Lund Explorer

I'm sort of partial to this breed..... ;D

I love Christmas! It wasn't always that way, as the stress kinda put me down when our kids were young. For me though, Santa was reborn when my first grandchild was 2 years old and I got to witness the simple joy and wonder of the day's festivities through watching him. By the next year, he was ready to write a letter to Santa, and I got elected to help. All told, I've been lucky enough to witness this eight times in my life, and will be starting another new tradition this year with my first great-granddaughter. To me, a lot of Christmas is about the kids. As the year's go by, I better understand why my Dad enjoyed it. When you can re-live the experience through them, it is a magical time of year. My best presents are given to me in the wide eyes of a small child, as it doesn't get much better than that. By the way, its also fun to egg the kids on to doing a little scrounging under the tree while the women folk are out in the kitchen. A Grandpa's work is never done.

In no particular order of preference: 1. Hopkins Spoon 2. Swedish Pimple 3. CastMaster 4. Rattlin' Snakey Spoon* * Good luck trying to find these things. I bought mine years ago at D&R Sports <owned by KVD's Family> in Kalamazoo. I'm not sure who markets them anymore.

My year was tied to home improvement projects which kept me off the water way more than normal. A typical year has us camping/fishing for at least two weeks each summer. This year, we never bothered to "un-winterize" the camper. My favorite bluegill pond <semi-private> was invaded by a few trespassers that pretty much wiped it out for who knows how long. A twenty acre lake that was easy to catch a limit of 9" plus gills was reduced to being happy to catch a half-dozen that size. I basically left it alone and took nothing home this year in hopes of helping it's recovery. Smallies bit well in May, and LM were okay the rest of the year, when I could get out. Most were half day trips to one of the local lakes. Size was up from previous years due to the fact that I concentrated on fishing deeper. On the bright side, I've got a new roof, new siding, new windows, and doors all put up on the house, with extra insulation to boot. Built two new porches with vinyl decks so no more power washing. All new electrical service and breaker boxes with the ability to connect my generator up in case of power outages. New carpeting and fresh paint in 2/3 of the inside of the old homestead, along with all new "oak" door and window casings. Best of all, I've got my reservation already made for next spring's roadtrip! If I do this right, I'll get a reprieve from having to put in a whole new kitchen next summer!

LOL 'we can't'...... but it can be done! ..... Everytime I see Matt Millen giving game critiques it makes me sick! All this expertise couldn't get his Lions a single win in 08 (making them the second team, other than the 76 Bucs to go 'defeated') nor could it win a single road game for years and years. (and i think that's current again) b The road loss count is at 25 and counting. That's three plus years of the Lions knowing they don't need to put out any effort on the road. You could tell by last weekends game against the lowly Buffalo Bills. It should also be fun to watch Kitna put a whooping on his old team.

Count this Old Codger on showing up, dragging along a green colored Lund and a wife determined to load the boat with 2lb crappie. All it took for her was a few pictures of those specks and she WAS NOT staying home. We've got cottage #1 from Sat. -to- Sat. I sure hope she lets me do a little bass fishing, or I might have to bum a ride with somebody! ;D

All the time. Have you ever listened to members of a lake association complain how the fishing went down hill, and they didn't think that spraying all the weeds had anything to do with it? My response is always to point out how many deer live in the woods as compared to live in the middle of a field. Most never get it.

About the time they have her trained to slam your fishing rod on the kitchen floor while screaming: "YOU...ARE....NOT....GOING....FISHING....TODAY!" ;D

I've started all my children and granchildren with a simple spinning rig. A shorter fiberglass rod takes a little more abuse than graphite and costs less. I like to start them with a Cherrywood rod that you can get for around $20. Match it with a smallish sized light spinning reel. Keeping the reel small will limit the weight of the overall rig. It will also limit the amount of line they'll have, but until a child figures out how to keep all of the line twist to a minimum, it's cheaper on refills of line too. Also, get a good reel thatis smooth. If it comes with a spare spool, keep that handy already spooled with line in case you need to do a quick swap-out of the water. I always let the kids practice with their new fishing combo at home as well. Instead of using a practice plug, I used an old crankbait with the hooks removed as it seemed like they felt more like they were fishing. Don't ask.... The biggest thing when starting a kid out fishing really isn't the gear though, it's the time spent fishing. At first, it won't take long for them to get bored if they aren't "catching". You may want to have a backup plan for bluegills or perch. They bite faster which keeps younger minds interested. Good luck, you're becoming part of a large fraternity of parents that have built memories that will last your son a lifetime!

They might have a future as a foster home! I found this story on another forum so I won't take credit for it.... But it was funny! ;D Dallas (AP) - A seven-year old boy was at the center of County courtroom drama yesterday when he challenged a court ruling over who should have custody of him. The boy has a history of being beaten by his parents and the judge initially awarded custody to his aunt, in keeping with child custody law and regulation requiring that family unity be maintained to the highest degree possible. The boy surprised the court when he proclaimed that his aunt beat him more than his parents and he adamantly refused to live with her. When the judge then suggested that he live with his grandparents, the boy cried and said that they also beat him. After considering the remainder of the immediate family and learning that domestic violence was apparently a way of life among them, the judge took the unprecedented step of allowing the boy to propose who should have custody of him. After two recesses to check legal references and confer with the child welfare officials, the judge granted temporary custody to the Dallas Cowboys, whom the boy firmly believes are not capable of beating anyone.

Is that what that funny looking white stuff that's dusting the ground this morning is? Oh Boy! > Yup. Despite bumming me out, it really energized the dogs on their run this morning. Being Northern breeds and all. A-Jay Must be nice! I almost had to throw a pork chop out the back door to get that little Assuie Cow Dog of ours to go due her morning duties. And I thought I was a wimp.

