done

"Small Project turns into NIGHTMARE!" isn't that applicable to just about any small project? I mean even the guys working on Hubble would say that. Glad to see you got it out though. Last time I did a simple job on my truck swapping out a O2 sensor, it took me 4 hours to get the old one out (2 minutes to get the new one in). What should have been a 20 minute job took my entire day.

I would never buy a Chrysler. Mostly because their products suck. I have known too many folks who owned them (including myself) to get utterly horrible vehicles and NO support from the company that made them. I have owned at least 1 GM since I got my first car, including my current trailblazer with 120,000 miles on it. I would be hesitant to buy another GM with the company the way they are. They likely will not go under but during the bankruptcy they will throw everyone under the bus, including warranty owners and I am not willing to risk that.

Wow! Yeah that is what happens when you use your bass boat like it is a jet ski. While i do not find any joy in his unfortunate situation, I have to say, this is why I think boating courses need to be mandatory for driving boats in ALL states. There are way to many folks who do not know the rules, safety best practices, and other important information governing use of watercraft. They endanger themselves, their passengers and others.

Depending on what type of vest you have you can put it to good use. I have one of the vest ones (not autoinflating). Has pockets and spots to clip stuff to all over it. I got it rigged like a trout vest. Got my hook remover and leatherman tied on with those tool retactors, got pockets for my cell phone (kept in a nice ziplock bag), extra hooks, etc., and I tied on my trout net. It seems every time I need a net I find myself separated from the one in the boat. Anyway, the vest is safe, and it can be very handy. Like wearing a very small portion of my tackle box. Just comes in really handy

I wish I could say the same...me and my friends did plenty of damage. We thought we were still good people cause we did not directly harm people but as I grew up I realized what we did was just as harmful, if not more so in some cases. I am surprised that adults would do this. I would expect they would know better. BTW, do NOT think that I am condoning activity like this for youngsters. I was plain ignorant, self centered ( I would use much stronger language but there are kids on this site). It is a miracle I did not end up in jail and in fact a number of my friends from that time in my life DID end up there. I spend a lot of time volunteering, particularly in helping folks fix up their homes partly because it brings me a real sense of satisfaction to help people out and work with my hands, but also because I owe a debt I cannot repay for the havoc I caused.

This guy was my daughters bus driver from school http://www.gastongazette.com/news/helton-33599-died-park.html#slComments I post his article not to depress anyone but to show something. I have met a lot of men who are mechanics, teachers, postman, garbage man, etc who think they have careers and lives that do not matter in the scheme of things and i have seen it eat away at them. This guy was a school bus driver and a elementary school janitor, not exactly the most flashy of careers. He took those jobs 4 years ago after retiring form his primary occupation. He did those jobs with such humanity he has impacted the lives of hundreds of school children here. He was very loved by the people who worked with him and the children who he showed so much love. His last act as bus driver was to stop the bus as he felt his condition worsen, get it out of gear and get the brake on before he lost consciousness. His first thought on coming to was on the children. At the time he was told he had a 10% chance of surviving and he was worried about the kids... If anything what he shows us is no matter who you are or what you do, you do not need to be a CEO or big shot to leave a big impact on the world and change it for the better.

I hear ya. It was probably kids. At least I hope so. I know when i was a teen I did a lot of things like that, or even worse. Things I wish I could take back now.

From someone who is not always the fastest launcher or retriever, I would say...interfering. If it was just a matter of her was a spaz (something I have experience with at times), and he was trying to get out of the way ASAP, that would be one thing but to take up and entire ramp (I assume this is the only one at that launch), while you do stuff you can and should be ahead of time, is ridiculous. You were a lot nicer than me. I would have said something to him. I have a lot of patience for the guy who is trying to get out of the way but just cannot see to get going vs. the guy who carries on like he is the only person in the world and nobody elses time matters.

Hey BTech I take it you saw the news article about the one here recently. Couple of guys caught one in the Catawba system. it was 2.5 ft long, 12 lbs-ish (http://www.gastongazette.com/news/boat_32956___article.html/upton_fish.html) It is confirmed though that it is a snakehead. So be on the lookout for these guys out there.

As tough as it is to wait, I would wait for the bigger jon. If you think your current one is too small, I think you may feel the same with the raider. I have a Tracker Topper 1446, and I love it. NOw it is not as stable as a bass boat, but I have customized it and got it to the point where it is just so easy to fish with, and versatile.

Anything that will give me a good fight. Around here. mainly Large Mouth Bass, Catfish (these are real fun sometimes), Trout (in the mountains), Gar (got to get into these more this year). Sometimes I will hit up Crappie and Bream as well. Though the bream are mainly when I got my girls with me.

You don't need trout season for all that to happen. I agree though, I LOATHE being a mile back and seeing piles of styrofoam night crawler containers. Just ticks me off. You'd think all fisherman out there would have some respect for the area, but nope....

Welcome from Gastonia!!!

