Jerkbate

I am a college instructor in the technical fields, & my wife is a kindergarten assistant teacher (working on her teaching degree). So, we are really poor LOL. FOM, I agree that qualified teachers are also a rarity. I live in MS. There is such a shortage of people here that the state has a special program in which they will pay most all the expenses, even some gas & daycare expense, for someone who qualifies & is willing to attend college in the education field. That person then has to work at a specified school for 3 years. My wife & I looked into this program when she started but decided to just do it on our own. The reason being that the state determines what school you will work at when you complete your degree. I stayed up until 1:00 Thursday morning grading papers & making out a test. After working from 8:00 am to 9:30 pm Wednesday. I had to go in to work at 8:00 Thursday morning. Not trying to toot my horn etc. just another example of the long unpaid hours that are all to often required of teachers.

I ordered a jacket from BPS a couple of months ago. I ordered the size that I normally wear, but it was too small. I returned it at my expense & requested the next size up. I received the order about 2 and a half weeks later, & it was the same jacket that I had returned. There was a distinct mark on the tag. So, I know it was the same one. I called and was told I would have to pay return shipping again ($8.00), but it would be credited to my debit card when they received the jacket. I still have the jacket over a month later. I plan to go to the local BPS the end of the month, & I'll return the jacket then. I just refuse to pay shipping again on their mistake.

I have grabbled (Noodling to some) on and off for about 20 years. The biggest I've ever hand grabbed was 63lbs. Kind of the whole point of noodling is going unprotected head to head with the fish and see who wins. Regardless of what you hear, I know of no one who has ever had their arm/hand stripped of skin, lost fingers, or any other such horror story. You will get skinned & scratched up sometimes pretty bad, but no major injuries. Siefer: A 50lb catfish is more than a handful. I weigh 235lbs, & I had a 15lb blue cat jerk me off my feet and drag me under. I was in about six feet of water. Luckily, I wasn't in any current and was able to stand up. However, I didn't let go of that fish. Letting go of that fish would have brought the wrath of raggin from my buddies that I would have never heard the end of. I would have almost rather drowned. LOL

I teach entrepreneurship. Regardless of the type of business you are interested in starting, you need a business plan first. This will tell you whether the business is finacially feasible and has any chance of success. In order to be sucessful in small business you need to find a niche in the market. This means doing things such as selling cheaper, being unique, or producing higher quality product. The lure business can be especially difficult because of the large corporations such as Wal-Mart, Bass Pro, Cabelas & a few others. You will never compete with them on price, and they generally sell quality lures. So, if I were you I would focus on have something unique, excellent customer service, an excellent location, or something else along those lines. Regardless of what you decide, you definitely need a business plan.

I live in the South. So, I can't help you with your first question. As for your other questions, I run a 36 pound thrust motor on a 16' welded aluminum boat. Including outboard & myself, it weighs about 700 pounds. You will have no trouble with the 36 pound motor. I can fish all day on a fully charged battery. The trailer should be fine as long as it is structurally sound. You may have to make some modifications to the guides or runners so that your boat can be secured to it properly.

Do you have an older Johnson motor? There were some older Johnson motors that recommended 100:1 ratios. This was later revised to 50:1.

I would say no less than 100 yards. It usually doesn't bother me if someone cuts me off. I have the same attitude that a couple of other people have mentioned. I'm a better angler, & I'm going to catch fish that they can't. Whether it is true or not, it helps me keep my cool and continue to enjoy my time fishing. I fish Grenada Lake, and this time of year it is literally covered with crappie fishermen. It is nothing to have 70 or 80 trucks at every boat ramp. However, most every one is considerate, and I rarely have any trouble with people cutting me off. It is during the summer that I really get ticked off. What reallly irritates me are the pleasure boaters, especially the teenagers who have mom & dad's boat or jet ski but no idea how to properly operate it. Last year, I had a jet skier keep running by me really close. He thought it was funny until I caught him setting still, ran by him about off plane at half throttle, rolled him in the water, and pushed his jet ski into the rocks. He left me alone after that. On another occasion last summer, I had a ski boat run by me a few times pulling a skier even though I was sitting in less than 2 feet of water. The skier was so close on a couple of passes I could have almost touched him with my rod. They soon found out how deep the water was when they ran their boat aground. The skier had an awful crash. They asked me to pull them off, but I just ignored them as I laughed and waved on my way by them. Looking back neither reaction was the Christian thing to do, but I let my emotions get the better of me.

