KU_Bassmaster.

I wish we had a team here at KU. If it wasn't my last year I would look into starting one.

I have always known of Bass Cat's. I just didn't know they were rated so highly. I visit another message board and those guys rave about them. Apparently their warranty/customer service is unmatched which should be very important when you are spending $30,000+ on a boat.

I would like a week on Lake Fork during the peak of the spawn, with no other boats on the water. If any of you have fished Fork in the middle of the spawn you know what I mean. It's like trying to fish in the middle of Times Square.

I don't get too caught into the defintion of structure and cover. They are both something that a bass will relate to. Here's what I go by: Stucture- Slope/contour of the bottom of the lake Cover-Anything a bass can hide in or by (grass,weeds, docks, laydowns) Now here's a question? Docks provide cover for a bass, but are they structure as well? Or does it really matter what you "call" it? A bass will relate to it one way or another.

Here it is: http://www.jdpower.com/cc/boats/ratings/bass/index.jsp

This is a touchy subject. It's hard to get a fair answer although mcbass gave as fair assement of his boat as you can get. Great review!!! It's hard to get an unbiased opinion because most guys will say that whatever they have is "THE BEST". It's like a Ford/Chevy thing. Although the guys on this board are a bunch of good guys and seem to give more truthful and fair assements of products more than other message boards. This question was posed on another messeage board I visit and it turned into a Skeeter/Ranger war of words. My opinion is that all the main boat companies put out a quality product. I'll try and find the link a boat dealer on another site gave that listed JD Power&Associates rankings.

Happy B-Day!!!! Sounds like a keeper to me.

Are you bringing the hook out of the back. Basically the business end of the hook should just about lay flat on the back of the fluke.

I fish one that's about as clear as you are saying. Seems like a lot of people have troubles catching fish in gin clear water, but I seem to like it and do fairly well. I like to physically be able to see the structure I am fishing underwater. You can learn a lot by watching your bait and watch where bass are hiding and then you can incorporate that into other lakes you fish.

I have seemed to have better luck fishing the fluke prespawn and then again post spawn into early summer. Then I bring out the shad colored ones in the fall. Twitch, twitch.......paaaaaaaaauuuuuuuuuusssssssseeeeeeeee........twitch..............paaaauuuusssseeee .........twitch, twitch Long pauses............so long there almost uncomfortable.

When I go fishing in my two man boat I only take three rods. 1) 7 ft. MH w/ Braid - this is either rigged with a t-rigged plastic or jig to fish docks and thick cover. This is also the rod I use to c-rig. And lately is been rigged with a frog and fished in thick grass. 2) 6'9" MH w/ 12 lbs. Yo-Zuri hybrid - I use this for spinnerbaits/buzz baits and weightless plastics 3) 6'6" M w/ 10 lbs. Trilene XL - I use this for crankbaits and top waters with treble hooks

I fish a lake a couple times a year that you have to pay $5. The lake is only 7 years old and they have a bunch of nice new facilities (boat ramps, docks, fish cleaning areas, bathrooms, campgrounds, picnic areas, etc.) I think they are charging to pay for those. It's not uncommon around here to have to pay to launch your boat. Actually it's pretty common now that I think about it.

Believe it or not I have only used two basic colors this whole summer. (Soft plastics) Black/Blue and any shade of green. I have a whole bunch of other colors, but it has really made fishing simple for me to cut down the plastics I carry with me. I used to get real tied up into colors, but now it's pretty easy for me to choose and they have been producing for me all summer. Crankbaits and spinnerbaits on the other hand I still carry every color in the rainbow. Still haven't been able to narrow those colors down, but I have really only used 4 patterens: Baby Bass, Firetiger, Chart. w/ Black back, and Chart. w/ Blue back. I agree action influences me to change more than color. I usually start the day off throwing a buzzbait, then go to a jitterbug, then a popper, then a crankbait, then spinnerbait, and last soft plastics. I throw a jig into the mix every once in a while as well. I am a firm believer in the KISS method when choosing colors to use. I just make sure I am throwing the right color for the water clarity and then experiment with different baits from there.

