Fishing Rhino

I don't know. Could be. I got the big, everything catalog in the late 50s, early 60s. Those catalogs had the family crest/shield of Herter prominently displayed. I'm only surmising that if he kept at it with the hunting gear, he'd have maintained the family coat of arms prominently displayed.

He ran afoul of government regulations about feathers. A regulation was enacted that banned the harvesting of a particular bird or feathers. He had a huge stockpile and the government would not let him use them even though he had obtained them legally. Being stubbornly independent, he closed down the business. It's in the link on my first post. I didn't get it quite right. He apparently gave up after the government went after him.

That's the clip. What's the movie?

I had been trying to remember the name for months, and like most other things, it came to me when I wasn't perusing my memory banks. I had one, or two, probably even more of those catalogs. You could buy in bulk and save bucoup dollars. Need ball bearing swivels? Buy them by the hundred, for pennies apiece. Spinner blades of every size and configuration. Also available in bulk. Beads, the same. I was busy at that time making spinner rigs for stripers. And for a few bucks I could make them with two or three spinner blades, beads, stainless steel ball bearing swivel, line and hooks for about fifty cents each. In addition to the brand name lures of that era, such as the "Lazy Ike" Herters offered knockoffs such as the Lazy Iver. He also had a deeper running version called, yep, you guessed it, the "Lazy Iver Go Deeper". To my knowlege he had no stores. Everything was mail order. His catalog dwarfed those of today's BPS and Cabelas. It was Nirvanha for the do it youselfers. Blanks, eyes, everything imaginable for fly tying. He did not miss a trick. It was truly something and everything for everybody. http://neveryetmelted.com/categories/herters-catalogue/

All it lacks are the tassels for the hand grips on the handle bars. I saw a fellow with something similar this past week. He had a small lightweight canoe in tow on a trailer with bike wheels.

Thanks. I put it in the address book and that seems to have resolved the issue. Another question. My old computer apparently took a hit when lightning struck the transformer in front of our home. When I turn it on it beeps, one short, followed by one long. Did a search and the results said that code was for a motherboard error/problem. The old computer worked fine, and I have some photo files I'd like to get at. It's an HP. I have a personal media drive which should have backups of all the files. I know the photos were on it. Any idea what a motherboard for an HP Media Center PC m7680n will cost?

I've fiddled around with the spam controls, but have not found any way to "allow email from" then fill in the blank. There is a list of hundreds of sources the program treats as spam that are listed in alphabetical order, but I cannot find Bass Forum or Bass Resource on the list to remove it, which should allow it to be posted in the regular email rather than as spam. I can enter addresses which I want to allow, but that would be a tedious time consuming procedure. I can lower the level for the filter, but that would let a lot of junk/spam through. AOL is my email carrier. It seems that I should be able to right click on email in the spam folder and a menu appear with the option to allow messages from the sender. But no, there isn't. There doesn't seem to be any simple way to prevent wanted emails from going into the spam folder. Please help the old guy resolve this minor aggravation.

OK for me.

The first seven to offer me obscene amounts of money can sponsor me. Doesn't matter if it's Yugo, Neptune Outboards, Popeil's Pocket Fisherman or even the bait which must not be named on this forum.

Can't answer your question without actually seeing the boat, but how 'bout this? Is there any other storage space which can hold a battery? If so, move your starting/electronics battery to that location and install the second tm battery where the starting battery currently resides.

Try a drop shot rig to get familiar with the bottom. Find the grassy/vegetation patches, and work them over. Small ponds can have big fish, but my take is that the size of the pond makes them cautious, if for no other reason than they don't have a lot of places to which they can escape. Often a subtle, finesse type of presentation will be more successful. If you can cast across it, you can work it over thoroughly in a short period of time with a chatterbait. Our daughter has a small pond, only two or three casts across, and an old, eight foot Bass Hunter she uses for training hunting dogs. I use it for fishing, and finding the vegetation. There are many patches of short vegetation and stumps. When I feel the sinker fetching up in the plants, is where I concentrate. Most of the fish are in the pound to pound and a half category. But small ponds can also accomodate a lunker or two. Thanksgiving Day last year on a drop shot with the wacky worm bait a foot and a half above the sinker. Worked very slowly across the bottom. Gentle twitches or a slow pull when the sinker hangs in the weeds. The year before I got a four pounder from this pond, so it holds at least two nice fish. I suspect there are a couple of others since they were caught in the same vicinity. Mix it up and give 'em something different to look at. The boat was almost on the shore in this photo.

Toss up between the white and the clear, though I lean to the clear. However, it's not as prevalent as the white.

