tholmes

Topwater is, no doubt, the most exciting, but I had to go with jig-'n'-pig. Or, alternatively, jig-'n'-critter. I just love feeling that subtle tap, or suddenly seeing the line start off on a tangent - the fight's on! Tom

Eh, not so much since I cut back on caffeine. Tom

I'm 57 and I've been a property code compliance officer for the city for 8 yrs. Prior to this gig, I worked in a machine shop for 23 years, and was a mental health tech for 5 years before that. Tom

I caught an Ambassadeur 5500C on a Fenwick rod once. Still have and use it. Tom

Never. If I want to eat fish, I'll go after some walleye, crappie or bluegill. THey all make much better (IMHO) table fare than black bass. Tom

I keep a few yard sale spincast rigs around for the grandkids to go perch-jerkin' with. Other than that, any guest is welcome to use any of my equipment that they can handle. Not that I have any top-end gear or anything. It's just "stuff" anyway. If they break it, I'll have a legitimate excuse to go gear shopping. ;D Tom

I've had this happen before. The baits were in one of those double-sided tackle boxes with a transparent blue lid, and were in direct sun all day. Even though the air temp. isn't all that hot, the heat build-up in the box can be tremendous. Just like a car sitting in the sun with all of the windows closed. Tom

I have my lovely wife and 8 grandkids, full time day job and I'm a musician at my church, so I don't get near as much fishing done as I would like. I average around 6 hrs./ week from March through October, plus a week every year trout fishing in Colorado. Tom

+1 ^ Using jig heads with light wire hooks will save a lot of rigs. I mold my own using Eagle Claw #570 or #575 hooks. I can usually pull the hooks out of a snag, even with 6# line. Tom

Hi, ksdog! Guitar playing is my other great passion in life. I've been playing for as long as I've been fishing (50+ yrs.) I'm totally self-taught and maybe I can help you avoid some mistakes that I made. The best thing that you can do is find a good teacher. Someone who understands what kind of music you want to play. Learn to read tab. There's a ton of it available on the 'net. Your fingers will get sore. When they do, stop and take a break. This is supposed to be fun, not self-torture. Eventually, you'll develop cajjuses on the fingers of your fretting hand and the pain will diminish. Have fun!! Tom

welcome aboard. have you been fishing Webster at all? Good mornin', skunked_again! Re: Webster, I haven't fished there for a few years. It used to be a good lake for walleye and spring crappie, but I never had much success on bass there. I caught a few off the bridge by Bow City and some in the old marina cove, but not many and nothing over 3 lbs. Tom

Kansas Oklahoma Texas Colorado Wyoming Utah Florida Georgia South Carolina Minnesota One trip outside the USA, to Canada. Tom

Greetings! My name is Tom and I hail from the middle of Kansas. I've been fishing for around fifty years (yes, I'm that old). I fish several area lakes and reservoirs for largemouth, smallmouth, walleye, striper...mostly whatever is biting. I'm looking forward to gaining a lot of knowledge from this site. Tom