Champ188

Boat looks great, Spoony. Nice job. Now go enjoy it!

Welcome to the group, Cobra. Glad to have you! As Cheesemaster said, please consider joining us for the annual one-bass fun derby on March 11 at Eagle Rock. It's far more about getting together than competition. Sorry you had a tough day but those happen this time of year a lot more than any of us like.

Great news, buddy. Will be great to see you and to meet Idle Time.

Top 3 works for me, too. I would also be happy with golf balls. Callaway Superhot 55's for me. What say you, Vernon?

Like most folks who aren't touring pros, I spend more than 90% of my day fishing instead of running. I'm a lot more concerned about comfort, stability and room to move around without falling overboard off a narrow front deck. And I also value comfort and safety over speed when I do choose to run. As the old bumper stickers used to say: I Love My Ranger.

Hey Mr. On-topic, stop hijacking the thread!

I couldn't agree more on the music/commercial BS but I would say with that being an ESPN station, Don is at the mercy of people way above his pay grade. I know none of you are blaming him, just sayin ... Crap, look what ESPN did to BASS ... turned it into a circus/freakshow rather than a tournament circuit. And although they no longer own it, McKinnis has been closely aligned with ESPN since their inception. I'm with Vernon on Zona --- he makes me want to yack. I think Donna still likes some of his stuff but that's an area where she and I have to agree to disagree. And neither of us can stomach Mercer. G-G-G-G-G-GIANT BASS! Heaven help us.

I fished from Duck Creek down toward the dam. I'm afraid you'll find it even tougher above there ... the water is dirty and colder. I'm sure there's some clearer, warmer water up in the Elk but that stuff will be so covered up in the BFL that you'll have to take a number to fish. Evers only had 24 competitors on the last day of the Classic last year. I can't imagine how crowded the Elk will be this spring since he hammered that big sack up there to win it.

Snakes I can deal with in a calm, rational manner. These are another story completely. Badly allergic.

Heckuva lot better than I did at Grand. Did not catch a bass from 9-4:30. One drum saved me from a total skunk.

Maybe some tees, divot tool, groove brush ...

Shut it and go melt some lead.

Glad you two got out and caught a few. Anything in January is a bonus, especially a day with air temps in the 60s.

Thumbs didn't say everyone with a glass boat is an idiot wannabe pro, but there is certainly a detectable population of them. In just a few weeks, we'll again be reading right here about how our members got cut off, nearly run over, etc., by The Few, The Proud, The Stupid.

Decided to wait til tomorrow for the Grand expedition. I'll be happy to share the results if anyone's interested. Taking a friend over there Friday for a little tournament scouting.

Sorry about you having to find all new places but sure is nice having double the fish on my spots these days.

It's like marking your golf balls the day before a tournament. Something just doesn't seem right about it. I always mark mine sitting in the cart line before takeoff.

I know what you're up to, you scoundrel ... you and your boat-selling buddy have access to a tin boat so you want to keep me and Donna on the bank. Well, you can fah-git about that ... we will be there with our Redfins. Be happy to buy you guys a burger on the way home with our winnings. LOL

^^ That's some great information right there, folks. Thanks, BB.

Congrats on a speedy recovery, QB. Glad you're back.

Well, on the subject of critters, my big tomcat buddy Henry decided at 5 a.m. it was time for me to get up. So yes, Mike, I'm considering a little sojourn over to Grand Lake.

Enjoying nature is a give-and-take deal. The critters were there first, so you have to expect that you emight get a little poop on your dock. That's not directed at you, Spoony, just a general comment to the entire thread. And yes, beware of any otters/beavers/badgers/aardvarks or related creatures you may run across in the river arms. They very well may be part of my security network to keep you hooligans off my holes.

Jerry, I have heard from more than one source (maybe even in this giant thread) that there is zero prize money, but everyone gets an equal share of the TV revenue. Just repeating what I've heard.

I gave a passing thought to trying one Saturday. And you're right. That A-rig gets very tiresome very fast when they aren't smashing it. Seemingly they should hit a slow-rolled spinnerbait if they'll hit the A-rig. At least you proved that to be true. Congrats on the big fish. If you had your hands on it, he was caught.

That's correct, QB. The rigs are all supplied for them by Nitro, BCB and Phoenix. Gotta say it's kinda irritating that at the beginning of every show they say "The Nitro Z18's have been splashed." What, they think we are too stupid to see there are also some BassCats and Phoenix rigs in the mix?