bassnleo

You have no idea how I wish I could. I'm fortunate, my dept is allowing me to work limited duty. In other words, I go to work but do stuff around the station, and there is plenty to do. The alternative would be to burn my accumulated sick time, not exactly what I chose to do when I am capable of doing something. But I do have two new Kistler Z-Bone rods I'd love to try out Thanks to everyone else on the best wishes. From eveything I read, it appears that I should make a full recovery but it may take a little time and patience. It's still funny to try and spit after I brush my teeth, anyone got a bib?

Whelp, I do :-[ It's a temporay paralysis of facial muscles on one side of the face caused by swelling of the facial nerve. It's thought to be caused by viral infections. In my case, my ear and surrounding area is infected. It's brought on by having a recent prior cold or flu (which I did), stress, sometimes weather elements, all of which I have had in the past week. In my case it's only partial, like I got a shot if novacain (sp?) at the dentist. I'll be on a few meds for awhile. Can take a little a couple weeks to clear, could take 2-3 months. On a side note, It is kinda funny to see me try to smile, even funnier to see me try to spit Anyone else ever have this crud?

Really? Then how did Lucky Craft suceed? In starting this thread I wasn't looking for commentary on the line or company, just asking if anyone else had heard about the closing.

In having recent conversations with some GAMMA staffers, I have been told that GAMMA sent out an e-mail that it will be closing it's fishing division and going back to a racquet string company only. I have searched the web and cannot find any info, maybe they haven't formally announced it yet? Anyone hear anything?

Sent!

Presque Isle (Erie Bay) Erie PA Pymatuning Reservoir (Ohio/PA border) Shenango Reservior (near Hermitage PA) Chautauqua Lake (NY)

Hey all As I type this I'm still shaken. A PA State Trooper from our county's station was killed yesterday. We are a rural county and a close knit law enforcement community. We all know each other, our wives, our children, by first name. We work together and play together. My dept.'s officers were the first to respond as the shooting happened just miles from our city. The suspect killed his wife, Trooper Paul Richey, then himself. Trooper Richey leaves behind a wife, son, and daughter. Please say a prayer for the family. RIP brother Richey.

That rule under A is ridiculous! Sorry, but I'm all for paying half of what is used ON THE WATER but EVERYONE incurrs expense to get there, not just the boat owners. As a rider I have to pay half of the owners TOLLS? Are you kidding me? That rule is not fair! Let me add, I am a boat owner. I would NEVER accept money from someone for expenses I incurred to get to the lake, just wouldn't happen. If you wanna kick me half of our days on the water expenses....fine....but that's all I'll take.

Accurate shooting takes practice and developes muscle memory much like other activities. Be sure that when you are practicing you are following the basics of accurate shooting: Grip Stance Sight alignment Trigger control (squeeze) If you develop bad habits in the beginning you will hurt your accuracy down the road. Also, be sure to practice like you will carry with a CCW. In other words, wear the holster and similar clothing you would when carrying concealed. Draw your weapon from it's concealed position and simulate real world encounters. Most deadly force encounters happen within 5-7 feet so concentrate on that distance, get your accuracy, speed, technique, down there, then work on longer distances. Just my experience

We only got about 5 inches since last evening. What I do hate the most.........I'm working nights now and I spent more time out of the car than I did in. I can handle car crashes and weather related stuff, BUT, nooo......we deal with some real winners in the snowstorms. My partner sees a guy run when he sees the cruiser, he bails out and chases the guy down, catches him when he tries to hide behind a bush. He tells us he ran because he's drunk and under age plus he has "a little weed" in his backpack. We get him back to the station and holy crap batman! He has 1/2 a pound, LOL, a little weed . Then, at 3:30 AM some guy flags me down. Someone just set his car on fire and he saw them run away. Well DUH, there is fresh snow. Me and the K-9 handler track 2 suspects for 3/4 of mile and find them hiding under a bank drive thru canopy. They ask how we knew where they were??? Ah, DUH, new snow? Get that done........get a call at 5:55 AM. An elderly lady is going around in an apartment complex banging on doors looking for her 9 year old son. I find her shivering and obviously dilusional (actually kind of sad) and probably in stage 1 hypothermia. Her caretaker just up and left her! Her sons are all in their 50's. Stay inside people! ;D

Blizzard.........lol I'm gonna truck some snow down for ya, free of charge. You pay for the truckin.....I offered this up last year, alot of lookers, no takers. We got about 12 inches on the ground and predicted to get 4-6 tonight/tomorrow (that's pretty much just a dusting here ;D). Free snow anyone?

IMHO, the FLW took on a major task when agreeing to accept the Federation members a few years back. Since then the TBF/FLW has been great. Maybe it's time for the FLW to try a womens tour? Irwin Jacobs is a creative person and if anyone can pull it off his organization can.

Our club does not "expect" you to fish every event. You attend the events you are able to. Costs........entry fee, some cash to your boater for the day (each club is different in that respect), whatever it costs you to get there. An example from our club: Club T Entry fee $25, kick the boater $20 for gas/oil. Beginning of the year-$75 which covers club, state, national, dues/membership.

