Lund Explorer

I have no ideas what current prices are right now as I haven't been out in a week. I do know that we pay road/sales taxes on fuel of around $0.25 per/gallon now. That's subject to change as the folks in Lansing are going through the gyrations needed to generate a few more billion to put into filling chuck holes.

That's why I stick to topwaters. Less chopping and the same results!

Sorry to hear that Glenn. After the great time Jackie and I had at the 2011 trip, I can assure you that we would have been back every year if we hadn't been handcuffed in this current situation. You and the entire road trip crew have gone above and beyond to put together a high quality opportunity for all of the members here for many years.

LMAO! Somehow I've stumbled into the "Science & Technology" section of Bass Resource when all along I thought this was a fishing forum! By all means though, please continue with your research to find a cure for all of those medical marijuana cards!

I'd bet that the price will return to the ugly side by the time I'm ready to fill up the motorhome next spring!

Over the years I fished in all three formats and each has it's good points and bad. The one "club" that had draw tournaments only worked because so many of the members were long term and the entire group considered the others more as friends than competitors. Boaters and non-boaters were paired a week or so in advance, and even though each fished for their own weight, the "partners quite often pre-fished together. Also, this club had a rule where each fisherman had control of the front of the boat for half the day. We also always had one extra boater who either fished alone or if another boater had to drop out for an emergency, the non-boater for that tournament wasn't left on shore. One of the other clubs I fished with was one of the oldest in the area, and it had always been a team format. I enjoyed fishing with this group as my long-time friend and I always had some guaranteed days on the water together. We both had boats and would take turns using ours equally. The last group I fished with used a strict draw format and wasn't a club at all. Needless to say, as a boater I always controlled the front half and my non-boater sat in the back. I fished against the other boaters while he fished against the other riders. To be blatantly honest, I really didn't enjoy fishing with this group. There were days when 10 boaters would show up and 15 riders. Some non-boaters expected a guided trip for nothing more than their entry fee. I only gave this format a tryout for one year before I concentrated on the other two. I would suspect that if you are seeing draw clubs turning to the partner format, it's probably due to them becoming less like the first example and sadly, too much like the last one.

This is an ancient old lure and one extra "blade" that I've had for 30 some years. Colorado shaped in a tear drop design. The blade is hollow with rattles inside. I got this lure from my old partner Mike when he and I started fishing tournaments on the Grand River which has about the same visibility you mention. Now that I no longer fish tourneys, it has been sitting in storage and wasting away. If you'd like to try it out, shoot me a pm with your address and I'll get them out to you.

I didn't think I was confused when the OP mentioned bait manufacturers, and can't imagine why else he would have asked. And some people learn what battles are worth fighting, and which windmills are not worth tilting at.

Any lake around here with only 10" of visibility wouldn't be called murky, it would be called MUD! Now speaking of spinnerbaits, have you ever run across one with a rattling blade?

Only for the totally clueless, and only if the science isn't flawed. Only if these studies tie color to every other of the thousands of variables. It's just my opinion, but I would think that anyone would be a whole lot better off spending their time trying to understand where fish located themselves on the bodies of water they fish, and then relying on the lures/colors that have already been proven to catch fish. Of course it is winter, so maybe I can understand that the original poster is worried that some bait company is going to discover the secret magic color that all bass will climb over each other to get at, and then hide it. I think I'll waste my time trying to figure out what makes my wife's mind work!

As simply as I can explain how I learned it. All blades give you flash (visibility) and vibrations. Willow give more flash and less vibration, while Colorado gives you the opposite. Indiana blades are in the middle of the two. Taking these facts into consideration, you can assume that the lower the visibility, the more the bass needs to use the vibration of a lure to locate it.

Michigan has recently raised the limit on the number of rods one person can use to three. You should hear the uproar on some of our west side piers!

I'm rather interested in seeing the results of these studies. Once we know how bass see colors, we'll have all of 1% of what we need to know about catching them.

It's amazing how many people think it's the boat that catches the fish.

A few points I would make here. First, it shouldn't matter whether a win brings you bragging rights or a handful of C-Notes, it's still a win. What the winner gets at the end of the day is often determined on how much they shell out at the start of it, combined with how many people are entered. How your career in tournament goes will only be limited by your abilities and possibly the size of your wallet. Secondly, only the truly insane are going to blow $70k on a rig to start fishing tournaments. My advice is to find a decent used rig that is big enough to handle the size water your new tournament schedule requires. This requirement isn't in the rules, but is based on what you need to safely navigate the body of water and reach the areas you want to fish in a manageable amount of time. Recently a member here posted up a used Ranger that I think looked like a very good deal, and if I was looking at getting back into tournaments would have had me interested in it. Here's a link to it: http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/145943-2003-ranger-185vs-for-sale/#entry1628990 Finally, I'll touch on this whole front seat -vs- back seat debate. If you want to determine how your day on the water is going to go, then you need to own the boat. If you want to sit in the back end and take your chances of drawing someone that knows what they are doing and more importantly will give you the chance to compete, then by all means save your money and roll the dice. My personal opinion is that it is hard enough trying to catch a stringer big enough to compete with in the front of the boat, and I can't see any reason to add to that challenge, what I would call the "Luck of the Draw!" to it. Just my opinion!

One thing for sure, it's a male bass. It's mouth isn't open!

Agree with what you've said. I just don't agree with others saying that all computers get hacked and there isn't anything that can be done. How's that old saying go? "Doctor, it hurts when I do this!"

Just a SWAG - Don't gobies make holes in the lake bottom that look like that?

I can repeat myself if it would help, but perhaps you'd like to re-read my post. This type of thing has been going on for years, and the companies, banks, and c/card processors are all well aware of it. And yet in every instance, they are held harmless aside from perhaps offering discount pricing for the real victim to sign up for credit screening. They pay for it short term and then you get to pay after that. Hence, there is absolutely no reason for the people that profit from an arcane system to change it. Maybe I should repeat what I said. This kind of problem will never be solved until the company's that allow their computer systems to be hacked are held responsible for the losses suffered by their customers.

It wasn't a bank a c/card processor that lost the employee data at the post office recently. It wasn't their fault either when a Defense Dept. employee walked out of his office with a laptop only to have the car it was in got stolen. And it isn't banks a c/card companies that store all of the store's customer base. Where they are responsible though, they should be held to the same standards.

The only possible answer would be to scrap the current system, split the teams into two divisions, and force the supposedly great teams to play only others in their division. Division 1 - Top 32 teams in four groups of 8 teams each. Each team plays the seven other teams in their group and 5 more games against teams in the other groups. Top 2 teams from each group move into the playoffs. And there's no reason to continue holding every major championship game in one select region. After three years, the team with the worst record in each group gets kicked under the bus into the second division, and the best four lower teams move up. No need to bribe coaches or the media to "vote" who is the best, that's the purpose of the won-lost record. No really good team should need to pad their record by playing four or twelve games against the patsies of the NCAA!

The very reason why so many ice fishermen where I fish sit inside portable shanties where nobody can tell how they're doing. Also a very good reason not to "Go Ike!" when you catch a bass on open water.