farmpond1

I would say this same thing to anyone who wanted to play any professional sport such as basketball, golf, etc. If your heart yearns and burns for it, go for it. But don't preclude other possibilities or neglect other responsibilities. Don't become an idiot without any options. Look at the odds. There must be at least 50 million kids out there who want to be pro athletes. Best case scenario, you succeed. Worst case scenerio, you adjust and get on with life-and fish for fun.

I simply grab a gob of lures and shake. The one that comes off first is the winner. But seriously, it just depends. Probably scent/taste is my least important consideration, however.

A former roommate once swore that some 10 lb + fish he'd seen in a creek pool were crappie. When I corrected him and said they were likely "carp" he acted like I was crazy. Later I confirmed that they were, in fact, carp. Doesn't hurt to check with more than one source.

I'd rather grubby up an old pair of clothes than a good pair. So, no, I really don't care-except that I don't want to look like a homeless man. Except that I refuse to wear pink. But at the risk of sounding like a sexist, how a guy thinks isn't necessarily how many (read "most") women think. Fashion seems to always be factored in to a greater degree. Still, a wide brim hat doesn't seem dorky to me.

For mend-it I've tried to find a distributer in Illinois which is close to me. Strangley, they give store names but no contact info. Do any of the big stores carry it? Never mind. I failed to notice you could order it directly from the site. my mistake.

Weedy areas: Superfluke Non-weedy areas: Rattletrap

For mend-it I've tried to find a distributer in Illinois which is close to me. Strangley, they give store names but no contact info. Do any of the big stores carry it?

No, confidence isn't overrated. But it won't make stubborn or disinterested fish bite or compell them to be be where you want them to be either. Some days are just really rough and it's not always easy to explain why. But I'd be lying if I didn't admit to getting sometimes discouraged too. Especially in the early spring or during the dog days of summer. Usually when that happens I break out my fly rod and fish for bluegill. Or I pull out my beach umbrella, crack open a cold soda, and just chill for awhile-reminding myself that it beats the heck out of sitting at my desk at work.

Thanks for the advice. This might better belong in a different section but wanted to let you know how I did. I fished both Devil's Kitchen and Little Grassy. Devils kitchen was tough for bass. All told, I caught 2 and lost 1 on Rapala glass raps in 12 feet of water. There are some big bluegill and scrappy longears in Devils kitchen, though. The southern half of Devils Kitchen is a minefield of stumps. What a pain! I slid on submerged stumps and got stuck on at least 3 of them. If I hadn't also had my 25 horse motor on the boat to pull me off, I might still be out there. Little Grassy was great in the morning. I caught two really nice bass around shallow fallen trees on top water and then, when the sun got a little higher, I switched to X-raps and caught about 3 more. Past 10 a.m., though, the bass stopped biting and I couldnt find them in deeper water. So I switched to panfish. There are still bluegill on the beds but only the deeper beds. The shallow beds have largely been abandoned. Anyway, though it wasn't the most productive trip, I didn't get skunked and I only lost one bait. Considering what a lure trap Devils Kitchen is, that's a miracle! p.s., I didn't find any fish in the newly fallen tree's-though there were plenty of them (trees). They will, however, provide great cover in the future.

I'm heading down to Southern Illinois soon. Anyone fish any of the lakes in Crab Orchard? Are there any patterns/techniques you'd recommend. Please, if you can, be more specific than lure selection. Thanks in advance.

So true!!!!

There are at least a couple of things which should never be allowed to fall into the wrong hands. One of them is nuclear weapons. The other is U-tube. The plants in my office just died.

Ordinarily toilet humor doesn't appeal to me but this is really quite funny. I sent it around to all my coworkers-even the director of my department.

Ponds all have their own personalities so it's impossible to say. But for most that I fish where there are lots of weeds, I like a superfluke.

I agree with Matt. You need to move on. If you go behind your quarterbacks back, you're subversive behavior reflects on you. If the girl likes to flirt and tease, she'll likely do the same with you even if she does move your way. My guess (strictly a guess) is she likes to bolster her ego with lots of attention and flattery. Anyway, there are a lot of women out there and the more you respect yourself and conduct yourself accordingly, the healthier the woman you will attract, in turn. This isn't to say you couldn't go out with her at some future date (should she formally break it off with the other guy) but don't hold your breath.

I am a better fisherman than I was twenty years ago but this body of mine can't handle anything near what it used to. So, while I catch more fish, I spend considerably more time resting and contemplating life's big questions (like what I'm going to eat that evening). I just think physical endurance has a lot to do with it. If the old pro's were able to retain the experience but shed the years/pounds, they'd still be kicking butt.

I'll try the screwdriver method first. Thanks for your help!

Glad to hear that. I assume all zerks are threaded? Standard threads?

I'm having trouble greasing one of my trailor wheel bearings. I know the grease gun works because it feeds grease into the other bearing just fine. But my left bearing zirk (spelling?) refuses to allow/admit grease into it. It used to work just fine. Any ideas?

It's eyes are bugging 'cause you set the hook so hard. My guess is that it's fat because it's full of eggs but it could just because it always supersized it's meals. Nice fish, regardless.

I'm probably not observant enough or I can't put the pieces of the puzzle together well enough but I've yet to find a fish finder more than moderately useful. I wish it were otherwise. Maybe I need to hire an an expert to teach me. For me, the feature which is the most obvious and cheapest is the depth indicator-particularly at certain times of the year. Right now, for example, areas on my lake which are deeper than around 15 feet aren't producing at all but areas between 4 and 10 feet are. So I steer clear of the former. But often the topography of the surrounding land will tell me this. I've yet to have much success when I find humps, river channels, drop offs, etc. I often see fish congregating on the graph but I rarely catch them. When summer rolls around, I always say I'm going to pay close attention to the graph and work deeper water but it's always the same story-After a few hours of fruitless fishing, I'll gravitate back to the points. So I applaud those of you who succeed where I have failed.

I've only caught a few but the really big crappie are uber cool (to borrow from modern slang and, previous to that, Nietzsche)!!! I'm probably anthopomorphizing but the big ones seem to have an attitude. As in: "How dare you catch me!" I love to catch bass but when I catch a crappie, I'm thrilled too. I think they are beautiful fish. The big ones really fight, too! That's a nice slab you have there!

I hope your brother continues to successfully fight the good fight! With catfish and otherwise!!! God bless you both.

sizzle...........pop!!! (The sound of my brain upon review of this riddle)

Marriages. divorces!!! There is a lesson in this somewhere....Hmmmm...