FloridaFishinFool

I'm gonna throw this out there for what it is worth if anything... Take a look at Randy Hopper for a second. This man literally grew up working for Ranger starting out sweeping up moving up through manufacturing to engineering and into management before being hand picked by the founder of Ranger Forrest L. Wood to be the company's CEO. The man spent his entire adult life working for Ranger- some 45 years or so. If you were in his shoes and now CEO of Ranger, and for 5 years- 2010 to 2014 taking full control of the company trying to bring it back from bankruptcy to a profitable solvent company. Do you think it was a possible goal of his- a personal goal- to restore this company he gave his life to and to maybe, just maybe possibly even bring Ranger as a company to the point where they could own themselves again? Wouldn't this be the icing on his cake and 45 plus years at Ranger to be the man who saved the company? It would be a legacy completed! And now it is not possible any longer. This type of thing was possible when you are owned by a bunch of investors who simply want profit and nothing else and have no real control over making boats or ulterior motives to corner markets, etc. But when a man like Johnny Morris steps in with his Bass Pro Shops, and his Tracker Boats in the mix, and he has the cash to buy your company out from under you like he did, if any of us were in Randy Hopper's shoes wouldn't it now seem like it was no longer possible to save the company to stand on its own? In my opinion it is very possible that when Bass Pro purchased Fishing Holdings who owned Ranger that this ended any hopes a man like Randy Hopper might of had to recover his company and be the man who put that company back on its feet and on its own. His is now a legacy stolen from him. Maybe even a dream that died when Bass Pro bought it all. Johnny Morris and his Bass Pro Shops may have ended Randy's ambitions to recover and restore Ranger Boats for himself and his legacy, for his employees, and for Forrest Wood. Its over for him. Time to move on. This is just a theory of mine... but if I were in those shoes I have to wonder if I would have been thinking along these same lines... oh well. Just a thought anyways... ------------------------------ And think about Mendel Hughes for a second. This man was Vice President of Finance for Ranger. Just WHO do you think was giving it his all to turn around Ranger financially from bankruptcy? If finance was your specialty and you made it your mission to try and save Ranger with a possible idea of buying back and owning Ranger now solvent and standing on its own again, would that not be a success for your specialty knowledge and efforts? But when a company like Bass Pro steps in and buys it out from under you and sends in an acquisition team laying down the law, isn't it clear when a financial officer like Mendel Hughes immediately resigns indicates his services are no longer needed. His specialty finance knowledge is no longer running the show? His resignation based on his position and what Ranger was going through tells me Bass Pro and their experts took it over. What happened to Ranger is like Walt Disney buying Wet N' Wild. Bass Pro is huge compared to Ranger. Johnny Morris and Bass Pro are not going to invest in a company and then let local leadership run it in the ground. Bass Pro is going to take a leadership role over all they own and it is clear these men and their personal and professional mission at Ranger ended in that meeting with Bass Pro acquisition team. Simple as that as I see it. And I would bet you Bass Pro had these executives sign non-disclosure agreements that prevents them from speaking about this in public. Bass Pro and their lawyers would want to keep the inner secrets of this deal secret and out of the public eye.

