Scott F

I know next to nothing about tournament clubs but I have been a member of a few fishing clubs over the last 25 years. IF you actively participate, it can be the best thing for your fishing you could ever do. A club that is active, that is has regular meeting and outings will give you the opportunity to fish with a lot of people you would never have met otherwise. Some of these will be very good fisherman that will teach you, first hand, how to catch more fish. Some will be beginners that you will help. Some of these may become your best friends. If you like to fish, want to fish more and catch more fish, join a (good) club.

Are you looking for a tournament club or a fishing club?

So you think the string was the difference? Did try using the live crawfish on the same hook and short piece of light line?

It's apparent you haven't spent much time up north. No, natural lakes for the most part don't get dirty from run off. The deep sunlight penetration in the clear water means there are a lot more and different types of weeds present. They grow in thick mats on the bottom, up to a couple of feet thick. It's tough to drag a lure on the bottom in those conditions. Different types of weeds require a different approach. But thank you for making my point for me. You do have to adapt when going from northern natural lakes to reservoirs. If fishing both types of lakes were the same, why would I have to adapt? That's the point of this discussion, what works in impoundments, doesn't always work in northern natural lakes.

I have fished a lot of lakes. Impoundments from central Illinois and Indiana to Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky and Tennesee. There are certainly thousands I have never seen. Most of the lakes I fish are in Wisconsin and Minnesota. I have a much harder time on the impoundments because they are so different. This just applies to the lakes I've seen, but here are the major differences. North, clearer water. All of the reservoirs I've been on are much murkier than what I usually see. Standing timber. Not much of that up North Colder water. Lakes up North seldom get above 80 degrees and spend 6 months of the year frozen. Weeds. The bottom of most of the northern lakes I fish are weed covered until the water gets 15 to 20 feet deep. I know there are lots of weeds in a lot of Southern lakes, but not in the ones I've fished. I'm sure the dirtier water has a lot to do with that. Creek channels. Natural lakes don't have them. All of the items above pose different challenges from one region to the next. When you aren't used to fishing standing timber in 90 degree water on the edge of a creek channel in water that looks like chocolate milk it can be tough.

Lucky Craft Pointer. A lot of guys here like the bigger ones but I do extremely well in the spring up north when the water hits 50 degrees with a 78 or often a 65.

What does "squared away" mean? I never heard the term used in this context before.

Nope, If you win any kind of contest or even if you won a car at the casino, you pay income tax on the value of whatever you might have won. If you sold the boat or prize, you'd pay income tax on the cash you got.

You understand you'd have to pay income tax on the value of the boat which could cost you $10,000 depending on the cost of the boat and your other income. Add that to the entry fees and the expenses to fish all the tournaments you'd have to enter before you won, and you could have bought a nice used boat.

20 size for me. Holds more than enough line. I use 8-10 pound braid. I would think that as much as guys prefer lighter gear, that the smaller, lighter reels would be preferred, but we'll see by the responses.

In Oswego you live right next to the Fox River an excellent smallmouth fishery. You are 20 minutes from the DuPage River, another great smallie river. In an hour, you can be fishing the Kankakee. If you find these 3 rivers not to be quality fisheries, your standards are WAY too high.

I learned, again, that I don't like musky fishing. I had some time off and hooked up with a friend who likes musky fishing. He said we'd do both, bass and musky fishing but fishing out of his boat instead of mine, we spent a lot more time chasing muskies than I wanted. I thought I'd be OK with it and if I'd caught a fish or two I might have been. But I won't fish with him again in any place that has muskies unless we're in my boat.

They are a deep orange color. That one, the orange craw, has caught more fish for me this year than any other bait except for pointers. If you are buying lipless cranks, do yourself a favor and get at least one Red Eye Shad in Orange craw. If you only buy one, you'll make another trip for a few more. Believe me.

I seldom "match the hatch". Match the hatch is a hold over from trout fishermen. There are times, when fish are feeding heavily on a school of bait where I found it important, but a lot of the time, I do well on colors that are almost the opposite of the hatch. For example, I fish mostly clear northern lakes and bright orange baits and clown colored baits are two of my most productive.

I'm diabetic. No, doctors can't cure diabetes. But without them, I'd probably be dead from the disease by now. I'm glad I don't agree with your point of view.

No, it was the one with the multi-color, titanium finish.

My older Quantum Energy spinning reels were my favorite.

I've still got some Abu spinners from the 60's that caught a bunch of smallies. Probably not my first bass, but these lures are 50 years old.

No matter how much you bring, there will always be lures you might wish you had with you. Take a couple of baits that have worked in the past, a couple you'd like to learn to fish better, a spinnerbait, a few worms, a jig or two and a few senkos. Everything should easily fit in a sling pack. You'll probably only be out for an hour or two, there's no need for 2 dozen of each plastic. 2 or 3 each of a few styles will be plenty. More than likely, if the fish are feeding, you'll do just fine. If what you brought doesn't get em' so what. Try again tomorrow. Have fun, don't worry about getting every fish in the lake. Don't put too much pressure on yourself to catch fish. Don't think about what other lures might work, concentrate of fishing the lures you brought.

Are you asking if you can make your 24 volt motor a 36 volt just by adding another battery?

Apparently, the flu shots that were given out were not effective on the strain that is going around.

You will never know how much that fish weighed. But does it really matter? What difference would it make if you knew? Obviously, you're curious, but forget about it, get a scale, and go catch another one.

As they say, "you get what you pay for". Macs are more expensive, but they are worth it.

That's the great thing about Macs, they don't work like PCs, they actually work! Take 5 minutes to read the instructions.

That's a big misconception. Braid is not so buoyant that it would keep a bait from running as deep as it can. A small bare hook will cause braid to sink. Using a thinner braid will actually let crankbaits runs deeper than they would on mono. Some guys depend on the stretch of mono or fluoro to keep from losing fish. I use only braid because I like the lack of stretch, the increased sensitivity and the added depth I get.