Trek

I personally do not like using salt in plastic. I think it weakens it. A typical recipe to make a sinko would be 2 tbl spoons pickling salt to 4 oz plastic. If you pulled that sinko apart you would see a course break. That is because the salt has weakened it. I like making mine with a HD additive that mixes with the plastic and becomes part of it and doesn't weaken it. This would be some of the difference from buying your baits from a custom bait maker and buying from a commercial bait maker. Pickling salt is real cheap and used more often and can add only so much or the bait will fall apart. HD can be added more and customize the rate of fall. As far as bass holding onto the bait longer if there is salt I don't always believe thats the cass. But I do know after the plastics are made they are cured and then bagged with some sort of oily scent. The scent is absorbed into the plastic and most scents have a salty taste to them. So either way you get salt flavor on the bait.

They cost to much but I love my power poles.

What salt does in a plastic bait is it makes it sink. The more salt the faster it sinks. I make all my own plastics and for me I never make my shaky head baits with salt because I want them to stand up on the bottom. The other idea behind salt is that the bass will hold onto it longer. I have never seen any evidence of that. I think that is determined more on how they are bitting that day not the taste of salt.

I use to own a Stratos 17.5 with a 115 motor and they make a very nice boat. That boat was rated for a 150 hp and was way under horse powered. But for a 18.5 foot boat a 115 seems under horse powered too. That boat should be able to handle a 200 hp. Just my opinion but your hole shot is going to be very slow. I have learned from the past to never by a boat that isn't maxed out on the motor. You don't have to run it wide open but you need that power to get the boat on top or you'll be adding whale fins on the motor to help you.

Well for me to run a motor like that would be asking for trouble. It just wouldn't make sense to do that.

I have a 225 Optimax. With any motor I've ever had I warm it up in the morning. But I've never heard anyone say let it cool down before shutting it off. Now I never run it wide open and shut it off. I normally idle into a spot. Never have watched the temp on when to shut it off. Just wondering if others do that. You will have a break in period with a new motor. With mine they told me to trim it all the way down and plow at different RPMs for so many hours. I've had mine for five years now and love it. Most of my lakes around me are smaller lakes so I only run it for short bursts. A 50 gallon tank will last me for a month or better.

I like fishing team tournaments and have gone to fishing just those. I like knowing who my partner is and how he fishes. It may take you two the first year to get to that point but this may end up being a good partnership. Learn each others strengths and fish that way. If he's better at flipping then when your flipping he's in the front. Or you my be better at cranking. When your a team it doesn't matter who catches the fish. But remember you need to bring something to the game or all you are is a net boy. My partner and I both have boats and a lot of the times have different days off through the week. So we share information so the guy that hits the water later in the week doesn't hit the same water. That's why we're a team. So my advise would be not to put so much thought into it. Just go out and fish like you always do, look for patterns, look for bait and find ways to catch fish. Remember two things. You don't have to be his best friend you just need to help catch fish. And two help split the cost of fishing. Nothing splits up good teams faster then only one guy putting gas in the boat and truck.

I've never seen just a plain pink skirt in a quick change. You could go to fishingskirts.com and make your own. It's pretty simple to make them with a band and you would get the color you wanted.

Again. I would worry more about the boat.

So it's a 2000 Nitro and you can get a great deal. Think about this a minute. That boat is 15 years old and your worried about the motor ? Merc has been around a long time and makes a great motor. It is a efi and not a carbonated engine so you got that going for it. In my opinion 15 years ago Nitro made as cheap of a boat as they could. I don't think so as much today but their older boats had cheap wrote all over them. I would worry more about the boat then I would the engine. At least the engine can be fixed if needed.

I would pass on the deal unless I got to hold the reel and see it had very little use. I have several of those that are simply wore out and only have three seasons on them. It would cost more then the reel is worth to bring them up to standard.