Ranger did not sell them self. Not possible when Ranger did not own Ranger. An investment company Platinum Equity bought Ranger's parent owner Fishing Holdings LLC under bankruptcy restructuring in 2010. What I am about to write is purely my opinion based on a little bit of research I did looking into this situation and is merely my take on things based on information found online in various places. I did some checking in and around the local area of Flippin, Arkansas from news outlets to forum discussions and from what I can gather is that back in 2010 Ranger was bankrupt and allowed to restructure and the three men who resigned were at the head of the restructuring plan and bringing Ranger out of bankruptcy and back into a growing profitable company. I suspect that Mendel Hughes, Vice President of Finance, was the go between man overseeing all the details of the recovery on behalf of the investment company who purchased Fishing Holdings. When Platinum Equity bought Fishing Holdings, they had to provide a substantial financial boost to the company as well as provide critical financial restructuring information and planning. So I suspect that Mendel Hughes was the man more or less operating as overseer and implementer of the restructuring plan for Ranger. But, the company was apparently sold out from under them to Bass Pro by their parent holding company wanting to get their investment back and then some. And this is where things made a turn for the worse it would seem. From what I was reading online, when Bass Pro closed the deal to purchase Ranger from the parent holding company, Bass Pro sent a team to meet with these Ranger executives to go over facts and figures and for Bass Pro to sort of lay the new law down to the Ranger executives. But, Bass Pro CEO Johnny Morris did not go to this meeting. He sent underlings instead. Underlings who probably were not in a position to negotiate with the Ranger executives. One thing that is interesting to note in this deal is that Johnny Morris said even though Bass Pro is outright purchasing Ranger, there are no plans to sell Ranger through Bass Pro: " Bass Pro Shops and Tracker to help strengthen the Ranger brand and your business. At the same time we respect the need to maintain independence and brand integrity, and in that regard, we have no plans to sell Fishing Holdings brands (Ranger, Triton, Stratos) through Bass Pro Shops stores" Apparently before Bass Pro purchased Ranger's owner Fishing Holdings there was some manufacturing overlapping between Ranger, Triton and Stratos, and now that Bass Pro owns Ranger Johnny Morris says he intends to break this situation up and move Triton and Stratos manufacturing elsewhere. There is alot we don't know yet and may never know, but one thing is clear is that when the meeting of Ranger and Bass Pro came to a close, those 3 top Ranger executives resigned immediately causing Johnny Morris to hop on a plane and rush out there to meet with these men probably to try and persuade them to not resign. In my opinion if this deal was all that important to Johnny Morris he should have been at that meeting where he probably could have mitigated the circumstances of their resignations in person before hand, not after the fact. Instead Johnny Morris sent a team out there to meet with Ranger to probably lay the law down to them that for one they were no longer in charge- technically. And, that possibly the lower profit margin Ranger was surviving with may not have been enough to satisfy Bass Pro who more than likely wanted to see the profit margin increase which meant some cost cutting somewhere within Ranger, maybe fire off some employees, trim some fat, use thinner metal in the boats, or you know, cut corners every way possible while keeping prices up there even though Johnny Morris said he would not tamper with the quality of Ranger boats, I have my doubts... Those 3 executives I think resigned because Bass Pro was basically telling them they don't run things any more, and their mission to save Ranger from bankruptcy since 2010 was no longer 100% up to them and that Bass Pro and their "experts" would be actively involved now in guiding Ranger to an increased profit margin doing things those 3 executives probably could not live with. Just take a look at some of the Bass Pro-Johnny Morris statements issued: " We plan to align significant additional resources to further strengthen product offerings and dealer and customer support." We, as in Bass Pro PLAN to ALIGN SIGNIFICANT ADDITIONAL RESOURCES to further strengthen product offerings. That right there says Bass Pro is stepping in and all but taking over Ranger. And for some men use to running it their way at least since taking it over in bankruptcy back in 2010, it is clear their reign is over. No longer in charge. Time to go. Staying means doing as told by Bass Pro and Johnny Morris. " We will maintain separate new product development teams to ensure unique, differentiated product offerings. We, as in Bass Pro will maintain SEPARATE new product development teams! As in Bass Pro will now have their own ideas to run through Ranger Boats whether they want it or not, or like it or not. Bass Pro will use Ranger manufacturing to make products developed by Bass Pro's separate product development team. Ranger is not to remain as independent as Johnny Morris says in his public statement. He sounds like he may be contradicting himself somewhat with double talk. If you were use to running Ranger would you want some outside company ordering you to do this as told? Jump through some hoops for Bass Pro Ranger executives! Everyone out there at Ranger better snap too when told to! New things coming your way so get ready... I can see why those 3 top dogs resigned at the close of the meeting. And based on what I am reading they resigned immediately after the meeting was concluded, but in the real world you can bet those men decided while in the meeting to resign. They knew their day was done before that meeting was over! " To be clear, when we invested in Fishing Holdings one of our primary motivations was investing in the opportunity to work alongside you, the absolute best fishing boat dealers in the world. We remain steadfast in this commitment." To be clear, this is not really all that clear! Johnny Morris is saying they purchased more than Ranger. They purchased either all of nearly all of Fishing Holdings and EVERYTHING they owned! So now Bass Pro owns Triton outright too, and Stratos. And Johnny is now planning on moving manufacturing of Triton and Stratos somewhere else so that Ranger can now only build Ranger boats and not be involved in the manufacturing of all 3 of them. What is up with this? I wish we could get more info on this. What is Johnny Morris up to? Could he be breaking up these companies so he can grow them as independents and maybe one day sell off one or more for some big bucks if he is successful? Surely breaking up manufacturing is not going to be cheap for him to do. So there has to be some other motivation I'm just not seeing or getting now. I seriously doubt if Johnny Morris was simply investing to "work alongside you" as he says. I am not buying that for one second. This is more of a power move to literally corner a market. It is a shrewd power move that Bass Pro can easily afford right now. And a move like this will make boats CHEAPER for Bass Pro rather than selling someone else's product, it is now their product and they have eliminated competition and middle men and taken the whole ball of wax for themself. A smart business move that would make John D. Rockefeller proud that Johnny Morris was