JimmyMO, I'm the TD for the PA Federation district that surrounds NW PA, right around and North of SRU (of which I'm also a grad ). Feel free to PM me with any questions. It's really not that difficult of a position.

If you are not trying topwater baits from spawn through fall your missing out. I always throw a topwater and it produces some of my largest fish. Buzzbaits, poppers, walking, soft jerkbaits, all have their time and place. I choose a topwater based on water conditions and temperature. In very clear and shallow river situations I lean to a popper. Murkier water is prime for a buzzbait. Early fall shines for a walker. Soft jerkbaits work almost always. My favorite spawn bait is a modified Rapala floater. I shave the bill so it does not dive, then weight the tail so it sits tail down at rest. Short and sharp snaps of the rod tip make the bait shimy and spit like a dying baitfish. I target shallow bedding areas. You'd be suprised of how many bedded smallmouth will rise from a bed to smoke this presentation. I think the key to a topwater is first figuring out what type of bait then tuning in on how to present it. Once you dial in, stay with it. You may not get as many bites as other baits BUT the ones you do get will generally be larger, more agressive, fish.

June would be good. I personally aim for early June. IMHO, I love May. You can fish whatever is your favorite way, spoons, blades, tubes, drop shot, cranks, jerkbaits. Fish are shallow, deep, anywhere in between. If you do decide to make a trip, I will do everything in my power to make sure we can get together for a couple days. I missed out in 2009, too many tournaments. Not this year .

Try to talk to non-boaters from local clubs, that may key you in as to which clubs are rider friendly. I think you'll find that most clubs are rider friendly. JOIN A CLUB! You may learn more in one year than you could in 5 on your own.

What are ya waiting for Kent? 8-) Me, Dwight, and YOU this Spring. We may not find a double digit fish but we may hit triple digits per day 8-).

Lets see....... Cut the wrong end of the line and tossed numerous baits in which promptly sunk. Tossed several pairs of pliers in. Lost countless hats and sunglasses cause they weren't where they should have been when I hit the throttle. The one that hurt the most.....dropped a handheld GPS over the side. Uhh, it didn't float :-/. That one cost me like 200 waypoints.

Nope, never heard of a double digit up this way. I fish the Great Lakes region and it's my absolute favorite. That being said, the region is awesome for numbers and trophy sized smallmouth BUT, the cold water/winter period and vast expanse of water up here will most likely prevent a fish from growing to double digit size. It will come from below the Mason-Dixon line or Cali.

Reaction Innovations BMF in 3/0 or 4/0 rigged with a snell knot. This is my primary hook for beaver and craw style baits. Gammy EWG Superline in 3/0 or 4/0 for tubes.

1. 10-12 lb mono or copolymer 2. 6-8 lb flourocarbon OR 8-10 lb braid with a flouro leader. I use Gamma lines and they have done me right. Bottom line is choose a line that you have confidence in. I put a range of lines because you may go up or down in line size depenidng on the type of water and cover your fishing. Obviously, the heavier or snaggier the cover go up in size. Just my .02 8-)

For flipping and pitching heavy cover a 6'6" rod will not have enough length or backbone to get a fish out. I watched one of my riders during a tournament last year pitch with a 6'6" rod, he had a really hard time landing fish. After hooking about 10 fish and only landing 2, he finally broke his rod in half trying to muscle a fish out of the weeds. For sparse areas I suppose it would be ok but I definately prefer at least 7' and heavy action. Kistler guy here also.... I own 2 Kistler flippin sticks, a Helium and a Graphite Series, both heavy action and 7' 6" and telescopic. Will be adding 2 to my collection soon as they are finished and arrive, both the new Z-Bones, 7'6" heavy and a 7' heavy. The longer will be used for flippin and the shorter for pitching jigs and froggin. Both will have the new micro guides also, excited to try them out. BTW, chromedog, when you say the results have been significant, do you mean in terms of accuracy or ease of casting or hooking vs. landing, just curious..

Anyone else giving one of these a try? I have two of the new Z-Bone rods ordered, a 7'6" flippin stick and a 7' heavy. I cannot wait to get my hands on them. The micro guides look awesome and since I'm prone to knocking guides out or off, they may save me some grief . May also be sending a couple Heliums and Mags back to be wrapped with micros.

I can only recall one this year.......... Our state federation championship, I was basically out of it after day 1. Day 2 I decided to burn some fuel and see some more of the lake we were on. I pull into a small pocket that had a small area of decent looking weeds. I was burning a frog over the area and on about my 20th cast, what I thought was a decent fish smokes my frog about 15 feet from the boat. I hammer the hook home and say "NET" for my rider to come up and net the fish. I turn the reel handle 2 times and the fish is beside the boat. I look back and he's still fishing away ;D. Never heard me . Well, I'm using a heavy rod and braided line, no problem, I'll swing it aboard. I lift the fish and as I do I'm thinking "Boy, that was REALLY dumb". The fish was much larger than I thought, I'd say at least 4 pounds. The fish bounced off the top of the gunnel and came off. I was a little jerked but as I said, I really wasn't in the running anyway. Then came weigh in........ Day 2 lunker was only a hair over 3 pounds. Bouncing that fish off the gunnel cost me $550 :'( Can't cure stupid :-?