stratos 375

"this whale needs to be put down" Why? it's most certainly not the whale's fault Don't you think we've killed enough whales? true it won't survive in the wild, the owners should be forced to build it it's own sanctuary & feed it for the rest of it's natural life.

Mr fishaholic, I'll say this the nicest way I know how, but heavy timber, 6 lb test & spinning don't even belong in the same sentence. Even though you're bank bound, eventually you're gonna keep messin around in heavy timber when the fish of your dreams is gonna inhale your bait. He's gonna pop that 6 lb test like it was sewing thread. Unless you are super vigilant about knots & line changes, when your 6lb test has hundreds of micro abrasions and micro nicks, you are really fishing 2 or 3 lb test. This is usually when anglers claim " he was so big he popped my line" If you're relegated to using spinning gear, put the heaviest line on there that it'll handle, or you're eventually headed for heartbreak city.

i have witnessed this phenomenon many times before, as others stated, if'n you seen them, rest assured they seen you, or picked up on the vibes. I've got a couple of very old limerock pits close to my property down south, I've stood on the edge & watched 10 pounders swim by. when the're in that ignorant type of a mood, there's not much you can do. If'n your the type who doesn't mind throwin live bait, try a gigantic crawdad, or a nice juicy salamander. Sometimes something actually alive will trigger the killer instinct in her.

bmad, you're right. I did say I had a pea size brain.

tin, you're reading more into it than is actually there, there was no "drift" or hidden anger agenda, just mildly curious as to who I was talkin to. live long & prosper

Hi Tin, as I read your post and noticed the word experiences, in your statement, I was curious, just how much experience are we talkin to make that statement? How many years you been standing in the bow of a bass boat? How many days a year do you fish? Like I said, just curious as to the experience level of someone who makes that statement. Although far from what I consider to be an expert, I can tell you that the statements I made are based on standing in a Stratos boat for the last 28 years, fishing a minimum of 140 days a year, from thousand islands to the big O. I'm not an armchair angler, a "researcher" or some type of Googlemeister, or a you tuber. What I speak of comes right from my pea sized brain to the keyboard.

I can't say for sure what goes on down in your neck of the woods, but up here when we're talkin deep water structure fishin, it's 15 to 25 deep, even up to 30 plus. I think it's safe to say the majority of guys are throwin jigs of one form or another. The others are perhaps usin jiggin spoons, little George's, or if you're sufficiently talented enough, crankbaits which can be induced to hit those depths. That's 3 or 4 lures we're talkin about. Three of them are specialized to a degree for that application only. You're gonna tell me that on an "average" situation they are going to beat the following lures "HANDS DOWN": buzzers, spinnerbaits, senkos, flukes, poppers, spooks, jerkbaits, 1/2 the crankbaits sold, tubes, frogs, toads and rats, hard stickbaits and shallow water pitched worms and jigs??? I don't believe it. If Roland Martin called me tonite and personally and told me that it was true, I still wouldn't believe it. Add to the above, that up here, really the only time you see guys offshore is in the heat of the summer, when fish can be tough to locate & catch shalllow. The other three seasons, I'll fish the baits I mentioned above, shallow, and cover 20 more times the water in a day. If you took a good angler, versed in shallow & deep, put him on an "average" lake, hour for hour, my moneys on shallow water and the baits I mentioned. I'm in no way trying to get into a wagging match, and respect your opinions, it means it's obviously working for you. I really enjoy the shallow / deep banter, and is all in the spirit of cyberspace fun. I also *** you guys who are fortunate enough to fish the mega-impoundments, it's a totally different world up here. Small waters, HP restrictions, and ungodly angling pressure, some of it actually intelligent. I've never been a member of any online fishing forum before, but you guys seem to be good sports about it all.

I can't speak as to the quality ( or lack of) on Vipers, having never owned one. I will say that if you ever intend to get it out of the NO WAKE zone, you're gonna need more than a 90 on the back of it. It may end up being a good platform, but will ultimately be an underpowered pig.

" On a yearly average deep water structure will out produce shallow water patterns hands down" You're joking..... right??

if you're wonderin, here's my set up. A 30 year old Fenwick original 7.5' Flippin Stick. Ambassadeur 6001 w/ 20# Stren clear/blue. I''ve never put a grub on that set up, I always thought of them as weenie baits.99% of the time I've got a 1/4 or 3/8 jig on there, larger profile, more action, and can hold more scent. The other 1% of the time I've got a 10 or 12" worm hangin off it. As far as any type of splice in the line, personally there's no way I'd ever do that. There's only 2 knots I want, one, a hundred yards deep in my spool, the other one on the jig. Splices and leaders have their purpose, but really don't have any business on a flippin stick doing close range battle. If the water is that clear that you think you need a flouro leader, you shouldn't be flippin, you should be doin 20' pitches, or just plain old casting. There ya go, those are my thoughts.

in regards to all the deep water puffery, put another big "W" in the shallow water side of the discussion.

