Sam

Did anyone out there see this article about a lady who caught an 88 pound catfish earlier this month on Kentucky Lake? https://wtkr.com/2019/01/02/woman-reels-in-88-pound-monster-catfish/ What an accomplishment. Congrats on the catch. And she released it so it is out there for someone else to catch.

Hey everyone, check this out, especially what was said about a specific NFUL rule:

Yes, Way2Slow, that is a spooky story. Glad there was a realistic answer. Only experience I have had was while fishing on the Historic James River by the nuclear power plant just down from Osborne Landing. I had never paid much attention to the metal supports in the river by the plant until one day something told me to start to fish them. I was planning to float by them and head to the water outlet where Hank Parker won the Classic on a spinnerbait. It was just a voice in my ear. Nothing spectacular. Just a voice telling me to throw to those supports. So I threw my baby brush hog via my spinning rig down to the bottom of each one of the big metal supports as I floated by. And wham! On the last one a four and a half pound bass took my Zoom Junebug trick worm on a shaky head and hit it hard. Scared me to death as I never really thought that those old metal beams would hold anything, especially a bass. I thought it may be a catfish at the time I set the hook. I know this is not to the level of your story but it was weird. I keep listening for another voice to tell me where to fish but so far all I get is that darn Bait Monkey urging me to buy more tackle.

Partner started to get starrier eyed and bored and when he looked away to stare at the shoreline behind him I took my rod tip and put it under his line near his rod tip and powered my rod over my head which lifted his rod up into the air and scared him to death. He thought he had a monster on. He was somewhat PO'ed but we both laughed about it and I told him to concentrate on his line and not the trees.

Academy H2O frogs.

Good luck. Let us know how she performs.

Around 10 AM in the morning for the first one. Around 1 PM in the afternoon for the second one.

Needed to blow off steam. Just can't get my hands around a ref standing there, watching the play, and not throwing the flag. Or the refs having a pow-wow and then throwing the flag. Not mad at the Saints. Mad at the refs. Seems the NFL may be fixed and we never knew it. Too much secrecy behind the officiating. Cutting the replay guy in the booth out of the equation is wrong. Both teams want a fair and honest game. And we, the public, want it too. We did not get it. So we don't' watch the game; we don't travel to Atlanta for the game; we don't watch the commercials during the game. That is about all we can do. Hopefully the NFL will not renew the refs contracts next year. End of rant although I have been having a good time.

Elliot Raphaelson has penned an article about people who have Medicare going into the hospital and receiving a large bill upon discharge. I will try to be short and concise but this practice by hospitals is scary and I want everyone who has a relative or your self going into a hospital to know about this practice. An individual who plans a procedure well in advance and stays in a hospital for more than 48 hours may expect that they will be categorized as an "inpatient." But that may not be the case. Inpatient status implies severe problems requiring highly skilled care. Observation status implies less severe problems and a shorter stay. For many years now, hospitals have been deeming more and more patients to be in "observation" and they have even used that categorization for patients who stay for a week or longer. Medicare's standard is "two midnights" to be considered impatient status. However, some hospitals will change the inpatient status to observation upon checkout. If the patient has Part B and a Medigap policy, most of the expenses will be covered. If the patient does not have Part B or a Medigap policy that patient will face with significant expenses. Remember, Part B does not cover medications so the patient will be billed for all meds given during the stay. The patient would need Part D to cover some of the prescription drugs. If the patient is categorized as an inpatient, most if not all of the hospital expenses would be covered. If a patient has been in the hospital for three or more days you would think they would be classified as inpatient and not only have Medicare pay the hospital bills but they could be admitted to a rehab facility and be covered for 20 days by Medicare. if the patient is categorized as observation Medicare would not cover any of the rehab expenses because the patient was not classified as inpatient. So if you, a loved one, or a friend is admitted into a hospital please make sure the hospital confirms the patient will be classified as inpatient and not observation. A lot of money can be saved by doing this. Here is the article for your perusal. Please read it and be ready to battle to be classified as an inpatient if you have to go into the hospital. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-201811211100--tms--savingsgctnzy-a20181121-20181121-story.html

