Wayne P.

If you are concerned with "piercing fish with worthless jewelry" maybe you should use a heavier line and learn to tie knots correctly. Glue won't make up for a poor knot.

Wider is better. The higher the weight carried and higher the center of gravity, the wider the boat should be.

osbornj2, when you are ready for some early pre-spawn fishing, I have another one.

Judging by the looks of the skeg, its made by Motorguide.

I've posted this before, the blue string is one I bought at Bass Pro Shops in Springfield, Mo. It only has 15 beads (not enough for me) and just the one color, so I made the other two. I either clip them on my belt or on a boat seat for quick access. The only time it takes extra time is when I reset the string and add the 20 count to another string.

BassBoss, "Ultra Soft" can mean anything or nothing without a qualifying statement of what it is compared to. Its just like "low stretch", "more abraision resistant", "low memory", "low visibility", "stronger", "superior knot strength" , "super knot strength", "maximum sensitivity", "America's strongest", "greater control", "easy handling", etc. as stated on line packages and advertizements. Those are statements on mono line packages that I have.

osbornj2, e-mail sent. Thanks for asking

I've never used that knot and from the looks of it, I never will. I see some elements that may result in an imperfect knot (double line, two line loops and multiple twists pulled down to the hook eye). I don't have any problem with the Palomar or Uni-knot.

Superlines are not co-polymer lines but are a braided or fused line of multiple strands of the same material (either Spectra, Dyneema or Kelvar).

I have used the digital Normark and Rapala scales: the Rapala scales are more accurate and last longer. I test my two scales (15 lb and 50 lb) occasionally with a couple of known weights to verify their accuracy. I'm not a touchy/feely guy that is concerned with harming the fish when weighing it. Sometimes I will punch the hook through the bottom lip to get the weight or I'll hook it at the gill plate (depending on the fish size). I don't bother to weigh the "little guys". edited: The Rapala scales also have the capacity to store a number of weights.

ring fry, VA BassHound's numbers are better than that at his home lake. The other places he fishes keeps the average down some. I'll be picking on those bass soon since my best producing lake is closed until March 2009.

I do keep records and have been since the late 1970's. I use a couple of homemade bead counters to keep up with the numbers when fishing and then enter them in log when I get home. A friend of mine does the same and he has caught over 2,300 bass this year so far. Both of us are retired and do our fishing during weekdays while most of you are otherwise occupied. This year I have already surpassed my previous best year for numbers of bass which was 2,537 in 2007. So far this year I have caught 3,036 bass thanks to one new lake that has contributed 1,989 of those. This year I have had 4 - 100+ bass days and 23 days with 50-100 bass.

I prefer this model of hook keeper: http://www.reeltimedesigns.com/Drop-ShotWeightKeeperSystem.html

PM sent

Like many novices using LCR sonar units, you assume that the display is like a TV screen with a picture of the bottom. It is not, and the display just shows what is directly beneath the transducer and all that is within the cone shaped beam. There is no left, right, front, or back. Those directions are determined by the direction your boat is moving. Only the first verticle colum of pixels on the very right of the display shows what is beneath your boat in real time. Everything else is history. A example of what is displayed is to go into a dark room, shine a flashlight on the ceiling without looking at the room walls. What is within the beam on the ceiling is what your sonar beam would show of the bottom except that the display will only show everything in the round beam as a straight verticle column of pixels.

The Chatterfrog is not an original Chatterbait production, it was made after the original company was sold. Since then the quality has gone substantially downhill. The original Chatterbaits were of top quality, I still have a few.

McCoy's Mean Green is the most manageable mono I have used.

I haven't been there since Sept 23 just before I went to Lake Guntersville for a week. I fished Hunting Run yesterday and today which were the last two days the lake was going to opened for fishing this year. My total bass caught there this year is 1,989. I'll start picking on the Briery bass now.

I'm still catching bass with a weedless wacky rigged finesse worm just like I have been since March. All but one of the 57 bass I caught today was with that presentation. One was caught using a Norman Crappie Crankbait.

When the bass are relating to the bottom in cold water, I use a Silver Buddy. For the past few years there has been very few days that lakes have ice on them. Anytime the air temp is warmer than the water temp, the downwind side of the body of water is the best area to try. This year I caught a total 131 bass in January and Feburary mostly with the 1/4oz Silver Buddy. In November and December 2007 I caught 207 bass mostly with the Silver Buddy or Hopkins Spoon. There were some very mild days last November and early December also where spinnerbaits were productive.

Most of my spinning gear is spooled with super lines. There is no such thing as zero line twist, its just the line is so limp that twist is not a problem.

The trolling motors are pretty much equal. Some people like one and not the other due to problems experienced. The MinnKota and Motor Guide models are the most popular with the largest number in service so personal preference pretty much dictates which one is purchased.

A 17' fiberglass bassboat should have a HP rating between 90 and 130 depending on the width. Ask what the boat is rated for. The best size motor for a boat is the maximum it is rated for. A max motor operated at 1/2 throttle compared to a small motor at max throttle going the same speed is a lot more fuel efficient.

I got one specifically for bed fishing, and haven't had the opportunity to apply it. It swims well though.

IPMY03, there are plenty of deer on the Briery Creek Wildlife Management area. You can hunt for awhile then go fishing.