Lund Explorer

If the two of you decide to make the jump into tournament fishing, I would suggest you start out fishing in a few "opens" or find a low key club where you can get a taste of what its like without a large financial commitment. Just like any kind of fishing, the biggest key to success is the ability to find quality fish, find the lures that make them bite on the day of the tournament, and see just where your knowledge and skill puts you in the standings. You'll learn a lot about other fishermen, and more importantly about yourself. Being humble in victory and gracious in defeat will take you a long ways amongst your peers, and it will give you the chance to make many new friends. Unless you are good enough to turn pro, the key to a good weekend warrior has just as much to do with attitude than what you bring to the scales. Good luck and have fun.

You were gone for awhile? Hmmmm.......

Happy Birthday Raul! Hope everything is going well for your Mom and the rest of the family too. Going back in time, I can't help but think of a little family restaurant we used to take my grandmother to on Sundays after church. The Danish Kitchen was famous for the "country-style" chicken dinners they served every Sunday. Everybody at the table started with an empty plate, and all the food came on a platter or in a bowl. Dang that was good food! It was even worth the ride in the country afterwards with Grandma riding in the middle of the back seat between us two boys. We always got the lecture as we drove by some old abandoned farm that this was the kind of place we could look forward to living in if we didn't finish our schooling.

Perhaps the best reply to this often repeated question is the same one I was taught when getting my degree in accounting. When asked for the answer to what one plus one was, the only real answer becomes "What do you want it to be!". It doesn't matter how many universities or fisheries departments have found in their science based studies. Too many people need the answer to be that no fish die because of their actions. I guess that if it makes them sleep better at night, then they should be happy knowing that no fish has ever ended up as turtle food. It's rather like saying no horse has ever broken a leg on the track.

My biggest concern is that one of these aliens are going to land here, catch all of our bass, throw them into buckets, and go home for an epic fish fry! They probably won't even buy a license!

Like Snook, I've loaned cash to several business owners in the past, and invested both time and money into others. Almost all of them have paid me back in full, and then there were some who didn't make it. I can't feel bad about any of the "lost" money I had in those cases as the owners all lost way more than what I did. This sounds like an interesting concept that I'm going to have to spend some time studying. Just the thought that there are people in the world whose potential success can be funded for less than what it costs for a single day of fishing is both mind boggling and humbling at the same time.

Tom, I have told several people already that this reminds me of a scavenger hunt without the list of things to find handed to you at the start. My only saving grace is that the State of Michigan has very specific regulation as to what has to be done and in what order. Some of the relatives aren't real happy with that, but I've told them all that my hands are tied. Their only option is to lawyer up and watch the estate head towards insolvency which would defeat the purpose in the end. It is the first day of the "real" bass fishing season here today, and I will be spending most of it searching for values to personal property for the inventory. The rest of it will be spent keeping my diary up to date of all the things done for the estate. I sure hope all of the other Michiganders stick a few slobs for me!

I always thought the dumb fish were the ones your partner caught, and you outwitted the really smart ones.

That was the first thing I thought when reading your original post. Guys here had to put extensions on the power augers to even get to water last winter! Only thing I can think of may have been that it's got a spring in it. Just be happy they survived, and make sure to spread the word of the terrible fish kill. Should give you a few weeks before the word get out!

No Raider, you aren't getting anything. Just a friendly reminder that no matter how old you are, there's somebody that is going to have to pick up the pieces if your account here goes silent before you get one. I've had the pleasure (?) of spending the last week acting as the executor for my recently passed former Son-in-Law, and will be enjoying this holiday weekend and the next few months trying to figure out everything that could have been done with a simple will. Even if you don't think you have much, it doesn't cost much to use a simple online will and having it recorded at the county court house. At least not nearly as much as paying a retainer to a law firm. The $2,000 I just spent could have bought a lot of soft plastic. The Bottom Line - Let your relatives always remember you for how good a fisherman you were(or liar as the case may be), and not by the epic cat fight that ensued after you're gone. Get A Will!

Stuff like that is the reason I have a GPS. Then the only thing you have to worry about is the guy depending on his radar to fly past you at full throttle!

Water temps have gone up 4 degrees and we saw many more smaller buck bass and bluegills cruising the shallows. How did you like that wind? NNW @ 19mph with gusts to 29mph! Almost impossible to feel a bite with any soft plastic, and we couldn't catch squat on the calm side of the lake. Only caught 9 total between the two of us, and all caught on spinnerbaits on the windy side.

