Sam

Like women's shoes, you never have enough rods.

West, in the good ole days, pros would use the lower ratio reels for crankbaits. With the introduction of the faster ratios the pros started to go with the 6:1 and 7:1 gear ratios for more and more techniques, including treble hook baits. Today, the pros will use a higher gear ratio when fishing treble hook baits and slow down their presentation as stated above. Use the 5:1 reel for crankbaits, knowing that it is slow and a fast moving bass towards you will have an advantage since you can't reel in the slack fast enough to keep the fish buttoned. And the pros are keeping their gear ratios secret. If you listen to them they will tell you all the brands of equipment they are using or trying to push for their sponsors but not the gear ratios. You have to read that information in Bass Times, Bassmaster Magazine or BAM. Enjoy the reel and post some pics when the ice melts in Michigan and you can get on the water.

No. Just happy to be able to launch the boat without sinking it.

Raider, did you think that there could be more than one? And by shutting out their way in (as you think) you have kept the ones already in the car in the car. I would suggest putting one or two mouse traps on the rear seat floor just to make sure there are no others in the SUV. Just a suggestion.

Buzzed, even in a bass boat you can be thrown out by other boat's wakes. You are fishing in skinny water and that wake comes rolling in behind you and WHAM! You are holding onto your boat's pedestal seat for balance. Glad you got out when you did. I remember reading an article about two guys who drowned last week when they were thrown out of their boat and were not wearing their PFD. You made a strong statement. Thanks for reminding everyone as we get ready for this year's fishing season.

Storm is heading up to Richmond. We expect high winds and rain between 3 and 8 today. Better than snow and ice. All be safe, not sorry.

Sac-a-Lait = crappie for those of you who don't know. Hunting and fishing in Louisiana is outstanding. Keeping your Louisiana bounty does not injure the population since the mammals and fish do so well in the Louisiana environment. Little Fish, be sure to nail a bunch of nutria, too. Louisiana = Sportsman Paradise. Come to Louisiana as you are and leave different!!!!! It is a cultural thing. Geaux Tigers!

Tackle, rods, reels and other equipment $1,500 Bass Boat, Motor, Trailer, Gas, Oil, Batteries, etc. $35,000 Catching and releasing those beautiful bass Priceless How about going to the Introductions and letting know a little about you. And do you live in McKenney? Best ice cream shop in the state is in McKinney. Just watch the local cops and their radar. Welcome to the Forums. We look forward to reading your posts and giving you our input.

Sons are great but you will need a daughter in your old age. Congrats!

I hit the BPS on I-95 north of Richmond this Friday and the store was empty. Picked up some XPS tungsten weights and spoke with three of the guys working the department. Mr. Bill, the front end greeter, told me that they were bracing for a big Saturday but so far Friday was a bust.

Outstanding! Congrats to your daughter and you and the family.

Catt, that post was done in fun. Of course I use water temps as a guide. Up this way the bass start the spawn around the low 60's. If we know the geographical location of the person starting this thread we could give him some better information. Take care and do some fishing for all of us who can't get on the water.

Catt, are you crazy? Even though we have no idea where Pondboss lives; what waters he fishes; and does he have a boat; we are expected to tell him and all other guys the secret to fishing the spawn and catching those big ladies on their way to the spawning fields. Bass will adapt to their surroundings so the bass living in Toro Creek like colder water while other bass on Toledo Bend like the higher temps. To each bass his own. Up this way in Virginia we start to get excited when Dogwoods bloom. That means the bass are on their beds. So I actually don't use water temps as an overall guide. I do use them while on the water, but I use the Dogwoods as my guide to hit the water. And to top if off, we are due for another big snow storm on the 23rd or 24th. Hope it misses us. But if it does hit us the waters will remain on the cold side in the 40's, with shallow water in the sun getting into the low 50's.

Yes, if you have a person who reached their majority to co-sign in states where 18 is still not the age of majority and a majority aged co-signer is needed. If 18 is the age of majority then you can legally enter into a contract.