Here is another pic of a stringer of nice fish with several 2+ pounders.

I couldn't get the pics of the 4-11, but here is a picture of one that's 4 lb 5oz. It's the third one from the top on the left side. Several of the other fish are between 2 & 3 pounds.

A shallow running crankbait like the Mann's 1-minus or Storm subwart are also very effective baits this time of year. I like to burn them with an occasional split second pause. It will also give the fish a presentation that they probably have seen that much. The rain probably will not have that much affect on the fish unless it is accompanied by a cold front. If a cold front comes through the fish will still be in the same areas, but you may have to go to a slower presentation.

I have a couple of boats, but I almost always fish from the bank or wade in the spring. Every spring my local lake (Grenada Lake, MS) is overrun with crappie fishermen, and the roads to the local forestry service lakes are closed. So I bike in & fish a couple of the forestry service lakes from the bank. I agree that you slow down and fish more thoroughly from the bank or while wading. You also don't have to deal with the boat control, etc. I enjoy fishing from the bank as much as I do fishing from a boat, and I always catch more fish from the bank.

I finally had time to type up an outline for the class. I am going to include the casting contest that Fisher of Men suggested. I am also going to take them to a local lake to fish off of the bank. Let me know any recommendations you have about the outline. INTRODUCTION TO FISHING WITH FOCUS ON THE LARGEMOUTH BASS Largemouth Anatomy o Life Cycle o Growth Rates Locating the Largemouth o Preferred Habitat o Structure & Cover o Map Reading o Seasonal Patterns o Preferred Conditions Equipment Application, Selection, & Use o Rods & Reels o Lines o Common Knots o Terminal Tackle Live Bait o Preferred Food o Presentation Lures Application & Presentation o Spinner-types o Hardbaits o Soft Plastics o Jigs Other Local Fish Species o Crappie o Bream o Catfish Additional Topics o Handling Fish o Fishing Ethics o Fishing Safety o Removing Hooks o Fishing Regulations

I usually carry beef jerky & plenty of water. If I am going to be out all day I will carry a couple cans of beanie weanies and a pack of crackers.

I've decided to go on up to Pickwick for smallmouth. It's only about a 45 minute drive. I am going to fish the Yellow Creek area. RW, do you have any advice for fishing this area?

Craig College Instructor of Manufacturing Technology & Machine Tool Technology Northeast MS

My wife ordered about ten boxes. I didn't know it and ordered 5 boxes from someone at work. So, we've got 15 boxes coming!

The family will be in my prayers.

I use a rig almost identical to a Carolina rig. This prevents the fish from feeling the weight when they take the bait. I have had my best luck on rod & reel while fishing with small bream. If you have a boat & want to catch some catfish, go jugging. I rig a 2 liter coke bottle with braided, tarred, 200 pound line tied to the end, #1/0 to #2/0 swivel, and a #5/0 to #7/0 hook. Bait this with cut shad for blue cats, and live bream for flatheads. Only use about 12" of line. This is where most people I know mess up. They have about 6 feet or more of line out, and all they do is stay hungup. I've found that in river systems the cats will come up to the top to feed in the mornings and evenings. So, 12" inches of line is plenty. We've caught cats using this method from 5 to 60 pounds. When a big cat pulls that coke bottle under you will know it. It sounds like a 22 rifle going off. A cat weighing around 40 pounds can hold a 2 liter coke bottle under for about 3 to 3 1/2 minutes. So when a big one hits keep your eyes open for the bottle resurfacing, and stay in the area. We lost one a couple of years ago in the Yazoo river that held the bottle down for a little over 5 minutes. We had it at the side of the boat but it was so big we had trouble getting it in the net. It finally came unhooked. I only wish I knew how much it weighted. It was huge.

