SirSnookalot

I never panic and don't use certain baits or techniques as a last resort, I stick with my game plan, usually somewhere along the line I'll score, if i don't so be it.

For about 6 days solid fish were everywhere, we had 4-5' NE groundswell with a 15-20 NE mph wind, over the weekend those numbers were doubled wind 35 mph and seas 8-10 hitting the beach, great fishing. Snook, tarpon and the seasonal smaller jacks, bluefish and mutttons. The jetties were elbow to elbow. I opted not to fish those crowded areas and went jack hunting for the larger ones, I did well had a 10# everyday, caught 4 Tuesday thought my arms were gonna fall off, was lucky to land a couple of them, I was fishing off a low sea wall, so I could lift them up. Then weather changes, west wind calm water, no fishermen around , and caught just 2 fish for 3 hours of fishing, 5# jack and a small bluefish. Mullet run should over soon, that's when fishing gets tough, however that's when the bigger fish come around

You can take a ferry to harsens island, canals and flats that can be fished from shore.

We have hundreds of feeder canals here, the intersections at the main canals hold good sized fish, works pretty much the same as a feeder channel into a main body of water, but on a smaller scale.

For my open water fishing with a fluke I like to use a 1/4 oz jig head rather than a circle hook, but I'm sure nose hooking would work just as well. Just never know how long 1 bait will last, I've caught several snook or tarpon on one before I had to replace it and I have lost one to a small bass, just the way it goes. I have been using the DOA 5 1/2" jerk shads, but people I know use Zooms and have identical success. About the only way to pond fish and beat the cost of baits is to catch your own live crawlers and minnows, just so long a hard bait will last, I lose them.

I grew up fishing Lake St Clair, it may not be your lure color but where you are fishing. A shore or boat fisherman? I haven't been there in quite a few years but always had excellent success in and around Harsens island, but if I were to pick a place it would be Walpole Island on the Canadian side. We used to fish the St Mary's river near Algonac, good sturgeon waters, walleye too. In the opposite direction lake Erie is an excellent fishery, again my choice was always the Canadian side, Rondeau bay, smallmouths.

You Forget about Russ Thomas......his job was W.C. Ford's babysitter, Ford's personal problems were well known. They totally wasted Barry Saunders talent's, I didn't blame him for leaving the game. He never had a good offensive line in front of him ( like Emmet Smith) and ran for too many negative yards. Had the Lions built a team around him he would have made records that would withstand the test of time. He may not have been the most sociable guy out there, but if there was ever an unselfish team player, it was him. Just my take. Best will not be a bulldog week in and week out, he's a journeyman, but had a great game. Taking off 1 88 yd running he is averaging 3.7 yds per rush, with the big gain it's 4.9, I don't expect too many big runs from him.

First question is casting or spinning for your top water rod, if it's spinning don't go too heavy. Personally I don't care for the stretch with mono or co poly, I like braid. I do use p line 20# floroclear for offshore fishing on an Avet and this stuff is plenty strong, have handled medium sized fish 30-80# and bigger, I just limp it out with warm water, then troll it out before you fish.

I would agree. Cinderella teams usually don't go all the way. In football the team playing the best going into the playoffs does the best, not always the best team. As much of diehard Lions fan as I am, and what they are doing is great, but they are not a complete team. At present their big weapon is Calvin Johnson, what if he goes down. What they need is to bolster up that running game, at present I don't see them being able to keep getting 1 st downs to run out the clock. When leading by 7 points with a few minutes to play, the last thing you wanna do is toss ball. Lombardi said " three things happen when you pass and two of them are bad ".

What ever your preference is go4it. As WRB stated that using live bait was easier, I agree, but if one takes pleasure in doing so it's ok with me. Bass are but 1 of a number of fish I target, I choose only to use artificial lures, no plastics, with the exception a weedless fluke when it's a must, and never use any type of aroma enhancement. My normal MO is sight casting. I do catch less fish, but I appreciate the rewards when I score. For me, nothing beats casting to fin and getting slammed by a hefty fish.

I do remember 1957,and everything else up till now. I don't want hear "restore the roar", or "another one bites the dust", but to quote Ben Crenshaw "I've got a good feeling about this" Is there really a color called Honolulu Blue?

I love watching B ball, but if they don't play I'll manage fine. I always feel for businesses and employees that rely on any entity like sporting events, and strikes against large corporations where the average Joe is unable to earn a living.

I'd try anything just to add a little variety to my day, but I don't think it's a magic bullet. This is just me, I see line twist and that's one thing I don't like. I always use a leader and swivel, quite often a BB and I don't get any twist for any of my freshwater fishing.

Enough has been written already !

Thank you Grey Wolf ! Would I turn someone in for cheating? There is no cut and dried answer, I need to look at each situation as it develops, being narrow minded is not one of my flaws. Regarding the past event, In my heart I do not believe any cheating happened. I truly think there was a failure of communication. I do not believe the intent was to cheat, only to have fun and add a bit of levity to the outing. In hindsight Wellman probably should have selected another topic to display his lack of comedic skills. As no cheating actually happened, the outcome of the tournament was not affected, my position remains the same, I would not have been a tattle -tale, how someone else reacts is their business. The real crime committed is the public conviction based on no true evidence, Wellman was lynched before a trial took place. IMO the proper procedure should have been for B.A.S.S to make a determination before any public postings took place. I'm not defending Wellman, only saying the situation could have been handled differently.

