Fisher of Men

Chris, It's nice to see you do have a tackle box with lures in it. (after seeing your "don't catch" list) LOL For me the Texas Rigged plastic worm (plum in stained water and watermelon seed in clearer water) has produced more bass for me than anything else. If I couldn't have that I'd fish a Chrome/blue Rat-l-trap.

Never heard of Menards, but man that trailer at Harbor Freight looks like a bargain. It's not like I'm haulin' a bulldozer or anything. Thanks guys!!

Thanks. Are these things good in just rivers and streams or are they successful in lakes? I didn't notice any tackle dealers in TX. I wonder if they'd be effective down here? Definitely something different. I've never seen them before.

I don't know, you should see some of the pictures. I ate alot of bass growing up. LOL

Stickling, I mean having people throwing rocks at you (like in the Bible when they "stoned" Christians for their belief). Sorry for the confusion (generation gap, I think) ;D IOW: The fact that so many of us are "catch and release" fishermen, we would be frowned upon if we took home so many bass.

I prefer freshwater mainly because that's all I ate growing up. I am trying to expand into saltwater though. My first choice is crappie because it has a less fishy taste (fried is most common, but I've grilled and broiled before/very good), then catfish(young). I don't eat bass anymore, but did quite a bit growing up. I still remember my dad and I bringing home stringers crammed full of bass. You'd be stoned if you did that today. My have times changed.

Is there a website for Case baits? ??? I tried searching earlier today and couldn't find one. -Fisher

Of course, Bassmaster is a good publication, but I always liked Bassin'. I haven't read Bassin' for some time, but it always seemed that it was more aimed at the Bass enthusiast and Bassmaster at the tournament angler (of course trying to drum up $ for B.A.S.S.) It seemed that the casual angler could get more out of Bassin' than Bassmaster. Then again, I don't tourny fish,although I just re-upped with BASS (the mag's cheaper than Bassin')

Raul, I just tell her it's a "man" thing. She just doesn't understand. I also have one of those "Bathroom Readers". You ever seen one of those books? I'd like to see the demographics of those who purchased it. Probably more men, or bought as gifts to men. -FOM

WHERE'S THE LOVE FOR JIMMY HOUSTON!! Let's sing it together now, 1, 2, 3, 4: "It's late in the day and the sun's gettin' low, caught me a big'un but I let him go, sure had fun just watchin' him stretch my line. . ." I just wish it came on later in the morning. If I'm going to be up at 6:30 or 7:00 on Saturday morning, I'm going to be fishing!

My dad introduced me to fishing. I have many fond memories of camping and boating in our little 14 ft. "bomber style" fiberglass bass boat with a 20 hp Chrysler motor. We fished for bass, sandbass, ran lines for catfish. The other influence for me was my grandmother. She would take my cousin and I bluegill fishing and man could she catch the bluegill. We'd throw lures while she sat and kept catching. She'd actually take a stringer home and fillet those little boogers. They'd curl up when you fried them and it was like eating popcorn shrimp. I think it's so important to introduce your kids to the outdoors. Just don't force them though. When you take the kids, don't plan on fishing yourself. Let it be their time. AND, when they are ready to go, GO! My wife's uncle burnt their son out on fishing (when his son was ready, he'd wait four or five hours before going home, and his son finally quit wanting to go.

I just bought a 12 foot Tracker jonboat and might be interested in getting a trailer later on. BPS wants $599 for a trailer. That's more than I paid for the boat. I've thought of building one, but might purchase one or a kit if it was worth the money. Does anyone know of a place on the net to purchase, or has anyone ever built a boat trailer? ???

. . .then there was the one my cousin and I always laughed about (when we were kids): Q:"Did you hear about the fish the one-armed man caught?" A: (Holding one hand out)"It was this long" I promise, it was funny when we were 7.

