gulfcaptain

They can be working man's boats now.....lol I'm sure they are going cheap when they are in that condition.

Have a few BPS baits, mainly like the 2" wakebaits and the shallow squarebilled flat cranks which now are discontinued. Have to agree, $15 isn't bad, give it a shot. May find a gem in there and be plesently suprised.

I'd have to agree with A-Jay, being in the marine industry, I think EVERYBODY should have some sort of boating course and know the rules before ever being able to buy or drive a motorized vessel just like you do a car. I've seen both sides, people in small boats act a fool as well as people in bigger boats. If everyone in those bigger boats realized if they hurt anyone with one of their wakes and new that they were resposible for that wake they would be so inconsiderate.....I highly doubt it. Just like how little boats run down the bayous of the Gulf where I work think they own them and cuss me when they are passing me because I didn't stop completely and they were rocked....again, rules. Overtaken boat has the right away, not the little one that's overtaking it. But lack of knowing the rules causes accidents. Just like I would NEVER take a boat in a body of water that I am unfamiliar with without looking at a chart or map of some sort. Again, that's part of safe navigating, weather it be in a 170ft crewboat or a 20ft bass boat.

These two rods are not EVEN close in action. The 7'MH isn't a moderate action rod. Far from it. It's a medium-fast action. You can rip a bait out of the grass with the 7'MH, not going to happen with the 7'M.

I still use my Newell 200's, 300's, and 400's (saltwater)I bought in 1994-1997 and have a few that are older then those that had the aluminum frames and spools before going to all graphite. Newere wasn't always better in those reels. As far as freshwater stuff.....oldest reel I still use is probably less then 4 years old. Have 2 of the older silver Quantum Accurists I still use on occasion and 4 of the older Carbonlites from a few years ago.

If you're used to a spinning set up, most including myself have the handle on the left side of the reel even though we are right handed. Now when I go to baitcasting set ups, I reel on the right side (right handed reels) and if I tried to use my left hand to turn the handle and support the rod with my right, its awkward feeling. Same feeling if I try and use a spinning rod with my left hand holding the rod and right hand reeling.....why I don't know.

I don't find the Bucoo line over-rated on power. The 8 I have are pretty spot on in my opinion. The moderate action of this rod tends to make it feel like it's a lighter action then it is. I should have added, I wouldn't crank heavy cover where you're going to need to "rip" the bait to clear it as this rod won't do that. As for cranking rocky areas, shallow cranks over grass or light cover with small shallow squarebill style baits it's a great rod. And it's light. It also works well with smaller 1/4oz chatterbait style jigs. You may be able to find it cheaper on Ebay.

I looked into this about a week ago. Google bass boat wraps. It looked like it was going to be somewhere in the 2000-2500 price range. And if you let the company making the wrap put their logo on your boat most seem to give you a discount depending how big a logo you will let them put on.

I own 2 of this rod. Why, because it is a GREAT shallow cranking rod. My buddies call it the noodle simply because when I get bit on it the moderate action pretty much doubles the rod. It's got great feeling for fishing cranks since you can feel the kick on the baits and I can tell when it has something fouling the hooks or when a fish knocks it and misses. Once it's loaded up that rod has the action to keep those trebles pinned in the fish and it also works really well for fishing small paddletail swimbaits in a 1/4oz. Loads up nicely too. This rod has pretty much been in my hands anytime I throw a Manns 1-minus or any smaller 1.5 size squarebill.

I'd have to agree with the old brittle line and possibly dry knots as well.

Make sure we are both talking about the same little bait. The XPS Z9R Perch that's segmented. If that bait swims at an angle the fins on it are probably curved and set to one side causing it to lean over.Being it's plastic, you may be able to dip it in hot water like you do paddletail baits and straighten them.....at least that's what I'd try. Had to do that with a 6" BBZ trout when the slight curve set in the tail piece.

What time of year? Spinnerbaits and real shallow diving cranks work well too. Weightless flukes and senkos, A-Jay mentioned the dropshot, can fish a swimjig, small swimbait. Most muddy bottom fishing is going to be shallow and up on the bank so any reaction style bait will be good if you're covering water. Otherwise it's going to be a weightless fluke/Senko or a dropshot rig....at least if it were me.

I wouldn't overlook the EXO 25 or 30 either. May be able to find them around $100 right now instead of their list price of $199.99. Just another brand and reel to look at.

Have a few spots that I can normally catch a fish or two. Only been 3 times so far on my days off and managed fish 2 out of the 3 times....tried fishing the bigger swimbait the other day and couldn't even get a follower. And to top it off, well here in S. Cal the air temps have dropped a lot in the last week. The one place I fish water temp was 57 on Friday, 52 yesterday. But did manage a nice 3+lb fish on the Ned Rig yesterday and one other smaller fish in the few hrs of fishing.

There's medication and a cure for almost everything, but some things you just can't fix no matter how hard you try.

BPS makes a small swimbait as well in the XPS line. It's not as big, but works around those 3-4" bluegill they like to eat. And it's a single treble hard bait.

Yes, they gave me a good price, the 5" unit going in the dash was a freebie as well as the cost for all three units to be installed as well as the Talon, put in a new kill switch in the throttle, and also looking to see if they can refurb my prop for me as well plus store the boat until I get back next month from work. They didn't make much on the front end of the deal, but the add ons on the back they did. So I can't really complain about the service.

I guess when he updated the site it kicked the pics off of here.

I don't fish the Pitboss, nor do I like the RI Beaver baits. They just don't do it for me....I think my lack of confidence in them is my biggest problem as I know they are great baits for a lot of people. The SK Stucture Bug, I only managed a half dozen fish on this year, but only got to fish it a few days and 2 of the 6 were 4+lbs so I can't complain there. The SK Bug should work great on a swinging football head, tried that out a couple years ago with the Biffle Bugs and was pleased with the results.

That was it....lol. Couldn't remember all the facts as it was a quick run through when they told me.

From my understanding, Ranger aquired Champion and well pretty much killed the line. As far as selling, not looking to swap it out in a few years for a newer boat, been looking for a Champion for a few years. Also found that the serial # on mine is prior to them being bought out by Ranger and making them a little well not as nice from what I got from conversations with the staff (owner of Anglers Marine is married to daughter of original Champion owner). So going to fix it, put it back in original form and keep her. Boat and motor is solid, so it's a great base to build on. But it is a nice riding boat for sure.

Not a fan of the wrap he put on, think I'm going to have them remove it and buff the gelcoat out. Next set of pics will be when I pick it up next month after everything is installed. Dash is gettig a Lowrance HDS 5m 5" GPS unit where the old Eagle fishfinder was, a HDS 7 mounted next to the console, a Lowrance Point-1 GPS antenna, and on the bow, a Lowrance Elite-7 CHIRP fish/chart all networked together. And then the 12' Talon on the stern with the laydown bracket.

I take it you've never fished off a Gambler. This one is a bit narrower, think it's about a foot narrower then the Rangers if you're comparing platforms to them then maybe, but still really was stable moving around. I didn't feel like we were going to fall over when moving around or once I turned the trolling motor to high after testing it to see how it would react.. We actuallly tried to see how much effort it would take to make it tippy. We really had to try. General moving around wasn't bad. His Gambler was a lot more tippy then this boat was and his 84lb trolling motor on high would jerk that boat and if you weren't ready for it possibly cause you to loose your balance. I was pretty impressed. It does sit a little bow high, but I'd rather have it a little high in the bow, and if you get two people up there, it's not bad at all. Has a huge front platform to fish from. I have a feeling I will be spending a lot of time up there once spring and summer get here where I can take it out with my oldest quite a bit.