Hale

I'll go after snooks and redfish on occasion. Being that the intercoastal and ocean is just up the street from me I can't resist. Its coooooold for the Snook right now.

Its funny...but there is the aspect of the days being longer regardless of what your clock says. Im sure someone could find a way to discuss how this affects fish (even though it has occured since the beginning of time).

Vicious, hands down.

Ribbit, the other manufactures are offering hefty contingency payouts in all the bigger events. In most cases it is a matched payout. You just dont see as much publicity from Nitro (example) in regards to a BASS event since Triton rules that advertising space. Even so, the contingency payouts are somewhat negotiable once you start getting the exposure of being a specific brand boater. Now Mercury and MotorGuide have stepped in with promoting their contingency programs. I think this answers most all peoples fascination to obtain sponsors....if your good, they will pay you! I vote for BASS on the fact that they have a better road map for developing a career as a professional angler. The math that was done above may be correct in that the entry fees are more and payout is less. But with ESPN being the engine behind all of it, it allows the angler to obtain a great deal of exposure and obtain the larger corporate sponsors. The kind of sponsors that are paying Swindle 600k a year. I would love to see a total money comparison between the big name FLW and BASS guys and see if its even close.

BigAl check out www.WeekendBassers.com. Its based out of the Boynton area but the tourneys stilll stay pretty local. And no meetings to haul to once a month. I made the website...let me know what your first impression was.

Check out the Fatzilla SD by Micro Munch Tackle (earthworm77). They arent true senko knock offs....same design; just big, fat, and nasty!

Check out www.eastcoastbassanglers.com They are based out of Port Saint Lucie/Ft Pierce. The next meeting is this Tuesday.

I had this problem with a few brands of braids. It would drive me crazy at first not understanding what the deal was. I would switch back to my choice to have it go away and then for some reson swithc up to another brand and have it occur again. It is the line digging in...pretty much the same thing that happens after locking into a big fish or a hang up and you pull the line tight.

I dont know if there is a written rule on one particular way. Form my experience its very boat dependant..but this is how I do it generally: Trim it all the way down before taking off. Once it starts getting on plane start trimming it up. You will feel the boat rise more and start to get on its pad. During this process you may hear or feel the prop slip. If so, let off the trim for a second so the boat settles. The prop slipping will vary according to water conditions (smooth, choppy, etc) Until your comfortable with this, I wouldnt go into any turns while adjusting the trim from a holeshot. Again every boat is different but i can feel when the boat is on its pad just in how the steering feels (its not too loose, but definitely dont have to muscle a turn). Do you understand what plowing and porpoising is? And then after all that you get to learn how to adjust your trim and jackplate while coming out of a 180 holeshot....

You should definitely try out the Vicious line. The flouro is especicially resilient to abrasion and the mono will beat most all other brands. And the line memory is very minimal. I have been using this stuff for a little while and I prefer it hands down over any other line. I actually got picked up on their team a little while back and they sent me a big box of different lines/sizes. I ended up passing them out to some local shops and buddies (FW & SW). Now they are all ordering this stuff!

I keep mine on the deck somedays when Im fishing locally. Other than that they stay locked up in the locker. I keep a pretty good eye out anyway at traffic lights for whatever other nonsense might be going on....I would love to see someone hope out of their car and try to grab my rods! But with that said, are you removing your electronics to? Mine never come off unless the boat is getting parked out of site longer than 5 minutes.

Ribbit...I feel your pain! Its been tough enough just getting the wetaher to stabilize long enough for the fish to make up their minds on the spawn. This front just threw a huge damper in my weekend. Im thinking the International Boat Show in Miami is better served than throwing my entry fee into a pot where the luckiest guy gets it.

I just read an ad somewhere about an anti-theft device that works on this same principle. They make your wiring harness/plug removable and when you remove it, it automatically engages the emergency brake. I thought it sounded a bit 'fishy'.From your posts it sounds like it could be legitimate. I dont unplug either (I have LEDs) You guys carry extra bulbs in the truck anyway right?

How did you do last weekend at the bassmaster series?

