Matt Fly

Good thing is, White has a month to heal up.

I don't give WV much of a chance, I think they are soft on defense, and OU will crush them. With that said, OU was heavily favored last year when they got beat by Boise State. And with what we have seen this year, anything can happen. Go Big XII!!!

Nothing surprises me about Ryans accomplishments. He's been doing that since day one I showed up on this forum. Congrats on all the honors and awards. Matt

Welcome to the Forum. Hookem Matt

Sam, He is, but he also writes a Blog. I would like to think Miles did consider it, and weighed the decision out . I think timing is bad as always, but when are coaches normally let go. At the end of the season before the Bowl games. I would hope that what he displayed was some integrity. You can't blame Michigan if they indeed did want Miles, or fault Miles for considering the job. I think Les Miles is one of the top coaches and has a top program in the nation as they were just selected to play the BCS title game. I was sad to see him leave the Big XII, Too bad T Bone Pickens didn't give all that money to Okla St Univ. before Miles left. Miles had beaten OU twice in three years with his recruits. Bright future in big program!!!

Don't like Ohio State. Gotta go with the SEC and LSU.

fishfordollars, We have some big bass that spawn in the bonnets of some deep trees on Fork every year. Some of those trees down towards the dam are in 40 feet of water coming up to about 15. I also think moon plays a big part, but we have so many fronts moving in, there are times its over cast for long periods, clouds and fronts always seem to interfer. I'm kinda of getting pumped for a weekend on Fork.

It is written by a blog writer who gives me the impression he don't know what he speaks about. How in the world does he say, "break the mold with Bo and Carr" and bring Michigan back to the Elite status" I don't know where this guy thinks he knows Michigan football. You could say Carr has let Michigan traditions down, but to say Bo didn't leave Michigan with an Elite program is hog wash. Just that statement alone, tells me its Blog and I wouldn't care if he spoke with Miles personally. I have lots of respect for Bo Schembechler and and Michigan. Maybe, just maybe, Les didn't want to be seen like Saban has been portrayed over the last year and the way he conducted business. Can you blame or fault Les for wanting to coach at Michigan were he went to college? Les Miles didn't report he was interested, the media was driving the story as they always do. Common sense shows us everyday how the media drives a story. Just like in the blog writer that is black writer that came out and said it was Black KKK that murdered Sean Taylor of the Skins. Turned out to be media driven that had no relationship to the case thus far. I still say, he is writting from personal opinion and no fact because of his statement about Bo. That is opinion and has not ounce of merit. Just my opinion of an article written by a blog writter.

