cabela10

PTi20 should do fine for the technique you want to use it for. PTi30 is a bit overkill I think.

Pro Aaron Hastings of Middletown, Md., caught a final-round total of 10 bass weighing 19 pounds, 9 ounces to win $125,000 in the $1 million Wal-Mart FLW Tour event presented by Kellogg's on Lake Travis. Hastings topped his closest rival, Bryan Thrift of Shelby, N.C., by more than 2 pounds to lead all FLW Tour pros in the chase for the $2 million Forrest Wood Cup in Hot Springs, Ark., where the winner will earn as much as $1 million the biggest award in bass fishing on Aug. 5. It doesn't get any better than this, said Hastings, who was competing in his first ever FLW Tour top-10. I am totally pumped about this. I am also a pretty good rhythm fisherman, so hopefully I can carry over some of this momentum to Knoxville. I had total faith in my ability this week; I just had to keep my confidence up. I fished slow, stayed patient, got the right bites, and it all paid off. Winning such a prestigious event is great, but I would love to close my eyes right now and be home with my family in Maryland. Family is really what this sport is about, he said. Hastings opened the tournament Thursday in ninth place with five bass weighing 11-1. He then stayed in ninth place Friday with a five-bass catch weighing 10 pounds and advanced to the final round of 10 pros with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 21-1. On Saturday weights were cleared and Hastings caught five bass weighing 9-15 to advance to the final day of competition in first place. Hastings added another five bass weighing 9-10 to his final-round total Sunday to win his first FLW Tour title. Hastings fished in the same area all week covering all the same water and structure everyday. The only thing he changed was his baits. In the first round, he was throwing tubes and jigs around contour breaks in 15 to 25 feet of water. In the final round his bite changed drastically, forcing him to fish smaller with drop-shot rigs and finesse worms. Thrift caught a final-round total of 10 bass weighing 17-15 to claim second place and $50,000. This is awesome, said Thrift, who was fishing floating boat docks all week with football head jigs and drop-shots. I'm not greedy. I will settle for second place and $50,000. I am getting married July 21, so this money will definitely not go to waste, it will probably go toward a new house, he said. Rounding out the top 10 pros were Craig Dowling of Madison, Ala. (nine bass, 15-5, $40,000); Kellogg's pro Clark Wendlandt of Leander, Texas (seven bass, 13-11, $30,000); PTSI Quality Transportation pro Ron Shuffield of Bismark, Ark. (seven bass, 13-8, $20,000); Ott Defoe of Knoxville, Tenn. (nine bass, 11-5, $19,000); Kellogg's pro Dave Lefebre of Union City, Pa. (nine bass, 11-3, $18,000); Castrol pro Darrel Robertson of Jay, Okla. (six bass, 10-14, $17,000); BFGoodrich Tires pro Jerry Green of Del Rio, Texas (seven bass, 10-9, $16,000) and BP pro Tracy Adams of Wilkesboro, N.C. (six bass, 6-9, $15,000). Overall there were 46 bass weighing 77 pounds, 1 ounce caught in the Pro Division Sunday. The catch included eight five-bass limits. Sunday's festivities also included the CBS 42 Celebrity Challenge tournament featuring Austin area residents fishing with FLW Tour pros and local celebrities. The team of Fujifilm pro Joel Richardson, Bonifacio Velasquez and Spike from the Round Rock Express won the Celebrity Challenge with a three-bass catch weighing 5-10. In honor of the team's win, CBS 42 donated $5,000 to the FishAmerica Foundation to benefit Lake Travis conservation projects. Velasquez also received $500 for winning the tournament. On Saturday, Frank Divis Sr. of Fayetteville, Ark., won the Co-angler Division and $25,000 with five bass weighing 8 pounds, 11 ounces followed by Doug Caldwell of Kane, Pa., in second place with five bass weighing 6-14 worth $10,000. Divis opened the tournament in 37th place Thursday with four bass weighing 5-8 while fishing with pro Fred Cantaoi of Lakeport, Calif. On Friday he jumped to ninth place on the strength of a five-bass catch weighing 6-9 while fishing with National Guard pro Jonathon Newton of Rogersville, Ala. He wrapped up his win while fishing with Hastings. Divis won the tournament using a drop-shot rigged Bassmedics finesse worm in watermelon candy color. He qualified for the final round, however, using a PJ's Finesse Baits 3/4-ounce football head jig the same bait that has earned him more than $130,000 in his career. Divis fished the jig with a Net Bait Paca chunk trailer. Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were Gain angler Jess Caraballo of Danbury, Conn. (three bass, 3-7, $9,000); Timothy Sisk of Cherryville, N.C. (two bass, 3-3, $8,000); Ken Murphy of Meridian, Miss. (two bass, 2-6, $7,000); Castrol angler Mark Phillips of Fayetteville, Ark. (two bass, 2 pounds, $6,000); Joan Arnal of Barcelona, Spain (one bass, 1-1, $5,000); Adam Lock of Metropolis, Ill. (one bass, 14 ounces, $4,000); Shawn Stewart of Pflugerville, Texas (no bass, $3,000) and Clint Bridges of Round Rock, Texas (no bass, $2,000). Coverage of the Lake Travis tournament will be broadcast to 81 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States as part of the FLW Outdoors television program airing March 18 and 25. FLW Outdoors airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time. FLW Outdoors is also broadcast internationally to more than 350 million households in the United Kingdom, Europe, Russia, Australia, Africa, Asia and the Middle East, making it the most widely distributed weekly fishing program in the world. Additionally, FLW Outdoors is proud to provide tournament coverage to more than 800,000 servicemembers stationed around the world in 177 countries and aboard Navy ships through broadcasts on the American Forces Network. The next FLW Tour stop, presented by BP, will be held on Fort Loudoun Lake in Knoxville, Tenn., March 29-April 1. Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail presented by Abu Garcia, Ranger Owners Tournament Championship Series, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series, Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Striper Series. These circuits offer combined purses exceeding $43 million through 238 events in 2007. Wal-Mart and many of America's largest and most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as an FLW Outdoors sponsor in 1997 and today is the world's leading supporter of tournament fishing.

