Wayne P.

Bass_Fanatic, do you use the 5.5 and if so, what hook do you use with them?

A crappie won't turn down a meal in a crowd.

The replicas in Moser's restaurant at Lake Fork Marina look good.

Sure you may Mattlures, but only based on my reply to you this morning as some of your assumptions were incorrect. I don't want to refute any more of your opinions on a public forum.

I saw the show and can't remember the brand. Since they are always promoting either Gulp, or Powerbait, if either comes in a swimbait style, that would be it. They were using it on a jig head ripping it through weeds. Weeds was the pattern.

The BIG question is can Tiger's knee stand another 18 holes?

southwestoh, I found this by websearch: http://www.wildlifeartistry.com/price-%20tanning.htm#FISH Prices

Rocco looks like the one to beat now. Great attitude.

Mattlures, it was not done as you described. No foam body was used and the skin was filled instead of stretched over a form. I don't know what the substance was, but I watched a fish being done and saw some of his work before I made the choice of that taxidermist. A couple of later ones were done by another taxidermist and they were done the same way. I did not chose the cheapest craftsman, as a matter of fact, he was the most expensive and the most regarded among those that had fish mounts done. I'll send you a 2.9 mb size picture for your critque.

I answered "live bait". It's the only presentation that does the fishing and you do the catching. You can even take a nap after the cast and let the bait to the work. I don't use live bait as I prefer to do the fishing and the catching.

In reference to the weedless finesse wide gap hook, the largest size available is 2/0. The hook eye is too close to the hook point which results in missed hook sets. The non weedless versions are not as bad, but with the added material of the weekguard, missed fish are more likely. When used with fat worms like Senkos, the likelyhood of missed fish is even more pronounced. If used, treat it like a Circle hook and wait for the fish to swim away from you or at least perpendicular to you before putting any pressure on it.

One of these brackets or a homemade similar one will work. Then just mount your head unit on piece of 2"X10"X 12" wood. Add some alligator clips to the power cord to clip on the trolling motor battery or a dry cell 12V battery. http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_387_200001006_200000000_200001000_200-1-6 A suction cup transducer mount works for some, but I haven't had satisfactory results on metal boat that way.

Gordon, if you are referring to my post when you stated "wacky/texas rigging", send me an e-mail for a description of how/why. purdum43@aol.com

Mattlures, send me an e-mail and I'll send you a picture of a largemouth bass caught on April 19, 1975. It was not mounted as you described and has been kept in a low light, controlled environment. As far as finding flaws, there aren't any because it is an actual fish. purdum43@aol.com Bass-Brat, I didn't "badmouth" anyone, I stated my opinion on the subject of whether to have a replica or skin mount done for a trophy bass and the authenticity of a replica. I also stated my opinion about the photo techniques of representing a catch. If you don't agree, that is your opinion.

I'm an ole timer and my opinion is that I don't fish for artificial fish so I don't want an artificial fish for a trophy mount. I have several skin mounts of different species that are 25-35 years old. They all look as good as they did when mounted. I don't regret having those fish mounted any more or less than I do any game animal that I have had mounted. I legally harvested them and they belonged to me when I did. My recent trophies of big fish and game animals consist of photographs. I don't take photos of fish held at arm's length towards the camera so they look bigger than they are. Anyone can have a trophy replica made to any specification they want without even catching a trophy size fish-just make up some measurements, use one of those 2# bass arm's length pictures, and you can have a monster hanging on your wall. I don't keep fish for food or trophies any more but I don't complain/ridicule/or demean anyone who wants to keep bass for any reason.

I use a 2/0 Gammy Octopus hook #02412 for finesse worms and a 3/0 Gammy Octopus hook #02413 for Trick worms and Tx rig them in the middle.

Raul, I agree that a nail inserted in the head is a good addition if needed for depths of 5'+, in current, or with wind. I still insert the hook in the same direction with or without the added weight though. I haven't found it to be necessary to do otherwise, good suggestion though-thanks

If you really what an effective presentation of a Zoom Trick worm, try it this way. Yes, the watermelon with red flakes is popular in most part of the country. I fished Fork a few weeks ago for 6 days and only used the moccasin blue color. It produced just a well as the watermelon/red had in the past there.

With that title, I thought you were about to mention this product: http://www.buttpaste.com/BLButtPaste.php

The entrance to the lake facilities is 2.2 miles from the stop light on Rt. 3 at Chancellorsville. It is about 1/2" just above the "A" in Arrive that you have on the map. The part of the lake to the right of your mark is not accessible. PM sent

A couple of good grass jigs are the Bass Stalker "Grass Stalker" jig and the Gerkin Lures jig. Both jigs have the eye more recessed than most brands. With mono lines, to minimize the grass picked up when retrieving, use a knot that leaves the tag end next to the eye instead of away from the eye such as the Clinch knot and Trilene knot.

Go to the Lowrance website and download a manual for any sonar unit. Just scroll through the pages until you get to the installation instructions-somewhere in the first part of the manual.

If you read about the original presentation of Slider fishing, it simulates the way bait fish seem to just glide as they move about without a lot of body wiggle. I guess it was the forerunner of swimming a jig. The presentation is to just throw it out, and reel in slowly, not tying to add any motion to the lure. Your natural body nervousness will impart some light action. The original Slider rod is less than 5' in length; I have several that are 4' 10", with a Tennessee handle. I use the Spider Slider head version for working the bait over and through cover. In recent years, a jig model has been marketed with a stronger hook called the Pro Model Slider Head and is of the Spider version head. I never cared for the ball type head for deep fishing that he came out with before he passed away.

I depend on my hearing to detect fish activity away from the direction I am looking. I have gotten into some fantastic schooling action because I heard them splashing 100 or more yards away. One of my best 100+ bass days was a result of that happening. Just yesterday, bass were jumping when trying to catch dragon flies and numerous times I heard it, looked around to see where, moved quickly to the area and caught the bass. There are a lot of occasions where hearing the splashing of bass chasing food has lead me to some large size bass and numbers of bass. No thanks, I prefer hear the sounds of nature.

I don't use super glue any more on any knots with braid, I don't use Power Pro either. The only time in the past that I did was to try to prevent the knot from slipping out of the hook eye gap and that didn't prevent it from happening after a few casts.