught mine at 11am, for what it's worth.

Fishing from ANY boat beats bank fishing. Where I live, in Virginia, the land is usually private property--when you can find a public easment it generally is only 100-200 yards at the most. Figure that area gets worked extensively by people who are in a similar situation as you. There are some lakes that have extensive shoreline access, but there too you're limited as regards terrain, vegetation, and presentation. You also are limited by the distance you can cast, whereas in a boat (weather permitting) you can fish at any depth you wish. When you sum it all up, by fishing from the shore you are excluded from fishing over 90% of the available water. When you consider that 90% of the fish live in 10% of the water... Well, do the math.

I've been struggling with the same question myself. It's always a tradeoff between cost and features. My conclusion is to purchase a Humminbird 737C. Reasoning: a. List of $379. b. Has GPS as an add-on feature. This makes sense because all-in-one units have the drawback that makes them attractive--all in one. If one half of the gadget breaks, you've lost both the GPS and the sonar. Also, I'd like the GPS to be available for duty in my truck when I'm out hunting. c. Humminbird has the Quadrabeam transducer which permits a 90 deg view beneath the boat. With the WideSide transducer (which I already own) I'll get almost a total view of what's beneath me. d. Yes it's black and white, but I'm not completely sold on the value of color in sonar. Perhaps someone can educate me. If so, then the color unit is Jusssst a little more. Now all I have to do is recover from the 2700 that I dropped today at the furniture store. (Have to keep the wife happy so she'll permit me to continue to feed the Bait Monkey)

Agree that bass turn on just before a storm hits, or as it passes by. Reminds me of a time when a buddy and I were on a lake a bit north of the Mexican border in Arizona in July. We were paddling a 12' rowboat around and fishing when a monster storm comes up. It pours rain and the lightnening crashes down, we get off the lake--but the rain/hail smacks us so hard so we finally gave up and sat under the upturned aluminum boat as the lightening cracked down around us--smoking cigarettes and resigned to our fate.

1. Plastic worm, probably dark, T-rigged 2. Crawling along bottom 3. 12' ~2' 4. Mouth of coves, where a point protrudes into the creek channel. Off on the cove side of the point where the drop is steepest. 5. Steep slope with chunk rock Based on science. Instinct only works when you're there.

The only thing I blame for not catching fish is the wind. Since the wind always seems to be howling when I fish (like today) I generally always have a good scapegoat.

I'm sure all these factors are important--but what are you going to do, spend your precious time on the water doing scientific tests of PH levels and dissolved oxygen--or are you going to fish? It's a lot easier to go to lakes that are known good bass fisheries and forget about some of these other things, which are at best explanations as to why some bass waters are better than others.

I carry a net in my boat, like a lot of fisherman do. I think I would just scoop the critter into the net and put it back in the water. I'm much more concerned about snakes when hunting than fishing--but even then I don't shoot them--unless I'm hungry and the food box is empty.

Thanks for the input guys. After the snow we're supposed to have this weekend melts off some I'm on my way to Wally World to buy a set.

What are the opinions on bearing protectors like "Bearing Buddies?" Also, if you have bearing protectors, do you need to have your bearings re-packed and how often? What's the best lubricant to use?

I'm in the same situation as BEmerson, only on the other side of the country. I've been concentrating on fishing the tidal Rappahannock. I'm by no means an expert, but a couple of observations from last year's efforts. The conventional wisdom is that fishing is best on the falling tide, but let's face it you fish when you can unless you're retired. I'm going to be on the water at sunrise, and I'll generally be back at sunset. So I'm going to be fishing both tides one way or the other. The main thing I've noticed is that the fishing can be good on both tides--the main thing is that the water is moving. Peak high tide is the worst because the fish are less concentrated and there is little to no water movement. If you can hit the falling tide during the early morning, you are fishing at the best time. A full or new moon makes it even better. But still, I don't generally have the opportunity to pick and choose. I get a free day and I'm fishing. A lot, I think, depends on the character of the river itself. For instance, the Rappahannock from Fredericksburg downstream to Skinker's neck is anywhere from 15 to 35 feet deep, and the bank slopes steeply from the shoreline to the channel. Fish here (and there are fewer than downstream where there are more flats and marshes) tend to hold tightly to snags and the many laydown trees along the shore. You have to put your bait in the wood to catch bass here--and I mean right in the worst stuff you can find. Tidal water tends to be murky around here, and the bass' strikezone is correspondingly smaller. As regards pilings, or any obstructions for that matter, a lot of time it's not the ones you can see, but the ones you can't that are the best. Where I'm at there has been almost four hundred years of sunken boats, barges, wharves, pilings, etc. that exist, and many are not on a chart. There are also recently planted "honey holes" that only the planters know about. If you can find one of those your going to catch fish and perhaps make an enemy:) Some sonar recon work, or fishing with someone in the know is the only way you'll find these places. The other guy's in this discussion have given some pretty good tips. One more: don't ignore the leading edge of the obstruction. The current tends to "pile up" against these areas and create an essentially neutral current situation, while still pushing prey fish past the bass.

I'm not an expert by any means on the subject of fishing guides, but I've daydreamed about doing this too. I do have quite a bit of experience in sales and marketing however--as well as working with start-up operations. As the other guys have stated, your biggest problem is going to be attracting enough customers to make the house payment and eat for several years. This is the way most businesses of any kind fail, not enough start up capital to get through those first few years while you're trying to obtain that loyal customer base. My observation is that most guides overcome this in one of two ways: First, become known in your area as a good fisherman. This is generally done by being successful in local tournaments. If your successful enough, you may be able to parlay that into a successful client base very quickly. But probably not. The second way is to be successful enough to get noticed by another established guide service, who will hire you as an associate guide. There you can learn the ins and outs of the business at someone else's expense. The catch here would be that the established guiding services in all likelihood will demand that you sign a non-compete contract, prohibiting you from working as a guide for a specified period of time after you leave their employ. It will also prohit you from contacting any of their clients. This is only fair. The legality and effectiveness of such contracts varies from state to state and industry to industry--but you can find yourself with a lot of legal complications real quick if you try to bust out of one. IF your personal situation permits it, hire on with an outfit in one state--then open your business in a different state of your choosing. You probably won't be able to contact your previous clients, but you'll have a resume. One other piece of advice. I know you said and some others advised that it isn't about the money--but it is. Your creditors don't give a hoot about your love for the outdoors, nor does the grocery store or the doctor if you or a family member gets ill. They want their money. So do some study, if you haven't already on business itself. Things like taxes, bookkeeping, business law, etc. Formulate a realistic business plan, and be honest with yourself about your situation, skills, and financial ability to cope with not only the stuff you plan for, but for the inevitable things that will happen along the way. Hope I'm not unduly discouraging you--what your doing is great. But I have seen some pretty ugly things happen with start-ups. Good luck. JP

I use Microsoft PowerPoint. Acquire the maps from either TOPOUSA or http://bassresource.com/maps/maps.html and chop up the body of water into approx 1/2 mile chunks. Paste the map onto the slide, and use various shapes/icons to mark locations where I caught fish, places to fish, landmarks, etc. Fish catch info goes into the notes page below the slide. I think there is commercially available software on the market that does similar stuff--the fat guy in the red suit IS coming.... JP

Try this link: http://bassresource.com/maps/maps.html. They also have navigational charts if you fish off shore or in navigable waters. I just checked the site, and it is kind of weird right now--but give it a shot, it might have what you need. JP