BassKing813

"The Spirit of Radio" Rush Did you think that I would cry, on the phone? Do you know what it feels like, being alone?

This has really been annoying me lately. I keep seeing people abbreviate christmas with "xmas." How did this abbreviation come to be and when did it start? To me, it doesn't make any sense. The "X" basically replaces "Christ," but what in God's name does an X have to do with Christ?

And the years rolled slowly past, and I found myself alone, surrounded by strangers I thought were my friends, I found myself further and further from my home.

"Blue Sky" Allman Brothers Band Now it seems to me some fine things, have been laid upon your table, but you only want the ones that you can't get.

Or you could go this route^ P.S. just curious...what does he drive? I don't remember exactly. Some kind of a Hyundai, 2005 or 2006.

One of the first books I got that is very helpful is a B.A.S.S book called Advanced Bass Fishing Skills. You can get it new from http://www.amazon.com/ for under $5. It offers lots of info on techniques such as flipping/pitching and carolina rigging, as well more specific techniques for plastics, hard baits, topwater lures, and underwater plugs. I still refer to it occasionally even though I've read the whole thing about six times. It's a great book to get you started and I doubt you will find another one that beats the price.

Anybody ever use one of these? It's shaped like an ultra-wide golf tee and is made of plastic. What you do is slide it on your line with the cupped part facing up and then tie your softplastic on. It makes the softplastic wiggle from side to side as if it's alive. Here is the link: http://www.wigglefin.com/ If you've used it, did it improve catch rates? Do you think it's worth buying?

I need some more advice. Normally I ride home from school with two girls, but on the days they go to the gym I can't get a ride. I used to have to ride the bus, but lately I have been getting a ride with one of my other friends. The only problem is he speeds like crazy and it freaks me out. The speed limit on all the roads we go down is 45, and my friend goes 70 (even in my neighborhood of 25mph speed limit he goes 40mph)! I'm really afraid he's gonna wreck, and at that speed it could be very serious and probably life threatening. What should I do? I hate riding the bus and I don't feel comfortable asking him to do the speed limit (or at least keep the speeding down to 10 over) because he is doing me a favor by taking me home. I really feel I should find someone else to take me home or ride the bus, but the bus ride is really bad. On the one hand, the chances of wrecking aren't too high because it doesn't happen too often, but on the other hand it could get me paralyzed for life or dead if we do crash. I think it's rude to comment on his driving, but do you think I should consider talking to my friend?

Most likely he just moved behind the point of land sticking out, or motored away while I had my outboard running. At the time it was really weird, like he was a ghost or something, but thoughts such as this are always heightened when you are scared about something.

Thanks for the advice guys. For now, I will continue to try and resist the urge. Besides, if I came home from a party and had been drinking, my parents would definitely know, even if I wasn't drunk. I'd be grounded for a very long time.

What else do people do at these parties besides drink? I'd probably end up sitting by myself having a bad time.

STAY STRONG, continue to resist the pressure. This reminder and advice is coming to you from a Police Officer and D.A.R.E. instructor for the last 12 years. Your first drinking night could be your last, keep that in mind. Many teens don't make it home due to accidents etc.. from a night of illegal drinking. If your "friends" don't understand that you have choosen to stay sober than it may be time to start hanging out with different people. What would your parents think or do if they caught you drinking or the police brought you home at 2:00 AM drunk? All the trust you have built between you and your parents would be gone, plus you'll feel alot worse, alot longer, than a hangover would last. I wish I could say more. I could go on for hours with stories of what alcohol has done to many young lives that I've had contact with while on the job. It's hard being your age. Maybe find a friend who has the same beliefs about alcohol use as you and talk to them, a school counselor could also help you. Good luck and STAY STRONG. My friends have been respectful of my decision for the past three years, but they keep saying it's my senior year and if I don't learn how to party and drink, when I go to college and drink for the first time everyone will laugh. Basically, my friends tell me that drinking a little bit but not enough to get drunk would be fine and I would "loosen up." I don't know what to do. I'm kind of nervous about trying it anyway, but I don't know. Even a member of my family asked me if I wanted to try a beer.

Only problem is I have always been kind of reserved and self-conscious. If I go and don't drink I will be nervous and not know what to do with myself, but if I were to have just one drink it might lighten me up just enough so I can be relaxed and not think so much about what others think of me.

