RobDar

so browning reels and equip... if you go to their website, click reels, it tells you you are leaving browning and going to a "browning licensee" website... and you end up at bass pro... ...so is BPS gear and Browning gear are the same thing then? just with a different name plate?

...I am starting to think I will forget how to fish! If my van does not get back from the mechanic soon ( had to have the heads rebuilt) I am going to be really cranky!

I agree. ...although...I hate to be the nay-sayer here...I have seen my share of fisherman behaving badly as well. I have said it before ( to much criticism) and will say it again...any moron can go and buy a boat and drop it in the water. They do not have to be qualified to operate a boat or even smart enough to zipper their pants and out on the water they go. I think there should be classes that folks have to take to operate power boats. I think in order to get your license plate for your trailer or whatever you have to prove you have been through a boating safety course. ...dont even get me started on the fact that anyone can go buy a 60 foot motorhome and take it out on the road. My grandfather driving a motorhome...freakin SCARY!!! He could not get through Burger Kings drive through in his Honda without some effort...but we let him behind the wheel of a motohome, no questions asked! ( and yes he hit something on his way home from the dealership)

coloring is usually determined by the fish's environment. At a tourney we will wiegh in fish of several different colors and tints. from light colored, washed out looking fish to deep dark greens and blacks...depends on where on the lake the fish came from.

1. NorthWest/ North Central Indiana and Northeast Illinois 2. Usually average 1-2 an hour...and always in spurts. Will catch 5-6 in one hour then none for awhile 3. average weight...1-2 lbs 4. biggest bass this season 3.76 pounds

I never fished till I was 30 or so...the wife was a fisher all her life... the first "fishing trip" we went on, I hooked her in the head.

whenever I see a post from you now...I am going to preface it with... Heya Slick... ;D

Did we notice that the "glass rig" is a 15 footer??? ..and it is before there was alot of storage in glass boats. It is an '86...so it will have the real short front deck...it was not until what?...early 90's that we started seeing full front decks and a good quantity of storage in bass boats... I think he may actually have more fishing room in the 17 foot alum. The TX 17 rides like a brick though. It is what I have...and if there is any big water near you and you want to be able to fish something other than inland lakes...go with the skeeter. The TX-17...while a good first boat...is not the boat for rough waters. That boat will jar your fillings loose in rough water.

no I have not fished that area before...and I likely won't fish it. I am afraid the Mississippi may be too much river for my little Tracker boat. ( unless I have the new boat by then) This years classics are the same. They are at Muskegon Lake...which in itself is fine...but the director left everything open, including lake Michigan, and alot of guys are running and gunning to some hot spots as far as 50 miles. I just cannot do that in my little Tracker on a lake like Lake Michigan...that lake can get real scary, real fast. I am not sure how well I can compete against guys with so many other options open to them. ...not that I wont try...

my father is laws sensor kept sticking. He ran it low on oil and after that could not get the sensor to clear. He had a new sensor put in and that ifxed it.

well thanks for the reply...the director of our club has totally changed his mind now. He had me do all kind of research on the lakes and then decided to go with the Mississippi River Pool 13...

I would not say that the prices changed my present plans... I was a bit worried when they got to $3.50... It has changed my FUTURE plans. Next year we will likely be buying a boat and I will not be buying something with a real big motor.

the slickest thing I have ever seen done was done by indiana DNR... they poured a concrete slab up on land and then pushed into place with a tractor... but the gravel will be a heck of alot cheaper though you will likely have to add some every year for awhile.

I also feel that "structure" is most often thought of as "unnatural" physical obstructions like docks, trees, and other things in the water...and that is true, but structure can be natural as well... the "structure" of a point... the "structure" of a rock pile... the "structure" of a weed bed...

everyone else if answering the fishing questions...so I will try to answer the MAP question... are they all the same? No. I always thought they were...but they arent. My wife...who will almost always buys the lowest priced anything with no consideration for value ( just price)...has come back with some really junky maps. "Hot Spots" are usually pretty good maps at a middle of the road price. They usually are fairly accurate, have depth, topographic information...and usually have notes of major items, structures, safety concerns,...yadda yadda yadda... I think I would always look for maps that have some good detail. The fishing maps are like road atlas's...if you pay $6 at walmart you get a basic map with basic information like major roads...pay $14 dollars at Barnes and Nobles and you can get one with alot more detail and in depth info like county roads/unpaved roads etc etc.