My 375's in the boat shed , I'd have to go thru several 3' snow drifts to get to it. But going from memory, I've got a Lowrance 1240 flasher in the center of the console. Speedo on lower right, tach on lower left. (sitting in the seat facing console) upper left outside is water pressure upper left inside is fuel. upper right outside is a trim gauge, upper right inside is a voltage meter

48 looks and nobody has bothered to help you. Here you go my friend. The area you're movin to is within striking distance of several good fisheries. Note I didn't say great. You said in your mind you pictured a 16' V hull w/ a 15 hp. That's the wrong picture. Erase it from your mind. Permanently. 3 grand ain't a lot to buy a boat with, but if it's all you got to work with, it is what it is. You're on the right track thinking aluminum. Look for a used Tracker with at least a 40 or 50 hp on the back. At least you'll have a decent platform to fish from. Be prepared to dump some money into it when you get it. For 3K, you're gonna get a boat that's probably due to have some of the components replaced. As far as the restricted hp lakes, you don't want to base your engine size just to meet that silly requirement on a few lakes. Just use your electric motor. Like most of us with larger bass boats have to do. You can also put an additional electric motor on the transom if'n you need to. Besides, on a restricted HP or electric only lake, you don't have to fish the whole lake, just do it a section at at time. As far as actually locating a boat, the internet is full of them, and you can call all the local boat yards & marine dealers as well. When you get your boat, PM me & I'll point you to some water that's more productive than most. If'n by chance you found one & were serious & it's close to me, I'd be glad to check it out for you. I'm always willing to help out a beginner, as long as you're nowhere near my home lakes.

An Eskimo can harpoon & fight a 300 lb seal from one. Me thinks a 3 lb smallie would be slightly less difficult. I've caught reds, snook & small tarpon from them. Your two disadvantages are that you're not elevated enough to see anything under the water, and it can be hard to get leverage for a good hook set. ( not a concern with the fish you are talking about). Keep a small river anchor on the deck behind you, when you hook one, reach behind you & knock the anchor overboard while holding the rod with one hand. Not the most graceful of moves, but it keeps you in one spot.

there we were, an early spring day, overcast, breezy and cold. Circa late 1980's. Smallwood Park on the Potomac. Middle of the week day, not too many other boats out at all. Water temps in the low 50's, air wasn't much better. Day started out Ok, caught a 2 lber on the second or third cast right at the docks, I remember it well, it had an antenna & a small transmitter pack on it's back. Never seen nothin like it. Headed down to Mallows bay, fished way in the back, around noon decided to head up into the Ocoquan looking for some clearer water. Made it up to Ocoquan, but noticed that the wind had picked up a notch or two and was now blowin down the river at a good 10-12 mph producing conservative 2 & 3 footers. At that point we should have bagged it & just headed back to smallwood. Fished Ocoquan for about 2 hours, we headed out the mouth of the creek to head home & couldn't believe what we saw, to say it was rough out there was an understatement. We were in my partners 20' Stratos tunnel with a Mariner 220 on the back. We looked at each other and said lets go for it. The ramp at smallwood was still on the other side of the river, across 3 miles of open water. As we were headed out the mouth , we saw another bass boat floundering in the shallows, she had the bow way up in the air, it looked like they had swamped. They were signaling us to come around and give aid. By that time we were into the thick of it & just couldn't turn around, or we would be in even worse danger. They weren't in a life threatening situation, where they were, they could have just jumped out & stood up. We were the ones who actually needed help. The wind was coming down the river & the tide was coming up, it was producing confused seas, we'd get into areas of 4 to 5 foot rollers which we could quarter into, but there were times when the wind / tide was just making large standing waves. Halfway across, there was about a 6" of water in the boat, both bilge pumps were working, but couldn't keep up. Visibility dropped way down due to the size of the troughs we were in & the wind was knockin the tops of the waves off & blowin it. At that point, I started visualizing how we were going to die, I knew that in low 50 degree water, we wouldn't last long hanging onto an overturned hull. It was late in the day, there was no boats out there except us.If we did capsize, we were on our own. If I'd had a VHF, I would have been poundin Ch. 16. But we didn't. This was also pre cell phone days. Somehow that Stratos kept pluggin, at one point my partner told me to get the VCR out, he wanted to make a message to his wife & girls. We finally made it about 2/3 the way across and saw we may have a chance to come out of this alive. When we finally limped back into Smallwood, we were the only truck in the lot, they had a small craft warning flag on the building, it looked like it had taken a dose of ! We were wet, cold, but alive. We came very close to dying that day. We should have just stayed on the other side of the river, got a taxi around or slept under a bridge, anything except what we did. Things I learned that day Never, ever go out without a VHF, preferably handheld & floatable. Never underestimate rough seas , no matter what size boat you're in, let someone know where you're at if possible. And it's never worth putting yourself in a compromising situation to find some clearer water, warmer water or bigger fish. Also, when we got to a payphone we called the cops and told them we saw a boat in distress & gave the location. It's been many years, I still shake when I talk about it in depth.

