KYRANGERMAN

Two bass that haunt me. #1: Fishing a spring tournament on Barren River Reservoir. Started out with a couple of small fish on a Stanley Wedge spinnerbait (Baby Bass). Culled the first two small fish. Ended up with a bag that had 2 - 2lb., 2 - 3lb. and 2 - 4lb. fish. Biggest sack of fish I ever weighed in at a tournament, 18.62 lbs. I only lost one fish that day that, if I had to guess, was a solid 3 lb. fish. Why does a 3 lb. fish haunt me? Because I finished 2nd by 6.4 oz. that day. #2: Fishing a husband wife tournament on Kentucky Lake. Sunday morning and I found a perfect spot. About 50 yards from the bank the water which had been steadily sloping to 11 feet, dropped quickly to 20 feet and there were stumps showing at the break line. Pulled out a Carolina Rig and threw up on top of the drop. Dragged it to the drop and one of the most solid hits I've ever felt. Immediately the fish started to run with it so I set the hook. Just about broke my arms. Reeled for a few seconds and realized that he had run me into one of the stumps. Oh well, get on the trolling motor and get above the stump and see if I can get it free. Got over the stump, gave it a good tug and 2 strong tugs back, so now we're in a tug of war. I kept trying to get it loose but ended up having to break off. Never saw the fish so I have no idea exactly how big it was, but over the years, through the retelling of the story he's at least a 7 or 8 lb. fish now.

Welcome to the forum.

Welcome to the forum Jerry.

Realtree. In the sporting goods section.

Phil, he was the greatest bass fisherman in the world. He cared enough to take you fishing and impart his knowledge. Great story. Thanks for sharing.

4.5 - 5.25 post spawn female. By the look of the belly she's already laid her eggs. Would have looked even bigger pre spawn.

Since Glenn put in a link to Panoptix I thought this would be a good place to ask what may be a stupid question. I just purchased a Garmin ECHOMAP Plus 73sv. It of course has the option to add a Panoptix transducer. If I added one am I able to run the down view, side view and Panoptix view at the same time on the screen. Forgive my ignorance but you have to remember that I am upgrading from a Garmin Fishfinder 160 so I've missed an intervening 20 years of technology advances. Don't care if you call me stupid as long as you answer my question. ? Got on the Garmin website and did a chat session and found that yes the Panoptix transducer is run along with my other transducer.

Wasn't fishing related but I used to coach track at our local high school and during cross country season one of our girl runners was in the woods during a meet and while she was running a deer came across the trail and knocked her down. Wouldn't have had any humor to it except the girls last name was . . . wait for it . . . Buck.

Timely post Glenn. I've been fishing since I was probably 6 or 7 years old and I'm 60 now. I always "dressed for the weather" which meant shorts, short sleeve shirt and a cap in the heat of the summer. Recently I noticed a red bump on the back of my hand that was very tender. Made an appointment with the dermatologist and they biopsied it. It was a squamous cell carcinoma which they removed. That caused me to reassess my clothing choices when I'm on the water. After a trip to Academy and Wal Mart I now have long sleeve moisture wicking UPF 50 shirts, a UPF 50 hat with a neck covering, light weight long pants and some UPF fingerless fishing gloves. I'm probably going to get hotter in the summer and not last as long on the lake each trip but that is a small price to pay to reduce the chances of another trip to the dermatologist. Any exposed areas get a dose of sun screen. You younger guys take heed and protect yourself now so you'll be healthier later.

I'm pretty much like Log Catcher in that it is probably 2 to 3 seconds after feeling the hit that I set the hook. That's a general rule for me. Sometimes you have to wait longer based on what the fish are doing with it. I think a lot of the missed fish are when they hit the tail of the worm and we feel that and set the hook. Would they have stopped and engulfed the entire worm, who knows. I think my hook up rate is pretty good so I plan to stay with the 2 to 3 second rule, which is basically long enough for me to reel up the slack while lowering my rod tip.

