MARE-BASSIN Blog

The Little Guys Can Fish The BassMaster Classic

2012-02-23T15:03:00.000-05:00

Every bass fisherman that has ever fished a tournament has dreamed of fishing the BassMaster Classic. The Classic is the holy grail of fishing. The Classic is the private playing ground for the pros and will only remain a dream for local angles. Then Kelly Pratt appears, local guy fishes B.A.S.S. Open on the James River and beats all the Pros. This week Kelly Pratt is fishing in the BassMaster Classic. Ha, the little guy can fish in the BassMaster Classic after all.

The road to qualify for the Classic can be driven on several separate paths for an local angler. The most common way that a local angler can qualify for the BassMaster Classic is through the Bass Federation. Another way to qualify is to fish the Pro Tour and finish high enough in the yearly standings. But when reality sets in, most angler find it impossible to compete at that level or find the funding necessary to follow the tour around the country. Some estimates claim it to cost as much as $100,000.00 for just one season, this is generally above the pay scale of many local anglers. Then there is the way Kelly Pratt qualifies for the Classic, Kelly fished as a Pro when B.A.S.S. came to the James River last year. He honed his skills on his home body of water, worked his butt off and when the Tour came to town he put it on them. Many local anglers fish these events when the Tour comes around, most fish hard but fail in the task of beating professionals that make a living angling. Maybe it's nerves, maybe it's having to find enough fish for the whole week but for some reason most local anglers fail to win. None of those reasons stopped Kelly from winning, he won a trip to the big dance of bass fishing, the Super Bowl of Bass Fishing, The BassMaster Classic.

I would like to wish Kelly Pratt of Willaimsburg, Virginia the best of luck in The Classic, we are rooting for you and hope that you have a great time fishing with the big boys for the championship. I would also like to thank you for showing us that it is possible to live out our dreams if you work hard enough. Thanks Kelly, us little guys can fish in the BassMaster Classic after all.

Fishing Flea Markets; More Than a Place to Buy Used Fishing Equipment

2012-02-06T16:14:00.000-05:00

Have you ever gone to a fishing flea market? Fishing flea markets are held by Bass Clubs and Local Fisherman around the country as fundraisers and it gives them a venue to sell their old fishing equipment. But these fishing flea markets offer more, they offer what bass clubs used to have; camaraderie. You get to see a bunch of local anglers that you have lost touch with, you make some new friends and you get re energized about fishing. The whole experience is wonderful.

I was lucky enough to go to a local fishing flea market just this past weekend. I had a ton, I mean a ton of old tackle that I have collected over thirty plus years of bass fishing. I had simply run out of room for new tackle. It is pretty normal for a fishaholic to continue buying tackle even though they have more than you could ever use in a lifetime. I got there early to unload and set up my three tables of tackle I planned on selling. Once there I found that I had more tackle than I had space for, again pretty normal. I had priced my used tackle to sell, I probably sold a lot of items too cheap but I didn't want to pack up and haul home any remaining tackle.I also gave a lot of small fishing items to kids that attended the show with their families. It was great to see so many kids excited about fishing and the thoughts of fishing with my son or fishing with my dad as a kid crept into my mind. Pretty neat deal, again worth the price of admission. I sold or gave away all but one small box of crankbaits, lures which I didn't mind keeping any way. It was a successful event and I had a great time.

The bottom line is that I sold about $10, 000.00 worth of old fishing tackle for about $2, 000.00. Not a good day by many standards, but I argue that it was an awesome day over all. I got to talk to a bunch of old friends, made several new friends and talked fishing all day. We talked about fishing trips of the past and those we hope to have in the future. I saw the glimmer of excitement in the eyes of the kids that attended the flea market with their parents or grand parents. What a great family sport fishing is and not just when your out on the water fishing. So if you are looking for some the camaraderie and a great time overall, I suggest checking your area for a fishing flea market. It will re energize you and bring back the greatest memories of your fishing life. It did for me.

Bass Fishing in 2012; It's Never Been Better

2012-01-23T16:17:00.000-05:00

Cold dreary days really suck; I am sitting here in my office on a 35 degree January Monday, trying to come up with something good to blog about. Pretty hard to do when it is cold with snow on the ground, drizzling, foggy and all you want to do is go fishing.

Then the guys in the showroom started talking about the B.A.S.S. Southern Open held last week on the Harris Chain in Florida. They really caught them, the winner of the event (Chris Lane) had a three day total of 72 lbs 11 ounces. That's a little over 24 lbs. a day. That got us thinking, bass fishing has never been better than it is right now and we still have 342 days left to fishing in 2012.

