Hot Rod

Yeah, just don't get too far from the launch ramp, LOL Only joking It should be fine if i'ts only been sitting that long since your last trip. I got into the habbit of always adding some Sea Foam or some Johnson 2+4 to help "stablize" the fuel. It has helped with starting and idle opeartion overall and espeicially if the boat sits for a while. The extra cost is worth better performance IMHO.

I prefer 30 # because I use it to not only pitch/flip but also for casting frogs/toads over slop. I tried heavier lines and they are o.k. for pitchin/flip but I didn't care how they perfomed on overhand casting applications. Don't recall ever breaking a fish off with 30# though have expereinced some fraying issues around jagged rocks. Typically I don't fish braid around that type of cover anyway.

Seems like just another trick from the Bait Monkey IMHO I suppose if you were fishing at the pro level it might be justified but personnally I can't justify $35/lure with my budget. Not with the way I go thru baits ;D If I wanted a custom paint job on my baits I'd get an airbrush kit and learn to do it myself (some pros even take airbrush/paint on tour so they can "match-the-hatch" while pre-fishing). I'd save money in the long run and have a hobby when the lakes are hard (like now).

I'm hopin' Santa brings me a "Flipsta" game to help pass the time and avoid cabin fever! LOL ;D

You may want to look at KVD's two books. They are not exclusively about SM but there is some good stuff in there that has helped me, particulary his philosophies on lure presentations.

Nice smallies like that and 300 lbs. whitetail bucks? Where do I sign up? I might have to move north just a bit, ha.

Ray Scott's or Bill Dance's private lakes

They are considered "Migratory Waterfowl". So like ducks and geese they are regulated heavily at the federal level. There was a case a few years back where vigilanties shot a bunch of them on lake erie. They got the book thrown at them with some huge fines. But it made officials realize what a problems those birds are as they have no predators that prey on them. Finally after a lot of public complaint they started a program to spray oil on the birds eggs while in nests to keep them from reproducing. But I think they could nock em down even more as I've started seeing more of them in my area.

I usually change out both with red hooks but only because of the style of hook. I have a stock pile of mustad triple grips I bought and they just all happen to be red. I don't think it matters if you put on one or two red or none for that matter on a reaction type bait.

I've heard for artificial the smaller of the gulp leeches in black is the ticket on a drop shot thru the ice. Though like someone else said, you'll often get them on minnow's or chubs through the ice while fishing for other species.

Check out the black light LED's on bluewaterled.com Awesome, but a bit out of my price range for the time being. http://www.bluewaterled.com/ I have the deck lights. They are very, very nice and have a lifetime guarantee.

I predict Vs. and the Outdoor channel with both replace all their best fishing programing with stupid soccer so they can be just like ESPN2! > Oh yeah, and a major rod company will come out with a pitchin' stick equiped with a targe aquisition system just like the putter Rodney Dangerfield's character used in Caddy Shack... "No..No...No...Yesss!" "Bing" .... 10 pounder!!!

You could give ice fishing a try or there are also a lot of trout streams in PA that are spring fed where the fish are active most of the winter. Some of these streams also have SM in them! I prefer to go after bass but if I can't get one to stretch my line when its cold then I settle for trout.

For my lipless cranks I do what KVD does. Go up a size or even two sizes with a mustad triple grip treble. They have a short shank but are super "sticky". I catch a lot more fish that hit than with normal trebles.

I'd like to talk to Skeet and Ike cause I can catch the fire out of some bass but I really need some help with my dance moves! ;D Seriously though... I might like to talk to Jeff Coble (not sure of spelling). You know the guy that got two trips to the Classic by winning the weekend series twice and almost did it again! That to me is amazing to beat out all those other anlgers throughout many tournaments let alone once, but twice? Especially when a lot of the guys you go against in those type of tournaments are fishingon their "home" lake.

Hmmm, when I first read the subject of this post I thought it was going to be a question about how a guy can get away from his talkative wife to do more bass fishing. :-? (Don't aske me why.) LOL But seriously... Under those conditions I've done best with a black 1/4 oz jig/pig around sharp breaks/points. Fish it as slow as you can stand. The bites may not feel like much. Sometimes you line just feels mushy. Remember, hooksets are free! So if the line feels different give it a good set. Good luck.

Yes, I'd try to find a local upholstery business to recover 'em. If you can't find one in the phone book you might try asking a local gym/health club who they use to recover their benches. I used to manage a club and we utilized a person that recovered both since the material/process to cover marine seats and gym equipement seats is similar. Your Dad most be unique, first time I've hever heard of a fellow tournament fishermen who has everthing he "thinks" he needs, LOL ;D

It is such junk line... they should pay you to take it! > I honestly don't know how the pro's that are sponsored by them can wear their logo. Cause there is no way they could be competetive wile using that line. I guess they just take the money and run

Maguire's Qwik Klean Marine every couple of trips b/n washes to clean and protect. For liquid was soap - either dawn dish sopa or simple green - both biodegradbile hence freindly to our finny friends when the suds eventual find there way into the watershed.

Maybe CBS is "testing the water" (so to speak) to see if it would be worth if for them to buy FLW just like ESPN/ABC bought BASS ;D

I use a 6'6" M BPS Crankin' Stick with a 7:1 Burner Quantum TE rigged with 12# Trilene XL.

1) For floro leader I like Plin Floro or floroclear but I've also used Trilene 100% Floro without much problem. (I don't care for Vicious or Vanish) 12# or 15# most of the time but I'll go to 20# in the thick stuff. For braid I like 30# or 50# Suffix green 2) I usually use a palomar knot to tie braid to terminal. But I make sure to pull the tag end tight with pliers and throw on an extra overhand knot at the end just to be sure it wont slip.

My dealer told me that it you don't need to fill the tank with fuel before storage as long as it is treated with stabilizer. That a full tank was only for older boats with metal internal tanks which caused condensation inside empty tanks as the temp changes. Personally, my bedroom is right above the garage I store my boat in so I don't really want 20 gallons of potential KABOOM sitting right below me as I hibernate all winter ;D

According to Lowrance a fishings ear is not capable of hearing sounds in the frequency range that sonars use so they can't hear it. But I know a lot of good anglers that swear by turning them off when fishing shallow and/or in weeds.

You may also want to look at getting a gimball mount for mounting the unit to the console if there is not already a port precut in the dash for it.