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pretty hot if you ask me

I like suffix. It is a good braid. Using it makes me happy. It is good to be happy. Camo makes me feel invisible. I like invisible. Bass like me invisible. They are afraid to see me.

A tire iron, cinder block, or automatic transmission to the head.

Ughhh! I got to unpack this dang apartment. Boxes boxes everywhere. Then I get to hopefully relax all day tomorrow and Sunday. Still debating throwing a Saturday night party though. Yall all fly or drive (your preference) on down! I may even load the place down with them beautiful Southern Women you Yankees are always hearing about.

The ones that don't fight were obviously raised by walleye parents.

I just got back in from my trip and I am exhausted. Don't worry I am no where close to being a threat in the contest. LOL. We did have a lot of fun. We boated 60 fish. No big ones to brag about. Yes, it was windy, but the day was beautiful. Low 80's partly cloudy. The glades looked normal for this time of year. Water was a little higher than normal but better than what I was expecting. We went through a lot of plastics, but the frog fishing was non-existent. There is a healthy population of fish that's for sure. My casting arm is dead, so I probably will not fish for a couple days and rest up.

Let's get this back on topic. Here is my old Apbt Diesel. He was a rescue and a great dog but sadly had to be put down due to heart failure.

Not going there with Raider.

Does the container have two purposes? One as dry storage for the TP and two as your toilet.

To tie my lure to my line and cast into the water VERY valuable tip widely recognized as the most effective and utilized tip on this site

Not really racy, more racist, but I think the worst one is the Zara spook. One time I was fishing a small pond near my house and there were 3 kids about 9 or 10 also fishing. They saw me pull in a bass and asked me what I was using. Telling a 10 year old black kid that I was using a spook was really awkward.

Shotgun blast to the head should do the trick.

This is a trap. He wants us to fly or drive (our preference) just so he can get us to unpack then stiff us.

Didn't mean to hijack the thread rippin. I love bullies. Common guys post them up!

My fat bottom girls are more of the shot and a beer type. They like my storm thunderstick most of the time with a deep diver coming in a close 2nd.

Can't help you there buddy. However watching video's of the snakehead round ups, they use little aluminum clubbing bats. Two good hits on their heads and I don't see them moving after that.

Nothing like Russ's fish, but I have done well with the U2 gill up here in MN. FIshing it slow on weedlines or dragging it like a jig has both produced for me. I was also really impressed by how well they skip, great for shallow water. Now I need to get me a hardgill.

5XD / 6XD

You guys are making me sick with all this Dominoes and Little Cesars talk

They're French.

Those non-fighter bass are probably the ones that have relied on government hand outs for generations upon generations rendering them lethargic.

I guess.... teach a 15 yr. old priorities like that, he'll probably be homeless by the time he's 21. Hootie

