Lund Explorer

To begin with, welcome to Bass Resource. This place is packed with some great information and outstanding people, you're about to learn a lot here. It will help in the future if you add a few things to your questions or profile so people can understand where you are fishing, etc.. I am located in Mecosta County near the Village of Rodney, and have many good largemouth lakes and a few that have smallies. In this area, I've found that you can start working topwaters close to Memorial Day weekend. It mostly depends on how water temps progress during the spring. For largemouth I like to throw almost all kinds of topwaters, but am partial to the Pop-R and Torpedos. For smallmouth, one of my most productive baits on the Muskegon River is a #9 or #11 floating Rapala that I will let drift with the current and twitched as it comes over cover. Hope this general info. helps.

The clothes are unpacked, washed, put away, and the boat and tackle is well on the way to being cleaned and reorganized. This old fart even got a fairly decent night's sleep and is well on the way to healing up all the little aches and pains that a week's worth of fishing creates. About the only thing left to do is to come on here to reflect on this trip. Suffice it to say, there is no way to put into words all of those thoughts. Nor was there any way to spend the amount of time needed getting to properly meet with everyone who attended. I'm sure that would take at least a month, so if that ever is a possibility, let's hope it isn't held in a "dry" county! To Glenn and Keri..... A plain thank you just doesn't seem to be enough. I've been lucky in my life's work to meet a number of people who have successfully started a venture of one sort or another, but never has that come to a more gracious couple. Whether in casual conversation or in the time you spent talking to us as a group, it is easy to see why Bass Resource has become what it is today. I'm looking forward to seeing grow into everything you want it to be. To Deb..... Well girl, you got your own post located here: To Gary & Mary..... Thanks for hosting a great get together Saturday night. It was the perfect way to start our trip. To the Burger Gang.... Great eats guys. Mike was surely correct when he said these dinners gave all of us a chance to gather in the evening. To the Big O..... Sir, your nickname should be EF Hutton. When you talk, everyone should listen! I don't think I've ever had the pleasure to talk with such a knowledgeable and entertaining fisherman before. I'm looking forward to next year's trip, and next year's batch of new Rage Tails. To MNGeorge.... Yup, I finally broke that new rod in on Thursday with a bunch of fish caught using a short C-Rig on it. I'm looking forward to bringing many more fish with it, thanks. Last and absolutely not the least to Alpster my fishing partner for two days..... The time we spent both onshore and on the water were the best. Without a doubt there will be memories that will be coming back to me throughout the year. I hope that we will be able to team up again next year, and if our luck improves, you'll have your camera with you the next time my boat floats off down the bayou on its own! Then again, maybe the young man who gave me the boat ride to retrieve it will take up my invitation to join us here so you'll have another witness! I guess the only thing left to do is to thank everyone else who I got to meet but didn't list here. I'm looking forward to spending more time with all of you next year. Now I think I'll go in search of Steezy's report on how that new rig of his is pounding those Houston bass.

Prior to departing for this year's road trip, I had jokingly posted of my plans to make our first stop of the trip at Fisherman's Headquarters. The goal of the visit was to not only pick up licenses for my wife Jackie and I, but also for her to pick up some "secret" lures with Deb's help. I can gladly report that Debbie was more than happy to help out. You see, one of my goals for this trip was to include my wife in this adventure. While she doesn't post on these forum pages, she has always been supportive of my fishing. Besides trying to maintain our home, she is also a mother, grandmother, and now a great-grandmother to a tribe of fifteen. If the fact that she does all of this rather well while holding down a fulltime job isn't enough, she also has spent the last year or so becoming more immersed with the care of my mom as she slowly slips into elderly dementia. That is my wife Jackie. Like a lot of the women we all know, family has always been put first. So while this road trip was a fishing adventure for me, it was also a chance for her to try to escape the many demands she faces each and every day. Into this picture came Debbie. Not only did she help her pickup a selection of baits, but she gave her the confidence that she would succeed. The following Monday, Deb jumped at the chance to coach her along again when Jackie told her she was still having a hard time keeping up with this old fart. While the rest of us were standing around chatting, Deb and Jackie were down on the shoreline. Jackie with pole in hand and Deb giving her advice. Part of the end result shows in the picture below, but it surely isn't the whole story. Our last day at this year's road trip was going to be Friday as we would be leaving a half day early. Mom had a few issues that we needed to get home to address, so the plan was to hit the water by 8am, and be back at the cabin by noon to pack up for the long drive home. Then about 11:30, it came to pass that the last place we stopped in Kentucky was going to be the first place we had visited. As luck would have it, we pulled into the parking lot just as Deb and CWB were arriving from their fishing trip that day. As I stood there with CWB lamenting the fact that the Jensen boys got their collective butts kicked that day, these ladies celebrated Jackie's catch. Just two gals, one helping the other accomplish much more than just catching a fish. To the end of my days, I will never be able to thank Deb enough for the memories she gave to my wife and I. For the record, that fish weighed in on my scales at 4.71lbs. Not the biggest fish caught by the Bass Resource gang, but it was a priceless catch up here in the little Village of Rodney.

