Matt Fly

Lake Fork has some big crappie to be had. Minnows are easily found on numerous marinas and bait shops. Matt.

I doubt that the dust and sediment will merit any legal actions. How many of you can get your neighbors to clean up the leaves that are in your yards, when you don't have a single tree. Most towns have zoneing laws that pertain to city limits. Most counties will have zoneing laws for outside city limits. I bet that the gin is protected by the zoneing law. Being from small farming towns, I have been in areas that do gin cotton and have also hated the dust that comes from gins. I have also seen when farmers didn't plant seasonal crops for that year for some reason, and the 1000's of acres with nothing in seed made baron lands and major dust storms with nothing in seed. Didn't matter either way, no crops planted, very dusty on windy days, gin running, very dusty. Matt.

Accents are just to show regionally locations or geography. We stole our slang from across the border. When the phone rings, its green, green, green, (ring, ring, ring)so we pink (pick) up the phone and say yellow(hello). Thats Tex-Mex English, now you know why our schools are so bad. Matt.

AVid, I am curious to see if Catt use them on T Bend anymore? I still see hundreds tied on when the crawdad hatch is own. You can take a short walk on the beach during the Sealy's Big Bass SPlasn in June on T Bend and see hundreds of beached boats with mudbugs tied on. Over 2500 anglers, its not hard to see a little of every thing. Good luck, if I happen to see some in a mom an pops bait shop, would you like me to snag some if your color is in stock? Gladly do so. Matt.

Inside line and I can't believe not one person mentioned BASS WEST. If it wasn't for alot of the west influence of bassin, alot of those other magazines would have never had nothing to say. Although not originated in the US, most came by way of the west. Drop shotting, split shotting, lite line tactics, swim baits, not too mention alot of plastic designs came from the west first. Zipper worms, 4" weenie worms, which now are just finese worms, swims, slugo's which started a whole new phase of plastics. It may be a reach, but I'd be willing to bet that guys like Triton Mike and others alike, hardly ever get a new bait or technique that they didn't know about already, and this is predicated on your experience level. Most magazines articles are just written different, but say the same old thing over and over. Hookem Matt.

Why does BASS get blamed for what ESPN airs? Charlie Moore sells his taped shows to ESPN, Jerry McKinnis sell his old reel to reels to ESPN and BASS gets blamed. Since when does a kid aspiring to be a pro fishermen hurt anything. False hope??? Thats a stretch, thats like saying POP WARNER football gives kids false hope to become a pro football player, less than a percent will ever play pro. Lots of people doomed the ELITE series before it got off the ground, and what we saw this year was some good fishing, records being broken, and go back and look at past tournament threads on here, and see just how many guys started FLW threads during the tourneys. I believe BASS dominated all threads, and should be given credit for lots of other topics. Ish's Tora Tora tubes. Swim baits on tour. Every time BASS aired, numerous topic arose from BASS event and hardly any FLW topic came from the other "guys". Actions speak louder than words, and BASS is still our topic of choice over FLW. Whats up with BASS? I'd say they still got everyones attention. I'd say that most are reading the magazine, other wise, how do you base your decision that the magazine is a rag today if you haven't looked at one or two to base your opinions on. Someone must be getting the Magazines for you to look at to base it on. Thats just funny, either you read it and spoke up, or you spoke up and don't have a clue. Matt.

