K_Mac

Illinois has a number of lakes with slot limits. The numbers vary from lake to lake. My home lake (Cedar) has a 14"-18" slot. The average fish on this lake is bigger than any other public lake within a hundred mile of here (with the exception of a local power plant lake that has a year round growing season) in my experience. I keep a few small fish for the table a couple of times a year because the DNR recommends doing so. They do monitor the lake for size and numbers. Sam I understand, keeping bass is not a natural activity for me either.

Very cool. I'm even more amazed that he uses irregularly shaped rocks instead of round steel balls. The aerodynamics of a rock aren't really that good. I guess he learned with what was available. Good story.

My congratulations as well. I celebrated 34 in April. If you're like me "banned" is not something you want to deal with at home.

Captain Obvious I have had some experience with MLMs in a former life. The difference in "owning" a MLM business and a traditional one is not only the the outlay for brick and mortar. The goal of a traditional business is to sell goods, services, intellectual property, something. Most MLMs have some sort of product(s), but the primary goal is not to sell anything but the promise of wealth, if you can sell the promise of wealth. You may buy some product to demonstrate your commitment, and you may sell some to friends and neighbors, but your goal is to recruit folks and for them to recruit others, to recruit others... My questions are: Is the product good enough and priced good enough to make money for the distributors (esp. newer ones) without on-going business expansion? How much money is made from sales of books, CDs, DVDs, and other sales training and motivational seminars, etc.? My experience has been: 1. The products are over priced and quality is not usually as high as advertised. Distributors will buy because it's necessary, but ongoing sales to anybody other than distributors is unlikely. 2.The sale of training and motivational stuff is a large part of the income of those higher in the food chain. 3. Some of the motivational and self-help/improvement ideas and techniques have real value. They can and sometimes do change peoples lives for the better. Most of it though is calculated, "inspirational" hyperbole to fire up the troops and make money for those higher in the chain. 4. Very few make any money. For those that do make a little, the return on investment of time, money, and effort is very small. They would be better investing their time in a second "traditional" job. This is the one that is most misleading in my mind. The ploy used to sell MLMs is that you can have control of your time, and all your income will arrive in the mail box based on the work of folks down the line, while you live the good life. That sounds good, and I can paint you a beautiful picture based on that model. It really isn't honest though, at least in my opinion. Capt I wish you every success. I really do. If you are successful you will be in rare company. Good luck.

Good advice. Even at full retail the PQ is my choice.

I also prefer full "humped" grips (without a fore grip).

Now you're talking. On about 500 acres, with maybe a little cabin, ~5000 sq.ft. I'd need enough room for the grandkids. 8-) I may need a little more cash... :-/

When it comes to operating a boat Murphy"s Law is always in effect. Treating every lake, and every time on the water the same is a very good policy. I am very anal when it comes to making sure I have everthing I need, and I still leave without stuff (most recently the attachment screws for my console DF). I am very careful to check all safety items. These lessons have all been learned the hard way. :-[

That is a great price on a fine reel.

I love grilled chicken. As has already been talked about low and slow is the best. I do like a little seared/blackened skin on mine. I will start with the chicken over the direct heat with the vents wide open for a couple of minutes, then move everything out to the edge and close down the vents. I use my own Cajun dry rub that will bring tears of joy to your eyes. The tears may be from the spices, but I'm going with joy.

I expect once he finds out girls are different than boys his posting rate will drop a bit. just bustin your chops there bassboy. I remember when I had youthful enthusiasm...back sometime in the early seventies I think. :-[

For me the Trickworm is one of those baits that just works. I agree it really to thin to t-rig, but either weighted or not a t-rigged Trickworm catches fish. Most of the time I fish them on a shakyhead. They seem too big to be a good shakyhead bait; they are not. Wacky they seem too thin; they are not. Like a Senko, I don't know why they work, but I know they do. BTW they did not work today. :

Rhino gives good advice. A couple of hours would be very optimistic if you are anything like me. Even if it takes most of a day to do right, it is well worth the time. LED lights are great.

I live in Illinois where carrying a weapon, open or concealed is a bad, bad thing. I like this new DeWalt AR 15 nail gun. If questioned I am on my way to make repairs... 8-)

I have a little natural distrust of a guy who fly fishes for trout and bass fishes from an kayak. Once you get past all that, I think he is alright. Good choice Glenn and gang. Congratulations John. You will be an asset to the team. 8-)

Good luck with the getting rich thing. It has not worked for me. ;D There is more to being rich than having a lot of money though... 8-)

Having seen Zig and listened to some of his tapes many times, it is my opinion that he does not proselytize, intentionally anyway. He does use Christian principles as the foundation for his world view, but I never felt that he was trying to convert anyone simply by advocating those principles. Loving your neighbor and treating others they way you would be treated are universal spiritual principles in my view.

I like the insider information. Nice post. I am not kicking in on bail though. You open a lid and you are on your own brother.

I love the fall. 8-) Fishing gets easier as fish start to prepare for winter. I fished this past Fri, Sat and Sun and had a typical fall trip. I caught fish on everything I threw: T-rigged plastics, jigs, shakeyheads, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, grubs, Bandit 100 CBs, and wacky rigged Stick-os. All of my fish (5) over 18" came on the wacky rig. Lots of stuff will work, but if I had to pick one thing in the fall it would be a wacky rig. More important than what was where, as it always is. I caught fish this trip at depths from 2-12 feet. The common element was grass close to deep water (15' or greater). Find grass and rock close to deep water and you could almost call your shot. Did I mention I love fall fishing?

I am more in Fishing Rhino's need a blankie camp. I fished the last three days. Friday and Saturday with an average of 6 rods on the deck. Sunday I had three. I put the others away but was comforted knowing I had other options if needed. :

I've seen him twice, but it's been a long time. He had to be about 100 then. :)His positive attitude must be working. I have some of his tapes around here somewhere. He is a powerful speaker.

This one of the most interesting threads in a while in my opinion. Some great answers. I like fishfordollars answer best: nope. I agree with him. I have always known that fishing was one of life's simple pleasures. Becoming a good bass fisherman takes time. Time to study and learn bass habits; what they like and dislike, what they do and why. It takes time to learn how to fish; what style and techniques work for you, and what kind of tackle is needed to do it properly. Then after you learn all this you will learn that fish don't always behave like you think they should. :-? If you can find someone with more experience to teach you it will save some work. Whether you can or not, in time you will find yourself knowing what to do in most situations, and how to do it. Hang in there!

Apparently they do come in a LH model. Somebody in a recent thread has one. I guess they're just coming out. You silly LH retrieve people.... They thought Copernicus, Da vinci, and Edison were silly too...I am just ahead of my time. : It is good to know LH is available. If I didn't like the PQs so well, I would buy one today.

I use green whether it's YZ, CXX, or XL. I agree with RW though-I don't really thinks it matters.

I am currently using both. For your applications I would choose 10# CXX. It is more manageable in all weights from 6-15# than YoZuri in my opinion. As you see others would not agree. Try both, a spool of each won't break your dad's bank. I use KVD Line and Lure on both and it makes a real difference.