Olebiker

The club tournament season is over, but I will start fishing a local series on January 11. Any fishing I do between now and then will be focused on finding fish to catch for that first tournament in January.

I remember my late father watching a bunch of male dancers from some Broadway show prancing around in the Macy's parade several years ago. He commented, "I bet you not one of them boys owns a hunting or fishing license."

It's amazing how so many of Cosby's early bits have stuck with me. Just tonight at dinner my wife was telling me about her coworker's son. I asked what his name is and she responded, "Noah." Without thinking I blurted out, "How long can you tread water?"

Ralphie May I couldn't remember his name, so I Googled "fat comedian." Sure enough, there he was. My favorite comedian of all time, though, was Red Skelton. I enjoyed the fact that he would get tickled at his own jokes.

The tournaments start in January. My fishing partner and I are going to give it a shot. I'll let you know what we think. The local circuit is sponsored by a friend, so I have to believe it should be fun.

The windshield on my 1984 Bass Tracker Tournament TX has been broken for years and I just got around to replacing it. I bought this new one from Custom Mold and Tint in Monticello, Arkansas for $85.

Media Bass is going to run a series of tournaments on Lake Talquin here in Tallahassee next year. Does anyone have any experience with this organization? Do they run a decent tournament?

I wish more musicians would sit down in front of a camera and talk about their music that way.

I'll pull that picture out next August when it's 98 degrees and 98 percent relative humidity. It will serve to remind me why living in Florida is pretty good duty.

I need to get a bed liner for my new truck. Does anyone have any experience with Vortex bed liners? Good, bad, indifferent.

They both seem to be almost identical reels...same braking system as well. I'm impressed with the BPS dave fritts reel as well. I still can't figure out the braking system on it...I must have asked 3-4 people so far and still can't figure it out.Every time i try to get the brake pin out on it hits the covering panel.I'm an idiot or something. My shimanos do not do this at all. Are you talking about the screw that holds the palming plate (the left side of a right handed reel) on?

Get the doctor to get you a prescription for Prevacid. No more nights with your guts burning.

I have two suggestions: Pflueger Trion 5.1:1 or the BPS David Fritts reel that has been mentioned before. I have both of them and have been thrilled with how they both perform.

Jazz musicians are the most talented in the universe, How can you tell? Who can tell when a jazz musician is screwing up or just improvising? Seriously, I feel a bit sorry for people who know too much about music. They are tormented by less than perfect timing and intonation whereas those of us who just know what we like to listen to can be perfectly happy with less refined talent or creativity.

Have you tried the FLOATING Ribbit frog? It is so light that it is hard to cast. It rolls over in the water, and rides so high in the water that the legs don't kick like regular frogs. I just tried a package of them and was sorely disappointed.

What do you bring in the way of a tackle box or bag? I bring my Okeechobee Fats bag, but I had to fish in a boat with a dual console recently and that big bag took up too much room. I want to be prepared, but I don't want to bring everything I own.

That's funny. A friend of mine lost his Pflueger President overboard in salt water and retrieved it the next day. He rinsed it out, relubed it and has been using it for the last couple of years with no problems.

I am a regulatory consultant for the Florida Public Service Comission and I build Adirondack chairs when I have the time.

Several of our members went to Apalachicola Friday for two days of practice before the Sunday club tournament. I wasn't able to get there until Friday evening. My boater had found bass on Friday as did several other members. We went looking for more spots and found a good one right off the bat. We decided to leave the bass alone and go catch supper, so we spent the rest of the day catching trout, flounder, and redfish which the restaurant at ay City Lodge cooked for us that night. My boater had an accident with a filet knife Saturday afternoon and had to leave to go to the hospital, so I fished Sunday with another member who did not have a non-boater. We went to his first spot and he immediately caught four bass, two of which were legal size and went to the livewell. I caught a cypress bass (bowfin). ;D We thought we were in tall cotton at that point, but the bass just turned off. My partner never caught another fish all day, and I finally caught one that went about 1.5 pounds. Turns out we weren't the only ones to find fish hard to come by. Noone caught a limit and all the fish were small. The combination of negligible tides and a north wind really put them off their feed. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I would say you are on 'em big time! Aren't smallmouth special?

When are you going to plunk your 100.00 down for the honor ? When pigs fly out of my . . . This is just another example of how the arrogance of BASS' management is hurting the sport at the top level.

I can't watch that "Stay" video without tearing up. That must have been a difficult one to shoot.

I think you are missing the whole point of this boat and all others in its price range. Yeah, if I could afford a 21 foot boat with a 250 I would love to have it but, if I were going to buy a glass boat, the 186 with a 115 is what I would probably buy. Its what I can afford to buy, what I can afford to operate, and what I can pull with the truck I have now. I would go into the purchase knowing that I am buying a boat that will not win any races, but will be a solid fishing platform for years to come. According to BoatTest.com this boat will get on plane in 3.1 seconds. It will run about 40 mph at 4,500 rpms and get 3.95 mpg at that speed. It tops put at 51 mph which is plenty fast for me.

I am pulling a 17 foot Bass Tracker with a 2008 Ranger with a 3.0 six cylinder. I could pull a small glass boat, but if I had any intention of buying a fiberglass boat more than 18 feet I would want an eight cylinder F150.

I just finished reading Mike Iaconelli's book, "Fishing on the Edge." If you have a chance, pick it up. It's a pretty good read, and I would recommend it. It was only $10 at Books A Million. I would love to hear how a couple of competitors responded to his comments about them.