volzfan59

I know he's not a dog, but this is Thomas. The cat that I mentioned.

I love dogs too! All breeds, mutts, both sexes. Like others, I hate people that mistreat their dogs. I currently don't have a dog of my own but I dog-sit my grand dogs all the time, they're with me right now. For what it's worth, I do have a ferrel cat. His mamma appeared last year, pregnant. Didn't have the heart to turn her away. She had her babies in a box I made for her, nursed them and disappeared after five or six weeks. We handled the kittens and got them used to humans. Gave them all away except for Thomas. He's now in charge of external security.

After moving down here, I told some friends about the brine mixture that TDOT and Knox County used. They'd never heard of it. My old house was off of Washington Pike. I've heard of lake effect snow before. Never realized that it was that intense.

I'm going to freely admit that I was only half paying attention to the weather this morning on TV, feel free to correct me if I misunderstood. They were reporting that upstate New York is going to get six feet of snow from a storm starting this evening! Six feet from one storm? I realize that the front can stall out, but six feet! Said that if it happens, it will break the all time snowfall record from one front. Winter before last, where I live in south Arkansas, we got six inches and it paralyzed the county. Heck, our mail didn't run for a week and I'm not saying that to be funny. Our mail wasn't delivered for a week. Our little town doesn't have plows, salt trucks, etc. They call it "snowmegedon". Six feet would wipe us out. I'm from east TN where we got snow, so we got around just fine. Of course everything was closed so there was no need to get around. I'm going to be praying for you folks up there.

Easy big fella, we like our extra syllables down here!

When I still had my 2008 4WD Ram, I ran Nitto Grappler LT285/70R17's. Rotated them at every oil change. The guy that bought her from me is still using them.

RIP aviator's.

I've owned about every brand o/b over the years except Honda and *Suzuki. Even had a Force o/b. Never have had an issue from any of them but I keep up with the preventative maintenance. My latest (probably last) boat has a 40 h/p 2 stroke Tohatsu and I love it. If it dies, I'll replace it with a 4 stroke Tohatsu. *Tohatsu makes Suzuki o/b's, same parts same thing just different colors/decals to my knowledge.

Yesterday, my step-daughter asked me to help her with some Christmas shopping in Monroe, LA. Closest big city to where we live in AR. Any way, after eating lunch she drives to the Honey Hole (tackle shop). Said since I was doing her a favor by accompanying her, she thought that I would like to visit the tackle shop. I fell so weak and purchased a bunch of Berkeley and Booyah swim jigs and trailers. Like I needed any of this! I guess she's my enabler.

This is older, from before I was a BR member, but it's never to late. From one Veteran to another, Rest in Peace brother.

I have a pretty good fishing library. My absolute favorite is the late Billy Westmorland's "Them Ol' Brown Fish"! Re-read it every winter. I also enjoy the he late Tony Bean's book, "The Last Smallmouth". Honorable mention, Tim Holschlag's "Stream Smallmouth Fishing" and "River Smallmouth Fishing" followed by an eBook that I printed off by the late Craig DeFronzo (earthworm77) "How to Catch More Bass, The Light Tackle Way". It's full of grammatical errors, has a few spelling errors and repeats itself several times but the book contains a lot of juicy nuggets.

A little late to BR today. Thank you for remembering Tom.

I own that one too, never go fishing without it! I used to have a Gerber multi-tool that I liked a lot. Carried it so long the nylon pauch wore out. I have it to my son in law and started carrying the Leatherman.

I've boat flipped a few in the past. Just didn't seem like a great idea. Lip or net them all now.

I couldn't believe how many times Hooker (our QB) was sacked! I bet he's still feeling the effects. Go Vols!

You're right, plenty of time if they can stop GA from scoring. Need three TD's to tie. Like I said, we need big Mo (momentum) to swap sides.

It appears that GA has came to play. I've been a Tennessee Volunteers fan all of my 63 years, the one thing that I've learned, they will break your heart. Don't get me wrong, there's still time but somehow we have to get Mo on our side.

Looking good Ken. Will this hang from the ceiling?

It's really my fault, I've been bragging about how little I've been buying. Did it to myself!

I couldn't agree more, you truly do get what you pay for. I don't purchase Walmart clothing or any cheaper brands. Due to my size, I've got flannel by different manufacturers that make XLT sizes. Some more expensive than others. They will all shrink if not dried properly.

Hello, I'm Volzfan59. I haven't purchased any new fishing equipment in four or five months (I think). Yesterday, I fell off the wagon. While bouncing on the concrete floor, I ended up purchasing two new BPS Crankin' Sticks, four Rapala BX Brats, and two rod covers. I'm going to do better.......... until after Christmas.

That's correct @DitchPanda, I wash everything except my white clothes in cold water. Whites go in hot water with a healthy dose of Oxy-Clean.

I wash, dry and fold/iron all of my clothes, always have since being in the Army. One of my many quirks. Anyway, my wife taught me this one. Dry your flannel (or anything else you don't want to shrink) on low heat for 10 to 15 minutes just to get the wrinkles out. Immediately get the garment out of the dryer and on a hanger. Hang it to complete the drying process. Iron if needed. I do this with my flannel shirts, fishing shirts and printed t-shirts, works great.

The answer to the question is no, I've never truly quit fishing. Fishing has taken a back seat before, but I still managed to go. When I was in the Army I didn't fish much at all. When I was racing stock cars I didn't have the time to fish much. Thankfully my neighbor and I went a few times each year.

Excellent article!!! Thank you for sharing your adventure with us.