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Banks will loan a 16 year old 10 grand?? Geebus, that's crazy.

Probably a previous renter who decided not to take it with them. Not sure on the legalities on a canoe and titlement. Check your local Dept of revenue to get the official word.

Nice boat but......Where does a 16 year old get $10,000 for a boat along with alot of very nice fishing equipment? At sixteen I got a Ambassadeur 5000 old red reel along with a rod at Christmas and thought I was living the highlife.

My hotspots that are structure oriented haven't changed much. Hotspots due to submerged cover are another story. As the cover goes, so goes the hotspot.

Cable steer. I tried a power drive for several years and it was OK except for the extremely slow response time and the noise when turning. If they could figure out a way to speed the turn time up, at least double, I'd buy another one.

Call me when Ike, or whatever you want to call him stops spinning on his head or brake dancing and actually contributes something useful to bass fishing. At the rate he's going he'll have to live to 150 to contribute 1/10th what Roland did in his 60 years. BTW, Iaconelli is listed here http://men.style.com/gq/features/landing?id=content_4103 as one of the 10 most hated men in sports! ;D

If I was going to buy aluminum I'd buy a G3. Well made and thoughtfully laid out. They're made in Lebanon Missouri right across the interstate from Tracker marines Aluminum plant and next to Lowes and Landau's.

Do any of you remember the last habitat Bill was pitching? The fishing tree, which was produced by the Gimmick King himself, Dr. Loren Hill. It was a metal rod in a weighted ball type base. Plastic leaves stuck out of the rod and the base was to be filled with purina fish chow which would initially draw baitfish in when it was first planted. Haven't seen those sold in years.

If I hired a guide it would probably be to learn a particular lake. If that was the case I'd expect them to fish. Sometimes certain lakes have particular seasonal patterns that require particular lure presentations which are different than presentations made on another lake, that's what I'm paying to find out. I'd also ask a guide to mark my lake map, not specific spots mind you but area's I'll want to key on the remaining days I'm there. I may ask him about seasonal patterns throughout the year. As for the main question, sure, I'd like him to fish.

If you already planted cover before the pond filled this would probably be a waste of money. If you felt the urge to add cover a bunch of concrete blocks and some cut brush or small trees are alot cheaper.

Many years ago I saw a film shot on famed, Big Bass, Treasure Lake in Cuba. The film was shot in the late 50's before Castro and the communists took over. Anyway, besides all the 10 + lb bass these guys were catching they showed how they would row out, yes I said row, there were no trolling motors in Cuba back then, beat the water with paddles and Bass of around 1-2lbs would start jumping out of the water and even into the boat? Pretty amazing stuff. I'm not sure what kind of fish those are on the video, the clarity is terrible.

Basschaser, if you're in Southeast Missouri then you're very close to 2 of my picks. One would be Lake Girardeau just west of the Cape and the other is just up I-55, Perry County Lake in Perryville. I'm talking big bass here, not necessarily the best lake overall.

I never lived there but vacationed there many times, first as a boy in the mid-60's to early 70's and then later in life. My brother lived in the "springs" when he was stationed at Carson in the early 80's. We usually stayed at a place called Bell Crest resort on Shadow Mtn. I understand the resort is out of business but the buildings are still there. I haven't been up there in probably 25 years, I've heard from my parents who have traveled up there frequently over the years that the area has changed drastically. Condo city.

I'm assuming you mean a 2/0 hook. A number 2 hook might be a tad small for fishing plastic worms. You didn't say what kind of worm you were fishing or what size. I wouldn't fish anything larger than a 6" this time of year. You might have scaled the size back a bit if they were short striking or you might want to try a worm with a little less tail action and dead stick it. When a bass hits let him run a little with it. Usually it's best to fish a Berkley Powerbait product or one of the Yum products, the fish tend to hold onto to those longer. As for colors, If the waters clear I prefer watermelons, pumpkinseeds or amber colored worms, in stained I'll fish the same but dip-n-glo some chartreuse on the tail. I'll also go with Junebug if it's a lowlight situation. In stained I love Junebug, Black neon with chartreuse tail.

