Lund Explorer

Does Know - or - Does Not Know? I will agree with the disconnect thing. I am always amazed how many times my wife is completely "surprised" when she finally gets a bite. Just after the fish tries to pull her rod out of her hands!

More important, who won this time?

She may have been 30 years younger than me, but she was still 21 years old. All she was doing was sitting on my lap showing off the new jewelry she had gotten for her navel. The wife even told her to sit back down when she showed up. This is starting to sound more like bragging, huh?

Only two client tax returns left to do in the next 12 days. They're both sitting on my desk so I could have everything wrapped up this afternoon. With bass season over three weeks away, the sense of urgency is in short supply. When does Ontario's season open? 3rd Sat. in June?

I guess I could have worded that better. The act of fishing can be very simple. Wading through the untold number of options is the tough part.

I imagine that fishermen have been asking for advice or opinions since the first caveman got asked "What did you spear him with?". Is it possible that Ole Evinrude's invention would have nearly as successful if a salesmen wasn't there to answer questions about the outboard motor. Nobody knew much about fishfinders when the first Little Green Box showed up on store shelves either. Fishing isn't nearly as simple as the day Nick Creme sold his first package of "rubber worms", and because of that, the wise fishermen is going to ask more questions today than ever before.

What's the official BR cheese to go along with whine?

Wild Duck/Goose Gizzards. Hmm, Hmm, Good!

You just turned 1,000? I sure hope there isn't a suit that goes with that!!!

Why do you want to be mean to the dog? Snag the wife with a jerkbait and yell at the top of your lungs "It's A Hawg". That should start an epic battle the second or third time you hook her! In the meantime, don't worry about keeping a few for the dinner table. I have several lakes where I do the same thing and I don't feel the least bit guilty about it. A largemouth bass is no more deserving of misguided protection than any other game fish.

Did it take a little longer for you to get your tax refund this year? The IRS isn't to blame. They are simply trying to figure out a way to weed out all of the fake tax returns being filed in amongst the real ones. Rapid Refunds? One Florida couple was caught after filing close to 100 bogus tax returns in the same year! Most of the returns were filed with the same large tax preparation firm's offices spread across the state. A review showed the couple had gamed the system to insure that they got the maximum refund on each return. Simple tax return, W-2 wages only, two children for maximum EIC, walk out the door with check in hand, right to the check cashing store right down the road.

Commercially available to anyone. Accounting software that allows the user to print company checks that will pass undetected through any bank's electronic readers using MICR toner in your home laserjet printer. The software will also print out approved W-2 Forms that no accountant would question while preparing a tax return. How could that happen? It only takes one mad former employee who received a paycheck and a W-2 from an employer. All of the checking account information needed is printed right there on the check including the routing and account numbers. The W-2 Form provides other information needed such as the employer's federal ID number.

An employee of the VA breaks the rules when he takes his laptop out of the office, puts it in the trunk of his car, and then the car is stolen. 50+ years worth of veteran's personal data was on the hard drive prompting the VA to issue a letter to veterans about the potential lapse in security. If you got one of those letters, did it occur to you that it didn't make any sense for the VA to purchase portable computers if they didn't want those computers to ever leave their offices? This is just one of hundreds of case where your personal data is stored on someone else's computer and you have to hope (I've given up on the term "trust") that some lowlife doesn't figure out how to steal it. Just within the last week a credit card processor in NY had their computers hacked exposing who knows how many people. Have you ever taken your computer into a store to be worked on? Ever had to have the hard drive replaced? Do you know what happened to the hard drive that got taken out? A man in South Carolina bought a box full of used computer parts that included a hard drive. When he started it up, he found that it included all of the personal data (including tax returns) for a couple from Chicago. The husband had taken the family computer into one of the big box stores to have the computer worked on a year before that. The gentleman from SC was nice enough to return it to the original owners! All of this should make you feel a lot more secure. NOT!

