John J.

I guess I could give it a try. The only difficult part is the ribs on the bottom. But I am sure I can manage. Thanks russ! 8-)

*You watch fishing shows on tv and you get anxious to get out! (all the time for me). *If your spouse says "We need to sell some of your fishing gear to pay the house note, truck note and/or the bills." *If you have a myspace dedicated to fishing (Guilty as charged here). *You propose on a bass boat in the middle of the lake *Your honeymoon is either a trip to bass pro shops, cabelas or on the lake. *You hate seeing your boat winterized and even in the coldest, nastiest weather you go fishing. *Your trophy hall contains all the bass fishing ribbons, trophies and equipment you won from fishing tournaments. *You have a picture of you holding your bass on your desktop background.

All you think about when you are at college is "What bait am I going to use for this time of year? What presentation to use and where could the bass be at?" and you pay more attention to bass fishing than your instructor =Þ and also your truck is littered with bass fishing decals (mine is!).

The trailer I am getting is from Northerntool: http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_1063_1063 I agree, I think if I was going to modify my boat I'd get a flat bottom jon at least 14 foot... I might just add perhaps a livewell and that's it. I will think about what I will do...

I found a trailer online, decent price but it only holds boats up to 600 pounds. with nothing on it my boat weighs about 150 pounds. And I plan on adding all my stuff to it (batteries, trolling motor, etc.) so it is going to weigh it down. I shopped around town and I found some other trailers but they were asking too much for them. ($700-900) As far as the troller motor goes it is a 27# thrust and it came with the boat when I bought it. I am planning on upgrading, but if I buy a new motor now, plus the trailer I will have no money left to modify the boat. I've only got about $1,000 in bank so I am tight budgeted. A new motor I looked at bass pro shops for a 50# thruster was about $200 for a transom mount. The trailer is about $450 (with shipping) so that's about $700 and then I doubt I can remodel my boat and have money left over for gas, etc. I think I'll just get the necessities first (trailer and new motor) then worry about modifying... Thanks for the replies though!

Thanks for the reply. Yeah I thought it wouldn't work out, I was just curious.

Has anyone seen this show on Comedy Central? It's basically a bunch of prank calls being made but the show is viewing the 'puppet' version. here's a guy called special ed at the movie theatre: http://youtube.com/watch?v=SuxFzKxijH8 and two more episodes lol! http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=11514207

I understand that many people have took a 14 foot jon boat and made it into a decent bass fishing boat loaded with storage and livewell compartments. I was wondering if the same can be done with a 12' v hull? I have a 12' V hull metal jon but I was possibly thinking about modifying it (decking it). How would I go about doing this and would anyone recommend modifications on a 12' or should I buy a 14'? Here's my boat pictures... PS: The boat is 12' long by 48 inches wide. and I bought some brand new seats from cabelas.

A truly sad moment...Rip John god bless 8-)

Congrats! I've got a little bit more to go lol! ;D

Nice story, I had a similar encounter over the summer. I was standing on my front porch and off to the left (if you have your back to the front door) there is a small pine forest which I had thinned out. Two deer came up and started to look for food at the edge of our lawn and sort of into the pines. Well I felt bad because there wasn't any food, so I went to the garage and grabbed a cup full of cattle corn. I walked into the pines holding that cup of corn and the buck (which was a 4 pointer) spooked a little and ran maybe 20 yards away but was still watching me. The doe, which we believed was his sister (because they always hung out) walked away a little bit to my shooting stand which I built in the pines to serve as an archery range and stopped. Well I eased into the pines and I stopped about 5 feet into them and poured some corn into my hand and held it out to her. She looked interested but at the same time skiddish so I decided to sit down. I sat down and the moment I did she started walking towards me. She got within 5 feet of me and just nodded her head. I tried not to make any sudden movements. Finally the buck felt worried so he leaped off and of course after about 10 minutes of me and her being so close she finally wanted to catch up with her brother so she too leaped off. With them gone I just threw the corn at the edge of the pines for them to eat later. It was a nerve wrecking experience but a memorable one to boot. You can never trust a wild animal, but I felt like she was more interested in the corn than me lol. Good story! God bless 8-)

The best thing to do would be to assume that a bass is under the shad chasing them (which chances are there is). As far as an approach try to stay away but within casting distance. Depending on the depth of the water is what will determine what kind of bait to use. If I start seeing baitfish explode from the surface, the first thing I will tie on would be a silver/black back rattle trap and cast it past the school and reel it into it. If you can see bass busting on the baitfish, the ideal thing to use would be a skitter pop, pop 'r or any other popping baits. You can also try to cast jerkbaits, flukes (or other soft jerkbaits) and worms. But 90% of the time I throw rattle-traps or crankbaits. Remember, try to stay a distance from the school that way you don't spook the school or any bass under them! Good luck! 8-)

I agree you really have to turn up the volume pretty good to hear the camera man making comments on the blue light! It's amazing!!

