nboucher

And they wonder why kids aren't as drawn to baseball as they used to be. What kid, in the eastern half of the country anyway, can stay up to watch the playoffs and WS on school nights anymore? I'm old enough to remember when the WS was played during the day and we had TVs in study hall. Game seven of the WS is now scheduled for Nov 1. I think the networks are now hurting themselves. Aside from the fans in the two cities who will play in the WS, who's going to care at that point? It wouldn't surprise me if the numbers are down for the WS this year.

I hope this doesn't turn into one of those either/or choices: either it's the internet and everyone can say what they want or everyone has to love one another. My feelings aren't easily hurt (I've been married too longtwice), so my tolerance for heated debate is probably higher than many here. Still, it's really up to Glenn and the mods to control the tone however they see fit. The internet, after all, allows anyone to set up any kind of forum but once it's set up it belongs to whoever runs it. The internet may be a democracy, but individual sites are not. In my view, too many people post too often. So here's a radical suggestion to the mods. Get rid of that star system above people's avatars and do not list their number of posts. I suspect that encourages people to post too readily in order make it up the hierarchy and become a four-star general like the big boys. I think a "classless" system like this, where there are just members, period, is more consistent with internet culture and would help create the feeling that we are all equal here. Mods and advertisers could still be noted somehow, but the rest of us would simply be the rank-and-file.

Like many, I've been following this thread with interest. As a matter of principle, I'm all for unrestricted discussion about everything, especially on the web. But as a practical matter, that's unrealistic. I think GMAN hit it best: it's fishing, people. For most of us, it's recreation, and that's supposed to be fun. I imagine that Glenn's just trying to keep it that way. By contrast, I'm also a regular at a woodworking forum where certain subjects can predictably lead to literally 100 or more posts, many of which consist of pretty vicious personal attacks. I read some of these, hoping to learn something, and sometimes I do, but never from the personal-attack posts. The difference, though, is that a lot, if not most, of the people on that forum are professional woodworkers. They are trying to make a living at it, and so they have a lot of their personal egos invested in what is often a marginal living. That seems to me on a whole different plane from a bunch of men (mostly) getting all lathered about a the superiority of a particular kind of plastic worm. If it means that much, it's time to get a life, man.

Who were they? I missed that.

Nov. 4. NE at Indy. I think one of the reasons the Pats are getting so much publicity is how they are winning. They have beat each of their opponents by more than 20 points. They're not just winning, they're dominating, and the two players who are arguably their best defensive players haven't played a game yet (Seymour and Harrison). And, yes, the way the team reacted to the taping business also got reporters' attention. Besides, Peyton Manning is in 3 out of 4 commercials I see on game days, or so it seems. He's certainly not lacking for attention.

That would be sweet.

AL: Red Sox in 4 Yankees in 4 NL: Phillies in 5 Cubs in 5

I think the second TBS station is HD. They added HD just in time for the playoffs. I'm guessing the other channel is still there, but isn't HD. Last season (2006), my family bought me HD for father's day, solely so I could watch baseball that way. What a difference! The problem is that it's now hard to watch it on regular television. :

Phenomenal, Chris. Yes, you are indeed an inspiration to all of us, and a darn good storyteller. Your posts are always a must-read. Fishing with microlight tackle intrigues me. Could you please say a bit more about your technique for landing such a behemoth with such light line? Thanks again for taking the time to write up your adventure.

Matt, that Texas franchise is a real mystery. It's not like they never have talent (even ARod used to play there), but they just never seem to be there at the end of the season. This has been true through a number of managers, so that can't be it. It's got to be an ownership thing. And RW, given the success of wild-card teams over the past few years, rooting for the Rockies is not a bad way to go!

You don't get TBS?

I, too, question the premise of this question. Although the t-rig may be the most versatile of the choices, my favorite is the one best suited to the water I'm fishing. Any one of these could be my favorite on a particular day.

Only memories. There were no souvenirs to be had. Old Fenway is new Fenway. They've just been adding seats in interesting locations. I hope Fenway outlives me. I'd hate to see it ever torn down.

Working with wood, as in building furnituremostly, but not entirely, with hand tools. Sitting on a summer night at Fenway Park, Section 24, Row 2, Seats 1 & 2 (my season tickets for the past 21 years, and my summer home away from home).

LBH, for teaching me about Lake Fork and for introducing me to Art Pasley, who taught me to keep it simple, and who introduced me to southern hospitality. (I think Art is a BR member.) To all the guys (and gals) on the BR Lake Fork trip, who taught me that, even though I usually fish alone, I am also in great company.