It's a LM. Manitoba is WAY out of the range for spotted bass. http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/factsheet.aspx?speciesid=397

12:00 = Straight Up 6:00 = Straight Down 3:00 -or- 9:00 = Level to Water 1:00 / 2:00 -or- 10:00 / 11:00 = Angle Up 4:00 / 5:00 -or- 7:00 / 8:00 - Angle Down

It's a good thing C&R season is a few weeks off. By Saturday morning the need for Vernor's (MI talk for ginger ale) reared its ugly head. How does a guy make it all the way through winter only to be slammed by a head cold in spring? Ugh.

I really didn't want to say this, but that thing should be able to haul a dozen puppies. Can I talk to your wife?

C&R Bass Season doesn't open up until April 28th. Today's weather included about 1" of snow/sleet/slush. Weekend's forecast is for cold beer and warm house. 90% chance of a shopping trip to North Star on Saturday!

I think you'll find that the 10lb per/acre number references all fish in the body of water and not just bass. There are many lakes where biologists will do a survey and will report not only the total biomass of the lake, but also a breakdown of the species of fish captured in the study. I've seen other studies that talk about growth rates and estimates of harvestable fish (by species) on a per/acre basis. When you see a lake with lower than average growth rates it usually follows that the number of havestable fish is lower also.

Congrats! Here's hoping that this may just open a few more doors for you in the future. Back in the Mid-1990's, I got the chance to write up a weekly fishing report for a local newspaper so I can understand it is kind of hard to find subjects to write about. With the need to fill so many column inches each week, I found that it required a pre-planned format that I would try to follow. Perhaps some of these ideas would help: 1. Fishing news. For me it involved what was going on with local lakes/rivers. You may have to expand this to cover a wider area based on your readership. 2. New Tackle/Lures. I would post articles on new fishing tackle and lures that the local sporting goods stores had begun to carry. For you, this might make a great way to get tackle from manufacturers to test out and report on. By linking the local sporting goods store to the story, the advertising dept found it easier to sell ad space. Remember who you are really working for. 3. Tournament results from local clubs. I always made sure to advertise coming events and tell readers how they could contact these clubs if they were interested in joining. Another way to give the advertising dept a chance to sell more space. 4. People results. Aside from the legal section or the obits, almost everyone is happy to get the chance to have their name show up. Stories on people who caught lunkers, or known as leaders in the field could make for good storylines. Remember that it is just as important to put a picture to these stories. 5. Perhaps interviewing the coach of a high school fishing club could inspire other teachers/schools to think about starting such a program in their local districts. If your readers could take those kind of articles to their school, it could show the need for them to get started. Regardless of what your stories revolve around, make the best effort possible to provide a well written story. I used to drive my editor up the walls with some of my work. Make sure that you learn from any criticism/editing your work receives. And remember to have fun.

Not so funny: I can remember being told it wasn't a good idea to travel home on leave in my uniform. Since the airlines gave a military discount at the time, I would always buy my ticket a few days before the flight (in uniform), so I could change into civies for the actual trip. Funny: A few years ago while serving as the treasurer for our local rod and gun club it was normal practice for the club's president to drop by the house at least once a week to go over club business. One morning he stopped by fully decked out in his best all black suit on the way to a funeral only to be met at the door by our dog. The two of them had always gotten along famously. Now our dog might be a blue heeler by breed, but the president quickly found out why I always called her a purebred "white shedder". Even though I gave him our lint roller to take along when he left, I'm afraid he was the only person at that funeral with furry pants!

Makes me think that someone has been deeply drinking from the Dribble Glass of life!

Yup, only six more weeks to wait.

Was this guys name Achmed? Did you ask him why he got fired from that job manning the suicide hotline?

Prayers sent. Sean, The loss of a parent or grandparent is one of those things we all have to go through. It seems that we are forever reminded of that loss on certain days of the year, and I'm not sure if that ever goes away or even if it should. But from my own experience the hollow feeling that is going to hit you soon will slowly fade. Try to focus on all of the good memories and celebrate those good times you had together. Your grandmother is no longer suffering and I know she is in a much better place. When you come to those rough spots, think of what she would have wanted you to do. You'll find the way.