His show sucks. I've said this before. The guy is unwatchable. His show is all about product placement. He endorses Carolina Lunder Sauce, Spro, Kistler Rods, Ranger boats, and a ugly a*s Honda motor on the Ranger, ruined the d**n boat if you ask me. Next year, he will switch products, he seems to do that every 2 years. He doesn't teach anything, he just fishes and shows only catches and like someone said above... a lot of misses. His guests on the show, usually out fish him from the back of the boat. Also, if you pay attention to some of the things he says, he totally has no idea what he is talking about when it comes to the products he endorses.

I'm pretty sure the Rapala thing is the reason. Why would Normark keep a guy that uses someone elses crankbaits. They don't need Skeet Reese. I'm sure they asked if he wanted to switch from Lucky Craft to Rapala before they dumped him and he said no. I'm sure there is more to it than just Normark dumping him without any warning, like he said. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For 10 years, Skeet Reese has been the face of Terminator Lures, but that all changed this afternoon when he received word from Rapala which had recently agreed to purchase Terminator that his contract would not be renewed. He said the news was a surprise, because he expected to continue with the Terminator brand after Rapala's acquisition. "Rapala's no longer supporting and working with me in regards to Terminator," he said. "I was a little surprised to find out today. They said they had to tighten up their budget. After 10 years of working with the Terminator brand, I'm sad about it. I felt like the people at Terminator, along with myself and Jimmy Houston (the other pro originally associated with the brand) had done a good job of growing together. We've been pretty instrumental in the growth of the brand, so it's sad to part ways. "It's a brand I believe in, and it's the first time I've ever lost a sponsor," he added. "It feels weird. I've lost sponsors by my own choice, but this is definitely the first time I've ever been let go from a deal." another site spoke with Reese after close of business, and Rapala could not yet be reached for comment. Reese noted that Jimmy Houston and Rob Kilby are still with Terminator. another site confirmed with Brent Chapman that he will continue to represent the Terminator brand this season as well. Reese's situation is problematic for a few reasons. First, most of the current Terminator packaging features Reese's likeness. That will likely continue as stores sell through existing product, even though he's no longer associated with the brand. He also received new jerseys in preparation for the upcoming Bassmaster Classic, which of course include Terminator signage. He plans to use tape to cover the logos until new jerseys arrive. His current wrap is Lucky Craft, so he won't need to make any changes there. It's not known whether his association with Lucky Craft, a major competitor of Rapala, factored into the decision. One other notable item: He's been using Terminator spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, and jigs for so long, he's not really sure what else is in the market that he'd like to be associated with. "Am I a free agent now? Absolutely. Will I look at (other bait-sponsor) possibilities if they come my way? Absolutely. But I'll take my time. I won't rush anything. To tell you the truth, I haven't fished any other brand of spinnerbaits or jigs in I don't know how long, so I don't really know what's out there that I'll be happy with."