Muddy, it's great to see you persist as a Mets Mook, no matter what. As for Glavine v. Pedro, the issue is really old pitchers and how suddenly unreliable they can be. The Red Sox have one in Curt Schilling (who I keep referring to as Chuck Schilling, dating myself). I worry about his starts in the postseason, if he isn't precisely locating that slow fastball he now has. Either way, I'll be at Fenway on Wednesday.

It often seems to me that the more I'm sweating, the more fish I'm catching.

Tritz, where in Mass. are you? I'm in Sharon, and fish a nearby 20-25 acre pond frequently, often with great success. Given the temps predicted for Friday in our area, I would definitely start with a horny toad over those pads. But if they're not in a topwater mood, I'd switch fairly quickly to Senkos or any other soft plastics you like, and then to jigs at the edge of or just out from the lily pads. If the bottom is indeed grassy, the big ones could be deeper in that grass. You might try a wacky-rigged Senko in the deeper grass, or, one of my favorites this year, a lizard t-rigged below a 3/16-oz weight. If the pond is small, I would try working all of it and not restricting myself to the edges. With the water cooling down, the bass may not be as tight to those pads as they might have been in July, when the water there might have been more inviting. If you're not having any luck at all, consider switching to a c-rig with something like a baby brush hog. This will allow you to feel any contour changes along the bottom, which is where some of the big ones might be hanging out. (I'm assuming you don't have a depthfinder.) Good luck, and let us know how you do. Norman

It happens, unfortunately. Here's the In-Fisherman link. Learn this technique and it should reduce your gut-hooked mortality. http://www.in-fisherman.com/magazine/articles/if2806_HookRemoval/index.html

Ernie, welcome! As you see, you'll get plenty of opinions here, which is a good thing. A word of caution, though: the advice usually comes from everyone's individual experiences, and the water they fish most often may be very different from yours. You asked what the secret is. It's simple: know your water. The pond where I usually fish doesn't really shut down during the hot weather, but the bass move away from where they are other times of year, and if I can't figure out where they went it will appear to "shut down." The real question facing you is not whether heat kills fishing, but where did the bass go? The bass in your lake are either someplace other than where you've been fishing for them, or they're not interested in what you're putting in front of them. In my own case, I love to fish deep for bass, but there is no cover deep in my own home pond, so I've never caught any fish deep there. There is, however, lots and lots of shallow cover there, so in hot weather they move tightly into the shade of that cover, which in this case is mostly lily pads. Last July I caught my biggest LMB of the year (just under 7 lbs) at 12:30 in the afternoon with a topwater frog on a scorching summer day. I violated three supposed bass-fishing rules: (1) I used a topwater bait in the middle of the day (conventional wisdom is that they are low-light bait), (2) I fished shallower-than-usual (about 2 feet) at a time of year when I should be fishing deep, and (3) I caught a big fish where many anglers will tell you they shouldn't be at that time of day and that time of year. Now, I did these things because I knew enough about that pond to know where the fish would likely NOT be. To me, it seems as if you've got that part figured out. Now get thinking about cover and water depth and baitfish and see if you can guess where they might be. Tell us more about your lakecover, depth, baitfish, where you've caught fish there in the pastand maybe some of us can suggest what areas to try. As someone said in this thread, keep casting and spending time out there. On days when I'm stumped and the fish are smarter than I amhardly a rare occurrenceI just start casting all over the place until I get a response. Then when I catch a fish, I try to figure out a pattern: why I caught it in that spot. Works for me.

30 games left.

Avid, you should be writing for Letterman!

Hey Risky do not overlook the AL Central , some good squads goin neck and neck and no one has really pulled away! I do not watch AL ball til this time of the year, to see who is coming at the NL team in the WS. I lke to watch the NL, you know no DH, the major leagues where managers have to actually manange THE DOUBLE SWITCH! Muddy, you should watch more AL ballsee quality baseball as it can be played. The BoSox have the pitching to go all the way, though I'm less sure about the hitting. And remember that Francona has managed in the NL. Still, being good on paper doesn't mean you end up being the best, just ask the White Sox. Just got my season ticket bill for the postseason tixthis year I'm happy to pay up . . . And, Risk, thanks for your public concession of the division. I just hope the Yankees don't print your e-mail and put it up on the clubhouse bulletin board to use as motivation tonight! ;D

Where I work, the cafeteria carries an Equal Access coffee called Love Buzz. It's fantastic stuff (black, of course), and best of all is walking up the counter and telling the waitress to give me a love buzz. What's with flavored coffee?? Makes my skin creep just thinking about it.

Although not the same as hooksetting, someone also mentioned keeping your line tight after the hookset. That point shouldn't be lost, because once the hook is set you've still got to get that baby into the boat. I was recently smallie fishing and lost two nice ones when they went airborne and shook off the hook. Not sure there was anything I could have done differently, but I still have nightmares about it. :-/