A knot to tie an anchor to the line? What a bunch of landlubbers. You should always use an eye splice over a thimble, and a clevis to attach an anchor to the anchor rope. The splice in this image is ok, but its better not to cut the three in the same place. Make at least three passes of the splice, then cut one of the lines by using a heated utility knife blade. It melts the nylong together and eliminates the tag end from protruding through the warp. Pass the two remaining ends back through the warp and cut off another using the heated blade. Pass the remaining strand back through the warp once more and cut it off. It makes for a nice tapered splice that wont snag muck or gunk on the bottom. The hole in the clevis pin/bolt is for a wire to be passed through and wrapped around the clevis to prevent the pin from backing out. Some clevises aren't threaded they pass through the clevis and a cotter pin prevents it from backing out. But, if you do want to tie the line directly to the anchor, here's the knot.

Go with the folding plastic BPS seats. I've had both. The plastic seats are heavier, but much more comfortable. I just put a second in my canoe. I also got the swivel to mount them. Yes, they are much heavier with the swivel than the LL Bean type of seat, but spend a day in each and you'll toss the canvas seat in the dumpster. Don't get me wrong. I used the folding canvas seats for several years, and they are much better than having no back rest. But the plastic are sturdier, give your back better support in the lumbar area while the canvas has a higher back but is nowhere near as comfortable for hours of fishing. Take your choice, comfort or weight.

I was wondering what you had for a boat when you posted earlier about where to fish. Consider Watson's pond, in the State Park across from Sabattia. No gasoline engines allowed. It's smaller than Nip, but deeper. Lots of coontail and lily pad beds. There are a few places where you can back a cartop down to the water. You will have to pay five dollars for parking. There are no ramps, but there are a few openings where it is easy to launch a small boat or canoe. I've caught a lot of bass in the lily pad beds using a fluke rigged weedless. You can also use it in the coontail. The cove to the right of the beach, as you're looking at it from the pond has a lot of lily pad beds and has been productive for me. The back of the pond, the northwest end has also been good. You'll have to fish the weeds, but you should find fish in the weeds, and there is no shortage of weeds.

The lesson to be learned is to take all your necessary gear with you. Pliers/forceps/hematats should be at the top of your list. Having to return to your vehicle for instruments that can save the life of a fish increases the risk of the fish not making it. Consider the interlopers, thoughtless and rude though they may be, as the price you had to pay for your negligence of leaving your pliers behind. If you thought you were aggravated, think how the fish felt. Puts an entirely different perspective on the incident.

LOL. I can only imagine what the finish must look like. In my mind, I envision a vehicle that just went through one of those car washes with the spinning drums, and they replace the cloth strips with abrasive strips. Actually I don't have to imagine. I've seen farm trucks around here where they go in the same type of environment. But, ya gotta do what ya gotta do to get where ya wanna go. One long skid plate beneath so those saplings don't rip off any hoses.

Since we're talking about the economy, here's something really disconcerting to consider. It came to me reading the comments to an article from the WSJ. The current government debt is 15 trillion, give or take. A poster tried to downplay this debt by pointing out that private debt, individual and business is 45 trillion. His/her assertion is that the 15 trillion dollar debt is not all that bad when you compare it to the private indebtedness. That's fine, as far as it goes. I disagree with the poster that 15 trillion isn't all that bad, when you make the comparison. But, the writer fails to look past the end of her or his nose. Private debt, or more correctly, those who owe it, aren't looking at unfunded mandates down the road. Unfunded mandates include, but are not limited to Social Security, Medicare, pensions to retired government employees, etc. In a few short years, those unfunded mandates really start to kick in. At that point in time, governmental debt will far surpass private debt. Thursday, June 11, 2009 by Pamela Villarreal The 2009 Social Security and Medicare Trustees Reports show the combined unfunded liability of these two programs has reached nearly $107 trillion in today's dollars! That is about seven times the size of the U.S. economy and 10 times the size of the outstanding national debt. The unfunded liability is the difference between the benefits that have been promised to current and future retirees and what will be collected in dedicated taxes and Medicare premiums. Last year alone, this debt rose by $5 trillion. If no other reform is enacted, this funding gap can only be closed in future years by substantial tax increases, large benefit cuts or both. http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba662

I didn't care for the 2.0 version, but Captain Oblivious would have had a nice ring to it.

Question. During the years of supposed surplus, would there have been a surplus if the SS contributions had not been tossed into the general fund? And, speaking of surplusses or is it surpli, how is it that the national debt continued to rise. The stuff I've seen published from the office of then President Clinton said that we had paid down some of the publicly held national debt. That's pretty clever since the publicly held national debt is only a portion of the debt. In fact, the government has little to do with increasing or paying down the publicly held portion of the national debt. Publicly held debt is held by individuals, or groups that have purchased government bonds for various purposes. If I buy a bond for a thousand dollars, that increases the publicly held national debt. When I cash it in, it reduces the publicly held national debt. What did any branch of government or politician have to do with those transactions? Bonds are attractive for a couple of reasons. They may pay higher interest rates than savings, and/or, the interest earned may be tax exempt. But the purchase and conversion of these bonds is in the public's hands.

