Lund Explorer

I sure wish the wind was the only thing I had to complain about. This picture I just took gives a good indication that it's going to be awhile before that happens.

Good for you. While our local bass club was still around, we used to have a day when we worked with Big Brothers/Big Sisters by taking out many of the kids who hadn't been matched yet with a Big Brother. Happily, one of the fraternities at the local university took over the program. It's always been a successful day.

Congrats on getting rid of the last vestiges of winter, as we still have up to 18" of the hard stuff keeping us off the lakes at this point. My favorite tactics for when the ice finally leaves is to concentrate on several key shallow water areas. The first are boat canals. Most have a dark bottom and are not exposed to much wind. I'll start at the mouth of one, and slowly work my way to the back end throwing small in-line spinners, tubes, or flukes. Once I've gone to the back end, I move to another canal as traveling through these narrow waters will usually spook any fish I don't catch. The second area I key in on are semi-sheltered coves where lily pads and other shallow weeds will cover during summer. The key areas are located along the NW shorelines and have a dark bottom that warms faster than the rest of the lake. I use the same basic lures here as well. If you don't have either of these features on the lake you are fishing, the next area I would try is the inside edge of any weedlines. Try a yo-yo style of retrieve with a lipless crankbait to cover lots of water.

Now that sounds like a Go, but I just hate sharing my Budweiser ;D Roger It's not sharing, its alcohol abuse to spill good beer! Cycle the beer once where it is supposed to go, and then recycle it on your lures. ;D

A friend of mine swears that WD-40 works great as an attractant. One other thing that might be a turn off could be the scent of another predator. I know I've experienced this after hooking into a northern pike or musky. The lure seems to shut right down afterwards. I've also been a believer in the fact that smallmouth schools can get shut down by released or lost fish. Makes a guy wonder if they give off a scent that causes this, and whether that negative scent might be transferable to a lure. Food for thought.

If they came in a bag marked as GYBC, then maybe the thing to do would be to send a bag (and the purchase info.) to the man himself. I'm sure Mr. Yamamoto would be glad that somebody clued him into a possible problem.

X2! I completely agree. A vague question can only lead to someone suggesting that the person should throw a Senko, green in color. Wait, that already happens. ;D

For all of you that are planning on attending, could you please either post or pm me so that I have a list of names. Also, I need to know to what degree you like your steak done. If most people prefer medium to well, I'll make sure that the cut is a little thinner. I'm not to worried about being reimbursed either. If you don't want to hand over bucks, you can always throw baits. Long Mike said he was in charge of collections, so make sure those crankbait hooks are sharp! ;D

Economically speaking, it costs less to import oil from Mexico than it does to ship Alaskan crude to refineries in this country. Most Alaskan crude is actually shipped and sold to Japan.

I'm very sorry for your family's loss as well. This was a very old post, but even back then, I am sure that the person who started this thread was not trying to blame your brother, or to dminish his loss in any way. As a matter of fact, if you were to search this forum, I am sure you would find other stories such as this, that were only posted for one reason. That reason is to save lives. I hope that the thought that your brother's accident, regardless of the cause, has been a lesson to others to practice safer boating. Maybe this thought will help you gain some measure of closure.

I am also folically challenged. Probably the reason one of my clients bought me this hat for my birthday many years ago. Still have, and still wear it!

Try this: "Thank you for your tips on writing a resume. I have begun the search for sponsers, so I will send you a resume for your consideration. Thank you, Easternpafisherman" Everyone should have a second person read over an application/resume for errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Find someone that is an avid reader, perhaps a business person, and over 35 years of age. You are absolutely correct with that comment! Not enough people actually have the self confidence to seek constructive critisizm. One thing I tell my wife to do is to type her posts/resumes on a word document and have the grammar and style checked along with the spelling, then I will read it to see what it says and how it could be said better. I would do that with my own stuff too, but I am very much in the middle of my career and have another ten years before I start looking for a new job. One thing people forget to ask themselves when looking for a job or new position is, "What benefits the sponsor/employer if they hire me instread of someone else?" Somone who actually believes in the product, or someone who is trying to accumulate sponsorships? Radical, thanks for the post. I hope you find the anglers you need to promote your goods! I see what you mean!

This is not going to help me sleep at night!

Great Pics Roger, We've got a couple of nesting pairs up here in the summer, but I've never had them that close to me. I'll bet there are a few new backgrounds on computer screens by now. Good Job!

You aint kidding There expensive to own and i must be nuts because i bought my wife a 27ft cabin cruiser for Christmas what do you think its gona cost to operate that monster yea im a gluten for punishment ;D ;D ;D ;D Won't cost much at all if you accidently toss the keys over the side when it's tied up in the marina! ;D A friend has a 32' fishing boat for Lake Michigan. It's down right ugly to pull up to the fuel dock. A typical salmon costs $20+ per/pound.

I want to be fair about this, and I don't really have a horse in this race. He is taking the boat down on Monday and will be gone for a week. As soon as I hear how the experience went, I WILL post about it. Is that fair?

For Road Trip attendees, Jackie and I would like to put on a steak fry dinner on Tuesday evening for the whole gang. NY Strip, Some sort of spuds, & BBQ Beans. I just need to have a head count by April 1st.

