Sam

They have no choice. Too many unknowns that could cause serious problems during the event and you need time to make plans, travel to the show, set up your sets, schedule pro meetings and signing tables, and all the things that go with the ICAST trade show. Yes, the products can be presented on videos but it is the person-to-person meetings and interviews that make ICAST so enjoyable to watch, especially Glenn's productions with various pros and manufacturers. We have to put safety first for everyone and their families.

12, nope, you are right on. Colleges' first priority is education. That should top everything else. But then comes the money. With each SEC school averaging $43 million in revenues from all sources each year, and that includes Vandy, Missouri and others who do not make it on TV as much as the other schools, it is difficult for a university to pass up all that income. Football funds the non-revenue sports; gives money back to the school for building projects and other expenses; and generates many millions of dollars via each university's merchandise sales, alumni associations and athletic foundations. Once upon a time Joe Dean, a past LSU athletic director, told me that LSU cleared at least $7,000,000 per game in Tiger Stadium after paying the visiting team and other expenses. This amount does not include TV and Radio revenues paid at the end of the season nor its share of the media money from the SEC. Even though you will hear that college presidents want to put education first, the accountants are telling them in the back rooms that they need the football revenue, if not from fans in the stadium then via media money. As for Toolame, they have a nice 30,000 seat stadium on campus that averages around 15,000 a game. It is like going to a football game at Richmond, Delaware, North Dakota, Maine, William & Mary, and other schools one level down. And this is why Toolame and LSU do not play each other anymore. It is not because Toolame does not like to get crushed. It is that Toolame wants to play the game in the Super Dome as the home team and walk away with the bulk of the revenue while LSU says it will travel 90-miles southeast to play in New Orleans but LSU has to be the home team. Neither school will change their position so no games. Stay tuned. Let's see if education or money wins out.

Not so fast. Mack Brown is back in the saddle and he can work wonders. Just give him the players and hold on.

Always do two things when you line is in the water and you are not fishing a moving bait: 1. Watch your line at all times to note if the bass picks up your plastic and is walking away with it. 2. Keep a finger on the line at all times to feel for hits. This applies best when throwing plastics. When fishing a moving bait your bait may come to an abrupt stop. That is when you swing your rod, waist high, from one side to the other.

Not if you are an LSU fan.

The NCAA is debating over having a football season without fans in the stands. They have reached out to Tulane for advice. Just telling it as it is.

Either 6 or 8 pound test, maximum, tied directly to your bait. Gliss is fine to use. The most important thing to do is to "balance" your rod, reel, line, and bait weight. This is what you do every time you change baits on all of your baitcasters: 1. Read rod's line test and bait weight parameters and stay in between them. 2. Rig baitcaster as you are ready to make your first cast via spool knob tension and drag setting. 3. Set the magnets in an X position if possible. 4. Point rod tip to 11 o'clock and release spool. 5. Let line fall slowly to the floor using the spool tension knob to speed up or slow down the fall. Do this a few times to adjust the rate of fall. 6. When bait hits floor and the spool stops with no line coming off of it, you are ready to cast and not worry about a backlash. 7. Do this when you change all baits on your baitcasting setup. 8. You will get a backlash if you hit something while casting, like a tree branch, boat windshield, motor, other guy in boat, etc. 9. Adjust spool with its tension knob to get a longer or shorter cast. To obtain the maximum rod line performance, take the high and low line test, add together, divide by two, round off to nearest test and you are ready to rock and roll.

Experiment. Throw all size and colors of your baits. Throw some baits you usually do not throw and still wonder why you bought them in the first place. Ponds are fun and you can learn a lot about your presentations, baits, colors, action, and the bass themselves. Have fun and post pics.

The weather next week is not cooperating. Forecast has changed since yesterday. Maybe the upper James is an option. Take care and be safe.

I have found that the Ned rig works best off shore and not used for bank fishing. Also, you need a boat and some electronics to be successful with a Ned rig in my opinion. As for getting hung in the grass with your lipless crankbait, remove the rear hook. This will reduce the grass hangups. You can thank KVD for this one. Tie directly to the Chatterbait's snap and do not use a trailer hook. As for squarebills, good luck. They are not designed to be fished in the grass. Try a weedless Texas rigged trick worm or a weedless rigged Senko fished on top of the grass, weightless, to mimic a snake or eel in the water using 6 or 8 pound fluorocarbon line on a spinning rig on your medium heavy rod. Good luck. Chatterbaits really work well. Give 'em a whack. You may be surprised. ?

