Long Mike

Avid, I hate to admit it, but Glenn is right. I had the same problem you did until I contacted him and followed his advice. OK I lied about the Shaman. You no longer have to pee up the rope.

BTW, I forgot to mention that that new rod/reel combo sounds great. I've heard the Powell rods are some of the finest for the money. Have fun with your new combo, but keep putting money into the IRA.

Put the last 62 cents in an IRA and keep doing it. You will be a wealthy man when it comes to retiring.

It Worked! I hired a Cheyenne Indian Shaman to hex Avid. If Avid wants to get his computer back to normal, he must continue to pee up a rope for the next seven days.

Thanks Kelly. I figured it was just a matter of adjusting the idle setting, but I haven't reached that point yet. I ordered the Repair Manual for the Motor and it arrived late last week. Remember, this is my first gas powered boat, so I'll have to read the manual to find out where the idle setting is. If Cart want to chime in, its an 89 Johnson/Evinrude 60 hp.

I'm not trying to play Devil's Advocate here. I'm just trying to look at it from Muddy's point of view. I'm very sure that he is VERY selective about whom he ultimately invites to go fishing. I doubt very seriously that he waits at the exit door of the de-tox ward or at the prison gates. We are not talking about hundreds or even tens of people waiting in line to go fishing with Dominick. We are talking about one person at a time in whom he sees promise. I would imagine that Muddy would take weeks or even months to decide on a promising individual who will not take his/her new rod and reel and hock it for the next fix. I just so happens the Muddy is in a unique position. First and foremost he is a recovering drug abuser. Secondly, he is well trained in dealing with recovering abusers. And finally, he is an avid fisherman. He could have all the sponsorship in the world, but that would not allow him to be on the water with even one more person than the one he has chosen as a good candidate. So, where is the potential for the sponsors to achieve great things for the benefactors of their largess? I can't foresee an annual "Take a Drunk (or Druggie) Fishing Day." That said, I sincerely hope that those of you who think "outside of the box" will prove me wrong.

Here's an update guys. I have installed a new permanent 12 gal tank complete with all new hoses, fittings, etc. For the most part the problem is solved. I still have trouble keeping the motor running when idling, but it always fires right up when it dies.

Cajun, that's why I posted the rolling eyes. Kwchannel has a real flair for butchering the English language. The odd thing is that a simple spell checker will not catch any of the atrocities.

THAT CRACKED ME UP! I don't remember the last time I laughed so hard.

: : :

Nice one Avid, but I've got one more and then I'm off the bed. Why do their wedding rings look like hose clamps? Good Night ;D

When the invitation read that the reception will have multiple open bars, it never occured to me that it would be held in the city jail. I could tell that the marriage was off to a rocky start when the Preacher asked "Do you take Gladys to be your lawfully married wife" and he said "I dunno, let me ask my Mom."

Rather than trying to install a bow mount TM, you may want to look into extension handles for your existing TM. Here is one example. There are others. http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10151&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&partNumber=74176&hvarTarget=search&cmCat=SearchResults

Let me think out loud here .... hmmmmm .... Avid is requesting help and I could help him - but - he just threw a bunch of insults at me under my "Outings" post and I was deeply hurt. Avid, go pee up a rope!

Hey Folks, I went fishing today.......AND ....... NOTHING HAPPENED

I assume the raft has a wooden floor like mine. It's been my experince that the fabric is very durable and difficult to puncture. Most lures will simply slide right off the pontoons without causing any damage. Just use a little common sense and you will have no problems. If you DO get a puncture, all is not lost because quality inflatables have multiple air chambers. My SeaEagle has five. You will not be able to repair a puncture or rip while the chamber is inflated. My boat came with a repair kit. I assume there is also one for the boat you are looking at. Here's my boat.

Nice wedding dress. I had no idea the bride had so much hair on her back. I see the groom bought a new pair of overalls for the occasion. I heard her wedding dress was designed by Omar The Tent Maker. Is that real canvass?

Cajun, these days I seem to be the Poster Child for "If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have any luck at all." Do you want to hear more? This afternoon the battery on my Suburban went South. Tomorrow morning I'm going fishing.

