Sam

My old LSU economics professor, Dr. Chisholm, told us one day that no matter what situation you have you have to follow the money. Lots of stuff being done to keep the public happy so the money will start rolling in. Follow the money.

No, I still like the Classic. It is a big reward just to make it and then if you do well it is a career starter. Look at NASCAR. So many new faces this year with the old guys retiring. Still enjoy the races. And the exhibition hall is fantastic. If you ever go to a Classic be sure to give yourself a day to spend in the exhibition hall.

If you want to brave the I-95 traffic and tolls you can go to Leesylvania state park off Route 1 or look for Hope Springs and Willow Landing marinas east of Stafford on Aquia Creek. Look each up on Google and see directions as they are not the easiest of ramps to find.

I hate when this happens anywhere. The officer sounds like he was a very good guy. Here is an article on the event. https://www.tampabay.com/news/breaking-news/2020/06/14/florida-wildlife-officer-shot-killed-in-hendry-county-three-being-questioned/

If North East, Maryland is not too far you to drive there are a lot of marinas to visit on Google to note if you can launch from them. Over in the Charlestown area there are a bunch, too. For starters, Google these and then search from there for others. There are a lot of marinas in the general area of North East, Maryland. North East Marina Anchor Marina McDaniel Yacht Basin North East River Marina Lee's Marina Charlestown Marina Tidewater Marina Harve de Grace City Yacht Club All the best and post some pics of what you catch.

All the best for a fast recovery and back on the water later this summer. Haggard is an outstanding guy to help you in a time of need. Shows you what great guys and gals we have on the Forum.

Bobby is a great guy. I smear MegaStrike on all plastics and hard baits, especially frogs and toads.

Good for him. Congrats. Next stop: The Classic!

Search Richmond Virginia in the search bar above and see the various posts. Good luck.

Thanks, Log. I had my right knee replaced five years ago and I was very worried about my left knee. Not worried about the surgery, it was a walk in the park. But the PT to get the movement was a killer. I still cringe when I see a stationary bike that I had to ride to keep motion in the knee. I would suggest everyone wth knee problems need to see a qualified surgeon to discuss knee replacement. As you said, everyone will be glad they did it. After the recovery physical therapy is over.

On June 3rd my wife and I drove to see my knee doctor (lots of pain and I was worried about surgery) and we went via I-64 stopping at the Williamsburg Prime Outlets where we found some cars but the majority of the parking lots were empty. My wife got her pocket book and I got my socks and we headed back on I-64 to Newport News to see the doctor. I-64 was empty. Hardly any vehicles on the highway in either direction during our Wednesday trip. Fast forward to Friday, June 5th when my wife and I headed back on I-64 to Norfolk to cross the Chesapeake Bay to head up Route 13 to Dagsboro, Delaware. I-64 was pack solid. Bumper to bumper. We stopped once again at the Prime Outlets so my wife could exchange her new pocketbook for another and the parking lots were starting to fill up. People were everywhere in the outlets. Young and old. Guys and gals. Everyone was doing some shopping. We got back on I-64 and once again had bumper to bumper traffic heading into Norfolk where we took the Northampton Blvd. exit to Mission Bar-B-Q for lunch. Mission BBQ was busy but we could sit inside the restaurant. The Chic-fil-a adjacent to Mission BBQ was packed, with the car line going outside of their parking lot into the street. Traffic on Route 13 after crossing the Bay Bridge and Tunnel was a little on the heavy side. Crossing the Bay Bridge we had a lot of traffic in both directions and in the area of the Thimble Shoals tunnel there were at least 40+ boats fishing. We had bass boats; Carolina Skiffs; large inboards; and deep water fishing boats of all sizes and shapes. I have not seen so many boats in one area of the bridge tunnel in my life. And the boats were also along the length of the span. What got me were the two guys in the Carolina Skiff along with the two guys in a 14-foot skiff. I have no idea where they launched their boats but they were in the mix with all of the other fishermen. That evening I went to the Giant grocery store in Millville and it was packed. Everyone was wearing a mask which made me feel good about being around all those people. I also had to go to G&E Hardware to get my 2020 Delaware fishing license and that hardware store was people to people. The fishing department was hit really hard. The lady who help me get the licensed told me it was like that all day from when they opened their doors into late afternoon. On Sunday, June 7, my wife and I traveled from Milville to Georgetown's Walmart to get some stuff for our granddaughter's birthday party. Route 113 in Delaware heading north was packed solid. It was like the traffic you get after a football game or the evacuation from a hurricane. Bumper to bumper. In fact, it was so dense that we did not try to cross the highway to go to the Burger King or McDonald's for lunch. And it was elbows to elbows in Walmart. We got a slip and slide at Walmart, leaving only two on the shelf. The Walmart lady who helped find the slip and slide was surprised as she said they had at least 12 on Friday night when she straighten up the shelves. Heading back to Richmond on Monday, June 8 proved no problem. Busy but moving traffic until we hit I-64 West outside of Williamsburg and we picked up lots of vehicles heading towards Richmond. And for the first time we had to sit in traffic to cross Queens Creek where VDOT is replacing the old bridge. The beaches were lined with people, too, as we crossed back onto land after crossing the Chesapeake Bay. As far as you could see in both directions there were people and dogs. It looks to me like people are tired of this quarantine. I think this is going to translate into more and more people on our lakes and rivers fishing, boating, skiing, tubing, and scuba diving. So what is going on in your neck of the woods? Same thing as we countered in Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware? Let us know. Thanks

Try the Tokyo Rig with a blue or blue tinted crawfish type bait, like a Rage Tail, Missile Bait, Zoom craw, etc. Use two 1/4 ounce tungsten bullet weights rigged back to back. Throw all around and into the grass. Jiggle rod tip after it hits bottom and on your retrieve to make it bounce up and down. Let us know the results. Good luck.