Ok guys, I need some advice. I'm 17yrs old and a senior in high school, and for the past three years I have managed to resist pressure from my friends to go to parties and drink. But I'm finding that it's even tougher this year. Everyone keeps telling me I should go drink with them. I don't know why, but I just don't think it's a good idea, and sitting around getting drunk only to puke my guts out and wake up with a severe headache the next day just doesn't seem that appealing. I'd like to think of myself as being able to resist such pressure but I don't know if I can hold out any longer. Parties are a big deal at my school and drinking is just "the cool thing to do" if you want to become more popular and have more friends. I'm afraid if I go to one of these parties and get drunk I will do something really embarassing, because who knows what I might do if I get drunk, I've only had two drops of beer in my whole life (which by the way tasted gross). What do you think I should do? Should I live it up a little and start drinking (I'm practically an adult), or should I continue to make people think I'm not as social as everyone else by not partying and drinking?

Just to clear this up, I was not under the influence of narcotics or any other types of drugs, and yes, I am certain I was on Orange Lake and not Lochloosa. I also know that the two connect but I wasn't near the creek that connects the two lakes. I think the guy I asked for help didn't know where he was because he didn't seem to be familiar with the lake. My guess is that he put in at another ramp and motored over to the side I was on, so he wouldn't know there was a ramp over there, which is why he said no ramp existed on that side of the lake. And the reason why he told me this wasn't Orange Lake? Either he was messing with me or he thought he was on Lochloosa. At any rate, I found the ramp again but it was still kinda scary, especially since I've fished this lake many times before and never gotten lost.

BASS fisherman, the guy's boat was some kind of a center console saltwater boat, possibly a bay one, around 18-20ft long. I don't remember what kind of clothes the guy had one, just that it was shorts and a t-shirt. I don't know how I lost track of the ramp. I guess I had trolled with the wind a lot further than I thought so when I turned around to head back to the ramp I didn't go far enough. It was where I looked for it the second time, and yes, I was on Orange Lake. Why do you ask?

Definitely Zoom. I don't like Berkley at all and never use any products by this company (except for the power worm occasionally).

I went fishing today with my dad and the creepiest thing happened. We were trolling for crappie and had just hit a huge school, so the action was incredibly fast and exciting. We were trolling with the wind and I don't know how much time passed by but the action started to slow, so we decided to do a 180 and head past the area so we could troll back through it with the wind again. When we first started the troll earlier, we went past the boat ramp and started. This time however, after we did the 180, the boat ramp was nowhere to be found. It was really weird. Both of us suddenly lost all sense of direction and we had no conception of time at all. We were essentially lost and I got kind of scared because it was starting to get dark. We found another fisherman and motored over to him to ask where the ramp was. Here is the really weird part. When I asked him where the main Orange Lake boat ramp was, he said no boat ramp existed on this side of the lake, in fact, he said this wasn't even Orange Lake :-/. After hearing him say that while I was already disoriented and had no sense of direction or concept of time, I got kind of freaked out. We turned around again and started heading back to where we thought the ramp was and this time found it. When I turned around to see where that guy was, I no longer could see his boat and never heard him motor somewhere else . The whole thing was very eerie and it felt like some strange Twilight Zone episode. Imagine how scary it would be to be fishing somewhere and then find you are on a completely different body of water than you thought. Just thought I'd share this story with you all.

Every time I cast my 1 oz Mattlures Baby Bass swimbait it makes a huge splash when it hits the water. Do you think the splash will spook trophy bass and cause them to swim away? If so, what can I do to prevent this problem?

I have just hit the motherload of all online tackle stores. I just found Ichiban Tackle and they have the COOLEST lures. The Bait Monkey wins. By the way, has anyone had any experience with Ichiban Tackle? Is it a good place to shop?

I hope your WV team is ready for my USF Bulls in two weeks.

You guys are just jealous because the Bait Monkey has you good. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go buy a swimbait. ;D Wait! Must. Fight. Urge. :-/ I give up! :'( BPS and Tackle Warehouse, here I come! Just so you know, SFC_AL, Paparock, Raul, and Avid, this is your doing. I had a good thing going and you jinxed it. ;D Oh well. I had a good run.

Lipped Crankbait: Bomber 6A, black pearl, 3/8 oz. Lipless Crankbait: I've never caught anything on one, but I like the 1/2 oz Rat-L-Trap in chrome black back.

Yeah, if I save a few hundred dollars I most likely will buy a new rod, but making a purchase every couple of months or so isn't nearly as bad as making a purchase every two weeks like I have done in the past.

Well, I have finally managed to loosen the bait monkey's evil grasp on me. I haven't purchased any fishing gear for TWO MONTHS! I think I am learning to save my money and manage it a lot better. Since I always buy new lures but only catch fish on the old ones, I have decided to focus on saving money to buy clothes and such for college. Even though I would like to buy more stuff, the reality is that my catch rates don't increase simply by spending $100 on new gear. I am doing quite well with what I already have. Just thought I'd let you all know. Once you get out of the habit, you will have a lot more money to spend on things you really need, and it will force you to learn how to use the lures you already have.