silvercliff_46

Well one good thing about this thread, I just learned about Tackle Warehouse. Never heard of them before.

Well kinda! I live in norther Wisconsin about 100 miles north of Green Bay close to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. If I don't start a small morning fire my furnace will kick on. After a front even in July and August the furnace will kick in. I guess hot and cold is all relative. I have a friend in Texas that laughs when I tell her I put my A/C on when it hits 80 (with humidity). NORMALLY we don't average 70's until June. July and August are our hottest months. When it gets warm in September, it's a different kind of warm then a summer warm, even at the same temperature. I can't explain that, nor do I know why?

ICE OUT! Yeah I know you Southern guys can open water fish all year, still there is something special about ice-out. First you see all that snow dissolve day by day. Then the ice goes from grey to black as it draws the water from beneath it. Then little open areas, usually along the northern edges of the lake open up. Then what once looked like a large parking lot, turns to open water. Five minutes later it's chuck full of ducks, ten minutes later I'm in my canoe trying to catch fish in 33 degree water. Success at catching is rare, but who cares................................, it's SPRING!!! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Because of the distance I have to travel to any store I use the catalogs a lot. I like the stuff I get from BPS, but I wish they would offer shipping options on ALL the stuff. I hate it when the ship it through the U.S. Post Office. I think "Newman" from "Seinfeld" supervises all BPS shipments. Slow ain't the word. I know I have the options on overnight or the two day thing, but I would like to get regular ground on UPS or FEDEX. I just hope I'm not told of the second coming by the USPS

I know there are some pros and wannabe's on this site. IF your one of those folks, you need to work at it. Maybe the rest of us whether you enjoy fishing alone, or with someone, should remember it is supposed to be fun. We probably would get more out of it. I guess that's I.M.O. anyway.

I enjoy fishing with the wife. She doesn't talk much, mostly just asks questions. She's a good fisher gal, packs a good lunch, makes sure I eat so I don't fall on my nose (diabetic). Truth be known, I enjoy seeing her catch fish, and I get a kick out of it when she beats me (so does she). Of coarse we only been at it about 48 years so it may get old one of these days. It's nice to see the town folks out in spring before the tourists get here, and in fall after they leave. Sometimes the boat landing is like a town meeting (without the arguing)

When I was young I thought my Daddy named me Jesus Christ..,as in " ..... ...... WHAT DID YOU GET INTO NOW!" "..... ...... I TOLD YOU NOT TO DO THAT!" :-[

Parent's......(my mom) does this regardless. My sister's name is Shandra. When she yelled at me I was "Shan -BRENT!!" and my sister was "Bren-SHANDRA!!!". ;D b yes, I get called Jerry all the time... and sometimes I'm called fred (my only brother is named Jerry, I have no idea where the fred comes from) I got three sons, two hounds and a bird dog all with names starting with "J" and yeah when I call them it sounds like ja,ja,ja,ja....,

OMG a guy from Virginia trashin a guy from New England !...., sounds like a political post to me. :-[

I don't mind you yanken my chain. At my age it's the nearest thing I have to a sex life. anybody got a cigarette : ;D

Oh I'm sorry, my mistake. I thought we were talking about Professionals and acting professionally, not someone we would slam a brewski with. :

B. Hussein Obama's idea. That is not a political view point it just a fact. If you have the courage to step up for your country whether in a war zone or not you should be covered. You don't get to say where you serve. It is funny that those who haven't stood up to the plate and took the risk, are the ones that think we should limit benefits. Another former squid.

Just make sure how the names and initials match up. There is a fella up this way named Downs. He named his boys Ben and Niel. I am NOT kidding. That is for real. Also, if say, your last name is Goodbody, don't name your girl Roberta Ann (R.A.G.) :-[

So your being prepped for for open heart surgery. Your doctor comes in from a successful surgery. He begins to jump up and down screaming "YEAH, THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKIN' BOUT" He does a break dance and spins on the floor. The question is ..., does it give you comfort knowing that he is so enthusiastic about his job, or do you postpone the operation because you think he has a screw loose, and you look for someone who looks and acts more professionally. The one who has done it so many times, success is no surprise to him? I guess class and dignity are old school, no place for that now-days. Just my penny's worth.

Jesus was a carpenter. Peter, Andrew, John and James were the fishermen. Jesus was a fisher of men that being said; I think he hung around fishermen because if he could get those bums to tell the truth (at least sometimes), and be on the straight and narrow; Then folks would know he was the real deal. That's what he said anyway when we were jawin' around the camp fire. By the way if you think his home-made wine was good you should have tried a couple of tall frosty mugs of home-brew on a hot day.

