Tokyo Tony

The right thing to do is obviously to let them know about the problem. Personally, seeing as how I'm a big Dick's customer and they've always treated me great, I'd probably let them know, and they'd probably give me some type of gift certificate. However, if it were a crappy company that mistreated me, I'd definitely keep it. Another consideration is that since Dick's is a huge company, they will not be affected by the mix-up. If it were a little mom and pop store, there's no chance I would keep that putter. There's probably also no chance that they would have made the mix-up. By the way, what kind of putter was it? A Scotty Cameron?

I've caught a couple fish like that - I agree with some of you guys. I think it's just old age, especially if the fish looks otherwise healthy.

Nice fish there ;D - I've never caught a walleye, but it seems like they fight pretty hard

Jimmy Houston is my favorite of the pros I see on TV all the time. I never understand how a person could be that happy all the time though, even on the lake. One thing I appreciate about his show is that he's not one of those guys who shamelessly pushes certain products (hi Roland!). He does endorse products (RoadRunner, Terminator, CC Wally Diver, etc), but doesn't shove them in your face like Roland Martin, and Jimmy's show is very educational. He really seems to make educating viewers one of the main points of his show, much like Lindner's Angling Edge. It seems the point of Roland's show is to push products and catch huge bass (more than his fishing partner) on private lakes. I can't freakin' stand the plugs Roland gives on his show, mainly because some of them are so planned and blatant. I mentioned one time on another post that he put Mega Strike all over a big dead baitfish when he was fishing for Jewfish in Florida. Ridiculous! Mega Strike is great, but let's get serious. Didn't mean for this post to be a bashing of Roland, but anyway... And yes, I have kissed some of my fish thanks to Jimmy Houston.

A day at the spa? Spa-type stuff (bubble bath, bath salts, etc.), something personal like a nice picture frame with a pic of the two of you?

...definitely did NOT poop my pants, so I don't know what that smell is you're talking about...

Yeah the prices on those are a little disturbing when you get to the high-end ones. I don't have a pontoon, but I'd LOVE one of those that I could stand up on (with that stability bar thing). However, I'm not gonna pay 1500 bucks for it. I'd rather buy a freakin' boat. I do absolutely love my float tube though - and those are pretty cheap. My trout Kennebec thing was about $150, and I've gotten a lot of use out of it. Nothin like catching smallies from a float tube out in the middle of the woods.

Wow, great news, and congratulations!

To rig it so it swings freely, put the trailer hook on, then the tubing. Bugman, I just bought some of those Gammy stinger hooks, and they look awesome. I rigged one up on a spinnerbait (even though I won't be using it til next summer), looks great, looks like it will track straight, but one question. Do you find it works as well (or better) than a standard trailer hook?

Great post guys, I've always wondered about GULP! baits, but now I guess I'll stop wondering and save them for catfish (if I ever decide to fish for them) and saltwater.

Mind you, I'm not a tournament fisherman, but I don't see how planting your own brushpiles would be cheating in a tournament, unless it's not allowed by the tournament or it's illegal to do so. IMHO, if you're gonna go through the trouble of planting brushpiles and plotting them, you're putting in hours of work for that advantage, so why not? Am I wrong?

I have to say, I love smallies and wouldn't trade the fight for anything.... except the fight of a peacock bass. Those things somehow fight harder - somehow they like being caught even less than smallies do. Those peacocks in the pictures were caught by ticking them off with little 3 inch senkos while they were guarding beds. Sometimes it took 20-30 casts to get them to hold on to it long enough to get a hookset. They would suck it in and almost immediately spit it out, literally within a second. Of course all fish were released in good condition, but very very ticked off >

And almost the worst time of year for LMB in ponds :-/

I think it's just the maximum force the drag can withstand - so if it says 8 lbs, you can't set it to 9 lbs - 8 is the max. I remember reading that RoadWarrior said a good drag setting is 25% of your line strength - sounds good.

Thanks guys, man do I miss catching fish like that. I can't buy a bass in those ponds lately, and it's been a while since a fish pulled out drag.

You need to get Plano 3701 boxes. They're the same length and width as 3700's, but they're about 2/3 as thick and you can do A LOT more as far as customizing each little slot. They also come with diagonal slots that you can put in, and you can really save a lot of space using these. I like Falcon boxes a lot, but they're too small for normal 3700-size tackle bags. Get a couple Falcon boxes for when you're fishing from shore or from a friend's boat - you can pick a bunch of baits for the day and just use a box or two instead of taking along all that dead weight.

Finally got around to getting some of my pictures onto my computer...I hope these work, and enjoy ;D First few are from a couple night fishing trips to a local pond/lake. My brother with a nice chatterbait smallie And another... Chunky LMB - don't mind the headlamp Hawg Trophy bluegill on a Pointer And a couple peacock bass from earlier in the summer in Miami Ok I edited these after failing the first time...this should have worked

Two women sitting quietly...

Cold, muddy water, strong wind, right after a cold front with a lot of fishing pressure. I'd still rather try my luck than be at work though.

I wouldn't spray scents into your bags of plastics - it will make the hook slide around a lot more when you rig them because you'll be lubricating the hook inside of the plastic as you push the hook through when the scent is already on.

There is no really effective way to organize all of your plastics if you have a lot. Keep them separated in size-appropriate containers, and before you go fishing, just pick through a few select bags that you'll probably need. Taking them all with you is a waste of space and time, and this is a lesson I still have not learned. I don't know that I'll ever learn.

I replace all my LC hooks with Eagle Claw Classic. Good hooks aren't fair to the fish, and I like a good challenge. http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/item-link.jsp_A&_DAV=MainCatcat20166-cat20291_TGP&id=0030278112916a&navCount=2&podId=0030278&parentId=cat20291&masterpathid=&navAction=push&catalogCode=XH&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat20291&hasJS=true Kidding 8-)

This won't necessarily be for Christmas, but moreso before iceout next spring. I'm looking to get: Loomis GLX (I may end up with GL3 - depends) casting rod with Revo SX Loomis Bronzeback rod with either Shimano Stradic or Pfleuger Supreme *maybe* a new 5 or 6 weight flyrod and reel Cheapish used bassboat ~16ft Obviously the accumulation of lures will continue throughout the winter. Ambitious but possible if I *literally* play my cards right.

My grandmother taught me how to fish. She didn't know all that much herself, but she would take my brother and me out in her boat and we'd all do our best. She realized we loved it, so she bought us guided trips, took us on camping trips, houseboat trips, and even got us lessons (e.g. fly fishing lessons, fly tying lessons). For that I'll always be grateful. She is the one who sparked my love not just for fishing, but for the outdoors. Fortunatley, she's still alive and kickin', and for a grandmother, she's very young. I plan on visiting her in GA this winter to get in some "swamp fishing" and redfish fishing.

I've never had a problem with flouro to braid using the double uni knot, but make sure you only wrap the flouro 4 times and the braid 8 times. this makes a very effective and small knot that will glide through your guides.