MadGator

I live in Madison, WI. Up until a couple years ago we only had Gander as a big outfitter. Two Dicks stores were added a couple years ago. I'd say Dick's was a bit cheaper, and because the two stores (Gander and Dick's) were literally across the street from one another the Gander's were forced to lower prices. Gander had a better overall selection, but both had the necessities. I remember Dick's getting the first Chatterbaits a couple months before Gander though. Now Gander has closed both stores (that was awesome, 20-40% discounts on everything, I am stocked for the season), this weekend they are opening a new 90,000 sq ft store about 5 minutes from my house. I will be there for the grand opening this weekend. I believe it to be one of, if not the, biggest stores. I'll let everyone know how it is.

I have a Cabela's Advanced Angler BackPack. Holds 4 Plano 3600 boxes, has a rod carrier, a large open compartment on the top half, and several smaller compartments. I love it, use it in the boat and on shore. Works well with a bike and walking. It has a waist strap for support as it does get a little heavey. It also has a reinforced rubber handle on the top which makes it nice if you need to walk 25-50 yards down a shore line. I fish in a small club so I move my tackle from boat, to car, to boat, and I also tend to carry 1-3 rods with me where ever I go so this pack works very good. When tourny fishing it makes it easy to sling the pack over my shoulder and carry all my other gear from boat to car to boat to car etc.... I believe Browning also makes a backpack, can't speak for it, but the as far as the cabela's one it is very very nice.

I have a two year old daughter and this winter she got pretty upset when I didn't take her ice fishing. I felt bad, but she's just not quite ready yet. So last weekend I grabbed one of my ice rods and we practiced throwing a tube/jig with the hook cut off into a sled filled with water we had in the yard. She had a good time and it's getting me really excited for when we can go for real. I'm pretty sure the easter bunny is going to be bringing someone a Mickey Mouse pole.

I marked boat, but I fish from the bank a lot.

In my opionion get the biggest of everything you can afford. Longest boat, with the most storage, with the widest beam, and the largest engine. You will thank yourself in the long run. I have 17' Bass Tracker Tourment V-17. It was the biggest I could afford at the time, now I wish it was bigger, if nothing else I wish it had a bigger engine. I fish lakes that range from 300 acers - 10,000 and have been on bigger. There have been times where getting off the lake was imparative, and my little 45hp engine just dosen't get it done. Don't get me wrong, it's a great boat, I really love it, but it's also my first boat and I have learned some things. One of those things is bigger can be better and with boats, it most definately is better.

I pull them and put them in the basement. On the first of each month I hook up the charger and trickle charge them. I only picked that because it was easiest to remember. In the basement I put them on some old buckets so they are off the the concrete. Apparently, concrete can react with the battery and lower the life, don't know if that is true, but why take the chance.

This was a pretty good year for me personally. Here are some new things I did and learned.... 1. Fishing trips with good friends are awesome, even when you get skunked on the first day 2. Chatterbaits rule in early spring and early fall 3. Kentucky Lake is ginormous, and I am terrible at offshore structure fishing 4. Soft Plastic frogs are my new favorite topwater 5. Zoom Horney toads are the best soft plastic frogs on the market 6. Mustad 4/0 baitkeeper hooks are the best hooks for soft plastic frogs 7. Timing is everything, took the first week of October off had wonderfull fishing and beutifull weather, rest of the month has been horrible fishing and terrible weather. 8. I still suck at using a spinnerbait 9. Flipping a chatterbait under docks catches fish, including Bass, Muskies, and Northern Pike 10. GPS rules 11. Learing to use a locator is hard, but very very usefull 12. Boats break and are expensive to fix 13. Weightless t-rigged senko (and knockoffs) produce better than weighted 14. Wacky style is still where it's at 15. Rapala DT-10 and DT-16 seriers cranks actually catch bass 16. Rapala DT-10 and DT-16 seriers cranks hurt your arm after 3 casts 17. I enjoy fishing new water 18. All the information in the world doesn't make you the best fisherman, but it does get you a little closer 19. $35/year for local water topo maps is good price (www.lake-link.com) 20. I have a wonderfull, very cool, and awesome wife (she doesn't read this board) who let me go fishing almost every weekend this past year 21. Most importantly, Lunch breaks are for fishing, not eating. It was a good year, I caught more fish this year than in the past. I'm learning to establish patterens, based on locations, depth, water temp, structure, and weather patterns. Bass fishing is pretty much done here in Packer country, there is still open water, and the toothy critters are calling. Next the Ice will set in and I will cry myself to sleep on a nightly bassis until May when the game fish season once again and I can pursue the infamous Bass.

