Don't you love these guys ??? :-)

[Catt]

Never in my life have I owned a boat longer than 16' and it was an Alweld 1652 V-Nose Modified V bottom tunnel with a Tohatsu 40 hp; the bass boat I own now is a 1996 Stratos 258V which is only 15' 8 with a 70 hp Johnson. I've tournament fished for 37 yrs with 21 plus wins and 25 double digit bass and I absolutely love the look of total shock in their eyes at the weight-in.

Many times at weight-ins, caf é, marines, or boat launches I am opposite of Chris preferring not to mention any thing of my expertise but rather let the locals tell them who I am as I walk way with that lunatic smile. What's absolutely hilarious is when some one sits there dropping names of local Pros they know only to have that person walk up go straight by them, shake my hand, and start talking fishing.  

[SirSnookalot]

I catch great fish on foot and I pace them off with the length of my shoe or a mark on the rod, tells me close enough what I have.

[fishfordollars]

Just goes to show you it ain't the arrow, it's the indian.

80% of the fish are caught by 10% of the fishermen reguardless of the equipment used.

Big, fast, boats have caused the catch rate to drop for many. They have the "let's check there itis". Spend way too much time running up and down the lake.

My Skeeter has a 28 gallon tank that usually last me three + days on the water.

[Catt]

Yea but Jack they look so good

I've said it before & I'll say it again The #1 key to consistently catching bass is between your ears not between the folds of your wallet.

[BucketmouthAngler13]

HAha yeah I know how whats that like.

I had a city slicker tell me that he caught a 12lb bass out of this couple acre pond. I was like "Wow thats a nice one.... do you know what the state record is?" To which he answered "Yeah like 20lbs right?"

I gave a chuckle and told him it was 10lbs 14oz and hadnt been touched in 30 years. Then he admited to not having a scale, but he showed me the picture. It was around 4lbs, on a gooood day, full of eggs, with a 2oz lead weight in its mouth.  ;D

[NYfishwow]

fish photo album is great idea Chris,

some people will just say stuff all the time...

its great to show them whos real BOSS!

[fishfordollars]

Cell phones with cameras are like GPS when it comes to proving a point. Put the pic on your phone if you have to show it off and take a pic of the MPH GPS reading to prove a point.

GPS is the number one killer of mph on a boat. Just as a cell phone pic(Or any other pic) of a bass is the number one reason for the loss of weight.

[Branuss04]

Chris

The same thing happens to me when I launch my 15' Boston Whaler and the big bass boat guys ask me what I'm fishing for. When I say bass, they seem surprised and of course I can't be a serious bass anglers with that boat. I'll tell you what though; one of my favorite things in sticking fish in front of those guys.

I don't know Justin, I've seen pics and heard stories about the whaler.  :-/ .  I'd probably look at you wierd too and ask you to "Git da buket!!"  ;D.

Most of the anglers that I know who are "good/great" fisherman don't drive bass boats.... well I don't think any of them do.   Most are Aluminum V hulls, or John boats, or fiberglass tri hull... with the exception of the whaler.  

I hear ya Fish, I give the cold shoulder to most guys when I start smelling BS.  Those lakes tend to always smell like that  :.  But having pics to prove it is a great idea!!!!

[Btech]

See, I would be gullible enough to believe it. Despite numerous times I have been shown otherwise, it is tough for me to think someone would just make something up like that.

I agree - Why do people have to lie about their catches? IF ya got it ya got it , if ya dont .... you dont.

Ill be the first to tell ya my BP was only 4.5 LB lol .  And that was PURE LUCK . I wouldnt try to lie about it and claim it was a 10lb.

Just tell the truth. It works out better in the long run.

[Daniel My Brother]

I'm pretty friendly at the dock. I'll always ask if they're biting, more if the guy seems like he wants to share.

I can't remember a time where someone told me a story that I just flat out didn't believe. It's probably happened, but it's certainly rare.

Maybe it's because I fish 10hp lakes...I believe these guys are just more concerned with fishing than boating....and more likely to play it close to the vest.

[tritz18]

not about the boat, its about the fishermen. And I have had my share of people BSing. A guy told us he caught a huge trout off the dock, funny thing is there are no trout in the pond I fish

[Wesley]

Yeah those guys with big bass boats suck and cant fish.  

[FordNFishinLover]

Yeah those guys with big bass boats suck and cant fish.

KVD, Skeet, Ike, Roland, Jones, fish from a big bass boat....

[Wesley]

Yeah those guys with big bass boats suck and cant fish.

KVD, Skeet, Ike, Roland, Jones, fish from a big bass boat....

you must have missed the sarcasm there.

