Lund Explorer

Not that it always works, but I try to make a game out of a topwater bite to see how long I can wait before the hook set. I found that using a casting bubble and spider for bluegills in the spring makes for great practice. It is amazing how many times a bass will inhale the bubble (with no hook attached). Patience is really the key.

Strictly speaking.... No, with reservations. The returns you prepare for others would have to be "paper returns" and not be e-filed. You aren't allowed to prepare electronically filed returns unless you have completed the application process for an EFIN (Electronic Filing Identification Number). You will also need to know that if you have a problem with one of the people you are doing returns for, you will be limited in what you can do for them in resolving those issues with IRS. This wasn't always the case as the Form 2848 Power of Attorney allowed for "un-enrolled agents" to discuss and resolve many issues. That isn't the case anymore. So legally, you can do the work within the restrictions. Ethically, means to that you need to understand your limitations as to what you can provide, and to explain these things to your "clients". Here's the link to the IRS website's main preparer's page. Probably would be a good idea to study some of things here. http://www.irs.gov/taxpros/index.html

So, follow the links and find the class that is nearest to you. If is like the area I live in, you'll find out the instructor is the owner of a local office. It wouldn't hurt to discuss your concerns with this person prior to signing up for the classes. Just make sure that you explain to them that you would be willing to work almost any shift aside from your college schedule. And REALLY make sure to volunteer for the evening and/or weekend hours, as this is when most of taxpayers want to come in to take care of this. Taking the classes is going to give you a good basic knowledge on the preparation of simpler 1040 returns which is the basis of their clients. You'll have plenty of time in the future to work on the more complex individual returns, and then into the corporate/partnership arena. At the very worst, you will have spent a few hours of extra study. If H & R Block doesn't hire you, the classes can still give you a leg up on all of those folks looking to hire into one of the many other tax preparation firms out there.

The University of Michigan..... One of the two great football programs in the state, along with Central Michigan!!!!! Poor old "Moo U". Bwaaahahaha!

Like everyone else, I'm sorry to see all you folks going through these floods. When I first saw the news, I wondered how many people wouldn't be posting here for a few days.

Morning Root Beer, Setting aside that last advice I gave to you on that stripper thing for a minute or two, I thought I'd chip in some serious advice here. As a practicing accountant for the last 33 years, I can assure you that the only limitations you'll find in this career are the ones you set on yourself. Hearing you talk about getting into the consultation part of the business is interesting, as I find that my work in this area is actually one of the most satisfying parts of my work. To get to that point though, you're going to have to work your way through many of the more mundane parts of the profession first. A part time job with a tax preparation firm such as H & R Block isn't a bad way to start. An off season internship, while it doesn't really pay, would also add to your resume when you begin to look for a firm to work for while sitting for the exams. Hey, regardless of what you choose, I'll wish you the best of luck. Now about that stripper........ :

You guys are killing me! All this "flatlander" country up here gives our pictures a certain lack of a mountain background. To make matters worse, the wife has a terrible time with my camera. So here's a few I've taken this summer. BTW, what kind of cameras are you guys using. These were taken with a Nikon D40. I've got both a 55mm and 200mm lens along with a few other things with it. Next purchase is going to be a tripod of some sort!

X2! Didn't need the chuckling smiley though, because the guy answered his own question when he said they went wild on dog food. I laid my last dollar on the fact that this pond has either an automatic feeder or the owner hand feeds them. If you want to fish pellet trained fish, you just gotta match the hatch. Try this...... Get some 3" grubs that come close to the color of the feed, break off the tail so only the body remains, and rig it weightless. Open hook or tex-posed doesn't much matter as it should be a short range surface bite. Think Trout Pond!

Sounds more like an algae bloom to me as well. Not really sure on Wisc., but here across the lake in Michigan we have finally seen above normal temps since the first of September. That's probably the cause of the "green" water. Our fall turnover just brings up a lot of dead stuff off the bottom which is brown.

Great Fish A-Jay! Congrats to your wife, but I'm getting off of here before mine looks over my shoulder and sees those pics.

Don't save just two cups...... Save it all! You've got the start of Chix Noddle Soup. I always make an entire batch starting with a full chicken in a big old pot of water. Once you've pulled the chicken out, cook up the celery and carrots in the broth. Remove the veggies when they're cooked, and set them aside. One last thing is to de-bone and cut up the chicken. Once all of that is done, just divide into serving size containers with equal portions of everything, and put into the freezer for later use. All that needs to be added is the noodles (or rice). I can usually get a nice dinner for the wife and I, and about six 2 qt. containers in the freezer. Great for those winter days when a cold is coming on.