Mike, as an impartial observer to your query may I offer the following? If possible, go with different guides to see what they do and what works for you. Find out if you need a business license. You will need to check with your watercraft insurance company to make sure they will cover your guiding adventures. There is a marked difference between a pleasure boat and using your boat for a business oriented operation. Consider purchasing another $1,000,000 of third-party liability insurance in the form of an Excess Liability Policy for your home, vehicles and boat. The added protection, coupled with your basic $500,000 watercraft liability limits will give you peace of mind when on the water hosting others. Know places to go where the clients can catch fish, bass, bream, crappie, catfish, etc. Know how to obtain and keep alive your live bait. Shiners and shad are great live bait as are Nightcrawlers. But worms are gooey and many people don’t like them. Plan for some mortality of your live bait, too. Remember, live bait is best as plastics and moving baits can leave a person unhappy when they do not catch something on every cast. Try to price your service based on your overhead expenses. After all, you do want to make enough to cover your expenses and a little left over for a Twinkie on the way home. So check everything out and if all the pieces fall in place go for it. Good luck. Sam

Pond, the spawn depends on water temperature. Usually in the mid-60s. The male bass, around 63*, will move up from their deep winter digs and head to the spawning flats. There, they will select a place to make a bed and wait for the water temperature to rise to about 65* when the females show up. Should the water temperature drop to under 63* (give or take) the male will leave the nest and return to it when the water temperature reaches back to 63* or higher. Since you have not listed your geographical location we cannot give you specifics about when your lakes and rivers will attain that magical mid-60's temperature. So please add it to your avatar. Now, here is the rub. Many of our Forum members believe the bass have specific "routes" they take to and from the spawning grounds. Others, like me, believe the bass do not have specific routes but go from structure to structure on their way to the spawning areas. If you believe the bass have specific routes than it is up to you to find them. If you believe the bass travel as they wish, crossing open water and using underwater structure to move to the spawning area, then you will have to find the deep water near the spawning areas and fish that pattern. What is interesting is the second and third spawn of the year. Yes, bass can spawn more than once in the spring. I have seen baby bass swimming in the Rappahannock River after the spawn was supposed to be over by a month or two. Blew my mind when I saw them and did not believe what I was seeing until my partner told me that he has seen it before, too. So watch your water temperatures and when they get into the low 60's get ready to try to find their beds. Now, to get spawning bass to bite is another topic for another day.

Yes! What Catt said is what I was going to pen. You need to get on the water and fish and check out the areas via your electronics, BUT only after you study the map of the body of water so you will have an idea of what the lake presents to you in the form of structure, cover, creeks, coves, marinas, docks, piers, pads, grass, etc. I hate to assume (ass/u/me) the type of water you will be fishing, probably a lake, so you need as much time on that body of water as you can before the tournament. You will not only gain a lot of information but also improve your confidence level. So plan to get on the water as much as you can and learn all you can before tournament day.

March 12th. Water will be cold. But my BASS Region 3 is blasting off out of North Bend on the 12th, too. Let's all hope there is no ice on the water by the ramp. And my first club tournament is March 13, the next day, out of Rudd's Creek. So I will be watching the weather, water temperature and water level before setting up for the tournament, if I go. I hate cold weather. Now, does the date change amend the original input? Nope. Jigs fished slow; Carolina rig fished slow; find the bushes and go with your flipping and pitching. You and your partner need to find the pattern, which may be off shore on ledges and drop-offs or along the bank where the sun is warming the water a few degrees. No one knows until you get on the water. Throw search baits or just go with your jig, Carolina rig and plastics. Be sure to check out those three web sites, although they do overlap, looking for the water temperature, air temperature (to dress properly) and the water level. Good luck and let's share our results after March 13th.

