Wayne P.

I've lost bass with 65# before and wished I had used at least 80#. Big bass in timber and or heavy vegetation in no place for wimpy line. Did you see the ESPN show about the Elite tournament on Falcon Lake?

My last words on this subject- your decision to keep it was contrary to the information you had at the time you caught it. A Poacher is a Poacher is a Poacher !!!!!!! If you don't know what a Poacher is, look up the definition.

An angler determines whether or not to keep a fish. If the fish is not a legal size it should be immediately released. By your own statement, you admitted it was 1/4" short. What happened later has no bearing on the decision you made to keep an illegal fish.

I wouldn't be been so proud of keeping a fish that I thought was not legal. Shame on you !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I agree with Micro, the fish do to.

What I did to solve the line slipping out of the eye problem was to tie a knot with either mono or braid, cut the line leaving the knot. Slide the knot around to the gap that looks like it does not exist. Then tie your line on. I pretied several hooks before hand to lessen the retie time in case of a breakoff when tournament fishing.I tried to super glue the knot in place for a while but just about any tension would negate that process. You could go to a larger diameter braid and it may prevent it. I was using spinning gear for light weight flipping/pitching and Original Spiderwire 30# which had a 6# mono diameter. A knot change to keep your weight from even touching the knot or any slipping out is to use a uni-knot for a snell connection. That method works quite well if you use tungsten weights which are very hard and will destroy a knot when using the heavy ones.

Are you sure the line is breaking and not slipping out of the gap in the hook eye? I had that occur several times especially with 30# braid before I figured out what was going one. The knot is real small and you may have not noticed it was still there when you retied especially since you use the Palomar knot. Lead is probably not hard enough to cut the braid. Flipping in the pads on the Potomac is where I experienced that.

thetr20one, isn't the chine walk deal why Triton makes the exective version? For those that can't handle the high performance hulls?

Try a different and better line release method. Instead of hooking the line over your finger to make a cast, after opening the bail, place your index finger tip against the spool lip and just make a cast by moving your finger slightly away from the spool edge, when you need to stop the cast or feather the cast for soft entry, just move you finger close to or on the spool edge. It is the same function as using the push button on a closed face reel to cast and control the cast. If you have old line on the reel, tie the end to some solid object, open the bail, walk 50' or so away, close the bail. Pull the line with the rod as hard a your line/rod will allow. Lay the rod down, go untie the end, walk back to the rod and while holding the line between your thumb and forefinger for tension, reel the line back in without moving from your position. Your line won't look like a slinky toy and will be more manageable. Adjust the cast effort ,whether with one hand or both, to match the distance required.

A good way to use up battery power is to have an electric steer trolling motor. Plus the slower change of direction operation hinders precise boat control.

The size of the mono backing makes no difference, it is just to take up spool space and provide a friction grip on the spool arbor. Large diameter mono=less mono used, small diameter mono=more mono used. That it. Semi professional overruns are another thing with braids. The line is thin and very flexible, so getting it untangled is a chore. You may want to get a crochet needle to carry along to aid with that process. I keep one in each boat and one in my tackle bag. Throwing a buzzbait into the wind will challenge your patient.

Just use it like you would a spinnerbait.

Good points thetr20one, the last time is was in a tournament, I had two kids with me, one was around 250 pounds and the other was around my weight of 170 pounds. I usually don't run full throttle when I have youngsters with me, but they wanted to fish as long a possible in the area we were in. I had to WOT to make it in on time for the weighin and with those guys, a full livewell, 3/4 gas tank that holds 38 gallons, and all our tackle, I could only manage 60-61 mph. The speed I stated before was with a full gas tank, my normal lots of tackle, required safety equipment, three size 27 batteries, an emergency tool box, spare prop. and of course bow mounted trolling motor. My boat is not set up for any particular function, it just goes when I press the hot foot and trim up all the way. It goes the fastest when I am alone and slower as I add people/weight. With the price of gas now, most of the time I run it around 4,000 rpm at 50 mph. That copy was just the highest mph I saw for Skeeters with 150 HP, but depending on props stated in others (not knowing what model boat is what) speeds over 60 mph were very common. It looked like lower pitch prop set ups were the ones limited to under 60MPH. I run a 24" Raker and I see several guys with longer boats and 200-225 HP motors running 24" props. It is all about weight, and wetted hull that affects speed. I don't have much wetted hull at WOT. Do I get chine walk-HELL YES- I have to do more than ride, I have to drive.

