nboucher

Good luck with that. Having a child in the hospital is incredibly stressful. I hope she pulls out okay. Muddy, I may be in the minority on this one, but since a two-piece rod is likely to be used only occasionally, and since it's by nature going to be inferior to a one-piece rod (imho), I wouldn't spend much on one. My two-piece spinning rod is a cheap Shakespeare model I bought at Wally world and I've caught a lot of nice fish on it. I still occasionally use it camping if space is tight. I do have to twist it from time to time while using it to keep the guides aligned, though.

Before you do anything with this rod, check the rodmaker's warranty. I broke the tip on a Bass Pro Shops Extreme casting rod while fishing at Lake Fork during the recent BR trip, and when I called BPS customer service, the woman who spoke to me said if the rod was less than a year old (it was about 10.5 months old) they would replace it under their no-hassle warranty. I explained it broke when I hooked a lunker that made a powerful lunge just as I was kneeling to boat it, and she said I didn't even have to explain how it broke.

Well done! Sorry I couldn't make the event. How does Ronnie get into so many pictures?? ;D

Good tale, Ronnie. You're a class act. For those of you who've never met him, Ronnie's about as big-hearted and honorable a man as you'll ever meet. By the way, Ronnie, BPS is replacing that rod I broke. It's less than a year old and they have a one-year no hassle warranty on their rods. Best, --N

Went out to my local pond for a couple of hours this afternoon for the first time since ice out. I didn't expect much action this early in the year and I only had two hours. After a week of mid-70s air temperatures and fish moving onto their beds at Lake Fork, I expected this would be rough fishing by comparison. I tied on a 3/8 oz. black/blue Mann's Stone Jig and Zoom Super Chunk trailer in the same color and started working it slow. I soon got a solid bite, caught a one-pound class bass, then hooked the big one: 6 lb, 11 oz., a few ounces better than my previous best, caught last July in this same pond. In fact, I wondered whether it might have been the same fish, fattened up a bit with eggs. . . I found it ironic that my biggest at Fork was 5 lb, 13 oz., and that my personal best would come the next weekend during my first outing in the cold northsurface water temps today were just past 50. Fishing just keeps on surprising us, doesn't it? Unfortunately, my expectations were so low that I didn't have a camera, though I did, fortunately, remember to bring the scale. Man, I love those jigs.

Just want to add my thanks and add a couple of other details to the chorus. It's a little disconcerting to know people primarily by screen names. As others have said, it's just SO much better getting to know faces and real names. In each and every case, the real life person was funnier, friendlier, more gracious, more open, more helpful, and more generous than I could have possibly imagined. We are allall of us bassresourcersvery very lucky. Glenn has somehow attracted a group of individualsmany of whom are superficially very different from one another in beliefs, geography, language, income, education, social habits, etc.who are all fantastic real human beings. During no other generation has there ever been a way to develop so quickly such a caring and trusting community of people who live sometimes thousands of miles apart. When I would tell people about the upcoming Fork trip, I'd say, "I'm going on a fishing trip with a bunch of people I met on the Internet," and they'd say, "Are you crazy? You're going into backwoods Texas with people you met online? For a week? Are you nuts? The Internet is full of chat-room sickos!" And I'd just smile. It turns out the Internet is an amazing thing, and Glenn is both an amazing visionary and an able manager to have not only thought of this site, but more importantly, to have made it a reality that functions so well day after day. I asked him a million questions about it at dinner one night, and I still don't know how he finds the time to do it all. Thanks, too, to LBH and cigarlover for being such good traveling companions during such long stretches of frustration and boredom. My hot-rodding wife, Kathryn, was happy to speed us all over southern New England as we tried to find a plane that would take us away. With her typical deadpan humor, when I called her from Charlotte on our way back to tell her yet another of our flights had been cancelled, her first words were, "I'm not driving to Charlotte." Thanks to riskkid for being such a good fishing partner and for letting me hog the trolling motor. Ands thanks to RW for taking the fall when I just couldn't hop off of the boat fast enough to slow it down as take-no-prisoners riskkid thundered into the boat slip. (Actually, I think that was the fastest we'd gone in that boat all week!) Those of us who were at Fork really owe a lot of gratitude to LBH. Russ is an amazing bundle of energy and a really funny guy. (Brent'sAlluringBaitsimitation of his thick Rhode Island accent had me cracking up the moment we arrived at Fork.) The Fork tradition was really born in LBH's crazed and fertile mind. His commitment to it, and to this site, is total, and cigarlover and I could see how much being stuck in New England that first day really hurt. It really wasn't fair. Even so far away, though, Russ stayed involved, talking to everybody he could down there. In fact, the best part of getting home was being free of that darn cell phone of his. I'm also grateful to Art Pasley, who unfortunately doesn't have a screen name here yet. Art, a third-generation native of Dallas, is a member of the Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fametechnically a "legend," as Russ likes to tease himand a director of CAST, and from him I learned what southern hospitality really means. Tired and frustrated during my first day at Fork, I asked him for some advice, and he gave me not only the advice, he handed me a couple of packages of the soft plastics that had been working for him there lately, as well a few rattles with which to sweeten them up. Then, when he was heading down one arm of the lake one morning to a creek he thought would be productive, he invited riskkid and I to follow. He did okay there, but my first fish that day was 5lb, 13oz, and he was as happy about it as I was, even though I was fishing in his spot with his baits! NO EXCUSES!

