Longball22

I had issues committing to the Ned rig at first, so I just attached the bag to the rip cord on my inflating PFD so that I couldn't put it down....

I decided to go the binder route with my Ned stuff. Academy has a cool little binder with a small box on the front of it. I keep the jigs and glue in the box, and the Zinkerz in the bags, and you could keep the original bags this way if you wanted: http://www.academy.com/shop/ProductDisplay?urlRequestType=Base&productId=3421565&catalogId=10051&categoryId=&errorViewName=ProductDisplayErrorView&urlLangId=-1&attr=&langId=-1&top_category=&parent_category_rn=&storeId=10151#repChildCatid=3421566

I was out all weekend, and saw the Water Patrol heading from Pt 7 under the 13 bridge. Heard there was a collision at Aunt's Creek between a pontoon at and bass boat at night. 4 injured, no fatalities, but haven't seen anything published about it. Also had a wake boat cut around the inside of a point and about smoke us running 30 or 40 miles an hour. Had to back completely out of the throttle and they passed way too close across our bow. Assume everyone is a dumbass...

Don't get caught up in the number of ball bearings game. If they put quality bearings in a reel, they'd only need a few.

Saturday was a crazy day. Felt like I needed to take a number and get in line to get on a main lake point.

Dave, how do you like that Prodigy rod? I have the 7' Med Light, and think it's a sweet little rod for the $$$. Great for throwing the 1/16oz Ned IMO.

That is an interesting suggestion, but would definitely be a hard one to implement, and even harder to police. Unfortunately, if you're catfishing, panfishing, etc, you're more than likely going to inadvertently catch a bass, or several. We can have a paddlefish "season" because we don't catch many paddlefish while bass fishing (though it does happen). Putting an overall moratorium on fishing during the some of the best fishing month(s) of the year would more than likely anger the people you're trying to protect, as well as drop revenue for the area during this timeframe. The other question becomes when does it start, and when does it end? If you make all of April and May off limits, I'm selling my bass boat and buying the biggest wake boat I can find! (insert sarcasm here) The only "reasonable solution" along the lines you are thinking, in my opinion, would be to make the possession limit zero during the "spawn timeframe". This would make it legal to catch, but not to keep. This would make a ramp picture illegal during that time frame. This also takes tournaments off the table, because they couldn't carry fish to a weigh in. I'm not advocating, just saying this is probably the path of least resistance. I'd say it would be an uphill battle at the very least.

Love the title of your post. Didn't have the issues you did today, but could not buy a strike. Threw the kitchen sink at them.....

Yes, 3 per person. My interpretation would be that this means 2 in the livewell per person if you're still actively fishing. 3 and you'd better be headed for the scales...

Important to note you can only have a maximum of three fish in your possession at any time.

Bo just likes the jig you're using.

I've used Ulrich several times. They're a certified Mercury shop, so that's a big plus. I have a 150 Opti, and they have had parts in stock for any replacements. I was told they keep two motors worth of parts for the 90 thru 250 Opti's. Prices always seem reasonable for the services rendered, and they have always explained the work they have done to me upon completion.

Agreed, that Cabela's setup is the deal. The Laser MG combos are not bad at all. I have both, but if you can spend a few extra bucks and move up to the MSB "MultiSet Brake" from the MCS "MagneticCastingSystem", you're doing yourself a favor. I personally believe having that centrifugal brake alongside the magnetic is hard to beat, particularly for training a beginner. My buddy had never had a baitcaster in his hand before last summer. I set him up with a BPS Pro Qualifier, and in a day we had him eased off the brakes and making pretty good casts, with minimal backlashes. In regards to Lew's reels, I picked three of these in the 300 size up at Sportsman's last year, and absolutely love them: http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Lews_Tournament_Pro_HP_Spinning_Reel/descpage-LT.html I really like that wide spool for fluoro, as Dave mentioned above. Sorry to hear others had issues with them. I also have three or four older Quantum Accurist reels, and two of them get heavy use without flinching. The titanium bail wires were a nice touch on those.

I was told that BPS Excel is made by Sufix, and I agree that it is pretty good line for the $$$. The BPS fluorocarbon is an interesting story. I believe they changed manufacturers a few years back, when it went from the white box to the yellow/purple. I have tried both, and I think there is a noticeable difference in the new stuff. It is terrible! I actually found several spools of the old white boxes in the Catalog Outlet last year, and haven't looked back.