X2! Most critters whether they swim, walk, or fly become accustomed to their surroundings. A bass living on a lake with high boat traffic isn't going to be much more affected than the deer that live right on the runways at the Detroit airport.

Tyrius, You bringing up the subject of fish feeders made me chuckle. One of my clients developed and patented one of these things, and while I would agree with the fact that the fish can become conditioned, sometimes that behavior couldn't be exactly be classified as smart. Case in point was a customer who wrote them about how the fish were not only attracted to the feeder's automatic feeding times, but because the feeder had an manual feeding cycle built in, that the fish also became accustomed to rushing to the dock anytime he walked out onto it. Probably because he often hit this manual feeding cycle, the fish "learned" to trust this guy, led a few of them to an early demise. That's because one of the local Great Blue Herons "learned" about the easy fishing to be had from his dock. This bird would land on the dock each day, and walk out to the end of it near the feeder. This led to all of the SMART fish to come screaming in from all directions for the free meal, only to become the main course themselves. I'd say the jury is still out.

No problem Paul. The War Dept (A.K.A. Mrs, Lund) has been telling me for years that I'm easily confused. ;D

I have a sneaking suspicion that bass are only as smart as each fisherman needs them to be.

Thanks for helping me think about this one..... Maybe Saturday morning will find a pig-n-jig used instead of a sinker.

Trying to stay on here, but I guess my post belonged more on the Broken Fin thread. It would post here, but it got through on there.

Just to give you guys another view of why someone can "lose his way" in the game of bass fishing, I thought maybe it was time to tell you my story, and the story of my partner Mike. Mike and I first met back 40 years ago in high school. I was a sophomore when he came in as a freshman from the local Catholic school. Our mutual enjoyment of fishing cemented a friendship that lasted for a very long time. Even though our paths separated during the time we were both serving in the military, things seemed to pick right back up after our five year hiatus. Each year found us chasing trout in the spring, bass and walleyes during the summer and fall, and then right out onto the ice after bluegills and pike each winter. It was Mike who first came up with the idea about joining a bass fishing club. He had a few of his friends from work how belonged to a club, and he enjoyed the challenge that tournament fishing gave him. I guess it was only natural that I would follow in his wake. There were times when we fished against each other, and other times when we fished as a team. But regardless, we always had fishing in common. After 17 years of crazed bass fishing, that all started to change back in 2001. That was the year he learned that he had contracted ALS, what you may know as Lou Gherig's Disease. At first, it didn't change the drive that either one of us had for the sport. As a matter of fact, it never did diminish Mike's enjoyment of the sport, even when his body couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't tell you how many times he told me that his mind was still going 100mph, but the speed his body was going always got slower. This disease attacks in a slow but relentless way. For the first year or so, Mike was still able to fish basically like he always had, and we even continued to fish in a few tournaments. But some days, he just couldn't make it for the whole day. Then he progressed to that stage where a life jacket had to be worn all of the time. His balance was going along with his leg muscles, and the only safe way to be on the water was sitting down in a chair. That winter, he stopped by the house one day with his arm in a sling. A slip and fall had resulted in a broken elbow that would never heal completely. So now Mike, a guy who lived to throw jerkbaits, crankbaits, and spinners anywhere a smallmouth lived, was limited to living the life of the worm fisherman. But it didn't stop him from fishing. The tournaments were over with, but he still enjoyed the occasional day on the lake. Sure, he cussed more than normal, but it was simply frustration, and he never gave up the desire. The last time I got to visit with Mike, I had to tell him that I gave him full credit for saving a day when my wife started out kicking my butt. We were on a hot topwater bite that morning, or at least she was. Down four fish to none, I was a little worried and returned to my tackle box to find something that I could use to hold my own. And that is when I spotted a lure Mike had turned me onto years ago.... The pink Pop-R. Oh the stories that lure brings back. And this one morning got added to the list as those fish couldn't leave it alone. As I told him the story, the smile returned to his face. His body almost completely worn away by this time, his voice slurred his approval of not only the lure, but my choice in tying it on that day. It was only a few days later that his battle ended. I know this forum's rules say no politics or religion, but I hope Glenn will understand when I say that I hope he's found the chance to return to fishing in his old way. But for me, tournament fishing is now pretty much done. After Mike had to quit, I tried a few tournaments. But it just wasn't the same. Maybe a realization that mortality stares us all in the face had something to do with it. I have turned a corner, and I'm now more selfish of my own time left. Now the desire to fish is more of a drive to spend time with my children and grandchildren. I know that somewhere down deep a flicker of that old flame still burns. I feel it every time I watch some guy on TV tossing a worm under a dock, or pitching to a stump. I can almost feel the tap, and the urge to swing into a hookset is strong enough to make me want to put down my coffee. Maybe someday I'll get back into that game, but for now I live with the memories of my friend, and I try my best to make new memories for the younger members of my family.

