Lund Explorer

3rd Floor - Ladies Lingerie! Sorry Sam, I used to really like the original song but every time I hear it now, the only thing I can thing about is why Demi Moore wore such a butch haircut!

More and more sportsmen are looking for the ultimate fishing experience where everything but the budget has to be compressed. Every serious bass fisherman has been on a decades long quest to cut down the odds to catching more or bigger fish. The truth of the matter is that the deeper the wallet, the more willing you are to spend that cash, the better the chance that those odds are getting cut. The only question is what constitutes fair chase. That and how many of these ( * ) you want to see in the record books!

Yup, same thing going on here in Michigan. Ice came early and is going to leave late. Throw on way more than normal snow cover and its perfect conditions for winter kill on shallow lakes and ponds. The guys I have talked to that ice fish quite a bit told me that bluegills and crappie were right under the ice (colder water but more oxygen) by the middle of February. When the ice finally goes away sometime near the end of April we'll see how bad it got.

I've read a lot of your posts the last couple of years, so pardon me for replying here using the "Glass Half Full" train of thought. Is it possible that one of your biggest regrets just may have provided you with the two sons that you would never regret? Kinda balances things out huh?

People with money? Just Kidding! I actually know quite a few people who write checks for most of their bills. I also know quite a few business owners that hate customers who use the debit or credit cards for every small purchase they make. It's hard to swallow paying the convenience fee just so somebody can swipe their card for a $1 cup of coffee!

Fishing History -vs- Memories My best friend and long time tournament partner had his own problems too. One of his sisters had married a guy who moved her to Michigan's UP and as luck would have it, right next to Little Bay DeNoc. That place was a smallmouth dream factory. The first time he made a spring trip to visit and get in a little fishing, Mike whacked a boatload of fish on what became his favorite spinnerbait. And every year after that, the second weekend in June became the time to head north to relive that day. When I made the pilgrimage the first time, all I heard for the six hour drive was that the only lure I needed was this one spinnerbait. Well the drive home was a little different. We'd caught a bunch of smallies that weekend, but it wasn't what Mike had planned on enjoying. The vast majority came on suspending jerkbaits. It took almost the whole first day for him to change to the lure that was working, because he just knew that they were going to turn on to that spinnerbait. The next year when we headed out for our trip north, Mike had the plan all figured out. Can you guess what his lure of choice was? If not, you need to reread the post!

Fishing History -vs- Memories Many years ago I was entered into a draw tournament on Hamlin Lake here in Michigan. The tournament was held during the middle of August. Back in those days, the nonboater was given control of the front for half the fishing day. The boaters always had the choice of which part of the day they wanted to control the boat and his nonboater got the other half. The nonboater I drew that day was one of those guys that fished based on memories! Prior to blast off, we had discussed our plans and this guy said that all he wanted was to fish the North Bayou. If you look at a lake map, you'd see that this bayou was 3' - 5' deep, muddy bottom, and with no real fish holding cover. I decided at that point that I would take the prime time slot of the first four hours of the day. We fished deep weed lines and a few select docks during my time period, and as he wished, we headed for his choice as soon as his time arrived. For the next four hours, we plodded along on dead water. All the while this guy is confused and whines about where all of these great smallies he'd been catching had gone to. I finally couldn't resist, so I asked him when he had been there catching all of these fish. His answer? In April! At least he got a month that started with the same letter.

I've told this story before, but I'll repeat it. I used to fish a Tuesday Night team tournament where most of the teams were hooked on GYBC Hula Grubs, and dock talk always was shortened to only using the color number. After one tournament where my partner and I almost lapped the field for fish/weight, the question was "What Color?" Without missed a beat, my partner Tony replied "409 - Really Cleaned Up On Them!" The next week, one of the members came up to us laughing like crazy. He owned the local tackle store where most of the guys shopped. Seems almost everyone had come in looking for the color number that didn't exist!

Don't forget the fraction. Proper way to write a check is $550.00 = Five Hundred Fifty and 00/100 Dollars, or $500.50 = Five Hundred and 50/100 Dollars. In legal documents it is reversed. $550.00 becomes = Five Hundred Fifty and 00/100 ($550.00) Dollars.