I've never cast a lure in my tub, but I have caught plenty of "sand" bass in my yard. AND speaking of the BPS catalog, yes it accomanies me to the throne lots of times. There's no telling how many times I will flip through the pages (knowing exactly what's inside). There's a routine at my house. When I get home I look for the mail, and ask my wife, "Is there any good reading material?" She rolls her eyes and says, "No, you'll just have to go alone today!" It is then and there that I reach for the trusty BPS master catalog. About a half an hour later, I hear the question, "Did you die in there?" ;D But there's nothing like a trip to the john when the new "Bassmaster" arrives!

Very good story!! I remember one that Paul Harvey told one time: It was about two boys fishing on the shore of a local lake. As the game warden approached one of the boys took off running. The game warden pursued him and, after running for several hundred yards, the boy stopped and proceeded to get out his fishing license. The game warden caught his breath and asked the boy, "If you two had your fishing licenses, then why did you run from me?" The boy replied, "My friend is the one without the license." The game warden turned around and the other boy was gone.

I don't think it affects me very often. I've been caught by a few well-advertised campaigns in the past. As I've gotten older, I have found out what works and stuck with it. I pretty well just buy what I think will work. I've also found out what works for others doesn't always work for me. I believe very strongly in confidence baits. If your comfortable and confident in a bait, you'll come near fishing it better and correctly, thus catching fish. It comes down to KNOWLEDGE and SKILL, not the most popular bait.

Brett, that looks great and very simple. I just bought a 12 ft. tracker jon boat and this looks like just what I need for it. I'm thinking about PVC pipe with holes drilled in it, a couple of suction cups, and a $12 bilge pump and building it myself though, maybe I could save a few bucks. ;D Gee, wished I'd thought of this idea. Thanks, Fisher

I guess when you consider that green fees for a golfer are around 25-50 dollars, its pretty cheap to pay that for your yearly license. I corresponded with a fellow from Ireland one time and he said they had to buy a permit for each "loch". He said a permit for one lake was about $200 U.S.

Heck, yeah, I'd say that $28 is worth it. I've never faced a ticket here, but several years back it was around $100 (my brother had to pay one), but I don't know if they'd take your stuff or not.

In Texas we are now up to $28 for a resident fishing liscense. That's the regular $23 + $5 for a freshwater stamp that's supposed to be used for fish hatchery renovations (I heard that would only be charged for five years, yeah right). Like your going to buy a license without a stamp. Our licenses run from Sep. 1 to Aug. 31. This year you can by a summer only licence (July-Aug) for $25. How kind of them to save you $3. It seems that ours have progressively went up over the past 6-8 years. Is this just TX or is this the trend everywhere? ??? I was just interested. FOM

Decatur, Texas (North/NW of DFW)

Funny thing, I thought about posting on this topic yesterday. My wife got me Rapala Pro fishing for Christmas and we like it. It was kind of hard to reel in King Salmon, but the other species are fun to catch. I don't like that there's no trolling motor, but it's OK and the graphics are good. I used to have Trophy Bass on PC, but it messed up my startup screens, so I removed it. I wish it was offered on PS2.

Fish is gone. No way. > I thought he did a great job as emcee. I didn't like to see Ray Scott go, but liked Fish anyhow. It seems since ESPN bought into BASS it's went down hill. It's all getting too commercial. I know they've got to advertise, but come on. I wonder who'll replace him? Any suggestions? Maybe Fish can make some more "Go Fish" shows. I know (very corny and silly), but I'll admit, I liked them. ;D

15 acre private watershed lake in North Texas,near the LBJ grasslands. The biggest bass I've taken there was 6.6 and I've taken a couple of 6's and 5's as well. I can't wait for the spawn this year. I also enjoy taking my 6 year old. My wife and I get a kick out of seeing a trail of Nutter Butter cookies floating behind the jonboat. She eats the Peanut Butter and throws the cookies in the water (her idea of chumming) She loves to catch fish, but when they don't bite well, she LOVES to snack. :

That would be a 1/2 ounce Chrome/Blue or Chrome/Black(cloudy day) Rat-L-trap. It's very versatile and can be fished deep, jigged, ripped beneath the surface, etc. If I had to choose one hard bait to fish with I'd go with the Chrome/Blue. My wife has spanked me hard with one on more than one occasion while I meticulously worked a worm. :-[