following his business advice that "competition is a sin." So now Johnny Morris is going to merge Tracker Marine Group and his new ownership of Fishing Holdings (Ranger, Triton, and Stratos) into one new business called White River Marine Group. I'll leave it here for now. I think it is pretty clear at least to myself why these 3 men resigned after meeting with Bass Pro acquisition team. They had their company sold out from under them and literally taken away from them plain and simple, and now Johnny Morris is in charge lock, stock, and barrel and they simply did not want to go back to just being an employee told what to do and when to do it among other things in this deal they probably could not live with. And it is also just as clear that Johnny Morris is doing a power play and creating his own monopoly as well as increasing his profit take from owning it all and controlling it all. What is now clear to me is that the 3 men who resigned, they controlled Ranger as a company, but they did not control who owned them. These men could live with being in charge while having an investment company own them, but when Johnny Morris and Bass Pro bought Ranger from their owner and parent company, these men could no longer live with having their company sold out from under them and then taken away from them by Johnny Morris and his acquisition team. And I think it probably angered them that Johnny Morris himself did not attend the meeting in person and this may have contributed to their decisions to resign. For Johnny Morris to hop on a plane and run out there after they resigned was too little too late in my opinion. Johnny Morris should have had enough respect for them to make a personal appearance at the takeover meeting and try and smooth things out rather than send a hired team to lay out terms in a play hard ball fashion. Not a smooth move on Johnny Morris' part which is why his public press release sounded more like damage control more than anything else. In conclusion I will throw in another piece I got some info from that goes back to the purchase deal in 2010: Platinum Equity To Sell Fishing Boat Business To Bass Pro Group Press Release · December 11, 2014 Manufacturing LOS ANGELES, CA (December 11, 2014) – Platinum Equity today announced the signing of a definitive agreement to sell Fishing Holdings, LLC, the Flippin, Arkansas-based manufacturer of the Ranger Boats, Stratos and Triton fishing boat brands, to Bass Pro Group, LLC. The pending transaction is subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Platinum Equity acquired Ranger Boats and Stratos as part of a larger portfolio of boat brands in February 2010 from Genmar Holdings, Inc., through a transaction conducted under Section 363 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Triton was acquired from Brunswick in July 2010. “Nearly five years ago we pledged to provide the resources and support necessary to help the company grow and evolve, while respecting the heritage and deep roots in fishing that make it so special,” said Platinum Equity Partner Louis Samson, who led the acquisitions in 2010. “We achieved our goals and I am very proud of all that has been accomplished during our stewardship.” In addition to the add-on acquisition of Triton, Platinum Equity worked with the Fishing Holdings management team to execute a series of other growth and operational improvement programs, including: the development and launch of a line of aluminum boats that involved developing a completely new manufacturing site from the ground up; continued introduction of innovative new products across all brands and segments; strengthening of dealer relationships; and numerous improvements in manufacturing capabilities and overall operational efficiency. Mr. Samson credited Fishing Holdings President Randy Hopper and the hard work of Fishing Holdings employees as the key driver of the company’s success. “Randy is an exceptional leader, with a very talented executive team supported by a tremendous group of dedicated employees throughout the entire organization,” said Mr. Samson. “The business will be in very good hands going forward.” Mr. Hopper expressed excitement about the future as part of the Bass Pro Shops family. “We’re very fortunate to be partnering with an organization with so much understanding of the industry and our brands,” said Mr. Hopper. “This new alliance will provide synergies that will strengthen our independent dealer base and ensure our continued focus on fishing.” “Nearly five years ago we pledged to provide the resources and support necessary to help the company grow and evolve, while respecting the heritage and deep roots in fishing that make it so special,” said Platinum Equity Partner Louis Samson, who led the acquisitions in 2010. “We achieved our goals and I am very proud of all that has been accomplished during our stewardship.” In addition to generating operational benefits, the transaction will provide further enhanced services and products to better support Fishing Holdings’ existing dealer network and large base of customers worldwide. Bass Pro Shops founder and CEO Johnny Morris said, “We’re excited about the association with these iconic brands. Ranger Boats founder Forrest Wood has been a longtime friend and someone who has made a tremendous impact on our industry. We look forward to building on such a rich history.” According to Mr. Morris, after the transaction closes Fishing Holdings’ portfolio will continue to operate from its Flippin, Arkansas headquarters under the leadership of existing local management which boasts more than four decades of experience. He said the new partnership not only joins some of the industry’s most respected brands, but also provides greater stability and growth opportunities for Fishing Holdings’ independent dealer base. “The business will continue to be operated independently by the same management team that has led it for many years,” added Mr. Morris. “Our goal is to provide the products and services necessary to fuel our collective growth.” Fishing Holdings was advised by Harris Williams & Co. in connection with the transaction. Latham & Watkins acted as deal counsel. About Platinum Equity Founded by Tom Gores in 1995, Platinum Equity is a global investment firm with more than $7 billion in assets under management and a portfolio of operating companies that generated approximately $15 billion in revenue in 2013. Platinum Equity specializes in mergers, acquisitions and operations – a trademarked strategy the firm calls M&A&O® – acquiring and operating companies in a broad range of business markets, including manufacturing, information technology, telecommunications, transportation and logistics, media, equipment rental, metals and other industries. Over the past 19 years Platinum Equity has completed more than 150 acquisitions. About Fishing Holdings, LLC Fishing Holdings LLC, headquartered in Flippin, Ark., is the nation’s premier manufacturer of fiberglass and aluminum fishing boats, including the legendary Ranger Boats brand, as well as the Stratos and Triton boat brands. More details, product information and specific offerings can be found by visiting www.rangerboats.com, www.stratosboats.com and www.tritonboats.com. -------------------------------------- "According to Mr. Morris, after the transaction closes Fishing Holdings’ portfolio will continue to operate from its Flippin, Arkansas headquarters under the leadership of existing local management which boasts more than four decades of experience." Yeah right. That 4 decades of experience and local leadership is now gone... any wonder why??? I don't.

