senile1

That's a good point, GR8wall. When I speak of late fall I'm talking about water temperatures generally in the 40s. In the early to mid-fall a buzzbait would definitely be more commonly used than in the late fall. The person who started this thread is from New Jersey so I assumed his water temperatures would be fairly cool at this time of the year. However, as Avid said, you can never rule out a particular bait 100 percent. And I see you're from Florida, so it's probably much warmer where you are than where I am, in Northwest Missouri.

I agree. But in a boxing match, the fighter who doesn't let his aggression get the best of him and picks his punches wins. (Mike Tyson lets his aggression take over, and because of this he is no longer a good fighter.) The defensive end who rushes in full speed at the quarterback will miss more often than a calculated approach because the quarterback will side-step him. I guess I'm saying the bass that has control of its aggression and doesn't use it, except at appropriate times will be more likely to survive and be dominant, whereas the younger, smaller bass will use its aggression too many times, some of which are not appropriate and will result in that fish's demise. Using aggression at the right time results in dominance. Using it in a helter-skelter fashion results in getting your butt kicked.

Big bass are dominant but that doesn't mean they aren't aggressive. It just means they temper their aggression with experience, and therefore, they exhibit less aggression than smaller fish. Muhammad Ali is a great example of this, Catt. Often, he would back-pedal and do his roper-dope while the other fighter flailed away aggressively. Ali would save his energy and make his punches count while the more aggressive fighter missed many of his punches. According to the definition of the word, aggressive, small bass are the most aggressive, but their aggression doesn't result in as much success in feeding and survival as the actions of the bigger bass. Aggression tempered with knowing when to hold back is the key. ag[ch8231]gres[ch8231]sive[ch8194] adjective 1. characterized by or tending toward unprovoked offensives, attacks, invasions, or the like; militantly forward or menacing: aggressive acts against a neighboring country. 2. making an all-out effort to win or succeed; competitive: an aggressive basketball player. 3. vigorously energetic, esp. in the use of initiative and forcefulness: an aggressive salesperson.

That sounds like the best answer to me.

I agree with jomatty. For late fall, in general the answer is no, but on any given day, under the right conditions (say you've had a few above average temperature days in a row) a buzzbait might catch fish. How cold is it in New Jersey at this time?

Tom Bass, You're alright in my book. You're just looking out for these younger people. I read your post in the Everything Else forum regarding Valascus and his layoff. Good post. No hard feelings whatsoever. Pinkfloydrules, it's still weird that you turned around and didn't see the other boater after you spoke to him. Do you think that because it was getting dark you just lost him in the shadows, or behind some standing timber?

I wouldn't worry about the difference in bearings. The smaller 100 model probably doesn't have room for the same number of bearings. Shimano.com doesn't have the Citica 100D listed in their products section, yet. jeffp12 stated: I only see the CI201D model on Shimano's website. I have a 200 model and it is nice. It's bigger but the size is carried horizontally rather than vertically so you really don't notice the size. My hands are average to a little smaller than average and I have no problems palming the 200.

I don't know about the BPS reels, but the Citica is a little heavier due to the addition of high efficiency gears to the reel. I would spend the extra money. Read the following review of this years Citica 200D: http://tackletour.com/reviewshimanocitica200dpg3.html In their conclusion they state, "If you are moving from a previous generation Curado to the Citica you won't be disappointed unless you really are dead set on a 100 sized reel."

No needed to clear anything up, pinkfloydrules210. Nobody here thinks you were on narcotics. That's why when I posted I put the winking smiley at the end. And I think it was obvious that everyone else was joking as well. And, no, I don't think Avid eats children either.

Yes, you can uninstall IE from your machine. It just disappears from your add/remove programs in control panel after service packs are added on 2000, and it disappears if you removed the old version when you updated. Read the following if you need to uninstall IE on your machine and can't find it in add/remove programs. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/293907

NEBassMan, that was a good one to try to guess. The photo was taken at an odd angle which made the fish look bigger than it really was. I think we all struggled with this one. I underestimated and went too far the other direction.