Sweet fish, Dan. Riskkid was also getting some good hits on them at Lake Fork last week.

I agree with Zel. I usually have my best success in really cold spring water with jerkbaits like the Rapala Husky Jerk. Sometimes I'll use them as a search bait, then when I've found a fish, I'll switch to a jig (or a jighead & worm) and work an area thoroughly and slowly. Then it's back to searching with the HJ.

Small ponds are great because, not only are they pleasant places to be, they can function like fishing laboratories. I learn more by fishing on a small pond for one day than I would learn fishing a lake for a week. Because you can cover an entire small pond in an hour or two, if you fish it often and get to know it well, you can try all kinds of lures and techniques that are unfamiliar to you. Jig not a confidence bait for you? Go to a small pond you know well and practice with it there. You don't have to worry too much about looking for fish, because you can cover the entire pond with it over a relatively short timespan. Then, when you do catch a fish on a jig, you know the habitat well enough to try to figure out why it worked in that spot. Sure there are days when you want to just go out and use your confidence baits and catch fish, but I think anybody who regularly fishes a small pond should spend at least some time using exactly those lures and techniques are most unfamiliar and most uncomfortable.

Welcome to the forum. There are lots of small pond anglers who are active members here. Try these threads for a sampling of the info that's been offered recently: http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1172842226/0 http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1162396013/0

In other words, lose the bad habit! Or at least be very very careful when bending rod guides. . . Actually, ReelMech, I've not heard of recoil guides. What rodmakers use them?

Occasionally when I'm pulling rods out from the back of my Subaru wagon, I get lazy and drag them briefly along the back seat until I can grab them closer to the reel. (It's a bad habit, I know.) Once in a great while, one of the guides catches against the back seatback and gets slightly bent (especially with spinning gear). I usually just bend it back to line up with the rest of the guides, but I've always wondered: is there a set angle at which guides should be bent, or does it vary? What determines the angle?

GBF--I mostly fish out of the kayak whose nose you see between the two canoes. You can't see it in that photo, but it's got a depth finder mounted on it as well as a rod holder and a rig for keeping my paddle out of the way when I'm fishing. The dog's name is Molly. --N

Hope you sent it UPS, Ronnie.

Zel, it's hard to tell just what the problem was, but it almost certainly wasn't deicing. The storm here was on Friday, and today, two days later, the weather was sunny with bluebird skies and temps in the thirties. There was really no reason to deice, as far as I could see. I couldn't get any straight answers from anyone at the airport, but my best guess is that the airlines had a lot of people from Friday's and Saturday's cancelled flights on their hands and they were getting these people to their destinations first. No doubt this was affecting all airlines, and my impression early this morning was that all the airlines were scrambling to get caught up. Having said that, I do think all the other airlines handled the situation better than U.S Air. I say that because when we returned to the airport in the early afternoon, there were no lines at any of the other carriers, but U.S. Air's line was again almost to the terminal door. In fact, one reason we knew there were seats available before 6 pm on Tuesday was because cigarlover was able to walk right up to another carrier's ticket counterit was either American or Northwestand ask. That ticket agent gave him a printout of flights with open seats, which we were able to then take to the U.S Air counter. When we did this, I struck up a conversation with the U.S Air ticket agent, who said that U.S. Air was having a lot of problems with its computer system, which it had gotten from America West, a system that just could not handle the volume of U.S. Air traffic. As a result, it didn't take much for the system to get overwhelmed, which was happening. She said they had a new system but a lot of the agents didn't really know how to use it yet. This, she said, meant that it often took far too long to deal with a customer, which in turn was causing the long lines we were seeing only at U.S. Air.

