Scott F

I never said the guy who is buying it was some kind of genius. He is someone who is well off and asked to have the best rod made that he could get. He has no idea how much the blank costs. He thinks he's getting the best there is. How close is he with this blank?

What other forum are you talking about? I can't find it. Is it here on BR?

I guess so. A local custom rod builder is making a rod using a Point blank and singing its praises. He's getting $750. I never heard of them before. It's supposed to be a new way to make blanks?

Anybody know if these are really good or just hype?

The club I belong to is not a tournament club and the dues are $30 per year.

Join a fishing club. Doesn't have to be a tournament club. That will put you in contact with guys who fish all different ways. You will pass on some of your techniques, and you will pick up some of theirs. It has worked very well for me. If you can't find one, start one.

You are correct sir. I do share all my spots with fellow club members, just not on open internet forums.

If you fish rivers in the northern parts of the country, you can catch smallmouth bass shallow all day long in the summer.

Yeah, it does kind of wreck the show when you know none of it is real. I do find it interesting to see the items that are shown and I do like it better than the other pawn shop show, Hard Core Pawn.

When a daddy rainbow loves a mommy rainbow very much.....No wait, that's how puppies are made. Sorry, what was the original question?

Are you trying to catch them now? It doesn't get much more difficult trying to catch them in the winter. Wait until the water starts to warm in another month or so. Smallmouth aren't everywhere. You do have to put in the time to locate the places they hang out. Fishing from the bank will also reduce your chances. Get some waders and get in the water. In spring, after it rains, the bass will hold very tight to the bank to get out of the rising water and fast current. You've got a shot at them from the bank then.

Amazon.com has them. Sportsman'sConnection.com. Some Gander Mountain, BassPro, Cabela's and other outdoor stores.

A little more. There are also Michigan and Minnesota and 10 other state editions. They show campgrounds, hiking trails and on rivers, dams and rapids

As far as accuracy goes, it's not perfect, but you won't find another source that has everything this has in one place. Some of the boat ramps shown are gone. It lists a fish like smallmouth as not present, present, common or abundant. Some that just show the fish as present have really good populations, and some that are supposed to be common are rarely found. They don't have contour lake maps, but the books are excellent starting places for further research.

Get yourself the Sportsmanship Connection Atlas & Field Guide. There are 2 versions for Wisconsin, North and South. They have most Wisconsin lakes listed along with the acreage, the game fish species, how common they are and the county where they are found. It is also the best atlas around. It shows boat ramps for all the lakes. I counted at least 300 lakes that hold smallmouth. There's over 1000 that hold largemouth.

I assume this is the kind of craft you are looking for? This is the third one I've purchased. I got the first two about 12 years ago and just upgraded. I use mine on rivers mostly. I bought a trolling motor years ago but almost never use it. The position they put the mount for the motor makes it awkward to operate. The handle will wind up right behind you where it's hard to reach. These days the big push from the companies who make them is the frameless style. They are lighter and easier to transport but because I fish rivers, I like to get out and wade. They put a bar in front of the seat between the pontoons on the frameless models that keeps you from getting in and out easily. The weight for me is not an issue. I don't carry it around. Make sure you get one that has enough weight capacity. I'm a big guy and my first model was a bit undersized. I was overloading it and the frame would drag through the water making it harder to row. My new one is a 9 footer with 7 foot oars. Much easier to row, even upstream. I don't recommend trying to row upstream in one. A good seat makes a big difference. Avoid any craft that does not have the ability to change out the seat. You can see in the picture above, I switched out the seat and use one from my full size boat. Some just come with a cloth seat on the frame which get very uncomfortable in a short time. The frameless models are lacking in seat comfort. Pontoons are extremely stable and the pontoons themselves are very durable. Check out the Outcast boats. Not the most expensive, but not the cheapest either. Very well made.

1988 Ranger Fisherman. I'm the original owner. 2014 Fishcat 9-IR

I have had a 17 foot glass boat with a 12 volt, 50 pound thrust motor for over 25 years. I wasn't setting any speed records but it worked well enough. I just upgraded to an 80 pound Terrova. I do have to add that my glass boat weighs a lot less than most aluminum boats built today.

I have 2 battery compartments in my old Ranger. Both of them are small enough so that the only things that fit in there are the batteries.

Braid won't rip the hooks out if you don't use the monster hook sets you have to use when fishing stretchy lines like mono. Like any tool, you have to adjust to braid to get the most out of it.

I never said it was a Navioncs product. I did say "Premium" . That was incorrect. The map chip I have is the Fishing Hotspots Pro USA The 2015 version is available through Cabela's and other retailers for $99.99 it contains 6000 lake maps.

There are quite a few contour maps preinstalled but not as many as you might need. I bought the Premium Hotspots chip that has a lot more maps, but still not every lake, and it was $100, you can go the the web site and download a list of the contour maps contained on the chip to see if the lakes you want are on it before you buy.

Why would you use a swivel at all? What does it do for you?

I had a spot in a lake I used to fish while on vacation. There were 2 large boulders and every year, there were always 6 nice smallmouth that hung out on those boulders. I'd go there the first day of my trip and catch 3 to 6 of those fish. I'd go back the next day, the bass were still there but wouldn't touch anything. Over the years i figured out I could get some of them to hit again after leaving them alone for 3 days.

I have an iPad but they aren't water proof and it's hard to see the screen outdoors. Plus, you'd need a USB 2amp power supply and a mounting system. For the cost involved, you could get a waterproof, depth finder that is easy to read in the daylight that comes with a mounting bracket.