Long Mike

A man is stunned an saddened by the loss of a loved one, but knows he cannot dwell upon it. Instead, after a brief period of time, he puts it all behind him, puts on the brave face and outwardly continues with life as if nothing had happened. After all, no one can see him when he lies heartbroken and crying in the middle of the night. You have my best wishes for those long nights.

Tackle Tour just published an article about fluro lines that is well worth reading. Almost as a side note, the article calls into question the use of the Palomar when fishing with fluro. http://www.tackletour.com/reviewfluorocarbontest.html

Extreme, personally, I am very glad the you posted the information. I suffer from a tremor condition that sometimes makes knot-tying a real ordeal for me. That little piece of equipment is exactly what I need. I thank you, and I thank Glenn for this great site that he created that enabled me to learn about knot tying device

I used Google Earth to find a beautiful fifty acre lake that very few people have even heard of. It's the municipal water supply for several of the smaller towns in the area. The good thing about it (at least for me) is that the access road is in terrible shape and goes down a steep rocky incline. You need a 4WD to get in and out of there - and forget about trying to tow a boat. My inflatable raft will serve me very well on this little jewel off a lake during the coming months.

That one has been around since they invented dirt.

Skillet, you are a survivor. As a DOM you will figure a way to get a hand around your problem.

Bear in mind that a change jar pays zero interest. Why not open a savings account and depositing your spare change there every couple of weeks?

Skillet that cracks me up. Anyone old enough to fondly remember Laugh-In and Arte Johnson is OK in my book. Due to your leadership, I am finally coming out of the closet and officially declaring myself as a Dirty Old Man. I just hope my wife of 37 years never finds out. Now that I am in the open, I think Goldie Hawn is still really HOT.

Hi BD, nice to meet a fellow Okie on the board. I assume you spend a lot of time on Oologah since you live so close.

In the case of the Mooks, Murphy was much too optimistic. ;D

Skillet, I have no idea what you are talking about. , but thanks for the compliment.

Ah, that smell. I've always associated it with something shaped like a taco.

Welcome home Muddy Ain't it great to know that you are going to sleep in your own bed and on your own pillow for a change? Check your e-mail. I sent you a photo of your almost PB. BTW, I'm glad I was able to put you on the bass. It was either pure dumb luck or pure dumb luck - and I am positive about that. Go to the "My Outings" section to see what few posts about the trip that have yet to appear. With few exceptions, and I'm one of them, almost all the data has been sent to LBH, and he is "Bogartin" the info, photos, movies, etc. until he is sure that he can publish a documentary that is sure to win him an Academy Award. Let's all hope and pray that he doesn't choose Rap or HipHop as his background music. But, you can never tell what youngsters will do. BTW, Triton21 has a couple of really neat posts.

I stood up Flechero on Friday A.M. while at Fork. I misread my watch and showed up ten minutes late. By then he had already left - and rightly so. I still feel like pond scum. :-[ :-[ :-[

While one the BFR fishing trip last weeek, we hired a guide for the first day. He gave us a couple of very interesting tips. 1. When the female is actually on the bed, the male will ram her in the side to induce/encourage the female to lay eggs. This makes her sides very sore. If you can throw a lure across the bed and retrieve it such that it hits her in the side, she will annialate it. 2. While the fish are protecting thier beds, you want to introduce a lure into the bed that is guaranteed to pizz them off. The guide (Tim Walker) suggested a white or pink tube thrown beyond the bed and then bumped and jiggled across the bed very slowly. Again, they will annialate it. Of the only five bass I caught at Fork all week, two were caught by dragging a white/bleeding Ika across the bed. I hope this helps.

I have a Sea Eagle 9. There is a rope that goes all the way around the boat that you can attach the anchor rope to. Also, the carry handles on the boat are sturdy enough for an anchor. I would suggest you buy a 5lb mushroom anchor for your boat. It's cheap and effective. You can make your own anchor out of a bag of sand or concrete mix. Just make sure it weighs at least 5 lbs.

Catt, every word of it is true And I have no idea who your source is/was.

I posted a brief report and a few photos in the Outings section. I assume that LBH will be posting the "official" journal, so I will not try to steal his thunder. Just a few snippets. Picture RiskKid driving his rental boat into the slip at 15mph, not knowing that the boat had a reverse gear. Picture Muddyman trying for the first time to use the steering pedal on his bow-mount trolling motor, and complaining that the faster he wanted to go the more to the right he turned. ... and there are many, many more ...

Lake Fork gave up its bass very reluctantly for the majority of us. We were lucky to catch only one or two a day. The recent passing of a front and the 20-30mph winds didn't do us any favors. Regardless, we all had a ball. Many thanks to Alpster for the gumbo (outstanding :exclamation), to Muddy for the meatballs and pasta (great :exclamation), and to RoadWarrior for the best chili I ever put into my face. RW said he will post the recipe. I certainly hope so. Anywho, here are the pics. This is a photo of an arm of the lake called Little Mustang Bay. Note the red boat in the background. RiskKid (on the right) with guide Tim Walker. Tim worked his butt off to put us on bass, but it was not meant to be. Between the three of us we boated only about a half dozen. Tim caught the largest, which weighed 5 lbs plus. CigarLover with a nice one. Almost four pounds. RiskKid with, if memory serves me, his new PB. Almost four pounds. Yours truely with his new PB. Four pounds exactly. AND LAST, BUT NOT LEAST, MUDDYMAN :exclamation :exclamation He boated four on Thursday afternoon, and officially declared that he is now "Unmooked"

I will be posting a few teaser photos of the trip in the "My Outing" section this evening.

To the remaining bunch of goons who are flying in tomorrow. I hope the weather cooperates and allows you to arrive tomorrow without any delays. Safe trip everyone! See you tomorrow.

One thing that the other responders haven't mentioned. You always have to find a place to spit, so you are ALWAYS looking for a container to spit into. I am a smoker, and I have a disgusting and, ultimately fatal, habit. The most disgusting habit, next to mine, would be yours. Spit, spit, spit. It nauseates me to look at a habit more filthy than mine. Don't do it.

Thanks for the good wishes GMAN. For my part, everything is in order and ready to load into the Suburban on Sunday morning. I've got two quick stops to make and then I'm headed for Fork - ready to rip some lips. The trip should take no more than five hours, which equates to about $70 in gas for my guzzler. My problem is that I've got all day tomorrow to do nothing but wait. I guess I'll practice my pitching and flipping. I categorically refuse to allow the Bait Monkey to coerce me into heading for Academy or BPS ... although I really could use ... IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HE'S GOT ME AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Avid, we will miss you! You will be in my thoughts every day. I hope everything works out for you!

Dominick, Ronnie PM'd me and said that he will be taping your hands feet and mouth. He is then going to roll you up in piece of carpet and tie you down to the roof of the bus. If he gets pulled over, he will swear that he is the salesman of a new line of moaning carpet. Have a good trip, guys.