farmpond1

I meant fishers of fish. Not fishers of men.

Yes! This is exactly the sort of thing I was hoping for! Great stories and, obviously, great memories. Keep 'em coming! When I have a few more minutes, I'll add mine.

You're in the wrong section for this topic. Don't be surprised if/when this gets moved. Good question, just wrong section.

Okay gang! Time to dust off the nostalgic brain cells. What drew you into this wacky, wonderful obsession we call fishing? Although there are no wrong answers, I'm hoping for more descriptive answers than just "Because it's fun!" That's obvious. Think about it in terms of who, what, when, where, and why. Is there a particular person who mentored you? How old were you? Is there a defining moment that sealed your fate? That sort of thing.

Press down on the spool with your thumb a little harder than you think you ought until you get the "feel of it." Then ease up in small increments until you get the distance you want. Also, hold the rod with the reel turned sideways (toward your body-not away).

To paraphrase Jerry McGuire, "You lost me at hello." Far too much information. Cut it down to less than half and use bullet statements if you can. Get your strong points out there quickly before their eyes glaze over. But do it without sounding too much like a bullhorn. JMHO

Do you mean literally, or just the movie?

I'm sure you're right. I just didn't want to add more hardware, etc. unnecessarily. But I guess it's pretty necessary.

My contribution to this thread: Eric the half a bee (by Monty Python) A one... two-- A one... two... three... four... Half a bee, philosophically, Must, ipso facto, half not be. But half the bee has got to be Vis a vis, its entity. D'you see? But can a bee be said to be Or not to be an entire bee When half the bee is not a bee Due to some ancient injury? Singing... La dee dee, one two three, Eric the half a bee. A B C D E F G, Eric the half a bee. Is this wretched demi-bee, Half-asleep upon my knee, Some freak from a menagerie? No! It's Eric the half a bee! Fiddle de dum, Fiddle de dee, Eric the half a bee. Ho ho ho, tee hee hee, Eric the half a bee. I love this hive, employee-ee, Bisected accidentally, One summer afternoon by me, I love him carnally. He loves him carnally, Semi-carnally. The end. Cyril Connelly? No; semi-carnally! Oh.

Perhaps if I pluck my ear hairs, I can feel like I did something useful with the last 5 minutes. :

I just read BrianinMDs question regarding transom savers. Not to steal his thread or anything (sorry Brian if it seems that way) but when is it really necessary to use a transom saver? I have a 17.5 foot welded aluminum boat with a transom that is at least 2.5 inches think. (It's so thick, I can barely fit my outboard (a 25 horse Evinrude) on it). I'm thinking, with such a thick transom designed for much heavier engines than mine, do I really need a transom saver? Is this a fairly safe assumption or should I spring for one?

Under what, if any, conditions would you fish a deer hair jig over a rubber skirted jig? Have you ever won or placed high in a tournament where you didn't feel on the top of your game? What is your least favorite (regardless of effectiveness) fishing technique? Your most favorite?

You could probably read a newspaper through that fish-before you wrapped it in it. ;D

I never trim my skirts so short that they go above my knees! :) ;D :

I can only guess that with my brother, at least, he thinks it's the "principle of the thing." Only he never learned it's wise to pick ones battles (by that, I don't mean "all of them.") Some things just aren't worth arguing over and sometimes, though I doubt he realizes it, sometimes he's wrong. It's a birth order thing, too. He apparently things he's older and wiser. Whatever! :

Why do you think they are always the problem? ;D Sorry, I figured that's what your brother would say! ...lol ;D ;D

My older brother would argue with a tree stump. There isn't anything I (or anyone else for that matter) can say that he can't find cause for dissention or contradiction. I can't begin to number the battles which would occur if I didn't (usually) choose to ignore it. What is it with people like this?

Umm...some of these questions he might take personal affront to. I'd omit or tone some of these down.

"Space" in this sense, means open water where the bass are suspended somewhere between the top and bottom following the schooling baitfish. I've never tried this technique on smallmouth, let alone largemouth so I can't say. I imagine it would work fine. I'm like most folks, however. I prefer to fish some sort of structure when/if I can.

That wasn't very bright (no pun intended) of the other fellow. Besides being against the law, it was, as your case illustrates, very unsafe. It's difficult enough to see anything at night anyway, even with running lights. Glad to hear it was just an "almost" rather than a hit.

I wouldn't wear them on a powerplant lake (at least not a nuclear powerplant). They'd probably think you are a terrorist and shoot you.

This is exactly the sort of thing I used to have to do. Having received no allowance (what's that?), scrounging was the order of the day. One of the things I used to do is lean over a bridge, lower a garden worm (caught myself, of course) into the water using a nut as a sinker, and catch yellow bullheads. Even nowadays with my boat, electronic gizmos, and a kings ransom of shiny lures, I still look back very fondly on those days.

Most heroes would not call themselves "heroes." They say they did what they had to do. He is no different. Nevertheless, he should be commended for his skills and for staying cool under pressure. Personally, I would have soiled my trousers, changed them, and then soiled them again.

IMHO it's mostly a marketing gimmick. Pretty soon they will announce that hot pink is the preferred color. Or blue. It's entirely arbitrary.

In the third picture, it looks like you were staring down the fish! What were you saying to it? "Where's yo' mama?" Awesome catch! They just don't often get that big around here! Are they feeding on golf balls?