Isn't there already a prophecy that spells out an involuntary scenario for removing all of us from this planet? And aren't there a whole lot of people who have no problem with that happening? Just saying..... Mankind has been trying to improve on ways to carry out their own involuntary extinction for an awfully long time.

If you ever get down around the NW part of Arkansas, you should take a day or two and take the factory tours in the area. For years, the area was called the fiberglass triangle for the number of boats built there. Mt. Home is where BassCat is located, and Flippin just to the west is the home of Ranger Boats. When I was there a few years ago, both of these companies offered guided tours right out on the factory floor. It will give you the chance to see how these boats are built, from the minute they lay the hull down to the finish work. Speaking of the hulls, every boat company has a different ones, by design. Everyone I saw built though was basically the same. Strange fact, the paint is the first thing that goes in the molds. After that, they are pretty close between the two. Large sheets of fiberglass material are laid into the mold which is then sprayed with a thin coat of chopped glass and resin. This is then hand rolled to take out any bubbles, and then the next sheet of fiberglass is placed into the mold. These steps are repeated until the hull's thickness is completed. At the same time, other workers are busy building the "cap" or top half of the boat. As it was explained to me, the cap is almost always built using a chopper gun. The is due to the fact that the cap has too many angles to make it cost efficient to hand lay sheets of fiberglass. The cap also doesn't take nearly as much of a pounding that the hull does. If you're lucky, you will be in the factory when they pop a boat out of the molds. Depending on a number of factors, it will take a day or so before the glass has cured in the mold and can be removed. Once out of the molds, the two halfs ride along on carts where they go through installation of all the wiring, plumbing, gas/oil tanks, livewells, etc. The cap is drilled for instrumentation, wiring, gas cap, and other things at this time. After the inside work is complete, the two halves are finally tied together, and work on the outside of the hull can be done. Finally, the gas motor is installed and it is placed with it's trailer. Even though Ranger's factory is much larger than Cat's facility, each boat makes it way through the factory in the same steps. I've seen clipboards in each facility that shows the customer's name, dealer's name, and every option that the customer has ordered. As a boat moves through any stage of this process, they can track the exact boat to the exact customer. And those records are saved at the factory. Whether it is a Ranger or a Cat I know that you can call to the service/parts dept, give them your hull number, and the technician can look right at what was built into your boat. If you need a new seat that matches the other ones, they can make it for you. Need some paint that will match? They've got it. Me? I've been lucky enough to own at least one of each. I was impressed with both on many things, and learned to live with things that one had and the other didn't. I also was lucky enough to meet both Ron Pierce and Forrest Wood, and they are both good quality folks. So are their wives. Moral to this long winded story? They're all good! Nobody can stay in business as long as these guys have by building junk. I'm sure Skeeter, Champion, and even Allison are good quality boats. And at least the ones I saw being built, were all built by hand.

So you're saying I have low expectations? My 'low expectations' are the product has to be dependable, if I have an issue it is resolved to the highest degree possible, and my boat's performance will outlast any other boat I may have chosen to invest in. If anyone knows anything about fiberglass then they would know that the resin and processes used by Ron and Rick Pierce make the finest ALL FIBERGLASS construction of any boat. I do not have low expectations, sir, in fact many of my Marines and friends would complain that my expectations of everything is way to HIGH. You should really think about what you are saying. You should really talk to my insurance agent. His 2010 Cat is going back to Mt Home because the cap in front of the battery compartment is split. He can tell you all about how the dealership didn't want to stand behind it, or how the factory simply told him "We'll look at it".

I won't even mention any brand name, but will pitch in a couple of pennies worth of advice based on the highlited part of your statement. Buy with an eye towards resale value FOR YOUR AREA. Everyone has their own idea of what the greatest boat in the world is, and if you notice many of those brands have regions or areas where they are the most popular. Unless you plan to make this $70k investment as your last ever purchase, then you need to consider which brand will give you the most of that purchase price back. It shouldn't be too hard to scope out the used boat market in your neck of the woods to see which brands are keeping the most resale value. If that information lines up with the brand(s) you are looking at, it should give you the answer.

Used Boats? Just make sure the engine, transom, and floorboards are in good shape. I would suggest a compression test on it. A good look at the boat itself should tell you if there are any problems. Know that you will most likely be buying older technology as far as electronics goes, so at some point an upgrade is going to cost a few bucks. Tow Vehicles? I don't care what brand it is, just make sure it is full-sized. It has already been said, braking is concern number one. Depending on the condition of the boat ramps you are visiting, you may also want to consider 4WD and/or an automatic transmission.

Bottom line, is that he most likely didn't bother to take any public speaking or communication classes when he got his free ride in college. Too bad.

I'm looking forward to a really hard year for almost everyone in my boat. Because it is high time that the kids and grandkids start running the show when we hit the water. It probably won't be pretty, but when the kids go fishing they are going to start making all of the choices. I plan on sitting on my duff in the back of the boat this summer, and seeing if these youngsters have learned all of the lessons I've been pounding into them all these years. And before anyone asks, I'll gladly run things when the wife goes with me. I'm crazy, but not insane.

Nothing much changes. John Salley said the same thing when he was dealing with the Detroit Pistons many years ago.