Minuteman

I really admire people that express that much passion in their work/play. I have it, I just can't express myself that way. I am afraid that some of his outbursts on the lake are looking more and more staged and encouraged by TV cameras and if it is he may start to resent having to perform for the cameras. I noticed on an recent FLW show after he caught one that he looked around for the camera and other boats and then put on a show for each of them. I'd hate for him to get burned out because he really is a great angler and a unique person. *just my 2 cents.

That video of JH could easily be edited (cut fence shots) to make it look like a legitimate hunt. I figure that many hunting and fishing shows are staged. It reminds me of slaughtering animals on a farm, just "playing" around with them before you kill them. Not much sporting involved just cruelty and disrespect.

I know in rural areas tackle turns up in just about any kind of stores. We still have a small town grocery store that sells tackle. It seems weird today, but up until about 20 years years ago they used to stock trout in the nearby stream and the place used to get packed with anglers. I doubt they will continue with the tackle since a WalMart opened up a mile away. Loyalty: Abu/Garcia baitcasters. Quality and Price! I learned on them and have about 5 or 6 I still use.

I have 6 that I've been a regular at last year since I got the little duck boat and 4 others that don't allow watercraft because of Zebra mussels. Them 4 are all within a 15 minute drive, have nice Bass and I use them extensively for practicing new techniques and tackle. One I didn't get to last year on the boat (Marsh Creek Lake) is less than a 1hr drive and was featured on an ESPN online story as one of the top 3 Bass lakes in Pennsylvania. That is one of the first trips my son and I have planned for his Spring Break to check out. I just got the map made up yesterday. I also fish in the local river and creeks for smallmouth and I even have a native trout stream within a mile from my house.

Class Act that RW. That reminds me, I've been wanting to try out a new boat, but...Uh, sorry couldn't resist that

The one Philadelphia TV station noticed that 4 of the 10 most hated have connections to Philly, including Ike, The City of Brotherly Love. At least Ike isn't notorious for legal troubles or taking fans for granted. Ike doesn't bother me at all because I don't fish near him, the "Like Ikes" that I fish near DO bother me, but most are pretty young and I just sorta chuckle inside when they start screaming.

Your still in Denial, it gets better after you surrender and admit you have no control over it.

My dad was a great fisherman and got me into fishing, but I never remember actually fishing with him. I tagged along when he went trout fishing when I was about 4 or 5 yrs old. He got me a Zebco and let me go fish for catfish and sunnies in the Schuykill River that ran through town with my older sisters and their friends not long after that, but he worked 6-7 days a week all year and got 2 weeks off in the summer and he went to Canada then. He died when I was still young, but the cool thing is, almost every picture I have of him he is fishing. Most from the 1950's and 60's in Canada. Except for work that's apparently all he did . Now, the other day my youngest daughter asked me if I use money for anything other than buying fishing stuff!!

I think he just wants to do other stuff. He said he wants to spend more time hunting and traveling the world fishing for many species. He has no reason to fish the tournaments. He doesn't need the money and his sponsors get better exposure on his TV show. At first I thought he meant he was mentally unable to fish against the younger guys like Ike when I read that , but I noticed on his shows he is so focused on fishing he doesn't even know what is going on right around him in the boat. His wife could be screaming that the boat is on fire and going down and Roland would just keep fishing till he was underwater or on fire, giving tips the whole time. God Bless him!

I've heard of people leaving stringers hanging over the boat and pulling in fisheads later on, lots of snapping turtles around here.

I've actually thought about this myself since I have a small jon boat. I have a Rolling Rock soft zip up cooler that a case of beer came in and I use it on the boat to keep my boat papers, first aid and other little things in it. I chose that because it zips tight and will float, but is soft enough to get kicked around. I later realized that I could always fill it with water and keep a pretty good size fish alive in it till I made it to shore. It didn't even dawn on me until my son mentioned it that people will think I'm lugging a case of beer around on the boat instead of safety and first aid stuff.