Ditto, What Senile said. Matt

Does anyone have stats showing the decline in Magazine subscriptions. I could say FLW has seen a decline also, but that is just a statement without any merit. ESPN does not control BASS. I believe the billion dollar company, Disney owns ESPN, and BASS. Do you think Disney is going broke? I have heard some of the pros chatter about the amount of practice time given on the FLW tour, which is unlimited, and they don't like that. But coming back to the BASS tour is not easy. To get to the Elite trail, they would have to qualify for it through the 2007 Opens in the North and South trail to qualify for the 2008 Elite series. ESPN shows darts, bowling, paintball, Lacrosse, poker,and don't forget the eating contests. Just how much money is ESPN making for those shows. NOT MUCH. Do you really think they are gonna turn their backs on fishing? Common sense also would say Citgo has heard the rumblings, and maybe felt the grumblings at the pump and that hurts their wallet. Why not back out, its better than being dismissed as far as press goes. But does it matter, BASS reported that Citgo would not be there next year and now Citgo "supposedly" pulled out. Who cares, begone, that is what we wanted. Now, we got what we wanted and were gonna twist it to get our licks in. Do you think BASS Saturday has a better chance to push college football over during the afternoon and Saturday night. Or compete with college basketball. Compared to other big sports, fishing doesn't get the ratings needed to be a prime time entry. I personally don't have the other channels, so what ever ESPN is showing is more than I would get elsewhere. No FSN, no dish, standard cable. FLW is so much better, when does their show air? Primetime? What does their magazine give you that BASS' don't? Same rhetoric, just formatted different. I don't have a crystal ball, but do know lots of guys was watching something, too many posts on older threads that says different. We need both tours to push each other. The only way we improve fishing is pushing the envelope. We are so lucky, that Fishermen of today have more choices to persue their DREAMS. Twenty years ago, this topic wouldn't have a home because their was only ONE. Hookem Matt

Never fished the old or new series. I can tell you from what I have seen on the forums, that the area Directors in Texas, like Texasbasser always seem to be available to help answer questions. In every organization, there is a chain of command. Instead of bailing out, maybe in that district, gather your members who have legitiment complaints and take it up with the higher ups. If true, they will make changes hopefully, and if they don't, then move on. Don't let one or two directors ruin the whole thing, there are guys who works their butts off on their own time to make the events a succes in their areas. I am curious as to what was done as to the treatment of some anglers that made them pull out. Matt.

The Southern and Northern tour is the stepping stone to qualify for the Elite series. And the guys who emerge on top from there are the next Elite pro's that will qualify for the 2008 series. I think the the field is pretty much set for the Elite 2007 series from this years qualifiers. So the only place the FLW boys can go is to the Opens to try and qualify for the ELITE series, unless their are some exemptions out there such as the 2006 BassMaster Classic Champ being exempt from qualifing for so many years. That might apply to a couple of guys but the other FLW big names are stuck qualifing through opens. I read that the biggest issue for the BASS pros that jumped to FLW in 2006 or that was fishing both in prior years was the NO OFF LIMITS on prefishing. BASS pros of old didn't like this rule, as BASS on allowed OFFICIAL practice days and the FLW allowed anglers to be on the water all month. Seem like enough stars to keep both tours competitive. Matt.

Fluke, I have mixed feelings about the PAA on Fork next April. I just don't see how catch, weigh, film and release on the water is gonna make for a good audience at the weight in. If someone is lucky to catch and over the slot fish (16-24 inches) and bring it to the scales, it would be very small number that goes to the scale. Both FLW and BASS schedules are clear for the Fork PAA tourney Aprile 9-15th, 2007. Some logistics to think about. 200 angler field, paired into teams. How many cameras are on the normal tours? Will each boat have its on camera and judge in the boat. Scoring is done on measurements and points if I have read correctly. This will be ground breaking new format. I will definetly be watching. I don't think anyone can complain about keeping fish out of the livewell, afterall, its keeping stress down to a minimum. Conservation taking a new step forward in tournament fishing. Matt.

Avid, I was told to search E-bay from time to time. A guy got his last few from there. Still looking for you. Matt

Congrats to your wife and you. Hookem Matt

I bought feeder goldfish to use for crappie and they don't discriminate. In Cali, shiners, large, can run 14.00 a dozen, and buying goldfish was cheaper. In Texas, there are some waters that post restrictions, in general, most bodies of water allow them. Big Bend National park and the Rio Grand, its illegal to bring into the park. Great bait if you can use them. Matt