Alert! Heard on the radio this morning that the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is releasing 500 individuals including toll takers on I-70/76 and making their roadway a permanent "cashless" route. This means you will need a credit card or the EZ-Pass (or its equivalent) to travel on I-70/76 through Pennsylvania. Will be interesting to see if this trend expands to other toll roads. Here is one of the articles: POST-GAZETTE.COM Pa. Turnpike permanently going cashless immediately; 500 collectors losing jobs The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission

We had to cancel our LSU alumni chapter crawfish boil this year in Richmond due to Governor Moonwalk's quarantine orders. Still considering ordering 30 pounds from Louisiana Crawfish Company for my self later this month, depending on what the tropical storm does as it approaches the Louisiana coast and then into the interior of the state. Beautiful picture. Suitable for framing. Enjoy!!!

X2

I just looked at the photos of Gerald Swindle's new Phoenix 920 Elite in Bass Times and noticed all of the clutter at the bow with his instruments and trolling motor system. So I got to thinking of the additional room we would enjoy if we could get the trolling motor off the deck and control it like we do the power poles, big motor's position, navigation lights, electronics, the trolling motor's speed and its direction with buttons you control with your feet. Something like the front landing gear on a Boeing 747 jetliner with the motor, etc. hidden in the bow area. Since I am not an engineer I can't figure it out, but there must be a way to do this. Have the motor inside the hull and when you need it you step on a button and it deploys ready for action. What do you guys think? Do you think this is possible? Or just something to break or fail in the future? Your input is appreciated.

Yes.

When the Virginia lottery was introduced many years ago it was touted by the politicians that all profits would go to the public school divisions in the Commonwealth. And yes, lottery money is given to every public school division in Virginia. But what is not told to the public is that the governing body (city or county) reduces the amount the city or county gives their school division in equal amounts. So if the City of Richmond schools gets $5,000,000 from the state lottery, the Richmond City Council will reduce the City's contribution to the Richmond City Public Schools by $5,000,000. Virginia is the only state that does not allow its school divisions to tax or raise money from outside sources. All funds are to be given to them by their governing bodies, only. All other funds, other than for individual school student funds (band, athletics, etc.) are to be given to the governing body with a request to have the governing body return the money to the school division.

What gets me is when you have selected your merchandise and are standing in the check-out line or are first in the check-out line and the clerk behind the register stops and answers the telephone. Here we are. In line. Using our limited time to buy something. Ready to make a purchase. With money. Taking the time to drive to the shopping center or store, find parking, pay for parking in some instances, walk to the store, go inside, walk around looking at their selections, finally making up our mind and then waiting to get checked out when the phone rings and the clerk takes the call. One time I when this happened I put my selections on the check-out counter and walked out to the surprise of the others in line behind me. The clerk could have cared less. When commission was removed from the sales floors the salespeople became clerks. They get paid if you buy anything or not. Dillards had/has a program that you need to sell "X" amount of merchandise a day to be in good standing. But the lady who told me this added that even if they make their quote they do not get a penny more in pay. Anyone know of these types of programs? Salesmanship is dead. You have to look for a check-out person in some stores like Sears and the other big box stores just to make your purchase. See what happened to Sears? I have had individuals in the Bass Pro and Cabelas fishing departments try to help me while they had no knowledge about bass fishing. I remember looking for a specific item and the lady took me to the clothing department. She had no idea what I was seeking so I was really nice and we walked back to the fishing aisles and I found it and showed it to her. She thanked me and was glad they had it in stock. And Cabelas on West Broad in Richmond has some very nice people in their fishing department but once again they are not that well versed on bass fishing. Even being 10 miles closer than Green Top I would rather go the extra distance to Green Top where the fishing department's staff are actual bass fishermen and are extremely helpful. Good post and I could not agree with you more.

Will have to tell you the story but I caught one over 5 and a second around 1.5 on Saturday, May 31st. Will share it with you when we meet. Brad. although the free Dinwiddie ramp, Whipponock Creek marina and Seven Springs marina's were packed we had no problems with the pontoon boats, tubers and jet skis until around 1 PM. My boater and myself found out that there were two other tournaments on the lake yesterday but we had no trouble with our spots. As you can note above I caught a big lady and a second around 1.5 pounds.

If you were in Central Park's The Lake, or either of the two Turtle Ponds I would be very concerned that he would shoot at you. Otherwise, I don't see anything you did incorrectly. Now after his verbal reply you could have done some wheelies with your big motor before tooling off and really given him a big ride.

Thanks. Seems the dirty water has pushed them back into the cleaner water in the creek. We are going out Saturday and with the rains coming the water will probably be muddy. Don't know if Whipponock will be dirty or heavily stained or stained. My friend who fishes Chesdin told me that the back of Whipponock can be good and it seems it paid off for you. When you came back under the bridge did you fish the bank to the left or the pads and docks to the right?

Brad, what is the water clarity and temperature?

Koz, may I make a suggestion to everyone reading this thread? Buy American. Yes, Toyotas are made in Tennessee and they race well in NASCAR. But I am going with either Jeep, Toyota, or a US made product in the future.

Thanks for sharing. I will give that knot a try, too. Anything to make fishing easier and faster is good for us all.