Banor

Amen. B

Put a tip on it and ice fish with it. ;D : B

I use Maxima mono for cranking. B

Still hold this opinion? B

F You know it's bad when the wife (who fishes with me and travels with me alot) looks over and says: "You stayed up for this?". Then rolls over and goes to sleep. B

Some of these arguements are based on the assumption that Swindle is being truthful about Howell waving him on. I've watched the footage over and over again and see nowhere that Howell waved him on. In fact if you listen to the audio you can clearly hear Howell say about 20 seconds after Swindle blew by... "He shouldnt have done that". That doesnt sound to me like Howell waved him on. I go back to what Swindle said Trip said, "If somebody on the street waved you through a red light, would you go through it?" DQ isnt hardly appropriate. He needs fined or more. That was just plain dangerous, you cant candy coat it anymore. It looks to me that we arent even talking yards or 10 feet. From what I see he came within a couple feet of the camera boat and maybe 10 feet from another boat on the other side. That's horrible and uncalled for. B

They have a web site? B

.04¢ B

In my humble opinion you have this in reverse. You are cranking faster with less torque and will not reach max depth(not to mention you'll wear yourself out fast). Slower IPT with higher torque will get you deeper with less effort expended. I also see as an added benefit that you keep the crank in the strike zone longer. As mentioned before this is one man's opinion not a personal attack, results may vary. B

There wasnt much live, organic material left in her was there? B

RW, You and I would have an interesting and enjoyable day on the water. ;D I could enjoy 8 hours of smallie fishing amidst calls for pre-emptive strikes! B

Well said, Senko. JT, For me, when/if I ever begin actively seeking sponsorships I would hope that I wont need a blanket resume or have to introduce myself to a complete stranger and hope that he might be looking for an extra staffer. When I do approach a prospective sponsor I want them to already know that I use their product and recognize me (even if only faintly) from some venue where I was already associated with their product. I would hope that I had crossed a stage somewhere with a limit of fish and the MC asked me how I caught the limit and this prospective sponsor had seen it. I also dont believe in free advertising. You wont see me with a logo plastered all over me hoping that company will pick me up. If I wear a logo or actively talk about a product it will be because I have used it and am confident in it to the point that it has won me some money or given me a good measure of success. This is why you have not seen me post a resume on this board or any other board for that matter. When I write a resume I will know my target audience and tailor it so that they know it was written for them. My mission statement will be wholeheartedly emphasizing how I will or have marketed THEIR product. Not products in general. Let's take a rod company for instance. In my cover letter you wont see words like "your product" or "your baits". You will see something like "this past season I won two tournaments caught on a limit anchored by the big bass for one tournament using your UXLC701MH. When asked what contributed to my success I confidently gave credit to the sensitivity and power of this rod." etc etc etc. In a perfect scenerio I wouldnt be writing a cover letter I would be shaking a hand and asking "Dave" or "Bob" how his season is going this year and verbally communicating in a face to face what would be on my cover letter. Just my take, B

I used that combo for my spinnerbait/chatterbait presentations for half of last season until it ended up swimming with the fishes. (over zealous 9 year old son). I would recommend this combo with a 2 thumbs up if it fits in your price point. If you've got more cash there are always better combos out there for a price. ;D Stupid bait monkey. If this is what your budget will allow then I would say you wont find a better combo for the price. So if you want to buy the reel and can afford it, buy the combo. The savings is worth it! B

I could not have said this better myself. I'll resort to "ditto". My only regret is that I did not start this journey 14 years ago when I was 20. B

By team partner for the Stren series you mean a co-angler link to sign up for priority entry? It's not a team trail. I'll be looking for a boater to link to for the detroit river one. That doesnt help you much though, I'm sure you'd rather have a link for the entire series. B

Depends on how loose the noose is ;D 8-) Kidding aside, the correct answer IMPO is the chain would be easier! B

