billybass

I've bought new and used. The boat I'm in now is a 1995 Stratos I bought last year. I had him take it to a shop and have the compression on the motor checked and an overall write up before I'd even go look at it. The boat turned out to have been garage kept for it's entire life, the motor runs great, and I saved about $3K over what I see the same boat selling for now. Do like fishinfool said, take your time, don't get impatient. Their are lots of place to look at what's out there. Some dealership's will sell used boat after they clean them up (including the motor). Good luck, let us know how things work out. Bill

KU, any chance you have a handheld GPS? It would be awesome to have all those good looking spots mapped out so you can really pin-point the spots after the water level is raised.

Welcome to the BFRG.

Good way to look at it. Last year was the first year I didn't win at least one tourn in as long as I can rmember. ( I can't remember those first few years I was doing this stuff. LOL!!!) I had a bunch of 2nd's and 3rd's, but no wins. This year I've had a 2nd and a "no place" and unfortunately I'm going on three months of travel week after next so I'll miss three really good tourns. Oh well, Just keep plugging along I guess.

I hear Allatoona has gotten much better the past few years from when I used to teach up there. The club I fish has also been going thru the slow decline. So this year we changed everything up. We used to pay the entire years entry fee's up front, made for consistant payouts, but was a hard spot especially with the sailors here that new they'd miss at least half the years events. Now we just do $20 at the ramp and an optional $5 big fish pot. We start our season in Nov and we already have six new members this year. It's a small club (16) but it's the only show in town.

PB, it sounds like your set-up is right, but I'm not sure if a couple of split shots is going to give you enough weight to hold the line straight down (depends on size?). You say you threw it in 50-80 feet of water, so now I have to ask "why" ? What was in the 50-80' of water to make you throw your bait there? No matter where you throw the drop-shot you need to have some type of structure or cover to hold the fish. We have a lake in N Florida that is gin clear with grass that grows in the 14-21' range. But you can move out to 35' and work a point that runs all the way out and catch fish. To answer another of your questions, I've seen people split-shot in 3' of water in pretty heavy cover and do very well. Make sure you're throwing the bait into some type of structure or cover, whether that be grass, brush, ditch or point. Work the bait a few different ways, slow, fast, or dead-stick, to see what the fish want that given day. Hope this answers some of your questions. Good luck out on the water.

1. Wacky worming a Zoom U-tail worm in just about any type of cover. 2. T-rigged worm. 3. Crankbaits.

sledgehammer, after looking at four different clubs one year, and not finding one I wanted to fish, I decided to start my own. At our first meeting I think we had about eight guys interested. We kept it simple, simple rules, low entry fee, 100% payback. Because we were just starting out we limited ourselves to no more than 20% non-boaters (I'm a big believer of the need for non-boaters). By the end of the first season we had 24 members, and now I understand they're up above 100 members. I recommend you try to limit yourselve to probably no more than 12-15 boatrs to start. As time goes by you can reevaluate and adjust up as you see fit. One other thing you should think about is if you want to be a Federation club and if you meet all the requirements. Feel free to IM me if you have any questions I might be able to help you with. Aloha, Bill

Congrats IB, it's always a good feeling when you find a club you want to fish with.

OK, so now where's Chevy? I miss hearing about all the beer she can drink! Not to mention all the wally-eyes that she catches up north.

Lightninrod, I agree with all you said, but I also fish it a little different depending on the cover I'm fishing. I started throwing the wacky work back in the mid 80's when a gentleman in our club won four tourns in a row on a bait he was trying to keep secret. I started out using regular u-tail worms and pushing a piece of plumbers solder up in the head for weight. (long or short cut weight depending on the wind) The weight get the bait to fall more straight up and down which gets that u-tail to wiggle back and forth. I've fished this bait in up to 25' of water and caught fish. I do fish it on spinning tackle, and unfortunately that was probably the reason I broke off a very good fish down on the St Johns river. Aloha, Bill

FlyRod, you're right, I was out of line this afternoon. I do apoligize for cueing in on your post. Sorry, Bill

I'm a member of four forums, and I agree with FlyRod, they all bring something to the table. Unfortunately not all of it is edible. FlyRod, as you know it was very easy to figure out your other forums. I agree, BFHP does have a lot of whining, personnal attacking, and risque photo's (One of those three things I have no problem with!!!). But their are also some very good people there that work hard to keep everyone informed and educated on this sport. The *** has gone thru some changes of the guard lately, and they've gone downhill big time. There's a lot of personnal attacking there now. I'm also a member of The Florida Bass Forum, a new but very good forum, patterned I think after the Texas Bass Forum. I highly recommend all of you look for a local forum where you can find local information and interact with local folks too.