God bless all who serve us! May they all come home safely! AMEN! 8-)

I would have to agree with LBH on this one. Colder temps mean the bass are less active, which means they are less apt to strike a top water. I usually switch to jigs, texas rigs, drop shots and carolina rigs around this time of year. Top waters are best when water temps are 60+. Spring time is the BEST time to use top water, when the fish are spawning. Early fall is good but not now when the temps are starting to lower and winter is comming around the bend.

The main thing when fighting a fish is to keep pressure on him. If you loose pressure for one second he could possibly spit the hook. I've also learned that when fishing crankbaits, spinner-baits, jerk-baits, etc. ALWAYS prevent the fish from jumping; keep the rod tip low! When the fish jumps he creates slack in the line and allows him/her to spit the hook. Another good idea would be to prevent the fish from darting under the boat. A fish that darts under the boat feels a leverage point at which he can spit the hook. As far as landing the fish, if it is a big fish (4 pounds plus) I will generally let him fight himself into exhaustion, then lip him or use a net. If it is a smaller fish (less than 4) I usually pick up the rod tip and heave the fish aboard or if I feel a bad hookset I will net the fish. So to summarize: 1.) When fishing crankbaits, jerkbaits, etc. keep the rod tip low! 2.) Never let the fish dart under the boat. 3.) Maintain constant pressure 4.) Don't let the fish jump unless you are 100% sure you have a perfect or great hook set and/or you keep pressure on them. 5.) If it is a big fish, let him fight himself into exhaustion. Good luck!

<- Not really a fear but I sure do hate anyone working on my teeth! <- that one just made me laugh! ;D ;D ;D ;D Say that one ten times fast! <This is me, but I have no problem going out on my own fishing, etc. It is only when I get lost or separated from my parents or from people that I know indefinately. < oh man! God bless these people! That's one interesting, long list...

Child abuse is severe and cruel! Needless to say if you don't want kids then don't have them! > Reminds me of the country song "Alyssa Lies". People need to gather some sense and mature a little! God bless Kelsey Briggs! :'(

I have a few jigs that I made myself. The problem is, the skirts are plain jane colors (red, green, blue, black, blue-black, red-green, etc. mixed). I want to add a little glitter to them to make them better. I bought the glitter from barlowstackle.com and I apply them to my plastic worms I made. But I need some glue to apply them to the jig skirts. What kind of glue should I use? I was told to use the fly-tying cement that you put on a fly's head when finished...for those who don't know what I am talking about here's a pix.. What would you guys suggest?

Lol, I think I'll spend my recess fishing lol! ;D I was considering taking marine biology as a major/minor but idk. It would certainly prove my fishing if I do so. I may take it as an elective, that way I can learn more about the water environment. Thanks for that heads up Sam! God bless

I did say it varies depending on the body of water. Clear lakes have dissolved oxygen deep down below 50 feet, but for most lakes I've been to I mostly see bass hanging around the 20-40 feet range. And I've found out it's because of the dissolved oxygen levels in those certain lakes. No doubt bass can live in water deeper than 50 feet, but lakes are different. Perhaps the lakes you fish Crestliner are clear lakes. Those lakes have dissolved oxygen down to 50+ feet of water, but for muddy water or stained water dissolved oxygen decreases with depth. I agree though, if there's any lakes with discharge water, fish the discharge side where the water is warmer! Good luck! 8-)

Basically all I said Tipp was to be a skeptic, there's a possibility that what you experienced was supernatural but there's many explainations to certain 'supernatural' phenomenon. The can flying across the room is something unusual, the pressure on your chest could be something natural. The muscles in your chest could have contracted during your sleep and that will inhibit breathing, also if you have asthema that could cause it also as well as other respiratory illnesses such as colds, phnemonia, etc. I am not saying that you didn't rule out every possible situation, I am just saying to keep a logical perspective in mind. Have you told anyone else about this? (Family, friends, anyone other than this board?) And like I said before, do some research on the history of your property. Most of the time 'hauntings' revolve around tragic events that has happened in the area in the past. I can understand that some events like this can frighten you and can cause you to jump to conclusions (I know, I've had it happen before lol). But my take-home message would be to keep a logical mind. I would suggest talking to your parents about it, maybe they can help you come up with a explaination. Then if not, well then I've got to say you've got a Casper in your home lol! Good luck! 8-)

It's getting cold up here in Va too. I am switching from my summer wacky rigged ZOOM Finesse, YUM Dinger and Tiki Stick presentations to a jig-n-crawtail. I think I'll fish mostly with my peanut-butter jelly jig and my home made jig craw tails... PS: That crawtail has been bit more than once lol! It is still intact so I will continue to use it until I need to change lol...

I noticed I made this mistake before. I meant to write that they migrate to deeper depth, not hibernate lol!

Absolutely! I have an eagle fish-finder 480 softpack. It is portable and comes with a suction cup mount which you can suction the transducer to the hull of your jon boat and have the unit sitting in the boat. Here's the product... http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0017744016586a&type=product&cmCat=search&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&QueryText=portable+fish+finder&N=4887&Ntk=Products&Ntx=mode+matchall&Nty=1&Ntt=portable+fish+finder&noImage=0 You can even read my review on this product. It is on the second page, the top (Number01hunter from Orange, Va). This product got really good reviews and for me it works perfect! PS: Welcome aboard!