Just got back from the trip. Hit Linville River, Wilson Creek, Little River, Cranberry Creek, Big Horse Creek, South Fork New River, and Roan Creek as well as a Bass pond in a mountain subdivision they wanted us to harvest from. Absolutely awesome weather, cold mornings, warm during the day, put a few more miles on the trout gear that is for sure. Every year this is just an awesome experience. Totals for the trip (between 2 guys): 51 Trout, 14 Large Mouth Bass. Fish of note: buddy caught 22 inch rainbow in Wilson Creek, 20 inch Rainbow in Little River.

We are very fortunate here with that type of thing. I emailed the police about a dude who used to speed past our house every day in a red firebird. I emailed them Monday morning, on Friday a cop followed me into our driveway told me he just got done writing him his 3rd tick of the week. They mailed him wednesday, thursday, and friday same place, same time.

If it is any consolation guys, these traffic stops pick up so many real criminals. I know my sisters first traffic stop when she was out of training in her own patrol car. Dude was doing 65 in a 45, 1 tail light out, no headlights on the front of the car at all, missing 1 license plate (in NY you need 2). She pulls this pile of moving violations over, and ends up he has a trunk FULL of illegal firearms. Largest gun bust in the history of our small town. The largest drug bust we had was something similar. So yeah, these suck but they do allow the cops to grab some nasty folks and to be honest, I have gotten 2 speeding tickets in my life and I deserved both. If you are getting ticket, you are breaking the law. I would fear what our roads would be like without enforcement of the laws governing them.

LOL 502, don't feel so bad, I was excited cause I got a Mitchell reel recently and that was a trade up from what I had. I can cast farther with my Mitchell setup than I thought I ever could cast. Slowly but surely I will continually upgrade. If it comes to feeding the kids or getting a real good reel, the kids come first. As long as you are still having fun man...it is all good though.

That is correct, their vision is set for them to see above and not below them. The other thing I found that rig to catch are nice catfish. I have hauled in some BIG ones crappie fishing.

Have some fun with it. As soon as you sweat it, you get a mental block. Try taking 3 or 4 famous folks or characters and put them in a blender. Then talk about 'em. Something like Britney Spears, Madoff, and Happy Gilmore. Pull together their character traits, things they have done, etc and put together a report on it. You could have a ton of fun with it. Don't discount the value of writing though in your career. I was a Computer Science major, thought writing papers was a considerable waste of time when I'd rather be writing code. And presentations....what use will I ever have of those. I regularly write huge docs (from small 40-50 page small ones, 200+ pages) on a regular basis. My record was 800 pages. I also have ended up in front of groups doing presentations (including once 40 or so really angry nurses). The experience will serve you well so hang in there.

To that note, the main reason to NOT transplant fish is killing off the native populations with disease, etc. However, if there is no native population I would think this is a special opportunity to where such transplanting would not be an issue... Any biologists out there care to wiegh in?

Yes, if they use their money to smoke weed when they get laid off, they should not be allowed to get benefits. And what if they don't use their money to buy weed? What if they happen to smoke now and then with a friend who provides it? It isn't uncommon for someone with marijuana to share it with their buddies just as someone might share a case of beer with a friend. Like many other issues like this, not really a completely black and white answer. I mean when you think...they failed the drug test, first image is this dude with a crack pipe, or shooting heroin. While I do not condone smoking weed, I also would not throw someone who occasionally partakes to the wolves. You have to be careful with the slippery slope though. Your first thought is..well they are spending all their money on drugs, they don't get nothing. Well what about the couple whose roof is falling in, can't feed their kids, but everyone has designer jeans, name brand shoes and clothes, etc? It is just a tough call. BTW, personally I would be for drug tests. Though I would not be for immediate blanket repercussions. There are always room for abuse.

That is a good guide. I am thinking i will put it on the rig I use for deep water and jigs, and keep it away from my general purpose rig (which I use for trout fishing, spinners, carolina rigging live bait and plastics, etc). The visibility was my big concern and trout seem especially easy to spook in the streams with a visible line. The thing with trout fishing, you only got 1 rig to carry so it has to work and keep working the entire day.

I have seen that work, add a crappie bobber, sometimes works a little better. if you have not seen these, they have rattles in them. So you twitch the bobber a little bit, and it rattles.

peacock, forgive my thick-headedness here, what did you mean with this? Are you talking about it severe knots in the reel when casting into the wind, or are you saying the line severs at the knots? Sorry, been one of those days and the caffeine is low right now.

I cannot believe there is not a thread on this out there. I just did not see it. I have never used braided line. Always wanted to but have always hear rumors that it will cause severe rats nests in spinning gear (which is what I like to use) and that it impairs proper casting, etc. However, being able to string 10 lb test with a 4 lb diameter, that is pretty darned compelling. So I am curious for those of you who use it, do any of the rumor hold true? Is there a knack to it, a do's and don'ts, etc? Like I said, I use spinning reels primarily, so anything specific to those and braided line?