When you look back at the past and see the weights of fishing tournaments in the good old days, in most cases they are being overshadowed by the weights of today. Talk to the fisherman that fish the Potomac River, Okeechobee, Guntersville, the Harris Chain and many others. Anglers are all saying the same thing, fishing is better now than any time in the past. Is it because we are better fisherman, have better equipment or are the fisheries simply better? I can't answer that question and maybe no one could, but I can tell you that we are truly looking at a great year of bass fishing in 2012.

The upcoming fishing season is just a few weeks away for most of us. Days are starting to get longer. Temperatures are going to stabilize within the next 6 weeks hopefully and we will be back on the water doing what we love to do; fish. The time to get your equipment ready is now. Lousy days like today will soon be a thing of the past. So when you look outside today and see the white stuff through the rain and fog, remember better days are just around the corner. 2012 is going to be the best bass fishing we have ever seen and that is something to be excited about.

Happy New Year; Is Your Tackle Ready For Spring?

2012-01-04T16:38:00.000-05:00

The hectic running around that the holidays demand are over and the new year is here; soon a few warm day will appear and the opportunity to fish will present itself, will your tackle be ready?

The days are already getting longer, but daylight is still at a premium. Cold nights and reruns on TV are still part of the anglers near future. So what can you do to get pass these long nights? Work on your fishing equipment. It is the next best thing to getting to go fishing with your equipment.  So what can you do to get ready? Below is a list of easy to do items that will make your first few fishing trips seamless and more enjoyable.

Every angler gets surprised by the weather and their fishing buddy calls up and says; "it is going to be 70 tomorrow lets go fishing". You then have to run around and get all your stuff ready; tackle , rods, reels etc... The trick is to do it all now, so when it's time you'll be ready. Step 1 Fishing line. Go get all your reels out, make a list of what lines you need, go get those lines and get it done. Step 2 Tackle. Go get your early season fishing tackle ready, No not your top water boxes; the jig, grubs, rattle traps and spinner baits. Check the boxes for rusted hooks caused by leaving tackle wet, discard those baits cause you would throw them anyway when you are on the water. Check skirts, swivels and trailers. Get your terminal tackle ready; weights, toothpicks and hooks. Step 3 Rods & Reels. Check your Rods and Reels outs, check those guides and reels seats, grease those reels or take them to get serviced by someone that can if you are not comfortable taking your reels apart. I have found that reel maintenance truly makes a big difference. They cast better and further after service and they are quite a bit quieter. Step 4 Check the batteries in your weight equipment. If you have a Cull-Um Rite or other type of scale, change the batteries now. Gather up your fish pins, clean your bump board. Have all the culling equipment working and ready to go. Step 5 Check your net. Make sure the handle is good, the netting is attached and doesn't need repair. All of these steps are easy to do, getting them ready keeps you from getting board and will make fishing more enjoyable.

So tonight when you get home, eat dinner, go get on the couch and start to watch that rerun of CSI, get up, get your tackle out and start getting ready for that call from your fishing partner, "Hey it is going to be 70 tomorrow".

Sincerely,

Brian

PS Thanks for reading our Blog

E-Mail: brian@mareinc.com
Phone: MARE Inc.: 301-898-3717
MARE of Aquia: 540-657-1136
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What's Hot, The Latest Trends In Bass Boat Sales.

2011-12-20T23:54:00.000-05:00

What size bass boats are selling best and why? What is the boating industry seeing in the future? In this blog we will discuss these items and more, so read on if you what to see What’s Hot.

Boat dealers and manufactures have seen changes in the bass boat market; today’s anglers are purchasing smaller boats. This trend started in the 2010 and continued in the 2011 model year. These best-selling models are 18 ½ to 19 ½ feet long and are powered by 150-225 horsepower engines. Unlike the 18 and 19 footer of the past, these new boats meet the requirements today’s anglers demand; fishing ability, super wide front decks, efficient operation and better performance compared to their predecessors. These new rigs also cost a lot less than their 20 and 21 foot counterparts that gained popularity in the early 2000’s.

Why are customers purchasing these smaller more economical boats? It could be that the economic times have cut into the fishing fund, large gas bill for the truck and boat can get out of hand quickly when feeding a 3/4 ton and a 250 horsepower outboard. Having sold bass boats since 1988, I believe that the average angler can no lower afford or justify the price of $55, 000.00 to $60,000.00 in the present economic conditions. You can easily spend that much on today's 20 or 21 foot bass boats before adding all the goodies. Today’s anglers want to add all the optional equipment to their new rig, equipment that costs thousands of dollars. Adding $10, 000.00 in options hurts a lot less when purchasing a boat that costs $35, 000.00 - $40, 000.00, compared to adding it to their $60, 000.00 counterparts.