[Mattlures]

It aint the boat. I now fish out of a nice big bassboat. Mike Long does and so does John Kerr. I do disagree with FC on them being a gass guzzler. They are only bad on gass if your going supeer fast. My boat will go scarry fast but I dont like to run that fast. I usualy go around 40-50mph and I dont go through that much gas. Its how you run your boat. A nice big boat for the most part is an advantage. I can store more stuff and keep it out of my way. If I have to make a longer run or if the water is rough I am much more comfortable. I have owned a 16ft aluminum and it did the job but it is not as comfortable or as stable as a big glass boat. I did get a plain colored one and I wont put any stickers on it. I want as little atention as possible while I am on the water.

I also agree with WRB, before I started selling baits I took pictures but mainly just for me, I only showed my closest friends. Now I show alot of people but I try to make it hard to tell where I was at.

As for guys lying about their fishes weights, that has always bothered me. I weight just about every fish I catch unless of course its not worthy.

[Micro]

In my neck of the woods, eastern Virginia, we don't have many big lakes where a super-big bass boat makes a lot of sense.  We have a lot of electric-only reservoirs and a couple of gas-motor lakes, and some rivers.   I certainly don't have anything against a big bass boat - I wish I had one.  

But I kind feel sorry for the guy with a $30,000+ boat and enough fish finder screens so that is looks like a floating Circuit City store.  That's the guy who can make it to a spot much faster than my boat can.  But can't squeeze between cypress trees or navigate between the log jams to make it to a secluded little cove.  

They guys that seem to do best on my home lake tend to be the guys who rent a beat up  12ft jon boat, a 6 hp motor and put a transom trolling motor on the bow.  Their rigs look ridiculous.  But they know the lake and clean up on big fish.

[MaineBassMan]

I usually act like I believe them and kind of blow them off, really don't care if they are telling me the truth or not, I know what is in the lake. I was taught by my Great Uncle and Grandfather not to brag too much about the fish we catch. If asked how we did we always say that it was slow and we only caught a few pickerel the bass weren't biting. Our lakes get very little fishing pressure why attract more? You have to water board me to get me to tell you what lake I caught my bass on if I show someone a picture of a big fish. Granted our bass are nowhere as big as yours but it is all relative to where you fish. To me a big smallmouth is anything over 4lbs,(3 pounders are nice), and 5lbs+ for a largemouth, (4 pounders are nice but I catch a good number of those).

I will ask if they weighed them on a good scale and if they say no I will not believe them. I caught a bunch of 5 pounders until I bought a nice scale. ;D

Boats make the fisherman look and feel good but it "DOES NOT MAKE THE FISHERMAN!"

[Tokyo Tony]

Yeah, well try showing up to the ramp with a car top canoe and a 30 lb thrust trolling motor  ;D

[bilgerat]

Reminds me of an obnoxious kid that was in our neighborhood growing up.

We were into street hockey big time, It was an obsession with us. We made nets out of scrap lumber, our goalie equipment was homemade, sticks taped together, yadda yadda. You get the point.

This kid's family was loaded. The old man drops big money on real goalie gear, from pads to mask and everything in between.

Problem was, he sucked. After a day of getting smoked, someone asked him if his dad could buy him some skills. We got a kick out of that.

[MitchIsFishin]

Fish Chris quotes:

But it's really funny how I get mostly ignored by "serious bass anglers" because of my boat. I mean, I can't be a "real" bass angler, who catches anything worth mentioning, from a 14ft aluminum, right

Chris, I would give my left nut, marinaded in formaldehyde, on a cherrywood display base of your choosing for a 14 foot aluminum boat.

Sounds like you have exactly what you need. The guys spending 40K+ on boats (unless rich) are nuts.

[Fish Chris]

Hey Mitch, it's kind of a funny story....

You know I was sponsored by G3 right ? Well, they went through the whole "are you worth sponsoring" thing, reviewing my resume, photos, writings, etc, "first".

Then, after everything has been considered, and they decided that I was worth sponsoring, they basically said, "Okay. Your in. What boat do you want" ? So I told them, I want this V143. To which they replied, "That's it ? You do realize that we will give you the same {very large} % off of whatever boat you choose, right" ? Well yes, I kind of assumed that..... But that V143, with electric start, and power trim, is pretty much my dream boat ! Anything bigger, and it would just be a cumbersome PITA (personally speaking) + the fact that anything that used more gas, would start to cut into my time on the water !

So they were like, "Uhhh.... Well okay. I don't think we have ever sponsored somebody with such a small light boat"...... To which I replied, "That's awesome :-) I prefer to be the oddball anyway" ;-)

So yea', I know a lot of guys would find it hard to believe, but my 14ft aluminum (for most of the different types of fishing I do anyway) really is my dream boat ! Hand picked, from every boat I could find and research on the internet, and customized by me, for me :-)

Peace,

Fish

[mrlitetackle]

personally i kinda like the guy whose just blowin smoke, cause i always have some larger fish pics on my phone.  It usually gets the same response....."oh crap, that was a beast..." or something along those lines.  But every once in a while you run into someone who can back their claims up....which is quite fun because it lights the fire in your belly to find the lunkers.......fish on my brothers!!!!