I just hit some tackle stores today as well... Dick's, Academy Sports, Gander Mountain and a local bait shop that makes their own soft baits. Dick's does not have a large selection of anything. They did have a few clearance items, and discounted those clearance priced items another 25% on top of that for anything with a price that ends in a 7, like $2.97 would get another 25% off that. So I picked up some lures for a good price but no rods. Academy Sports was horrid! Prices are through the roof, and no sales! I did not spend a penny there. Gander Mountain had some good clearance items and I spent some dough in there. But my local bait and tackle store was where I found the real deals with bags of rubber worms, swimbaits, craws, etc. for a $1 per bag including Rage Tails, Strike King, Berkley powerbaits, Havoc, etc. all $1 per bag. I plan on going back there soon. Even if Dick's has a great sale coming, they simply do not have no where near the size or variety of fishing tackle as other stores do. Dick's is either downsizing or has downsized to a minimum. I have just about reached the point of writing them off.

Bass Pro Shops Updates Dealers on Management Issue Ranger's Z520C bass boat is just one of the company's models that qualifies for the promotion. Dec 08, 2015 - 2:12 pm In a letter to its dealer network, Bass Pro Shops Founder, Johnny Morris, reassured dealers that the company's future is “unchanged” after three senior staff members resigned. In late November, Fishing Holdings' management team, consisting of President, Randy Hopper; Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Keith Daffron; and CFO, Mendel Hughes; has resigned from the company. Fishing Holdings, owned by Bass Pro Shops since late 2014, is the maker of Ranger, Stratos and Triton boats. The letter contained the following: This was a very sad day for me personally and I know it has to be deeply concerning for many of you as well. There can be no doubt that each of these very fine and most capable men will be sorely missed – we sincerely wish for them the very best. This development has no doubt caused many of you to have questions and concerns. While we have not fully developed a detailed go forward plan, there are several key points I feel it is important for us to share with you. • Our deep commitment to the company's future is unchanged. • There remains in place a fantastic team of committed associates in Flippin, Arkansas that have our full support. • Recruiting the most talented leaders possible to fill these vacated positions is a top priority. • We plan to align significant additional resources to further strengthen product offerings and dealer and customer support. • We will maintain separate new product development teams to ensure unique, differentiated product offerings. • Maintaining the extraordinarily high-quality product standards of the legendary Ranger brand, developed by Forrest Wood, is considered an absolute top priority. • We are contemplating moving the production of Triton and Stratos boats from Flippin to increase capacity and enable us to better serve Triton and Stratos dealers and their customers. We believe this action will also free up space for increased production of Ranger brand fresh and saltwater boats and accessories in Flippin. We want to get you and your customers boats, parts and accessories in a timely and efficient manner. • A strong independent dealer network is vitally important for the success of the Ranger brand. Supporting your efforts to meet and exceed the high expectations customers have come to expect from Ranger remains our primary focus. With that goal in mind, we plan to appoint and convene a dealer council in the very near future. • To be clear, when we invested in Fishing Holdings one of our primary motivations was investing in the opportunity to work alongside you, the absolute best fishing boat dealers in the world. We remain steadfast in this commitment. • At this time, we are pursuing renaming Tracker Marine Group and Fishing Holdings to a new, more united “White River Marine Group.” In this regard, we are eager to share and to make available as appropriate many of the significant resources available from Bass Pro Shops and Tracker to help strengthen the Ranger brand and your business. At the same time we respect the need to maintain independence and brand integrity, and in that regard, we have no plans to sell Fishing Holdings brands through Bass Pro Shops stores. We are excited to share a bright future together and are most grateful for your support. As Morris mentioned, the production of Triton and Stratos boats could possibly be leaving Flippin, Arkansas plant. This now begs the question of where it would be moved to and what impact it would have on the employs involved in the construction of those lines.