thank you for taking the time to respond to my question

nitro, been there with the wheel falling off adventure. what made mine even more spectacular was that it was dark and there was major flamage involved. It put on quite a show. have them pulled/ checked and replaced (if needed) every year regardless of mileage. for a single axle it really doesn't cost that much. It might not prevent another disaster, but you'll at least feel better until it happens

dude, I hate to break the news to you, but it could be the boat. Try gettin a 2010 20' totally pimped out new Bass Cat, w/ dual power poles, a kickin stereo and one of them little fold out mirrors with the lights around it. There's something in fiberglass & metalflake that just melts a girl's heart.

five, thank you for the continued dialog, with your last statement you have piqued my interest. Specifically, in what way did the pointer take your jerkbait fishing to a new level? I will admit, I have never used one. Maybe I will order a few after all. Do tell.

sorry guys, I had no intentions of bringing up any embarrasing or bad memories, for that I do apologize. In addition to fishing, I'm a long time sea & whitewater kayaker. I've paddled the perimeter of the penobscot bay, all thru the Chesapeake, all thru the swamps around Santee, the Everglades and a trip from Homestead to Key West. And many other places and some very scary rivers. Sea kayaker magazine authored a book many years ago called " Deep Trouble", it's a couple dozen stories about kayakers making wrong decisions, sometimes with deadly consequences. It was one of the most important books I've ever read. I learned many times over what not to do. That book probably saved my life. I only wish there had been a book similar to that about bass boats. It may have stopped me from making the severe mistake I once did, a guy in his early 20's with a powerful boat who thought that bass boating was just about fishing and having fun. I have noticed on this board a lot of newer boaters and guys just starting out and wondered if most of these guys have clue how quickly things can get out of hand. Sometimes a gut wrenching story can save the next guy some agony and maybe his life. I wasn't talking about plain stupidity, that would entail a thread all it's own, I was just talking about bad decisions made with good intentions that produced undesirable consequences. sorry, I promise my next thread will be about something much more important and thought provoking, like the life span of trailer bunks or the best carpet glue to use.

Any of you guys that have been driving boats a long time ever had any near death experiences? The kind that was the result of a bad decision. Boat swampings? Collisions, Running aground ,got caught in weather you shouldn't have been out in? Care to share a story or two?

five, them luckys sure are pretty, but I've never been a true believer in any of the high quality paint job lures. I'm sure it would provide an edge in the 45-55 degree window where the fish has a chance to really eyeball the lure, or in some of the gin clear lakes. I'd just rather work a little harder with a cheaper lure. Once the water gets past 55, I'm twitchin her for all she's worth. The fish I catch on it come from under it or behind it & wallop it. They don't really take the time to stop and admire the 20$ hand painted craftsmanship. Most of the time I'm throwin a jerkbait, I'm up on an 20" platform & my eyes rarely leave the bait, so I see 95% of my strikes, most of the fish are keying in on the profile & the flash and the cadence, not the finish. I'll stick with black/ blue or gold & chrome. Off the shelf colors have worked great for me so far. However, I'm not entirely closed minded, If I found one of them hangin on a bush somewhere, I might give it a try. But, I'd never actually buy one of them. Are there any other Rogue fanatics out there? Anywhere?

try smithwick super rogues, it's all I ever throw, and I throw them a lot. They are inexpensive (6$) & very durable. I keep at least 3 dozen in my boat at all times. Floaters & suspending. I'll let you in on a secret, the pretty paint jobs on lucky craft's attracts the fisherman more than the fish.

eyedabassman, if'n there was a debate or discussion on shallow vs. deep, I'd gladly take the shallow position. After about 15 minutes and 2 cups of coffee, the other two guys would be on the phone calling in reinforcements. I don't think it's anywhere near a debate, just a friendly discussion. We're all just talking heads with a keyboard in cybersapce. Nothing to get anybodys shorts jammed up in their crack about.

bassmajor, not to barge in on the op's thread, but he's a percula clown, saltwater. He's a "nemo" fish. He's got more persoanlity than some dogs I've had. Bought him in '92, he weren't no bigger than a peanut. He's the only pet the wife & I own, so he gets lots of attention.