Lets see...,Hmmmm...,Oh yeah there was this real nice guy with long brown hair that hung out with a dozen or so fishermen. He was a pretty smart guy and I started to read his book. Good book, yup real Good Book. Long story short I stuck with him and took up fishing around the same time. Wow that was a long time ago.

Bluegill and Crappie on the fly rod.

As I write this, I'm almost out of auger with over 30" of ice on the lake, and at 20 degrees for a high it's still making ice. (UHG!) Any-way living as I am in Northern Wisconsin close to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, I look forward to ice out in another 6-8 weeks. I have seen a ton of articles on ice-out crappies, but have never scored on early bird crappies. They usually come quite a bit later for me. Do any of you guys have some ideas on how to catch them on the flowages (small reservoirs) and smaller natural lakes??? when the water temperature is 33 degrees or so.

Not yet but it's only 6:36am and I've only been up for an hour or so. Do you have a line on it somewhere??? I saw that at B.P.S. I will check them out later. Thanks for the info.

I've been looking for 4 pound test regular Vanish line and I can't find it. Cabela's is only carrying the Transition stuff in four pound test. I can't find it at Walmart either????????? Anyone hear if they are discontinuing it. I really like it in that test for trout fishing. :-?

I live in the boondocks ( I would have said boontullies, but I don't know how to spell that for sure) so I enjoy talking to folks I know. Even though the folks who work at the Walmart are 45 miles away in a huge city of 5000 people (Iron Mountain Mi.), I consider them neighbors. Heck I got to drive twenty miles to church. They have 3 good lakes in the city limits, and are bordered by a good size river (Menominee) It has bass (small-mouth & large-mouth), walleye, northern, musky, and sturgeon in it. Most town folks fish, so they know what is going on (fishin' and huntin' is what's going on). The guy with the little sport store has his finger on the local outdoors scene too. I appreciate them all. It's the tourist eco-expert that makes me nuts. Not the guy that asks for help catching a few fish, the guy that tells me what I can catch, the SPORTING way to catch it, and what I can keep, that I consider a pain in the nether regions. I give them directions to a secret spot that will keep them driving all day, and they end up where they started. > ;D Sport shop guys are in it because they love it, not for the cash not when B.P.S., and Cabela's are around They are a valuable resource, and worth the few penny's extra, because of the knowledge they have. I.M.O. anyway.

I'm on your side, but I don't live around people just critters. I know the folks at the Walmart store, they are friends and neighbors. So is Frank at the sport shop. I guess when you know folks you figure they won't screw you over a couple of nickles. Especially when you get to see them at church, picnics etc. Must be different in the cities..., to bad for that. :-/

I got a small sport-shop about 30 miles from my house (Crivitz WI.) called Hook, Line and Sinker. Frank is pretty knowledgeable on both hunting and fishing, has a surprising variety of goods in his little store, and will order what you need if he doesn't have it. The other place, (believe it or not) is the Walmart in Iron Mountain Michigan. They have a pretty good variety of stuff. Most Yoopers (male, female, young, old) fish, hunt and do most things outdoors (I think it may be required by law). It makes for a pretty knowledgeable crew.

My best was a 21", 5 lbs, Lg. Mth.. Not much by Southern standards, but not bad for Northern Wisconsin, caught Aug.,23,1981. Used a spinner-bait over submerged weeds. There was a deeper hole in the weeds, I let it helicopter down and came out crankin' as hard as I could, and the bass nailed it as hard as it could. I got a 4 3/4 pound smallie on the river using a craw-fish jig and the same color twister tail. I was slipping the river casting up stream and bringing it back just a little bit faster then the current. Every-time I came to a spot with an undercut, where the long grass bent over to touch the water I got a fish. I took a five fish limit. The smallest was 2 1/2 lbs the biggest was the 4 3/4 lbs. The rest in-between. I won the local tournament One of the few that I ever won . I'm supposin' that your talkin' bass, else I did get a 51 inch musky about 5 years ago on a bass size spinner-bait, in my canoe, using 12 lb test line and a 6'6" spinning rod. That was mid to late Oct. I was slow rollin' for a bass. She hit, I hung on, she pulled the canoe around. I never took it out of the water, but my partner measured it. We said good bye to the musky and hello to the gin mill. A good time was had by all. ;D next day :-[ :-[ Boy oh boy those Snowshoes (shot of brandy topped with peppermint schnapps) and a beer can be hard on a guy. :-/

Boy Howdie do I remember Gadabout Gaddis ! My Grandpa couldn't figure out why a guy would go fishing then throw back what he caught???? He figured the guy was nuts. ;D If you remember him redtail your about as old as I am, and that's as old as dirt.