Dinky

Bass Cat -2013 Cougar Transferred my Power Poles from the Nitro-

Yes I sold it (Nitro) in June. Trying to find a place for the Tracker so I can put the new boat in the garage.

Jeff, Good one. It was no Baccarac in March, but I can live with it. But then it was no El Salto in the fall either. Looking forward to Baccarac in March. Would love to go there in Oct. but schedule is brutal--Scotland/France/Portugal/Spain for most of August, then Florida in October and back to Elsalto in Dec then Brazil in January. Just took delivery on my new boat and have not had it in the water yet!!

Just returned from El Salto Here are a few of the fish 2 of us were able to catch 4 days; 180+ fish 6 over 8lbs 4 more over 10 w/ 3 of those over 12 one 14+

I have fished as a non-boater for the last 3 years-all the BASS Southern Opens and one or two Central opens. (I also Marshal 3 or 4 times a year, often taking my boat and fishing the tournament lake the week after the Elite Tournament is over. (Hey, I know a bunch of great honey holes and the locals are at work!) I own a boat but will probably not compete as a boater because I am not interested in spending the time and $ necessary to do so....plus I am 68 years old. I have only fished one tournament on my 'home' lake, so knowledge of the lake is not an issue when I compete. On the one tournament on my 'home' lake I fished wherever the boater went on the first day-he never asked me anything. I out-weighed him. On the second day I was paired with Ish Monroe-he didn't ask me anything. Neither of us went to the weigh in.(I have Marshaled for Ish since then and seen him at numerous tournaments--I never mention this...he lifts weights and is in great shape!) I seldom pre- fish. I don't make a lot of $$ on the tournaments. I fish a lot of different lakes in this great country and meet a lot of nice folks ---and learn a lot about fishing. I always offer my boater $$ for gas etc. Some Take it all, some take some of it , the Elite Pros won't take any---all are grateful and appreciative. I love it and will try to enter some Northern Opens next year in addition to the Southern Opens. The boaters pay $1500 to fish and use their own boat--I pay $425 and don't have to haul my boat to the site. And I should complain??

Just three from last year at El Salto and a picture of the boat I fish out of in Mexican waters. No problems for me.

Just a few observations: Fishing for bass in Mexico's lakes is not a zero sum game. If you catch a lot of big fish in Lake "A", it does not mean you will not be able to catch just as many big fish in Lake "B". Yet many posters seem to be saying that only a lot of big fish can be caught in their particular lake. and not in other lakes. This is ridiculous. Weighing fish is the only way ( seriously? 'weigh' to 'way'?) to tell how much a fish ways..er weighs. Lakes in Mexico certainly will be affected by pressure over time. A lake that becomes 'hot' will attract more fishermen and thus more pressure. Over enough time it will experience a reduction in size/numbers. I have fished El Salto for over 10 years --probably 25 trips. But I am not so insecure about my choice that I would claim other lakes do not compare with it--at least not until I fished the other lakes 25 times over a 10 year period. El Salto is more convenient to get to than other lakes; but I definitely want to - and will-- try other lakes. It took me over 6 years of trips to El Salto to actually get a double digit in the boat. Meanwhile I boated hundreds of 6-8 pound fish-and enjoyed every minute of it. Since then I have become a better fisherman in Mexican lakes and have boated many more 10+ pound fish at El Salto. If I go to a different lake and do not catch as many big fish as I have on my best trip to El Salto will I conclude that El Salto is better than that other lake? Of course not. I look forward to fishing Lake Baccarac next spring and have Sugar on my radar. Adios amigos.

Do you come through Lexington on your way there or back? Where are you staying? Can I go too? lol I am about 4 0r 5 hours from St. Clair and have been trying to get up there for years. Let me know how it is and if you are going next year.

I have experienced the same behavior by the Pros when I Marshal ....But remember that they are metabolizing what they ate the day/night before the morning you got in the boat with them. Sooo..the question is what did they do BEFORE you got into the boat with them that morning! I do not know for sure what they did, but I am willing to wager a good guess.

Dateline: Logan-Martin Lake/BASS Southern Open #3,Pell City, AL, 5/17/2013 I am fishing this Bassmaster Southern Open as a non-boater and drew Chris Lane as a partner on Thursday. We indeed had a lot of fun and Chris is a fantastic fisherman (no surprise there!) as well as a complete professional and gentleman(again no surprise!) Chris indeed had skinny water strategy in mind from the get-go and he executed it to perfection: frog/toad in the main lake and secondary cuts and coves from the launch to the dam. He made some minor adjustments after we figured out exactly where the big bites were. His ability to analyze the bites/behavior of the fish and the conditions was really something to see. He made it look easy. Add to that his total command of the technique and his ability to put the lure in just the right spot and he made an 18+ pound day look easy. And wow, did I learn a lot!! It was an amazing day for me--and it was all due to Chis Lane,..thanks Chris!! Now if I can just get my Rage Toad out of this tree we can move on down the Coosa river and hunt some more big spots and green fish. Post script: Chris weighed in 10+ today. Good enough for 5th and he is in the top 12 and will be fishing for the win tomorrow! Me?I am packing up and heading to Pickwick to meet 00Mod.

A one day weight is not really a good test/comparison. It needs to be a level playing field as follows Tournament would be four (4) days. Lake would be off limits for 60 days prior to the tournament. Three official practice days-eg-mon. -wed. Anglers can only pre-fish with another tournament angler entered in the tournament. During off limits period- as well as tournament- no info from any source other than public source. No co- anglers. Marshalls to be used with bass track systems. No nets. No cell phone use except in emergency. All other general rules apply such as: no A-rigs can be used, no culling dead fish, penalties for dead fish, etc. Only then will you be able to have a true comparison of who is better on a local fisherman's home lake. (no horsepower restricted lakes could be use of course.)

Good to know , Rhino. Now I know why you wanted to take a separate additional ice chest on board at Pickwick--it must have been those Krispy Kreme crème filled chocolate covered pastries. yum.