J-Doc

Which is what I tell people when they ask me why didn't I get a bass boat. I say.. ."I did. Just a lot cheaper than yours". And my front deck is bigger than your deck" Lol!!

Agreed. I've heard this is how it goes also from others. Pultrusion tech. It's awesome. To be able to take a resin based product and make it so hard that you can tap and thread it like steel, become stronger than steel yet lighter than steel......and you can extrrude (in this case, pultrude) it is amazing tech. I don't see Nitro changing or adding this though.

I doubt it. I think everything will stay the same on the surface. It will be a while before things change and it won't be that noticeable to the public. Warranty work and other issues will become a pain I bet. Quality issues may become an issue in ling term. But I bet Ranger will refuse to sacrifice quality. They already made Stratos and Triton improve some things for floatation and other small differences. Just my opinion anyway

Excellent point. Hadn't even wrapped my brain around that one yet. Ranger has been plugging Rudes for quite a while. Not anymore....

The local Cabelas has Triton, Stratos, and Ranger but now that this has occured, my guess is no. I myself am not happy with this because I fear the parent company will drive down cost cutting measures to cut production costs and make the boats more affordable. That's how they mass produce the bejeezas out of their Nitro/Tracker lines. Cut production costs to make more sell more. That's why they are so affordable because they cut down on material costs. The reason Ranger is so much more than most is the quality of the resin used and the amount used (most Ranger glass hulls are thicker, thus more resin, thus more cost). I myself fear this could be a bad thing. A monopoly. The only large bass boat companies not owned by Bass Pro will be Skeeter, Phoenix, Legend, and Bass Cat. And Skeeter is owned by Yamaha. Bass Cat, Legend, and Phoenix are the only independantly owned companies left.

Whatever they will bite. Not being sarcastic there. Being serious. I try lots of types. Some will outpeform others from one hour to the next. Sometimes one spoon will out perform the other regardless of color. I honestly don't think color is the key, it's the vibration. I try to match what they are eating and I use light line to help reduce line vibration.

Oh if I only could. I'd so do it.

Yeah. I enjoyed that one A LOT!!!!! You zeroed that day. I test a new prop on the boat and catch the easiest fish of my life in under 10 seconds. Drop motor Turn on graph Drop spoon on fish Shake, shake shake....... Set hook. Lol!!!! I don't care that it was an 8" spot. I found a fish on the graph, dropped to him, saw him hit it on graph and set hook on my new spoon rig. Really liking that $30 el cheapo Diawa rod!!! Works great for me. Lol

Always bite during the week when I'm working.

Legalized extortion. Hmmm..... I still say DC handled it much better than most if not all of us.

FOX hat??? http://youtu.be/kb0kiiB3O-o

Must have moved to the area. Originally from Mayberry RFD. Lol!! "Check point chicky!!" Ha!! (Old Barney Fife reference)

Man that hat looks WARM!!!! :-) Yep. I saw a few on the graph this afternoon. I was testing props and didn't have time to fish for them. Looks like a nice dinner plate to me. Check out my gumbo and blackened fish recipe here. Just grilled up some striper this weekend. Delicious!!!!

Yeah...... Isn't it great!!!!! Lol!! I love mine. I use 4 screens all at one time. And I use all 4 of them. GPS, sonar, structure scan, and side scan. I'd have another 10 if I could have afforded it. I'd use that one just for GPS or just for side scan. Whichever I wanted to focus on more. You're so about to become spoiled too.

Installation is pretty simple. I can help. I paid dealer to install mine because it was new and I was lazy. Lol! I also had $500 free labor.

If it somehow makes you feel any better (probably not), I have an entire box dedicated to "Skunkworks" gear from the baits you sent me. I thought I had lost them when I moved everything from my old boat to the new one. I found the tackle box late this fall and I will be testing the jigs out over the next few months! And I will GLADLY write up a review on them. The quality is just awesome. So much better than mass produced jigs. I need to place an order when supplies get low! :-)

I was thinking the same thing. And this couldn't have happened to a nicer guy too. Really sorry to hear this. I had my crappie box stolen right off my boat last year. I know who did it too (I'm about 90% sure) and I can't prove it or do anything about it. I probably lost $250-$300 worth of gear and some was not even open (new packages).

And like Beaver Lake often does, here today, gone tomorrow. Seems the bait is on the move up river. The massive school has dispersed and broken up into smaller groups. Caught 4 hynvrids with Feathers&Fins today in two very long passes. Got to meet Doohicky at the ramp at Monte Ne. Those OAF stickers are a dead giveaway. If you see any OAF stickers, be sure and meet each other. Good group of folks here. :-)

Ah man!!! You had me litterally chuckling!! The point was to post documented proof that the lake is abundantly healthy with a plethora of baitfish. Not about catching fish. It's a feedback slaunchfest right now.

Lol!!! The teacher has spoken.

Here is another one with explanations showing fish on regular 2D sonar and the same fish on both side scan and downscan imaging.

I've got open spots in the boat frequently. Bring it....

I caught some. Well one. Only made two passes today. Kids got cold super fast so made it extra short trip. Going back tomorrow with spoons.

A new screenshot from my HDS10 with explanations of what you're seeing.