I fish on my lunch breaks, so nearly everyday. Although once the lake freezes over that will probably stop. Takes to long to drill a hole in the ice. During the summer I usually get the boat out at least once a week. This fall has been pretty crappy weather wise though so I haven't gotten out since the first week in Oct. Which I took off of work to fish.

I voted Triton. However, seeing how I am mostly a weekend Angler that doesn't really fish tournaments. I would really just like something around 17-18ft with a 90-120HP 4-stroke engine to save money, get me were I need to be, and enjoy my rides on the water. Not too expensive, but not too cheap. I'm thinking this will be the case in 4-5 years.

I'd go a step further and say.... If it's not reccomended by your Outboard Manufaturer Don't Use It!!!!

Well the attachment is generally called Ear Muffs or just Muffs (although this is probably a slang term). Any boat dealer will have them, they work very well. I would not run your motor dry for more than a few seconds, water is the essential element for cooling your engine and if you run dry for just a minute or two it can cause problems. Your engine is small enough that you could probably fill up a garbage can with water and run it in there, if you don't want to spend the money on the muffs. However, they are only about $20. Make sure after about 30 secs water is coming out the pee hole. There are two vent looking things on each side of the lower unit, these have to be covered by the muffs or submersed in water.

Try searching various states DNR websites. The Wisconsin DNR posts a lot of their research information/publicatons on the site. Usually it's pretty buried though. The other option is to find Universities with good Limnology departments. Some suggestions are the University of Wisconsin - Madison and UW Steven's Point. I would guess that Minnesota would have some, as well as Texas and Florida. Search their sites and see what comes up. This type of information may have to be specifically requested. I would also contact BASS and FLW as they not only do a lot of research, but aid in a lot of research. In Fisherman is another great publicaton. There are many books out there as well, although I would stick with things published in the last couple of years, as RW stated this is a challenging and changing science.

I like t-rigged or w-rigged weightless Yum Dingers for shallow docks and either 1/4oz weighted tube or fat IKA for deeper docks.

I stand if I am Bass fishing, usually I don't even bother to put the front seat in the boat when I am searching for bass. However, if I am out for Pannies or Walleye, where I am jigging/drifting, I will throw the seat in.

I have an Eagle FishElite 502c ff/gps combo unit. I would reccomend the unit with the external antena. The internal antena is a bit weak, takes several minutes to get the signal. I've actually lost the signal on a bluebird sky day in open water, usually it comes right back, but annoying regaurdless. I've heard much better things about the External antena. Other than the Antena, I have no complaints about the unit. In fact, for the money I think it's the best you can get.

I'm pretty sure Olympus makes a semi waterproof 3MP camera for around $300. My friend has one, it's not too fancy, but may help.