The test reel for the PQ 5-Year Challenge hit its fourth service anniversary on October 26 (today). I cleaned the reel this morning, fished it mid-day, and wrote this report in the afternoon. Background: Briefly, the 5-Year Challenge resulted from some board members expressing the opinion that the PQ reel was a “one-season” reel (it would be completely worn out after a "season"), and certainly wouldn’t stay in an angler’s arsenal for as long as 5 years. The subject reel is being used to test those opinions. Other threads in this series: BPS Pro Qualifier BC Reel – 5 Year Challenge – Interim Report (12-7-2011) BPS Pro Qualifier BC Reel – 5-Year Challenge – A Speed-Bump On The Road To Paradise BPS Pro Qualifier BC Reel – 5-Year Challenge – Three Years In BPS Pro Qualifier BC Reel – 5-Year Challenge – Time To Pay The Piper! Current Statistics (based on documented catch data and assumptions as discussed in the 12-7-2011 thread): Reel placed into service: 26 Oct. 2009 Months of service as of this report: 48 Number of “catch days” (days when fish were caught with this reel): 373 Number of fish caught: 786 Biggest fish caught: 48.6 lb grass carp Biggest bass caught: 9.5 lb LMB Number of cycles (casts & retrieves): 39,000+ (see note) Note: Number of cycles is based on catch data, not on total days/hours of use. The reel was used many days where no fish were caught, especially during the winter months. I fish this reel nearly every day and actual number of use days probably easily exceeds 600-700. Actual number of cycles could easily be in excess of 60,000. Frankly, it is getting difficult to calculate the number of accrued cycles on this reel due to the significant number of days where it is fished, but no fish are caught – resulting in thousands of uncounted cycles. Significant Events In the Last Year: On January 25, 2013, I filed an interim report to detail a parts replacement necessary due to damage to the level wind system caused by debris lodging in the worm shaft (See the “Time To Pay The Piper” thread linked above). Otherwise the reel has been mostly trouble-free for the past year (see the "When Plastic Trumps Aluminum" section below). The biggest fish caught with the reel during the past year was this 34 pound grass carp: The biggest bass caught with the reel in the last year was this 6.08lb LMB: Special mention goes to the smallest fish ever caught with this reel, landed just a few days ago: a 1 7/16” minnow! It was a tough fight but I managed to land the fish (And how the heck that treble drilled the minnow right through the eyes I'll never know.) Previous Maintenance/Repairs: December 2010 – Annual cleaning. December 2011 – Annual cleaning. Replacement of line guide pawl at about 26 months of use. Interesting factoid – the pawl had probably made at least 320,000 passes across the worm shaft at the time of replacement. July 2012 – Repairs / cleaning (see the "A Speed-Bump On The Road To Paradise" thread linked above): Repair 1 – debris jammed the line guide pawl causing the pawl to create a burr on the worm shaft. Filed off the burr and thoroughly cleaned the reel. Repair 2 – centrifugal brake wear – replaced the palm-side sideplate assembly. January 2013 - Repair / cleaning / upgrade (see the "Time To Pay The Piper" thread linked above): Repair – replaced the worm shaft, line guide pawl, and two idler gears. Upgrade – replaced the stock drag washers with Carbontex washers. October 2013 – Annual cleaning. Current Condition: The condition of the internal parts of the reel are about the same as previously reported – some wear on the clutch return pawl that doesn’t affect function, and the centrifugal brake shoes have considerable wear (as reported in the "Speed-Bump" thread). Otherwise, things are looking pretty good inside. Externally, the reel has a bit more minor rash on the top of the reel, very little on the sides. Spool bearings are getting increasingly noisy but spin well when cleaned. If you are familiar with the whine made by Shimano Digital Control reels during a cast…that’s sorta the noise I hear when I cast this PQ – you get the audio experience of a DC reel without the high cost… Otherwise, the reel is fishable, but it’s readily apparent that you are not fishing with a new, tight reel. As I mention with every report, this reel has not been babied, and has often been rode hard and put away wet. In winter, the reel is frequently rode hard and put away frozen, with ice still in the line guide when taking the rod out of the trunk of the car. I still believe that much of the centrifugal brake wear that I reported back in July 2012 may have been a result of cold-weather service (air temps down to below freezing) - causing some of the grit and congealed oil film on the brake drum to become particularly abrasive - accelerating wear on the brass drum. When Plastic Trumps Aluminum: Earlier this year, I noticed the clutch bar (thumb bar) getting a little loose. My initial thought was that the bar had cracked on the inside surface (it’s a plastic part) and that the nylon(?) shims on each side of the clutch bar were probably worn. I added a clutch bar and a set of shims to a parts order without disassembling the reel to determine the actual cause for the looseness. When the parts came in, I stripped the reel and quickly found the actual cause – wear to the aluminum frame caused by the action of the clutch bar. I went ahead and installed the new parts but they did little to tighten up the bar so I am not reporting them as necessary parts replacements. In the photo below, note the vertical grooves (indicated by the red arrows) cut in the frame by the “legs” on the bottom of the clutch bar - this entire area of the frame should be completely flat. As mentioned, the clutch bar is is a plastic part but it does have some sort of plating on it. That plating, with perhaps the addition of grit and grime under the bar, were enough to actually groove the aluminum frame. Thus, plastic trumps aluminum in this case. This is the causal factor for the loose clutch bar and potentially could be a source of an eventual frame crack. I checked my other 5 PQs and this wear (to a lessor degree) is present - the severity based on the amount of use of the reel. Summary: After 48 months of use, where are we at? Parts replacements: Parts replaced due to wear: (necessary) 1 line guide pawl, (optional) original drag washers Parts replaced due to damage caused by debris: (necessary) worm shaft, line guide pawl, (optional) idler gears Parts replaced (probably) due to my failure to maintain: palm-side sideplate assembly (to replace the brake drum) Parts ordered and installed but did not fix the problem: clutch bar and shims Lessons learned: Keep the brake drum CLEAN and appy lube to the drum to prevent premature wear. Accept that the dual-braking system (DBS), along with its advantages, has some disadvantages - added complexity and potential wear to parts that are not readily replaceable - like the brake shoes. Closing: That's it. Hopefully, I won't have another report until the reel hits its fifth service anniversary and I issue a final report in October 2014. Will this PQ last another year? Stay tuned and we’ll find out...

I started doing this when I got tired of loosing senkos and it seems to be working. Basically all I'm doing is tightly wrapping a strip of electrical tape around the center and hooking it through that. It's hard to rip through the electrical tape so your senko can last for a while.

