volzfan59

Back at the hight of my tournament days, I owned over 30. Actually carried around 20, the rest were backups and there were three for wading creeks. I know, I'm OCD as hell. As I no longer fish tournaments, with the exception of eight, I've sold all of them. My jon has tubes for six rods, for the most part that's all I take. I still have a wading rod and two bluegill rods too.

For me, I'm going to say that it's not needed. I won't waste my money on it. I'm strictly a shallow water guy. I have two Garmin Striker 7" on my boat to find the stuff I can't see or to check out points.

Nothing I like better than praying for people. I'll be praying for your wife, for you and your family.

I love Hank, Sr's stuff. They're all classics. So much good music came from that era. I guess my favorite is an R&B song by The Flamingo's, "I only have eye's for you".

If I'm not mistaken, nine or ten get cut. That said, I'm going strictly off of what I've been told, so I could be wrong. I can't help you with the last two. While I hate to imagine a B.A.S.S. Elite tournament without Rick Clunn or David Fritts. it's time for the organization to start restricting the legend's exemption. In my mind, you get one exemption for A.O.Y. and one for winning the Classic. That's two possible exemptions for an angler if needed.

We're in the same pattern in southern Arkansas.

Mine was stress related so I retired at 53 and never, ever looked back. To make sure that I stayed retired, other than a brief 3 1/2 year stint working at BPS (which isn't work at all), I sold all of my law enforcement gear other than my weapons. Sold my regular duty belt, all of my handcuffs, tactical stuff... everything. Crazy thing is, I don't know how I ever had the time to work.

We're heading up to the Buffalo River this weekend. How's the water? I've been told that it doesn't flow much during the summer months. We're renting a cabin in the Marshall, AR area.

RIP Dee Thomas. Thank you for your contribution to our sport.

@king fisher dropped some serious knowledge. The only thing that I would add is hull thickness. This is coming from a Tracker fan, but their hulls used to be made out of thinner aluminum. I used to work for BPS and knew the hull thickness but, I had to let that go to remember something else I guess. I know that some of the serious river boats are made from .125 thick aluminum. Some even have a coating added onto the hull. I'm assuming you could do that to a Tracker also.

I couldn't agree more. If the new qualifying format killed someone's dream of fishing the Elites, they weren't ready to fish the Elites. Personally I think that it's a great idea.

I've owned both and much prefer a foot control trolling motor. That said, the one bow mounted hand control model was on a 12' jon. While it was a pain, with limited floor space, I can see the need. I've owned several Minn Kota Edge trolling motors, now and in the past. They're great, never had the first problem from one.

When I worked for BPS, the 175 and 190 we're basically the same boat. Obviously the 190 is longer and came with a 90 back then, you could upgrade to a 115. The beam was the same, as was everything from the console back. The 190's front deck was stretched. The 195 was a completely different animal. Longer, wider, more stable and came with a 150. As I'm not in the market for a new rig, I don't know what the specs are now. For what it's worth, the 175 used to be highest selling boat in the US. I guess it still is? At our store, Kodak/Sevierville TN, we sold a ton of 175's and 195's. We sold a lot of 190's, but not like the other two.

Agreed, it's the people. The amount of information shared here is second to none. I've learned a bunch here.

I'm extremely brand loyal. I know what I like and what gives me excellent service. I only use Shimano spinning reels and BPS Platinum casting reels. I do have some left over first generation of BPS Pro Qualifier reels as back ups if needed. Those were purchased before the Platinum line was released.

We have a grocery store chain out of TX here. The have a rewards program that I take advantage of for my truck and my wife's hemi Challenger. Saves me about .10 a gallon. I put non ethanol in my boat so it's never cheap.

I recently saw a Greg Hackney video on fishing around cypress trees. He was really speaking highly of Gamma copolymer line. Years ago used a lot of Silver Thread copolymer and liked it quite a bit. I realize that Greg is sponsored by Gamma, so I thought that I would ask the real world angler's for an opinion before ordering some. Any thoughts?

Same here in AR, even though it's still double what we were paying. When fuel gets down to what it was on 01/19/21, then I'll be impressed.

I should have added, keep your eyes open until the room stops spinning. It sounds easier than it is. Thanks for the hydration suggestion. I could do better in that area.

I've had two concussions in my life. I suffer with vertigo as a result and it's no fun. I don't remember what it was, but I was prescribed meds years ago. They made me feel worse than the vertigo. There are several videos from Physical Therapist's on YouTube that give excellent advice, however if it's to bad you should see your MD. First, you have to know which direction your head is in when you get an attack, mine always seems to be from the right. For me, I lay down and turn my head to the right to really bring on the attack. This is key, once the room starts spinning, KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN until the ride/attack stops! I don't know why, but that's important. In less than a minute, the room will stop. Depending on the severity of the attack, you might have to repeat it a few times but each time the room stops spinning quicker. I know that it sounds crazy, but it has worked for me every time.

I could put seven foot rods in the cab of my old 4 door Dodge Ram 1500 easily. I'm betting that I can do the same in my new (to me) Tacoma 4 door, although I haven't tried yet.

I had one on my kayak and loved it, especially for river fishing. The micro pole performed flawlessly. I wired mine to the same battery as the trolling motor. My problem was that I hated kayak fishing. Sold the yak, kept the micro pole and put it on my jon boat.

I'm so sorry for your loss. May your brother rest in peace until you guys meet up again. I'll be praying for you and your family.

I've seen the Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds. That's some stuff I'll never forget.

My wife and I both agree, we hate musicals too. Love music, especially live music, love good movies too. No need to to combine the two.