Alpster

Ronnie, I employ the same mindset for my baitcasters. However, on my spinning rigs I try to go as small as I think I can get away with. JT Bagwell Leo & JT, Although I fish with baitcasters 10 to 1 over spinning gear. I tried using 10lb Power pro on my Twin Power 2500. The line would cast with big tangled clumps of line comming off and through the guides. I originally thought it was just too much line on the spool, but after cutting off the mess several times half of my line was gone. The one dink I caught with 10lb buried the line and caused me to have to strip 20 ' or so of line so I could cast again. Swithched to 30lb and it solved both problems. That's just my experience. Ronnie

Remember to use the same diameter braid as you would mono. Example: If you reel calls for 8lb test use 30lb braid (8lb diameter) if your reel calls for 12lb mono, use 50lb braid (12lb diameter). Heavier braid behaves better than the thinnest. JMHO Ronnie

50lb Power Pro, you will love it! JMHO Ronnie

I am obviously "Grandfathered" in. Like the country song goes - I was a mook before it was cool. LOL ;D Ronnie

I have the knot tyer and use it for splicing and attaching leaders, but I still perfer the palomar for attaching hooks and lures. JMHO Ronnie

OK Folks, sit back, relax and listen to how it went......... Like most of the pilgims headed to Lake Fork, half the fun was getting ready. I spent the weeks leading up to the trip packing the tacklebox, carefully sorting plastics, hooks, jigs, etc., looking at maps, dreaming of the bass of a lifetime and meeting friends without a face. The 'Bass Bus' was prepped and loaded. Craigaria's awesome Bass Resource stickers adourned the windows. Hard to believe it's time to go. 40 degrees on the East Coast with a steady rain when I fired up the 'Bass Bus' at 5:00 am on Friday. Drove 150 miles in rain & snow to the Bass Pro Shop in Harrisburg, PA to Pick up Muddy Man & Brutus for the trip to FORK! YEA!! We sneaked out from under a big Noreaster that dumped 14" of snow on Muddy & Ron's home town. We did about 600 miles to Bristol VA and camped for the night. Saturday we headed out early to make it to 'Riskkid's' in Nashville to have lunch. Carl (Riskkid) grilled us a steak that was so tender you could suck it through a straw. Carl is a man among men. His hospitality and generosity sets him apart. Thank you Carl! We left Carl's place in the afternoon en route to the abode of our very own 'Road Warrior' in Memphis. I'm not sure if I have ever laughed so hard as I did listening to the MOOK stories on the road to Kent's. We arrived at 'Road Warrior's' house in the early evening and dined on the best BBQ ribs I have ever had! Road Warrior and his lovely wife are the consumate hosts and treated us like family (maybe better LOL). In our excitement, we woke up very early and headed to FORK. We are now a convoy, the 'Bass Bus' and Road Warrior's' SUV. The Mooks switched places at each stop so they could take turns visiting with Kent (RW). On Sunday afternoon, we arrived at "Fisherman's Cove" and plugged in the 'Bass Bus'. We learned quickly that LBH, Cigar Lover and NBoucher were having travel trouble (airline schedule) because of the storm that we had narrowly escaped. Although we were bummed about the plight of LBH & crew we were gratefull to meet many of the Bass Resource Crew. Monday, Ron & I (we are both named Ron) met with our guide at the 'Lake Fork Marina' and ordered breakfast while we waited. I asked for a sausage & egg sandwich on white toast, Ron (what a mook) asked for a "pork roll & egg on a hard roll" the Texas waitress asked " you want a what? on a what?". A lesson learned about cultural cuisine. LOL We fished untill about noon without catching anything (our guide caught 1 dink) I won't mention his name because he seemed to try hard to put us on some fish. He brought us back in at noon and confessed we would not likely catch any fish. Ron & I had a good time fishing anyway. In the evening I made Gumbo & rice and Carl (Riskkid) imported some 'Boudin' and it was cajun niight at FORK. Like 'Crocodile Dundee' said, it tastes like #@%$, but it will keep you alive. LOL Tuesday! Muddy man and Ron (Brutus) have been friends for many years and we had planned to share a boat together ( all three of us). Ron is moving to Florida soon and this was one of the last times they (the mooks) would fish together, so I took advantage of Bert's (Bighead) generous offer to fish with him on his awesome Triton boat on Tuesday so Muddy and Ron could fish together on Fork. The mooks had quite a day (see the Lake Fork Video) thread. Bert & I fished hard all day. He caught a few small fish & I remained skunked. Bert (Big Head) is an over the top fisherman with an awesome attitude and a great pleasure to fish with. Thanks Bert, for your generosity. I hope to fish with you again someday. Muddy_Man & Ron (Brutus) sevred up some Italian meatballs & pasta for dinner that would make you slap your mama. WEDNESDAY! We could make a sitcom out of this day. LOL. The mooks (Muddy & Ron) are fishing with other members of the group. Craig (Cigarlover) & I are going out to fish in the rental boat provided by "Ricky's Boat Rental". We motor out to a little island to fish for our new PB and somehow the trolling motor doesn't seem to want to work, not a little bit, not at all! We push ourselves (with a paddle) out into enough water to get the out board to get us back to the dock. I call Ricky and he comes out to get the boat. He has the audacity to proclaim "pilot error" " "it's set on 5, you are burning up my motor". This is funny to me because this is the EXACT SAME TROLLING MOTOR that is mounted on my boat at home. I am figuring out now, that doing battle with ' Ricky the Boat' will only cause me to wind up in a Texas jail, so I give him back his boat and accept a refund for only the last day the rental. He beat us out of Tuesday's rental. Nobody fished from his boat on Tuesday, except Craig & I for about 1/2 hour & neither of us ever casted a lure. At the end of the day, Keith (Flechero) took me out on his boat and we got to spend a couple of hours fishing together before dinner. Hours I will treasure for a long time. Thanks Keith! Wednesday night, Kent (Road Warrior) constructed some (Hoagie) sandwiches and homemade chille that had to be eaten to be believed. A contented, full stomach was had by all! Thanks Kent! THURSDAY! Anyway, God bless LBH and Art Pasley for feeling sorry for Alpster. They set me up for one of the highlights of my trip. Art took Craig (Cigarlover) and myself in his rock & roll Ranger to some of the fishiest spots on Lake Fork. Craig caught a couple of fish and Art did too, but I had to change my avatar on the last day of fishing. I have to tell you, I have caught 1000s of fish in my life and I have met a lot of people, but few as amazing as the BassResource.com friends I will remember on this trip. RW and Riskkid extended the same hospitality and kindness on the return trip. Lastly, everyone laughs and enjoys Muddy_man and Ron (Brutus) doesn't post a lot, but I have to tell you, these two mooks are genuine, caring, awesome, self sacrificing gentlemen who are the REAL DEAL! I am proud to call them friends! That's my story and I'm stickin to it! God Bless! Ronnie - NO EXCUSES 08.