I've run into this problem too. And I posted about this situation on Glenn's thread about the new forum on page 2 here: So what I have learned is that some how you have to use your mouse to click on the blue line going around the quote box and once it has been clicked on I then hit the delete button and it will delete the quote box that seems to follow you around! One of the quirks of the new system. I wish we could just highlight the quote box and delete it when deleting all text from the comment box, but it does not work that way. I have to go after that troublesome quote box on its own terms. Once you delete the quote box it won't come back to haunt you!

Yeah that's what I found today too, so I grabbed up a bunch of them cheap. Apparently BBB has discontinued the double tail skirted grub which is an awesome flipping and pitching bait, so all the stores are clearing out the discontinued baits cheap. I was however looking for some of those rod deals but not happening here in central Florida.

Must not have any ball bearings! Surely they would have rusted if it had some???

Uh huh. Sounds like a good fisherman's tale for sure!

Does anyone remember the Culprit sticky worm with a small patch of velcro embedded to stick to the teeth of the bass? I don't think Culprit made these for very long because I don't think the idea worked the way they had hoped it would. It seemed more of a sales gimmick to get a fisherman to grab a bag of their special worms with something different on it and they (culprit) probably knew it was a hokey idea and did not work like they advertised. They said once the bass picked it the velcro would stick the bass teeth and give the fisherman a longer time to set the hook. I think the problem was once the velcro got stuck in the bass teeth the lure did not go inside the mouth of the fish far enough to even get a good hook set. The velcro may have actually done the opposite and prevented fishermen from landing their fish! I remember using one and catching a small bass with just the velcro! The hook was not in the fish! I was able to work the fish into the bank using just the velcro hooked onto its teeth! That was a first and a last! I never bought another bag and let this one slip into the obscurity of the past... Today you can't even hardly find these old culprit sticky worms, so they must not of sold very well.

I'd suggest that the change in speed is accomplished by a combination of both- a change in gear sizes, along with a change in number of teeth on the gears. To change the speed of a reel, you have to change both the main drive gear and the pinion gear too. They have to match.

Practice makes perfect!

Mine too!