I can't really speak about that specific Rainbow, but as a guy that has fished the waters of Lakes Michigan and Huron for a number of years, I don't think that Brown was doctored. For the most part, this fish is just like all of the other lake run fish, just bigger. These fish swim most of their lives in big water eating a very rich diet of smelt, sculpin, and alewives. The fish was also probably lucky that it most likely survived numerous spawning runs where she was either never caught, or if she had been, released to live another day. Most of the really big browns caught here are during the spring of the year right after the ice moves out. The fish follow the smelt up shallow during their spawning run and can be caught during that time. To expand on J Francho's quote that "Record fish are all a little weird.", you can add that this fish was actually making its spawning run much earlier than normal. Most lake run browns move into the rivers to spawn after the season for keeping them ends on September 30th each year. It isn't very often that you see these big fish in the rivers this time of year, but especially this year. Near shore water temperatures have been abnormally high this year which has led to a reduced the number of fish (Kings and Cohos) that have even started upstream. Had this fish escaped capture for just one more month, it would have been illegal to keep it, and hence no new record. It makes me wonder if this fish hasn't already been caught a few times. There have been "Triploids" planted in the Great Lakes by Michigan's DNR, but they were limited to a short term experiment with King Salmon. It was an attempt to see if the lake would support fish that would approach the size of the fish you see coming out of rivers like the Kenai <sp?> in Alaska. The idea was that a sterile fish would remain in the lake to grown and wouldn't move into their natal streams during the 3-4 year of life. As far as I know, that effort, which failed, has been stopped. Also, in case it hasn't been said before, this fish was caught on a Rapala Shad Rap. The fishermen were using the drop back method using a west coast style drift boat. This style of fishing is normally done by anchoring upstream of a deeper hole and allowing the baits to work downstream of the boat. These guys were actually targeting King Salmon, which while they are not really feeding once they enter the stream, will attack a bait that sits in their face until they get aggravated enough to hit it. That is the key to the drop back method of fishing, as the bait will work in the current, but not really move/change position in the hole.

That isn't hard...... Try sending Glenn a PM and tell him you're a long time listener, but first time caller. ;D

Just wing it, but start with the following..... "Sorry folks if I kind of stammer through this, but I didn't have time to prepare for this. What with all the trouble I had finding the perfect stripper for the bachelor party and all, I just didn't have the time. But I am happy to see that she accepted my brother's invitation and did make it here......." At this point, it really isn't going to matter what you say. Half the crowd will be starring daggers at the groom, and the other half, mostly the guys how didn't make the party, will be busy trying to figure out who "SHE" is!

A person only needs to look at their state's fish consumption advisories, or the invasive species lists, to see that mankind has made a huge impact on our aquatic environment. The same story holds true on dry land. Its a whole lot better than it used to be, but I'm sure that there are many things we could still be doing to protect our natural resources.

Excellent post Hidepounder. And then add to this the cities such as Grand Rapids, Michigan where an inch of rainfall can cause a spill of up to a million gallons of raw sewage into the Grand River system. Also, though I can't remember the exact source, I've seen this issue covered in the media prior to this. I think it dealt more with RX drugs that were passing through water treatment plants.

Dave and his buddies were hanging out and planning an upcoming fishing trip. Unfortunately, he had to tell them that he couldn't go this time because his wife wouldn't let him. After a lot of teasing and name calling, Dave headed home frustrated. The following week when Dave's buddies arrived at the lake they were shocked to see Dave. He was already sitting on the dock, fishing rod in hand, and drinking a beer. His buddies asked, "How did you talk your missus into letting you go Dave?" Dave replied. "Last night I came home and slumped down in my chair with a beer to drown my sorrows thinking how much I wanted to go fishing. Then the ol'lady snuck up behind me and covered my eyes and said, 'Surprise'. When I peeled her hands back she was standing there in a beautiful see through negligee and she said, 'Carry me into the bedroom and tie me to the bed and you can do whatever you want'. SO I DID AND HERE I AM!

I can understand why people like a topwater bite, but I think anyone who has a 5 lb+ Smallmouth hit a jerkbait with the power that almost (and in some cases does, if you are not paying attention) rips the rod from your hands would put a jerkbait bite right up there (if not above) a topwater bite. x3