Whos boat are ya'll in? If I took my friends fishing, and on the norm, was schooling them, I'd tell them to be thankfull that they have the opportunity to catch fish. One thing I try not to do, is tell some one to shut up, I always told my daughters, Can you give Dads ears a rest? A polite way of saying be quite for a while. Thoughts about complainers, Not needed in the boat, I hear enough of that in public and fishing is a time to clear the head and enjoy the opportunities at hand. Hookem Matt

Crankbaits have been tearing up the numbers on Fork. No stoppage to report. Last weekend, fished Saturday before the front arrive late Sat. nite. The bite was on all morning and afternoon. Only caught two with plastics, a nice 6.5 lber on Red Bug brush hog and another nice bass on a 10" plum apple zoom worm. Fish were not relating to bottom. They're were 3 overs caught at our tournament, 2-9's and a 8, and Ike was on Fork also and he weighed an 11.64 at the Minnow Bucket. Big Bass were moving before the front. Ike was filming some show, but didn't stop to watch. Matt.

Why does it have to be KVD, I would gladly fill in. Matt.

Avid, Have you tried this site, they show the mudbugs. http://www.lurenet.com/catalog.aspx?catID=Mud-Bug Certain times of the year, a mudbug is always tied on my rods. I love Toledo Bend in June when the mudbug hatch is taking place. Hope you score, i still find them in a few mom and pops stores. Toledo Town and tackle always has a big selection. Catt lives on T Bend, he might be able to tell you if they still have the big selections. Matt

I'm glad she got a shot of water, she needed it. I hope our North Texas lakes can catch some, ramps are getting harder to find on some of the lakes in the DFW area. Just drizzle thus far today. Looking forward to meeting you some time in the future. Matt.

I was wondering about them when I posted the College Bass fishing topic. Some good guys with great posts. I know Darrin was gearing up for tournaments this year and he was off to good start, but thats it. Matt.

Texas is continuing to grow as a population and economy. Educational system is in trouble, but smaller towns are better than most major metro areas. No State Tax. Lots of illegals. Lots of Community and State colleges. Fresh and Salt water angling opportunities. Lots of theme parks, state parks, pro sports organizations, and Nascar. Lots of historical sites. Gas prices are usually lower than most states. Taxes depends of what County you reside in. We have Lake Fork, Sam Rayburn, Toledo Bend, Amistad, Falcon, and too many others that are great bass lakes. Lots of Rivers. Whitney and Merideth are our top small mouth waters. Deer hunting, migratory birds are plentiful. Lots of different cultures and resturants to choose from. Metro area traffic bites, but most states do also. Weather changes all the time, spring brings the wild flowers out along the roads for some of the most scenic pictures to be seen. The Tx Panhandle, Amarillo, gets the majority of snow and ice in Tx. The rest of the state gets cold, but rarely has snow and ice. If it does, its usually gone within days. We have four seasons that can occur at any time. One thing that changes in Tx fast is the weather, and alot of that is due to the Gulf. The coast is very humid in the summer. Any specifics, just ask. Matt.

Anyone heard from Darren in awhile, I know deer season is coming and he loves his hunting. Have missed seeing his posts for awhile. Who else has been missing? Matt.

So Catt, when do I get to come down to your area and fish? Do you fish six mile and the southern half? Middle, or North? I have always fished from the Many bridge down about 10 miles when I have fished Sealy's. How much has T bend came up from last weeks rains? Matt.

How many are flying in this year? Last year, I told Russ and his crew that I would make sure they had small cooler for their boats, less for them to pack onto the plane. I also brought about 50lbs of crushed Ice each day from the house. Just thinking ahead to get an idea of where some of us can be of help to other members. Fletchero has emailed me also asking what he can assist me with. I have not responded to him yet. Hookem Matt

Any time the Navy gives the wives the run around, the wives went to the chaplain, he seems to have keys to everyones office and can get any info that is possible. I know that your program and idea is for Casting for Military Kids and they will be more than happy to hook you up with the right people. The last thing navy wives thought of Chaplains was religion. Chaplains are go to guys to get answers, and your program will be a bright spot in their day. Matt.