GoneFishing, there are videos you can purchase where the pros share information, suggestions and secrets. You may find then on eBay or Amazon as I do not believe BPS carries them any longer. Hank Parker, Ike, Woo Daves, Denny Brauer, Gerald Swindle, Timmy Horton and many others come to mind as pros who will share information in videos. And check out Woo's web page for his list of topics he discusses. http://woodaves.com/ The pros are busy now getting ready for their tournament trails and I doubt they will be able to answer your email. How about you do something for yourself? Read - Read - Read - and Read some more. Subscribe to Bass Master Magazine, Bass Times, and Bass Angler Magazine (BAM) for starters and read what the pros pen about tackle, baits and presentations. And watch the YouTube videos. Maybe you can find a few about fishing Iowa. Remember, to be specific about what you are asking covers the entire world and it is impossible to find what you are looking for in one book or in a pill. Too many variables to give you a "sure fire" answer that will allow you to catch a bass on every cast. Now go out there every day and start experimenting.

Sorry to say, but this Super Bowl will have a black cloud hanging over it. The two best teams will not play by earning the privilege on the field. It is how us SEC fans feel like after a Bamasux game. The refs will give Bamasux the calls as approved by the SEC office in Birmingham. Let that sink in. The SEC office in Birmingham. I would hope everyone out there, other than for those in California, will cheer for the Pats. I know I will and I hope the hitting is very hard with a lot of helmet-to-helmet hits not being called. But we know this will not be the case as the refs will probably be calling everything they perceive to be a foul knowing they will be under the microscope. I wonder if the refs calling the Saints-Rams game will be rehired or demoted next season? After all, we were supposed to get the best refs rated the highest in the NFL for the playoff games. If those refs were the cream of the crop, then it is open season in the NFL games and a sad state of affairs for future games. "Let all the poisons from within the earth come forth." I Claudius. Geaux Pats. Put the Rams out of the game. The refs will probably not make the calls.

Too many no-calls which ruined the game. If either team is guilty of a penalty then the penalties need to be called. Too many helmet to helmet hits and targeting in the game. The refs closed their eyes to these infractions.

Not the issue. The issue is the no-call during regulation. Had the ref called the pass interference there would be no overtime or interception. In all games, some plays work and others don't. Yes, two trips into the red zone and only 6 points. Had the Saints scored TD's the game would have been a route. But it boils down to the no-call. It really damaged the integrity of the NFL. It made for a dishonest game and outcome.

The Bait Monkey loves you.

X2 And it robbed everyone of having the two best teams in the Super Bowl of which tickets and travel/lodging/food will cost those attending many hundreds of dollars. Now the NFL is going to make a "non-call" reviewable. A little too late.

Trailer hooks are great for short strikes. Give it a try. You can use the same size as your buzzbait/spinnerbait hook or one size smaller.

There are three water columns that you have to test: topwater, middle water, and bottom water. The buzzbait is totally topwater although you can fish it slow within the other two water levels. I have caught smallmouth on a buzzbait fished off the bottom. The spinnerbait is for all water levels. You can see it in the top water level; see it disappear below the surface; fish it slow in the middle water level; and bounce it off the bottom or "slow roll" it on the bottom. Just go out there and experiment and have some fun with both. And don't forget your trailer hook on both, too.

The non-call was the game changer. No ifs, ands or buts. The officiating was an embarrassment to the NFL. Catt, the refs are like the politicians in DC. They kiss each other's behinds and do things together to the detriment of their constituents. The replay officials are in the same boat as the on-field refs. A good ole boys network. Don't overturn any calls to embarrass your friends. You can see it in the college and NFL games.

Curtis & Leroy, two good ole Louisiana boys, saw an ad in the Starkville, MS Daily and bought a mule for $100.The farmer agreed to deliver the mule the next day. The next morning the farmer drove up and said, "Sorry, fellows, I have some bad news, the mule died last night." Curtis & Leroy replied, Well, then just give us our money back." The farmer said, "Can't do that. I went and spent it already." They said, "OK then, just bring us the dead mule." The farmer asked, "What in the world ya'll gonna do with a dead mule?" Curtis said, "We gonna raffle him off." The farmer said, "You can't raffle off a dead mule!" Leroy said, "We sure can! Heck, we don't hafta tell nobody he's dead!" A couple of weeks later, the farmer ran into Curtis & Leroy at the Piggly Wiggly grocery store and asked. "What'd you fellers ever do with that dead mule?" They said, "We raffled him off like we said we wuz gonna do."Leroy said, "Shucks, we sold 500 tickets fer two dollars apiece and made a profit of $998." The farmer said, "My Lord, didn't anyone complain?" Curtis said, "Well, the feller who won got upset. So we gave him his two dollars back." Curtis and Leroy now work for the government. They're overseeing the Medicare and Social Security Programs.

