Ed, Well are glad you put the first Marry Christmas thread! Especially since it sounds like your going to spend a little quality family time away from a keyboard. Have a Wonderful Christmas! BCB
On the USA and Canadian border, fishing Lake of the Isles at 1000 Islands, Saint Lawrence and Lake Ontario for the BASS Northern Open. I hung out late that morning rather than depart at pre dawn and watched the NY news. They were telling those going to work that it was the last beautiful day of the year, and it would be a great day to just stay home or go to Central Park. Fortunately many of those office workers did stay home and apparently they had a high absence. God preempted and lowered our losses his way and knew to do so. As the first jet impacted the trade center, a cabin remodeling worker came down the bank a few yards and said, “a jet just hit the top of the trade center!”. I went back fishing and in a few minutes he came out yelling, then another one had hit the other tower and we were under attack. The rest unfolded before us and we all were and still are in awe. We stayed for practice through that next day and it was absolutely gorgeous with no wind on Ontario. Almost glassy smooth, no jet trials or noise overhead and no other traffic. Lots of solitude. They canceled the event that morning and we headed out. Ive said before, it was the first time to see convoys of troops under armed escort, locked and loaded with sentry at every stop. There was no hesitancy on this mission. Driving home the skies were crystal clear and no contrails. Now like LOZ said, lets finish the job. RickLast edited by Rick Pierce on September 11th, 2009, 2:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Guys, I know there are about a dozen or so of you enthusiasts who will be meeting there are Lukes place to chaw the fat and enjoy some conversation. The ribbing will start there and never end through out the year till you get your next “fix”. I wish I could make it down there and may some day, though I am going to kick into fall here in Mountain Home and finish some stuff that is needed here. Also drive that grueling distance over to Lake Norfork for some fall fishing that goes on here this time of year. You know that 4 mile drive is brutal. Really though, I do wish I could make it and I hope you all have a great time there talking, fishing and arguing! Rick
Guys, Here is an original piece of acrylic rails from July. 2004, that we placed on top of the metal roof of a building. Exactly Five (5) years later we removed it for inspection up close. This project started on the very first hand rails for our knowledge when we started the Puma in 2004, 2005 model year and is off the original rail cut. This rail had some trash and overspray from laying up there, out back where the fans vent. Though it really is in almost pristine condition on the plastic (acrylic) rail. We have not done anything to it other than clean with soap and water after pulling it down. It also only has slight yellowing. We have others in testing also as we go along through seasons. We have found the acrylic rails to out perform expectations if they are cleaned with soap and water. Waxes, compounds and other cleaners do seem to crystalize the surface and permit more yellowing and crazing. Almost softening the outer shell. You will notice a clean with mild soap and water label on a new windscreen. Now you know why they want that tag left there for you the consumer to see. Our suggestion is to clean it as described, and if not, then we have found you will see this result. Rick
When we discuss Sam Rayburn Reservoir, there are plenty of areas where more fish grow larger. Though they are all what we term little meccas. Our discussion is that there are all sorts of hot spots for competitive fishing. Lake Erie, Kentucky Lake, Guntersville, Okeechobee, The Delta, Lake of the Ozarks, Grand Lake and more. These are all Meccas that tournament anglers revolve around regionally and each has its own little dominance in their regions. Though there is only one Kingdom and that is Sam Rayburn. One has to experience it, to realize just how much tournament fishing has influenced that area. It is phenomenal how much Jasper, Texas gains from Sam Rayburn. They have no idea how much, and they have a better idea than most. Kentucky Lake and Guntersville also have a pretty good understanding of how important tournament anglers are to their economies. We once thought about rotating lakes for the Owners Invitational, one year here at home on Lake Norfork, and another year on Sam Rayburn, Coming back home to Norfork, then going out to Guntersville, and continue that rotation across the country in strong BCB areas. Rick
Out before daylight in a tree stand counting does. And now turkey day 2.
Just wish TCU had a shot at the Tide. That might be a better game than the one we could see. Cincy Bearcats played good enough to challenge Texas for a 3rd place finish. The present system is better than a few years back, though with the number of undefeated teams we have today it seems a better one is still needed to unwind a voting process. Cincinnati and Texas both had closer games which were last minute wins and stats that were not as impressive as others. If Alabama does not play up to potential and dominate Texas, are they the Number One team? If TCU rolls hard and wins do they deserve a title?
The boys (3) and I are in the ESPN College Bowl Mania, here is what I predicted. I was influenced on the first couple by my youngest and went for the underdog on the ones I felt could be close. Here are what was played: Fresno State UCF Middle TN Brigham Young Cal Nevada Ohio Pitt BC Kentucky Gerogia UCLA Wisconsin Bowling Green Nebraska Houston OU Sooners Missouri Minnesota Virginia Tech Auburn Florida State Penn State Ohio State Florida South Florida South Carolina Mississippi Razorbacks – Loyalist Hopeful Texas Tech TCU – GO Frogs! Gerogia Tech Central Michigan Alabama 34- 23 But I think Texas wants a Basketball, Football and a Baseball National Championship in the same year – so no call here
You need to get some help from the factory and not the dealer you have been using. A 10″ plate is not the answer! And that little 2.5 Merc is a fine product, though a little light on the bottom end. Seek more information from someone who knows more than your local mechanic shop. They sound ready to take your money, and you will be left without either performance you desire or the cash you spent.
