Long Mike

X3 on Lake Fork, but be prepared for everything when it comes to the weather in March. One day you may be wearing a T-shirt and shorts. The same day you may have to change to three layers of winter clothing and a rain suit. That probably will not happen though. When those types of fronts come through, you will be blown off the water. Lake Fork is dangerous even at the best of times. When the wind starts howling, your best bet is to get off the water. If I were in your position I would opt for Florida. It offers the best chance of you and your students having a great trip.

I don't trust any of them when it comes to navigating any body of fresh water. Water levels can fluctuate to the point of extreme danger. Stay within the channel markers and keep your eyes wide open. If out of the channel, I'm running 5mph max. Bear in mind that many of the lakes I fish have standing timber. In fact I am headed for a week-long fishing trip at Toledo Bend tomorrow morning. The lake is seven feet below full pool. There are tens of thousands of timber stick-ups. Given this situation, would you trust your FHS or Navionics charts?

I said this in a post a year or so ago. If I am fishing alone, I wear my PFD, for exactly the reasons you mentioned. I want my body to be found. It's the least I can do for my family.

oteymc, I hope you are a big man, because every time I fish with ghoti he is on the bow motor. At my end of the boat I am three feet off the water. ;D I'm glad you guys enjoyed yourselves and had a good catch. Be thankful you didn't have to fish with Steve. ;D

Pantera, for what it's worth as of next week I will have four Patriarchs on my rods, none of which are XTs. I like them that much.

Lake Fork? Did someone say Lake Fork?

BS aside, I'm glad you guys had a great trip. Wish I could have been there.

Ken, if Kelly said one word about me, it's a lie! I never did or said that.

Yup, dead batteries are contagious these days. Picture this. An old man towing a three thousand pound boat back to the dock, into the wind, gracefully using the breast stroke, with the tow rope held firmly in his teeth. Picture him making no progress and being blown further and further from the bank. Now, picture him sinking gracefully beneath the surface as his heart attack kicks in. That would be me if I had tried it. ;D

A fisherman has a problem with his boat and is stranded. He may or mat not be fishing in your tournament. What would you do?

First of all, a little background. I have a Tracker TV-18 with a 150 HP Mercury XR6. I recently installed a 6" jack-plate and over the last few days have been installing a Lowrance HDS-8 with both the side-scan and Sirius weather options. Today was my day to put the boat the water. My goals were to 1. Check the performance with the new jack-plate and 2. Begin to learn how to interpret the side-scan and down-scan images from the new Lowrance unit. I launched the boat at about 12:30 PM, alone. There was about a ten mph wind blowing which nicely took me away from the dock and adjoining rocks. Once into deeper water I hit the starter switch for the big motor and ... nothing. The battery was dead. I have a number of little accessories wired in to the cranking battery that constantly drain it. Well, due to my stupidity, I left the on-board charger unplugged for three days. Thinking "no big deal," I dropped my Terrova into the water to head back to the dock and ... nothing. By this time, the wind was taking me out of the cove from which I had launched toward the main lake. I began to paddle like hell to try to reach the opposite side of the cove before I was blown into the main lake and into 100 feet of water. I almost made it. The shore I was paddling to was a steep, rocky bluff about fifty feet high. The closer I got to it, the more the wind pushed me away. Just before I was blown into the main lake I threw the anchor into about thirty feet of water - and it held. At the ripe old age of sixty-four I confess I was exhausted by my paddling adventure, so I just sat there for about five minutes trying to regain my breath and composure. After coming to my senses a bit, I realized that I could be in real trouble. At this time of year Skiatook Lake (about 10,500 acres) has very little boat traffic. The ramp I launched from will normally accommodate about fifty parked trucks/trailers. When I launched there was one other truck/trailer parked. After a while I decided to check out the the trolling motor batteries and opened the hatch to discover nothing less than almost criminal neglect. The battery terminals were so corroded that it would be impossible for them to conduct electricity. I tried to clean them up, but the damage was done. To make matters worse, after I got home, I discovered that one of the batteries on my 24V system was completely shot. No battery fluid at all. My stupidity at it's best! So there I sat. It's now about 4:00 and I'm hoping that the one other boater who has his truck in the same lot as me has not decided to fish until after nightfall. No batteries for me, and therefore no running lights for him to avoid hitting me. It's very difficult to kick yourself in your own ***, but that's what I was trying do to when I saw a boat traveling by about 500 yards away. I knew it was a long shot but I stood up and started waving my arms, with my red PFD in hand. Lo and behold, they saw me! To make a long story short, I was towed back to the dock and these kind gentlemen helped me to get my lifeless boat onto the trailer. What did I learn from this experience? Never, ever go out on the water without checking the condition of your batteries; especially when you haven't been on the water for a while.

Dom is fine, at least phsically. Mentally, he's always been about a half a bubble off. It's one of the things I love about him. Just like jfranco, I talk with him regularly.

Tom, I've been trailering my boat for years with no visible damage. Maybe I'm lucky. Remember the road trip last year and the fifteen inches of rain? If I had not had the cover on the boat while in transit I would have been trying to tow a boat with a ton of water sloshing around in it.

I'm a Pflueger Phreak. Best reels for the money that you can buy. All of my reels, both bait-casting and spinning are Pfluegers.

Why does the phrase "A tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury; signifying nothing." come to mind? :

AWESOME PHOTOS! Thanks for sharing!

LED lighting on my trailer is my next project. The trailer is galvanized, so I will be looking for lighting that will preclude the drilling of additional mounting holes.

You shouldn't talk about Kent's cosmetics in public. He tries to keep his make-up issues quiet. Very few people on this board know that he is a Mary Kay representative. ;D ;D ;D

Welcome, John! As a Moderator you will obviously know the answers to the following questions. How do you fish a Senko, and what is the very best rod, reel, line, hook, and knot to fish it with? My budget is $35. ;D ;D ;D

Based on previous experience at Trophy Country the fishing was slow. I caught maybe, twenty on Saturday. The slow fishing was offset by the camaraderie and the great food. Kent, I was able to remove the "Backlash From Hell." It took me an hour and fifteen minutes.

101 Dalmatians scared the crap out of me. ;D

Debbie, that one cracked me up. I told my wife about it and she's still laughing.

Yup, I passed the test ... on the third try. I was twenty-two at the time. If I remember correctly, it was about three weeks after they invented dirt. ;D ;D ;D

Yes RW is still around. He has a new job, plus he just returned from a fishing trip with Ghoti and me. Give him time to catch his breath, and I'm sure he'll return in one form or another. ;D

I don't care who you are, that was funny!