Daniel My Brother

Trust me, I'm NOT excited about dropping big money on a mini-van, but it's the right choice for the family. I'll just sit behind the wheel and pretend it's a Chevy Tahoe.

A couple of weeks ago my trailer axle bent, which caused one of my hubs to break apart, which caused me to almost lose my boat and everything in it. Thankfully my boat and gear were spared, but my 30 year old trailer was toast. Money's been tight with unexpected medical bills and trying to save for a new mini-van, and since I hate the idea of going into debt over fishing, I decided to just put the boat on the side of the house and forget about it for the time being. But today is my birthday, and when I came home from work I was greeted by the most wonderful gift I've ever received. I swear I almost cried. Thank you Gail!!!!!!

Doug Stange because he teaches as he fishes, and he's a multi-species guy. Also Joe Thomas from when he had his "Angler on Tour" show on the Outdoor Channel. Joe wasn't just fishing stocked honeyholes, he really showed you how hard it could be to put together a pattern and catch fish on big public waters.

I dig the color. Very old-school.

I couldn't be happier for you. Time flies when those babies are little, enjoy every minute. :) :)

From a former motorcycle guy, it sounds like a good idea to me. At 30mph rain drops feel more like BBs.

Pline CXX is super strong, but it does have a lot of memory if that's a concern for you. Berkley Big Game is a great quality line at an unbeatable price. It's the only mono I currently use. I prefer 12# for most applications. Just a note about braid; it is probably the cheapest line going when you consider how long it lasts. I can get a full season out of a spool of braid, but I'm changing mono out every 4 or 5 trips.

This is too good. I'm making copies. ;D

Not my fish, but a memorable fight that changed my buddy forever. I was fishing with Craig in a little v bottom, he was running the trolling motor from the back of the boat when he hooked into a big bass with his zebco spincast reel. In short order the fish tangled him in a downed tree. We switched positions in the boat so he could fight the fish and I could run the TM. I've never come so close to tipping a boat. I'm sure we looked ridiculous. We worked and worked and finally got that fish out of the tree, only to get caught in a ton of coontail. So much so that I didn't think that line would hold. He pulled the fish and the pile of weeds to the side of the boat. We didn't have a net so I was going to lip it, but the weeds were so thick I couldn't find the fish, much less the mouth. All I could do was remove the giant clump of coontail, as soon as it was free we noticed just how enormous this fish was! But, free of the weeds the fish shook its massive head, snapped the line, and disappeared. Craig cussed. repeatedly. That missed fish was the motivation my buddy needed. Within a year he had a new Tracker PT175 with 5 curado reels paired with 5 BPS Extreme rods sprayed across the deck. A fish that turned a hobby into a passion.

RW, You were right about oil prices, I hope you are not right about hitting 5,000. Like most, I have lost value in my 401K...but I haven't lost money yet. Retirement is still more than 2 decades away for me, so I will wait it out like so many others. I just have to wonder how many more years it will take to get the dow back to where it was just 2 short years ago. 14,000 seems like ancient history...Ugghh.

I'm kind of lame too, so it's a good fit for me.

2008 was a great year for me and I need to give a lot of thanks for that to the people on this website. Here are just a few highlights: I went fishing with the girls and caught a new PB. Managed to snag a giant gar. Rediscovered my love of catfish. Caught 200 hundred white bass in one day. And even helped dig up a mastodon jaw! I fished all kinds of new water this year, targeted new species, and made some new fishing buddies in the process. Thank you all for the expertise, passion and humor that make this site my favorite place on the web.

Wow. Never with a fish that big. I've set the hook hard on soft plastics and had little fish come flying in the boat that weren't hooked, but rather just holding on. But to land a 4 pounder after a fight, that's new to me...

Congrats RW! Here's to many more. :)

It amazes me how many posts I see like this on different boards. As far as I'm concerned, this is no different than stealing. At some point, retailers are going to tighten up their return policies because of this type of fraud. Yes, I said fraud because that's what it is. As far as asking why you are returning an item, this is a legitimate question for a retailer to ask. There should be a reason; I don't see any signs in the stores that say "Free ten day trial". Buyers remorse shouldn't be a good reason for returning an item. If there is a problem with the product, the retailer wants to know so that they can make decisions about what prooducts to carry in the future. Agreed.

I usually don't start thinking about whites 'til the end of October....but I guess that's only a couple of weeks away. Holy crap, summer summer flew by. Let us know if you find 'em.

Something to consider when talking about attendance: 3,300,000+ people call Boston home. 550,000+ people live in Tampa & St. Pete. That along with the fact that it's a young franchise that hasn't won anything and has no national following, and the attendance figures for the Rays sound about right. The only way you're going to sell-out games without winning anything is by renaming your team the Chicago Cubs.

Don't forget the biggest advantage mono has over flouro: cost. I can buy 1000+ yards of Berkley Big Game for less than the cost of 100+ yards of Trilene flouro. Flourocarbon is great, but I can't justify the cost on more than one rod.

Hey Muddy, were those guys you rooted for multi-millionaires who changed teams every 2 years? I'm not a boo bird, but some players deserve it. A couple expamples of today's guys I would boo: BJ Upton not running out 'routine' fly balls? BOO! Brett Myers punches his wife in the face? BOO!

You might want to reconsider how you have your boat up on those sawhorses. It appears that the weight of the boat, and the water in it, are resting on the boat's axle. I know that when you change a trailer tire you need to put the jack under the frame, not the axle, to avoid bending the axle. Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong.

If you're talking about high school or college, I agree. When you're talking about the pros, I disagree. We buy tickets, jerseys, $8 beers, pay cable bills, and sit through 3 minute commercial breaks so that these guys can make millions. We're not buying loyalty, because lord knows if the Yankees come along and offer a few more dollars, your favorite player will jump ship. In fact, we're not buying anything, we're renting a player's services for a determined period of time. For that money we should expect the player's best effort, on and off the field. If he isn't giving 100%, or is acting like a jerk, he deserves to be booed off the field. >

Nice fat fish. Congratulations!

The bullet weight may only be 3/16ths, but the bait itself is also going to add plenty of heft. You should have zero problems casting this. I always throw the lightest bullet weight I can get away with. It gives the bait a more natural look on the fall and retrieve.

I would begin by eliminating unproductive water. Around here the milfoil is starting to die, and you won't find a lot of bass in dying grass. However, there are areas where the bulrush and milfoil is still green and productive. When the temps are high 60's you can find fish almost anywhere, I like positioning the boat in deep(ish) water and making long casts to the shallows and drop offs. If skies are clear I'll go with jigs and soft plastics around rocks and tight to cover. If I've got wind, I'll tie on a shallow crank and, and if I have clouds I'll try a buzzbait. It's a great time of year to fish if you can avoid those post frontal bluebird skies and bitter cold.

One final thought for what it's worth. If you consider these fish a threat to your waters, you don't have to waste them. In parts of SE Missouri grinnel are considered a delicacy, and are the target species for many. The trick is to get the fish on ice quickly, which keeps the meat flakey. I know a lot of people would laugh at the idea of eating mudfish, but don't knock it 'til you try it.