Saw a Cat Show Today

My p2 is excellent in skinny water. It handles great and doesnt draft much of anything on pad. The sabre I had would out handle my p2 and would probably be faster in a tight turn race.

1hoteyra wrote:Was fishing Smithville Resevoir today in Missouri. Smithville is 7200 acre reservoir. Have one main river channel, rest are creek channels. None are marked. All standing timber and stumps. Creek channels are about 30 ft wide. Saw boat in other creek hauling arse, was running round 50 mph myself. Bout 5 minutes later had just shut the Eyra down in creek to idle into cove and Pantera came flying by at a safe distance-but still hauling arse. Now this creek channel is obstacle course with hairpin curves and stumps/trees if you veer. I was impressed with performance of his rig and driving skills as he ran the creek. Never seen any other rig navigate that creek like that Pantera, was impressed! Does Pantera shine in skinny water? Smithville is my home lake, and it holds some really excellent bass– 8.5 lbs took big bass a couple weeks ago at a local tourney. Now is the time of year most of those 8s and 9s are caught. Its a really beautiful lake and a lot of fun to fish in all that flooded timber, and I grew up fishing the lake first from a Deluxe Tournament model, then a Caracal and then from multiple Panteras. The P2 was/is one of the most perfect bass boats ever made in my opinion– not too big to easily navigate tight creek arms but with a fast, smooth, high, dry ride in the rough stuff, and super stable no matter where you stand on them to fish. Big livewells, lots of storage, the ride… and they just looked darn pretty, too, with those fins on the gunnels in the original models. It was like fishing from a hot-rodded 57 Chevy. (The modern version is a looker, too!) Right now the lake is a little over a foot low because we just havent had enough rain yet this Spring. They let a lot of water out in January probably thinking itd fill back up before the spawn, but its been slow to rise. Hopefully the most recent rains and more to come in May will get the water up and the bass will have a chance to spawn in the best areas. Last year the water was up to the bottom of the bridges for a big part of the Summer, and the fish had lots of new cover and low fishing pressure to be left alone and feed. Im anxious to see how that improves the size structure this year even further.There are lots of safe places to run wide open on Smithville, but above the Highway W bridge its a bad idea. Lots of tree tops you dont know are there, and there are really only two safe paths to get through them near the old Trimble Lake area– one on each side of the main channel. South of the W bridge you can pretty much run all the way down and there arent many creek arms along that stretch to worry about boats flying out of because they dont go very far back along there. You do have to watch for skiers, tubers, and PWCs the further down you get, though. That stretch is one of those where it pays to name every laydown, because you can run & gun, stopping at each one to throw a lizard or brush hog at each one and then just move on down. They all hold bass until the dead heat of July/August.Back when Smithville Marine was a Bass Cat dealership, you just about couldnt drive through Smithville from March to November without seeing at least one Pantera model being towed up or down 169– and at least a few more sitting under car ports next to houses along the way.I havent been on the lake yet this year– I need to get out there!