Not that it makes any difference, but you can call and make a formal complaint against refs by calling 212-450-2000. It’s the NFL complaint line and flood them with complaints on the game. The integrity of NFL football has just been flushed down the toilet. I don't care for the Pats but I will be cheering them on to clobber the Rams.

The NFL has apologized to the Saints right after the end of the game saying the ref blew the simple pass interference call. And no, that is not how all games go. Especially in the NFL where only the top rated refs are allowed to call a game. The refs in the AFC title game are much better than the ones selected for the NFC playoff. Saints won the game but got screwed by the refs. One would think that at least one ref on the field would have throw their flag to call pass interference on that play. The Super Bowl will have a second class team from the NFC playing one of the two very good teams from the AFC due to the refs cheating. Hope the ref who blew the call is no longer an NFL ref in the future.

Sounds like a good plan. You need to go online and view and read all about the different types of jigs and where and when to use them. This study will include the types of and test strength of your lines. Your rod rating (medium/heavy) and if you want a fast tip or not comes into the formula. Plus the rod's length plays a role in your jig and plastics fishing. View the different plastics you can use as pigs. Rage Tail pigs have a fast movement while Zoom pigs are slower. There is a place and time for each and you want to either match the jig's color or have a conflicting color in addition to its weight. Color mix is important, too, when jig fishing. So learn which color threads work the best and under what types of conditions. As for plastics, you have a lot of techniques to chose among from Texas rigs to shaky heads, drop shots, Carolina rigs, on jig heads or with tungsten or lead weights, the Ned Rig, the Tokyo rig, wacky rigs, the Biffle rig, etc. And the line type and test is important, too. You may want to have three rods set up for each presentation based on line test. There are hundreds of types of plastics you can consider throwing. For a list of what Zoom has to offer check out this site: http://virginiaguidebaitco.com/ Look at all catalogs and postings to see what Zoom has to offer. Then go online and see what else is out there from the other manufacturers. What you learn for your baitcasters you need to duplicate for your spinning setups. Learn how to pitch and flip like Denny Brauer. You need to learn how to skip your bait on both a spinning rig and a baitcaster to get under docks and overhanging branches. Check out the various plastics out there, including Berkley's new "The General." Getting back to jigs, are you going to practice throwing a swim jig? It is a great search bait like your lipless crank bait. It is not a spinnerbait but it comes close. Have fun experimenting.

The refs missed a good game.

Yes, I use it. On all lines but braid.

The Chick is a fun place to fish and there are some big ladies in there known as Florida Strain Bass. Here are three places to put in and stay and hopefully, recharge your batteries: Middle of the River https://riversrestblueheron.com/ Southern end of the river by the Historic James River https://jamescitycountyva.gov/Facilities/Facility/Details/Chickahominy-Riverfront-Park-2 Northern end of the river by the dam where the big ladies hang out https://www.rockahockcampground.com/ Make your reservations as soon as you know your schedule. They fill up over the summer and they sell out for holiday weekends. Be sure to make sure they have electrical outlets to charge your batteries. Get a GMCO map of the Chickahominy River so you can see the river plus you can get the Chick Lake and if you want, the Historic James River. You can pick up a GMCO map at the Bass Pro Shop off I-95 at exit 89 just south of Ashland. Ask the guys in the fishing department about fishing the Chick. Ask for Mike, Michael or Connor. All three are tournament guys and they will help you. http://www.gmcomaps.com/ You can also stop by Green Top and ask some of their fishing guys about the Chick and Historic James, too. They should have the GMCO maps. However, they have a stronger selection of local baits to select among: https://www.greentophuntfish.com/ Across from the mouth of the Chick is the Upper Chippokes Creek where you can fish lots of Cyprus trees. You can also go into the creek but be careful: http://****.com/topo-maps/US-fishing-locations/Virginia/Virginia-Streams/Surry/Claremont/Upper-Chippokes-Creek/ Remember, the Historic James and the Chick are both tidal rivers. Checkout this site for the tides. You want a high early morning tide that will fall during the day and then start incoming in the afternoon, if possible. Check out the James River section as you scroll down: https://www.saltwatertides.com/dynamic.dir/virginiasites.html Have a fun time and be safe. Green Top is the next exit going south on I-95 to your right.