Thanks to everyone for your replies. You all offer a lot of good information and advice. I am going to set down this week and put together the class outline. Once I finish it, I will post it so you guys can critique it. bocabasser, I am located in the Northwestern part of MS off of Interstate 55 half way between Jackson & Memphis. I'm about five minutes from Grenada Lake and no more than 10 minutes from several other 10 to 50 acre public watershed lakes.

Thanks for the input. The class would not be part of the standard course offerings for the school. This class would be more along the lines of an adult education course taught in the evenings for non-credit. These type courses are developed usually at the request of local industries & other organizations. They may be offered only once to meet a specific need of an industry. Therefore, they are not listed in the catalog, and are not included in standard tuition. I am thinking of charging $100.00 (money goes to the school) per adult for the ten week course with kids under 15 free. I agree with limiting the course to approximately 20 people. You mentioned a lot of the topics that I am already considering. This affirms my thoughts about what to include in the course. Any other thoughts and opinions are appreciated. Thanks

I'm am a Manufacturing Technology & Machine Tool Technology instructor at a community college. I also teach several non-credit short courses. The content of these courses varies, but most all of them are technical. My job allows me access to formal classrooms and large media rooms. Lately I have been contemplating the possibility of offering a bass fishing class. This class would meet 3 hours, one evening a week, for 10 weeks. A total of 30 hours of instruction. I'm no fishing expert or pro by any means, but I've bass fished and fished in general all of my life. I feel that there is a lot I can teach someone who is new to the sport or thinking of getting into bass fishing. There may even be a few trick I can teach a more experienced angler. My questions are: - If you took a largemouth bass fishing class, what topics would you like to have covered? - How much would you pay to attend the 10 week class? - What materials, if any, would you expect to receive (lures, books, etc.)? - What do you think would be the maximum class size? - Would you expect on the water demonstrations or would classroom/outdoor dimenstrations be acceptable? - Should it be broken into two 10 week sessions (60 hours total) or will one 10 week session (30 hours) be enough time to thoroughly cover the material? The class would be not for profit with only my time and expenses paid. I think the class would give the college a lot of exposure and be an excellent recruiting tool. Especially, since there are no other such classes offered anywhere in the area. I am trying to consider all of the variable before I go to my director with the idea. So, any other ideas or thoughts that you have are appreciated. Also, a guy a work with is thinking of getting approval to offer a class on bow hunting. I'll let you know how they both end up. Thanks, Craig

I have to walk into a couple of the lakes that I fish. It's about a mile to one of them. The lake are no deeper than 12 feet and perfect for wading. I have a small tackle back with two small Plano boxes in it. I carry: One baitcaster reel & 6'6" MH rod 3-4 black & white H&H spinnerbaits 3-4 chartruese H&H spinnerbaits 2 Pop-R's 2 small white buzzbaits 2 Rapala firetiger DT4 crankbaits 2 Mann's Baby 1 minus crankbaits Mann's Hardnose watermelon lizards 2 Rapala jerkbaits A few bullet weights and hooks 4" Finesse worms 2 3/8 oz jigs

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t90/onemorepass/grenada06006.jpg http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t90/onemorepass/3lb4oz.jpg http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t90/onemorepass/GrenadaMCC412006013.jpg My cousin is supposed to get me those pictures next week. In the meantime here are a few pictures of 3+ pounders caught at Grenada that were posted on the MDWFP forum.

Thanks Raodwarrior, but I am staying at Tishomingo State Park. Already have the cabin booked for spring break. I am hoping this fall to book a trip at Pickwick with the guide that you've mentioned before called Speedy.

I am going to spend the second week of March at Bay Springs Lake in Northeast MS. I have fished this lake a few times for largemouths and have done pretty well. However, I have never caught a smallmouth. This trip I am going to focus on catching a smallmouth. Has anyone ever fished this lake? IF so, can anyone give any advice about a pattern or give any tips on locations to try that time of year? Thanks