livemusic

Really? I thought he was the model of good behaviour or does he hold the bass at an angle? As for the tourney guys showing them off triumphantly, don't they all do it? It's made bass fisherman into rock stars.

Dang, up to 50% mortality? That is horrible. If that is due to high temps, they should do away with tourneys in summer. That seems such a waste. It would be interesting for someone to do a study of catching bass, bringing them up the boat, tagging them, then releasing (catch and release but not boating them) and see what the mortality is. I would think it would be zero but maybe being caught is seriously detrimental to health! I have no idea. Obviously, being caught by a fisherman is not part of natural evolution.

My post was in response to "Bass taste horrible, there is no way to cook one without it tastting horrible. Anyone who thinks differently probably likes to eat squireel and opussum too." So, my post was ridiculous? lol As for you saying that bass are "by far one of the nastiest things I've had to eat"... have you fried them in axle grease or you are catching bass out of the sewer, lol. The fried bass fillets we had last night were delicious and always are. In the south, everyone I know who eats bass eats bass filets. Fillets are rolled in corn meal, salt and pepper or maybe other seasoning and the grease (oil) is brought to a hot 350 degrees. I would bet that you would have a lot of trouble telling the difference between my fried bass or crappie. I even prefer bass usuallay. Crappie can taste a little bland. I've never had a bass taste bad and I've eaten them for over 50 years. No comprehende.

I don't know anything about river fishing but I have caught a ton of fish out of a 12' or 14' jon boat and can fish two easily. I would try to buy a used one in good condition. Other option if one of these pond jumper boats. If you have Academy, Bass Pro, Dick's or Cabelas nearby, they sell them. You can buy one for less than $600. Add a troll motor and battery and you are $1,000. You could also try craigslist. I am going to look at two today and they are $175 each.

Can anyone tell me how much room is in the "cockpit" of the Pelican Bass Raider 10e? Length for sure, width would be nice to know. Also, does anyone know if Academy puts these on sale and if so, when? I can buy one there for $550, which is a good price, Dick's sells it for $700, but a sale never hurts!

All I can say is you must not know how to fry fish. I assume you are saying that fried bass are bad. In fact, in this thread, I am assuming the talk is about fried fish. If you guys are talking about baking them or something other than frying, I have no idea. Although, I did bake a 5 lb fish one time whole to try it after I read about it in a magazine. (To scale it like a bream, cut the head off and remove entrails, then bake it whole. It was good. But in the south, gamefish are almost always fried.

Your word is blanked out so I assume that is a negative word. And if so, I don't get it. Bass are absolutely delicious to me and actually, my favorite gamefish to eat. People ooh and aah over crappie but to me, bass have more taste; crappie can be bland. Although, I do like them. If I fry up a mess of bass, I can't imagine you not liking them. And whomever said 2 lbs or more can taste fishy, never happened with me. I've never had a bass taste fishy. Catfish, yep. I do like catfish unless they taste real fishy. We are eating bass filets tonight! Bluegill bream taste great. Unless they are very large, you'll need to eat them with bones in, not filleted. Large ones can be filleted.

My boat is 1997 Tracker, bought used, has Minn Kota 37lb thrust. I don't think the motor has that much time on it, the owner didn't fish this boat much but there is slop in the linkage and when it kicks in, it's kind of noisy and jerky. How can I fix this? If parts are needed, where can I buy? It doesn't seem like it would have enough mileage for this to be worn out but maybe time does it damage?

FINAL EDIT: I found a new one for $95 shipped to me. Bought it. = I found a new aluminum one for $122 shipped to me. Is that a good price? Anyone have an idea how much it costs to repair one? I don't know a repair shop. I found a used one for $55 that looks ugly but I don't see any dents. Looks like it ran in a sand bar some, or scraped bottom a lot due to paint wear. Found one in pretty good shape, used, for $70 shipped. This is 1997 Bass Tracker 40 hp Tracker motor (Mercury). Local repair shop is quoting me $80 on the low end to repair. Still mad I dinged this, lol.

I am having a heckuva time finding a prop via Google search. I finally have a guy on chat from Overton's as we speak. Maybe he can find the prop. Do you know where I can buy a used one? Anyone got any idea of costs of repair, used prop cost, new prop cost? This is 3-blade. Numbers on prop are 48 73140 A40 15P, so, I suppose that is 15 pitch. EDIT: What does stainless do for me, just stronger? And could I buy a prop that makes the boat faster top end? EDIT: Overton's guy said he could get a higher pitch and make it faster but each inch increased pitch makes RPM's go down 200 rpm. Why does that matter? Overtax the engine or what? I don't know what RPM I am running at top speed because the tach is broke.

