Valascus

I must say that this year I am very happy with the service I have recieved from UPS. I have ordered some computer parts, which are very very delicate, and they have not only gotten it to me in pristine condition, but quickly too, even though they were ordered and shipped around the busy holiday season. Fedex on the other hand...is starting to get on my nerves a bit. Still don't have either my new rod or new reel and the information they provide for you concerning your packages tracking is "bare-bones" at best. With UPS they tell you ever place your package has been, every time it's been scanned, everytime it arrives somewhere, and everytime it leaves somewhere all the way up to delivery.

Those are some fine looking walleye. And mighty tasty too might I add.

If I have a choice then I am going to go for the best I can get (not so much because I believe that better equipment makes for a better fisherman, but because I believe that it enhances the experience of fishing) from the brand I like the most. I am a Shimano guy so my top reel choices are: Spinning: Shimano Stella 2500FB Casting: Shimano Calais CL200A

Yeah Capt. Cali...I remember those runts...couldn't believe you even bothered posting pics of those midgets! :

Cart - Sorry to hear about the mindless retard that decided to slash your trailer tires. Those little security cameras are great little items to have around when you have some nice things to protect. As far as fishing in December goes...nope. Not one cast I am sorry to say. Spent most of my December with the ongoing job hunt and Christmas shopping. as soon as I get the new rig I will promptly be out to try it out.

Awesome story-telling RW. I bet that was a very nice wake-up call. An 8 to 10 lb largemouth on 6 lb test...awesome fight I bet. Hopefully a sign of things to come for you in the remaining 364 days of '07.

Sweet! It is definitely peace of mind knowing you are fishing with the best. Is this your first high-end setup? With an elite combo, even on slow days it is just a pleasure to fish with. I remember when I purchased my first Loomis/Chronarch combo, not only did the weight and feel of the combo blow me away, but I would grin every time I looked down at what was in my hand. Yep, this is my first high end combo. I can't wait to get it and try it out. I really feel that I bought a mindblowing combo. I can't wait to feel the difference between the new combo, and the old one I was fishing, which was a Shimano Spirex 2500RE paired with a 6' 6", MH BPS Bionic Blade. I have my eyes set on a new baitcasting combo now. I am going to get a G.Loomis MBR844C GLX Mag Bass Rod and pir it with a Shimano Calais CL200A. But it will take me a substantial amount of time...probably 3 months to 4 months to save up for the rig.

Hey...I don't think you have enough crankbaits man. Geez...what a lightweight...you need AT LEAST DOUBLE what ya got. I'll post a pic of my Shimano Stella 2500FB and the St. Croix Legend Elite ES70MF that I am going to put it on when I get them in the mail.

It doesn't really matter what color senko I have tied on. I have caught fish with many a shade, though I am partial to the watermelon/red flake. Most of what I keep is anything DARK. But I do have some lighter colors for clearer water that I do alright with. Not as good as the darker hues, but they do well enough.

In the state of MO our licenses are good until the end of February. So the one I have now is still good. But you can bet come March 1st I'll be at my local Walmart renewing my license for another year. It only costs $12. Lot's better than getting nailed by a game warden without one. The license covers MOST general fishing...I think if you are trout fishing to have to have a trout stamp. They run $7.00.

I think in a way you sorta answered your own question. If the warmer water areas attract baitfish, then it should attract bass. Even though the bass may be more lethargic in the winter time and feed less they are still gonna folow the buffet line, that way when they do feel the urge to feed they aren't gonna have to go far to get it. Do you happen to know the difference in water temps around the water discharge area? I would start from that area and work my way away from it to see at what temp and depth the fish are holding at. I would use a search style bait that can be worked at any depth...a Rattle-Trap or spinnerbait comes to mind.

http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=74127&hvarDept=100&hvarEvent=&hvarClassCode=1&hvarSubCode=1&hvarTarget=browse I would simply save an extra $20 and go with the Shimano Citica. That is what I have and it has served me well enough.

Lake Dixie seems like an ideal place for a MO tournament. Nice central location so if ANYONE in MO wants to particpate they have the option. Allowing any size boat launch doesn't limit anyone by boat size and having boat rental allows those who are boatless to compete in the water and not from the bank. The lake is of decent size for a smaller tournament easy to get too, not being to far off a major highway. I think I am going to create a thread on this in Central Bass Fishing to try to gauge interest. If anyone has any other ideas about possible locations, rules for the tournament, when it might take place, with partners or solo, etc. etc. just look for the thread. Here is a link to the thread for MO: http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1167410091

Yeah, I got mine the other day. It is massive indeed. When my wife caught glimpse of it she just shook her head, grabbed it, and started flipping through it. I asked her what she was doing and she said she was flippin' through it trying to gauge how much damage was gong to be done. ;D

I like to think that I am better than decent crankbait fisherman. I do pretty well anywhere from less than 1ft all the way down to about 12 ft. Past there it starts to get kinda rough.