Gary, The real question is the engine and not the hull. That hull really likes a Tempest, and the Yamaha engine runs well with the Tempest. Though not all engines like a Tempest on that hull. For example the Evinrude we found likes a Trophy on a Pantera Classic, while they prefer the Raker II. Now for some reasons a Yamaha engine has always liked a Tempest propeller in some set ups. They just seem to run well with a Tempest in a lot of different combinations. These all vary based upon differences in weight, height and other factors. The Fury is a very user friendly wheel, and some prefer it. We have heard of lower 70s with a Fury, though we have not quite gotten what others claim on this application. The Trophy is the one I found best on those we have set up. The Tempest we have run ran well, though the other prop found a little more on the top and a lot more in the efficiency area. Seeing better fuel mileage and performance at varied RPMs. That is why we suggest a Trophy often on this set up. Though for the casual everyday angler who just wants a solid carefree use of the rig, a Fury is hard to beat. Hope you can use this to figure out whatever you are trying to achieve. Rick
The trip from Brodie to Little Rock I have done out of the upper Little Rock pool several times, Murray Park and Burns. You can make it easily on the fuel you have, and especially if you back off a smidge. This was a frequent in the 1970s and 1980s during Mr Bass and Arthritis Tournaments. Some even stretched that trip from Little Rock to Dumas and Pendleton, though the barge traffic often shut them down, often by mere minutes.The mileage we do not recall to Brodie, though it was a common run years ago and still is a nice option. You can go on to the Rising Star pool also with the fuel you have, though you will have to watch the extra as you are traveling up river coming back against the current. Rick
It is actually the company that bought Ranger at Auction from their Bankruptcy, which owns Ranger, Champion and Stratos, not Ranger themselves. There is an article on Bass Fan regarding this. Only time will tell if rumors are real, though our industry indicators are very solid that Bass Fan has good information. They (Jon Storm & John Johnson0 have been chastised for their investigative reporting on rumors in the past, though our information in the industry has always shown them to be spot on to developments, whether or not those developments progress or are executed. They seem to have the inside loop others dont get a handle on unless it develops. RickLast edited by Rick Pierce on July 14th, 2010, 12:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Man that was a long time ago! Back in about 1990 to be exact. That was back when windows was just hitting 3.1 Windows, and long before Windows 95. This is a trip donw memory lane with some history and nostalgia. If you see the Penns again tell them I said hello. We have not communicated in a couple years with them at Southwest. It actually was a piece of cardboard box lid, and they had a small electronics shop someone found and put us together. The individual had come to us through a friend and we were considering project like this. It was the type of cutting edge stuff that we try to do and this was no simple innovation. That was the largest screen Standish Hamlin had ever built at the time, and we were buying the Motorola parts, Silicone Key Pads and more to assemble the units. Not many had wave flux solder baths then and some of the PC boards were manually soldered. Later one was acquired and the process picked up. Here is another bit of trivia most wont realize. The BP-100 and BP 101 projects were a tremendous success for Bass Cat Boats. At the time we were having lots and lots of switch troubles as McGill and Carling were switches that depended on silicone or some form of neoprene boots. The move to the Sabre and Pantera II dashes required a more aesthetic switch, and the marine industry followed overall leaving toggle switches that required boots and worked fine till a bird pecked the boot or moisture from humidity got in there. The switches were not good for the marine industry and there was not a good one. The failure rate was atrocious and we had ETA circuits breakers that no matter what we did they would vibrate loose and fail some as well. Our largest warranty item were the switches and breakers, mostly switches by far. Then pumps were the next item. Had Carling built the switch we have now, then we probably would never have started the project. The move to BP dashes was a great mechanical move. It knocked our actual dash warranty down to nearly none, though the dashes were constantly being blamed for a bad sending unit, failing pump, trim sender that would not work, an air temp probe that was crushed on a stump, and little glitch with a Dow product was our only real failure once production started. The BP-101 was even improved greatly over that. Mind you this was in our strongest time as we were running at max capacity when the other competitive companies were not. The Pantera II and Sabre models were that desired. Though as good as the BP dashes were for BCB, no one ever figured out that they also needed maintenance, nor did hard core anglers accept a change in the move from analog to digital. It didnt matter that their truck had a computer dash, as it looked mechanical to them. Acceptance was not good and while we shed problem, we shed some consumers along the way who would not accept this new technology. It was cutting edge, and the market was not nearly as willing to accept it in the 93- 95 time frame it was introduced. So what was a great mechanical direction, was a bad market direction. Though from this was developed the Smart Craft system, the newer multi digital gauges of others and more. There were Teleflex, Medallion and Yamaha gauges that were LCD, though only the window was a digital gauge. There were not smart systems as we have today. There you have it a little trip down the road of BCB and the most successful and worst failure we probably had in the time. We still miss those digital dashes of the late 90s and if we could afford to have one today it would solve a lot of our issues we all see now. Though the learning curve on what broke and why as well as acceptance was just too steep. Thanks for the memory jog!Rick
Watched plenty of does in the Saturday AM fog, 10 pt. buck was too far off as does warned him and a 6 point club head still in velvet. Does stayed and pestered me. Boat was loaned out to John Crews on an absolutely beautiful day when they are literally slaying them on some areas of Bull Shoals. Watched first quarter of a ball game that did not meet expectations. Then went back to farm to shoot and work, turned off radio in second half after touchdown. Best part of the day is it was absolutely gorgeous and got to spend it outside, and Tyler Wilson showed some brightness in an otherwise convoluted ball game. Cam Newtons something!Last edited by Rick Pierce on October 18th, 2010, 12:13 am, edited 1 time in total.
The geographic location of Time On The Water puts them covering the entire northern half of IL quite well. From Champaign/Danville to Davenport/MS River, and north to Chicago and Rockford areas they are right in the heart of the circle. The northern half of IL is now covered. Frank seems prepared to offer what other BCB dealers do in service and sales. We are very pleased to have them select Bass Cat as a product line. Good things to come and more announcements we hope to follow this one in other vacant areas soon! Rick
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