JT Bagwell

I use 50# PowerPro on my Flippin' Sticks and Pitchin' Rods. JT Bagwell

To be honest with you, I forgot to send you the message. lol Good luck at your tank demos, talk to you later. JT Bagwell

LOL That's all I have to do? Thanks for the valuable advice. lol JT Bagwell

I use one like the one pictured in the post above. JT Bagwell

Nice Fish George. I wish I could catch bass that "little" here in Northern Illinois. JT Bagwell

I am not sure where the toondawg has been. I haven't talked to him in a while. I will post a message for him on the Top Secret Yamamoto Pro Team forum. LOL That would be the equivelant to using the "Bat Phone." JT Bagwell

This past season was my absolute worst season I have ever had. There are a number of elements that combined to make it not a lot of fun. For starters I was getting kind of burned out on tournament fishing. I went fun fishing with my family a lot more and that was a lot more enjoyable for me. I was also extremely busy with work. To top it off, my wife got pregnant a couple of months before the fishing season started and didn't have the baby until after the season ended. So she was pregnant the entire tournament season. Oh and to answer your question, YES, I have been skunked. It was a pretty rare thing until this past season. I think it happened 3-4 times last year and it was not a fun thing. Hopefully this season will be much better. I am so anxious to get on the water now that it is driving me nuts. To make matters worse, they are calling for a big snow storm to hit here this weekend and the temperatures will be in the teens and twenties for the Highs over the next week or two. JT Bagwell

I have finally hit post #900 (since we went to this new forum style). It only took me something like 2 years and 2 months to do it. lol I see some people on here that have 6 to 8 times that many posts in the last 6 months. LOL I think LBH has 900 posts this week. I just wanted to share my milestone with you all. ;D Maybe I will hit 1,000 by next year. JT Bagwell

Nice rig... I am going to try to get my neighbor to sell me his jon boat this spring. If he will sell it cheap enough I want to do something similar to yours. I have a Triton TR20 with an Optimax on the back, but we have some areas that you can not use the big motor (even for trailering). After a long day on the water it really sucks having to crank that big boat up on the trailer. I thought a jon boat with a 74lb thrust Minn Kota on the front would do the trick. I basically just want to put a casting deck on the front and that is about it. For the most part, I want to keep the weight as low as possible. Once again, nice job on the boat. JT Bagwell

Dan, Those are some nice fish. It appears that you don't need the article. ;D JT Bagwell

Pflueger has a 7'6" Trion Flippin' Stick that collapses down towards the handle. I have used these for Frog fishing on many occasions and I have never had one break. I also use these rods when I go catfishing with my father inlaw (fun fishing) and they work well for that too. These rods are very inexpensive and the quality is really good for the price. (I think they are in the $30-$50 range if I remember correctly) Here is a picture of part of the rods. It almost looks like the top one is the Flippin' stick that I was talking about (it is hard to tell in the picture though). JT Bagwell

I knew there were a lot of very expensive reels on the market, but I never really paid attention to how many there were until I read this thread. Just browsing through a BPS catalog I was amazed. As far as I am concerned, there is nothing that would make me spend $300, $400 or $500 on a single reel. That to me is just over kill and probably a little bit of price gouging (or something along those lines). Several years ago I was talking to a guy from Shakespeare about their Pflueger reels. We were discussing price points and things of that nature. At some point in the conversation I asked why a particular reel was priced so low, when comparable products from rival companies were $40-$50 higher. The guy said something along the lines of "would the reel be any better if we charged that much money?" He also stated that they weren't in the habit of taking advantage of their customers. If they can keep it where anglers can afford them without having to get a second job and still make a profit, then everybody wins. I was very surprised by his statement and I can tell you that the guy was being very genuine when he was talking. He wasn't trying to sell me anything at all. It was just a casual conversation. JT Bagwell

It figures, I have 4 Medalists in my office and not a single President. I was going to try to swap handles and tell you if it works. Well, it was the thought that counts. ;D JT Bagwell

I use 50 lb test PowerPro when I am Flippin' and Pitchin'. The only time I ever use a leader is in clear water. If the water is stained or dirty you can use the heavy PowerPro line and not worry about a leader. JT Bagwell

I use Hi-Vis Yellow PowerPro line most of the time when I am fishing jigs, Senkos or other baits where line watching might be beneficial. I do not use leaders unless I am fishing in clear water (which almost doesn't exist in my area). For the most part you don't even need to worry about fish seeing your line because it is yellow or because it is braid. I do not have any input in reference to the brand that you mentioned since I have never used it, but I can tell you that I have use PowerPro for years and I have never had any trouble with it. JT Bagwell

I am a longtime member of B.A.S.S. and FLW Outdoors. That might change in the future, but for the time being I think I paid like 3 years in advance. JT Bagwell

Being part of the Yamamoto Pro Team, I get asked a lot of questions about the various products produced by Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits. Since the recent release of the Swimming Senko, that bait has taken over as the most asked about bait (for the time being). JT Bagwell

I think A.B.A. is 1 place per 7 anglers. JT Bagwell

Oh yeah, I did ask for clarification on what the truth really was (if the article was wrong) and if they were taking any action to correct the article. The only response I got was a copy of the same email they sent me the first time. JT Bagwell

Below is the response I received from Tim Horton's (coffee). I would assume that it is a generic response that they send to everyone. JT Bagwell Dear Jeremiah; Thank you very much for contacting us with regards to Tim Hortons, professional Bass fisherman. Regrettably, the information contained in a recent news article does not accurately reflect the current facts and Tim Hortons wants to make it clear that no legal action is pending against Tim Horton and he remains free to continue to promote and sell lures, DVD's and other products in connection with his bass fishing business. I hope that this addresses your concerns. Please do not hesitate to contact us should you have any further questions. Regards, Margaret Operations Services Representative

I rarely fish the 4" Senko, but I fish the 5", 6" and 7" a lot. 5" I use a 3/0 or 4/0 Daiichi Wide Gap hook. 6" I use a 4/0 Daiichi Wide Gap hook. 7" I use a 5/0 Daiichi Fat Gap hook. JT Bagwell

No biggie on keeping your spot quiet. I just hadn't heard of any trout ponds in the area. I have some of those storm swimbaits. They look cool, but so far I have never had a bite on them. JT Bagwell

Nice story buddy. You are such a good story teller that you should move to Hollyweird and do some naration work for the movie studios. ;D I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. The only thing that was missing was some $7 a bag popcorn and some mouthy kids on cell phones sitting behind me. Good Job, JT Bagwell

Wow that's cool that you are from this area. Yes, Lake George is still very tough. It has some big fish in it though. I got a bass out there a couple of years ago that was 2 ounces short of 9 pounds (which is huge this far north). Jigs and soft plastics seem to be the biggest producers out there (although I caught that big one on a spinnerbait). Where did you get that Rainbow Trout at? JT Bagwell

You can rest assured knowing that I did not pick that shirt out. lol He has that one and also one that says "My Grandma Rocks." They didn't have any his size that said "My Daddy Rocks." Go figure. Thanks again everyone, I feel pretty lucky that's for sure. JT Bagwell