Guys, Just thought I'd pass this one along, after I ordered mine . Cabelas has the HDS-7 Gen2 Touch Marked down to $699 online right now, and Lowrance is giving a $100 rebate on that unit. I've been looking at all my options to upgrade, and was looking at the Gen3's, but couldn't pass this up for half the price. http://www.cabelas.com/product/boating/marine-electronics/sonars-sonar-gps-combos%7C/pc/104794380/c/104707080/sc/104588280/lowrance-reg-hds-7-gen2-touch-sonar-gps-combo-with-hdi-transducer/2130797.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Fsonars-sonar-gps-combos%2F_%2FN-1100517%2FNo-48%2FNs-MIN_SALE_PRICE%3FWTz_st%3DGuidedNav%26WTz_stype%3DGNP%26recordsPerPage%3D48

I'm with Ham on the jigging spoon, or replacing the treble on something like this and making your own underspin?

I like the Power Pro super 8 slick. 15/4 seems to be what works best for me. You can get this in the high-vis yellow or green. I have not tried nano-fil, but plan to this spring, so we'll see how that goes.

I agree. I want to say this would be a good square bill substitute, but there was no way I could burn it at all without it rolling over on me.

Additionally, the Academy South of Springfield started stocking RKCrawlers, and they are $8.99 there. Best price I've seen on them, and they probably had 40 of them on Friday.

RPS, I found the Wild Thing at Academy Friday night, and tried it a bit this weekend. After about 20 minutes of trying to tune it (Yes, I can tune a Wart and a RKCrawler if needed), I took it off and retired it. You have to work it REALLY slow to get it down, and it seems to bottom out at 6 feet or so on 10lb fluoro. I'm not impressed at all. I only tried one, so hopefully I purchased a bad one, because I really like the colors, and it throws a mile.

Great, I'm headed down this weekend, and will be at Port of Kimberling. Right in the middle of your "dead zone" Bill. Any suggestions as far as which direction I should head to cut down on travel and get to catchable fish?

I found this in a lurepartsonline catalog that came in the mail this week. Was skeptical at first glance, but actually impressed with how it performs in the water. Might have to give this one a whirl when it's jig & tube time.....

I'm curious about the Stormr, because neoprene is notorious for not being breathable. I suppose it would be warm on a nasty, nasty day, but I would think you'd be sorry on a warmer day. Maybe they've done something with their neoprene, or there are panels on it that have breathable fabric. I used to do a lot of backcountry backpacking, and waterproof/breathable was always the name of the game. After the original Gore-Tex patents expired, the market for this type of product got really muddied up. 2-layer vs. 3-layer, Gore-Tex vs. generic, etc. A lot of companies have now spun off their own "waterproof/breatheable" membrane, and Cabela's or BPS with Bone Dry or Dry Plus are good examples of such. The concept is 99% the same, back a fabric with porous Teflon to allow water vapor to escape from the inside, but not penetrate the outside. First, I am a bit of a brand-whore, but Gore-Tex does one thing these other companies don't. These companies all independently test their products for water resistance, to varying degrees of diligence. If you want to have the Gore-Tex name on your product, however, the Gore company does it's own testing on top of the manufacturers to ensure it meets their standards. They also require that all seams be taped to ensure waterproofing, which some others do not. Bottom Line: If I'm spending $200 plus on a jacket, I like to know that the waterproofing experts since 1969 have had their hands on my product, and that two companies have tested it prior to market exposure.

I snagged BPS 100mph bibs on sale in the fall, and was impressed, but I bought the Cabela's Guidewear Xtreme Parka before Christmas, and I'm much more impressed with design and quality than the BPS counterpart. I'll be buying the matching bibs now that they are on sale at Cabela's. FYI, the uninsulated pieces are going for $200 a piece, and the insulated "late season" ones are going for $165 a piece right now. I personally prefer to layer instead of having an insulated shell, but that's a terrific price for the insulated ones if you are interested in going that route.

Got out yesterday before all the rain started. Fished from the 13 bridge to Aunts Creek and up the mouth of the white. Cranked the banks the first few hours of light, and only mustered a few bites, best being a 14" smallie. Switched to the jigging spoon/jig game out deep and followed Bo and Bill's lead. I could find the fish on roll offs, but could not get them to bite, and the wind made it incredibly difficult to stay on them if you caught a fish and fired them up. Caught one nice spot(attached) at around 17", and a few others with him. Ended with 12 fish total, 3 of which were keepers(9 on the spoon, 2 on a Rock Crawler, 1 on a 3/8oz. blade in mouse). Tried the Jewel Scuba Spoon today, and as you can see from the picture, it matched the hatch pretty well (one of the spots puked that shad up). Really like the fishability of that spoon, and was skeptical because it is so heavy/compact.