I did some measuring and with it going to be mounted on the bow it couldn't interfere with the switches for the lights and tilt switches and the ECHOMAP 9 would have been too large so I ended up going with the 7sv. Got it installed and it looks great. Filed under the ingenuity folder, The old 160 was mounted flush in the bow plate so they had drilled about a 4" round hole in the plate. I was searching to try and find something to cover the hole yet be strong enough to mount the new unit. Was about to give up when I walked into Wal Mart and was going past the housewares section and it hit me. A 1/4" thick plastic cutting board. $1.88 later it went home with me. Cut it down to size, painted it black and drilled needed holes and it almost looks factory. Sometimes I amaze myself. ?

Yeah, and the Everly Brothers and most of all, the late great John Prine. I grew up in Muhlenberg County, which is where Merle and the Everly's were from. John Prine was actually from Illinois but his grandparents were from Muhlenberg County.

Bought my first boat right after my daughter was born in 1989. Had been fishing since I was knee high to a grasshopper but had to get financially secure enough to purchase a boat. Boat #1: 1979 16' Bass Tracker, 40 HP Mercury. Boat #2: 1987 Vision 180, 150 HP Evinrude. Boat #3: 1996 Javelin 379 DC, 150 HP Evinrude Intruder. (Purchased New) Boat #4: 2000 Ranger R83, 150 HP Evinrude Ficht (current boat) (Purchased New) Very few modifications. 1) Made an insert to give me a full casting deck on the front. 2) Land & Sea Foot Throttle. 3) Slidemaster 6" Manual Jack Plate. 4) 25p Renegade 4-blade prop. 5) Minnkota 65lb. thrust trolling motor. 6) Garmin 160 fishfinder at the helm. 7) Garman ECHOMAP 73sv at the bow. Right now my tow vehicle is a 2016 Volkswagen Touareg Executive Edition. Here's what it all looks like.

Welcome to the forum from another newbie.

Good point. The Garmin 160 I have on the bow is working so there's no rush in that area. I've just got the hankering and the gift card. As they used to say on Kung Fu, "Patience grasshopper".

Bass Pro Shops. Sounds like you two are happy with your 73sv's, so I'm leaning that way.

I asked Mr. Spock. He said it was red matter. If you're a Star Trek fan you'll get it. Otherwise . . .

HINT: Hold it closer to the camera and it looks a lot larger. Get a close up pic and tell everybody it was 7 lbs. +

Been fishing for about 55 years and that's the first time I've ever heard of a "mean mouth".

Welcome. New member myself. Got you by 40 years but age is only in your mind. We all started as bank fishermen, and probably had more fun that way. And remember, no one has ever caught a bass while doing 60 MPH.

Well I went to order the Striker 9sv and of course it's out of stock. Now it's down to the ECHOMAP 7sv and the Striker 7sv.

Which is why I'm sort of leaning to the 9sv. The biggest lake I would fish would be Barkley or Kentucky, and then I really only fish a small portion of them. Most of the lakes I would be on are 1,000 - 5,000 acres, and again, on the larger of those I generally stick to areas that are more known to me. You guys are starting to convince me to go with the Striker Plus 9sv.

Thanks. Only been on Taylorsville a couple of times and really struggled. I think part of the problem is that everything looked like a good place for a fish to be hiding. Never been on the KY River. Grew up fishing Lake Malone in Muhlenberg/Logan/Todd county.

New member but have been fishing for most of my 60 years. From Elizabethtown, Kentucky (40 miles south of Louisville). Retired City Planner with 2 kids, 1 grandkid and 1 more on the way. Married to the best woman for 34+ years. How do I know she's the best? She let my buy a bunch of boats and doesn't care when I go fishing. Boats over the years: 1979 Tracker 16' with a 40hp Mercury 1987 Vision 180 with a 150hp Evinrude 1996 Javelin 379 DC with a 150hp Evinrude Intruder 2000 Ranger R83 with a 150hp Evinrude Ficht (still have this one). Used to fish local clubs but now I just go out and when I get tired I head home. Here's my current rig.