volzfan59

I've been a B.A.S.S. member since 1986. I received one unsolicited item way back. There used to be a disclaimer on stuff that B.A.S.S. sent out that basically said....If you didn't order it, you weren't obligated to pay for it or return it. That's not a direct quote.

I have a couple pair of gloves, can't say that I wear them all the time but they're okay. I own several gaiters, made by numerous companies including Buff. I hate them. They fit too tight, they're hot and I feel like I'm suffocating. Like @Russ E, I wear a wide brim, "boonie" style hat. It's a moister wicking hat and wear the gaiters around my neck to keep the sun off.

Breakfast, fried eggs, bacon and fried toast all made in the same skillet. Black coffee. Lunch, fried bologna sandwich, beer. Supper, Nathan's or Hebrew National hot dogs, brats or sausages. Beer

I've had mine since January or February.

I'm with you @GTN-NY. I moved to south Arkansas from east TN a couple of years ago. From really clear water, for the most part, to really stained water with a ton of cypress trees. I've been a couple of times, but lack the motivation to go like I used to. I really enjoy finesse fishing and that "dog don't seem to hunt" down here. I've got a couple of friends that like to crappie fish exclusively. I'm retired, they both work and have families. I'll figure it out.

I agree you 100%. I've followed Randy since the mid 80's. I remember when he pulled the plug on his boat to get under a bridge after the lake came up overnight. As far as the keyboard warriors in their mom's basement, Randy has done more in fishing than they will ever do. Randy's making a living doing what we all enjoy. I pretty much agree with Randy on the vast majority of his content, especially on electronics and the cost of boats, etc. That said, I'm not paying for a membership to his or any other YouTube channel.

It doesn't happen much for me, but I have gone into BPS and "mom & pop" tackle shops and left empty handed a few times.

It's just not a big deal for me. If the "powers that be" grandfather it in as a worlds record, I'm good. Like all record's, sooner or later it will be broken.

Strike King makes a craw trailer for the Bitsy Bug and Bitsy Flip jigs. I've got a few packs. I either got them at Bass Pro Shop or Academy.

Red with white poka dots, "Daredevil" spoon!

Or the cost of replacing the batteries. A friend of mine had a Prius. I don't remember the price of replacement batteries, but it wasn't cheap and there are right of them I believe. I agree! I have a hemi Ram, my wife has a hemi Challenger.

I don't envision me ever owning an electric vehicle of any type.

Some folks love kayak fishing, I didn't. I sold both of mine and bought a Jon boat. I may buy a canoe too, haven't decided yet.

When I worked at BPS, all of their soft plastics were made by a company in Eufala, AL. I may have misspelled Eufala, my apologies. The company is called Southern Plastics if I remember correctly. Might try them. I believe that Southern Plastics was started by Tom Mann, at least that's what I was told. Good luck

Welcome to the club! I retired at 53 in 2013 and never looked back. I have a good pension, but worked part time for four or five years before completely retiring. I'm going to start drawing s.s. in September.

I've got a ton of autographs. Randy Howell, Jimmy Houston, Ott Defoe, Chris Lane, Brad Knight, Woo Daves, Edwin Evers, Gary Klein, Rick Clunn, Johnny Morris and Shaw Grigsby to name a few.

I've never really had a problem while loading, unloading or on the water. One day, while on my way home from the lake, I was fueling my boat and truck. Some trashy guy, along with his equally trashy female passenger drove by and flipped me off.

For what it's worth, when I worked in the fishing dept for BPS, all the XPS were made by VMC. That was several years ago. I still have, and use some of the light wire XPS hooks with no issue.

Congratulations Basslayer (Josh)!!! Well done indeed.

I always close by hand.

I just bought a used boat a month or so ago. It's got a Minn Kota 210D two bank charger. I'm very pleased with it.

First, My condolences on the loss if your brother. I'm sure that you guys had many good times together. Not going to beat a dead horse, plenty of great advice has already been given. Just go out, gave fun and learn. Like other's have said, the rigs going to get dinged. You won't get stuck in the weeds. Short of grounding the boat on a sand bar, etc your not going to get stuck at all. The main things that I look for are rocks or tree's (stumps, trunks floating just under the water). Get you a push pole, and like someone has already recommend, get an experienced boater to go out with you. When I got my first real bass boat, that's what I did. My neighbor went out with me to show me the ins and outs.

I know exactly where you're at. Are you working there now?

My wife doesn't really say anything about my tackle/ fishing purchases. She's into antique dishes, I know...who knew that there was such a thing. I don't say anything about that so it works out. It was kind of funny last week however. I've mentioned on music threads before that Whiskey Myers is my favorite band. They're coming really close to here in September. One morning as she was going to work, she gave me her card number and asked me to order two tickets for us. A little later she called and asked if I had ordered the tickets? Being somewhat frugal when it comes to anything but fishing stuff, I said "No, I just can't pull the trigger." We hung up and she called back in around 10 minutes. She had bought really good seats that come with our own bartender, no way I could have done that although I'm thankful that she did! She mentioned that she thought it was funny that I didn't mind spending a ton of money on fishing, but that I found it hard purchasing concert tickets. Oh well, such is life.

I can listen to all things Whiskey Myers, they're great. Their song "Reckoning" is really good. Hopefully we'll be going to see them in September when they come to El Dorado, AR Edit; My wife got us two "premium seating" tickets. Not 100% sure what that is, but we get our own personal bartender!