preach4bass

Congratulations!!! I'm on #5 right now. I've always heard that the second happiest day of a man's life is when he buys a boat. The happiest day is when he sells it. ;D Enjoy it!!!

Seatow is a big business down around the coast (I live in NC). All of my buddies who saltwater fish are members, but one of them went out with a guy last year and the boat broke down. Result: A tow bill over a thousand dollars But, a thousand bucks is nothing compared to being left for shark bait. The tow-boats get paid by the hour if you aren't a member. Their timeclock starts from the time they leave till the time they get you back in. AND THEY DON'T DRIVE FAST! I've never heard of a tow service on a lake or river. Friends are a lot better than towing services. I've been blessed enough that I haven't needed to be towed in YET, but I've towed in other folks.

7-3, what's yours flip?

ernel, I've never thought about leaving my drain closed at the ramp due to the oily water. That's smart.

You have a good problem, you need your livewell Here is what I do, but I'm sure a lot of other guys could give you better advice: 1. Fill the livewell completely using the pump. 2. If your boat has a timer on the areater pump use that, but if not manually turn it on for about 30 seconds every once in a while (more often in the hot Summer months). 3. In extreme heat carry a couple of bags of ice with you and dump some in every once in a while to keep the fish cool. 4. I use a chemical called "Please Release Me" that helps the fish stay alive. I know there are similar products, but I've had luck with this one. Others will probably give more advice on this. **If your livewell is like most I wouldn't worry about overfilling it. Most livewells have an overflow pipe that allows you to pump in fresh water and circulate out the old. Good luck, and I'm glad you need the livewell!

I live in NC and we have snakes fall out of trees in our boat every once in a while, but I don't carry a gun because I'm afraid I'd actually shoot the snake! ;D I'm blessed enough to launch my boat at a ramp where enough guys have reputations for carrying guns that no one ever fools with anyone else.

AVID, I can't hide BPS points from my wife, she's the one who found out about them for me. She's cool about it though. She'll put things on our BPS card just so I can get more points. At least that's the reason she gives me for all of those shopping sprees

Santa (my wife), gave me a Bassmaster rod and reel combo and a life-jacket for Christmas that she bought from Bass Pro Shops. I was estatic when I opened my new toys, but then she told me that she had used the $75 worth of BPS points I had accumulated. I had planned to use my points on a post-Christmas shopping spree at BPS. BITTERSWEET!!! :'( I love my wife (I mean Santa)!!!

I'm just surprised that anyone would allow their points to add up. The bait monkey uses all of mine.

How wide and fast is the river? Is it tidal? What rivers are you going to be fishing?

Welcome, and good luck keeping the Captain straight

I've heard some of the pros say they like jet-skiers because the baitfish try to hide in their wake, and the bass chase the baitfish, so they're actually good for the fishing. I've never caught bass out of a jet-ski wake, but when I'm catching schooling bass on topwater and they shut off I've started my boat and run around a little bit and stirred things up and the bass started hitting again. So, the jet-skis helping would make sense. But they're still aggervating at times

Is this THE Mad Fisherman, Charlie Moore?

Good luck guys, I hope you can keep your resolutions (especially quitting the smoking and alcohol). My resolution for this year is to graduate from my "NEWBIE" status here ;D

Thanks avid, I've never thought about it that way. I'm going to quit reeling in now (at least on my spinning reels). That stinks. Now I have to admit to my friend that he was right :'( ;D

That's odd. Stupid Bob is located right below the search tab on my screen. Confuses me :-/

When you set the hook, do you reel in at the same time? A buddy and I were debating this the other day and we both continue to reel when we're setting the hook with a spinnerbait or crankbait, but he dosn't when he's setting the hook with a worm or jig. I do. What do you do? Which is right?

I'd like to read the book, where did you find it?

Spinnerbait Crankbait Senko If those three don't work I go home and read about fishing ;D

Oh, that's what the bait monkey is. Thanks for the clarification. And by the way, I understand bait-monkeyese very well and didn't even know it ;D. He's always tricking me into buying that stuff I NEED!

I'm new here, What is the bait monkey? Is it something I should be afraid of? :-/

Think about Kerr Lake (Buggs Island). It's not too far from VA Tech, just down on the VA and NC border, and is great in March. The good thing about it is that if you aren't catching anything on Kerr you can ride about 30 minutes and be on Lake Gaston. One or the other are normally on. You'll need a boat for either, do you have one? Good luck!

I learned about it on the main page of this site. Scroll down until you see "Stupid Bob" on the left hand column, click it and it'll tell you a little info. I also got a brochure from them. I can't remember, but I might have signed up for it off of the link from this site.

Without going into too much detail (because I assume that someone makes their living selling it) does anyone get the Powerfishing Report? I saw it advertised on this site, and got a little brochure in the mail about it, but I was wondering if anyone here had tried it. If so, is it worth the money? Thanks.

My little cousin and I were at a catfish farm (I know we cheated) catching 2-8lb. cats one right after just for fun. He hadn't been fishing too many times so I was baiting the bottom rigs and he was reeling in the fish. He hooked into a 7 or 8 pounder close to the bank and tried to horse him in, but the hook came out of the fish's mouth and sent the bottom rig (1 oz. weight) right over his head. Unfortunately, one of the hooks snagged his scull with so much force from the weight that it broke the like. I think the line trick would have worked if I were pulling a hook out of my head, but for my little cousin's heat it required a trip to the ER. The trip to the ER was for me. I don't have childre, so I don't know if yet if my parents were lying when they said spanking me hurt them more than me, but I know that hook in my cousin's head hurt me a whole lot more than him. He made me feel a lot better by keeping the hook as a souvineer.