Long Mike

LMAO. Muddy, where do you come up with this stuff? Still LMAO

I've got a Berkley scale. The best I can figure is that hanging them behind the gill plate is the least harmful to the fish - but then, I'm no expert.

I've got a G-Blank 7' flippin rod and I love it. It's a helluva rod for only $135. Plus, G-Blanks are made here in Tulsa, so I don't have far to go far if I have a problem. A word of caution, G-Blanks is very short of staff, so you may have to wait a few weeks for your rod.

I wud really like to have one of them ther shirts but I ain't got no muny. How much fer jus the left sleeve?

Well Duh! Godzilla is way prettier than Ron. I just hope that she is MUCH prettier than you - but then, you kinda look like Godzilla yourself. Let's just hope she is much prettier than me. Everyone knows that my Adonis-like looks and stature are envied by both sexes. 8-)

Muddy, I feel your pain. You might want to consider moving to Florida with Ron. ;D

By Definition: An obsession is an unwelcome, uncontrollable, and persistent idea, thought, image, or emotion that a person cannot help thinking even though it creates significant distress or anxiety. I'll leave it up to you to figure out what course of action you should take, but my personal opinion is that you need to get a life. There is recreation (fishing), and then there is the real world (everything else). Very seldom are they one and the same.

Uh, er, well, no. I'm not as excited as you are. After all, I don't have any idea who you are. Nonetheless, congratulations on both your media debut and your second place finish.

Thanks Ronnie. I had planned on picking up one of those little jewels the next time I was at BPS, which will be this week-end. Their auto-inflate life vests are going on sale at $40-$50 off. Disobedient hands. I like that term. It sounds so much more sophisticated than the other terms we have used about our respective disadvantages. BTW, if I told you how long it took me to conduct my half dozen knot tests you would crack up. Let's just say that I would have missed a re-run of Gone With the Wind.

To Muddy - I tried the sugeons knot today and it failed at about 7 lbs also. To DRat - I tried doubling the braid as you suggested. It worked like a charm! The knot failed at eleven pounds Many thanks for the great advice. Mike

I have spent much more time fishing in salt water than in fresh. Crabbing at Holly Beach, Snapper fishing in Vermilion Bay, Speckled Trout fishing at Grand Isle, Amberjack fishing in the Gulf, and a hundred places in between. It's hard to grow up in South Louisiana and NOT fish salt water.

Muddy, forgot to mention that I've already done a lot of research on knots. Seems the surgeon's knot is only used on circumcisions these days

Hey Pal. it's 1:30 in your area. Go to bed or you will begin to look old and wrinkled like me. Er, I think I'm a little late with that advice.

Global warming? I never thought of it from a fishing stand-point. The best I can figure is that with the melting of the Arctic and Antarctic ice caps, 50 years from now anyone who lives within ten miles of the coast should by then be able to fish off his back porch

For the last year or so I have been fishing with braided line on my spinning tackle. My set-up is braid, swivel, fluro, lure. I use 30lb braid and 12lb fluro (BPS XPS). Before setting out with my swivel combination, I did a few tests and found that the fluro knot failed at the swivel at between 9 & 10 lbs. No big surprise. With the intent of improving my casting accuracy, I decided to eliminate the swivel and tie the two lines directly together. I figured that this tactic would enable me to get my lure next to the tip of my rod on my casts, and would so improve my accuracy that everyone would be calling me the next KVD, instead of the SOB term that I am much more accustomed to. But I digress. With the intent of eliminating the swivel, I used a Uni-to-Uni knot to join the braid to the fluro. I was very careful tying the knots and even checked them under a magnifying lamp to make sure I had no overlaps on either the fluro or the braid. I then tested my new knots and after four attempts, found that the fluro knots all failed at around 6.5 to 7 lbs. Without exception, they all failed directly beneath the braid knot. Big Surprise. Thoroughly confused, I started checking the fishing knot sites and found only one reference to the problem I had witnessed. www.animatedknots.com stated that one can expect a line-to-line knot to support only about 50% of the rated strength of the weaker line. Can any of you experts out there provide any input on alternate knots that would get me back to the 80% range?

Just out of curiosity, why does no one recommend placing a small swivel between the line and the lure?

Ghoti, no worries. It's real easy to get your opinions deleted around here. But that's probably a good thing.

If it's better than an Ugly Switch. it's probably worth the price.

Skillet, glad you were able to bring in a few bass. The problem with long-planned fishing trips is that you just can't rely on the weather to cooperate.

RW, many thanks for the recipe. I apologize for being such a nag, but that really was some of the best chili I've ever tasted.

I guess I am the eternal optimist. I am a newbie to bass fishing and have all of eight months of experience under my belt. Unfortunately, winter intervened in my learning process, so you could narrow it down to three. I fish alone from an inflatable raft. My mentors are the ones who teach me on this forum. Spring has been a real ***** this year. so I have had limited fishing opportunities. All the babble aside, EVERY time I put my boat in the water I have every confidence in the world that I will catch bass. If I didn't catch them today, then I am positive that I will do it tomorrow. Never give up.

Just like Moby Bass, I got back into fishing fairly recently ago. Not knowing any better, I purchased a medium action Ugly Stick and I did fine with it. i.e. I caught bass. I could go into how much I have spent since then in upgrading my equipment, but that is a given. What I want to say is that I find the comments of ww2farmer to be totally uncalled for, and, for that matter, downright offensive to those members of this site who do not have the financial resources to afford more expensive equipment. Despite the fact that the majority of my rods now cost at least five times more, I still have my Ugly Stick and I still often use it when bass fishing. ww2farmer, I have noted your opinion, but that is all it is - your opinion. Since opinions are just like navels (everybody has one), there is no reason to become judgemental in your postings.

I'll tell you what I was told about six months ago when I posted the same question. The color of the hook does not seem to make any real difference. However, if it gives you more confidence when you use them, then by all means use them.

Most of you guys said what I said, except you were much more explicit. I love music, not noise. BTW, my favorite pop group - the Eagles,

Fish Chris, To catch a bass of that size must have been sheer bliss. In my prompt congratulations I have been remiss. When you released her I hope you gave her a kiss.