If your talking to buy the top right reel only for $50. Then I would say no if it was me. That reel has been around a long time and who knows how much wear is on it. If it was me I would pass on the deal even if it was $20.

I don't know about the rest of the nation but up north here our days are getting longer. All of nature reacts to that. I noticed the tree buds were starting to swell up. It was -10 last week so temp had nothing to do with this. I believe bass are no different. When the ice comes off those bass already have eggs in them. They can't hold them for ever. We've had years where the winter seems to drag on for ever and some years it over in March. So I do believe up north here the water temps play a big roll on how good the spawn is ( survival rate ) but has little to do with when they lay their eggs. That process is already in motion.

Depends when your going. May 1st to June 27th they are out of season. I know guys still fish for them during those times and have paper tournaments but not sure if you can get a guide to target them or not during those times. That area is loaded with big smallmouth. Finding a guide will be no problem. Just google it. Remember when visiting the falls if your planning on seeing the Canadian side you will need a passport.

" I laugh at local guys who have shallow water anchors because the only time they are able to use them is during the spawn. After that the bass move off shore almost instantly and we are back to fishing with our boat in deep water. So they spend thousands of dollars for something that they can only use a few weeks out of the year. " You are so wrong on that statement. My guess is you made it because you don't own them. I use mine all year long and more then just for fishing.

That should be a new rule. If you find a new spot or make your baits you have to share them.

I didn't mean it as your mistake. In years past it has always been a curse to fish your home lake. So now he wins and he must have planted brush piles. Really ?

No he is the second to do that.

I second that. You all can tell your grandchildren how wonderful they were when they're all gone.

Exactly ! I've never fished Hartwell but I have been to Clark's Hill and those herring do change the way those bass live. The key is to know where they roam frequently and hope they are there when you are. Sure Casey knew a lot of spots. For the na sayers how are you going to make up a rule for that ? This is one of the reasons I stopped fishing the federation and club tournaments. Guys that can't win are always trying to make up rules to find ways they can win. And then when they don't win they get their numbers and vote new rules in. When we do that it just makes it a bad sport. How about let's just go fishing and find a way to win ? That's what Casey did. Why because someone wins does that mean he cheated ? Casey is one heck of a fisherman and proved it this weekend. He had a game plan and stuck to it and it was the winning pattern. Give the guy some credit.

I agree. Get rid of the dog show. I didn't mind the High School and College teams. They were bass fishing for the championship. I thought it was pretty cool. But the dog show has to go. Now they could have had the owners of the two dogs jump for distance. I think the fat girl with her crack hanging out her pants would have lost.

No I don't. No I never will.

I have fished tournaments for over 20 years. It seems like every year there is somebody saying somebody else is doing this or that and that's why they can't beat them. Or his motor is faster, he can fish during the week and I can't or how about he gets inside information that no one else gets. I just hate the guy that wants to change the rules to help him win. The fact is Casey is an awesome fisherman and that's why he's in the Classic. I say " Shut up and fish ! "

If I fish it I make it. Got tired of going to BPS or where ever and not getting what I wanted. I was always coming home with something that just wasn't what I wanted or the same thing everyone else was tossing. Or I'd run out of a bait and need it for an upcoming tournament and find they were out too so I'd next day air it from where ever. So maybe not the cheapest hobby to get into I started buying molds 15 years ago and now can make just about any bait. With the cost of the molds, plastic, lead, skirt material, wire benders, paint, paint guns and all the other little items one would think he could buy a lot of lures. And he could. But then I see what BPS gets for a little ten pack of worms or what they call a custom spinner bait and think maybe if I live long enough.

Several lakes near me they lower the lakes in the winter so they can control flooding later in the spring. There are brush piles everywhere. This is nothing new to any lake. With all the new electronics I would think he would have been better off looking for what was already there. If it's a good holding area then someone has something on it. After listening to the first day it looks like a lot of the fish weighed in came from suspended over deep water. And many of the coves had ice cover. I don't think fishing bush piles was much of a factor.