Yep! And I still have several bags of the gillraker too! I found an old fisherman on ebay who can't fish any longer and is selling off his old stockpile and I have been buying them up and all of his mannipulator worms too! And the old gillraker is designed in sections so if you tear up a few you can cut them off, move the hook down to some unused sections and keep on fishing with it. I just found some on ebay

You said it! 0 degrees and no line stacking issues. So why the additional 10 degrees or so in the wrong direction? Is it really necessary? And is this a guide placement based on theory or reality? You said it above that you don't do it and you don't need it and have no problems. I have said the same thing. And I take it one step further as I go about 10 degrees offset in the direction of the spiral wrap and still have absolutely no line stacking problem what so ever. So is this rod showing a mistake or the application of an imaginary solution to a potential problem that may not really be a problem? In my view this rod is showing a mistake that is simply not necessary and could and should be avoided if possible.

One issue is how close to the reel the first guide is. The faster the action the rod is the farther out the wrap can be located. This makes a difference on how severe the line pulling to one side or the other is. My first spiral wrap rod is a custom made rod that is now well over 20 years old I purchased at a garage sale. It does not have a 0 degree first guide. It goes from the reel straight to the 90 degree guide and has worked fine for all these years with no line stacking problems at all. So in the real world is this offset first guide in the opposite direction of the spiral really a solution for line stacking? Is this the way to go and it is written in stone or something? Not from what I can tell from my own personal experience. I also did some searches online for custom rod building and I found that 90 to 95% of the custom rod builders recommend the 0 degree guide, not adding additional degrees the line has to wrap around like this rod shows. I did find just two custom rod builders who recommend doing what this rod shows, but not to the degree this rod shows which is closer to 10 degrees or more in the opposite direction of the spiral wrap. So the general consensus on this issue that I could find online, most say the 0 degree guide is fine while less than 10% and probably less than 5% (based on my own search results) suggest a slight offset guide in the opposite direction. In my own experience, I have yet to have a line stacking problem and I have used more than a dozen different spiral wrap rods with different placements of the first guide from 90 degrees to 0 degrees and now I go with a 10 degree offset but in the same direction as the spiral wrap with no line stacking problems. So in my opinion, who ever built this rod, made a mistake that in the the real world was not necessary to offset it in the opposite direction of the spiral wrap to the degree to which they did it- which is close to 10 degrees, maybe more. It was not necessary and I consider it a mistake- an unnecessary mistake for a problem that may not even be a problem.

Not much difference between the numbers you mentioned, so I'd have to say no. The difference between a 6.4:1 and a 7:1 is only like 3 inches of line take up difference with the 6.4 at like 28 inches of line take up per one handle rotation, while the 7 is 31 inches of line take up per handle rotation- average numbers here. So no, I don't see or feel much difference at all, but then again, maybe I am just different, but I don't crank the fish in on the gears usually. I use my drag and rod to pull the fish in my direction and only use the reel to take up the slack. I suppose I am playing the fish more with the drag mech than grinding it in on the gears. There is another thread on here about this: Felix77 posted this info: Abu Silver Max - 6.4:1 Gear Ratio - 28 IPT Bass Pro Qualifier - 7.1:1 Gear Ratio - 29 IPT Abu Pro Max - 7.1:1 Gear Ratio - 31 IPT Again, not much difference. To me the reel speed is for varying lure presentation, and line take up demands.

I went out bass fishing in NE Florida this past weekend while visiting family up there near Jacksonville. Yeah it was rainy, and cold (in the 50's) ok, it was cool, and the wind was howling, but I put the wind to my back and went anyways and managed to catch two bass in less than 2 hours. I probably would not have stayed that long if I had not caught a bass on my first cast! And it went downhill from there, but so what! I was fishing dam it! Wind knots and all- & shivering too, but at least a couple of fish were biting. I could see bigger bass in the crystal clear water, but they were not interested. I just saw on the news it is going to be 77 degrees this Saturday here in the Orlando area so just maybe this weekend is looking pretty good for some bass fishing... Thank god for Florida!