After seeing this market trend, most bass boat manufacturers have up graded their 18 and 19 foot offerings, making sure that anglers can get the boat with the options and features that they desire at a price that fits into today's budgets. This is great for the anglers in the market today, there are plenty of options of new model choices in the market place to choose from.

Driving one of these sporty 18 and 19 foot boats has never been smarter in my opinion, they are less expensive to purchase, cost a lot less to operate, can be towed by a small SUV or 1/2 ton pickup and are plenty of boat for even the most competitive angler. So if the economic times have cut down your fishing trips, give the newest trend in bass fishing a look. I bet that you'll get to fish a lot further on that fishing fund.

Sincerely,

Brian

E-Mail: brian@mareinc.com
Phone: MARE Inc.: 301-898-3717
MARE of Aquia: 540-657-1136
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Is Your Boat Trailer Ready For The Road?

2011-12-05T17:22:00.000-05:00

Is your boat trailer ready for the road? If not, you'll be on the side of the road with trailer damage, including a large towing and repair bill. Anglers often work on their boats and tackle before going fishing, but trailers are often overlooked even though your boat spends more time on them than it does in the water. All it takes to keep your trailer on the road is a little preventive maintenance. Follow these easy steps and all your fish stories will be about the big fish you caught, not the day you spent big money and time waiting on a tow truck.

There are two types of maintenance that boat trailers need; yearly and monthly maintenance. Yearly maintenance's include the checking out of major trailer components, once maintained these items generally get you through the season without further care. These yearly maintenance's may possibly mean a trip to your local dealership service department depending on your mechanically ability. Monthly maintenance is a simple and easy check over of your boat trailer systems that most anglers can do themselves and are visible to the eye and are common sense items. These are the items that will prevent you from being stuck on the side of the road during the fishing and boating season.

Let's take a in depth look at yearly maintenance's, these major trailer components that include; brakes systems, trailer coupler, suspension systems, hubs, bearings, bunks and frame. These items when properly maintained will not need addressed through out the year unless you notice a problem during your monthly inspection. The brake system on most of today's trailers use disc brakes with an actuator with master cylinder in the coupler, these systems have no adjustments necessary, so if they are working properly and have no loose hardware or bolts, they are good to go. If they are not working properly or are leaking brake fluid you must have them repaired. Failure to repair these components will cost a lot of money down the road and stopping distance will increase possibly causing a safety issue for you and those around you. Trailer suspensions vary by manufactures design, some use leaf spring, while other have changed over to torsion axles. The most important items to look for in suspension are loose or worn parts. Loose bolts or worn shackles are common on older leaf spring suspensions, if they fail the axle becomes unattached from the trailer, not good. Poor tire wear is also common indicator that can be caused by worn suspension parts. Hubs and bearings should be repacked or have the oil changed according to your trailer manufactures recommended service schedule, but if you have any leaking or notice low oil levels address this immediately. Heat is the enemy of bearings, and low oil, water and old grease causes friction. The last thing to check once a year is the frame components; these include the winch stand, cross members and bunk or roller brackets. Look for loose components, rusted brackets, cracked parts and welds. Problems should be addressed by replacement or repaired. If you do not have the needed expertise to handle these checks and repairs, take your trailer to someone who can handle it for you, safety is not something to mess around with.

When looking at your monthly trailer maintenance's be sure to check items that include; tires and wheels, lighting system, winches, transom tie downs, trailer couplers and safety chains. These items when checked regularly will keep you on the road or send you to the repair shop before it has chance to leave you stranded on the side of the road. Tires and wheels are easy to check, look for cracks in the tire sidewalls, poor tire wear, loose lug nuts, rusted or corroded wheels and check the tire pressure. Tire pressure affects; tread wear, trailer ride and even trailer tongue weight on a tandem axle trailer so it is very important to have your tires inflated correctly. Get down on your knees and look at the inside of the wheel hubs, if there is a little grease slung around the hub, no big deal, if the grease or oil is slung all over the wheel and tire, get it fixed before the bearings fail and leaves you on the side of the road. Lights are another easy item to check item, when you hook up your truck, check to make sure all the lites are working, we all leave early to go fishing and sometime come home in the dark. If your lites don't work others can not see what you are doing and a ticket can be expensive. It only takes a minutes to address any light issues you may find. Winches, winch straps and transom tie downs hold your boat on the trailer, if they fail your boat could come off when you hit that bump out on the highway. Look for wear, tears, rusted or loose bolts and fasteners, bent or crack hooks on these items. These are easy to repair or replace and can save you many headaches with only a few minutes of inspection. The last monthly item to check is your connection to the vehicle, the trailer coupler, safety chains, light plug, swing tongue pin or lock and emergency safety breakaway cable. Look for rusted, missing or loose components and replace as needed. One of the best times to check your trailer is when your are in the parking lot at the boat ramp, with your boat in the water, take just a minute to walk around your trailer, check the hubs, bunks and bunk brackets. With the boat not sitting on the trailer these checks are even easier to do. None of these monthly maintenance items take very long to check, but not checking them could cost big dollars and time on the water.
I hope this blog gave you some help on keeping up with your boat trailer's maintenance, remember your boat trailer is your boat's home. A few minutes every month will save you hours of problems out on the highway. MARE Inc. "Serving All Your Boating Needs Since 1968".