1:00 AM, Monday, February 15th. Happy President's Day! BRIEF UPATE ON THIS EVENT -- yes the snow has come in EARLIER and much earlier than what it looked like only 36 hrs ago. This event has 2 PARTS PART 1 -- The OVER RUNNING SNOWS -in the weather business the term "overrunning snow" refers to a type of snow event which does not involve a organized area of Low pressure. Instead what happens is that the warm air aloft overruns the colder dense air ...at the surface and this process produces overcast skies and snowfall. As a general rule short range weather models are often a little slow with the overrunning precipitation and this appears to be the case with this system. . IMAGE #1 Given the current radar trends it's pretty clear that by 7:00 AM on Monday there will be a band of snow oriented in a west to east direction covering most of southwestern south central and interior portions of Southeast Virginia. The northern edge of the moderate snow will be reach up to Fredericksburg Charlottesville and close to Washington, DC. The purple line = the snow line the RED line = Ice line. As you can see the purple line or the snow line is still down close to Elizabeth City and Raleigh at 7am. BY 1PM IMAGE 2 the rain snow line is close to Richmond Virginia Lynchburg and Roanoke. Everything N of the purple line is still snow so Charlottesville Fredericksburg most of the northern portions of the Shenandoah Valley northeast of VA lower southern MD DCA BAL are still in all snow. Richmond is changing over by 1:00 PM to sleet as is Lynchburg and Roanoke. However look A at he RED line which represents sleet - e which extends still southward down to Emporia Raleigh Greensboro and Charlotte NC. However far southwestern Virginia has gone over a plane rain as has southeastern Kentucky and the far southwest 25% of West Virginia. 7PM MON -IMAGE #3 - we can see the developing area of low pressure now approaching Chattanooga TN. The purple line which again is the SNOW SLEET line is north of the PaA MD border and has pushed north of Philly but not to the north of Pittsburgh. Central portions of WVA have gone over to all rain and the Rain area now covers all of eastern NC southeast VA all of the Delmarva NJ and close to New York City

http://allenluckfishing.com/blog/ Check out his sponsor information. Good luck.

Pay taxes on the retail value of the boat, motor and trailer. Or, sell the boat to raise the money to pay for the taxes on the boat, motor and trailer.

Twocast, let's discuss the different lines available to you and then review your knot. Mono - In the good old days, we used mono for topwater and treble hook baits as it has stretch. We set the hook by moving the rod at waist level from the right to the left or the left to the right. Fluorocarbon - For all other baits, including plastics. Use by the pros today for topwaters and treble hook baits and their plastics. Used as a leader for braid presentations. Braid - For a strong line in vegetation, not rocks where the line can be damaged. Used for jigs mostly by the pros along with a fluorocarbon leader tied to the braid with various "favorite" knots. Polycarbon - New type of line that combines the properties of mono and fluorocarbon. Some guys use this type of line for all presentations. Yo-Zuri is a great brand to consider. Read about copoly lines on the Internet and consider using them. Knots - No matter what type of knot you use to tie your braid to your leader you have to use a quick set glue. Get the type that has a brush so you can brush the fast drying glue on the knot. The glue helps support the knot. I use Kwik-Fix Super Glue with the brush on cap. Research has shown that fluorocarbon line has stretch, just like the mono. And some brands of flouro have more stretch than mono. Be sure to spool some mono to your reel first and then tie on the braid. This will stop the braid from turning on the reel when you are battling a fish. It is very important for you to use the same "diameter" line when tying braid and flouro lines together. You can also tie the same pound test of braid and flouro lines together. Personal preference. A lot of guys and gals do not use a leader. They tie the bait directly to the braid and don't worry about having a leader. Personal preference once again. Knots at the bait and knots tying the braid and flouro together form weak spots in your line that can fail at any time. The fewer knots you have the less line failure you will have. Try using the fast drying glue on your knots to note if knot failure reduces. Also consider cutting out the knot and retying after two or three fish. Just a suggestion. Good luck and get back with us regarding the use of the glue trick.

Suggestions: 1. Hit these web pages for information on water levels. You want the level to be at least 302 to "fish the bushes." http://www.bobcatslakecountry.com/ http://kerrlake.proboards.com/board/1/large-mouth-bass-general-discussion http://www.kerrlake.info/fishing/index.htm 2. Throw lizards, beaver style and creature baits plus shaky heads in bushes. 3. Throw Carolina Rig. 4. Throw jigs but the hits will be slow so consider fishing jigs after you have your fish unless you feel comfortable fishing jigs in rocks. Get ready to lose some jigs in the rocks. 5. Shad Raps work all year on Kerr. 6. As a nonboater you go where the boater goes so take a little of each bait you will be throwing with the understanding that you may lose some in the rocks, if you fish the rocks. 7. Some guys are successful with swim baits. Where are you blasting off?

Good choice. My BPS Extreme and Cranking Stick rods are excellent. The Pro Tourney is a very good rod and will serve your needs in the years to come. Just don't forget her as you add to your rod count. Remember, you can NEVER have enough rods!

I have no idea where Horton is but I know I don't want to be there at this time, 5:53 PM, Sunday, February 14, 2016: Timmy Horton 2 hrs · Uggghhh!!!