Alpster

Way to go! Big-O!!!!! That is down right upright!!!!!!! Ronnie

Thanks Jay! I always get a kick out of you. Ronnie

That was kind of COLD there Blaine! LOL Chuck Norris wouldn't be caught dead with a Diawa! LOL "Chuck Norris doesn't cast, the line runs away from him!" Ronnie

Great news indeed!! Ronnie

"Travelin Band" CCR Ronnie

Cat Stevens - "Tuesday's Dead" Ronnie

Just want to drop my $.02 on this thread. I Had an awesome time on Barkley & KY Lake this weekend also. It was great to see the member contingent and to hang out and fellowship on Carl's porch. Thanks for putting us up while we ate all your food. You are the man Carl. Counting the last two road trips, this was my third (that's right count em) 16 oz ribeye steak off of Carl's grill and he is consistent. The steak is awesome and I have to agree with CJ that the sweet potatoes and salad were great also, thanks Gary! Thank you Carl! I didn't get to fish as I was checking out the diggs for the road trip. It is going to easily be the best yet. I am very stoked about this trip. I will be posting a report on the 'Road trip thread' with pictures shortly. Thanks also to CJ for pointing me in the right direction to research trip info. It saved me a ton of time when there was none to waste. Ronnie

Way to go Eddie. Workmanship is first class. Any of us would be proud to fish that rod. I love the gold trim wraps against the blue blank. I am also a fan of a fighting butt on a fly rod. Top notch work, you can certainly be proud of it. Ronnie

These are pics of my work bench for rod building. My lure making is limited to fly and jig tying now, but I wiould love to find the time to get into making some hard baits. Rod turning on dryer motor.... Ronnie

Hey Russ, You haven't really fished with Wayne until about the third day. He starts to sing old rock songs and acts out 'super bowl' beer commercials. LOL Glad you guys had a good time. What wouldn't I have given to be there. Thanks for the pics and congratulations on another successful RI CAST event!! Keep on keepin on! Ronnie

Congratulations Mike! Way to get it done on a rough water day! You can be proud. Ronnie

MS Streets & Trips calculates the distance from Providence RI to Aurora, KY to be 1,165 road miles. So you are pretty close. Ronnie

Road Trip Up-Date. I will be traveling to Kentucky Lake this coming week to meet a few members and some BR staff on a "Road Trip" reconnaissance mission. As we are able to gather and put together details of the who, what, where & how of this year's road trip, the information will be posted on a dedicated BassResource.com web page as we did last year. You will be able go there to see all the details and have clear instructions on how to sign up for the trip and participate in all of the fishing and festivities. Like last year, I will be coordinating boaters with non- boaters along with those who need rides and roommates as best I can. Details about the road trip will be posted soon. The BR staff and I are purposely waiting until we have some more details nailed down before we share a lot of information to avoid confusion. Be patient for little while longer and I am confident that all your questions will be answered. It's going to be an awesome trip. BE THERE! Ronnie

Only 15? I go through hats like plastic worms. When they opened the new Wally world and closed the old one, I found a rack full of real nice "Ranger Boats", "Champion" and "Gamakatsu" caps. They were regularly $10 a piece. Marked down to 2 for a buck. I bought the whole rack. More than 30 caps. 18 months later, I am re-washing the last 1/2 dozen or so. They will be gone soon. I had a couple of pre-cancer spots removed from my bald scalp, so I never go outside with out a bean cover. Ronnie

Dominick, It's not looking good. The bassbus is for sale. Work has picked up a little in the past month, but it's been pretty lean for me with the housing market being what it is. The cost of fuel and the insurance is making it hard for me to keep it. I am finding it hard to get a buyer due to the cost of fuel. The buss only gets about 10 MPG. As you know, it's a great RV and I will miss it, but it's beginning to eat more than I can afford to feed it. SORRY! Ronnie

