bighed

Those BASS guy's suck. It will be an easy choice where my son and I will fish next year. Media Bass. Well run tournaments, better payout than BASS ever had. Will look in to the FLW Jr's also. And to think we drove 550 miles to fish one of those Jr. BASS tournaments last year. I'm very sorry for the state Jr. Champs. big

Hunting arrowheads is something I enjoy when time allows. Here in Texas artifacts belong to the landowner and if you have permission or go to a fee type dig it's quite legal. Public land is off limits. Lucky, I don't know the rules for your area but I go to the inlaws in Owensboro and Davis Co. pretty often and have wished I could do some looking up there. A good site to look for more info is arrowheadforums.com. You'll notice folks can be tight lipped there because someone got arrested off that board for not following the letter of the law. There is alot of good info to gleen if you have the time to read though. big

Yep, you'll like having SW! I wish ours was a little closer, it's about 30 miles each way for us. Large selection of LC, Mattlures on the wall, Money Minnows, Jackall, Megabass, and on and on. This is where I got my first bags of Roboworms. They have the stuff that's a little ahead of the curve for the serious fisherman.

I thought I'd mention that I see Cabela's has the Shimano Cruxis reels marked down to $85. Along with the Shimano rebate of $20 that would be a good buy if you like the product. big PS-Don't forget to use the sponsor link to support the board if you decide to purchase.

Great job on some winter bass! Word to the wise, leave a couple for dad or he might start long arming you.

There is one pp lake east of here (Lake Welsh) that has a fish consumption warning sign at the ramp. I think the problem is selenium from the plants exhaust. BTW, the catfishing in that lake is unreal with little or no pressure of the fish.

They need a big hook or at least a long shank hook. A 6/0 would not be too big. I've not caught a fish on one yet but will soon. I got my stuff at Academy but don't know if you have one yet or not. big

Most of the ones around here are coal fired. The power Co. builds a plant on a large deposit and a cooling lake to go with it. They are not big lakes usually not more than a couple thousand acres. They get hammered hard this time of year.

HBA, I never got to fish your creek but have looked it over good a couple times. I'd have been all over it if I knew it had those whoppers in it, lol. The pools between the dams looked real good last time I went by, lots of lilly pads. One of my buddies still lives out at MP Estates. I spent a lot of time in the refuge fishing with my dad when I was a kid. My favorite lake was Post Oak but heard some Job Corp kids opened the gate on the dam and drained it. Oh well, that was a long time ago. Good to hear from a home town guy!

Yes, my kid caught a pretty good bunch of them. We took a short trip to Estes Park, CO back in May. While my wife and I took in the town I got my boy hooked up with a 6 hour fly fishing trip in Rocky Mountain National Park. He caught them in the stream formed by the Alluvial falls just inside the park. We went back the next day on our own and he took us to the spot. It's without a question the most unique and beautiful place we've ever fished and I've fished a bunch of nice places. GO if you are able. big Pic of the falls: Outstanding outfitter we used: http://www.kirksflyshop.com/

I've seen alot of posts bashing Byron on other boards. I can tell you that he was present at the TX JR BASS state championship this October and treated all the kids great. The guy is OK in my book and I wish him the best of luck in the wild card!

HBA, i don't have any answers for your big fish problem. Just wanted to say hello! I grew up in SW OK and fished the ponds, creeks, and lakes around Lawton, Elgin, and Chickasha. It was a great place and time to be a kid with plenty of wide open spaces. big

I agree with most of what you guys are saying. I'm usually fishing rattletraps for prespawn fish by early Feb. even though some fish can still be caught on jigging spoons deep. However, I'm not sure about water temp not being the major driver of the start of the spawn. I've been one of those guys that hits Fork and other area lakes hard waiting for the first fish to move up. I've done this every year since 1988. What I've seen time and time again is that the first fish will be on the beds after a warming trend of at lease a few weeks. Sometimes this is in Feb., March, or April depending on how cold the winter was. The very first males appear near 58 degrees in the upper ends of the lake. Then a front will blow in and cool the water temps 5 degrees or so and the fish move back out to water a few feet deeper. When the temps rise again the fish move back onto the beds. As some fish finish their spawn others are starting, usually a little farther south on the lake where the water is becoming warmer. There are exceptions to this, some lower lake creeks spawn early maybe due to warmer run off or ? The local power plant (hot water) lakes spawn around the end of Dec. into Jan. I don't see this related to hours of daylight or moon phase as some suggest. Also, we sometimes have a secondary spawn in the fall. It's never anywhere near as large as the spring run but it usually happens when water temps have again returned to the 60's whether that be in Oct. or Nov. This is JMHO, thanks for an interesting thread. big

Yep, the point on back to the pond dam is loaded with grass and usually good numbers of fish. Mostly fished Rogers and Glade. Still some grass in Rogers but not what it had a couple months ago. The wind was blowing a good 20 mph out there yesterday or I would have got around a little more.

