Nice_Bass

Thanks again all for the input. In retrospect, I have learned my lesson, and will watch my mouth in the future if in the same situation again.

Agreed, I have been guilty of beating the proverbial dead horse and sticking to what I had thought would work, however I have always wised up and changed, especially when fishing with someone else with ideas.

In between boats, but I would disagree in that non boaters can provide good knowledge. I started off by saying, Man, you must not want to catch any fish... He did not, but I tell you he sure stuck to his plan... I managed to catch a couple early top water, the next 6 hours were painfully long though. You could cut the tension with a knife. That's just a disrepectful comment. Disrespectful would be him wasteing my entry fee being stubborn. I was only kidding btw, I only said that to him after about 3 1/2 4 hours of the same thing and after showing him on a map and depthfinder where the fish are. He had no interest fishing deeper than 2ft of water. Trust me, you would have said the same thing. Small bream were not even that shallow with the water down as much as it was.

In between boats, but I would disagree in that non boaters can provide good knowledge. I started off by saying, Man, you must not want to catch any fish... He did not, but I tell you he sure stuck to his plan... I managed to catch a couple early top water, the next 6 hours were painfully long though. You could cut the tension with a knife. Personally, I would have ignored you to after a remark like that. Discussion, not attacks, will go a long way. In fact, they should be covered at the angler meeting the both of you should have had the night before. If you are reasonably sure you are on fish, state the facts and openly discuss the reasons why you feel you can catch fish at another location. Otherwise, just make the best of it, or, better yet, spend the next week dropping fifty grand on your own ride. Said that after quite a while of poliet reccomendations. Like I said, he did not catch a fish the entire day- I would have said the same thing to you ignoring it or not. I told him 2 weeks before the water was too low for what he wanted to do, and the night before as well as i prefished without him. He wanted nothing to do with catching fish, and had an attitude to match. BTW, picking up the new boat on Saturday.

I forget the name of it, but there is a rig out there by some In Fisherman contributor that specifically has a light ball jighead and a senko or zero cut in half and held tight. Nothing fancy to it, just really an extreme finesse rig.

wow. Solid PIG

In between boats, but I would disagree in that non boaters can provide good knowledge. I started off by saying, Man, you must not want to catch any fish... He did not, but I tell you he sure stuck to his plan... I managed to catch a couple early top water, the next 6 hours were painfully long though. You could cut the tension with a knife.

He did.

How much beer flavored water does it take to make someone fall asleep? : ;D I agree...plenty. I usually only have it on the boat...and again when I get home.

Best bet is to learn to slide your hand carefully in by the gills, without the use of gloves which will remove your feel if/when you grabbed the wrong portion and could hurt the fish. I would not use lip lockers, I have only heard it can hurt larger fish, especially when they thrash. Plus, pictures turn out 1000x better when one hand in, one hand supporting the weight, held out far in front of you!

You can get more boat with aluminum, thats what I went for. I also take my family camping quite a bit, so i needed a boat that I could pull up onto the shorline and leave by the campsite at night. I fish big and small lakes, and have done so in alum. and glass. Like you said, under 15k for a glass new will be next to impossible. Taxes are a big number I seemed to forget in adding in. As far as 2 vs. 4, I know they are starting to phase out the elpto, and going to optimax only (mercury), and for the price of a 4 stroke in the hp i needed it would be an extra couple of grand. I would go 2 optimax, not as quite or "green" but still better than the old (i also like the smell of outboard in the morning ). Good luck, and happy buying.

Learned the hard way this weekend. Will not do that again. Thanks.

I agree. The fiance and I set a price though, the rest is going to our wedding, so really I had a limit. I think it is a great boat. Also, alot of the lakes i fish it will be just right for. Mstarr, i will post full rig pics soon as she gets in! I can not wait, i know i am going to love it too!

Do the several thousand dollars of interest feel awesome? Down payment on a boat=reserve the hull, have them proceed with the upgrades, pay in full once boat is complete. And no, several thousand dollars interest would be a drop in the bucket for doing what you love in the event i was not paying cash.... Have you ever bought a house or boat, or car????? :-? Some day soon man,...you will do the same.

No offense taken. I am not sure you know understand the weeds i have, if you think you are going to get a drop shot down in them, and then be able to nimbly move a bait around and have a fish see it, then, no offense, you are seriously mistaken. I think you are trying to conceive an idea in your mind, and not practically apply it out on the water. They are two completely different species. If you are talking working an edge is one thing, but honestly, have you ever tried to crash a drop shot through thick stuff? I have, the weight goes through, bait stays on top. I have had luck working it through, stringy and sparse stuff...but seriously, there are better applications. Now for me to get lit up by the board.

The Bears are going to be HOT. Gone are the days of MIN and GB- and a lower 1/3 offense that I had become accustomed to. Look for the run game to work this year and maybe we can go for 10, which should take NFC-N

What would make you think that you have to tie a drop shot rig on just 6-8 lb. line? What is preventing you from tying it on your flipping stick? Its just a terminal rig, after all. Because there would be more practical uses with a flipping stick...you know... like flipping, or as stated, c-rig etc.

Just put a down payment on a new boat not 10 minutes....god it feels so good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Went with the tracker 175 with a 75 optimax.

honestly deep weeds i dont throw a DS. Only reason is I dont like to pull fish out of deep weeds with 6-8# test line. I usually opt for a keel weighted hook on a creature. It can flutter off the bottom, and less junk gets hung like it would on a c-rig. (junk being on the glass and brass) I use a 1/8 keel weight on a RT space monkey. If you opt to DS, then a thin pencil weight would seem like your best option. Also, are you vertical, or horizontal?

Dont know the weight, maybe 4lb,but look to the left there is a picture- 19 1/4" Not to sound facetiousbut what are you doing to that fish in the picture? Not going to get bass thumb holding her that way!

Honestly, dont get a flat bottom jon. I grew up on one and they are unstable and with wind are like a leaf on the water.

Non tourney, i say "get me a beer"...I am not allowed to start drinking until i get a fish. (note: sometimes I must start drinking in order to catch a fish, so it is up to my own discretion) Family time or tourney...I say nothing unless it is a pig...then I yell randomly.

woke up with the coors light in my hand that i feel asleep with last night. Was not very cold after 3 hours.

I wish I could help you, but an immense sense of jealousy spreads over me.

Bears to win NFC north. that or they won't Can't argue that prediction.