Lund Explorer

I'd borrow a shovel. Nightcrawlers are free.

That's just what I was thinking. Broncos might have set themselves up for a Rocky Mountain Low!

Williams, the guy that this whole thing revolved around no matter what team he was with, gets bannished. No specific time period, so it will be at least more than the year Payton gets. Fine with me. Payton sidelined for a year without pay, supposedly due to lying to the NFL about what was going on? Maybe a little too harsh. What did the other coaches that Williams worked for get?

To begin with, I wouldn't consider fish that are cruising the shallows in groups as bedding. When bass are bedded, they will be locked down to a very noticable bowl shaped depression on the bottom and you will see one or sometimes two fish only. From what you are describing, it sounds more like bass schooled up for feeding. Just like your question being asked a million times, the same answer has been given each time. If you can see the bass, the bass can see you! The next time you happen to see this type of thing taking place, you need to back away from these fish so that you don't spook them. If you can determine the bass' direction of travel, you will want to place your cast 6'-8' in front of the fish. Use a lightly weighted plastic worm, tube, grub, or even a weightless Senko, make a low angled cast that creates little or no splash, and then allow the bass to approach the bait on their own. If they are in a feeding mood you should get the bites you are looking for. If the bass change direction after your cast, it indicates that the fish are spooked. You are better off to make a mental note of where these fish are and then move off for a half-hour or so before trying to sneak (very quietly) back to that area. In the meantime, moving down the bank may give you the chance to find other bass doing the same thing.

FYI, the old school name for crappie up here is Specks. I've also heard them called Calico's. But I've never heard of them called Bob unless it was in Texas where it was their middle name.

As I tried to explain before, we all have choices that we make in life. It is up to each of us to weigh the costs that these choices put upon us. I can and do understand your frustration. I know several people who commute 50-100 miles per/day, and such a rise in fuel prices has got to play havoc with a family's budget. Yet this isn't the first time one of these price spikes has happened, which is why I find it hard to believe that it takes anyone by surprise when it happens again and again. I wish there was an easy answer that I could give you that would solve your problem, but that doesn't seem possible. I can only repeat that you need to look at changing the things you have control over rather than blaming others for not changing to fit your own specific needs.

I'm not sure who you were listening to on the radio, but if they are correct, then you may want to re-think your plan to get gas prices back down to $2 per/gallon. Such a plan would require a drop of almost $670 per/barrel. As this seems completely impossible to me, you need to either change your plan or the radio station. I'll suggest the radio station.

My name for that kind of fish is DINNER!

Must be everyone was busy on the Man Rules!

If there is any time of the year where pre-fishing has never done me any good, its during this crazy pre -to- post spawn period. Trying to establish a pattern a week in advance just doesn't work for me when the fish can move so far and change so fast. That said, I think the original poster was on the right track. With the advice given on seeking the color line in that creek I'm sure more fish could have been caught. Assuming that the OP is now 24 hours from his tournament, many things could have changed, but the base idea is still there. Somewhere up that creek the bass will be found at some stage of the spawn. If I were in that situation, I'd start just like the previous trip. Throwing search baits to cover lots of water, and the slowing down with jigs or plastics when either fish are found or when key areas (color line, secondary points, decent cover) are found. Of course there is always the fall back pattern of fishing structure/cover near the weigh in site of last week's tournament.

There is an easy cure for this. The next time you have to enter one of these dens of depravity, go to one of the stalls, sit down, and as you are doing your thing, softly hum "somewhere over the rainbow" while tapping your toe to the music. If there is anyone still in there when you come out of the stall, then you can start to worry!

Here's a bad sign. How long has this been up, and why is there only one reply? http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/98982-how-to-save-gas/

If you are tired of spending so much money for fuel, just use less of it. Nobody here has the ability to change the price of oil, but all of us have the ability to change how much of it we use. We, the citizens of this country, have brought this on ourselves. We live in the suburbs and commute to our jobs way farther than people in other countries do. Many completely ignore mass transit. We drive to work all alone in the gas guzzler we use on the weekends to tow our gas guzzling boats to far away lakes. Our wives drive their own vehicles to their jobs, and when the kids get old enough, they drive to school as well. Though most of us drive right past the grocery store on Friday, we drive right back there on Saturday to shop. Cars/Trucks might get better mileage than they did 40 years ago, but we drive many more miles now. Until we see a change in our addiction to this habit, we will continue to see others profit off of it.

Yeah, I can't imagine where somebody could take your point wrong. You pinch it off in midstream, run off at mach 10 (assuming to a private bush close by), and finish off with the quote; "Perhaps I'm being a bit over ___phobic" But then again, I'm clueless when it comes to trying to figure out why anyone goes into the men's room.

There's just something wrong with that. Can't put my finger on it, and trust me I wouldn't, but it sure sounds like that would hurt!

Long time no see Catt, welcome back!

You've never been to Grand Forks, huh? I agree that the food isn't all that great, but in such a small market anything can turn out to be great shakes.

Kick start my memory Tom, weren't those cokes only 8 oz bottles? I remember them being much smaller than today's two liter single serving.

Old bartender's trick. Ice first, then pop or mix, shot on top. First sip means a good tip.

I'm going to try my level best to NOT follow the family tradition. Both Grandfather & Father developed bladder cancer (both age 60) and later died due to blood clots (both age 62). Here's a guy that is fully tuned in to both issues along with my doctor. The fact that the men in our family have had nothing to do with social security going bankrupt scares the hell out of me!

Having had the luck to live in Marilyn's hometown for over three years, I can honestly say I wasn't surprised at her write up. The old saying up there back in those days was that Grand Forks was not the end of the world, you could just see it from there. I found it refreshing to see that she took what she found and reported it as such. I am only left to wonder if she sees any humor when she reads reports of snow storms written by someone hillbilly in the southern part of the country, or the news about a rare day of fresh air in some of the more, shall we say, urban parts of our country. One of the national news organizations had shown her article a few days ago. It also said that she was traveling to NYC soon and would be filing a story on the restaurants she would be visiting. I hope they are ready for her!

Stupid isn't limited to geography. Years ago one of these dolts here in Michigan had caught a huge smallmouth, probably pushing the magic 7lb mark. He was bound and determined to have it mounted even though he caught the thing almost three weeks before season. Not the greatest plan to freeze it and then show up to the taxidermist with it on openning day!

Solar Storm? This last flare up is supposed to go until early Friday. For your sake, let's hope REAL early.

Sounds very encouraging indeed, and she is lucky to have Doug as her rock through all of this. When I first looked for an update this morning, I also thought that this type of thing was going to require more than a single day of prayer. Maybe we need to think about creating a prayer chain to support all of those members in the BR family needing help.

No harm - No foul Just figured I'd help out.