Yeah, Avid wasn't the guy in the boat. He's the guy up in the parking lot with the hunchback, the wicked limp, the patch over one eye, and drool dripping from his lips, telling you he'll eat your children. But seriously, that's a weird story. As LBH intimated, I wouldn't suppose narcotics were involved?

Valascus, Listen and heed what Tom Bass is saying. I don't want to diminish what you are going through because I know it has been rough. But you are only 24. You have lots of time to turn this around. Dude, when I got out of high school I had an academic scholarship to go to college. I got involved in drugs, drinking, and playing in a band. Through a combination of my own bad choices and some bad luck I found myself in a similar situation at about your age. While my grades had been good at college I quit because I wanted to concentrate on my music. When you quit, you lose your scholarship. You can't get it back when you return. Around this time I ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time and was assaulted by 8 guys. My hospital bill was astronomical (at least to me, it was at the time.) Soon, thereafter, I was married and had a child and we were barely getting by. Anyway, to make a long story short, I applied for financial aid, worked, and went to college, graduated, and was able to get a job eventually in which I could pull myself out of the hole. Now at 45, almost 46, my wife and I have quite a bit saved up for retirement and if the economy doesn't collapse we both plan to retire in our 50s. At 24, I never would have believed it. It's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel when you are young, because it's a long tunnel. If you believe you can get out of this you will because a strong belief will cause you to take actions that will eventually turn this thing around. Make a plan, and stick to it. You will have setbacks, but, one day, eventually, you'll look back and you won't believe how far you've come.

Nice fish. And it's always good to fish with the kids and with the Dads.

On a reservoir created by damming a creek or river, there are usually numerous creeks that carry mud from the surrounding land during a hard rain. Muddy run-off flows into the creeks and then into the reservoir and will slowly spread throughout the reservoir. This mud is carried on the surface as well as down a few feet before it settles.

Click the help menu and then "About Internet Explorer" or if its Firefox, do the same but the wording is "About Mozilla Firefox."

Yes, it may be a 2-3lb mouth, but the gut looks like a 3-4lb gut. NEbassman, when are you posting the results? It could be over 3 lbs, but I think the gut looks that way because of the closeup and the angle of the picture. I just can't see a guess of 5 or 6 lbs being close. I guess the posting of the actual weight will tell the tale.

I wouldn't say the male's aggressive behavior on the nest is because of stupidity. I would say it is because of instinct. The male role is to protect the nest at all costs, at least until a couple of weeks after the eggs hatch. The female's role is to carry eggs and deposit them. If she wears herself out chasing predators from the nest, she will be less likely to deposit healthy eggs.

New 2 Bass, that is a beautiful fish. Dude, so you didn't weigh it, but did you get some measurements? You don't want to catch a PB and, at least, have some idea of what it weighed. Awesome outing. I'll bet your son is wound up and ready to fish.

What a head on that fish!! And what a monster she will be when she fattens up some. What a sweet lake and you obviously know what you're doing. I think you post a DD just about every week or two.

On Minn Kotas the drive pin which fits through the slot on the shaft, and drives the prop, will get bent and this will cause vibration at higher speeds. I don't know if MotorGuide uses the same thing, but if they do, it is an easy fix, and very cheap, to replace the drive pin. Check your manual to see if it uses a pin or something similar to drive the prop. If so, remove the prop and check to see if the pin is bent. Since the motor is new the dealer should replace it free of charge. That is, if you don't want to return it.

I think the 5's and 6's are quite high. Compare the mouth of that bass to the hand. I guess the angle of the picture could be fooling me but that is a 2 to 3 lb mouth, guys.

Since 1984, I have grown a beard every winter except for two. For a long time I wore a goatee, but the last three years I have gone "nude" in the warmer months. Quote from tipptruck1: Tipptruck, starting in November, grow a beard and then shave it off in mid-January when the temperatures are very cold. You will notice a big difference. A beard definitely helps if you like the outdoors in the winter.

Avid, I'd use a very light braid. I've used 10 lb PowerPro on spinning tackle for awhile and have no problems whatsoever with it. And of course, there is no memory, period. I like Yo-Zuri hybrid Ultra Soft, also, but it does have a little memory.

Berkley, in addition to the other suggestions, in Louisiana, the water should be warm enough that a slow rolled spinnerbait would work at times, also.