cart7t

I had a boat sink on me once. I was glad the foam was there.

Either or but I'd prefer the 26th.

Have they tried adjusting the bunk height?

Sorry for the delay. PM sent!

Some do. But this site could use more of that. Because, frankly, I think it's lacking somewhat. Lot's of great fisherman on this site. I'm not one of them, but I'm competent, and I do know my heiny from a hole in the ground. And I've been fishing, successfully, far longer than I've been posting here. There is a definite clique on this board. I've learned to tolerate it. I've even engaged it once or twice. But there is a feeling this site is the personal playground of a select group of members and every one else is a little less than just guests whose opinions hold less value. Very few people personally know others on this board. I know there are some exceptions. But for the most part, we don't know each other personally. No one here knows anything about me except what I have decided to reveal on this board. No one knows where I've been, what I've done, my experiences, or my areas of expertise. That goes for most of us. Assuming we are the ultimate source of information on a subject is a quick way to learn a lesson in humility. Honestly, I'm a member of other forums, not just fishing. Cliques, often form between members who become involved with one another outside the boundaries of the forum. In the case of this place, those that take the time to participate in forum fishing get togethers. There's no hiding behind a keyboard at those functions. People will see you for who and what you are. Once those friendships are born off the boards those that don't participate feel like they're not apart of it. My advice. Any chance there's a forum get together that you can attend, attend it. You'll meet a lot of great people here. 8-)

Honestly, to presume that anyone here with a high post count is any more knowledgeable than someone without one is on them. To be quite fair, the reason many members with high post counts have them is because they spend time interacting with other members. I've had the great opportunity to meet and fish with several people here and that never would've happened had I just sat back and read posts and never interacted with others or posted. Does that make me an expert? I don't get involved in boat or tackle threads unless I have had knowledge of said equipment. I then try and offer the pros and cons of my experience with said equipment, technique, lake fished at, etc. If I make an incorrect statement I expect to be called on it (and I have) I'll also reciprocate. New Fishermen(women) have a lot more choices facing them than I had back when I started 30 + years ago. Back then it was Garcia reels and either a Lews Speedstick or a Fenwick if you had the cash. Todays new bass fishermen have such a wide variety of rods, reels and lures available to them I can imagine how confusing it is. The only way anyone will learn is to ask. If a new angler asks about a reel and a fishermen who owns one responds with advice, even if said responder has a low post count or has only owned the reel for a few months, I don't know how that's bad. He's giving his opinion. He's entitled. Unless Glenn wants to post a list of BFR approved Experts at the top of the forum and give each one an official "BFR Seal of Approval Expert rating" I don't know how you can draw a line on just who can or can't give advice around here. JMO opinion btw, by no means am I trying to imply I'm any sort of eggspurt.

The thread seemed to need the opinion of an eggspurt.

What's an expert?

The only time I've ever wished for a 4wd was when pulling out of the local river. The concrete ramps tend to get a fine layer of silt and sand on them and can be a real wheel spinner. Otherwise, you need power to pull out of the water more than anything.

Lighter weight and sensitivity are the biggest differences. If you're throwing your baits into the right places, a higher end rod may get you a few more fish in the end, especially if you're throwing any bait that requires more feel to detect strikes. If you aren't fishing in the right places, no rod, regardless of price will help you.

March or April are both good months down there. As for where? It's a 50,000 acre lake. There are plenty of good places during those months. Gravois arm, Glaize arm, Niangua, up river, mid lake. I'd suggest heading down to the boat show and picking up a LOZ vacation guide. Most of the resorts that are still left down there advertise in it.

I think what's at issue here is the stores selling these as brand new and not notifying the customer that these were returned and are being sold "New, Open box returned". Big difference. I work in the electronics repair business. Many big box retailers have very liberal exchange policies. Usually, customers can bring an item back within 30 days and get a full refund, no questions asked. This means the item may or may not be working correctly. Unless the box was sealed (most reel boxes aren't like that) you have no way of knowing whether the reel is used or not if it's stuck into New stock. There should probably be some sort of disclosure law. Just the price one has to pay for these return policies stores offer these days in order to compete.

I owned a Power drive for around 7 years or so, I'd never own another unless major changes were made to them. Head turning speed isn't even comparable to a cable steer like the Edge. The head turning speed is slower as your TM speed is turned up. Stow and deploy system sucks and makes running a Graph transducer cable a pain. The long cable is nice as well as the flat controller. The controllers do have problems though. Compared to my MK AT cable troller I have now, which is similar to an Edge, I really don't notice where the Power drive got me anymore battery life to offset all the disadvantages. Power drive motors are a great idea, just poorly executed for normal bass fishing conditions most guys fish in. They're best suited for open water applications.

It was a great game by both sides. The Giants D made the difference. They had Brady absolutely flustered. Nice to sit down for the Superbowl and actually have a decent game to watch vs. just watching for the commercials.

That would go great with the others in my collection: and my Catalog of "The Contents of Al Capones Vault" by Geraldo Rivera. ;D

Someone slashed one of my trailer tires about a year ago. The dog gone thing had less than 100 miles on it. >

I'm very happy with the outcome. I figured NY was capable of winning this thing after watching them in the playoffs. The defense was beyond excellant. They dominated that game. Kudo's to NY and any Giants fans. Enjoy the victory.

Here's a Go-Daddy.com commercial that Fox banned from broadcast during the game. http://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/media/play.asp?isc=superbowl&mediaID=exposure&ci=11526&tab=sb

I enjoyed the show. I think Petty's "d**n the Torpedo's" album needs to be in any collection. His best work IMO.

I finally dumped cable and went to Direct TV. I've noticed the Outdoor channel has way more hunting programs than fishing which makes no sense since fishing has far more participants than hunting does..

It's not uncommon for me, a 50 year old, to have numbness for about a day or so after using fishing techniques like jerkbaits that are wrist intensive. I've also got tendon problems along with some carpal Tunnel syndrome. If you're experiencing wrist numbness for that long after just 3 days of jerkbaiting, I'd suggest seeing a doctor. Sounds like you may have carpal tunnel setting in. In the meantime I'd suggest wearing wrist supports.

http://www.candomarineparts.com/CompleteDash.html

I've never fished Pinckneyville. You'll have to ask dink but I believe he has.

I caught a 6'6" MHVY baitcasting rod with a 5500 C3 attached to it. The rod was a Quantum of some type, it was wasted. The reel needed some work but I got it going.

You don't need a 24 volt motor on a 14 foot aluminum boat.