The thing I need to really work on isn't necessarily fishing a particular bait, but backhand casting. I spent the entire past year learning the drop-shot and now have a lot of confidence in it. But I just started throwing the spinnerbait again with regularity and know and have known for a long time that to truly get all you can out of this bait you have to be able to cast backhand to get it to a lot of places. So I'm off to the backyard to start learn'n. For those of you wanting to work on the C-rig..... If you think you're fishing it too slow, tie a piece of string around the rod handle and your wrist, then lay back and take a little nap. Most of the time people tend to work the C-rig bait too fast. Then again in the late spring time you might want to work it in quick darting movements to imitate a fleeing crawfish. Aloha, Bill

Same to you acstech. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, anyone still full?

Plumber's solder. I don't use bullet weights any more, I cut off a piece of solder suited for the wind and push it up in my worms. Can place it anywhere in the worm I want to help vary the fall and presentation.

When I joined my first club back in the mid 80's we had an older gentleman that tended to win much more than he lost. This guy was so into making sure everyone caught fish that during the winter months he would hold bass class at his house on Wed. evenings. He had all the In-Fisherman and Glen Lau (sp) video's, styrofoam layered mock ups of some of the lakes we fished, and gave presentations on how different lures enticed fish during the different seasons. I owe 99% of what I know about bass fishing to this guy. So needless to say, now I do all I can to teach the beginners, like I was, all I can about the sport. We don't need ESPN and Basmaster's to grow the sport for us, we can do it all on our own!

I've read where some people have used WD-40 as an attractant and that it's worked!

Pretty much all tournament fishing. Even on the weekends I'm not in a tourn I'll go fish a lake or river where I have one coming up. I agree with Ben though. When I reach the point I'm burnt out I hang up the keys for a while and pull out the golf clubs. When I got back into it two years ago my boat had sat for almost three in the back yard.

Jaime, I see from your profile that you live in Fla. When you say saltwater are you talking about inter-coastal fishing for Reds and Trout? If so, you might be able to get away with a 16' jon. Here in the Jacksonville area their are all sorts of good deals on used boats set up for both salt and fresh water, I'm sure it's pretty much the same where ever you live. Just make sure it's set up like all the other folks mentioned here so you can still fish for bass and bream (trolling motor). Hope you and your Dad find what you're looking for.

Fly, I went to the local Walmart and picked up a Bottom Line unit for my little bass hunter boat. Cost me $68 and works fantastic in the small ponds around here. Comes with temp and grey line! Can't beat that for that price. Good luck.

SFC, sorry to be chiming in so late on this thread, but..... It sounds to me like you're looking to join the club for the right reason, gaining experience. If nothing else you will do that! Their are so many things you'll learn by fishing club tourns besides just fishing techniques, like proper (and improper) boat handling, you should be able to learn more about where and why fish are where they are depending on the time of year, what lures to throw at the different times of the year. And you'll probably make some great freinds. Don't go out and spend all your money on baits just because that's what the other guys are throwing. Work on getting good with 2 or 3 baits, like a SB, a CB, and a worm, and see where that takes you. I recmmend you give it a try. Go out and try to have fun!

Yes they are still in production. Very nice boats. Madhouse, I recently bought a Stratos 278 from a man outside Atlanta and absolutely love it. Johnson 150 pushes it over 60mph and it is the perfect size for a guy that normally fishes alone. Highly recommend the deck extension.

Small SE Georgia club looking for new members. When I say small, I mean small. We currently have only nine members, and only one is a non-boater. We fish 12 local tourn's a year and are looking for boaters and non-boaters alike. If you live near Camden County, GA or Jacksonville, FL and are interested in fishing small tourn's give us a try. Thanks, Bill Murtha