I would totally fish with you again...be it along side of ya or lined up against ya. Either way it would be great fun. Yeah, I would agree that if "that" jig bite is on the whole field, as well as myself, would be in a world of hurt. Heaven help everyone if I get onto a crankbait pattern though.

"I have a question about the Kicktail lure Do a search on the name. There's plenty of posts about it, which will answer your question. " That is actually a physical part of the FAQ. This lure has been discussed at great great length. It is a HUGE ripoff cut from the same ripoffs such as the Helicopter Lure and many many other TV only lures. Those lures are designed to do one thing...catch fisherman...not fish. I have never purchased a "TV offer only" lure just for the fact of how expensive they are and how grossly ineffective MOSt of them are. Save your money on those and buy some nice proven LC lures instead. Not trying to bash you or your question or anything. No hard feelings.

My worst bass miss came this past October while on vacation at Table Rock Lake. I was staying at a resort in Kimberling City right where the bridge crossed the lake in Kimberling City. I had been doing some scouting around on foot since I did not have a boat and found an old, abandoned dock not too far a walk from the resort just to one side on the bridge. Upon slowly, and closely inspecting the dock, I spied a school of some fairly large largemouths holding tightly to the underside of the dock. There were about 4-6 bass...4 seemed to be in the 2-3 1/2 lb range...while the other two were probably somewhere in the 4-6 lb range and each one was holding by itself away from the group of smaller fish. I tried many things to try to get them to bite, but a tournament had just rolled through as well as a cold front. I finally tied on a watermelon Fat Ika rigged backwards not really expecting any sort of result since nothing had garnered one the whole day. I had lost sight of one of the larger fish so I cast the Ika tightly against the dock where he had been holding and watched the bait start to sink and swim under the dock. I soon lost sight of the bait and continued the wait for it to hit the bottom some 8 to 12 ft below when the bait suddenly gets absolutely smashed. I wasn't even remotely expecting the hit and probably put a poor hookset on the fish, but it was hooked nonetheless. Now I have hooked many a bass in the 1 lb to 3 1/2 lb range and this fish felt bigger than that...not too much bigger...but possibly big enough to break my 5 lb goal I set for myself so long ago. I fought the fish for about 30 seconds and still had not gotten it within view, even in the clear water, when the line suddenly jerked and went slack leaving me reeling in nothing but the Ika that I had thrown. :-[ Best hit I had gotten that whole trip...

The last trip I went on...granted it was a decent stretch ago...the weather patterns around here were much the same as they are now. I did alright catching 3 fish on minnow type baits...namely Smithwick Suspending Pro Rogues. I was fishing them close to wood that was at about a 45 degree angle in the water and was on top of chunk rock.

I agree with the get a catfishing rig and some chicken liver idea. Noodling, to me anyway, is absolutely insane. I ain't sticking my hand down a dark hole where snakes, snapping turtles, muskrats, etc. ect. are probably living. I'd like to keep all my digits in good condition.

I reckon I will enjoy it quite a bit. I have been watching the tracking updates like an addict waiting for his fix. Both items have been shipped and are on their way. I hope to get them both before this weekend so I can go test them out. The weather has been pretty mild around here recently and I think I would like to get out and do some wacky rigged senkos.

I used to do a lot of welcomes, but with the sudden influx of new members over the last 4-6 months that's a lot of welcomes. I agree that it is important to welcome our new members and make them feel like they are at home and that they belong. I think I agree with bizzle here, a "welcome" sticky could be in order. Oh yeah and to all the new guys...welcome to the best bass fishing forum in all of everdom! Make yourselves at home and feel free to ask any questions you may have as many people here are very fre with answers and love to help a fellow angler. Remember to read the FAQs section and enjoy the site!

Count me in on the Shimano team.

I would totally be interested in a MO tourny...'cept I ain't gotta boat. I think it would be a good way to meet other anglers in your area and is good, clean fun. I don't know if there is anyone else in MO who would be interested, but I know this guy is...even if it were only a 10 dude tourney and I had to fish from the bank.

If you're fishing with a 60 million modulus rod you're fishing an Extreme. The Bionic Blades are IM8, 45 MM rods. I really can't say you'll see any appreciable difference in the Elite St Croix rods and an Extreme rod. As someone who sells rods and reels and test drives some of them I haven't noticed a great deal of difference in sensitivity once you get above say the 54 and 60 million modulus rods. Once you start buying rods higher than that you're paying for name recognition and a warranty you'll probably use because those thin walled, uber sensitive rods break. They also don't tolerate any kind of abuse and I mean even slight abuse. As for reels, as reel mech says, one you get above 5 or 6 bearings you're not gaining anything but price. There are quite a few reels out there for the $80-100 mark that will serve you well for years. Get into the $150 range and you're at the top of the scale in functionality and reliability, above that mark and you're spending way more money than you need to. I'd much rather spend that extra money fishing rather than having ultra expensive equipment. My mistake. I use my spinning rig more than my casting. The spinning rig is on a BPS Bionic Blade which is 45 mil as you stated. The casting rig I have is a BPS Extreme.