Banor

Thanks RW, that means alot! There have to be more dreamers out there! Let's hear some more aspirations, come on guys! B

Sam and CSB have given you very good advice. Listen to them. I would add one point to Sam. I agree the resume needs to be one page but I think he's included his cover letter for us to review. I do not work for the fishing industry but I know resumes and he's on track by adding the cover letter. I know HRO's that wont even consider resume's without a cover letter. That being said, Sam you are correct about condensing the paragraphs and not being too wordy. Just remember if you are going to throw out the benefits of your education and academics then you better have a gramatically perfect cover letter, otherwise you've just destroyed your credebility. Ben, your cover letter is way too wordy. I like it but you need to condense it and throw out the run on sentences. You want something short and to the point that tells them that you are interested and briefly what your intent is. Let your single page resume tell them about you. If you get an interview I guarantee you they will ask you the questions they want answers to. Dont use phrases such as "even though i am a young angler." This tells them you are conceding that you may have a downside. Declare that you are a young angler and this will benefit them in XYZ ways. Dont tell them you competed in something if you didnt do well or dont intend to tell them you did well. I could say that I competed in college football - if it was a community college and I was the backup water boy for a team that went 0-12 then it really doesnt benefit them. Definately dont include it in the cover letter. Put a bullet statement in your resume. Any positive life events should be bullet statements in the resume, not in the cover letter unless it was something extremely unique or nationally recognized that they can identify with and will jump out at them. Something like "Your product was instrumental in me earning AOY on Tour X this year and for this reason I intend to promote your product." That's a little extreme but you get the point. Delete the last sentence of the cover letter. You have no idea what their expectations are and this is unneccessary fluff in a cover letter. Discuss this in the face to face. Knowing sports writers and the ability to get their product into the media is definately a bonus but again you should be short, to the point and specific. Just mention that you have access to the media and can get their product and website into XYZ local publications. Dont portray it as a distant possibility but something you intend to do. I cant stress enough to ANYONE looking for sponsors. LOVE THEIR PRODUCT!! USE IT!! PROVE TO THEM THAT YOU SUCCEED 'BECAUSE' OF IT!! Wearing patches, shirts, hats and putting decals on your truck are a given. That's probably one of the expectations they'll have that you dont need to highlight in the cover letter. As for the resume... If I were a fishing industry employer I wouldnt care about restaurant experience unless you were bus boy of the year or something extraordinary. Focus on your education - add your GPA if it was good. If you did well in the Academic competition then add that bullet statement. Definately get the Gander Mtn experience in there. In your tournament experience name the club you were a member of - maybe the reps have heard of the club or have a connection there. I have no idea what the PIB tournament is and chances are they might not either. Spell it out. Bottom line - tailor the highlights of your background and experience to reflect something that will benefit your prospective employer or atleast something they identify with. Just a few of my opinions. Positive criticism - no insults here. Take it for what it's worth. I'm not a major player in the fishing industry so my ideas are not based on fishing companies, but I am a manager and have reviewed plenty of resumes. You are definately on the right track! Good luck!! B

I am currently closer to the bottom of that ladder, however I'm climbing it. I have the wife's blessing and have made the commitment to jump in the water head first (forgive the water pun). I'm moving out of the local tournies and into the BFL. Hopefully next year the Stren and hold there until I qualify for the next rung of the ladder. BASS opens may be an option in '08 if there's no schedule conflicts. I think I have my head on straight. I have a plan and am working it. My plan doesnt even include thinking about sponsors and all that. I believe one needs to keep the focus on fishing until the time sponsors start looking your way. Then go get 'em. Fortunately my finances afford me the ability to cover entry fees without putting my bills at risk. I wont have to fish every tournament with the pressure of cashing a check to survive and I think that is going to make all the difference in the world. I will be able to be on point and focused on the task at hand. Show my hand raised. Yes, excellent topic. B

I would never compare the ABA to those tours. I think I've made it clear I will exercise my rights as an American - rights that I contribute to defending every day. I'd appreciate it if you didnt assume that it's about me thinking I'm too good for people to be in my boat. I'm defending your average joe who cant afford a boat but is an exceptional fisherman good enough to beat most boaters. Your statement made it sound that he doesnt belong in the ABA unless he fishes out of his own boat. I'd welcome him in my boat any day! As a team mate, not as an adversary. I truly hope the ABA makes the BASS weekend series a success. I'm just a tad bit bitter that they have chosen to not include a state with some great lakes and great anglers - Michigan. And I'm very skeptical that based on the decisions they've made in the past and my experience with them that it will be much of a success. So, back to the thread topic. B.A.S.S and A.B.A join forces, which I assume JT threw out for fair and balanced discussion not just the rosey fanboi opinion. I dont think it will be a success and I'm dissapointed already in the execution of it. That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it. B

I would have to say that is not an accurate assessment. Even so just the fact that I have to compete with someone in the back of my boat and deal with them, by rule, having the right to pull fish out from under me. In addition, there are some great fishermen out there who cant afford a boat. The prize money from ABA tournaments is not going to buy a new boat. B

Wait, I've seen posts like this before.... just because the pictures are showing up as red X's for me I think I know what's going on here! 8-) Boy or girl? Congrats DAD!?! Or am I wrong? :-X B