Wow, 80 degrees here this afternoon. Going to sneak out this evening for a couple of hours, so I'll post an update on water temps by morning.

Good for you Papa, I've always thought that a guy should be able to have grandkids first. Spoil the dickens out of her, feed her sweets right before the kids take her home, and remember to buy her toys that make lots of NOISE!

At the risk of looking like a bucket fisherman, consider the option of a slip bobber presentation. It's easy to set the depth to where the fish are suspended, and you can leave a soft plastic offering sitting right there in the middle of them. Think the old Float & Fly.

When I use a buoy, I always try to place it on the downwind side of the target a little less than one cast from the target. If that target is fairly large, I will set multiples on the downwind side with one on both the left and right sides and perhaps a few in the middle. Because I usually fish deep structure with T-Rigs and Jigs, I would rather target it from downwind as it makes it easier to control the amount of slack in the line. BTW, It's never a bad idea to have one last buoy to throw out in the middle of nowhere if you find that other fishermen decide to "Seagull" your real buoys. It happens. To help keep others away, use smaller buoys in muted colors for your own use and carry around a bigger one in some bright color to lure others away from you.

I got my first chance to be on the water this year on Monday afternoon. The lake chosen was a medium sized lake here in Mecosta Co. There was a fairly stiff easterly wind and clear water, but the important part was the fact that the water temps were 59-61 degrees. The bass we found were all in approximately 8' of water hanging around weedbeds. Of the 14 fish I caught, 11 came on a spinnerbait (bleeding shiner) and the others came on a 7" Berkley Power Worm (Green Pumpkin). My grandson had been on the same lake on the 14th and the water temps were 5 degrees higher before last week's rain and cold temps hit us. He told me that they saw many bass cruising the shorelines and loosely hanging around beds when the water temps ran around 64-65 degrees. Depending on where you are located in this state, I would guess that the current weather forecast of warming temps from now until the weekend, you should see you lake's water temps rising. Here's hoping that yours gets up into that mid-60's range.

My guess is that almost everybody will get into the BB pot. Good luck with this project.

Impressive!

This!

What is the goal that your friend has for this event? Could you increase the number of places paid back with merchandise prizes in place of cash? Can you find support with local businesses that would be willing to donate to the cause? Could you use some of those prizes to run a raffle over and above prize money? Here's an idea for a pay back schedule: 1st $2,000 2nd 750 3rd 500 4th 300 5th 200 6th 100 7th 50 plus merchandise ($50 value) 8th - 10th Merchandise only ($50 value each) Additional raffle - $1 per/ticket or 6 for $5. At least one very good prize that will enhance ticket sales and more smaller ones that increase odds of winning something. Big bass pot is okay, but you're collecting $1,000 but not staying within the payoff percentage. Most BB pots payback 100%, so maybe consider merchandise for a portion of that payback.

I'm going to give a thumbs up to Roger, Tom, and Paul. I suggest that you go fishing, take whatever you want into calculating what it will take to catch a fish, and then do it. There is one absolute that applies to bass fishing. Unless you see their tracks on the shoreline, the odds are that those fish are still in the same lake they were in the last time you went there. With all of it's shortcomings, the human mind does have the ability to reason. A bass? Not so much. They are creatures of habit based on their environment, and if you can locate them, it is possible to find something they might bite on. Imagine how sad life would be if we all needed some silver bullet to tell us when to fish. You work all week and on Saturday morning the Solunar Tables say fishing was great on Wednesday but stinks on Saturday. Are you going to stay home and mow the lawn? What if you get to the lake and your Color-C-Lector tells you that you have to throw a "Bozo the Clown" color, and you don't have any. Do you give up and go shopping with the wife? The same goes with your PH Meter, Surface Temp Gauge, or any other toy sold to bass fishermen to supposedly stack the odd in your favor. You go fishing when you can go fishing, and be happy with the fact that you'll never be there when all of these so-called stars are in perfect alignment.

All Three! One guy has someone on their Facebook page that so ABSOLUTELY disgusts him. I guess he is so upset that he can't remember that it is possible to actually remove them. You'll also notice that even though this person has rock solid evidence of this violator's crimes, there isn't any mention of them being turned into the authorities. Why is that?

Is he a member here? I only need a couple of more lives destroyed to move me beyond a good domestic!