Is that what that funny looking white stuff that's dusting the ground this morning is? Oh Boy! > Yup. Despite bumming me out, it really energized the dogs on their run this morning. Being Northern breeds and all. A-Jay Must be nice! I almost had to throw a pork chop out the back door to get that little Assuie Cow Dog of ours to go due her morning duties. And I thought I was a wimp.

Is that what that funny looking white stuff that's dusting the ground this morning is? Oh Boy! > Yup. Despite bumming me out, it really energized the dogs on their run this morning. Being Northern breeds and all. A-Jay Must be nice! I almost had to throw a pork chop out the back door to get that little Assuie Cow Dog of ours to go due her morning duties. And I thought I was a wimp.

My suggestion would be to contact the shipper you will using to see if a rate chart is available. Most shipments are based on weight and delivery time requested. However, I'm pretty sure that shipping rods in whatever kind of tube has size issues as well. Here's a link to the UPS site: http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/resources/ship/packaging/weight_size.html?srch_pos=2&srch_phr=size+restrictions

Hard to believe nobody from Texas has come up with this one, so I'll add just one item. Go to Lake Falcon and weighin a record limit ......... Of pirates! ;D

Is that what that funny looking white stuff that's dusting the ground this morning is? Oh Boy! >

Is that what that funny looking white stuff that's dusting the ground this morning is? Oh Boy! >

Is that what that funny looking white stuff that's dusting the ground this morning is? Oh Boy! >

Let the Fickle Fingers of Fate fly, but as a person who grew up surrounded by real life stories of companies dumping who knows what into our waters, I can fully understand why some people feel it is their best interest to see a total ban of lead someday. I've seen the effects of Lead poisoning. I've also witnessed the impact that PCB's, PBB's, DDT, Mercury, Dioxin, and many other chemicals and elements have on our daily lives. Perhaps these environmentalists might be going a bit too far, but we as boaters, fishermen, and hunters have adjusted to other lead bans in the past. It is always worse when it is your ox that is getting gored, but the problem is not insurmountable. What old timer can't remember the fear that came with the ban of lead in gasoline and what it would do to outboard motors. Duck hunters are still bagging their share of birds after many years since lead was banned from waterfowl loads. Our best bet is to spend our time trying to figure out how to adapt, rahter than fight a ban that will happen sooner or later. In my honest opinion of course.

He was an amazing coach. http://www.detnews.com/article/20101104/SPORTS0104/11040457/Hall-of-Fame-Tigers-manager-Sparky-Anderson-dead-at-76

Don't take what I said the wrong way Sam, in 33 years I've met many great people that work for IRS that did everything they could to help taxpayers with their issues. But several of their directors have made it a policy that instilling a certain amount of fear into the general public made them good taxpayers. I can think of better ways to go about it, but what do I know.

This one is something new I haven't seen until just lately when several of my business clients got these scam emails. In the hopes that nobody here ends up getting burned, I thought it would be a good idea to pass this information along. So far, this scam has been sent to email addresses that are shown on client's websites. The sender says that they are the Internal Revenue Service, and that a recent tax payment made through the EFTPS system has either been lost or was incomplete. The email provides a link (go figure) to a site where you can re-enter the data so the payment can be processed correctly. Short of wondering why anyone trusts any emails these days, some people could think that the IRS wouldn't be a part of this. They're right. The IRS will never email you about anything! All first contacts with taxpayers are still made through regular mail. Even taxpayers with back tax issues can't use emails for IRS communications. If you do get ones of these emails, and want to confirm that your tax payment has been made and credited correctly, please call them. You should only need to provide the confirmation number that you received when you made the payment. With a shift towards almost all taxes and payments being made electronically, I can see more scams of this nature coming up in the future. My best advice is to never trust anything from the government until you have made contact with them at a published phone number or physical address. Mini-Rant: Thanks IRS, your continuous efforts to treat honest taxpayers in a hard-nose manner which you have even bragged about, has trained people to fear your office. This in turn simply makes these scammers jobs easier.

The absolute worst thing about living this far north is the recurring thought of waste. In January I can walk outside and see an RV buried in the snow, go into the garage and see a boat collecting dust, and then into the basement to see a set of golf clubs in mothballs. In July, I see the snowmobile parked under it's cover, and up in the rafters of the garage is my portable ice shanty along with all of that gear. A guy can survive the winter doldrums, but it sure is expensive having to buy a whole new set of seasonal toys. I'm just looking forward to the day I can have a yard sale for all the winter toys before becoming a snowbird.

The absolute worst thing about living this far north is the recurring thought of waste. In January I can walk outside and see an RV buried in the snow, go into the garage and see a boat collecting dust, and then into the basement to see a set of golf clubs in mothballs. In July, I see the snowmobile parked under it's cover, and up in the rafters of the garage is my portable ice shanty along with all of that gear. A guy can survive the winter doldrums, but it sure is expensive having to buy a whole new set of seasonal toys. I'm just looking forward to the day I can have a yard sale for all the winter toys before becoming a snowbird.

The absolute worst thing about living this far north is the recurring thought of waste. In January I can walk outside and see an RV buried in the snow, go into the garage and see a boat collecting dust, and then into the basement to see a set of golf clubs in mothballs. In July, I see the snowmobile parked under it's cover, and up in the rafters of the garage is my portable ice shanty along with all of that gear. A guy can survive the winter doldrums, but it sure is expensive having to buy a whole new set of seasonal toys. I'm just looking forward to the day I can have a yard sale for all the winter toys before becoming a snowbird.