I've been in a few semi-V's like the one you've got, (12 footer). One of the things to be cautious of is just how stable the boat is at rest. Anytime you add a casting deck you're raising the center of gravity when you're fishing out of it. Some hulls are fine with it others become very tippy and can roll, excessively, if someone in the boat shifts their weight to the outside edge. That rolling can be enough to toss another angler out of the boat if he's not aware. Just something to think about.

What kind of wood did you use for that Josh?

I've been a member of clubs affliated with different tourney organizations and then a member of a non affiliated just-for-fun club. Believe me when I say the the Picnic club (as we were called) ;D was a lot more fun to be in. It was about sharing info, having some not so serious tourney's and fellowship, both at the lake and at our once a month meetings. Keep it cheap. Make dues enough to cover a small newsletter and maybe some small Angler of the year trophies. Another thing, watch your new membership and their affiliations. Have tourney fee's cheap enough and a payout low enough so as not to attract regular tourney guys wanting to skim the pot, so to speak. Allowing new anglers into a club is great but if that angler turns out to be a tourney angler he's going to want the club to fish tourneys that coincide with affiliation tourneys he's fishing. If he brings more members into the club like minded with him the next thing ya know he's got a voting block and your club tourneys are taking a back seat to some Buddy or affiliated tourney's schedule. Been there, done that.

I fish Lake of the Ozarks here in Missouri, a 50,000 + acre lake with 1700 miles of shoreline of which 1699 miles of it is lined with boat docks. ;D Seriously, fishing boat docks on that lake is one of the basic patterns. I've only had a few run-ins over the years and in those situations I just move along to another dock. You do have the right to fish the water in and around the dock, you don't have the right, obviously, to get off your boat onto the dock to untangle a misplaced cast or get to a fish that may have wrapped you into junk in stalls or underneath the dock.

The only Mag I get anymore is Bassmaster, after 31 years of membership I think it's basically habit that keeps me renewing. In-Fisherman used to be a great mag when the Lindners owned it, don't know about it now. Bassin seems like a good mag. Another good magazine is or was Fishin Facts, that publication may be out of business and it was like In-Fisherman, full of Walleye and Pike articles but the Bass articles they had were more informative than anything else out there.

Granby? I used to go out to Shadow Mtn Lake and Grand Lake, Granby's neighbors in my younger days. I've heard it is and has been, extremely low for a while, boat docks are quite a distance from the actual lake itself. Anyway, not an ice fisherman myself cause I can't imagine standing out in freezing cold peering into a hole in the ice but another spot you might want to try is the spillway below Shadow Mtn lake right next door. If there's water flowing I imagine it won't be frozen. If so, we used to catch trout there. BTW, where do you live at Benzo? I can't imagine making that trek up there if you live in the Denver area.

Went to a small boat and sport show today in Illinois. Bought 3 new rods and a few lures. I've already stripped, cleaned, lubed and respooled all my reels. I'm doing a complete tackle reorganization as well. Sunday it's supposed to be in the mid-50's temp wise so I'll probably go get the boat ready tomorrow and fish Sunday.

There's plenty of towing services available for the Saltwater boys but I've never heard of anything for freshwater. Try contacting marina's on the lake you're at. I'm sure at least one would be happy to take your $$ to drag your broken down butt in. You'll probably have to contact them on the lake with a cell phone or get their VHF radio freq.

If you're looking for a great fishing platform, Ranger makes it. If you're looking for a great handling boat with a good ride especially in rough water I'd suggest looking to other brands like Champion, Triton, Stratos or Charger. ;[ running & ducking ];

A friend and I were fishing a small private pond years ago, very early march. The water was still very cold. He had on one of the old shallow running Rebel wee R's. He made a cast and the line tangled up with the hooks. He started reeling it back it, it was spinning around on the surface as it came in and a huge 6 1/2 lber hit the thing I about crapped. ;D

Don't feel bad. I went out New years day and blanked as well fishing from the bank. Very cold water temps and I didn't have a lot of confidence in the water I had chosen to fish. This time of year can be very, very tough for fishing.