Oh see its all strategic planning. You swoop into the hottest fishing hole with a couple of these naked hotties on the boat. They do their little show on the back of the boat...distracting all of the other anglers. Meanwhile, your catching fish (no pun intended) ;D ;D ;D

You can also download demo versions of the unit to your pc so you can learn how to use the features and settings before even getting on the water.

So after seeing this response I had to check to make sure I wasnt crazy....my buddy has a large bay boat with Lowrance equipment. It has one ducer on the transom and there are 3 units tied into that one ducer. In which he did confirm that it was done through the LowranceNET system. He can only view one unit's sonar at a time (as mentioned with the switch) but all three will display specific information that comes from the ducer (water temp, etc). Its not my rig so I cant be here to argue any of it, but he does make a very healthy living at fishing so his info is reliable.

I have the X96 on the bow. Its a good unit. I seem to get he best signal/display by: 1) turning the fish symbols off. 2) turning the grayline down to less around 40%. 3) in dirty water I turn off the auto sensitivity and pull the sensitivity down and it seems to get cleaner reflections. The sediment in the water can cause beam refraction and I dont think the unit understands how to adjust to that properly.

avid, Im with you! I fished Ansin Garcia today with a buddy and it was a perfect S Florida day: mid 70's, light breeze and BIG BLUE BIRD SKIES. I caught 1 fish and the partner got skunked. I tried everything from flipping jigs, spinnerbaits, crankbaits, swimbaits, frogs, etc. Tough, tough day. Steve P did a lot better, I think the last time I talked to him he was up to 9 out there....

How about some numbers: Winning bag weight and 2nd place weight?

FloridaBassKing: Tell your buddy to get a Jaguar next time. My wife's favorite thing about hers is that its impossible to lock the keys in it. There is a chip in the key and the car recognizes when its still in the car (provided many hours of entertainment for me when I first bought it for her). Taking the VIN to the dealership is a huge deal. Shows like 20/20 and Dateline have taken random VIN's from a parking alot, went to the dealership, and got keys (obviously the shows were about auto theft). I cover mine up for that reason (just slide a business card down over it on the dash).

From everyone I have ever talked to about this (youth) its a badge of status. They believe that it is the industry's seal of approval on being one of the best. They very much want people to look up to them as they look up to their heroes. Its not just happening in Fishing. Take any indiviudal sport (skateboarding, surfing, biking, etc) and its the same misguided ambitions. Its sad that most people dont understand that they could just get a job with the same company they are seeking a sponsor from. Being the regional sales manager for Shimano looks way better on any resume than being 'sponsored' does.

We are good down south. The storms hit central and northern central florida.

That makes it a LOT easier for you to get to know who you are dealing with. They definitely do not get a letter. But its a catch 22 with small places, a lot of times they dont have the funding available to support a sponsorship even if it were just product. Likewise, they may not be interested in expanding their business anymore than it is operating at now. With that said you need to be creative, most likely they [local tackle store/marina] have industry hook ups. Offer to work around the marina for a couple of hours a week free, in exchange for being there the days the distributors show up to re-stock. Those guys know more about the business than 90% of the pros on the tour. Since your just starting out forget about sponsors. You want to get your name out in the industry and network. Make friends at the local shops, attend boat shows and get to know everyone, go to the tournaments (ones your not competing in) and get to know people. You want the local shops to be happy to see you come in and one thing they dont want to see is one day your convincing him to carry product XYZ and then 6 months later your pushing product ABC instead. You will loose any value you had and that negativity spreads quicker than any words could ever explain. As big as this industry has gotten, its still a 'good ole boy' network and its all about who you know.

You ever noticed no one is sponsored by Marlboro or anything like that? BASS doesnt allow it. They actually had kittens about Quinns' Evan Williams sponsorship. They didnt want to promote adult products, ironically as Busch is a huge sponsor for them. There is a huge adult entertainment (strip club) down here called Rachels. Its a high class joint with Steak house..kind of place that has Bentleys, Ferarris, etc in front on Friday night. I talked to someone about getting them to do sponsorship for fisherman down here and it was clearly pointed out that most tournament circuits/associations would not allow it (this included Saltwater). So apparently they are very particular about who you can and cannot have as a sponsor on tour. I dont think we will ever see a Target sposnored fisherman in an FLW tour.