TOXIC

Buy every bag, every color. That had to be a mistake.

Lucky for me I have a 3,000 acre nuke discharge lake at my disposal. It's private but I have a friend who has access via a community ramp. If I can get there, I can fish. I will say this.....towing a 21 foot boat in the snow is no fun. Surge brakes and slick roads are a whole different experience.

I was pro staff for BPS for 15 years. Many times I substituted "Stick-O" for Senko.

EXCELLENT!! I wish there were more TD's out there like you. I see a lot of TX fishermen bully and push weekend guys off spots and generally show their behinds because they know the weekend angler won't report them to the TD like another competitor will. That bad karma always re-manifests itself in other ways. TX anglers have a responsibility to be a good reflection of the sport.

If you run these tournaments do you have regulations covering your anglers conduct? Do you enforce them?

Yep it belongs to them, they paid for it. But I still will comment and give different rigging options when the topic comes up. I don't want to be one of those who sound like a talking head for a product. Senko discussions that I have seen can get heated.

Bottom line....Bass don't hibernate and they gotta eat!! So "something" is always going to catch them unless you are home sitting on the couch.

To me a 7 inch worm is not finesse. Now there are finesse techniques that can be upsized but they are not really finesse anymore. Fishermen are "fiddlers" always tinkering with baits to fool a fish with a brain the size of a pea. I will say I wrote an article for Yamamoto where I came up with 78 different ways to rig a 5 inch Senko. They released 1 a day for 30 days to their twitter subscribers.

2 glorious days of teleworking. I love snowstorms in the DC area!!

Welcome and good luck in your search. I am a big glass boat guy so I'm little help on the tin rigs. I will say by moving up in hull weight you will have a more stable platform. Others will be able to give you more specific model information.

We use them on St Clair. Sometimes 1, sometimes 2, sometimes anchored off the rear, sometimes forward. We crank the motor all the way one direction or the other (depending on the drift), not running of course, and bump the trolling motor for slight angle or course corrections. That being said...I hate them. You get wet pulling them in for another drift and when it's 40 degrees outside you get the idea....Then at the end of the day you have to take them out to dry or you will get mold and mildew in your locker...yes, even if you put them in a bag. BUT.....they have saved many a day on the big water. I have never used them shallow though.

Another option is Marinetex http://www.marinetex.com/

You just explained one of the "feel good" moments of guiding. That is why we do it along with so many other positives. It helps make up for the bad days, bad clients, bad weather, and the other negatives. I've given on shore or tackle store seminars on Senkos impromptu. I once in Wisconsin, docked my boat after 5 guys watched me catch 4 smallmouth right in front of their dock. They said it took them 3 days to catch that many. I tied off the boat and gave them a short Senko lesson. Being sponsored by Yamamoto for as long as I have been, I understand what that little amount of time did for the brand. You know where they were headed as soon as they ran out of the samples I gave them.

Exactly why my favorite crank in cold water is the SPRO Little John. Thin sided, slow wobble, computer chip bill. Can be retrieved very slow. I actually like cranking more in cold water than warm water.

I sleep well at night knowing I'm not one of "those" guys. Oh the stories I could tell from guiding. Both from other boats, dock owners, pleasure craft, tournament fishermen, etc. I could write a book. Yes, I've slipped up a few times and taken my revenge but in the long run it didn't make me feel any better, actually worse. You did the right thing.

It was 75 last week. This was taken this morning.

Normal but remember.....Family first. Coming from someone who took their passion into a profession.

Product incentives? Ranger boat...etc.....

Made specifically for a Yak. Can be used to repair (emergency) or preventative. https://www.gator-guards.com/gator-patch/

And I went for offsetting colors!! Although the truck has blacked out emblems.

I have some product that I have seen used for patching on glass boats where GPS pucks were removed and old finder holes in the glass. https://www.gator-guards.com/gatorskinz/

No impact but it has to match the truck!!

As a guide, I got this request often. My advise is to save your lunch money, hire the best guide on the lake and tell him what you want. Keep in mind that trophy fishing is an all or nothing trip. As long as you understand that you may catch -0- then go for it. Otherwise upsize your baits and try to learn the water. Trophy fish don't swim with the schoolies normally.

Agreed.....It is a tradeoff for sure. Here is a Florida study....Just so that the expanse and location of St Clair is not a factor and this deals with greenheads. FWRI researchers have completed a four-year study looking at the consequences of bed fishing. The first two years were completed in hatchery ponds at the Florida Bass Conservation Center. The Last two years were completed in small natural lakes in Ocala National Forest. Bass were tracked genetically and each nest was marked and observed. Nests were fished and caught bass were safely stored away for 60 minutes before being returned. The results show that bed fishing does not significantly impact the numbers of young bass entering the next generation. 30% of all wild beds succeeded whether they are fished or not.

With another brand of boat I had the plate mounted behind the trailer light. I tried both plastic and metal hangers and lost plates with both of them and the metal plate holder took my tail light right along with it. In the lovely commonwealth of Virginia you "can" get ticketed for your plate being attached with any type of hinge allowing it to free swing. I relocated the trailer plate light (also a legal requirement) and mounted my plate directly to my trailer frame. My Ranger came from the factory with that type of setup. It's amazing how much pressure you put on the plate launching and loading your boat.