I own / have owned 9 Airrus rods (2 are swimming with the fish). These rods are very sensitive, very affordable and the owner is the guy you order from. Personable service and a great guy who backs his work with a warranty and genuine interest in pleasing his customers. I'm not a rep or pro staffer or anything (would like to be) so you can take this as one angler's experienced opinion. I have used all of these rods for an entire season and have not had a single malfunction or broken part at all. (if you dont count my wife rolling the Jeep window up and snapping the tip) I only have two problems with Airrus rods. First is that Ken has a hard time keeping the popular size/power/action in the Warehouse!! They sell like hotcakes. Second, there isnt as much range of power/action combinations as I would for my personal specialization. Other than that I give them 2 thumbs up. B

I'm a big fan of Airrus rods. This season I am going to test drive St Croix and GLoomis though. B

Those are the exact rods I will be using this year. B

In Michigan the tournament permits have the stipulation of the tournament can only use a certain % of parking spaces I believe. And yes, most launch ramps are ghost towns by about .000005 minutes after blast off. Hours... ya right. B

Answer: Using IE (in any form - 6, 7, whatever) at all makes your system more vulnerable to attack from hackers, viruses, spyware, etc. This is largely due to the hooks that IE has directly into the Windows OS itself (via "ActiveX", which is a proprietary Microsoft technology that allows for extended functionality in the browser). Now, you can get all crazy with the IE security settings--tweaking this, disabling that--but the vast majority of folks don't ever bother. Apparently IE7 has addressed a lot of the security issues, that's mainly through those annoying prompts asking if you want to allow X to do Y with Z. In some cases, answering "yes" means you're just opting-in to the same old security holes. Nice. Switching to Firefox (as suggested by others on this thread) means that you virtually eliminate ALL of these vulnerabilities, unless of course you install the "ActiveX plugin for Mozilla/Firefox". But that one's easy--don't do it. I myself am a Mac user, which means I never (really, I mean it, never) have to deal with any of these security issues. But, I do have a PC in the house, and the house rule is "IE not allowed". I even removed all the various shortcuts to IE (from the desktop, the start menu, the "Quick Launch" toolbar, etc). Believe me, if I could uninstall it entirely, I would. End result: that computer is 100% spyware/malware/virus free. This is a very false sense of security. As long as you have a computer - no check that - as long as you have an internet connection you are vulnerable to attack. I've been reading bulletins proclaiming that printers can be infected with viruses. Bottom line, if you are connected, you are vulnerable. B

Answer: Using IE (in any form - 6, 7, whatever) at all makes your system more vulnerable to attack from hackers, viruses, spyware, etc. This is largely due to the hooks that IE has directly into the Windows OS itself (via "ActiveX", which is a proprietary Microsoft technology that allows for extended functionality in the browser). Now, you can get all crazy with the IE security settings--tweaking this, disabling that--but the vast majority of folks don't ever bother. Apparently IE7 has addressed a lot of the security issues, that's mainly through those annoying prompts asking if you want to allow X to do Y with Z. In some cases, answering "yes" means you're just opting-in to the same old security holes. Nice. Switching to Firefox (as suggested by others on this thread) means that you virtually eliminate ALL of these vulnerabilities, unless of course you install the "ActiveX plugin for Mozilla/Firefox". But that one's easy--don't do it. I myself am a Mac user, which means I never (really, I mean it, never) have to deal with any of these security issues. But, I do have a PC in the house, and the house rule is "IE not allowed". I even removed all the various shortcuts to IE (from the desktop, the start menu, the "Quick Launch" toolbar, etc). Believe me, if I could uninstall it entirely, I would. End result: that computer is 100% spyware/malware/virus free. Start button -> add/remove programs -> add/remove windows components -> uncheck internet explorer. B

My neck as well. Wrong time of year, unless you brought your auger with you! B

The mats are pretty light, can be rolled up and tied right to the ruck sack. The sleeping bags suck to hump for miles, however they keep you warm as heck! B

What ever happened to sharing the outdoors experience with your fellow man? Where does this attitude that somehow an area of water on a public lake belongs to just you? On a 10,000 acre lake what are the chances that only one 100' by 100' area is the only area that holds big fish? Does planting a brush pile equate to staking a claim like the California Gold Rush? IF so where do I apply for that deed? And we wonder why fishing and hunting are declining and we are brainstorming to come up with ideas on how to get our youth involved. The day my son witnesses me become greedy with the wonders of nature is the day I am no longer a man. B