Captain Phil

I had a similar experience with chewing tobacco. When I was a teenager my best friend and I went fishing in Lake Okeechobee. He was a country boy from Belle Glade and always carried a pouch of Beechnut chewing tobacco. One day while out fishing I asked him if I could try it. He gave me a mouthful and I put it in my mouth. It wasn't too bad until I swallowed it. I threw up for an hour after that. I'm a city boy, so I never got into chew or dip. I also like girls. I can't imagine any girl that would get near a man with a mouth full of tobacco. It would be a deal killer. ?

A traditional wacky rig is a deadly bait in Florida especially during the spawn. Few bass can resist a weightless slow falling straight tail worm. It's one of the best canal baits ever devised. Bites around here are normally detected when the bait moves off. By then the bass has the worm fully in it's mouth. I never use weedless hooks with a wacky rig. If I'm fishing weeds, I nose hook the bait with the hook point in the skin similar to a Texas rig without the weight.

You guys are confusing me big time. By a wacky rig do you mean a straight worm hooked in the middle? I can't say I have ever missed a fish using this technique. If anything, the fish swallows the bait and it's nearly impossible to miss a fish. I fish this on 8 pound mono with a light wire #1 or #2 sproat style hook. Are your fish big enough to get the worm in it's mouth? What's up with this?

My great grand father died at 93 years old. He smoked and chewed tobacco all his life. I remember when he had spittoons all over his house. In the middle of a conversation he would get up from his chair, open the front door and spit tobacco off the front porch. My parents told me he had tuberculosis, but he had so much tobacco in his system it killed the germs. I don't know if that was true, but I never saw him without tobacco in his mouth. My mother was a heavy smoker. She died of COPD at 72. Before she passed I had to tell her she was going to die. It was the hardest thing I ever did. My father and mother in law who smoked all their lives, both died of lung cancer, one at 66 and the other at 72. Some people gamble and win, most don't

Over the 30-40 years that I fished tournaments, I fished against a lot of anglers. The majority of consistent winners were specialists. In my opinion, it is far better to be excellent at one or two techniques than mediocre at all of them. What you must do is find fish you can catch, not fish the way you think the fish want you to.

I'm 76 years young. Not the oldest person here I'm sure. I bought my first pack of cigarettes when I was 13 years old. They cost me a quarter a pack. It was a nasty habit, so I quit smoking when I was in my early 20s. The fact that I quit when I did is probably why I am still around. My first job was bagging groceries after school and on weekends at a local store. I made $1.10 an hour plus tips. With that job I bought a decent used car for $100. I moved out of my parents home and got married when I was 19. Our apartment rent was $80 a month. Two years later, I bought a new 1967 Mustang for $3,000. Back then, union construction workers made big money. My best friend was an electrician making over $6.00 and hour. It didn't take me long to figure out that I could make more money working for myself. Most things are pretty much the same if you add a zero onto everything you buy today.

I can tell you from experience that the boat's motor and the way it is mounted will have some effect on the garage length required. Some boat's like Skeeters use a jack plate that adds length. It may only be a few inches, but it could be significant. If your garage is tight, I would measure everything myself before I made my purchase.

I thought I was, but Tackleholics got me beat. ?

I've done that at least a dozen times in my life so far. Here's a photo of one time I happened to have a camera along.

Our church has been cooking and serving free meals every Friday for years. Before Covid, we averaged between 200 and 300 meals a week. There are many reasons people come to our church to eat these meals. It's easy to believe they want "free stuff" when you have enough. While some are truly hungry, many are just lonely. It's surprising how many elderly people are desperate for someone to talk to. We also bag hundreds of sandwiches for take out. We live in a small town in Central Florida where your neighbor may have dirt floors or may be a millionaire. The financial diversity here is amazing. A good friend is an elementary school nurse. Her school is in a lower income area. She tells us half the kids in her school get free food. Some of them say it's the only real meal they get. Poverty in America is real.

Different rod manufacturers have different specs. I own two Shimano Zodias casting rods. One is 6' 10" MH and the other is 7' 2" MH. You wouldn't think 4 inches would make much difference in a fishing rod. These rods are completely different. The 6' 10" rod is much smaller in diameter and best suited for throwing soft plastics like worms and Senkos. The 7' 2" rod is a workhorse best suited for throwing traps, spinnerbaits and frogs. Both are high quality sensitive rods. You really can't tell much about a fishing rod from the numbers alone. Holding one in your hand is the best way to make those decisions.