My Air Force recruiter told me that the skills they would teach me would help in my civilian life. I still haven't found any civilians with their own ICBM's!

It's too bad that Glenn hasn't been able to figure out how to let every member start their own threads yet. Then we could read them and provide critical observations whenever we disagreed with them. Then again, that effort might be beyond some!

Gary, I'm sorry to hear about your recent loss. His struggles are beyond him now, and I hope that all of you will be able to remember and celebrate the happier days in his life. Roger, thank you once again for starting a discussion on this subject. I can see by some of the others posting, that none of us are alone in having to deal with this dilemma. We may all be facing this disease at different levels today, but we will all end up at the same place in the end. Until they find a cure for this, the best any of us can hope for is continued support, and the sharing of what we learn along the way. Unfortunately, there are going to be many more of us facing this in the future. With that in mind, I'd like to share a little of what has been going on up here. My story starts way back in 1974 when my paternal grandmother was fighting a form of dementia before the word Alzheimer's was used. I can still remember the day I visited her before going into the Air Force. We had talked for several hours when she said to me "You're a nice young man, who are you?". That really struck home! For years after, I listened to stories my mother told me about how much Grandma hated that nursing home and how she never wanted to go through that herself. When Jackie and I got home from the 2011 BR road trip, we already knew that Mom was going to need ever increasing care. We had started with weekly visits several years before, and the visits had been increasing to daily by the time we had left for that vacation. By October of 2011, I knew that she couldn't be left at home alone any longer, and she knew it as well. When I would visit her, she kept making the same comment of "put me in a home and forget me". When Jackie would go there by herself, the comment changed to "Mr. Jensen wants to put me in a home, and I don't want to go!". What's left for a son to do? At that time, I made a promise that I would keep her in her home until the day came where she didn't know where she was or who was staying there with her. We had to do lots of repairs and modifications to the home she lived in since 1961, and many of those project were done on weekends when she would "go to visit" with Jackie at our home in Rodney. Can you imagine gutting an entire bathroom down to the studs and rebuilding a handicap accessible one it two days? It wasn't fun. We put on a whole new roof on in three days. All new windows in two, and siding the next weekend after that. Every interior project entailed replacing old with new in somewhat the same colors and hanging every picture or knick-knack in the same place it had been for years. It's been over two years now, but Mom stills knows that she is in the home she has lived in for over 50 years. There are some bad days, but the good ones still outnumber the bad ones. She spent a month last winter living back in Norfolk VA where my Dad had served in the Navy during the Korean War, but she came home again. There's been a few times when Jackie will get there after work and is told that us boys should be home from school anytime now, even when I'm just in the other room. We've found it is easier to just agree with her than correct her. One final thing is that I started writing a daily journal after we moved in. I've gone back for the years previous to the move as I remember events that took place, and tried to mark every occasion since. I'd like to think that maybe some writer much better than I am may see a book in all my rambling. Perhaps it could be used as a learning experience for those people who are going to face this problem in the future. I'm seriously thinking of titling it: How Old Is That Dog? It's a question I hear at least 20 times a day.

I couldn't have said it better. Tom is one of a handful of members here that should be on everyone's must read list whenever he starts a thread or chimes in on a subject. Sadly, this topic wouldn't have become so caustic had a few people simply asked him to clarify his opinion rather than disagreeing with it immediately because it didn't fit within a preconceived line of thought. On Topic. My take on it was to quit relying on the same "magic bait" we hear of so often. I cringe every time I read a thread where one angler asks for an opinion on what to do on Lake X, and they get a dozen replies from all over the country listing specific baits in specific colors. How anyone can make such a suggestion without ever seeing the body of water or the conditions is beyond me. It's that kind of advice that proves that what Tom was trying to teach all of us is sorely needed.

Taking the question literally, a PFD.

In other words, the guy who is handing us that hat is ourselves? Agreed!

Could I suggest that the next time any of you come into contact with a LEO, even if his little red light is blinking in your mirrors, that you thank him for doing many of things we shouldn't or couldn't do?