I liked the show, too bad it got axed. Most of the best teachers in the world will tell you, "do as I say, not as I do". I've found that shortcuts come in handy sometimes, but they can prevent you from learning very important lessons early on.

I sorta had a pet bass. About 20 years ago I caught a one-eyed 8" largemouth in a small creek near the area I had moved to. I thought it strange that it was in such a small stream and except for an occasional Smallmouth mostly there was just Rock Bass, Sunfish and Chubs in the creek. I could catch "ole one-eye" anytime I wanted that summer from the area above a small dam in the creek. He was skinny and half blind and looking back now, I should've kept him and released him in one of the farm ponds near by. A year or two later, I caught a 7 1/2lb Largemouth w/both eyes in private lake that the same stream ran into a mile downstream, hopefully he made his way down there and had a normal life.

I also notice Al talking about their video company that films tournaments and other peoples fishing videos for them. I love the opening video for Angling Edge, the way the music syncs up to not only the fishing action, but the comments the anglers are making, as they are fishing..."Big, Big, Big!!"

I use one tied to a small plastic bottle. I wrap the string around the bottle and chuck it out. Last week I just let the breeze blow it back in, but usually I snag the string with a lure. We just had the ice melt off on some lakes I wanted to check the temp before I went out over the weekend. My little thermomter showed 40 degrees and sure enough when I went out on the boat yesterday I got the same reading from my electronics.

I had started packing up and organizing my Bass gear after all the lakes froze in early December, but since then we've had higher than normal temps and all lakes are ice free again for at least 2 more weeks. So, the ultra light trout tackle goes back and the big sticks are out for tomorrow. If I can't find Bass there are Pike I've been waiting to go after since fall. Reminds me, I have to charge a battery.

I just started getting In-Fisherman again last month. Us yankees have to fish for other species or we'd go insane during the frigid season. I haven't gotten to the point where I'm sitting on a bucket looking through a hole in the ice, YET!

As for TV shows, In-Fisherman Critical Concepts was on Sportsnet today and I believe it is going to air every Tuesday 4Pm here ( at least as far as my schedule shows). I had never seen it before, but it was a great show on swimbaits. Angling Edge is on at 8:30AM on OLN one day in the middle of the week besides the 5AM time almost everyday. There is a whole bunch of new fishing shows on OLN. Hank Parker and Shaw Grigsby to name a few.

I said this before, but Bill Dance explains things very well right up there with Angling Edge, Classic Patterns also explains why things are happening instead of just how to catch fish. I know that the OLN has already added some new shows, but I wish I got The Outdoor Channel here too.

I saw that in the Catalog too, it reminded me of my childhood walking through the woods with my .22 rifle.

I have an old fishing book printed in 1964 and I noticed for Pike one of the recomended ways to pull them up is with the thumb and index or middle finger in the eye sockets complete with a drawings. Since they also recomend keeping a club handy, I guess they weren't big on Catch and Release back then. I just found the book in my sons room while he's at college, it was his uncles from when he was young, it is really interesting how much things have changed since then.

Just so it doesn't end "Get a new Wife!"

I guess they are jumping at the flashes of light on the water to start and then banging on the boat seems to keep it going. I noticed a strobe light flickering occasionally too.

On TV, I'd say Bill Dance, I have no trouble understanding anything he's explaing, even oxygen, thermocline and water temps affect on fish location. Roland Martin , he really knows what he's doing, but isn't as easy to understand as Bill Dance. I actually learn most tips from right here on BassResource and I'm not just saying that to be nice!!

I was reading about the musky records and all the shenanigans there. They used old pictures and had men of the same size as the men in the old pics pose with board cutouts to represent the the fish in the picures. Using modern photos of known official fish it turned out the records where way off. I liked that the one record wasn't even considered because the musky had bullet holes in it as the guy shot it to land it.