When I was in high school regular gas reached 18 cents a gallon during a gas war. I paid 30 cents a gallon for Sunoco 260. Of course I was making $1.10 an hour bagging groceries. ?

I don't believe things will be that bad. However, I do wonder what those folks will do with all those 300 h.p. motors when gas is $8 a gallon?

From what I can see, fishing is not losing in popularity. Our boat ramp parking lots are maxed out on weekends and $100,000 bass boats are as common as ant hills. I don't even launch my boat on the weekends. Maybe what we need is a recession so I can get on the lake? ?

A well diversified portfolio of best in class companies is your best protection. If a company is losing money on very deal, they can't make it up in quantity.

This ^^

My wife shattered her knee cap in a fall five years ago. It was broken into seven pieces and they had to remove the knee cap in her left leg. Many people including some doctors told her she would never walk right again. Her surgeon called in a special physical therapist. My wife is a tough person and the therapist worked with her for nearly a year. Her therapy was so intense, I had to leave the house as I couldn't stand to watch it. If you saw her today, you would never know she didn't have a knee cap. It's a miracle she does what she does. Physical therapy works.

I am 76 years old. I have not had shoulder surgery, but I have had major back surgery. I started having trouble standing in my fifties. Went to a surgeon in my sixties and was diagnosed with spinal stenosis. He told me I could take two paths, be happy sitting in front of my TV all day or have surgery. He also told me to wait until my body tells me what to do. I am not a sitting around type of person, so after five years I had the surgery which turned out to be a four vertebra fusion. That was over two years ago. Recovery has taken longer than I expected. I will never be 40 again, but I can stand, walk and fish. After two years, I am still improving. Most likely your recovery will be similar. Like me, you will have to make some adjustments. If I had not had surgery, I am sure I would be in a wheel chair by now. Do what the surgeon tells you to do. How you handle your physical therapy will determine the quality of your recovery. It will help if you have the support of your family. I could not have done this if my wife wasn't with me.

I owned a Lowe Rough Neck for nearly ten years. I used it for bass and coastal salt water fishing. It wasn't a fancy looking boat by any means, but it was tough as nails. I put that boat through pure hell and it never let me down. I gave it to my son and he still has it.

In the 70's I owned a business selling used office equipment. My business was doing great as I was buying used equipment at bankruptcy auctions and reselling them to businesses looking to save money. After I outfitted two banks with equipment, I bought a new car. One day a friend came to my office and asked me why I bought a new car? "Didn't I know there was a recession going on?" I told him I didn't know what a recession was. A recession is when your neighbor loses his job. A depression is when you lose yours.

Back when I was fishing tournaments, the Mojo Rig was relatively unknown. At the time it was somewhat of a secret technique among professional anglers. It produces fish under the toughest of conditions. Florida cold fronts shut down bass like nothing I have ever seen. Gin clear water makes for tough fishing. A Mojo rig is made for those conditions. I have won tournaments with a Mojo Rig where no one else caught a fish. One I particularly remember was in Rodman Reservoir in the dead of winter. The water was in the 40s and the wind was blowing. Slow crawling a 4" Mojo rigged Zoom lizard got me a limit when nearly everyone else in our club zeroed. My best results came using 8 pound light green Maxima mono line and a 1/4 oz. Mojo weight with rubber strands holding it in place. The bites were so soft I didn't know I had a fish until I saw it on the side of the boat. Would I use a Mojo Rig all the time? No. It's a specialty rig for tough conditions. In a small lake with a lot of fishing pressure, it may be your best option. I have caught a few large fish with a Mojo Rig, but mostly it's a numbers bait.

A good investment plan is based on research, diversification and patience. Diversification will protect your money over the long term. Investing is not the same as short term trading. The Internet provides more information today than the best investor had twenty years ago. If investing is not your thing or you don't want to be bothered, hire a professional financial advisor. Anyone can have a good retirement if they start saving early, avoid making mistakes, stay healthy and fish as much as you can!

In the early 80s, my wife and I bought a home in South Florida. We had excellent credit. The mortgage interest rate was 18%. For a time, we had a negative amortization mortgage which meant we owed more after each payment we made. Yes, things could get a lot worse.

This is why you must invest your savings in something that keeps up with inflation. Stashing money in a mattress won't do the job anymore.

I did notice when I went to BPS that a bag of Zoom worms is still less than $5. I guess they don't use chickens to make them?