My family (Dad, Mom, and 2 bros) used to go fishing every spring, summer, and fall with my grandparents up north in WI, MN, and Canada. My grandparents (grandpa 83, grandma 79) just stopped going to the Chippewa Flowage twice a year about a year ago. We were fortunate enough to be able to go up for a long weekend on they're last trip. Our main focus was always Walleye, but we would often fish for pannies, when the going was slow and to keep us kids occupied. Some of my best memories were fishing with my dad, brothers, and grandfather. My grandpa still makes walleye jigs, he has a stock pile of about 1700 he would like to spread through out the family. I took a day this summer and had him teach me how to make them to continue the tradition. Once we had gotten older, and in high school we were no longer able to go fishing with the family. All the social commitments during that time were just too much, my parents sold our camper and we pretty much stopped fishing for several years. After college I moved to Madison, WI, into a house with a close friend of mine and his girl friend. Shortly after, both of our girls broke up with us and much drinking was had. When the girl left she took our TV (just like a woman). We got a new roomy, who had a TV, but only stayed for a couple months. So now it's summer and we don't have a TV. One night we decide we had had enough and go TV shopping. The plan was for me to buy a new TV, and my friend to get a theater system. Had everything picked out, then when we went to make the purchase they were all out of the TV, which pretty much deflated our plan. The next day, my buddy suggest that we go get fishing poles. Seeing how we live around four lakes, I agreed. My thought was that bass would probably be (next to pan fish) the easiest to catch close to shore. So we talk to a very nice gentleman at Gander Mountain, and he gets us setup with some nice bass rigs and tackle. Each of us drop about $150 in rods, reels, and tackle. I fell instantly in love with fishing all over again. Since then (about 4 years ago) I have several thousand in rods, reels, and tackle and a boat. My friend has moved away, but we were able to get together for a fishing trip in Kentucky this summer. Also, about the same time I renewed my passion for fishing, both of my brother did the same. Fishing with my brothers is one of my most favorite things in the world. Now we need to work on our dad. ;D

Last year my brother purchased a VERY used boat. I asked him how old the engine was and he replied "as old as grandpa," who happens to be 83. While it probably wasn't 83 years old, I would guess 40 or 50. The tiller engine was attached to a fiberglass hull, with a makeshift deck. We were decided to go fishing on Lake Onalasa, near the Mississppi in the La Crosse, WI area. Well, we launched Tubby (seriously looked like a bathtub with an engine), and to my surprise the engine fires instantly. So we hop in and start to scout a good fishing hole, it's very early spring, proably a week after ice out. We decide to move a bit closer to the river, we find a nice long riprap wall and start drifting (with the current) down the wall. After about an hour, my bro says hey we should probably move, I don't want to get to close to the dam, now about 150 yards away. Good idea, so I go to start the engine, and here the horrifing sound of an engine that doesn't want to turn over. So my bro tries (dam 100 yards away), no dice. So we start to get a little worried, and he says we can pull start it. Ok, pull pull pull X 50 more times, not starting (dam 50 yards away). Ok, getting really nervous now, so I'm like do you have an anchor in here, he does only it's under one of the hatches which are held down with wing nuts, of course one is stuck. Never fear I have my letherman, opens the hatch ties the anchor and tosses, IT HOLDS!!!!!! We are now probably 25 yards from the Mississippi River Dam, which we were later told is pushing something like 95,000 gallons of water/sec. The current is probalby running 10-15mph, the anchor rope is violently vibrating, but holding the boat. We happen to bring a 6-Pack of beer, which I decide it's time for a drink. I crack a beer and gather my thoughts. Had we actually been drinking, this probably would have been super stupid idea, but we hadn't actually had anything to drink, and I needed something to calm the nervs a bit. So we continue to try and pull start the enigine. After, 3 or 4 thousand pulls it finally starts. It's idleing pretty well I give it some gas and we are off. Pull the anchor I yell he, does and I punch the throttle, only to have my worst fears come true. The engine dies, THROW THE ANCHOR. Now about 10-15 yards from the dam, the anchor holding and more violently vibrating. We are so close we almost have to shout at one another over the rushing water. Finally, a Dam saftey crew sees us and motors over and tows us home. Apparently, if you are headed twoards the dam your best bet is to stay in the boat and make a last ditch effort at the saftey ropes hanging along the dam. Being that the water was probably 40 degrees and the current 15mph we really couldn't swim. One of the craziest and scariest moments of my life. Lesson 1: Don't leave home without your anchors. Lesson 2: Don't go out on the Mississippi when you have only used your boat once before.

17ft Bass Tracker Tournament V-17 W/ 45Hp Mercury Classic 50, with full fishing load and my 260lb self I get about 27-28mph. I actually get better MPH with less chop, if it's really bad out I drop to 25-26. I also only loose about 1-2mph when I have two people in the boat. The downside is I have to run full throttle all the time, but I have never used more than 5 gallons of gas in an outing and that was a FULL day with multiple long runs.

