THE FOSSIL

My mechanical skills are horrible, but sometimes you get LUCKY. My Bass Boat. I could not afford to buy one, so I was sticking my toe into uncharted water. Here we go. You will see LUCKY a lot in my reply. I had some ideas, so I built my bass boat. The cathedral hull I bought at Sears. I think they wanted $400, but there was a chunk (more a gouge) on the bottom of the boat. I offered $200 and they accepted (LUCKY). I figured that I could repair it with fiber glass.. I think, not sure, I used lexicon. It lasted 16 years. A bare hull and little by little, the motor 25hp Evinrude advertised for $250---The thing was near mint condition. (LUCKY) . Again 16 years of use with little costly repairs. Installed adjustable front seat, back seat and a console seat. Put a steering wheel on console (treated wood) with push pull drum cables. (LUCKY). I laugh, turn wheel to right, boat wants to go left. Key start with key kill switch. (LUCKY) I got that to work after being jolted by 12 volts a few times. A Minkota 17lb thrust foot control. My guess was I had $500 / $700 in the boat. When I sold it I got $1600 after 16 years. The person who bought it offered 2000. lucky, lucky,lucky,lucky,lucky I believe this pic, boat was 10 years old and the value went way up when I had a RAY JEFFERSON Chart Recorder on it. It was a gift and actually a commercial fishing boat depth / fish finder.

First is an apology for POOR TASTE---I was grounded ! This is a cleaned up version of 2 videos, that I hope are acceptable. My intro as a NEWBIE and my good fortune to have bigmouths in my back yard. Basically I hunt groundhogs for Dairy Farmers (and video the huntin') and fish LM Bass 200 feet from our house. The videoing has been a 2 year learning curve, but I am improving. This video is not meant to impress anyone, but it MAY open a door to fish small ponds. Let my Bass Fishin' peers be the Judge, and any and all questions I will try to answer----Whether personal, tactical (style) or whatever comes to mind. Other parts of my style can be found another a thread 'Skills & Strength', page 2. THE FOSSIL

Skill, strength ? Strength may fit due to perseverance. After a bass boat for 16 years and lures that caught me and not a single dink, I developed tactics in a little pond 200 ft behind my house. I carry hooks, weights, white spinner baits (3) and 2 colors of 5" worms that I fish barbless Texas rigged, sometimes tearing the worm shorter. I vary the retrieve constantly to see how they want it. This clip shows the 2 worms and some pics in the season of 17" to pushing 20 + ". All released. I don't carry a scale. For northern Bigmouths, the girth is not that bad and weight is a guess----Some goodies here for a little pond.-----For LMs, fishing from shore (the bank) I really learned to drag that worm all the way in and the explosions at my feet can be awesome, but can really startle you. It happens. I am soooooo Lucky, but really fortunate

THE FOSSIL, my Board handle fits. At 76 years of age I still attack the outdoors by, fishin' huntin' campin, and I can really talk. I will try (really try) to keep this snapshot of me short. My prioritized goals = Family, reputation / character, sense of humor and the outdoors. RE: Family---Bride and I (or is it me) celebrate 50years this year being married. She deserves a special spot in heaven, putting up with my antics. These Forums, of which I belong to a few, are informational GOLDMINES. This really points to ; you are never at an age where you can't learn something new. I utilize, plagiarize (neat way to say 'steal') the resources, that members share. I hope that I can make contributions that are up for grabs. Two years ago, on another forum, I had my arm twisted to make videos on groundhog, woodchuck, ground grizzly huntin' and names that can't go to print on this critter. I am a passionate groundhog hunter. You name it in PA., I have hunted it, but just the ground grizzly today. The video results have spilled over to Fishin'-----Speilberg quality ? Hell no ! My self classification started 'reaching up to touch bottom'---tooooo an advanced -----'novice in training ! Never thin skinned, LAUGHING IS PERMITTED ! Being really lucky I have an 8 acre pond 200 ft from our house, where I will post some northern LM videos, caught and released in excess of 20 inches. All done fishin' off the bank with plastic worms and released from barbless hooks. Not braggin'---I just know this 8 acre pond inside out. Had a bass boat for 16 years. Lots of fun, but this lil' pond is just as much fun. Maybe more. My Son has a bass boat, sooooooo I have a ride whenever----He does the maintenance. Over for me these days. Dues paid. I am posting one video of what I call a 'MEMORY'---The family of a Dairy Farm that I hunt chucks on, that I brought down to our Community Pond, not the one 200 ft from my house. This is an edited portion to keep it short. All of the kids, plus Mom & Dad caught a mix of bass & bluegills-----1st fish for most---Yes, a huge MEMORY ! FOSSIL------------------------I probably could talk more, but it is time to publish.