I'm absolutely positive that red hooks could, under certain conditions, be productive. On the other hand, under certain conditions, they may not be productive. I'm absolutely positive about this. ;D

Some days it just doesn't pay to get out of bed. It all started this morning when I backed my Suburban up to the boat trailer and tried to hitch it up. The receiver on the trailer would drop onto the ball OK but there was no way I could get it to latch down. I tried raising and lowering it, shaking it, jerking it, banging it with a hammer and every thing else I could think of, but it would not latch down. Finally, in desperation, I sprayed everything with WD-40. I again lowered the receiver onto the ball and it latched with ease. Go figure. Finally on the road, I drove from Tulsa to Lake Skiatook (about 30 miles). The moment I got to the boat ramp it started raining heavily. I sat around for about thirty minutes and the rain didn't let up. So, I called my daughter and asked her to have a look at the National Weather Service radar. She told me there was large cell in the vicinity, and that it would probably be at least a couple of hours before it passed. Thoroughly disgusted, I drove back to Tulsa, and into sunshine. When I got home, I checked the radar myself and discovered that the cell my daughter was referring to was due South of a place called Ponca City - nowhere near the lake. The radar did show a couple of Popcorn showers that popped up over the lake and then fell apart right after I left. Needless to say, I was somewhat perturbed to learn that my daughter was Geographically Challenged. Back to the lake I went and was graced with a partly cloudy sky. I was boating alone so I kicked off my new sneakers, put on my flip-flops and backed the boat into the water. Because I drive a Suburban, I can't see the boat without opening the cargo doors. No problem, I opened the doors, backed the boat in, and got out of the truck to get the boat free of the trailer. Without realizing it at the time, I kicked one of new my sneakers into the water as I got out of the truck. Luckily it landed right side up. I waded around to the back of the truck and checked its cargo area before I launched the boat. Sure enough, I had neglected to place my tackle box in the boat. There is a door lock button in the cargo area on the rear post. I must have hit it when I reached for the tackle box. It has a fifteen second delay on it, so I didn't hear the clunk of all the door locks until after I had closed the cargo doors. OK, so now I have a locked truck with the keys in the ignition, setting in water up to the running boards on a busy boat ramp and a new sneaker that is slowly floating away. First things first. I fired up the boat, chased down the sneaker and then tied the boat at the dock. I waded back to the truck and found that there was no way I could get into it without breaking out a window. I found a boulder about the size of my head and decided to break in through the window on the right-side rear seat door. I swear, that glass must be bullet proof! I literally ended up throwing that boulder at the glass and it would bounce off without a scratch. After eight or nine attempts, I gave up and decided to try the front seat passenger side. The boulder went through the glass like a knife through butter, scattering glass as if I had thrown a hand grenade into the truck. The first thing the boulder hit inside the vehicle was the console and it knocked the lid off its hinges. The boulder, and a lot of glass ended up in the drivers seat. I do not want to discuss what those objects did to the leather in the seat. I'll cry later. OK, so my truck is still in the water. Twenty minutes and several lacerations later I had removed the boulder and enough glass out of the driver's seat to allow me to get the truck out of the water. That was a big relief! I then reminded myself that despite the fact that it was now 3:00 PM my intent since 6:00 AM had been to try to catch a few bass. So, I hopped in the boat and went tooling off across the water. I was so angry with myself that all I wanted to do was haul azz across the water. I did this for about an hour and then cooled off enough to try fishing. I found a point and half-heartedly fished it for about twenty minutes, all the while thinking about all that glass and blood in my truck. Needless to say, I gave up and headed back to the landing. In my absence, a Park Ranger came by, noticed the shattered window, and left me a note advising that he had notified the police of the break-in. Luckily he also left his phone number, so I was able to cancel the Red Alert. And then the kicker. I had the boat out of the water and was getting it ready to tow when a Game Warden drove up. He had the audacity to ask "Had any luck today?" What I said to that poor guy is not fit to print. Let's just say I was VERY vocal about the luck I had had. He never did ask to see my fishing license.

You bought a Saints Decal? (fleur de lis)

If you have a GPS unit it will give you speed if you are unable to get the debris out of the motor. My GPS unit is mounted directly in front of my console-mounted speedo. On a side note, my GPS and speedo agree with each other very closely. That's very surprising, because the speedo is 17 years old.

I'm not a Buddhist, but I've been to Budapest. Does that count? ;D

I have an inflatable (Sea Eagle.) By far, your biggest problem will be the wind. I suggest you get another anchor to help hold you in place. I have two anchors and use them A LOT.

ATTABOY GLENN