Nice Sm...........I especially like your hat.

If you don't mind carrying a lure retriever it's a good idea and will pay for itself, not to mention being without a lost lure until you can replace it. I have broken a few tips trying to dislodge a snagged lure, complete user error. By jerking the rod you are putting stress, in time your gonna break the rod, what works for me is to open the bail or go into free spool taking off every bit of tension from the tip. Working the snag by pulling the line, not the the rod, I also use heavier leaders than most people. Muddy was right about this one, the bow snapping method is probably as good as it gets to free your lure, well worth the try.

I liked Al Davis' style, I have always been a Raider's fan from afar, I know a lot of people didn't care for him. There have been quite a few nutty owners in professional sports, another former Oakland owner, Charlie Finley for one. You may not care for these renegades but I find hard not to admire them for their innovations and success.

You are absolutely right, this horse is dead, but I wasn't the one that rehashed it. I'll say this one more time, I never said I thought the co angler was wrong, I only said I would have handled it differently.

Depends on time of year, fishing location, and target species, too much ground to cover so I'll stick to bass. During the summer months bass fishing is not easy in my area and I do get skunked, in the winter I never get skunked. I have a scenario going on now that i can't figure out. With the cooler weather and reduced humidity I have started do some bass fishing, I'm catch a few in the local canals and some of the ponds, not too hard. But this is the problem, my home ponds which generally are very good and the canal behind my house which also is very productive, I can't get hit to save my life, the ponds are landlocked and there is no where for the fish to go. I can walk over to another pond in my community and get hit quite a bit, they run small and I prefer going after the larger fish even if I go biteless. One of my neighbors, who is strictly a plastic worm user is having the same problems.

Live worm.............I could almost guarantee something would hit it.

The easy way out is to agree with everyone, as you seem to be doing, that's a comfort zone. All I said was I would do things differently, which is not a popular view, that's hard road to to take. I was not alone, I did have some members that had a similar feeling and expressed it to me. I would not report something that I considered minor, especially with no proof to back it up. There are always 3 sides to every story, yours, his and the truth. Wellman was convicted in the court of public opinion before any other statement or evidence was produced. IMO Wellman was joking but lacked the talents to be in stand up comedy, the man was leading the tournament at the time, I think, and had no real reason to cheat. The "joke" may have not be translated well and accepted as a crime as grave as murder in the 1 st degree. I'm still curious about someone turning in their wife, father, best friend under the same circumstance...........I think not. You can make up all the scenarios that you wish, my opinion would never change, I don't tattle, except in the case of a felony, like murder in the 1st.

The majority of jobs at a foundry,scrap or metal recycling company are laborers, but it may give a little insight as to the nuts and bolts of the biz, lynyrdsky's dad is in the business. This is an example of what a degree can do : about 25 years ago a degreed man had a job as comptroller for the largest ferrous yard in the Detroit area. Eventually he bought the company as the owners were retiring, he then built the company to the largest operation in the midwest, everything state of the arts. Some years later he sold to a man that built it to one of the largest in the country, there is no limit in this biz. I do not like to throw numbers around, but we are talking numbers that would be heard on CNBC.

Are you saying you don't believe the bridge was dismantled or there is no real value involved in doing it. Or are you saying there is no money being in the scrap metal business? A few good torchmen make mincemeat out of that bridge in fairly short order, surprised they didn't take the tracks too. The steel itself is worth around $400 gt, ballpark number less the price of materials probably about $35 a ton. Moving it is a piece of cake, roll off boxes and bobcat, hi lo or front end loader. It would be inappropriate to say how much money was made in that business, but I will say there are not many that are not in the top 1% of wage earners. There are no student loans, but loans for other things like equipment are expensive.

Doesn't change my opinion one iota, the money involved is only a number, principal is what matters and my principal is not to be a rat, especially if I can't prove it. If someone else chooses to be one that's their business. Furthermore, in your scenario someone actually committed an infraction, in the case involved only a suggestion was made ( yeh I know it's against the rules) in a joking manner which personally I would have laughed with the guy. In addition to that, other than the statement of 1 person, there is no evidence. If your going to say something, have it on tape and be able to prove it. It ain't what you know, it's what you can prove. What if you were fishing a tournament with your brother, father, wife or best friend, would you turn them in for a statement that was probably a joke? Maybe your wife's statement was serious, we have no way to know, if it was and you do turn her in, I'd get acquainted with the couch in my living room, after she called you a RAT ! I never once said that I thought he was wrong, I only said I would have handled it differently. To me it appeared as BASS didn't really take it all that serious, the fine I believe was quite minimal, probation is nothing more than saying " we got an eye on you bud" and still awarded the first place check. The penalty invoked was most likely an appeasement, just wanting to move on and forgetting about it.