Okay, LBH, cigarlover, and I just returned from the airport, and I'm back home. As some of you have heard, our 6 a.m. flight this morning was cancelled as a result of the recent snowstorm that hit the Northeast, and the best they could do for us was a 6 pm. flight on Tuesday!! We regrouped, and after some research, we waited in an impossibly long line for the second time this morning, and after considerable indignation and cajoling at the ticket counter, we were able to get a flight tomorrow at about 3:30 PM, which should get us into Dallas at about 8 or so. Needless to say, we were contemplating some pretty grim scenarios, including not making it down to Fork at all. We highly recommend that none of you ever flies U.S. Airways. Their incompetence this morning (they seemed entirely unprepared for that rare event, snow in New England) was surpassed only by their rudeness and complete lack of customer service or spirit of reasonable accomodation. At 4:30 a.m. today, the line at their ticket counter literally stretched out the door of the terminal, and they had onecount 'emone person at a terminal. They shouldn't be in business. Thank God we finally found a sympathetic ticket agent. Anyway, LBH's computer is being upgraded, so he probably won't be able to post until we get to Fork.

Okay, LBH, cigarlover, and I just returned from the airport, and I'm back home. After considerable research, indignation, and cajoling at the ticket counter, we were able to get a flight tomorrow at about 3:30 PM, which should get us into Dallas at about 8 or so. Needless to say, we were contemplating some pretty grim scenarios, including not making it down to Fork at all. We highly recommend that none of you ever flies U.S. Airways. Their incompetence this morning was surpassed only by their rudeness and lack of customer service! We finally found a sympathetic ticket agent after our second time waiting in lines you wouldn't believe. At 4:40 a.m. this morning, the line at their ticket counter literally ran out the door of the terminal, and they had onecount 'emone person at a terminal. They shouldn't be in business. Anyway, LBH's computer is being upgraded, so he probably won't be able to post until we get to Fork.

After a grueling spell with long, long days at work and then a race home to finish some painting inside my house so the family doesn't have to deal with furniture all over the place, I was finally ready to pack tonight after work. Only problem is, after a hairy ride through snow and ice, I got home and saw the snowplow had barricaded my driveway. Threw my stuff in the house, fired up the snowblower and started moving the concrete disguised as snow and ice. Then I moved furniture back into the room I finished painting at midnight last night. At least I made a packing list at the doctor's office a couple of days ago while waiting for him to lance an infected finger that ballooned up and wouldn't quit. I'm telling you, am I ready for Fork or what??? Accuweather is calling for temps in the low 70s and mostly sunny at Fork for the next few days. One last hurdle: I have be on the road to LBH's house by 3:15 Sunday morning. See you all down there. And GMAN, thanks for the good wishes.

Glenn's better half.

Avid, my heart goes out to you. Please don't worry about inconveniencing me or anyone. Do what you must. Good times are coming, they've just been delayed a bit. To everyone else, PM me if you need a bed. Avid was to room with me. Norman

Somebody's got to save you from the Mooks Cult. I'll have The Mamas and the Papas all queued up and ready to go (on vinyl, naturally). ;D

Thanks, Roger, for pointing that out. Get me away from the eastern flyway, and I don't know squat. :-/

Roger, I doubt tree sparrows make it down to Texas. They don't like it that warm. Here in Mass. I've had one at my bird feeders on and off this winter, usually hanging with juncos. They are handsome birds, aren't they? RW, your report is the best news I've had all day!

Whats up man? I havent seen you on here in a while. Great to have ya back in the saddle! I had the exact same thought. Good to hear from you, FatBoy. As for jigging shallow. One day last season, I had 3/8 oz. jig tied on while I was floating in about two feet of water in some pads in my kayak and I was doing something so just let my line dangle down in the water for a second. Bang! A nice three pounder grabbed it. I don't know too many other baits that can do that.

You guys are funny. Muddy, I'll eat meatballs that made out of Saltines. Just having someone cook for me after a day of fishing is heaven. Put a little ketchup on shoe leather and I'm happy. As for goals, I really don't care what I catch. Work has been stressful lately, so just getting a break and being outdoors with good company will be heaven enough for me. The last thing I want to do is compete with any of youthat's too much like work. If the fish come, it'll be a great bonus. If they don't, hats off to the guys who catch 'em. I'm going off the clock and doing the Jimmy Buffett thing, man. 8-)