amboyduke

Mr Babler, I come to this board as an angler wishing to gather fishing information and this is a wonderful board to do that. I do not come here as a Bass Pro representative trying to influence anyone to shop there. If you re-read my post you will see that I encourage others to shop whereever they want and that I do as well. Certainly no ill will is held to anyone who chooses to shop elsewhere. Once again, the reason I visit this board is the quality of information you receive on local lakes. I appreciate everyone that shares inforamtion and I pay especially close attention to your posts because of the value of information you share. You go out of your way to explain how to catch fish and I thouroughly enjoy reading them and applying the information. I would say that most everyone on here feels the same and values what you have to say. It is only when you make statements like you did in the Lews post and I qoute "The marketing stradgity did indeed switch to WalMart. BP is still a great place to get the things you need and a wondefulr place to stroal around if the time share people are not bugging you to death. As long as you buy major brands there you are in great shape. Just don't by house brands. That more than includes the Boats. That is for another day." When you tell people don't buy house brands and especially the boats, I get on the defensive because I have had great success with house brands and the boats. We are both entitled to our opinions, and usually I just brush off any negative posts about BPS and go on. This one struck a nerve and I felt the need to respond. Perhaps I should have just moved on as I usually do, and now I wish I had done so. Mr. Babler, if you have had bad experience with the products you have every right to share that with others. It just seems to me that sometimes you go overboard and since you are the moderator of this board and highly respected by all including me, I feel at times you should filter your opinions sometimes and keep it to what this board is designed to be, about fishing and all those who love it like we do. But, this is only my opinion. I think BPS should advertise on here and have suggested this. Like all businesses, our advertising budgets are pretty tight but hopefully this can happen at some point. I did suggest to Oakley that they advertise on here and see that they have, so hopefully that brought in a little revenue. I vow to only discuss fishing on any future posts and will continue to look forward to your posts on how to catch fish. I won't get defensive in regards to anything you have to say about BPS, boats or equipment as you have every right to express your views. I appreciate this board and the people on it, especially yourself. Now I am getting off here to get ready to go catch a few in this cold weather I hope. Thanks for listening and good fishing.

Here we go

Fins and Feathers good points. Like I said, I don't agree with all the policies in place and understand some frustrations when looking for help in the showroom. I ran into this at Best Buy yesterday. Bunch of people working there and no one would help me. I have voiced my opinions in some areas but sometimes have to tread lightly. There have been some changes on the boat divisions at the BPS stores, some are better ran than others. A good dealer is a big key to happiness with a boat. Some are better than others, and that is all I will say about that. Thanks for the comments thus far. Not meant to ruffle feathers. We all love fishing and all have room to play in the sand box.

Champ, Glad you see some of my points. I would think even more people would enter if there is a chance to win a draw boat. I know I would have a better chance than relying on my performance Not to be an ahole but your comment about Randy and D&R is accurate but D&R is also a huge Triton dealer and Randy's son Jonathon runs Triton. My point exactly, sometimes people's opinions think they are right on but dig deeper in the facts and not necessarly accurate. KVD is going to run the boat he wants, could easily be a Triton to not snub his brother.

Sholder I did not mean to come across as threatening and apologize if I came across as that way. My point was that when someone states that they know big changes are in the works and I know for a fact that nothing has been decided, I want people to know the truth. This could cause potential buyers to hold off on a purchase and that is not cool. I hope you understand. Once again, I am not trying to pick fights and figured I would get hammered on this post. Good fishing everyone.

Quillback testimonials are a great idea. I understand taking pro recommendations with a grain of salt. My point was to get feedback from individual owners for feedback about their boats and take opinions of non-owners with a grain of salt as well. I know numerous locals that would love to tell people about their Nitro boats. I myself would be happy to give anyone a demo ride. I don't know how many Nitro owners are on this board but I am sure they are scared to speak up about their boats for fear of being hammered, and that is a shame. That should not be what a fishing forum is about. I am never ashamed of Nitro and BPS and proud the fly the colors and know many that are. I never cut down another boat brand and don't believe in that philosophy. The dealer is also a big part of the deal. Some are better than others. You used to be able to take demo rides in Branson until the flood damage. Sorry again for my novel. I have a passion when I see rumors or half truths by those who think they are in the know when really they are not. And once again, everyone has their right to their opinions and you know what opinions are like. Good fishing!

You guys are right. I should have kept my opinino to myself. I apologize and didnt' mean to ruffle feathers and bring down this board. I will not visit the boat again. Sorry I should not get so defensive. I made a mistake. Enjoy the board.

I have not been a B.A.S.S. Elite Marshal but have been a co-angler and observer at a few PAA events. It is a great experience and you will learn alot just watching the pro fish. You will see why they are so much better than the average tournament angler in the way they locate fish and present their baits. Depending on who you draw, they may or may not be very talkative. I wouldn't ask alot of questions at first and you will get a feel if they want to talk and reveal any information or just concentrate on fishing. Some will share and others don't want to talk at all. Pack lightly, bringing a lifejacket, rainsuit and minimal snacks, drinks. Most will let you use their cooler. Always be prepared to put on your lifejacket and be ready to go when the pro is ready. They will usually give you notice that they will make a couple more casts before going to the next spot and that is your signal to get ready. I wouldn't eat a large Mexican meal and drink a bunch of beer the night before, treat it like a tournament you were going to fish, I don't think you will have any issues. The marshal program will put a little more responsibility on you to make sure the pro abides by all rules but the main thing to remember is be ready and stay out of their way when they are fighting a fish. It will be a great experience for you although after a few hours you will be wishing you could fish with them.

Just to set the record straight, the videos from Wired2Fish were actually shot at a Tracker Media event a couple of weeks after the Busch Guide event out of Big Cedar. Kevin caught quite a few fish at the Media event and got some great footage with many bass publications. At the earlier Busch event Kevin gets to "Guide" a group of people for 1 hour at a time and then switch over to the next group of people. The guides then get them for the rest of the day, that is why they generally catch more fish with the guide as they have them for 6-7 hours and KVD has them for one. Kevin said he knew he could catch more fish dropshotting but the contest winners he guides only have an hour with him and most like to see him throw the power baits he is known for so that is what he does. KVD usually does not have trouble catching them on TR or anywhere. Just sayin'

Me and my buddy fished same area 6:30 to 1:30 and had good success with a trick worm on a shakeyhead up until dark. Had a few blowups on topwater but never hooked up, catching them so good on shakeyhead was hard to throw anything else. After dark action slowed a little but still caught them on a jig and texas rig powerworm, a few on single spin. Had 11 keepers total and over 50 fish. Main lake points in 10-15' of water. No big fish but lots of action and the fish were fighting hard and jumping 3' out of the water. Great fun!