I have a 45hp engine on a 17' boat. That gets me about 28mph which for me is more than enough. I can run full speed in probably 2 feet of water without problems. The boat does get a little scary on big water, but I've never felt like I was gonna capsize or anything, although I do tend to get a little more wet than wanted. With another person in the I don't actually loose much speed either, maybe 1 or 2 mph so thats pretty nice. Actually, the boat rides much better with two people vs. one. I agree that you should probably get the biggest engine you can afford, I'd really like to put a 75hp engine on my boat, but will probalby upgrade boats before I upgrade engines.

Got a 2 pounder on a buzz frog today! ;D Oh yeah, I keep a t-shirt in the car so I can change out of my work shirt. This has been helping with the smell....

So I'm just curious if I'm the only crazy that fishes during my lunch hour at work. Now I work for a University so my lunch hours tend to be a little flexible. I also happen to work in the middle of two lakes, so I only have to drive about 2 minutes for a good fishing spot. I've caught several fish on my lunch hour ranging from 1-3#'s, I've also had many lunch hour skunkings. I pretty much go every work day, after I actually eat my lunch it usually leaves me with about 30-40 minutes of fishing time. I generally throw a buzz frog, our lakes are very weedy and the buzz frogs seem to work very well. I've also thrown various other hollow body frogs, worms, spinnerbaits, and buzz baits. I usually keep two or three rods in my car, I have a little hatch that opens so they fit through the back seat. I fish probably the same 4 or 5 spots, I tend to rotate as weeds change, they have weed cutters on the lake running most of the time, when the cutters come through it really kills the fishing. I also carry a fly rod with me and will occasionally target panfish with little poppers. I do have a boat, but am usually only able to use it 3-4 times per month because of "life" I guess. So is anyone else this crazy or is it just me?

'87 Bass Tracker Tournament V-17 w/ a Mercury Classic 50 (45hp), Minn Kota 65AT TM I can run close to 30mph and only use 2-4 gallons of gas per trip. Works well for me.

This sounds like a pretty big mistake on both FLW and the WI DNR. Being a WI native I don't like to knock our DNR too much, they do a fantastic job considering the amount of fishing pressure in WI. However, they are currently studing the effects of tournament fishing in WI waters, which may be why they were studing this sample of bass from the tournament. Here is some more information on the research they are doing. http://www.wnrmag.com/stories/2006/jun06/fishcon.htm The WI DNR has some of the best people in the country. We are the number two state for out of state license sales only behind florida. We also have much stricter regulations than many states when it comes to Bass fishing, such as 14" size limts and about 99% of tournaments are not allowed to cull. The other 1% are part of the tournment fishing study, with special privledges, such as the B.A.S.S. Lake Wissota E-50 tournament last year. How many fish (all species) do think were kept for food that day through out our state? I do feel that 600 dead bass is a large number, however, I don't think it will be detrimental to the fish poplations on the Mississippi river by any stretch. In general I think all states probably have more meat eater anglers than C&R anglers, although it's the C&R anglers that help to sustain our fish populations. Could things have been handled differently by both FLW and the DNR? Of course. Is this particular incident going to affect the Mississippi as a fishery? No. The state of WI needs fishing and needs tournaments its part of our culture and has a huge impact on our state economy in so many ways. The negative effect of, what I say, is overblown publicity of this one incident looks bad for Wisconsin and could have negative effects on our states economy.

I was fishing with a buddy of mine a few weeks ago and bass started hitting the surface just before dark. We were fishing walleye's and panfish on a deep weed line with slip bobbers and worms. After one of the bass cleared the water neither one of us could stand it anylonger, I just happened to bring my rod with a Mann's Hardnose frog tied on, so I tossed it into the weeds and low and behold ended up landing two keeper bass. You may want to try one of the various buzzfrogs in these situations, I truely beleive they imatate a baitfish more so than a frog.