done

On the positive side, less interest, mean less folks on the lakes which is good.

That's what Wylie is for. Besides, not sure I would want to run a fish finder in a toilet. That cannot be good for your transducer, or your gel-coat. Gives you a good way to leave the house. "Honey I have to go test the boat. Be back in a couple days...". After all you do need to be VERY thorough in your testing.

guess it is a good thing the boat won't fit in the toilet. LOL.

Around here, I do not get the perception you mentioned. Most guys LOVE ot fish but have not been out in 10+ years. They are just too busy in everyday life. Which confuses me, cause I have 4 young kids, a wife, and a normally more than full time job. I do get a total rush out of instilling a healthy fishing addiction in others. Also, while i do enjoy an occasional beer, I have not held a fishing rod with any alcohol in my system for more than a decade. Nobody I fish with does either. Just to much going on with the fishing. AFTER a long day fishing, that is another story.

I hit Wylie mainly, but I have been very interested in visiting Murray. How is the lake? What types of terrain/fishing it have? How crowded is it?

I can only HOPE it kills my laptop. I work with these for a living so if it goes, I will put it up, and go fishing. Not going to happen though, the thing it patched to the teeth, and got some rock solid antivirus/spyware on it. Ahh well.

Great fish. Also from growing up in Buffalo, NY, another reason you fish in the rain...because it is NOT snowing.

I am glad to hear that about catfish. I swear, in the summer on Wylie, I could put a hook on an old fridge, kick it over the side of the boat and have a catfish on it when it comes up. Those things seem to hit everything. One surprised me 3 weeks ago. I was trolling with a deep diving crankbait, and had a good cat hit it. Gave me a good fight. Besides that the wierdest thing I ever caught was a HUGE snapping turtle on a plastic worm. By caught I mean I tugged and tugged on the line until he decided it was time to come up, then cut the line and let him keep the worm. I ain't messing a big snapper. As much as almost counts, I almost caught an otter in the new river on a spinner.

[Disclaimer: I work in this field of research] Actually, the current solar minimum is dragging on a bit longer than expected so the next solar maximum is more likely to be 2013 or so. However, the most powerful solar storms do not necessarily occur at absolute solar maximum. For example, the biggest storms we saw in the last cycle were late October 2003, but the solar max was ~2001/2002. And that's part of the problem -- these storm are unpredictable. A truly extraordinary event -- the sort alluded to in that (highly inflammatory...) article will probably only happen a couple of times a century. The risk is that we have never had one that size happen in a "wireless" age like we live in now. The 2003 storms caused serious problems (major GPS and other navigation outages, for example), but a once-in-100-years event will probably do much worse. To those of us in this research area, that New Scientist article was very thinly disguised propaganda. It was a pretty cheap shot and factually wrong in some places (not with regards to solar storms and their consequences, but with regards to science missions), but a clever move nonetheless. My 2c. Now back to thoughts of spring bass.... Thanks for the info MrWrinkle. I agree, it was definitely over the top on the alarmist angle. However, You would never get an unbiased article into the news. LOL

I have come across folks who NEVER want another soul around them, friend or not and others who will go only if someone else if with them. Now I am talking solely about Bass fishing (for me my answer changes with Trout stream or deep sea fishing). Personally, I can do either and really enjoy having A bud around (large groups [4+] I loathe) but, if I had to choose, I would say I have slightly more fun heading out by myself. Having the solitude, the way I rig the boat when I am solo, and (sounds selfish but..) not having to position the boat correctly for 2 folks, just bring it slightly above a trip with a bud. So I am curious where everyone else falls in for Bass fishing on this...

GREAT point kms. You try to fish for yourself you are doing to be really frustrated. Last time I went with my daughter I spent 2/3 of the time helping her bait her line, cast out in the right areas, DUCK, LOL. Which is still why after a long run of going with the girls, i really appreciate a solo run or heading out with one of my buds. Im not sure thats the best thing. Its slow fishing and might lose interest. if you do it right it is great. I took my son icefishing this winter and had a blast. he is 2 1/2 we brought his magnadoodle and some hot chocolate, cookies and caught a bunch of sunnies. I let him decide which ones to keep or throw back and he was so happy to show mom when we got home. I would set the hook and he would crank them in. keep the trips short is the key and dont try to fish for yourself. make it all about the kid.

IMO, if the snake gets out of my way, I am fine. As a avid fisher in the trout streams in NC, I loathe water moccasins. I have seen them go out of their way to come across a stream after a fisherman. I will generally leave animals alone and do not go out of my way to kill something i am not hunting or fishing for but, when an animal shows aggression towards me, it gets it back. Got in a fight with a Canadian goose in Wilson creek in NC a couple years back. it waited till I was chest deep in water then came at my head. Had to beat it off with my fishing pole and net. There was an oldtimer in the shore laughing so hard he almost fell in.