Good morning to all. We will have some bedding bass starting on the power plant lakes in Dec. Science can only support the temperature on these impoundments, currently, days aren't long enough to use the photoperiod as the justified trigger. I like to remember that ponds, rivers, creeks, power plants, old deep gravel pits, natural lakes, man made lakes will all have a few certain factors that won't be text book spawning conditions. So bass adapt to their conditions all over the states. Great points made by Catt, Rolo, and LBH. Rolo mentioned that a bass metabolism isn't stressed due to changing conditions, and that is so true. The fish that is stressed by unfavorable conditions are shad during winter and other small baitfish. Winter and unfavorable conditions that arises due to brutal cold and cloud cover stress shadout. Cloud cover prevents the warm rays from penatrating and warming the waters. Shad will venture to the shallows on long periods of warming trends. They are seeking plankton blooms that occurs on warm days. One must also factor in cloud cover on day after warming trends, as long as no cold front has pushed through, the clouds on some days traps heat in and cloudy days can make for some good shallow fishing. Its not always text book! One must realize in your region what bass feed on in the winter as there primary diet. There is nothing in the outdoors that can't be found if you know there feeding habits. Patience in the winter is key. A bass will no longer have to feed like they once did because as mentioned, their metabolism has slowed down. A bass can eat a 5 inch gizzard shad and not have to eat for 3-4 days, and again, its dictated on the bass metabolism as to how fast they diegest their food. One is to seek warmer waters, areas that are void of good bassing activties in the summer may now be a hot bed for action. The "dead" water or unproductive areas. After brutal cold fronts, i like deep water adjacent/next to muddy bottoms on shallow flats on norther western banks. Mud asorbs heat rather easily and holds the heat better than most bottoms. Those protected banks we speak of in Texas are important, we get some brutal winds coming from the panhandle. I can say from Cali experience in Socal, that protected banks aren't as important because they don't have the brutal cold fronts coming in very often, thus no factor. So take in the regions you live in and the winter conditions that exist on your waters. Does a cold front in Florida drop temps down enough to threaten small baitfish? I think slow rolling an 1 oz spinner bait on bottom in prespawn/spawing waters in deeper water that is hard to see a bed is very key on finding the bigger females, and bigger females will spawn before text book conditions have arrived on most lakes. Big blades stirs the bottom up and will aggrivate a big bass in a heartbeat. key is to keep that bait skirting along the bottom, don't let it ride off bottom. When the family needed to support our food bill in the 60's when only one income was the standard, I got to clean lots of fish, and when my dad cleaned fish, bass too, I got a little science from my DAD and got to see first hand what a fish eats. Cleaning fish and going CSI can tell you alot. My dad flipped me a bass and said, " bet you this one has been eating crawdads." I was amazed to see he was spot on all the time. The bass had a reddish discolored mouth. Cleaning some river cats, most had skinned up noses, my dad said they are nosing rocks over in shallow rapids and feed on helgrimites. Reading the water, the fish, and knowing the bait can keep you on fish year around. You can read all the years of experience shared on this forum, but getting on the water and applying it will eventually tie it all together. I'm firm believer, as shad move to shallower water for warmth and planktons, so do bass. I think big jigs and slow rolled spinner baits are the ticket. Big bass love Crawdads, crawdads are important, they are high in protien and will provide the extra nourishment to finish developing those eggs. Wildlife in general adapt to the conditions, and every year conditions may vary to some degree. You know the big buck you see in the early fall before hunting season opens. Seems that once shots ring out, they know to start moving at night or nocturnal. One year, the accorn crop dropped earlly and deer are feeding on acorns and not corn feeders, and when the acorns are gone, the feeders seem to be the ticket. Know what is on the menu. Prime example of bass spawing in one area one year and not the next is eveident on some of Texas drought stricken lakes. Amistad as example was 50 to 60 feet low after 10 years of no rain. Bass will adjust every year if need be to fnd suitable spawing waters. The giant females know that past season brings unwanted pressures to their spawing rituals, some simply stay deeper and don't go to the banks. There are muliple schools that reside in shallows year around and deeper fish. Each moves according to their comfort levels. The bass I track normally are the deeper fish. My best strengths are in open deep water, as Catt mentioned, when that bite goes dorminant, its a good sign that the shad have started to seek some warmer water also. Late Dec, Jan on Lake Fork, a simple tool to use is to go out on main lake where there is 100 boats crappie fishing. Jan 1. shad may be 32ft deep, and on Jan 3, they maybe 28ft. One simple pass by the crappie boats will give you the depth for deep water to look for bass. When the crappie boats disappear, the shad are on the move and so are the bass and crappie. They are all seeking warmer water for reasons we know as prespawn. Stay on the bait, they'll tell you when and where and when to start searching other areas. This is the time of the year to catch a Personal Best and they fellows have given you prime areas to search. I keep going back to KVD. You dont see him use plastics if he don't have to. I can't remember seeing him using jigs and such. You don't see him drop shottng and such. His whole game plan is to key in on bait fish. He uses a bait that mimics some type of forage. Can you question his methods? They work year around and his accomplishments attest to his approach. The only time I think a food source is not on the agenda is when they are taking care of business and nesting. Know thy food sources on your home waters, its the key to finding the fish consistently whether they are in summer mode, fall or winter, prespawn. Yesterday, L Train and myself hit a lake that hasn't been on my list for over a year. Larry mentioned he liked the jig, so we hit some boat docks for a good portion of the day. First time ever fishing together. Very little vegitation on this big lake. We turned one fish on a cloud covered day. We think the fish were roaming with cloud cover and weren't holding of docks. We moved out and hit some points around roads and bridges and put some keepers in the boat. Once the day was over, I asked if he minded if I made a pass over deep open water over some road beds off the bridges. As I mentioned to him where i thought the shad was holding. We found more bait balls in open deep water. There were tons of bait. AS we moved around, you could see the bait in a relaxed state as I pointed that out, and when I moved over channels, you could see bait that was pushed out of their comfort zones. Relaxed schools were at 23 ft and the shad that was been actively fed on with some huge arches under and on the sides, this bait was tight and only down to 12 feet. Some huge arches that I will be investigating soon. Larry mentioned that he's not used to fishing deep open water, we will work on that. Man, I love my graph. Prespawn is the best time of the year, it has produced some of the all time biggest bass recorded. Texas state record was a prespawner in Feb that came from 40ft by a crappie fishermen on a mainlake point adjacent to the mouth of Little Caney creek.. Big Bass love to eat crappie too!!!\\ I hope I didn't hi jack your thread Catt. Its a good one.