I bent my prop in the garage when I thought the truck was in park but it was in reverse and it went back and hit the friggin wall. GF wanted me to hurry up and move the boat so she could put her car in the garage in case it hailed from an inbound storm. Of course, it barely sprinkled rain. Truck was barely moving but this 20 year old prop must be really fragile because that vinyl siding broke it. Can I gently hammer or bend this back in shape, leave it alone or what? Will it make the ride shaky? What are these props made of, it's certainly not high quality. Anyone know how much cheap replacement props for a 1997 Tracker (Mercury) motor costs and where I can find one? And is there any prop made for this engine to give it more speed? It goes fast enough, I guess I am curious, though. I suppose I could buy a new prop if I can't find a used one and then use this bent one as a spare. I expect to have some prop dents, we have a lot of stumps around here. I wonder if stainless steel is worth it. But this is not an expensive boat, just totally adequate and functional.

Like this? http://www.minwax.com/wood-projects/accessories/diy-fishing-pole-rack-plans

I am DEF about making life easier at the ramp, you can bet! We certainly agree. I am just mad that I just a week or so ago bought the ones you hate before I even saw this thread. My straps work okay but I have to wrap the loose end around the main strap a few times to keep it from flapping in the breeze. I guess I could probably figure out the exact length and make them better. Doesn't take long to cinch it down but the fancy ones are def a better option, worth the money.

Why do you guys like these so much, what do they do for you? I saw Boat Buckles in Academy today and I think they were $70. I saw some in BPS and their brand was $50.

I sometimes fish out of a jon boat and the wind spins/pushes these boats around really bad. How do these pontoon type rigs fare in the wind, better or worse?

I wonder if they have tagged fish or done some kind of scientific study to where they can actually determine mortality after a tournament.

That could work, too, but some reviews, some people are saying they are too close together and your reels might make it such that you can't use all six slots. Like this one -- http://www.cabelas.com/product/Rapala-reg-Lock-n-Hold-Rod-Rack/1168631.uts?productVariantId=2880153&srccode=cii_17588969&cpncode=43-56069605-2&WT.tsrc=CSE&WT.mc_id=GoogleProductAds&WT.z_mc_id1=03143531&rid=20-- they show six rods in there but two do not have reels.

I need to get my several rigs out of the corner of the storage room in the garage and up on the ceiling or wall. I found this -- http://www.amazon.com/RackEm-7009-Overhead-12-Rod-Fishing/dp/B00A16NQTU/ref=pd_sim_200_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=1JVNXRX108R8BYFWDVH6. Looks good. Anyone know of any model you really like? I like this one because you just lay it in there, you don't have to hook it with velcro or something.

Since I started back fishing this year, I have bought all left hand retrieve reels and I am right-handed, accustomed to reeling with right hand. It makes sense to throw it with my right hand and NOT have to switch hands to retrieve. I also saw some pro videos where the pros recommended this. So far, it's working pretty good, not totally used to it but I essentially went right to it. I also have used a spinning reel, left-handed retrieve a little bit over the years. I have a mixture, because all of my baitcasters of the past have been right-hand reeling reels. Starting to have some arthritis issues, so, mixing it up seems like it should help.

What does hunting mean?

That was a really bad day for a test. Some day when you are catching fish, try them again. The Big Bite swimming fluke, I have caught fish on it just fine, it throws like a bullet and the price is good. Although, down here, we can get a great fluke -- Zoom super fluke -- at a great price.

Never heard of a fish stabilizer weight, but, now I have -- http://www.***.com/Flip_Clip_Stabilizing_Weights_3pk/descpage-FHCPSWTS.html-- but I don't fish deep water. Clean out live well each trip? With what? And why?

This is not something to take, but I cannot do without MyRadar app for my cell phone. I use that all the time; we have a lot of thunderstorms here and it's uber cool to have weather radar in your pocket. I also like the baggie idea, I am always putting my phone under the gunwale overhang so it doesn't get wet if it's raining a bit, could just put the phone in a baggie. I looked at first aid kits recently but heck, 90% of the ones I saw is nothing more than gauze. Ridiculous. I wonder what a good quality kit is.

Yep, psychodad looks awesome! It's amazing how good stuff looks these days, the plastic molds and soft plastics keep getting better. I think I saw a Keitech flapper bait recently that look great.

Perhaps some of you can help me. I recently decided I needed sunglasses while fishing. I tried a bunch at BPS and finally bought a $20 pair because I could not tell the difference in the store between low end and high end. After fishing a couple weeks, I took them back. What I find is that with all sunglasses that are non-prescription, I just cannot see as well with them on. In the store, I have tried countless types, low to high, and nothing seems to be comfortable. It just seems I can't see well, everything is not as sharp. I test them by looking at a sign with writing on it in the store, and note if I think I can see well enough. Not. So, I surmised that I need prescription sunglasses. Does that ring true? The Maui Jim says "love them or your money back." I certainly like that guarantee. I wonder how much Rx sunglasses would cost? Lastly, the last pair of regular glasses I bought was about a year ago and I shopped hard for good frames and decided to use a real optometrist eyeglass center versus using Walmart or Costco or chain store, thinking I would get better quality lenses because my Walmart glasses over the past few years have not been impressive. Disappointment! I scratched my "superior" doctor's office lenses within mere days and I have no idea how I did it because I never dropped them. It's still a mystery to me. I also wonder if there is a scratch-resistant lense that works. For great vision, I don't mind paying for it.