Sincerely,

Brian

E-Mail: brian@mareinc.com
Phone: MARE Inc.: 301-898-3717
MARE of Aquia: 540-657-1136
Web-site: mareinc.com
                mareinc.rangerdealer.com
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Fishing Sunglasses, More Than Meets The Eye

2011-11-25T14:50:00.000-05:00

Boaters & Fisherman wear sunglasses when they are in the outdoors. Sunglasses serve many purposes for today's outdoors men; they provide eye comfort, eye protection and better vision in bright conditions. There are endless options in the world of sunglasses today, you can purchase sunglasses for $10 all the way up to many hundreds of dollars depending on your needs. If you have good vision and only boat or fish occasionally, spending $500 on a pair of sunglasses might not be your best option. But if you are serious about the outdoors, these high dollar sunglasses might be amongst the best investment you can make. This blog is going to give you glimpse of the options available in sunglasses for today's outdoors men.

What do you really know anything about sunglasses; should you buy plastic or glass, what is polarization and how does it work and which color is the best for your needs? These are common questions and below are the answers to those and several others to help you determine your best direction when purchasing new sunglasses.

First you need to look at your vision and see if you have any special needs before you start looking for sunglasses. If you wear prescription glasses or have trouble seeing small objects you have a couple of options that can help you. Prescription sunglasses are available from many of the major sunglasses manufactures, you provide them you prescription and they make you a pair of prescription sunglasses, these glasses generally cost several hundred dollars. Another option is to buy a pair of sunglasses that fit over or connect and flip up on your regular eye wear, it means keeping up with two pairs of glasses but is a much more affordable option than having a pair of prescription sunglasses, Cocoons Sunglasses sponsors several Professional Anglers (Ish Monroe and Michael Iaconelli) and is one of the manufactures of these style of eye wear and prices ranger from $30 - $70. If you just have trouble doing small tasks like tying knots, you might only require a pair of cheaters or sunglasses with cheaters built into them. I wear a pair of Costa Del Mar C-Mates that have these bifocal style cheaters built in, I couldn't spend a day on the water with out them. This style of sunglasses cost around $200 but you also get better optics for better vision. For those with special vision need, these options will serve you well.

When you go to the grocery store, it's paper or plastic, at the sunglasses store it is Plastic or Glass. There are several issues to look at when you make this decision; comfort, care and price. Both are offered in a larger array of styles, lenses colors and offer great protection from the UV and flying objects. Glass lenses have the best optics available which means they have the least distortion, are also the heaviest so comfort is an issue on long fishing days for some and they are generally the most expensive. Glass lenses hold up the best and resist scratching but can crack if you drop them. When fishing in saltwater, glass lenses are a must, every time you wipe off the sea spray, you will scratch your plastic lenses. Plastic lenses (most are made of polycarbonate) are generally lighter and less expensive. They offer good optics, great styling and are generally valued priced compared to the comparable glass lenses. They are a great choice for freshwater anglers.

Outdoors man must make sure that any sunglasses that they pick are polarized. Polarization is a process of filtering the different wave of light in the atmosphere. These waves are constantly changing and affects your vision. Polarized sunglasses cut down the glare, weather you are on the road or on the water. This is very important to anglers and boaters so they have better vision for navigation and sight fishing. Have you ever changed direction in your boat and could not see as well even though you are wearing polarized sunglasses? The angle of the light wave has changed making your polarized sun- glasses less effective. Here is a tip that will help you under these conditions, slowly angle your head toward your right or left shoulders, there is a location that the glare will be greatly reduced. You have changed your angle to offset the wave angle, try it, it really works.