Yes! Why not. Give them all a twirl. I experiment with baits, presentations, line tests, and any thing else I think of at the time. With no pressure it is always fun to try new baits. For example, I plan to throw braid tied directly to the hook vs. using a leader to see which one works best. I then will go with a Texas rigged Senko vs. a wacky rigged Senko vs. a Texas rigged backwards Senko to see which one produces the best. If I am not lazy, I will add a 1/16 and then a 1/8 bullet weight to the Senko presentation to see how they perform. Different colors of lipless crankbaits and plastics will be on the agenda. Red of course for the Red Eyed Shad and then silver shad and yellow perch followed by what ever color combination I want to test. As for plastics, throwing some of the different colors like Motor Oil Red, Scuppernog, etc. is always interesting. Was looking forward to throwing some different colored RICO's but the water will not be warm enough after all the rain we have been getting. So not only is it fun to fish but you can really learn a lot by studying what works when and where.

I have been trying to get out of the house and drive an hour to my double secret pond down in Dinwiddie county, south of Richmond and west of Lake Chesdin. But a vertigo attack set me back and the two doctor's appointments also destroyed any hope of driving on the Interstate to the pond this week as planned. But next week I plan to get out with my 11 rod setups and lots of tackle and hit the pond on Tuesday between the predicted rain showers. It may be a little windy but at least I will be out fishing and out of the house. If the state police stop me I will tell them that I am on my way to see Dr. Bass, my psychiatrist. Will let all know what happens and what I catch. And I may get some dog food to feed the catfish just before leaving. If I feed the catfish when I get to the pond they follow me around all day. It is something to see their eating frenzy when that dog food hits the water.

Brayden, don't look at the line test. Look at the line diameter to make a match between mono/fluorocarbon and braid. And please read what Hammer4 penned above, especially about adding a weak point to your line. If you clarify what Hammer4 is asking we can all give you our input and you can experiment to find the optimum setup. And if you do put on 30 pound mono please double check your rod's line test and bait weight parameters so you will enjoy the best setups possible and not break your rod. 30 pound mono would be good for salt water but it seems to be a little over kill for even Georgia bass. It is sort of like when Georgia plays LSU in those SEC title games. You want speed and performance from a lighter line and not a heavy line that will inhibit your bait's action and place your rod and reel in danger of malfunctioning.

As all of us who have flown we know of the flight attendants' explanation of the safety features of the airplane. If you have never flown this is what you have to look forward to hearing. Smile for the day.

And RSmall, And RSmall, have you ever tried your luck at the University of Richmond's concrete pond? I fished it a few times many years ago and got skunked each time. But I have heard that there are supposed to be some nice bass in that pond and UR will let you fish it.

Would you believe this actually happened in Virginia about 15 years ago. We had a serious drought and Lake Chesdin outside of Richmond dried up so much that you could walk across the lake in some parts. My friend, C.J. Dodson, and his three sons, walked and mapped the lake showing all of the structure, etc. they could see. They also found many baits. And they located a stump field that no one knew existed and we have been running our boats over them for years. Another friend, Jim Kerr and his son, went to the lake and took pictures. Jim guarded those photos as long as he lived and then his son inherited them after he passed away. Sorry to say that both C.J. and Jim passed away. They were outstanding bass fishermen that forgot more about bass fishing then most of us know.

Trim up to have enough power to get the bow onto to the trailer's roller. BE SURE TO KEEP MOTOR TRIMMED UP FAR ENOUGH TO AVOID DRAGGING THE LOWER UNIT OR PROP ON THE RAMP.

X2

Bass, like other wild animals, live on instinct. Clever? No. But we can interpret what they do as clever. Dumb? Not in their world. Inexperienced? Yes, and they seem to learn quickly unless instinct takes over and overrides their cautiousness.

Just have patience. Two more weeks and it will be a lot of fun. That is if you can find a ramp without all the crazies trying to launch or trailer their watercraft and then some calm water without the pontoon boats, ski boats, jet skis, swimmers, divers, other bass boats, kayaks, catfish guys, crappie guys, secret tournaments, clean water after the rains we are experiencing, DG&IF conservation officers checking for booze, safe boating card and fishing license and locals around a pond running you off, and the beat goes on and on and on and on................?

I have set up 12 rods and reels. I have reorganized my tackle three times. I have sent notice to my bank that I want in on the free government money and am waiting for their email. I have watched LSU clobber Georgia, Oklahoma and Clempson on the way to the college football national championship. And of course, I was worried that the Fighting Tigers may have gone down in the replays but they won each game. Conducted work from my home office. And have been bored out of my mind.

Outstanding! Thank you so much for posting this video. I have all three types of poison ivy at my house and I saw it today in the yard. Now I know what to do. Very grateful for the information.

Paul, sending good thoughts for a good outcome. Hang in there.

Looks great! But the only way we can actually tell if your setups are good is to take each kayak to the ramp, put it in the water, and turn it over. ?

RICO