Speaking of broadening the scope of the argument, I'm sure you realize that went a ways beyond what I was trying to get at. While it is probably useless to try to make a point with one of the gentlemen who is in charge of seeing that all of us obey the forum rules, including the part about respect for certain illegal activities, we could expand this to cover a wide variety of subjects to see where we all could agree or not when a law can be bent, stretched, or broken. It's all subjective to each person's pain threshhold. While someone might think just going 10mph over a speed limit is okay, until it is your child's school bus driver does the same maybe. This discussion could go to fishing regs to the guy that ignores rules about seasons or size and possession limits too. In my profession though, the subject of evading taxes comes up quite often. Whether its the guy who skips paying the tax on a $100 order, or the business owner who skims a few thousand a month, we each must ultimately answer to ourselves. Does the guy who only bends a little just more honest than the guy who stretches a lot, or is it that some are just better at it than others? I don't think I want to go there.

Gosh, this thread wasn't what I expected..... I was sure one of the first five posts would mention beer pong!

If your state charges sales tax on items purchased through a retailer (in-state or mail/internet order), you will also find that there is a portion of that law that deals with purchases inter-state sales are completed without the tax added to the price. The tax is called a Use Tax. If you read that law, you will find that it is up to you to file a use tax return and pay the tax yourself. It is not a political issue but a legal and possibly a moral one. Anyone who knowingly breaks this law runs the risk of getting caught. They should also fully understand that they have lost the right to "tsk-tsk" the next guy who breaks another law they may wish to see enforced. If you were to research the amount of lost tax revenues many of these states suffer, you would see that current tax rates wouldn't need to be as high as they are. The bottom line is that it is your responsibility to abide by the laws of the state or locality in which you live. If you are going to try to justify any other actions, I'm sure you'll gladly support the guy who takes home twice his limit of fish. Think about it.....

Bingo! Even though my son and grandson want to go wash lures for walleyes on Saturday, I'm hoping to go try to find some of bass action the next day. The Martiny Chain is calling me.

Just a short note for now to say that the War Dept and I made it home safe and sound. Probably not the best plan to go fishing on the morning before a 12 hour drive home through light rain, heavy winds, and finally fog. So after a few hours of sleep, I need to unpack all my goodies, clean out the boat, and try to figure out how to put into words all of who I met and what I experienced over the last week. You're all a great bunch of people, and I'll post more later. For now, I need to put my longjohns back on. By the way, I can report that Ronnie is on the mend.... He released all his own fish Thursday, and I'm sure that habit he picked up of ducking every time I casted will be easily overcome!!!!

I'll be stopping at Deb's place in the early afternoon and will check to see if they have it.

Being a Buckeye's fan, I'd think you'd pick up quite a few negatives! Seriously, it wasn't a week after a certain thread was started on here about having judge-its added that one of the news stations was reporting about "facebookitis" and how many youngsters were being harmed by not getting enough positive feedback! The best advice I ever got concerning feedback came from my first duty station in the air force. The day I reported in my 1st Sgt explained that the commander wouldn't remember my name 10 minutes after I left his office, and that the key to success was making sure he never had a reason to remember it!