I think the best rubber worm ever made was the Mann's mannipulator. It was half rubber worm and half tail, and a triple spiral design that swam like no other! And it fit my wishes for a low mass rubber worm which made it easier to set the hook when a bass grabbed it. Unfortunately, this rubber worm was discontinued more than 10 years ago and when I contacted Mann corp. about it, they said it was not a good seller which was why it was discontinued and they have no plans on bringing it back either which is a shame because to me it was one of the best designs ever made and the bass here in central Florida went crazy for it. I especially liked using it without a weight and with a 4/0 hook and swimming it around on or near the surface in lily pads it was very effective. And believe it or not, I still have about a dozen bags of them stored away and use them from time to time... Love that worm! This is how the triple tail came in the bag: Grab one out of the bag and you had to break that little tab that kept the tail all rolled up, and once the tab was broken the tail would unfold into this: Now you want to talk about a rubber worm that swims??? This was it! I sure wish someone would replicate this rubber worm!

I have been following the comments on this thread because I fish a lot of swim baits and want to see what others are recommending wondering if anyone would mention the Mister Twister Keeper hook series. I have tried a lot of different hooks too. But one I keep coming back to that flat out works for me is this one: I know, it is called a worm hook, but for rigging weedless swim baits this one works well for me. I like how the point is angled out of the bait and upwards rather than straight forward. When I go to set the hook I am driving the point out of the rubber bait, not deeper in to the rubber as the hook below shows. I avoid hooks with this shape which are also made by Mister Twister, a hook with the point facing the eyelet parallel to the bait:

I see this all the time at Bass Pro Shops! I want to see them do it in the water!

How about competition fishing with no electronics. No maps. No aids what so ever. Make fishermen fish going by the seat of their pants! Blind fishing competition! Then we can see who the real anglers are! Or, the lucky ones!

Joe is one of the most prolific players in the world today. Produces music like water flows. Great talent! Great artist! Great music. I get every album and bootleg of his I can find.

The above rod was found in a rack of all custom made rods for sale in an un-named business. The price on this custom rod was close to $300. Do any of you see the obvious mistake on this rod? Who ever built this rod either does not know math, or they completely missed or slept through spiral wrap rod building class 101. The whole idea behind a spiral wrap is to wrap the line from the reel on top 180 degrees to the underside of a rod. But for who ever built this rod, they actually made things worse by angling the first guide 10 degrees to the left when they wrapped the rod to the right! They actually added 10 degrees and increased the wrap to 190 degrees! And technically, this guide is now approximately 20 degrees off! Ooops! And this is a professional custom built rod too! They did some great work and very artsy, but come on, do the math! This is why I do it myself! I do not want the 180 degree wrap to be compressed between 3 or 4 guides. I stretch my 180 degree wrap out from the reel's line guide all the way up the rod to the first 180 degree guide for a smooth slow transition keeping the line flow -under load- as straight as possible through the guides. I would be ticked off if I had paid a professional hundreds of dollars to screw up like this rod shows! But hey, they can repair this rod by simply changing one guide's angle, but they still have yet to address the spiral wrap compression in such a short space on the rod, nor did I do a bend test on the rod to check wrap guide placement spacing on the rod.

Thanks for posting those images! I will be using these same double foot guides on my next project rod. Looking forward to it. But I am curious about something... when any of you build a spiral wrap rod, how do you align the guides? On the acidrod.com website they have some tutorials I have been looking at and I thought I would ask to see how each of you approach guide placement? Do you do it by the book and follow some preconceived degrees and figures in a book? Or do you use alignment tools like this: When I do a spiral wrap rod, I put all the guides on and the tip, all done by visual alignment only. I use no tools other than letting the rod and line flow under load tell me where the guides should be placed. It is my opinion that facts and figures in books is just a starting point. I load the rod, and watch the line flow and adjust the angle of each guide to straighten out its flow path under load. I install the guides so that they come into alignment as the rod is loaded up, not out of alignment as the rod is loaded which causes more turns through the guides the farther out of alignment it gets under load. My goal is to reduce friction as the rod is loaded, not increase it which is what happens the further out of alignment the guides take the line under load causing ever increasing angles of turn through the guides. I see the reverse of this situation. I would rather the guides be slightly out of alignment without a load because casting is a loose line and more forgiving. But when a fish grabs a lure and the line tightens up and rod loads up, I want those guides moving into alignment giving the line the straightest path of flow which offers the least resistance and least amount of friction possible. The above degree wheel can not give me that information. Books can not give me that information. No two rods bend the same under load, so the formula for guide placement can not be the same for every spiral wrap. So how do you choose guide placement? By the book? Has anyone adjusted the guides on their rods under load while observing line flow under load and adjusted the guide placements for the straightest line flow path? I am really curious about this and if anyone does it?

