Long Mike

I agree with you completely! BTW, I am a treacherous old fart.

Well, Duh! On my part. I thought the American public would have whizzed up about AOL by now and would have chosen anything but. I guess if someone is still forced to use a dial-up connection, AOL will still survive.

Madam, I am not a doctor, but I have watched actors portraying doctors on TV. In my opinion, you have a malady known as fishtache. The condition is incurable so long as you continue to pursue bass. An even worse condition is known as catfishtache. Should you decide to forgo fishing altogether, both conditions can be reversed, but will be replaced by ugly black hairs. In the case of catfishstache, you will be permanently scarred. ;D

Flechero, thanks for the heads up on clothing for the wife. I ran this info past her in hopes that she would decide to go fishing with me. Her response was. "Hon, I don't like fishing. Fish stink and they are slimy." It looks like I'll be fishing alone to the end of my days. I was very happy to hear those words come from her mouth. ;D

People with more money that good sense.

I fish exclusively with Pflueger Presidents and Trions on freshwater only and love them. BTW, Muddy can easily screw up a 500 pound steel wrecking ball, so if his reels have worked so well for him for so long, that is indeed a testament as to the durability of a Pflueger.

Slow down.

Why do I have the feeling that guy dropped out of school after the sixth grade? :-/

I married the most wonderful woman on the face of the planet 37 years ago. She is still my best friend and my True Love. Unfortunately, she is a very fair-complected redhead and cannot tolerate the sun. In our younger years, we got outdoors together by going snow-skiing, but those days are in the past. I love to fish, but she has never shown the slightest interest in it. I know it's because she knows that she needs to stay out of the sun.

A six foot gator. I didn't try to get him into the boat. I cut the line when he was about ten feet away. Six foot gators and twelve foot boats do not provide for a harmonious relationship between man and beast.

As usual, Avid and I are pretty much on the same page. Being semi-retired, I almost always fish on week-days, when I can have my favorite small lakes pretty much to myself. Last week-end I went to Pensacola to attend a family function. While there, I was invited to do some Red Snapper fishing in the Gulf. We went about twenty miles out and found a spot where we were pulling them in on almost every cast. Needless to say, I had a ball, but to tell you the truth, the four other guys I was fishing with made it less pleasent than it could have been had I been alone. As the saying goes, they kept getting into my space. However, since I do not live in Pensacola and cannot afford a 30' sea-going vessel, I would say it was a day very well spent - and it didn't cost me a dime.

Attaboy Dominick: Ain't it great to know that you no longer smell "That Smell" (Skynyrd)

I truly wish I could have been there with you and Ron. Wish him Bon Voyage for me.

Whoopee for Chesney, but I'm not one of his fans. I think it's great to see Vince Gill get some air time. As far as I am concerned he is one of the best guitarists that I have ever seen.

I'm watching it as we speak. I've often had dreams about Reba. I'll leave it at. Besides, Toby Keith is on.

: : : Geez. Why don't you spend 30 seconds scrolling through this topic.

I guess there are idiots, and then there are wealthy idiots who don't care.

Catt, great photos! When you can't feel the heat, humidity or mosquitoes, they are even more beautiful. Muddy, I thought Mauch Chunk was the sound a drunk makes when he pukes. Before I wised up, I used to make that sound a lot.

Torpedo, if that is what you want, then I suggest you go for it. Bear in mind, it is not a good boat if you are fishing big lakes. I fish from an inflatable raft, so I fish smaller lakes (200 acres or so) or stay very close to the banks on larger ones. On big lakes, it's really not the weather I worry about. It's the yahoos and their great big fast boats that I worry about. They seem to have no idea about what their wake can do to a small-boater, even from 200 yards away.

This subject has been kicked to death, but I'll say it one last time and leave this subject alone. The oil companies have very little control over the price of oil or gasoline. The futures traders control the prices.

Aaron, let me be the first to welcome you to this site. It's the best bass fishing site on the planet, as you will soon learn. As for using the trolling motor, I would suggest that you use it while trolling into the wind, instead of with the wind. It's much easier to control.

I agree.

Avid, you are preaching to the choir. Like I said, I agree with you. The exploitation of ANWAR, in the scheme of things, is only a short-term solution. What really gets my hackles up are the folks who oppose development of ANWAR because of the potential dangers to wildlife and the environment. I would call them tree huggers, except there is no tree for 500 miles in any direction. OK, I'm finished with my tirade. Let's move on.

VERY WELL DONE guys! But that's the ugliest bass I have ever seen. ;D

I think it's fun to watch, but I worked my way through college by rough-necking on drilling rigs. When I graduated, I went to work for an oil field service company. Guess what? Right back to the drilling rigs for the next sixteen years. The reason I think the program is fun to watch is that it has no similarity to real life. It is obvious the producers and camera people have no clue about what is really going on, so they make up dialog and film footage to fit the point they are trying to make. It gets really funny at times.