Alright..thats makes sense. I never looked into the Federation, so I'm not sure about the process of getting there. I was thinking it was all in one year. Bryan Thrift must of lost the Fed lead for his region on the last day then, cuz he was leading for awhile.

Bryan Thrift is in the top 10 of the FLW Tour Lake Travis event this weekend as a Professional. If I recall, he made the Classic next weekend by qualifying through the BASS Federation Nation. It just doesn't seem right, that this guy can qualify for the Classic through the lowest ranks of the B.A.S.S. He should only be able to qualify through the BASS Weekend Series.

Redline...sounds like a deal. I'll keep ya posted.

This guy is a touring Pro on the FLW Tour. How is he able to fish the BASS Federation Nation for a chance to get into the Classic. The guy is a freaking professioanl angler. Whats the point of the Federation Nation if they allow professionals to qualify for the classic through club events.

This is actually not true. In another forum that I'm in, they've been debating this same issue for over a month now.

Cart...I have rode in all types of boats. Thats how I narrowed my search down also.

Sounds good. Just wanted to make sure that was the right course of action.

I love the look of the Z-series. We've chatted about this Redline in your Z22 thread but for what I fish. I think the Triton is the right fit. If I fished more FLW events... BFL, STREN, FLW, then I would lean towards Ranger for sure.

I would like to know the positive and negatives of the new Triton 20X2's vs. Ranger Z-series boats. I have narrowed my search down to those to boats because of what I fish. I'm leaning towards purchasing a new Triton 20X2 DC because I fish the ABA and BASS events. Is that the best way to go just because of the contingency money? I know all other boats are comparable, but like I said, I narrowed my search down to these two boats. Thanks in advance.

Raul, Looks like you should stay away from the Rapala bargain bins.

I think the finesse bite is working on Lake Travis because of the drastic changes they had in weather the night before the tournament. It made the fish negative and not wanting to chase baitfish. Majority had to slow down and fish for 5 bites.

Is Dean Rojas maybe practicing for the Classic. I haven't looked at the Classic list lately, so I'm not sure.

None of the above. I pick Falcon Cara Reactions

I think you should start looking for an upgrade. Seems like you got a good quote on your boat. For a $55k+ bass boat, I'd think your premium would be around $1,500 per year.

I think if people don't have anything nice to say,they shouldn't say nothing.She's dead!I guess it is easier to kick a dog when it's dead,huh? This is a free country and you got the right to express your feelings but condemning the dead is pretty low,I don't care who it is.That's all I got to say on this one. CJ I'm saying the same things now as when she was alive. So whatever. You liked Jeffrey Dahmer I take it. Good job.

Tough conditions. The finesse bite is really working... Didn't hear how Wendlandt caught his.

I have the first place guy... Clark Wendlandt The spots for my five anglers...... 43, 168, 87, 1, 56

Good. I think they needed a huge improvement. As much as I go to Walmart for dog food and body products, it would be nice to make a trip to the fishing department and actually find something useful.

At 3pm central standard time, FLWOutdoors is having the live weigh-in on there site. It's free to view. http://www.flwoutdoors.com/flwlive/

Question... do those automatic inflatable jackets ever pop when it's pouring rain? Also, are they easy to stuff back in to reuse it with a new CO2 cartridge? If not, I wonder how that would work in a tournament, if popped, and it took over 30 minutes to repack, thats a lot of wasted time on the water.

Been thinking about your question. I'm assuming you have a bass boat since you have the straps for rods. I'm assuming most rod locker boxes can carry up to around 12 rods, even the older bass boats. My question is, why are you carrying around so my rods, I can't imagine you using 12 different rods in a day, even while pre-fishing for a tournament. Keep some of those rods at home and lock up the others. Just because you have 50 rods, doesn't mean you have to take them all for the boat ride. UNLESS, they get jealous.