farmpond1

I agree. Illinois doesn't seem to "belong" in the Northeast category. (No offense to those folks intended).

From the looks of it, this person seems to have a classic case of obsessive compulsive disorder. Clearly there is some sort of mental imbalance going on. Oh, and yes, it is disgusting.

I cried like that once-when a tree fell on me. ;D

No but a homeless person once told me he hadn't had a bite all day. So I bit him.

If these are your choices for worst bands (especially the Eagles), I'd hate to see your choice for best bands.

Not in any particular order: Good Will Hunting Office Space Shadowlands A Christmas Story The Fisher King Honestly, though, there are many others that could make the list.

Especially if you are in the military. ;D

Was it a Mann's jelly worm? Maybe he wanted strawberry instead of grape. ;D

Though there are no absolutes, I feed the hook into the solid side and out the slotted side. The slot is designed to conceal the hook point and make the fluke weedless.

It's nice to have a witness for these sorts of things.

I use a 4/0 wide gap hook. Once I run the point of the hook so it emerges in the slot, I "pinch" the point lightly into a thin piece of the flukes skin. This is especially useful after you've caught a few bass and the hook wants to work it's way too easily out of the fluke. I also try to rig the hook slightly asymetrical. Asymetry gives the fluke an erratic action that the bass seem to like. Dropping a fluke off the edge of emergent vegitation and moss is often quite productive-though I've done pretty well in open water too. If at all possible I don't like to add weight as it greatly impedes the action. For deeper water, a carolina rig is generally better than a texas rig (IMHO).

Not too long ago I was fishing a retention pond near where I live. A plethora of lilly pads grows in the shallow end. Somewhat stupidly, I tied a silver floating rapala onto my spinning gear and tossed it in the pockets between the pads. A nice bass engulfed it and quickly headed for cover. As you've probably already anticipated, it immediately wrapped me around some pads and broke me off. Lamenting the loss of a nice bass and one of my most productive lures, I retied and continued to fish. A few minutes later a friend arrived and I told him the same story I'm telling you. Anyway, just as i was finishing, I noticed a bass swimming up to the surface. "Look!" I pointed, "There it is now." Right on cue, the bass broke the surface, shook his head vigorously, and tossed my bait out of his mouth. After a couple of casts, I was able to snag my Rapala and recover it. It's not often a bass is so generous as to give me back my lure! Now if I can only persuade one to grant me 3 wishes!

You're not holding your mouth right. But seriously, your average doesn't sound that bad. It may not be outstanding but for someone new to the sport, it could be worse. As already mentioned, some bodies of water get hit pretty hard and catching large numbers of fish is difficult. What may work to your advantage there, however, is because you are new to the game, you may try things that other fishermen don't do (and the fish haven't seen before-fish become "immune" to certain baits after seeing them pass by 15 billion times). One suggestion I might add (also already mentioned by someone else) is to fish waters that aren't already beaten to a froth. Become friendly with condo/home owners who have retention ponds on or adjoining their property. Offer to take them fishing with you if they will let you onto their property. Some golf courses, churches, businesses, etc. will have ponds you can fish. Or fish at night when there are far fewer other fishermen/boaters/jet skiiers.

I believe you meant "Tidal surge" as opposed to "tiddle surge" Yep, it's a bummer to see your favorite holes get messed up. But as they say, "Nature finds a way." Hopefully the waters will straighten out in time. In the meantime, you'll likely have to tow your boat inland for a spell-something folks in my neck of the woods have always had to do. Glad to hear you are safe. Hope you didn't lose anything (else) in the storms.

As Big O says, you'll be fishing so that's the biggest/best thing. Don't let performance anxiety screw up your enjoyment of the game. And for Petes sake, don't let the hopes of money ruin it for you (or anyone else). I always believe in having a backup plan. Who's to say the fish are going to be where you expect them to be, that they will definitely bite, or that somebody else won't beat you to your spot. Maybe having a backup plan or at least being willing move and adapt will help "hedge your bets" and ease your nerves some. Good luck with the tourney. Let us all know how it goes.

Were you splitting logs manually? If so, I don't know how you mustered the energy to use jerk baits too (they aren't easy to fish when you are tired). But it sounds like you had an awesome evening! you must've hit the mother-load!

Another thread relating to the culling of dead fish got me thinking about a similar issue. Many states and/or lakes have slot limits in effect. But they also have laws about the wasting of fish. Which rule applies when you catch a fish inside the slot limit but which is dead (or will die shortly after release)? Are you required to keep it or put it back? I have known fishermen to keep such fish and then hold their fingers crossed that no game warden will stop them (or will believe them and cut them some slack). Am curious as to what you all do in such a case?

Heddon Torpedo. The size of the bass wouldn't make anyone sit up and take notice so I'll omit that part.

I've never seen such a thing but it's not a bad idea. I agree, the barbs on (most) baits are too large.

Playing the devil's advocate, if I were a cop, tinted windows would p*** me off! If I had to pull someone over, I'd want to know what's going on inside that car in front of me. Won't comment on the rest of the cops behavior.

This needs to be submitted to Outdoor Life, Field & Stream and even Ladies Home Journal! It's that funny!!!!

On the campus where I work, Gillette (or whoever makes them) was passing out free MACH III razors by the bucketful. They know it's the replacement blades and not the handles that makes them all their money. (Kind've like printer ink cartridges). So, although I haven't tested your, assuming this is true, this would be awesome! I guess it would work for other razors equally well.

Holy Schneikey!!! I would've been bitten for sure!

I'd never seen this poem before but it's a good illustration of how crazy the language is. It is quite remarkable how we somehow manage to navigate the English language as well as we do (some of us, anyway).

Amazingly, I got them all correct!!! And I actually had fun with the attempt! (It was a lot more fun than what I do here at work, trust me!) Anyway, I was amazed that I managed to persist with it. In high school and even during college my brain would have fizzled and popped with the only real outcome being smoke coming out my ears. I certainly never would've made it past 4th grade if these problems were mandatory then!