Lenses color is also very important when picking out your sunglasses, different color lenses allow anglers to see down into the water under different water and light conditions. The color of the lenses filter colors in the outdoors to sharpen contrasts. If I am fishing water that has a green tint, I wear moss green or amber lenses, but out on the ocean I wear grey or blue tinted lenses, and yellow lenses with low light condition at dawn or dusk. People generally boat and fish on their home waters, making an decision of lenses color easier, just pick the color lenses right for your local conditions.

You can buy the most expensive pair of sunglasses on the market today, if they don't fit correctly or hurt the bridge of your nose after an hour of fishing you would have just wasted a bunch of money, I stress that you try on as many pairs of sunglasses as you can, try a buddies glasses on while boating or fishing to see how his pair feels. After you have answered the question above, make sure that they are comfortable and fit well so they don't let in light, which affects your vision, choose the right style, color lenses and material for your needs. You will then find that the right polarized sunglasses really make the life of an outdoors man more enjoyable and they will most likely improve your fishing. In closing, I hope that this article helped clear up your vision on selecting a new pair of sunglasses. Thanks for reading the MARE BASSIN Blog and we hope to see you back soon.

Sincerely,

Brian

E-Mail: brian@mareinc.com
Phone: MARE Inc.: 301-898-3717
MARE of Aquia: 540-657-1136
Web-site: mareinc.com
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Winter Is Coming, Is Your Boat Ready?

2011-11-22T01:43:00.003-05:00

Everyone has heard the saying; “Pay Me Now or Pay Me Later”. The real question is, will your boat run in the Spring or will it leave you at the dock?

Some anglers store their boats over the Winter, while other anglers fish all year round. Both groups need to prepare their boats differently for Winter.

Boaters that put their boats away for the Winter should get their boat ready for storage so it’s good to go Spring. Engine storage has changed in the last couple of years, mostly because of Ethanol that is now in regions gas. Ethanol seems to be great for farmers that grow corn but it’s bad for your outboard if it sits around for 90 days. It “Phase Separates”, becomes unblended like ice tea in the sun. When it does it looses octane, creates an acid that eats aluminum and it absorbs water, lots of water. Oh Yea, your outboard is made of aluminum and won’t run on water. Ethanol needs to be treated differently. You should add Ethanol Fuel Treatment to your gas, then run your boat as low on gas as you dare before parking it till Spring. This gets the fuel treatment through out your fuel system. This simple maintenance will save you a lot of money and possibly a bad day on the water next Spring.

All boaters need to pull the drain plug and drain live wells after use so the pumps don’t freeze. Check the wheel bearing and lower unit for water and repair as needed. Crank the motor once a month or fog the engine to keep rust from coating your cylinders. Charge your batteries monthly, they can’t freeze if they’re charged. Pretty Simple Stuff.

Hearty boaters that continue to fish all winter, don’t need to drain their fuel, it won’t be in the tank for 90 days. They do need to warm up the engine to 120 degrees at the ramp before running down the river to prevent pistons from cold seizing. Also let the water drain out of the trimmed down engine in the parking lot after use so the fuel rails don’t freeze. When the engine stops dripping water, you are good to go.

Follow these simple steps and your boat should be ready for Winter. MARE performs these service if you would like us to. Call the shops if you have any questions or would like to set up an appointment.

E-Mail: brian@mareinc.com
Phone: MARE Inc.: 301-898-3717
MARE of Aquia: 540-657-1136
Web-site: mareinc.com
Facebook: MARE Inc.
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Sincerely,

Brian@MARE MARINE

Looking For Bass Boat Information; You Found The Right Blog

2011-11-21T21:20:00.003-05:00

My name is Brian Lancaster, I have owned and operated "The Mid-Atlantic's Bass Boat Headquarters" MARE Inc. MARE Inc. Boating & Fishing in Frederick County, Maryland since the fall of 1988 and MARE of Aquia in Stafford County, Virginia since 1998. We sell the most popular Bass, Inshore-Bay Boats, Pontoons, Kayaks, Utility Boats, Motors and Marine Accessories that are available to today's demanding anglers.

This blog is all about getting you the information that you need; on local fishing waters, tournaments, fishing and boating events, boat-motor-trailer maintenance, new products reviews and much-much more. We will blog a new post at least one time a week so you can plan ahead for time on the water. If you have question or wish to suggest a specific ideas please feel free to e-mail me or use the contact information below to check in. Hope you enjoy the blogs and Keep'm Trimmed Up.

Sincerely,

Brian@MARE MARINE

E-Mail: brian@mareinc.com
Phone: MARE Inc.: 301-898-3717
            MARE of Aquia: 540-657-1136
Web-site: mareinc.com
Facebook: MARE Inc.
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                  MARE Inc. Boating & Fishing
Twitter: @MAREMARINE