fishfordollars- I was looking at some performance figures and noticed that a lot of guys are getting better performance than you with 150 HP. This one in particular caught my attention, maybe your boat is not set up for top performace: 04 Skeeter TZX190 Lowrance LMS320 w/GPS, Motorguide 71#. Bassin John - TX 04 150 Yamaha EFI 68 mph @ 5800 rpm (gps). "Just finished breaking it in! OX66 What a nic rig! Pics are on the way. Oh, incase you didn't see it.....68 mph /GPS." Maybe the satellites weren't all working correctly when you did you performance run. Skeeters are a good fishing platform; I have driven a few and fished in many. I can't say that I have even had a pleasurable fishing/riding experience in a Nitro though.

fishfordollars, I can attest to your performance figures, I pass lots of your model boats when I'm on the water.

I was given a Lunker Punker in the large size in what looks like a trout color. I don't plan to ever fish with it. In the big fish lakes that I fish, it would just be an anchor or brush hook.

crankybaits--"Braid is only good for flipping. " ???????? You need to expand your horizons some. I use braid for lipless cranks in vegetation, for jigs and Tx rigging worms and other soft plastics when flipping, pitching and casting, for wacky rigging worms on baitcasting and spinning gear, for topwater poppers, for floating and swimming frogs, for deep drop shotting, for spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, etc., and several other presentations. Reasons, no or very low stretch for better hook ups for deep fishing, long casts or large hooks, no snarls with spinning gear, small diameter/pound test, high strength with small diameter for fishing heavy cover with any presentation. These are just some of numerous good qualities.

You peaked my interest in the actual weight. I reload rifle and pistol ammo so I have a scale that weighs in grains. The 3/64 oz lead nail weighs 18.4 grains The size 3d finishing nail weighs 9 grains A 16 guage 1" paneling nail weighs 7.3 grains

I really don't change baits per say. I carry 8-15 rods with different lures or different sizes or weights and depending on the location; I will try most presentations in a particular area until I determine the fish are not biting or are not there. I never assume that I know what the most productive presentation will be and let the fish tell me what they want. The array of presentations that I start with is based on seasonal patterns.

Catt, that is a good suggestion for a lighter weight nail. I have never lost a finishing nail by it slipping out of the worm though.

From Bass Pro Shops Catalog, Eagle Fishelite 500C-469.99, Eagle Fishelite 480-359.99, Humminbird 595c-499.99,

Safely, at least a 1/2 ton pickup or equivalent SUV. I used to tow mine with a Blazer S-10 but it was marginal.

They were the THE bait several years ago and like most new stuff eveybody had to have them, they were copied by several companies. After a while fishermen determined that they really weren't all that big of a deal and moved on to next "gotta have" lure. I believe the Sweet Beaver which is almost the same size and shape of the small version Zipper became the next "must have" in that size and shape lure. Probably the next "must have" soft plastic in that style may have three lumps on one side and two lumps on the other side and be touted to create some mystery vibration that fish can't resist, may be used to win a tournament and off the races again.

Never weighed one, they are lighter than the 3/64 oz lead nails. I use the finishing nails for depths down to about 10'-15' and deeper if it is not windy on in current. I am a patient person with the fall rate because I know it is productive. My primary weight is a flororcarbon leader of around 4' in 20# since I use braided line for wacky rigging.

Woooppppsss, sorry for the misnaming, fishfordollars, I converse with fishforcash on another site. I also retired from the insurance industry a couple of years ago after 43 1/2 years.