I have a lot more confidence in crankbaits. I have also tried to learn something from everytime out and trying to put together patterns that will hold up on the local lakes I fish regularly. Then hopefully I can apply what I learn from these smaller lakes to new bigger lakes. (Try to find my lake in an unfamiliar new lake) The real test will come this fall. I think I am going to start fishing tournies for the first time so I'll get to see how really good or bad I am. I also in the past have had no problem catching fish in the spring and summer, but I struggle in the fall.

I like the Super Fluke as well. I have also been throwing a wacky rigged dinger/senko lately.

I am just passing along the info an eye doctor told me who claimed to be a fisherman himself. Whether it's true or not.......... I guess I should believe him......... that's his area of expertise afterall. He was more concerned about cheap pairs of sunglasses ability to block UV rays than actually take the glare off the water. That is what's so harmful and we can't see them with the naked eye.

From what I understand, cheap polarized sunglasses only have a polarized film over the lens. That film looses it's polarization fairly quickly. While quality glasses actually have the lens polarized which I guess is kind of difficult and pricey to do.......therefore you get the higher price. Well worth it IMO. Nick is right about recommending a pair. If you are going to spend some bucks on a pair of good sunglasses, be sure that they fit around your face right. The glasses that work for me might be uncomfortable to you or vice versa. I really don't think you can go wrong with any of the Costa del Mar prouduct line.

Did you mean "buy some cheap ones if you don't fish alot"? There was an article in Bassmaster magazine and I was told by an eye doctor that not all polarized sunglasses are created equal. My doctor gave me some huge long scientific explanation that I didn't understand, but it can be summarized into something this: Cheap sunglasses are only coated with a polarized film over th lens. Quality polarized sunglasses actually have the lenses polarized which I guess ain' easy to do therefore the high price. The cheap ones film gets warn off very very quickly and eventually you will have no UV protection. So when you are wearing a a pair of sunglasses opens your pupil wide open, kind of like being in a dark room. A cheap pair of sunlasses will allow harmful UV rays reflected off the water (2 to 3 times stronger) directly into your eye. While a pair of quality glasses will block nearly 100% of UV rays. Those cheap sunglasses that claim they block 100% of UV rays is impossible according to this doctor. So if we as fishermen spend spend thousands of dollars on boats, rods, reels, and tackle.........why not spend $100-$200 to save your sight? I also justify spendng that much on a pair of sunglasses beause I wear them everyday while driving.

I have had Bolle, H20 Optics, Oakley, and Coasta del Mar glasses. My favorites by far are the Costa del Mars

Best of luck to you and it is a stand up thing you are doing. Hope everything work out for the best.

Interesting, I have found crawdads at a few of the lake I fish and they have dark green, almost black, bodies with fairly bright green clippers. YUM's grasshopper green is a perfect color match of the craws I have found. I think they change colors with seasons too????? Because I found one early this spring that kind of had a blueish green tint.

Here in Kansas, our crawdad's are green, so I usually use black and green jigs. If I am going to use another color though........it's going to be black and blue.

That's exactly how I feel. When I was about 13, when I first started getting some what serious about bass fishing, a local pro took me out on his boat and showed me few things. My mom would always go to this local park and ride her bike around a trail they have and I would walk the banks and fish. I hardly ever caught anything, but I was just learning how to use different baits and how to cast with accuracy. This local pro saw me there week after week and I guess felt a little sorry for me, so he offered to take me out on his boat with my mom's permission. She let me and from the minute I stepped foot on his boat, I was hooked on bass fishing forever. He opened my eyes to a whole new world off the bank and taught me how to fish particular lake. I still use the same pattern to this day on that lake and it still produces. If he could see me now......lol ;D.

Good luck try to catch a fish bigger than Roland. Your 10 lb'er is a 5 and his 5 lb'er is a 10. At least in his eyes.

That's too bad. I am sure the kid and you missed out on a great time.