Ditto on those picks Catt RW, we have to get you some pom poms. As the season progressed, you have taken the lead on the football threads. Catt, What you think about Bo going to Nebraska? I don't think Miles would leave for Michigan, Whats your gut? He hasn't just come out and said no, end of story. AD of LSU said they have new contract in place with Miles, he just hasn't signed it yet.

Byron held on today to win it by a couple pounds. I forgot to check on Mary. Mary zeroed today and dropped from ninth to 20th!!!! I can assure you, I won't be talking smack about Mary. She's made massive progress for someone who never fished before. Congrats to the Texas boy, Byron Velvick, he needed to sink roots in Texas to get'r done. LOL. I can assure you, I have some respect for Byron now, he certainly earned his spot on the Elites.

Fisher, I just watched NFL network and VP of League Officials explain the call. He said when two guys are running stride for stride and feet tangle, no call. If both are running and both are looking back for the ball and feet tangle, no call. If receiver is running and looking back, but defender isn't looking back, and feet tangle, its interference. Last night, both refs got together, one zebra mentioned to the other, the defender never looked back or attempted to play the ball, but the reciever was looking back. When games have that much on the line, home field advantage and such, and when games aren't blow outs, I think a zebra should go to the booth to get the call right. Too much technology available to not use it.

I can't fault the guy for having deep pockets and being able to do what alot of us have dreamed about doing. If I was in his shoes, i'd keep on trying as long as they're willing to allow me to try. Any way he caught 21.5 yesterday and 8.3 today to hold the lead today. With 5 on Saturday, he should make the cut. mary Delgado is currentlly in 9th as a co angler. I must also make a correction. Why I was thinking or said Amistad beats me. They are in Florida.

jb, I think we came away with alot of positive things from the game. I even say we aren't the same team that was beaten by the Pats. And we had the answer to Farve in the first half. 27-10. Without some questionable calls going the Cows way, GB outplayed us in the last half with Rodgers. Cows had three plays over 40 yards last night and two of those came on two penalties, one for sure is the Pass Intference call. I don't question it, but others do and thats enough to create doubt with some. After the calls that went our way, a rookie QB gets his senses and keeps the Packers in the game. Packers were on the road, over came loosing a QB, and overcame questionable calls, and only lost by 10 and Dallas was favored by 7 to start with. We clinched a playoff spot, set franchise records for most TD passes in a season 33, old record held by Danny White 29, and the Boys have never been 11-1 ever. One more positive, TO is still behaving. I guess you guys will be hating on me for years, Romo barring injury is the real McCoy!!!!!

First off TO was going side ways, not forward or backward and the forward progress call, well, thats a ref thing and not mine. no catch was correct call, no INT, cause he never got both feet in when AL finally got possession. With that play on Austin, The guy grabbed him by his top of shoulder pads as plain as day. you may beg to differ, but I also said when the game is close, i think the 2 zebras need to go into booth togher and decide which call is correct. i would rather that call not be made period. you can call it they way you like, but the guy grabbed him on his pad to slow him down and that cause him to break stride and the DB ran over him. We will have to get replay of it. By the way Fisher, i fished with your clan a few week ago in Austin of Travis. Very good turn out with 78 boats. I would recommend Fishers of Men to all, its a well run trail, great cause, great people, and well established organization. hookem matt

BassCat is coming to the Big Show!!!!!! I have heard this one alot lately.

Byron was leading day 1 on the BASS WildCard last chance Elite Qualifier in Florida. Weights are down some but he had alittle over 21 pounds. Not that bunched at the top either, weights fall off pretty good. I always give Byron a hard time for allowing his Girlfriend to out fish him this year. I think she won more money than he did fishing as co angler. LOL By the way, she was in 14th on the co angler side on this one also. Maybe Byron needs to get knocked around the week before so he can go out an out fish her. Any way, I always said he got were he did because of ABC's Bachelor. So far, he's been less than stellar, and his fishing skills has yet to be seen on the Elites. I wish him luck, hope he can qualify. Matt

Yup, remember that old trial with the bloddy glove. Prime example, the late Mr.Cochran was able to prove to the jury that the police ruined the crime scene and DNA. The cops did botch the evidence, it didn't hurt the case that the lead detective had Racial incidents in his performance jacket either. It wasn't hard to prove either. Blood samples that have already been booked into evidence comes up missing and then new blood is found behind the house later after initial going over found none. i don't thnk cochran had to do much.