You are correct. It is navigable waters. But the term navigable is apparently still hotly debated and argued in courts and other: http://www.floridageomatics.com/publications/legal/submerged1.htm Under the Public Trust Doctrine, Florida became the title-holder of all water bodies "navigable in fact" within its boundaries when the territory attained its sovereign status as a state in 1845. Title vested in the new state by operation of law, without the necessity of any deed, inventory, patent, or survey. As explained by the Florida Supreme Court 90 years ago, these navigable waters "passed to the state in its sovereign capacity to be held by it in trust for the people thereof."(5) Because of the inherently public character of navigable waters, the essential feature of the trust is that navigable waters are not held for purposes of sale into private ownership, but instead must be held by the state for the use and enjoyment of the public.(6) Federal Public Lands Surveys When the United States acquired Florida from Spain in 1821, the federal government established a new territory and began the task of surveying and selling land.(7) Among other things, the surveyors were instructed to approximate the shoreline of navigable waters by surveying a series of straight-line segments called "meander" lines.(8) Lakes and rivers with these "meander lines" surveyed along their shores are referred to as "meandered" water bodies. Surveying conditions, however, were extremely adverse in the wilds of early Florida. Hostile native Americans were a constant threat, as were the large numbers of alligators and snakes that populated the marshy shores of Florida's lakes and streams. These conditions, combined with the complete absence of any standard for determining what was navigable, produced haphazard determinations as to whether any particular water body would be meandered. In fact, only a very small number of Florida's navigable lakes and rivers were meandered in the federal surveys. For example, large portions of the St. Johns River, the Kissimmee River, the Chipola River, the Oklawaha River, and the Peace River were not meandered, even though all of these rivers bore regular steamboat traffic during the water transportation era. As an illustration, the steamboats depicted in attachments 1 through 5 all navigated non-meandered portions of the above-listed rivers. Florida courts have recognized that meandering is an unreliable indicator of whether a particular water body was navigable. For that reason, when the question of navigability is tried in court, meandered water bodies are given a weak presumption of navigability. Non-meandered lakes and streams are given a similarly weak presumption of non-navigability.(9) Included as attachments 11, 12 and 13 at the back of this booklet are illustrations of typical meander surveys. These examples show the highly inconsistent manner in which meandering was actually conducted. -------------------------- The pamphlet also contends that land titles are now in such confusion that title to some three million acres of land is in doubt and that 140,000 landowners have clouded titles. These breathtaking statistics originated in arguments raised by attorneys who lost the American Cyanamid case. After losing the appeal, those attorneys argued for rehearing on the basis that the result of the American Cyanamid decision would be 40,000 new lawsuits costing the state $900 million. Thirteen years of experience have shown just how unreliable these "scare-the-world" estimates were. Just five cases have been litigated over this time period, two of which are currently pending. The three million acres/140,000 landowners claims were unsubstantiated at the time they were made, and they remain unsubstantiated well over a decade later. The Ordinary High Water Boundary The boundary between publicly owned navigable waters and adjacent privately owned uplands is the ordinary high water boundary. Two seventy-two year-old Florida Supreme Court decisions definitively addressed how the ordinary high water boundary is located in Florida. The first case states that the ordinary high water boundary represents just what the words suggest: the ordinary reach of high water during the year. Thus, the boundary is, in general, the normal or average reach of water during the high water season.(16) The term "ordinary" excludes floods and other unusual high water events but includes the average high water of each year.(17) In determining the location of the boundary, Florida Supreme Court cases recognize the state's unique topography and differentiate between steep-banked and flat-banked water bodies. On steep-banked water bodies, the boundary is located where the presence and action of water has wrested the bank of vegetation and left a visible mark. However, on low, flat-banked water bodies - most lakes and streams south of Orlando - there is no well-defined mark, and the boundary is located where the presence of the water prevents the cultivation of ordinary agricultural crops. In 1927, the Florida Supreme Court also ruled that where the shore of a water body is low, flat, and vegetated, ordinary high water can be determined by locating water marks on local objects such as dock pilings and trees.(18)