Here's my story...... I spotted a beautiful 6 acre pond in Amite, LA when I was surveying the right of way for a 500 KV power transmission line from the Pearl river in MS to Baton Rouge. I stopped to ask the owner (turned out to be the care taker the owner lived in NY) if I could fish the pond. His answer was an emphatic NNNOOO!! So I changed the subject and asked what he knew about the big power line that was comming through. He was very interested (as was everyone as this was a very controversial project) so I gave him a few juicy pieces of information and promised I would stop by from time to time and keep him up to date on the power line. Anyway, I stopped by once a week or so and chewed the fat with the old guy and told him what I knew about the power line, which wasn't much, but he enjoyed the conversation. One day I learned he was partial to Mountain Dew soft drinks and salty peanuts, so I began bringing some along on my visits. After almost a year went by, during one of these visits I asked, "so when are you gonna let me fish that pond?" He laughed out loud and said "you can fish it anytime, just don't leave a mess and let me know you are here". After work on May 18, 1982 I stopped to fish with a guy from work. After checking in with the care taker we started casting the banks. My friend hooked up right away with a nice big fish and I watched from across the pond as she jumped and spit the lure. I remember thinking that fish had to be 5lbs. My adrenalin was pumping big time. He landed a couple more about 3 lbs and I'm working hard without a bite. I had a brand new ABU 5600 (I think this was the first ABU reel with a thumb bar spool release) and a "Worm" brand rod. I had over a hundred $ in that setup and that was lot of money 25 years ago. I tied on a 1/2 oz Arkie jig with an "Uncle Josh" black widow eel and made a perfect cast into a pile of myrtle bushes along the bank and #@%*! the freakin reel wouldn't retrieve. I fooled with it for a while and couldn't get it to engage the spool and finally gave up. That was the last time I didn't have back up rig since then. I yelled for my buddy to ask if he had an extra rod. He sent me to his pickup to see. I found a combo, LOL a "Zebco" 202 with a 5 1/2' rod with one of the guides busted off. Undeterred, I tied the jig and eel on the twisted up line and made 6 or 8 casts against the only bluff bank on the pond and finally the jig & eel bounced off the bank and as soon as it hit the water the line took off like a rocket towards the middle of the pond. I reeled down and set the hook hard. Only then did I learn that the drag on the little zebco just didn't work. It was miracle that the hook snagged the tounge of this bass. So now I am hooked up with a 6 1/2 pound bass and can't reel him in. This I can't retrieve line thing is getting to be a big problem. I am screaming at my buddy to get his butt over to help me. I finally wrap the line around my hand and walk backwards up the bank and just as I get her to the edge of the pond she makes one last bolt into a myrtle bush and gets tangled up. I am screaming like an idiot for my bud to get in there and get that fish or come hold the line so I can. This whole thing looked like Abbot and Costello meets the Little Rascals. My man jumped in the pond waist deep and gently untangled my prize from the herbs. My heart was beating the buttons off my shirt. I remember carrying that bass back to the truck and looking at her mouth and thinking "this is why they call them Large Mouth bass". The taxidermist said she weighed about 6 1/2 lbs. I have caught a few that have come close, but she is still # 1. After 25 more years of fishing she was certainly worth the time & Mountain Dews. Thats my crazy story. Oh Yea! THE FISH................ Ronnie

I have you on my list Mike. Thanks for being available! Ronnie

That's all that needs to be said. Get his specs., build him a rod and he will love you forever. JMHO Ronnie

Supervised or unsupervised is the key here. Would it be illegal to take a nine year old hunting with you if he had not taken the course? In that case, it would make much more sense. JMHO Ronnie

There's along story that goes with this one, but my PB was caught on a Zebco 202 with a $3 rod with one guide broken off. Here's the story.... http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1154984854/13#13 Ronnie

Great looking rod Eddie! Nice work! I bet your dad will be proud! Keep on keeping on! Ronnie

Way Excellent!! Thanks!! Ronnie

Under!!! Anything else is just WRONG!! Don't people get any training anymore?? Parenting has really gone downhill in the new millennium. Ronnie

A couple of weeks ago, I did one of my famous two handed, side arm power casts into a tree about 10 feet from the boat. Power Pro is hard to cut off of the spool. LOL Ronnie

Blaine, Don't worry there pal, you will also be pressed into service when the time is right. It's a pleasure to work on the trip when you guys are so willing to get on board and roll up your sleeves. " I am prouder than a 'game rooster' to ride with ya." ("Outlaw Josey Wales" circa 1976). Thanks! Ronnie