The fact is that SS has always been a Ponzi scheme, that by its very nature is incapable of sustaining itself. In 1965, I was making 140 dollars per week, and for the last three weeks of that year my takehome pay increased because I had reached the ceiling. There have been numerous adjustments to make it self sustaining, but those fixes proved to be only short term bandaids. The promise has always been, you pay in, you take out. However, should you die before the age at which you qualify for benefits, and you have neither a spouse, nor dependents, the government gives you or your estate zero, zip, nada. Those receiving SS benefits haven't had a raise in two years. However, government pensions for retirees have risen through cost of living adjustments and/or inflation percentages. The government cannot afford to give those of us on SS an increase in benefits, but they can afford them for retired government employees. Consider this. In just three generations, SS is in serious trouble. Doesn't that tell you it was an ill conceived program. Those who have paid, rich or poor, without regard to means are entitled to that which was promised. The benefit rate is determined by the amount contributed. Take the ceiling off contributions, and take the ceiling off of benefits. Why is it so many fall prey to the class *** scheme which vilifies the rich. My parents taught me never to look down my nose at those with leas, and not to be jealous of, or resent those with more.

Is your truck four wheel drive? Some ramps are steep, some can get slick. Most of the time, a four wheel drive isn't needed. But the one time you do need it, and don't have it will be a real headache. In any trailering situation, braking power is the number one priority. A small vehicle may struggle, but it will eventually get to a speed where its brakes are not adequate. Your 1500 should have sufficient braking power. But, when you do get a boat, try to find one with a trailer that has surge brakes. They make a huge difference.

Nippennicket? Not for me thank you. I tried it a couple of years ago from my canoe. Didn't even get a nibble. Plus, most of the pond is three feet deep or less, hardly suited for bass boats. I wouldn't run mine in there. I went all over the pond, from north to south and east to west. It may have just been a poor day, but it turned me off. Lake Sabbatia would be a better alternative, though someone said the place is a mess. Not sure how they meant it. I know it has a lot of coontail and other vegetation, but I've caught fish the three times I tried it, and that was in my paddling canoe.

The problem is the government spending like a drunken sailor. They talk about cutting the deficit. That is absurd on every level. Let's see how this would work for me. This year, I spend a hundred thousand more than I take in. I'm now in debt to the tune of that hundred thou, plus the interest which accrues until I pay it off. So, next year, I'll do better. I'll cut my deficit spending to ninty thousand. It doesn't matter that I have increased my debt. I have reduced my deficit spending. I am demonstrating great fiscal responsibility and restraint. To quote Ron Popeil, "But wait, there's more." I'll do even better next year, I'm going to rein in my deficit spending to 80,000 dollars. There, aren't I doing a grand job on my deficit spending? Over the next ten years, I will have reduced my deficit spending by more than a hundred thousand dollars. Iterest on all the deficits? What's that? No matter that my total deficit spending would be well over a half million dollars in ten years, I'm no longer spending at those earlier levels. Essentially this is what we're being told by the politicians. Is that the truth? Absolutely. Is that honest? Absolutely not. Anything, even the truth, used in any way to mislead is dishonest. Comparing the tax rates, using only the historic income tax rates according to the brackets is hardly conclusive. The governments, federal, state, and local have raised taxes and created new taxes which have nothing to do with income. Sales taxes, utility taxes, fuel taxes, users fees, excise taxes, etc., etc., etc. The typical political reasoning works like this. You live in town A, and tie up your boat at the town dock. The town charges you ten dollars per foot per year for that space. Then some politician from your town, which is having cash flow problems discovers that neighboring town B is charging twenty dollars per foot per year for its dock space. Automatically the assumption is that town A is charging too little. Mr. Politician from town B will never, under any circumstance consider that they may be overcharging for their dock space. As soon as a politician discovers that their town/city charges lower rates for any service than the other towns in the area, their first instinct is to raise those fees/taxes. I have seen this argument made countless times in my lifetime. It's the typical political speak and logic. I don't care if they are paying ten dollars per gallon for gas in Europe or Asia. That's their problem. Don't make it mine. Sleazy politicians always looking for another vein to tap so they can extract more of my hard earned dollars. Haven't you noticed they, the president included have hinted at making cuts to medicare and social security. It's never welfare, or government pensions. The reason is obvious. Most folks on Medicare and receiving SS are nearing the end of their lives. Their voting value to the politicians is less than the younger segments of our society. They'll gladly lose a few votes from us old timers but don't want to lose the younger voting blocs which have far more votes and years of voting remaining. It doesn't matter that you have been a productive member of society all your life. Your usefulnes to them as a voter is what really matters. They'll gladly swap the votes of the seventy plus crowd to keep the votes of the twenty through fifty year olds.

Wanna do something earlier in August? Fine by me. Pick a time and place. I'd opt for Great Herring, but parking would be impossible on any weekend before Labor Day. May be going to Wallum tomorrow, and Tate really likes it, so that's an option. Plus, it has smallies which some have yet to catch. Wallum looks good on the map. Lots of structure with a maximum depth of 78 feet.