LOVE MY MGs! Ronnie

It depends on the finish. Some cure faster than others. I use "Flex coat" and leave mine on the turner for 3-1/2 to 4 hours. If you are doing it by hand, I suggest you wait till the kids are in bed and you won't be disturbed. Get yourself a few snacks and a favorite beverage and watch your favorite movie. Put the rod where you can reach it , Cut 2 Vs in a card board box to set the rod in. Give it a little turn every few minutes until it's ready to be put up for the night. Follow the manufacture's instructions for application and times. JMHO Ronnie

You nailed it. Just make mine Black Shad. Ronnie

Gee, he only hung out with the 3 mooks in a bus for a few days. ;D Ronnie

4biz, PM your mailing address and I will send you a copy on CD when it's done. Ronnie

What a tragedy, I will certainly pray. God bless your family. Ronnie

One of the great advantages of braid is you get a lot of wear time. Once a year is great. Ronnie

WOW! Now I don't feel so bad about having more than one. Ronnie

I have one of those 5 gallon bottles that you turn upside down in a water cooler a little over 1/2 full of change. When my computer is fixed I will post a pic. LOL Ronnie

WELL SAID MIKE! You just had to be there. Ronnie

No one had more fun on this trip than I did! Muddy & Ron are without a doubt, in every way, gentlemen mooks. I can't remember when I laughed so much & so hard. At his request, I am waiting for LBH to get the Fork video up before I post my trip report. Keep checking the Lake Fork trip thread as I have quite a story to tell. Don't forget, if not for the mooks sharing expenses for the gas (3100 miles @ 9 MPG), camping, food, boat rental, etc. , I'm not sure I could have made the trip. So MY THANKS TO THE TWO MOOKS IN A BOAT fishing team for helping me have an awesome trip. I am already thinking about next year, but the extra seats in the bass bus are already reserved for the MOOKS! God bless you guys! Ronnie

Welcome aboard! There is no better website than this one for bass fishing. Try the search feature, all of your questions will be answered. Ronnie

For everyone who is chomping at the bit for LBH's video of the Fork trip. I have to take responcibility for the huge delay. I had all kinds of computer trouble and then learned a lot about the challenges of trying to send several gigabytes of video and pictures across the internet. I finally had to surrender and send the files on a DVD by overnight mail. All of this is not LBH's fault, he has been very patient with all of my foibles here. He should have everything tomorrow. I can't wait to see the finished product. Thanks for waiting me out on this. Ronnie

I am a hand switcher. Ronnie

LBH, I dropped off the mooks at BPS in Harrisburg at 1:00 PM and got home at around 6:00 to find my new computer crashed to the ground. :'( :'( I will use the laptop to get my pictures/video to you tomorrow, somehow. SORRY! Ronnie

Good night everyone. I am turning off the lights and heading out early. It's finally time to go. Pray for good weather. See you on the road. Ronnie

Farmingdale, North Howell near Freehold. Ronnie

YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT!!!!!!!!! ;D ;D Bighead, We will try to get there bfore sundown so LBH can get some video of the Bass buss rollin in! 11 1/2 hours till the bus rolls.

S.Carey, Congratulations on an awesome SAL. Welcome to the board! Ronnie