What few good defenses we have seen against good passing QB's this year, its an offensive feast. I haven't looked GB's passing yards yet, but they moved the ball pretty good at times also. I'm not sure that those errant passes that the armchair QB's this morning are saying Brett threw was bad thing. It loosened up the defense and Grant busted one when safeties were 20 yards off ball next series. So Bretts going deep three times early was supposedly old Brett. i think it was game plan to loosen Dallas up and try to run it some. Dallas' secondary is still work in progress. Seems Dallas fans think they played well on Defense. 27 points can get you beat when Romo has a game like he did in Buffalo. It is coming around, and our defensive front seven when they get pressure, the secondary looks great. i think they rattled Brett some, but Rodgers just took off and Dallas wasn't expecting that from their original game plan for Farve. Great game. I hope Brett is healthy. they play crummy team next, so I hope they let him heal and Brett don't argue too much. Hookem

Two call were questionable calls last night that went in Dallas favor. If you watch the replay of TO's sideline catch, it was deemed Incomplete pass after challenge, that was originally called good catch, the real questionable call on that was Al Harris took the ball away from TO, and some think Green Bay should be given the Ball. Refs originally called forward progress, and the call for harris can't be reviewed. I don't think Al got the possesion anyway, so correct call was made. If you watch that replay closely and slowly, Al never got possesion with two feet in bounds. Late in the game, Dallas got about a 40 pass interference call in their favor, Two officials had two calls. one was incidental, and the ohter one over ruled Pass interference. The only thing I say is, before Austing fell, about on the 15 yard line, while two clear steps ahead of the defender, the defender reaches with his right arm and grabs him by the shoulder pads, that takes Austin off stride some and the CB runs up on him. He clearly grabbed him, thats why i think they got tangled. If he didn't break Austins stride, he don't catch up to him anyway. On that call, I would like the two officials to be allowed to go to the booth. That was big call for both team. Score was real close. I want those two officials to get under the blanket by them selves and get correct call. I thought the Cowboys would beat them pretty good in the first half. Packer with injuries, and stll playing on the road and staying close in the second half was credited to not knowing what Rodgers was gonna be able to do. No doubt, the the second round pick has grown like Romo did while watching vets play. Pack with all that young talent are gonna be contenders again.

The Cowboys played good enough to win to night. I'd still take my Cowgirls up in Packer land with Tony Romo. I don't think a multiple sport Athlete that grew up in Wisconsin, who played four years of college ball in Wisconsin, for which he threw for over 8000 yds and 85+TDS in college. Cold weather is second nature to Romol. 11-1. We was lucky to have this game tonight, Packers had alot of key players out tonight defensively. It will be another team in the playoffs when we see them again. Bret's crafty, and as long as he's in the game, they have a shot. Hey, how about that Rodgers? Looks like when Bret does retire, the packers will have young team and good QB to lead them. Rodgers is for real. Ya'll Hookem

First off, I hope Farve is okay! Now tap the brakes just alittle. Green Bay isn't dead. Rogers isn't looking too bad since he settled down. The kid played great college ball. #2 overall in the draft, he's got talent. Now go Cowboys. This is not the same team that got beat by the Patriots. See Packers just stuffed the 4th down attempt. packers aren't dead. Our defense with Ellis now playing into season form is made the other side respected also. Newman is playing, so hopefully is ankle holds up. Nice Sack, Greg Ellis. i'm watching the game.

How is the water level holding Catt? Do they draw her down like they do Sam Rayburn in the winter to anticipate the spring rains? Good post as usual. Matt

Burn out or a slump, I treat them all the same. I change species. I go catch a ton of whites or crappie, or striper or hybrids. Isn't catching what hooked us in the first place. I know I was too young to appreciate the outdoors when I was 5. Something about catching!!!! Basically, what burned you out? not catching? Some call them slumps and some call it burn out.

When talking electronics, it don't matter what brand. The best picture will give you the best details. The best picture comes from the most pixels that money can buy. Pixel count in the screen and size of display is where cost goes up. Color graphs will add to the cost also. I like color, it is easy to decipher, but can get the same with black and white units.