NEBassMan

when i painted my jon boat, i power washed it, scuffed it up good, primed and painted. it's holding up good so far. Jason

AND REWARD THEY DID!!!!!!! WITH A NEW PERSONAL BEST!!!!! Well, the morning started ssssllllooooowwwww. Water temp was 42 degrees. Got on the water at 8am and didn't get a bite until Noon, when this little guy hit an X-rap 10 Now, these pictures do not convey very well how big this fish was. I know this isn't very big to most of you guys, but here in Nebraska on my farm pond...i think this fish might be "Big Mama" of the whole pond. It's my new personal best. I wish i had someone else to take the pic or would have thought of the self timer function so i could have got myself in it as well. Oh well, next one i'll have video!!! 3lbs - 15oz......yes, 1oz shy of 4lbs...i wish she would have grabbed another little sunfish on her way to chomp my Norman Deep Baby N.....oh well...i'm still giddy!!! And a nice little bonus fish to top off the day...he hit an X-rap 10 as well All in all, i had a great time today, and can't wait to get out again!!! Jason

It's 7am, 30 degrees outside, haven't been fishing in over a month. i'm loading the boat up and heading out I GOTTA GO FISHING!!!!!!! reports when i return..... Jason report below!

if you don't want to drill the rivets and have the holes welded shut, i don't see why you can't do like you said and cut it down as low as you can and place you're floor over it. Good luck. Jason

Actually, i totally forgot about this because i already had it set up in the other room Nice Oak rod rack they had for $10, holds 24 rods other than that, i didn't really see any other deals, not on anything i was looking for anyway. Jason

Well, my buddy an I headed out to BPS in Council Bluffs, IA for the Black Friday sale at 7:00am. Pretty much the only thing i wanted was to stock up on baits and tackle for my Drop Shot arsenal. Grabbed some ZOOM Tiny Flukes and finally found some baby bass ZOOM Meatheads (couldn't find any at the local shops). Picked up some XPS Drop Weights and some Owner size 1 Mosquito hooks. Also grabbed some Yo-Zuri Hybrid Ultra Soft in 6lb since Road Warrior loves it so much ;D Couldn't pass up a couple of the Mann's Baby 1- and also grabbed some XPS Double Tail Skirted Grubs to try out

i think for BPS reels, you're going to have to go back to BPS. and even then, i'm not sure if you can just get parts for it to fix yourself. you may have to leave it with them. good luck. Jason

i bought mine at my local Scheels

I have 3 of these, but like MaxumBass, i have only used them a few times. The action is nice though. Hopefully in the spring they'll start hitting them. Jason

i always wet the knot (stick it in my mouth ) before i even think about pulling it tight. keeps the line from "burning" as you pull it tight. just another thing to remove any kind of weakness in my knots. Jason

i have always learned to hold the rod at about "10 o'clock" position, press the button and adjust the cast control knob until the lure falls, but as soon as it touches the ground the spool stops spinning.

For braid i use Sufix Performance Braid....i love it. Jason

Shimano Symetre with a St. Croix M/H Fast spinning rod.

Shimano Symetre...get the SY2500FI...you'll have some left over for some new baits as well!! http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?id=0023116118273a&navCount=1&podId=0023116&parentId=cat20333&masterpathid=&navAction=jump&cmCat=MainCatcat20166-cat20333&catalogCode=IG&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat20333&hasJS=true

i use the Plano 7592...i like it a lot, but it's full. I have all my hard baits in the bottom storage trays, and my soft plastics on top, but as you can see, there isn't much room for the soft plastics in those small trays. i'll be buying another tackle box of some sort to use for my soft plastics and this one will be used for hard baits and wire baits. Jason http://www.planomolding.com/content/index.cfm?siteaction=product&lineid=4&groupid=11&sectionid=30&partid=164#

i personally do not put beads on mine, but i guess it would not hurt to experiment. Good luck to you in your tournament. Jason

i think that's a personal preference thing. if you have confidence with black weights, i say go for it. here is a link to the rubber strands that you can use for pegging your weight, if you don't like the toothpick idea. http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=30021&hvarDept=100&hvarEvent=&hvarClassCode=10&hvarSubCode=3&hvarTarget=browse

Just picked up some ZOOM Meatheads to try for dropshotting. What do you guys like to use? (besides senkos, ha ha) Jason

that greatly depends on the type of fishing you're doing. for soft plastics on a texas rig, i'm setting that hook as soon as i feel a tap. almost always results in a securely hooked fish. for fishing cranks, i don't set the hook real hard, but when i feel it load up, i give a steady pull back on the rod to help bury the hooks into the fishes mouth when topwater fishing, always always let the fish take the bait down. when you feel weight on the rod, set the hook good with a nice sweeping hard hook-set. Jason

yes, i would say that you would want your weight pegged, since you are using it in heavy grass. it will help to "punch" the bait through the heavy stuff. you can peg it by sticking a tooth pick in the weight and snapping it off to hold it tight to the line. they also have some rubber strands you can use to keep the weight where you want it. when i want to keep a weight pegged, i use the weights that have the cork screw wire attached to them, that you just screw into the top of the bait. make sure you move your hook down far enough into the bait so that the cork screw wire does not sit right on top of it. Jason

i would also say "all of the above". As was mentioned, just try everything with it and then decide what YOU like it for. Jason

a 1oz weight is pretty darned heavy. i would only go that route if you are trying to punch through heavy matted weeds or grass. you are correct in rigging it as a "texas rig". use what ever size of weight you need to get the right rate of fall that you are looking for. Jason

i'll post the same thing here as i did in the other thread....they really are a life saver http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=27365&hvarDept=100&hvarEvent=&hvarClassCode=11&hvarSubCode=5&hvarTarget=browse

split ring pliers http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=27365&hvarDept=100&hvarEvent=&hvarClassCode=11&hvarSubCode=5&hvarTarget=browse

i had 1 bass strike my jitterbug 3 times on the same retrieve, but wouldn't eat it. I think he was a little mad at it, he he