I've got to feel bad for Robert as well, but I do think there's still one or two Eloises around. They're just as rare as hen's teeth. In all of my years, I was lucky enough to have had her twin sister walk into my office. Marilyn couldn't have done a tax return to save herself, but every client we had completely trusted her. She knew everyone of them, their kids names, and could recognize many of their voices over the phone. The day she retired was one of the worst days of my life. The others I was blessed(?) with ran the whole spectrum from the ones hooked on playing computer solitaire, to the one who got mad when I told her she couldn't use my computer, printer, paper and postage to send out her resumes! Good luck Robert, do you want me to ask Marilyn what her two daughters are up to these days?

I've got to agree with you, even if this does turn into a Team Depends -vs- Team Pampers thread! Maybe it was that way because we were raised by the greatest generation, and we ended up raising the kids that we now shake our heads about.

I guess I can throw in my two cents worth. The subject was that the flesh of these fish were too soft, however I would use a different measure to decide if these fish(or any fish) were okay to eat or not. What did they look like? In my experience, if a fish has been properly stored prior to cleaning there may be a little discoloring, but the fish shouldn't look bleached out. Most of the sunfish family which includes LM or SM Bass shouldn't have an excessive amount of slime on them either. It would be no different if you looked at an aged steak or piece of chicken. Dead flesh starts to deteriorate the minute it dies, and proper refrigeration slows down the process. When I'm fishing for a meal, I always put my fish in a cooler that is relatively full of ice/water so that the fish are completely submersed until I get home to filet them out. Kept in this fashion, I have been able to keep fish overnight when the need arises but I would more than likely clean them on the same day. Other fish such as trout, salmon, or whitefish are always stored on ice and cleaned as quickly as possible. Proper icing of your catch will make the fish somewhat easier to clean as they come out of the ice water somewhat stiffer, will slow down the deterioration of the flesh, and most importantly will assure you of the best table quality. I'll also agree that many species of fish start to lose table quality as they grow larger. With many species, you will also increase the risk of contamination from pollution. Look into this on your State's fisheries website under consumption advisories.

Of all the things I've eaten over the years, it is seldom the food and almost always the preparer that makes me reach for the never again button. Top three things on my list of things to avoid are: 1. Chili that was made "Fit for Human Consumption". Good chili should always burn just about as much coming out as it did going in! 2. A rare steak served on a hot plate where it continues to cook past the stage I wanted it. 3. Any fried food where the oil was either beyond it's useful life or that wasn't up to the minimum temperature. Having been the head cook and bottle washer at a non-profit fish fry for two years, my nose and taste buds became very sensitive to poorly fried foods. Old or Cold is going to ruin anything you put into it!

True Story. When I discussed the idea of purchasing that stock with my former stock broker (key word being former), he told me that it was his company's position that no one should buy that stock. He was in complete agreement with that assessment and told me that they would only sell it to me if I signed a waiver to protect them against the losses I was bound to suffer. Funny thing was that I was preparing his income taxes at the time, and it didn't take long to see that he had purchased a few shares as well. I'm still not sure why I never charged him for my investment advice. These days, whenever I do a search, I get a little internal smile when I see the growth in banner and tower ads on the first results page!

Hope you all have a great day, just don't celebrate too much. We'd hate to see you in this poor bloke's condition! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yB4rzGdqQSk

That's because you aren't doing tax returns for a living. One more month, and you'd be done for the year!

I'm still trying to catch up to a long time client of mine so I can have the same tax problems he did. This gentleman had made the habit of buying stocks in at least one IPO each year. On most of those, the stocks either failed to grow or in some cases became worthless, except for this one stock he bought quite a few years ago. Who would have thought that buying two thousand shares of a little company called Microsoft would cause him such a problem with capital gains taxes! My best effort so far was another IPO back ten years ago. Maybe some of you have heard of them. Google? I sure wish I'd bought a whole lot more of those shares.

I'm glad you did too. There's probably a lot of people you know that have had to deal with it, but they may not have talked much about it. From everything I've learned about this disease, it is much more widespread than I thought. You and Lois aren't alone. If you look around, you'll find many others who will be willing to share their experiences with you. I think it helps to open up about this subject, to seek out others for support, and maybe most importantly to provide help with those who are going to have to face this in the future. It almost sounds like what we all do here @ Bass Resource where the subject is a little green fish. You're well on your way to becoming a sage for yet another subject. I hope and pray that you'll find peace.