I am heading out into Wylie today. I tell you it has been a frustrating lake for me overall. I love it, there are a lot of premium places to fish, but I will be darned if it is not the most finicky lake. So far I have about a dozen good holes. They will be active for maybe 1-2 weeks, then nothing, maybe all year. So many places I have found there that are absolutely picture perfect Bass habitat that will yield nothing. It is a good challenge though and after fishing Wylie, when I go to some of the other places I fish (like my mothers pond) I absolutely catch the crap out of everything. Anyway, I am looking forward to today. I am guessing after 5 days of rain we are going to have some seriously clouded/muddy water. Got all sorts of vibrating, rattling, noise making stuff on deck in my box. Let everyone know how it goes.

My if all else fails bait has always been Wave Fishing 5" tiki sticks, usually smoke shad color. I have caught bass in all weather conditions, all types of water with them. They rarely if ever fail to produce for me. Be trying out the *** ones soon. I will Carolina rig 'em, or some custom variant of that and just bring 'em back slow with a little jerk here or there. Be trying the *** sticks next time I run low. It is almost a curse though. I am so confident in them, and have used them so much, I think I go to them too quickly.

"I think the kids who believe they have to have that fancy Spiderman rod to catch fish, are the same kids who grow up to believe they have to have a 21ft bass boat, to catch bass Wink LOL " THATS the idea. Someday when i am old and gray, they can take me out on their 21 ft boat. LOL. I actually, push my girls a little bit but not to far. At the age of my oldest 2 (5 and 7), I am working on slowly extending the concentration level. When we go out on the boat, my 7 yr old will fish about 60% of the time. She will spend some time just soaking in the time on the boat too. My 7 yr old is totally stoked that there are professional female fishermen who can catch more than boys. My 5 yr old, fishes on and off. At this age I do sign them up for a lot of things, Dance, Tee-Ball, Soccer, fishing, etc to get them a wide range of experiences so they can see what they like. My oldest, did 2 seasons of T-Ball and soccer, decided Dancing was what she wanted to do, so she does that now. My 5 yr old is all about soccer. She just loves more aggressive sports. Fishing I would continue to bring them, unless they really loathed it. It is about fishing, getting them outdoors, but more importantly to get that critical one on one time with them. I imagine as they move to the teen years it will just grow in importance.

Sounds like you are on your way Bassn. One thing i would recommend if you are in the mood. Pick up a book for your car. The day my vehicles go out of warranty I will go to the nearest auto parts store and pick up a book for my car. I have probably enough tools to do about 70% of what needs to be done on the car. Unless I do not have time, or if it falls in the 30% range for tools I do not have, I always do it myself. It is cheaper, I actually care about my car and it allows me to check other stuff while I am under there. I found one of the boots on my axle blew out probably a week after it did, before it did any damage that way. Course, it is an investment in your time and if you cannot make that investment, yo uwould be great to find a good local mechanic. BTW, if you have a Discount Tire near you, they are not bad. Good prices, free rotation, free patches, and good service (at least in Gastonia)

That's what I thought as well. However, it probably needs to be challenged in court and a lot probably depends on exactly how the law was written.

Holy crap! Do those wipers balance your check book too? Unless my car is under warranty it never goes to a dealer. I can get as good or better service from a good local mechanic. I have a Chevy TB and I do my own oil changes and brakes (pads for my TB are the most expensive for any car I have ever owned). I probably spend about $100 on parts, for doing all brakes, and when needed, a little extra to get someone to machine the rotors for me. As for the $600, I would have to see what that covers. Dealer labor rates are usually a lot higher than a local mechanic. Finding a good local mechanic can be a tough thing to do though.

For $850 you can get a MUCh better and sea worthy Jon.

Was out last week the one we got was shallow 4ft of water which was a first for me this year in Wylie

I get my girls out when they hit 3 or 4 depending on their attention span. I add a little bit of competition in it for them. They start with the floating Dora/Barbie pole. The first time get get a fish 100% on their own (they cast, hook it, and land it, they win a trip to BPS to pick out the big girl rod/reel combo. My first chose the pink Shakespear rod/reel combo. My second is going for her combo this year and says she wants the same thing (she is 5). You want pressure try having a 5 yr old with e pink rod/reel combo start catching more than you. LOL. After that they have to get a 3+lb fish and they can pick out a tackle box. My oldest (7 yrs) has told me, she WILL have her tackle box this year. At 10 they graduate to hit the trout streams with me in the spring and fall. The competition has really helped them focus more, as they have a goal, and of course the one on one experience with them is awesome. I would not trade it for anything.

Y2K, I wish. I made soo much money on my internship coding for Y2K, it was awesome. I haven't figured out how to code for coronal mass ejections yet. LOL.

I bought some HTS-2000. I have just used it to practice so far, on cans and aluminum scarp. it is not to tough to do. I would definitely practice on something worthless before you go to the boat.

I would partially agree. However, for the folks like my cousins (1 with a degree in construction management, the other a builder) and my uncle (construction project manager) who have found themselves unemployed for the first time in their lives with little or no hits on resumes, panic is unavoidable.

I have the 168 on my jon. Has performed well, especially for the price. BPS has it around us, so do a lot of the Walmarts. I have not used the 242 or 300. What does the feature set on those include that the 168 does not?