SDoolittle

SCRUB: a fish that is just above the minimum legal size that you hope to cull (scrub) from your bag before weigh in.

My favorite shakey head worm isn't a worm at all. I like a 4" zoom lizard on a 1/8 oz tru tungsten ball buster.

Dude, let me tell you about the Bait Monkey over here. As you can imagine I don't have too many bills to pay while I'm deployed. No rent, no utilities, no gas for my truck. So with the money I'm saving I decided to get myself a couple of new rods. I start by ordering four Gblanks custom rods that I need. The next day I see that Kistler has last years models on sale, and I don't wan't all my new Gblanks to feel uncomfortable next to my old cheap rods, so I order a couple of Kistlers. Next, I see Tackle Warehouse has the Chronarch B on clearance and I need some reels for my new rods, so I ordered three of them. Finally, I realized that one of my new rods is a swimbait rod and I really don't have many swimbaits, so I ordered a bunch of Mattlures that I need. I need to redeploy before I need anything else.

Anybody try to use that stupid twitchin' bar?

I know what you mean. My best decision was volunteering for duty in Texas.

I had one and didn't care for it. I gave it to a friend of mine who was in need of a reel.

A Creek Chub Fintail Shiner. I always thought it was a Creek Chub Wiggle Fish. I guess even that is uncertain.

Shad Rap SR-7

Hand Grenades

^ plays with trick worms in the bathroom sink

I want to get myself a new rifle when I get back from Iraq and I'm considering a Model 70 featherweight in .270 win. Has anyone got their hands on one of the new Model 70's?

Thanks guys!

A couple of you said "bananas". Have you ever heard the superstition about bringing bananas on a boat?

Fish Chris, I had experience similar to yours, only my boater decided to go in several hours early when I was spanking him five fish to one.

I entered a Federation Nation tournament as a nonboater. As soon as I meet my boater he starts talking about how he knows a lot of the people here and doesn't like any of them. He then goes on to explain that he doesn't like B.A.S.S. and how much better FLW is. I'm wondering, if he dislikes B.A.S.S. and all these people so much, why doesn't he go find an FLW tournament? So it's raining like heck and very cold March temperatures and of course we make an hour long run from end of the lake to the other. When we stop he tells me that he dislikes draw tournaments because he hates bringing strangers to his spots. I told him not to worry about me because I had been buried so deep in my parka on the ride in that I have no idea where we were. Finally, we start fishing and of course he's one of these guys who wants to spend all day telling me what I'm doing wrong. All day I listened to him gripe and complain about everything imaginable. Then he absolutely threw a fit when he lost a fish at the boat. He blamed me for losing his fish, but he was trying to horse it in and never got it close to the net. At the end of the day I was cold, wet, and annoyed with this guy to the point that I was about to swear off tournament fishing forever. But then we weighed in and I took first place and big bass in the nonboaters division. It was my first tournament check and someone told me that it was customary to give the boater a cut. I started to walk across tha parking lot toward him, but he jumped in his truck, slammed the door, and sped away!

It's hard to go wrong with a Shimano!

I use swim senkos as trailers for swim jigs.

My thoughts exactly!

Check out the Bass Pro Shops Stump Jumper. It's basically the same lure as the roadrunner, but with a minnow shaped head. BPS has them on sale for $.74 apiece. I haven't used them and don't know about the quality, but at that price they are probably worth checking out.

I have a Browning Safari travel rod that I brought to Iraq. BPS has them for $99 dollars. Breaks down into three pieces and comes with a pvc travel case. Mine is a baitcaster, but they have spinning rods as well.

Where?

Are Lucky Craft lures worth the cost? I've been doing quite a bit of online shopping lately and I'm trying to talk myself into ordering some. I'm just having a hard time spending $15+ on a crankbait when I could buy a Bandit, Norman, or Strike King for $5-$7.

No, not a bucketmouth, an actual bucket. The same bucket I've been casting to since I arrived in Iraq. I can't complain too much because I haven't been skunked in four months. That old bucket is pretty easy to pattern (I can sight fish year round) and willing to bite on anything I throw at it. The only problem is that she never puts up much of a fight!

Another Soldier and I are planning a redeployment fishing trip. Our plan is to spend three or four days at both Amistad and Falcon Lakes. We should get a month or so of leave time when we return from Iraq and we will have a years worth of fishing to make up for. We should be home in early December and will probably try to make the trip in early January. Can anyone give us any advise on seasonal patterns, accommodations, Mexican fishing licenses? We have eight or nine months to plan and prepare for this and would appreciate any input. Thanks in advance, Steve.

What bugs me is how nonfishermen always assume that we're all out there drinking beer while we fish!