Tpayneful

Here is a link to pictures of my boat and the 1984 version: http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1173837565/0 Is this boat similar to the one you are looking at?

I have a 1980 15.5' Skeeter SS-1 Fisherman bass boat and know that the boat was exactly the same in 1984. I had to buildout the front deck to make storage and make it more useable. Mine didn't have much storage and the boat hull has open cell foam in it. The foam can get saturated with water and really weigh down the boat. With the new deck on my boat and my fishing gear it runs 34 MPH. It is a trihull and has a little bit of trouble getting on plane going into the wind. I have a 1977 70HP Evinrude with a 13"x15" prop. The back deck is tiny in my boat. My partner's always complain about the space. I don't have much experience with the Tracker but I would bet that it will go about 30 MPH. The aluminum hull will hold up better than the glass boat. It probably has a lot more storage space as well. I would bet that it is more narrow and less stable than the skeeter. If I had to pick between the two storage space would be the most important thing for me.

Each time I fish in the weekly tournament on my lake, I have the oldest and slowest boat in the group. It is a 1980 Skeeter SS-1 Fisherman bass boat with a 1977 70 HP Evinrude. Top speed is 34MPH. Most of the guys that fish every week have 19' - 21' Tritons or Bass Cats with 200 - 250 HP outboards.

The price of gas hasn't changed where I drive to, how much I run on the water or how much I fish. Of course I have a 15.5' boat with a 70HP outboard. I can go pretty far on a tank full of gas. It has affected my future boat purchase. My next boat will be 18.5' with a 150 HP E-tec or Optomax. The direct injection outboards get much better gas mileage and I think I can live with 50-60MPH.

I have two places that I gain confidence in new lures. 1. 2 acre pond behind my office building, it is chocked full of vegitation. Gained confidence in suspending jerkbaits last winter and a Horny toad this summer. 2. A feeder creek on my home lake, 1 block from the house. When it rains really good and this creek starts to rise with the storm water, this spot is ON FIRE! If the water isn't flowing, this spot is dead. It is a shore fishing community hole but I got my PB out of there in March. I have been able to gain confidence in jigs, crankbaits, chatterbaits and flukes in this spot. I think that everyone needs to find a place that they know has catchable fish and use it to learn new techniques. I set goals for myself and try to get good at other techniques. I was getting schooled by my partner which made me want to get better. Last year I learned to use a jig and a crankbait. This year I learned to use super fluke and a horny toad. The next two things are the drop shot and Carolina Rig. I have had a hard time making myself learn the C-RIG.

18 years ago Bill Dance was selling the Strike King snag free floating frog. I bought one and took his advice and used the trailer hook that was included. The amount of bass caught on that lure rhymed with HERO! Strike King Snag Free Floating Frog.....OVER RATED ! 18 years later......I am killing them on a horny toad! Fish them in weed choked ponds or over grass beds on lakes and rivers. It is FUN fishing!

The map breakdown by LBH was one of the coolest and nicest things I think I have seen anybody do online

You can find some Virginia clubs at this link: http://www.bassresource.com/bassfish/bass_fishing_clubs.html

I have had to learn how to fish deep over the last year and a half. I am not an expert but I have a clue where to look. You need a topographical map first, a depth finder second and time on the water third. Look for a location close to shore that all of contour lines are close together. Say the water goes from 3' to 15'. Find a few of those locations. Next go to the spot with your boat. When you get there run back and forth over the area in a zig zag motion. You are looking to determine if you are in the right spot first and second you are looking for something on the bottom. Try to find a brush pile, stumps, rocks, grass or an old shopping cart. Mark the spot or the area with a marker bouy and start fishing around the spot. Use something that is heavy enough to feel the bottom really good. See if you can feel the stump, brush pile, etc. Once you can feel "cover" on the bottom you will get a lot more confidence that you have found a place that might hold bass. The next step I have not gotten good at is finding fish or baitfish on one of these spots. I have found some spots by accident, using an underwater camera drifting across the lake and even made my own brush piles so I know where they are located. I am not great at figuring it out but it figure it will just take time looking.

I know that this is small potatoes but my parter and I finished 3rd in our club tournament and won $75! This tournament was on the Rappahannock River out of Hick's landing. First place was 12lbs, I think second was 6lbs, 3oz and we were third with 5lbs 9oz. spinnerbait caught the first two on wood. The second two were caught on rubber worm on wood. The winner was the only one that figured out the river. It was nice to get paid for the second tourny in a row!

I would suggest two things: Try a 3/0 or 4/0 Extra Wide Gap hook on the senko. If you use a small hook they may not be getting it in their mouth. Using Fluorocarbon line. My hook sets have gotten a lot better since I moved to Fluorocarbon line. I only use mono on my spinning reels and crankbait rods now. I am going to try Fluorocarbon on a spinning reel soon. I hear that it can be bad though.

:exclamation ALL THANKS TO GLENN!!!! I almost started smoking again without this site!

My parter Chris and I took second place in the Angler's Choice club tournament in Aquia Creek on Saturday. Our five fish weighed 9lbs 6oz. We lost a 4lber that would have put us in first place. We had our bag by 7AM. The rest of the day was really slow. We spent most of it tracking the livewell water temperature and adding frozen ice packs to keep the fish alive. The 1st place weight was just over 10lbs. One team had 12lbs but two fish died on them. It was nice to pocket cash for the first time!