At 5pm I did take the boys to the bluegill hole across the street. Slayed them on crappie nibbles, over a dozen in 30 minutes. Good time

One day while fishing with my son in an aluminum rental boat, the fishing was really hot, and suddenly I had to go bad. My son, not wanting to leave our hot spot, suggested I crap in the boat. When I protested, he said, Dad why do you think they call it a "JOHN" boat. Hootie

If you can wait until the end of February, BPS has their annual spring classic sale, the Pro Qualifier will be on sale for either 79 or 69, if u live close to a BPS store u can trade in your old reel and get a credit, the PQ is the best 100 reel on the market IMO. The tournament special is an entry level reel, and I've never used one. Allot of the guys here say the mettle reels sold by Academy are good. I would definitely suggest that when u buy a reel make sure it has an aluminum frame, quality bearings, just because a reel has allot of bearings it doesn't mean its a good reel. Good luck

I have found that if I lightly (gently) rest my thumb on the spool I can get a ton of distance and still control the speed by increasing or decreasing pressure as needed. It really is just a matter of getting used to it and practicing.

Went to new spot today, fished for 6 hours and only got 4 smalls but i did get one that may win smallest, this little guy jumped on a 1/4 oz rattle trap

ok. Im not down with your hipster lingo.Next time lets just say bong for us old guys.

http://youtu.be/NGvv_gKZaMs

A magic smoking lamp is a water pipe.

What ads???

As of yesterday same deal here on the west coast, it's still SLOOOOOWWWWW.

They are gone! Heaven. Do something for yourself that your wife does not want to do, such as seeing a movie, shopping for fishing stuff, looking at boats, walk around Northern, Lowe's and Home Depot just looking at the items on the shelves, organize your fishing tackle, watching what you want on TV, etc. Just some ideas.

2 bags.

Sure is a lot of ground being furrowed here. I understand the tangents. I'm apt to say, anywhere within such a conversation concerning the nature of complex cyclical events: "We can go anywhere from here." Definitions become important. And the closer I look, the more I end up splitting hairs A great time for making great catches including some big numbers IS "after the spawn" if one defines the spawn as still seeing some males shallow and guarding fry, and some (often little ones) even setting up late beds (without much of an audience often). In all but the smallest waters those bass done spawning have left the shallows and may collect on ... anything they can relate to, before vegetation kicks in and summer patterns related to it, develop. These pre-summer fish (as I call them) can collect up heavy on particular structure (or cover) pieces. I know a guy who fishes larger waters with much denser bass popns than my waters and he has had runs of 40, 50, and 60 mature bass from one such spot! If you miss such spots even by a little, or don't know specifically what to look for, you can cast to some sparsely populated water or just holding late tending males. There are some other "post-spawn" feeding opportunities that the mature bass take advantage of on the tail end of 'the spawn" when males can still be seen tending, in my, and many other, waters too. But...again I call this pre-summer activity. I see post-spawn as a pretty short window when actual egg dropping is not happening anymore and males are tending eggs and then fry. Some females are still hanging about spawning areas, but getting jilted by now tending males. After this they go on to feeding, and I call this pre-summer. The word "spawn" is not needed then -even though males are still seen tending -probably the sight most anglers label "the spawn". (In fact, I've even wondered whether "post-spawn" is a real period. I put this in parentheses bc maybe/likely in larger water bodies than I frequent, transitions take longer. My questioning this may just be an artifact of the small waters I fish -the "post-spawn" females and males getting to feeding virtually right away, albeit the females low in energy at first.) Such females are pretty low energy at the tail end of the "spawn". Many are still willing to spawn but most males are occupied with eggs or fry and they'll attack a still amorous female like an intruder. Here's a post I made a while back describing the capture of what I see as a "post-spawn" female, in my waters: Here's a pic of a post-spawn female that was hanging around a guarding male that wouldn't let her near. Sight fishing can tell you a lot about what's going on -why we don't catch them all. It isn't easy to make artificial food look real, or appear catchable -jiving with the given fish's energy level. This female, like most post-spawn females, would not chase so I had to drop and swim the tube just ahead of her. Too far ahead of her and no go. Too much vegetation to "kill" the bait in –no go. The swim too fast for her to commit –no go. She took a plastic craw-tube, gingerly, but I missed and then she avoided it. I finally got her on a standard tube with a perfectly timed fall and swim. Now I could see her. Imagine doing this blind, just working a shoreline! We miss a lot of potentially catchable fish. Baits that work slowly, or stay in place, have the best chance of getting bit.

