Nice_Bass

I think Koppers makes good lures with good action. I don't have interest in the cranks because I am happy with what I throw, but would like to see the jerkbaits. One thought though- most manufactures claim "lifelike" eyes or 3d eyes etc...yet no one questions if that will make it better than a paint job without real-life eyes. You could go on for days about this, but fact is koppers came out with it (I guess I read a custom guy did but I don't care about the politics) and if I was a shareholder I would be pretty happy as the results will be fish on and I think good sales-if it was the "baitball" or not that caused that bite, who knows.

hell i'd eat that.

shad shape would rule that out for me as well.

I agree to a certain extent- but flipping fish back in the water is not biggie- holding 5 fish in my livewell and running all over a lake seems like it would beat them up more than anything- it hurts me sometimes...

Mortgage loan officer. These hands use to have some dirt under the nails though.

I think we are arguing semantics here- however with scale it is a longer, slower taper than it appears with Sonar Charts data from land headed NNW to end of point. It is a nice piece of structure from the channel cut from the north from what I believe is actually just softer soil. While it has been a few years since I have been there, I have been over the top of it.

Put into scale with the size of that reservoir- it is a very long slow taper into deeper water- no doubt bass travel it, but it would not be a dominant feature. At scale, we are talking a slow taper of from shoreline to end would be a couple hundred yards. I do like where the old channel swung against the point al along the north side but the does not appear to be any hump. Editors note: I feel a bit uneasy disagree with you on reading structure, as you seem quite adapt and forming an opinion on it. So not disagreeing on whether or not I would fish it, but more on the 2d-3d translation of what we are looking at.

seasonal patterns as in you have to know what the fish aer doing seasonally then relate that to the different parts of a lake. for instance if you look at section 1 then you know the water is deeper and more clear by the Dam without the use of waypoints. For winter fishing I would focus on this area and eliminate sections two three and four. additionally I know that section 4 the river will be darker and therefore warm up sooner in the spring and I will have pre spawn and spawn behavior soonest there and I would know how to target those fish. It would be a completely different pattern towards the dam or at Midlake where I still may be fishing a bit cooler deeper water. knowing the seasonal patterns of fish and combining that with a different characteristics of the body water at different locations eliminates less productive water or at the very least pinpoints the desired pattern was his point. this all makes a lot more sense on very large reservoirs, what size lakes are you fishin?

only if Greco roman and freestyle somehow count. More importantly if actually competed still I would most likely get tossed around, and my pride would be just too much for that now. Retirement is official for me.

Side-Note The circular contour line on the outcropping to the west is a bit deceiving. Rather than a distinct upwelling it's a reiteration of the 20 ft contour line. Contour maps are processed electronically and if the bottom rolls softly upward just 12 inches, it'll scribe a secondary ring of reiterated depth. On a high-definition chart (1-foot increments), a wavy bottom can form several benign rings of reinterated depth. In other words, if we were looking at a chart with "2-ft" increments the 20 ft ring would not appear. Unless the lake is crystal-clear, the chance of submergent vegetation in 20 feet of water is slim to nada. Nevertheless, the offshore 20 ft flat is well positioned, and if it furthermore offered woody cover or rocky cover It'd be a powerful spot during certain seasons. IMO though, the holding site I noted to the north is clearly a 'year-round' holding site. Roger Great points are all in the last post, but especially important to note the highlighted in regards to reading maps correctly. I completely agree, there is no hump out there, just gradual slow taper and most likely nothing I would fish all that hard.

Really should have done BF4. seriously good time and honestly it is the only game I play. Really only play video games every other year from around Oct. to around end of Jan, Feb. as that is when the BF's come out and when my fishing season winds down. I have a 6 year old...but she goes to bed and I may play for an hour or so every couple days.

Couple trips to lake of the ozarks in Feb and march...so about 5 hrs apparently. 30 minutes to Power plant lake if we get some days in the 40s.

I have a GIS and natural resource economics degree. I am in banking now. as far as your geology degree, get all the IT training you can get I would say as well.

A good thought! I have been considering a pyramid frame actually and from the frame stabilize in place- just need to come up with something still.

Also, for those that do fish HP restricted lakes (I have 2 10 minutes from my house, so I go after work sometimes) you can actually use your TM at the front and still steer sitting comfortably in the captains chair. Just use a "troll perfect" and set it to the tightest setting and put your TM steering straight and turning your steering wheel will guide your boat along at a couple MPH's. Before that, I just wedged a pair of pliers under the foot pedal to keep it straight. gives you a free couple minutes to sit back and drink a beer at the very least.

Yes- but as we all know sometimes- policy does not always follow science unfortunately. In in the case of IL waters, that is what seems to be going on.

I agree with the opininons so far. I mostly fish larger lakes/reservoirs however I also have all these nice little lakes around me that would be great for a quick trip after work. There I am on my TM, and a guy with an old oil spitting tin boat flies past me creating a pretty big wake. I just have to wonder...why? I have a bass tracker with a 75hp and again my favorite fishing is on 10000 acre lakes or bigger- so I get being the proverbial low man on the totem pole- however if you want to keep watershed quality/standards up as well as promote use- why not let the regular boats idle only, and while we are at it...all the boats?

Illinois has many hp restricted lakes that max out a 9.9hp. We are talking 1000 acre lakes here, so not big however decent fisheries. Anyhow, my opinion is that the hp should change to idle only as this reduces shoreline erosion, is cleaner, etc. etc. I do fish at some of these, but not all that often as it is incredibly dull to run across the lake with my foot on the trolling motor. Opinions?

Let me preface by saying I am a die hard powerbait guy- 90% what I use plastics wise...but the pulse and bungee worm were two things I was happy to see go lol....to each his own though, and sorry they stopped making them for you.

wow...I have a curado 50e with box still...guess I should sell.

I am curious how you had only 2 wire bundles coming from your power/data cable in the first place- you most likely are missing the nmea of some kind- 1083(transmit) or 2000 (connect to) since your 125 was unable to do either although should of had both. Really though, run the new wire from your newer unit and just tape them off with electric tape or wire nuts. let me know if I am way off from what you are asking here.

a fair question- but I and my brother in law both paint- he much better than I however. He actually does live shows with airbrush. I am more worried about the joints getting paint. I may put up one, but I really want to see what he can do with this bait as it should provide him plenty of "canvas"

Devils advocate here- I keep everything in the boat, in my garage, with all hatches opened. i- honestly, I don't even take the electronics off year round, and only when trailering farther than 30mi or so is when I do take them off.

Pool level and current generation schedules. Two things I find most folks forget about when looking at reservoir topo maps, yet two absolutely critical elements.