I would agree with the hookset if it wasn't for all of the times that a dink was on the other end of the line (also?) and where the mere act of setting the hook drags that little puppy a foot or so. Granted setting the hook into a fish that doesn't move is a real charge, but it doesn't happen as often as I'd like. For me, I'll stay with "The Bite". It is that moment of anticipation between the first tick and the swing when my mind sets up for the ensuing fight that does the trick for me. There's also topwater to consider, as well as the bite that a smallie smacks into a spinnerbait like you just nailed a runaway train. Yeah, it's the bite!

Aside from the fact that no one brand name of rod is the only thing you'll need, there's plenty of good advice here. But there is one other aspect I didn't see mentioned. Of the 7 you caught, where were they hooked? I've noticed that there are many days when I'll lose a few fish on crankbaits and the ones I do get into the boat are usually barely hooked towards the outside of the mouth. This tells me that the fish are hitting the bait, but just aren't that sold on it. I rarely lose fish when they are swallowing the bait.

I did, but nothing there. Sent you one.

In all fairness, whenever Luongo lets one get past him, the Sedin Bros seem to have little trouble chalking a up one or two for their side. With steady play coming from every direction, I'll take Vancouver! I remember when the Red Wings used to play the same way. But that isn't the way it is this year.

X2! It was a little hectic around here last night, but I did manage to catch that part of the show. I also noticed that his kid cleaned up his habit too. Did Edgar come back this year? If I had to put up with Sig as a brother/skipper, I'd only look forward to a possible future parole!

Chomping at the bit up here in the semi-frozen north. Jackie has been getting stuff together to bring down. Had she been married to Hannibal, he would never have made it over the Alps.... The elephants would have gone on strike! At least she is leaving the boat and fishing gear to me so I should find room for at least one fishing rod. We're hauling out of here in the wee hours Saturday morning. Plans are to hit the world's best bait/tackle store prior to heading for the resort in time for the weigh-in. Maybe Deb can talk the wife into picking up a dozen or so "secret baits" that she can use to stomp me all week long. Tuesday night's dinner had 13-14 people sign up, but I had placed an order for quite a few more steaks (20-25) so we have plenty of extras for more folks to join in. Only question I would have is whether this grill is charcoal or not. If I don't hear, its no biggie as I'll be bringing plenty along to be safe.

Sorry you aren't going to make it, but happy she is going to be okay. What kind of car did that used to be? VW Beetle?

Happy Anniversary! Awesome steak, and then the chef throws in the seafood? You better keep him on your Christmas card list.... Zoiks those are huge.

Refer to your post #6.

In all of the tournaments I've fished in, there has always been a rule that roughly states "All competitors will abide by all state and local laws.". If someone or a team has more than their legal limit in their livewell, they have broken a state game law and are then in violation of the tournament's rules. We also have several groups that provide that the "team" limit is five fish rather than the ten they can legally have in possession by state regs. Both groups state that the competitors cannot move to a new location (big motor) until they have culled down to their five fish limit per the group. I don't see anything wrong with this rule, and at time it helps when you are on schooling fish like smallies. Releasing fish back into an active school can shut down the entire school, so having the ability to keep a few culls in short possession helps.

The only law you're talking about here is the one that you brought up. State law says that you may not target (fish for) a species during a closed season. A person might be able to talk a conservation officer into not giving you a ticket, but that doesn't mean that the person isn't breaking the law. The goal in sport fishing should be to catch fish, and not about what rules can be broken to do so.

Sore subject.... Our lakes are still iced up solid so the boat is going down south without too much prep work. But trailer bearings and lights have been gone over, so at least I can drag it down there. I hate not being fully prepared, but sometimes there's nothing else to do.

If you did it in school, what did the school nurse have to say? Sounds like time to see a doctor, or you'll be typing on here with one good hand and a cripple. That excuse probably won't work with those future mis-spellings! And make some kind of notation about this day that you can look back on in another 40 years when Mr. Arthur Itis comes to visit you. In the short term.... I Hope you have a couple of spinning rods that you can hold with your right hand this weekend.

Good thing they saved it...... How would you keep your sunglasses on!

I asked that question among others when I made my reservation(Yeah I read the thread on the roadtrip #4). I was told that there was plenty of parking next to each cabin, and that there were either outdoor plugs on the cabins, or that others could reach their boats by going through one of the windows. I'm planning on bringing several extension cords.