Governing body to govern what exactly? Specifics please. I'd like to agree or disagree with you on this issue but dont have all the details. B

When did my wife miss the fishing lingo class during her nursing courses? If you could just tell me which part of the program teaches nurses how to talk the talk so that I can pass it on to my nurse/wife I would greatly appreciate it. B

It was bluegill? They bite hard and will hold onto your bait for a bit then let go. If you set the hook well and have a fish on with T-Rigged plastices 9 out of 10 times it will be curled up and balled up at the bend of the hook. What you are describing sounds like a tiny fish such as bluegill that never got your hook in their mouth. B

Watch your back man, I got a feeling the posse is about to trample you! B

Your wife is on her way out the door to go to work. It's raining cats and dogs outside and you notice she forgot her umbrella in the corner. Do you remind her she needs her umbrella or shrug and say "I'm not a weatherman, who am I to tell her it's raining?". I personally am going to give her the umbrella and remind her it's raining. But hey, that's just me. Pick your analogy. The point is if you see something is wrong, do you let your friend, brother, forum member asking questions go blindly into it? Ask Raul, RoLo, RW, LBH or any of the mods if they'd let any one of you make equipment choices based on misinformation? I doubt it. Tournament Trails are no different. I've never been good at discretion so you are going to get my opinion straight forward. I expect the same from anyone else responding to my questions on here. Give it to me straight, unless I ask otherwise . If you want an informational web site you have to be willing to take both sides of the information. All that being said.... back to the question of the thread. I flat out abhore the ABA in it's current state. This rule, however is not anything new and is definately not ABA specific and I'd wager to say this is a BASS rule being handed down to ABA. Do I agree with this rule? No. So I'll just add it to the list of things I dont like about ABA. It's not a straw that breaks the camel's back though. That back was broken months ago. B

Glenn, May be true, however I'd rather tell the disabled angler to put it back in the car and get on my boat! He can use my stuff!! B

Again, my opinions are not usually the norm. I've not had this problem ever and I generally spool up lighter line than the spec'd out line capacities on the reels. B

I believe no. That is just line capacity in my humble opinion (I tend to have opinions out of the norm). I've not noticed a difference in castability going lighter line, minimal at best if so. What you do absolutely want to pay attention to is line size and lure weight recommendations on your rod. Adhere to those guidelines as much as possible. B

I'm not bashing you Ghoti (just FYI) but I've seen alot of posts lately on the ratio preferences for cranking and for the life of me I dont see any benefits to going to a higher inches per turn for medium/deep cranking. The "felt like I was reeling in a car" comment pretty much sums up how it feels to me too. 8 hours of cranking with a higher retrieve speed would make my arm fall off from the torquing. I dont buy into the idea that the faster you can crank it the deeper it will go. It may go deeper faster but you are also retrieving the bait to the boat faster, which in my humble opinion equals less time in the strike zone. If you want to vary or speed up the movement of the bait you can sweep the rod tip while cranking (incidentally this will help give you that much wanted erratic retrieve which can generate reaction strikes). I guess I just dont see any benefits to faster retrieve rates when medium/deep cranking. B

I've been a member and read a couple of the boards. Definately nothing to fork over 25.00 for. As far as the TD's response. Doesnt surprise me in the least. But I guess this isnt the direction this thread needs to go eh? Back to the thread... I was thinking of travelling to fish this new series to give it a try but a couple of dates in the closest trail to me conflict with the BFL. Forcing anglers to pay 2 memberships then force them to choose between trails. Not a good combination, intentional or unintentional it is still not a good thing. B

With both Stren and BASS pulling out of tournament trails in the northern area you would think that any major tournament trail would have a good boater turnout. Michigan is hungry for a big tournament trail. I know I am not the only northern angler left shaking their head at all of this. My only option for close to home tournaments with respectable payout is the BFL. Dont get me wrong, I had planned on travelling for the bigger tournaments but I wanted a closer to home Stren type trail to add to my schedule. I most definately will not fish the ABA tourneys with the boater/nonboater competing against eachother format. (Never understood the concept behind that - just a hideous way of running a tournament). B

Why are we even comparing crankbaits to cars? B

I think this was a humorous post?? Try this, go back to bed.. roll over and wake up on the other side. B

IF they are going to rival the BFL they are going to need to offer the series in all of the states that the BFL does. Again, Michigan so far is not on the weekend series list. B

Yet again they left out Michigan. B

Let me add that a bad picture of you with a good fish is still a bad picture. B

I used this on Yo-Zuri Hybrid Ultra Soft and P Line fluoro so the answer should be YES!! B

2 lb is fine if you are dropshotting for bluegill. I wouldnt go any lighter than 6 lb. B

Avid, I can't take credit for this idea but I got it off these boards. It was either Reel Mech or Raul that posted it. Preface: I stinking hate spinning gear. I have nothing but problems with the exact problem you described and the line twist. I used a majority of the lines suggested with no success. I have sworn several times to never use spinning because of it. Pure frustration!!! Answer: Spool up your line, take the spool off the reel. Put a rubberband around the line to hold it on the spool. Fill a coffee cup with warmish water and drop the spool into it. Let soak for 5 to 10 minutes. The line will sit absolutely limp on the spool and you are all set. End result: I still get line twist and stinking hate spinning gear, but this solves your problem specifically addressed in the post. B