George Welcome

From our families to yours: Have a wonderful Holiday season and a fantastic 2007. George & Scott

Directly taken for Florida Game and Fish: Age and Growth - Growth rates are highly variable with differences attributed mainly to their food supply and length of growing season. Female bass live longer than males and are much more likely to reach trophy size. By age two or three, females grow much faster than male bass. Males seldom exceed 16 inches, while females frequently surpass 22 inches. At five years of age females may be twice the weight of males. One-year old bass average about seven inches in length and grow to an adult size of 10 inches in about 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 years. The oldest bass from Florida whose age has been determined by fisheries biologists was 16 year of age. Generally, trophy bass (10 pounds and larger) are about 10 years old. As you can see - someone has given you some wrong information of ages of Florida Strain Bass

Mr. B.B. If you ever bump into Sid Ryan tell him I said howdy.

"The plastic has proven to be the best over time because it is the most thrown over time: for me that means the best of the best is the Senko." Can't say it any plainer than that.

"Studies have proven that the plastic worm is the only lure made that a BASS CANNOT REMEMBER! That is, a bass will continue to strike a worm even after repeated catches, whereas a bass will "turn off" to other lures, spinner baits and crank baits etc. after wearing them out on them. That's why you cannot continue to catch them on your honey hole with the same lure over and over. Bass will stop eating that which will eradicate them. Not true with the plastic worm, however. Although we all know bass will prefer a different bait at different times (i.e. "the pattern") you can always go back to the worm to catch them." The above statements are absolute BS! The best for the moment is the one that you are casting and catching with. The plastic has proven to be the best over time because it is the most thrown over time: for me that means the best of the best is the Senko.

Buy a scale - then you won't be trying to kid yourself.

"When you "Got It", you can do what you please, everybody cares about you." So much of the above is so accurate. "Definitions as it relates to this fishing industry: sponsored - Rod A breaks and you need a new one; simply call and the sponsor sends a new one next day air, no charge. Low on bait product and you need more; simply call and the sponsor sends what you want next day air, no charge. Product discounts given are such that you can actually make money selling the product - for example outboard motors and boats." What do these sponsors expect from people they might sponsor: first that that person actually have the forum and ability to represent their product to people that will listen to that person because of his/her history. Someone other than a neighbor needs to vouch for that person. The first question that will be asked is: who the heck are you and what have you done? It gets a lot deeper, but suffice it to say: get some experience that will prove your ability to get people to listen to you, and in this industry that means get recognition in your ability to catch fish. If you want to be a salesman for any company that is involved in this fishing industry then send them a resume and apply for a sales position, but if you want to be sponsored, get out and catch some fish: get recognized for your ability and they will come to you.

River anchor is really good, but for an inflatable you only need a small mushroom.

"George, I have great respect for your abilities as a guide and your advice, but I'm not sure if your cold spells in Florida are much more than a chilly fall day further north. " "Yeah whats a cold spell in Florida?" Hey we get cold - two weeks ago there were snow flurries in Orlando! Of course yesterday was 81 and I feel so guilty. Not! Date Fished: 1/25/03 Water Temperature: 42 Water Clarity: 2-3 feet Fortunately I did not have to work in yesterday's cold as I was able to reschedule my client for a day next week. It was cold and it was windy. We had snow flurries in several locations down here around mid-day to include as far south as Port St Lucie. As promised the 18th was definitely frigid. Temps with wind chill were in the mid-twenties but Tim and Robert were ready to roll bright and early. Bruce and Wyndham were also ready to go and ready to have a great time. Day two for Tim and Robert, (THE 18TH), was one they will probably only remember as numbingly cold. No one could anticipate the cold that descended into Florida and trying to keep the hands warm enough to work a bait and handle the reel in these temps is extremely difficult. Fortunately, the water was warm enough that nothing was freezing except the fingers.

Any pinch can cause a wire separation, however it sounds like the LCD went south.

Congrats JT and to your "Missus" on that future fishing partner!!! Catches like that make for a happy family all around. Pretty soon you will be working on grand kids as they grow up real quick.

A pre-spawn bass: Caught during one of our cold spells - brrrrrrrr

It would be tough to find a pro to step up and speak here: it doesn't seem as if anyone can agree on what would qualify one to be a pro.

My point was that noise is just another excuse but you take it the way you want to.

Pro-fisherman is a designation of achievement, not one of income. Professional fisherman is a designation of source income, but not one of achievement. Although either can be both, neither have to be both. A Pro-fisherman is one who is "currently" plying nationally recognized tournament trails. A professional fisherman is one who "earns" his living fishing on a day to day basis. My particular designation to Uncle Sam's IRS fund is Pro-Fishing Guide: not Pro-fisherman, nor professional fisherman.

Now that you have convinced yourself that the boat and motor is the or was the problem, you have an excuse each time you go fishing in a boat with a motor. Perhaps next time it will be the sun, the moon, the rain, or the wind. It was not the boat and motor.

Hale, Remove it - It is a combination trim and sacrificial annode, but it it not needed unless you put that boat in salt water.

Weight caculators are based on torpedo shaped bass which includes most of North America's bass population. However, both Texas and Cal. will differ as many of their fish have larger girths than normal. Total Length in Inches : Length in Millimeters: Weight in Pounds: 26 660.4 11.96750158 Maximum Girth in Inches: Girth in Millimeters: Weight in Kilograms: 20.5 520.7 5.439773444 Optional weight estimate based on TL*TL*G/1200: 11.5 (Rough estimate for torpedo shaped fish like bass) Optional weight estimate based on TL*TL*G/1000: 13.9 (Rough "California" estimate for full-bodied fish like gravid bass) Optional weight estimated based on TL*G*G/800: 13.7 (Rough estimate for bass, per Outdoor Life and Hal Schramm)

I would suggest you go read the comments page: http://www.cgi2you.com/cgi-bin/guestbook.pl?user=gblank&whatdo=view

I see lots of dogs going out in boats. The only problem that I have noted is some are extremely noisy, barking at everything, and I have seen a few getting stuck with lures left laying about on the decks.

A largemouth bass's territory is the space its body is occupying. I have tracked a 5 mile move of an entire school in under 4 hours. Where goeth the food, so goeth the bass.

not any more

Craig, is the rumor true that you are incorporating laser guidance systems in your plastics? I also heard somewhere that you were getting ready to release a new "wire" fishing line connected to an innovative electoshock lizard. Cmon guy, fill us in.

This is a much less expensive and far less technical approach that is being promoted by a guide that calls himself legendary: The following is excerpted from one of his fishing reports. "If you go to a particular spot and fish it every day with live bait the bass will figure it out and be there to meet you. The more you fish the spot the more the bass will come. When a guide throws an anchor into the lake splashing water all over the place and making a loud noise it is just a notice to the bass that the shiners have arrived." I immediately ran out and peppered the lake with anchors and now I only fish those spots. However to date there has been no success, but I am ever hopeful.

This or similar product will cut that stuff no matter how long it has been there - may take more than one application but it will do the job. If you can cut it with compound or wet sanding and it is in fact tea-staining and scum line issue than any good hull cleaner will cut through. http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/producte/10001/-1/10001/72453/0/0/hull%20cleaner/All_2/mode+matchallpartial/0/0