I hit Fork yesterday and was surprised at how fast the temp has dropped. Warmest water I found was 54 degrees up in Glade. Fished from shallow grass in 5' to creek channels at 25' for only about 5 hours. Caught just one about 2 pounds and 4 pound cat. Man that cat hit like a ton of bricks, thought I had a good one for a second. big

I've got a box full too. I was planning on using some rubbing compound I've got in the garage.

Pitting sound unusual unless it's been used for trout and reds. If that's the case it may need the bearings replaced as well.

If you decide on the Curado, wait a couple days as a $50 rebate from Shimano starts Dec. 1.

does yours squeak when turning the handle? Mine does and it's driving me nuts. Makes me wish I had my MG back.

Great job young man!!!

Yep. I'm always looking to upgrade tackle when the price is right. I got two of the nicer St. Croix's at the Reeds sale then picked up three Falcon Caras a couple days later when Academy had them for $40 off. Problem is, it's hard for me to turn loose of the old stuff sometimes. I guess I have to accept that it's time to turn loose some old Falcon Originals and Lowriders.

I love Fork and fish it as often as I can. That said, Amistad is it's equal in most ways and is another "must fish" lake. The thing that surprised me most was the beauty of the place. The drive down the Dry Devil's River canyon from Sanora is awsome. You can just about picture the old cowboys rounding up the longhorn out of the brush down there. Deer are everywhere as are turkeys, etc. Then to look down at the clear blue water of the lake from the desert above is off the chart! You'll enjoy your trip.

Sounds like you had a awsome year! I'd take a 23lb sack any time. For me it was a great year, exceeded most goals. Won two club T's and looks like I'll have 6th place for AOY. Held my own in my first year fishing MediaBass.com trail and cashed a check in a pretty tough tourny on Lake Fork. Qualified for the championship but couldn't get loose to compete. Fished the Jr. BASS NE Texas trail with my son and took him to the championship on Amistad where he got 6th place. Away from the club and tournaments I took my son and his buddy fun fishing to Fork during the summer and got into the best bite I've ever had there. The boys each caught a half dozen or more 3-8 pounders two days in a row. I fished offshore at least 20 days this year and boated my biggest king ever at about 50 lbs. Took my son on his first yellowfin tuna trip to Green Canyon off of the Louisiana coast where he landed three YF to 85 lbs. Caught a 4lb rainbow trout my first trip to Tanycomo lake in Feb. Met up with the BR crew for the Fork roadtrip for a couple days and met lots of nice folks. Took my son to Rocky Mountain National Park where he caught brown, rainbow, and greenback cut throat on the fly. Had a great (blessed) year. big

Hi Brian and welcome to BR. I think you will find this a friendly and informative site. It's helped my fishing more than any other. I'm not sure about Waco area clubs as I'm up North of the metroplex. For state specific info give a peak at texasfishingforum.com and you should find what you need. big

I've been to the lake a couple times and can help a little. Maybe Matt F. will chime in as he told me he's fished there alot. I'd expect there to be bedding fish starting in Feb. depending on how warm the winter is. So I think either month would be great but I'd go in Feb. if I had a choice. Understand that facilities are limited around the lake. Better get a room reserved now if you want to stay near by. Anglers Lodge is a good place to stay. It looks rough from the outside but the rooms are good and the folks that run it are first class. There's a little tackle shop and they serve a mean breakfast burrito. Velvick's place, Amistad Lodge, is ok. It has a bar and grill. Rooms are not as nice as Anglers but it's a couple miles closer to Diablo East if that matters. Both have plugins outside so that you can recharge your batteries over night. I didn't use a guide but have heard good reports about "the Amistad Man" . I think his name is JC Gwynne. No passport needed but a Mexican permit and license are needed. In reality, there is plenty of good water on the US side and Velvick told me that the winning stringers rarely come from Mexico waters. big