Without knowing you, your skills, or the age/condition of your boat... I think I might opt to have it done by a pro. I don't know about you but I hate working with fiberglass...and I feel like a pro could match the paint etc etc much better than I could ever do

yep sounds like a case of natural selection doing its thing... kind of like the 4th of July around my house.

it is a shame Bumble went under. I have talked to a few guys that simply adore there Bumble Bee boats. I hear they were a good boat. I still think though that this Pheonix boat company is going to be fighting an uphill battle as a "new" company in that price range when there is Triton, Ranger, Stratos, and the other big boys with well known and reliable names whom also carry cheaper baseline models for the price conscious buyer. If they had a more affordable boat...like the $17,000-$23,000 range to compete with the Nitro's and lower end Stratos etc...they would be entering into a more flexible market with a broader appeal.

...and how long ago was that? the cheap tri hull boats were years ago...when I was looking on their website and contacted them just about three years ago they offered three BASS STYLE boats...all 18 feet or over...all $30,000 plus. ( once you had the dealer rig a trolling motor, graphs etc etc Ranger once built a $5000 dollar tri hull as well...but not anymore!

off the subject a little...but I saw on CNN or one of the channels a few months back where there have been more foreclosures and bankruptcies in the past 5 years than there was in something like the previous 25 years...quite alot of those due to ARM's and the interest only payment loans. I also believe...which my father does not get...that a good portion ( not all but alot) of employment these days is not like it was when he was working. There is not as much stability in the job market as there was in his day. It used to be that guys who got into the mills, or rail road, or some manufacturing plant had a job for as long as they wanted. I dont think my dad has a single freind who did not work at the same place for 20-30 years... I dont think I have a friend who has made it 10 before being laid off/ taken a pay cut/ or something similar for one reason or another. The days of people going to a job and staying there for 30 years are slipping away. As we move away from manufacturing towards a service based economy and continue to try to compete in a world market flooded with dirt cheap labor...job stability is slowing slipping away.

I personally feel one of Bumbles problems was that they did not offer an expansive line from year to year. They had larger boats, 20 and 21 footers in the upper price range and that was it. If a guy wanted a Bumble but could not pay $35,000 for a boat he did not have any options other than to go with another manufactuer or buy an older used boat. They targeted the high end market and stayed there...which cut out alot of their potential sales. I feel 520dvx hit the nail...companies like Stratos seem to have their finger on the pulse and started offering a baseline, small, entry level, affordable boat ( not that stratos was not already affordable) in the 176xt...and they did it for a reason. Companies like Stroker, Norris, Legend, who do not offer these entry level boats are going to struggle a bit in an economy where folks just do not have the confidence for large investments like a $35,000-$45,000 dollar boat. I do not think $30,000 is too much for a good boat...but I think $30,000 will cut out a good portion of the boat buying public.

If you have the money and a place to store both boats...go for it... coming across the boat you want at the price you want to pay does not happen everyday...

Yep! Yep! Yep! The thing with a clear water lake is boat handling...if the water is really clear you have to be careful about everything! where you cast you shadow, where the boat is...you cannot sneak up on the fish when the water is clear and if the see you coming...

...this is a good possibility blackrose... with all this talk I can feel a winter science project coming on! LOL!!!!

...and I suppose that this is very possible that, for some reason probably related to local forage, red has an effect in certian places... BUT... I wonder if it is possible that the success with red is as much YOU as the bait. Could it be that you fish the red baits with more confidence and thus effect your presentation slightly? I really dont know...and am just asking...this is one of those mind boggles that keep me awake the night before a tournament! LOL!