Got out fishing today for the first time in 10 days. Fished from 10-4. The wind was blowing pretty good today 10-25 mph out of the northwest and it was cold. I think the day time high temperature today was a balmy 46 degrees. Water temperature was 51 degrees. Started the day off fishing jigs which produce no fish and no hits. Started throwing a spinnerbait and I quickly caught a several pickerel and a 2 lb bass. after catching several more pickerel on the spinnerbait I decied to try a crankbait. The crankbait produced several nice fish in short order. I ended up sticking with a crankbait for most of the day and it really paid off. I caught 8 largemouth and 3 smallmouth for the day. The five biggest fish were 8-1 largemouth, 5-2 largemouth, 3-6 smallmouth, 3-4 smallmouth and a 2-11 largemouth. Despite the harsh conditions the fishing was pretty good. The 8-1 had some serious girth and I had to follow here with the boat a bit.. I was able to cull to fish today. Back to the water tomorrow. 22.5 inches long,19.5 inch girth 8 lb 1 oz 20 inch 5lb 1oz I am going to try and cull some more bass tomorrow but that will be tough. Hope everyone else is having luck this weekend too.

Stuff happens. I'm not a "pit bull" owner. Saying that: a pit bull is one if the best dogs to own. It's really important for an owner to know their dog whatever breed it is. People shouldn't forget whatever breed you own it was originally bred for a job and sometimes you get one that is still all about that job.

Sounds like you had a pit bull that did what it was bred for.

I prefer abu garcia over shimano any day

You cracked me up. The guy mimicking the turkey was really good. You should have labeled it turkey hunting in the dirty south.

Too bad it's not in a few weeks. The wife and I will be at our daughter's in GA. We could meet at the BPS in Birmingham and push people into the aquarium. I know a guy.

Sharp hook and a good hook set. Keep line tight and reel it in fast.

Unrelated, somewhat, but when I used to get telemarketer's calls I would answer the phone saying buster's sperm bank, you spank it we bank it. It was a 100% effective, the shock factor that is.

I prefer to shoot bottle rockets at their nests and kill em as they come out

I kinda like the chainsaw idea and then set your feists loose on em

In all my years, I can tell you that has Never crossed my mind - not even once.......

What deep thinkers men are... I mowed the lawn today, and after doing so I sat down and had a cold beer. The day was really quite beautiful, and the drink facilitated some deep thinking. My wife walked by and asked me what I was doing and I said 'nothing'. The reason I said that instead of saying 'just thinking' is because she would have said 'about what'. At that point I would have to explain that men are deep thinkers about various topics which would lead to other questions. Finally I thought about an age old question: Is giving birth more painful than getting kicked in the groin? Women always maintain that giving birth is way more painful than a guy getting kicked in the groin. Well, after another beer, and some heavy deductive thinking, I have come up with the answer to that question. Getting kicked in the groin is more painful than having a baby; and here is the reason for my conclusion. A year or so after giving birth, a woman will often say, "It might be nice to have another child." On the other hand, you never hear a guy say, "You know, I think I would like another kick in the groin." I rest my case.

Your saying that non fishing females give you flack about you fishing? That's terrible, I'd ask them what hobbies do they have? If any woman or man hasn't been out fishing in the dark when the sky lights up and goes from twilite to dawn it's not about just fishing. Have they ever witnessed a doe with her two fawns at first light at the waters edge trying to get a drink while two freshwater otters are splashing them there missing out on nature's finest moments by not fishing. We all have wild America all around us when were fishing. Even camping when there's a low fog in the field in front of us and a herd of deer pops there heads up out from the mist. We were fishing from the mass. Border down thru Connecticut all the way to the ocean on the housatonic river. We fished in every spot we could. My point is so many people miss out on life. Then they say I wish I could of, should of?? I never let anything I could experience slip by when it comes to being outdoors with nature. It's there loss. Now let's talk about that topwater strike when we toss a spook near the Lilly pads and watch a bass turn and come towards our lure like a submarine on a hunt while we hold our breath as she hits it to knock it silly then turns and takes it. Those seconds feel like minutes. This is why we fish and what we live for. I get the same flack about hunting. I'm sitting in front of an abandoned Apple orchard that's up in the green mountain national forest as far up in elevation as my jeep could go to an old farm. At around 5pm this red squirrel climbs thru the brush pile to the end of the branch in front of me and stares at me. I figure out he never seen a human before. Then he climbs up the Apple tree where he has an Apple wedged in the fork in the branch. He takes it out and eats some, then he puts it back in the fork in the tree branch and leaves. I had a front row seat to see this unfold. My point is I'd never see this at home. Plus I smoke my annual $5 cigar up there too.