Interesting question on gas…a lot of talk about this has been on http://www.fishwrench.com and http://www.excelbass.com. The going rate for Ams seems to be around $20-$30 with some paying as much as $40. Some pay based on how the pro treated them – almost viewed as a tip more than gas money. Some of the pros said they always want to be offered money, but some may refuse it because they’d be fishing the tourney with or without the am.

I guess the next time I fish as an Am I’m going with $30. I need to be considerate of the time the pro put into pre-fishing; not just the time spent on the water with me. I used to pay $20, but that was when gas was only $2.29 per gallon. Yikes!

One of my prostaffers just started throwing a 7’6″ moderate tipped Fishwrench Field Commander rod…loves it! Long casting, and super lightweight. It weight less than a lot of 6’6″ rods. Says it loads up real nice.

For cranks, and just about any other bass fishing, I use Abu Garcia reels. My latest is an Abu Garcia Revo STX…very nice reel; smooth, long casting, and very little in the way of backlash, even when I make a stupid cast.

Two trips to Canada with two entirely different results. In 2006 Gulp wasn’t pulling in as many walleyes as the minnows other guys were using, but the size of the catch was way up over live bait. Where others were catching a bunch of 10-12″ fish, Gulp consistently was bringing in slots.

In 2007 we couldn’t even beg fish to hit on Gulp…they just wanted the live stuff. I even tried putting cash on the end of my hook along with the Gulp – a little bribery can go a long way. But not last year; the fish wanted nothing to do it.

So, I’m not entirely sold. Frankly, if it doesn’t say Yum or Zoom on the package, I’m probably not going to buy it until someone shows me that Gulp is the hands-down answer.