1. Black and Blue Jig 2. Footloose 3. Super Fluke

I have a blue dragon fly lure in my tackle bag. A friend bought three of them. He caught a few fish on the first one and a wing broke off. He decided that he didn't want the heartache of losing another $10 bait so he gave one to me and one to another friend. I haven't tried it yet but it does look just like a dragon fly that we found in our yard last week!

Here is a tread from a couple of weeks ago with a similar topic: http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1182348069/9#9 I catch fish off of my brush piles on a regular basis.

My favorite trailer is the 2.75" black and blue craw chunk! There is one major problem with Gander Mountain. Buy whatever you want when you see it because they are the worst restocking store in the history of retail. Once they run out of a Senko, jig, Brushog..etc, you will not see them again until next year. To mask the fact that they have run out they spread the existing stock to fill in all the pegs. All the pegs will be filled with 3/4 oz chartruse and black jigs. The whole Senko section will be filled with 3 colors of the bait. The craw trailer that I mentioned above is out of stock and I will not be able to buy any more until next spring. I will need to find an alternative somewhere else. I don't know if all of the stores are bad but the one in Fredericksburg, Virginia is THE WORST!

Last year I was using a IM6 graphite series , 6' 6", M, casting rod from Bass Pro but it really wasn't a cranking rod. I now use an Allstar Pro II 6' 6", Light, model PT783C for light weight baits and a Bass Pro 7' Medium Cranking stick for medium and larger baits. I could go back and try using Rapalas again but I am on a Bandit kick right now. I guess the biggest reason I am shying away from Rapala is that many are balsa and really light.

I have fished Rapala minnows and broken backs for a long time. Last fall I put a lot of effort into learning crankbaits. I figured out that I can't throw many of the Rapala crankbaits on a baitcaster. So I started trying other manufacturers baits. The Bomber fat free shad was the first bait that produced well for me and it doesn't look goofy and cheep like the bomber A. I have since added Bandit baits. I have found that they cast really well but have a smaller profile than other baits. I just can't justify the $15 for a crankbait yet. Maybe I will sometime but not right now.

I think FLW tournaments on VS are unwatchable . The announcers are over the top like wrestling. The fanny pack / hat cam gives terrible and jerky video and it makes the anglers look goofy. I don't seem to learn as much as I do from watching Bassmasters on ESPN. I agree that BASS/ESPN has made quite a few mistakes over the last few years but would like to see another boat besides a Triton/Mercury/Motorguide/Lowrance outfitted boat. But it does seem obvious that Bassmasters is on a downward trend losing Citgo and Triton sponsorship.

For crankbaits, spinnerbaits and topwater I use 14lb clear Stren original on a baitcaster. Jig / Worm rod I use 15# P-Line Flourocarbon on a baitcaster. I have 8lb clear Stren original on my spinning reels. I fish clear water and absolutely love the Flourocarbon! A few weeks ago I casted a jig into 10' of water, two seconds into the fall I felt a "tick" on the line and set the hook. It was a nice 2lber. I feel alot more and my hooksets are way better too! Of course I still use mono for moving baits. I can understand the lack of time because I have a 4 and 6 year old. I really didn't have time to fish until the youngest was 2 years old. I started taking them on the boat with me when they were 2. My 6 year old does catch bass now but the 4 year old just wants to play which is fine too. I end up taking the oldest one with me a lot. If either one wants to go home I can drop them off close to my house because we live only a block from the water. I made it a point to build my house in a lake community!

BPS customer service is really good. I had one rod broken by USPS before I got it and BPS replaced it using the return merchandise sticker. Nothing unusual about that but I had an even better experience in February. My wife gave me an Extreme 370 tackle bag. On the first day of my first fishing trip of the year in Florida a zipper for one of the pockets completely breaks off! When I got home I sent them an email and explained everything. I didn't have a receipt either. They looked up the purchase and exchanged the bag! It will only get better when the new BPS is built 20 miles away north of Richmond, VA!

I put extended my platform and added these "water tight" compartments with the matching liners from Cabelas. They leaked like a sieve. I emailed Tempress and they said that they are only weather resistant...AKA not watertight. They did recommend adding a bead of silicone between the hatch and liner. They told me that you had to use the hatches with cam locks to be watertight. They said they might be able to sell me some of those if the ones I have don't work. I added the bead of silicone and now I have one that is almost watertight and one that isn't. I used the same hatch as DeLEE on my live well and that works great! I would have used those instead but they didn't sell liners for them.

If all else fails I go to a 6 inch straight tail Roboworm, Texas rigged with a 1/8 weight. It catches every DINK with-in 1 square mile!

A couple of weeks ago I was fishing 20 feet from a no wake bouy. I stopped to retie my knot as a pontoon boat approached me. I thought that the guy would go around me without a problem. I get ready to cast and the guy decides to cut between me and the no wake bouy. I just shook my head in frustration . The next week the same thing started to happened with another boat so I got his attention and pointed as to where I was going/fishing. I will not expect everyone to understand where I am going....I will let them know. The thing that really gets me going are the people that pack up their boats on the ramp!