Lund Explorer

Considering that both TB & CWD can be spread year round through artificial feeding it becomes the bigger issue.

You forgot to mention the Bovine TB to the north of you and the Chronic Wasting Disease to the south of me!

We shouldn't forget that there are probably just as many ladies who've signed up. I wonder how many of us would want to know what they're really up to!

My theory is that she was a "bass widow" who found a way to turn loneliness into a profit.

You'd feel right at home in India. Unless you were left-handed!

I've never caught anything "below" the thermocline. What depth you find perch at is going to be dependent on where their food source is. It could be anywhere between shallow weeds all the way out into 25'+ and it can change day to day or week to week. I've always found the best way to located active schools is to drift across varying depths until I find them. This is where a GPS unit can come in very handy. You can mark the start of each drift and put in waypoint each time you catch a decent fish. The boat track will also give you an idea of direction and length of each drift. If a drift produced a few fish, you can repeat it by returning to your previous starting point. If a certain drift doesn't produce you can move to a new starting point. Once you've done this a few times you should determine the depth they're staging at and possibly find areas that are worth anchoring down on.

I've lost more money in stock market this month than I have at the pump.

My two best tactics when targeting perch are drift fishing with simple "Crappie Rigs" http://www.basspro.com/Bass-Pro-Shops-Crappie-Rig/product/1776/ baited with some type of live or processed bait. The other is to anchor down on known locations and pound them with a combination of Crappie Rigs and small spoons like the Hali Jig, Swedish Pimples, or Jigging Raps. I use a lot of different baits on my crappie rigs. Live minnows, salted minnows, mayfly larva (wigglers), worms/crawler chunks, cut bait (as stated above) and 1" Gulp minnows all work well at times so you may want to have a few choices available for each trip. I'll tip spoons with a minnow head or piece of cut bait as well. Nothing better than a cooler full of convicts when you're looking for a fish dinner!

At some point you will find that it isn't worth the bother to be worried about what other people think about your PB, or anyone else's for that matter. This so called "vocal few" are only the tip of the iceberg for a much larger group of naysayers who are so insecure in their own worth and abilities, that they feel the need to set fake standards that everyone else is supposed to live up to. At the end of the day, nothing you, I, or Bill Dance does will live up to their standards, so it make no sense in even trying to do so. In other words: Who Cares!

Here's my opinion on choice of line. Mono - Fast moving baits (spinnerbaits) and those with treble hooks (topwaters, jerkbaits, crankbaits). I want some stretch with these baits and they're moving fast enough that visibility isn't an issue. FC - Slow moving baits (Pig-n-Jig, T-Rigs). Probably doesn't matter, but in my mind I want less visibility. Braid - Anything thrown in the slop or other heavy cover. No Stretch & Heavy Line needed to drag them out.

If the Predator was still available today, I know what I would be pulling the trigger on.

I'm not saying that some folks don't enjoy those seats, but in that vein, lets not forget the optional ski pole and the swim ladder that are on so many of the current lineup of models. If anything needs to be added to a fishing boat its the chance to become a water flea! Seriously, the only thing I want in a boat is its fishing potential. Call it a curse or luck, but the wife has never enjoyed high speed boating, because if she did, I would have never gotten away from the fiberglass rockets. All I'm interested in now is a boat that handles the bigger waters that are around here and that can safely fish up to three people. There are plenty of seat bases down in the "hole" so I don't need the option of turning part of the storage potential of a back deck into seating. I'm going into today's visit with an open mind and hope that this dealer can get me a competitive price, and offers decent service on a Pro-V.

Are we married to twin sisters?

So far I've looked at every boat the area's dealers have. Those brands include Lund, Starcraft, Alumacraft, G3, and Smokercraft. Under the Lund brand the only ones available have been the Tyee and Cross Over models. I have seen the Impact on the internet but I'm not sold on the "jump seats" that are included in the back deck. However, the dealer I'm visiting next does have a 1775 version of the Impact so I will probably crawl over that as well.

Nearly 100% sure that I will be at Kentucky Lake, and 80% sure that the War Dept. will be tagging along. Tentative plans would be to arrive on Saturday 4/23 and depart for home on Sunday 5/1. If I'm there, I will have a boat and will have a seat(s) available at least three of the four days 4/27 to 4/30.

I'm making the two hour drive to the closest Lund dealer who has a Pro-V in stock. It is a 2015 model 1875 which is the size I'm looking at, but they aren't posting a price on line. I've got my shopping list of extras ready so they can give me as close to an apples to apples comparison. It no secret that my three priorities are price, layout, and service and this time will be the same way. So far, the G3 has had the best price, and the service I've gotten from this dealer for the last 8 years has been nothing short of amazing. That's two out of three in my book, so the Lund dealer is going to have to really sharpen his pencil. We shall see.

She who is never wrong has gotten it into her head that she needs a console / windshield to hide behind in her golden years and the only way the old girl is going to get that with the current Lund is if she decides to drive! I've been looking around and came across this one, a G3 Angler 185 F. Just a hair over 18' with a full windshield, 150hp Yamaha 4-Stroke, MK 80lb trolling motor, three brand new batteries with on-board charger, Humminbird 899 HD SI combo on the console and a 859 HD DI combo up front. Few other extras including a full cover sitting on top of a single axle trailer. Just under $38K. That's over $9k less than the comparable Lund 1800 Tyee. Think it's worth a name change?

Good luck my friend. Rather than a handicap sticker, you need to find an old retro "Keep On Trucking" bumper sticker!

My "home lake" is rather small at only 140 acres and its claim to fame is the fact that it is only 5 miles from the house and has very little in the way of water fleas. There are many other lakes just as close but they are mostly overrun by jet skis or a pain to launch at. Its biggest drawback is the fact that a lake that small only has just so many "spots". The better lakes I fish are mostly between 2,500 and 4,000 acres in size. They provide way more places to hit during a day which increases the chance that I'm going to find active fish. I wish they were closer than a hour plus long trip from home so most of them are destination lakes for week long camping trips.

Bass eat bass, pike eat pike, there's pictures like this all over the place. My theory is that the fish either doesn't get a clear look at what its trying to eat, or they simply aren't smart enough to realize its own limitations. Of course, any theory that tells us that our favorite fish isn't the sharpest tool in the shed kind of diminishes the thrill of outsmarting them!

In cold water they're great insulation. In warm water, they should keep the leeches off.

Sure don't like the sound of the word "Biopsy". Here's hoping everything works out and you're soon back on a regular schedule of salt air in the morning and green fish in the afternoon!

Your beard ain't gonna cover that up!

As I'm sure you've noticed by now, this state is lousy with tree rats. But there isn't a scrapple stand as far as the eye can see. Now in a couple of weeks you really need to travel east for an hour or so to the tiny town of Greenville Michigan. While there you'll have the chance to enjoy some fresh Aebleskivers.

Can we start a pool about the first day this winter when it gets caught in the zipper of your coat? I tried one of those Smith Bros full blown beards just long enough to have that happen to me. After that it got whacked down to a manageable length where it stayed for years with a weekly trimming.