Wayne P.

Dangergravy, Let us know which location you decided on and how it worked for you while on the water.

rondef When the water temp is above 43 degrees I have been catching them with a weedless wacky rigged finesse or trick worm. When the water temp. is below 43 degrees, the Silver Buddy has been the producer. Sometimes if I see them suspended in the colder water, I'll use the wacky rig to catch them, which is what I did today.

Check out George's Custom Rods. Just do a web search for him.

Do, NOT put the battery near the bow. Using it there with an outboard will subject it to unnessary and maybe damaging jostling. Your boat will run better under power with the most weight towards the transom. For the best boat control put a trolling motor on the bow.

I've been fishing just about every mild weather day and am still catching a lot of bass. Just have to adjust presentations to match the water temps.

If any of you guys have any of that "junk" Spiderwire in the Original Braid, I'll be glad to take it off your hands. I like it for it's smaller diameter, lack of shape, and quietness passing thru the rod guides.

I have seen lots of people fishing from dike three in the cold weather periods. It is the outlet of the cooling side into the main lake.

PM sent for more information

Not any more. The ones I've tried were too weak to handle big fish in heavy cover and the wire guard would break after several fish.

Another one in Fredericksburg: http://www.bmgevents.com/frederickburg/OutdoorShow/index.html

There is the "NEW" Bassarama for 2008, but since the original one had really gone downhill for a while, I'll wait until I hear some good reports before I attend again. http://macevents.com/press.cfm/presseventID/123/pressreleaseID/78

Handheld GPS. I recommend the H2O as it is capable of utilizing a wider range of mapping software including Navionics. The H2Oc is even better if you want color at a slightly higher price.

From my experience and by reading those of others, any other fluorocarbon line is better than Vanish. I use XPS and don't feel that I need to try any others.

The popularity of black/blue color jigs has nothing to do with lake bottom color, it's because it matches the crawfish colors in most lakes at certain times of the year.

In case you did not know, you can download a simulator for your unit and practice on your computer with the settings to become familiar with it. So far this year I have caught the most number of bass I have ever had in a year's time (2,479). Being retired has it's advantages. Randy and Kevin fished with me in the Joseph Thompson Memorial Tournament held in November. We won it again as a team. Did you get a chance to fish Hunting Run Lake before it closed for the winter?

John, I have a Fishmark 320 and the cable matches yours. If you need to test your unit after you do the battery charge, just let me know and I'll meet you in the Orange area.

John, what brand/model of sonar do you have? I may have a set up to match for trouble shooting.

I have never heard of that effect and have not experienced it either. I have used several brands of sonar units with readouts as Flasher, LCR, and Paper in water temps from 38 to 95. As a guess, you may have low battery power, damaged cable, or bad transducer.

The only time I get "bird nests" with braid is when I don't check to see if the line has slipped over the forward edge of the spool when the bail is being closed. It can happen a lot when the bail is closed on loose line. Sometimes on a windy day it will happen also.

Fishing on top of a canopy of vegetation is quite common. If a bass is in the area no matter what type bait it is, they can find it. Just move your lure slowly and pause frequently. Usually a sunny day is better for that presentation. The use of hollow surface lures like a frog or mouse is the usual method, but just about anything that disturbs the vegetation will work.

I use the uni-knot for everything and occasionally use the Palomar knot for worm hooks.

The main test would be the physical size or displacement of equal weights. That is the most desirable trait of the tungsten.

Nice suggestion HPBB (NOT), and being the president of a bass club too!!!! You are admitting to being an unlawful boater and suggesting that someone follow your lead. You are basically a poacher by using illegal methods to take game fish.

The higher pound test braids are normally used for very heavy vegetation/timber presentations or when fishing for very large fish like 40#+ catfish and stripers in fresh water and ocean species. 65# is very popular with the top water frog fishing at Guntersville.

Having "been there and done that", I would recommend that you get the largest one you can afford up to the rated HP of the boat. Certainly any size gas motor is better than electric for getting around faster and saving battery power for fishing. A larger motor operated at a low throttle setting is going to use less gas than a small motor operated wide open trying to go the same speed.