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STORY: Department of Fish and Wildlife sends a letter to a home/landowner asking for permission to access a creek on their property to document the decline in a certain species of unheard of frogs. *****The homeowners response in the second letter is EPIC***** Letter From Dept. of Fish & Wildlife: Dear Landowner: DFW Staff will be conducting surveys for foothill yellow-legged frogs & other amphibians over the next few months. As part of this research we would like to survey the creek on your property. I am writing this letter to request your permission to access your property. Recent research indicates that foothill yellow-legged frogs have declined significantly in recent years and are no longer found at half their historic sites. Your cooperation will be greatly appreciated and will help contribute to the conservation of this important species Please fill out the attached postage-paid postcard and let us know if you are willing to let us cross your property or not. If you have any concerns about this project please give us a call. We would love to talk with you about our research. Sincerely Steve XXXXXX Conservation Strategy Implementation Biologist ********RESPONSE FROM LANDOWNERS: ******** Dear Mr. XXXXXX Thank you for your inquiry regarding accessing our property to survey for the yellow-legged frog. We may be able to help you out with this matter. We have divided our 2.26 acres into 75 equal survey units with a draw tag for each unit. Application fees are only $8.00 per unit after you purchase the “Frog Survey License” ($120.00 resident / $180.00 Non-Resident). You will also need to obtain a “Frog Habitat” parking permit ($10.00 per vehicle). You will also need an “Invasive Species” stamp ($15.00 for the first vehicle and $5.00 for each add’l vehicle) You will also want to register at the Check Station to have your vehicle inspected for non-native plant life prior to entering our property. There is also a Day Use fee, $5.00 per vehicle. If you are successful in the Draw you will be notified two weeks in advance so you can make necessary plans and purchase your “Creek Habitat” stamp. ($18.00 Resident / $140.00 Non-Resident). Survey units open between 8am and 3pm but you cannot commence survey until 9am and must cease all survey activity by 1pm. Survey Gear can only include a net with a 2″ diameter made of 100% organic cotton netting with no longer than an 18″ handle, non-weighted and no deeper than 6′ from net frame to bottom of net. Handles can only be made of BPA-free plastics or wooden handles. After 1pm you can use a net with a 3″ diameter if you purchase the “Frog Net Endorsement” ($75.00 Resident / $250 Non-Resident). Any frogs captured that are released will need to be released with an approved release device back into the environment unharmed. As of June 1, we are offering draw tags for our “Premium Survey” units and application is again only $8.00 per application. However, all fees can be waives if you can verify “Native Indian Tribal rights and status. You will also need to provide evidence of successful completion of “Frog Surveys and You” comprehensive course on frog identification, safe handling practices, and self-defense strategies for frog attacks. This course is offered online through an accredited program for a nominal fee of $750.00. Please let us know if we can be of assistance to you. Otherwise, we decline your access to our property but appreciate your inquiry. Sincerely, Larry & Amanda XXXXXXX

I don't even know where to start. I moved to VA this Spring, and had to give up my old fishing habits back in CT. I took up bass fishing. I has been a ton of fun. I have steadily been catching good fish over the past few months, but all I could catch on was wacky Senkos...not complaining, but it tends to get a little boring when it's the only thing you do when you go fishing. I took the week off from work this past week, and fished every day, and boy did I catch! Every day was better than the last. The best part of my week, is that I learned A LOT! I tried a whopper plopper, and caught several big fish, a 5 and a 6 pounder. I tried texas rigging some 8-12" abaits, which I had never done before. I caught a lot of fish on the T-rig. And today, I tried a couple of jigs. I have been wanting to try jigs since I started bass fishing. I splurged the other day and treated myself to a new Lew's rod and Pro G baitcaster, and it handles a jig very well. The fish today were all over that jig as soon as it hit the bottom. I dropped a good fish on the jig today. It's definitely a bit tricky getting them in the boat (kayak) on the jig. I also tried the Neko rig this monrning. I was into fish but had a tough time getting a bite. I screwed a small bullet weight into the head of my senko, and BAM...started catching fish right away! Tuesday, my buddy Luna and I hit one of our favorite spots. The bite was very slow. We were headed back in, and decided to have a few casts at a piece of structure along the way. Glad we did! Luna hooked up on a 6+lbs fish (his personal best), and just a few minutes later, I hooked up on a 6+ (my PB) (different fish...mine was tagged). From Tuesday to today, I caught 3 over 6lbs, 3 over 5lbs, and 5 over 4lbs....and dozens of fish in the 1-3lb range. I had a blast. It just seemed like everything I did this week was perfect. I won't forget it, and I'll be looking forward to a BIG and steady bite like this for a long time! The best part was the new baits and techniques I learned. I feel so much more confident going out on the water after this week. So much for those "dog days of summer"!

With the Elite Series stopping on my home waters of the Potomac River I had to sign up as a marshal to see how these guys attacked it. I was confirmed for the first 2 days and got as lucky as you can get by drawing KVD for day 2 of the tournament (Friday). After launching we had some time before take-off so in between him doing a couple quick interviews we got to discuss his first day and his plans for day 2. KVD's first day was a nightmare...Other boats in his spots, timing off, best areas trashed by the wind, and lost fish. He told me that it was one of those days where everything that could've possibly gone wrong did go wrong. We spent the first few minutes in the morning on day 2 talking about the weather, he was hoping the wind changed direction enough so that his best area wouldn't be blown out again. After checking the weather a few different times he concluded that it was probably still going to be trashed, but there was enough of a chance to at least go check on it when the tide was right. When we finally took off as boat #60 he started up river to a spot where he saw several good fish in practice. The first thing that jumped out to me was how he drove the boat...It was like a race car driver, not becasue of the speed but the 'path' he takes. He runs right on the shoreline when he can (said it was smoother, and it was), as in you could touch it with a fishing rod, and cuts corners/points literally as close as you can. I knew that in some areas he was in less than a foot of water. It reminded me of race car driver cutting the apex of each turn...Zero wasted time and not even a foot of extra distance traveled. None of the other pros seemed to take it to this extreme, including my day 1 pro (Cliff Prince). It wasn't a far run to his first spot and there were 3 other competitors already there from an earlier flight. He told me that all 3 were there yesterday too and had the very best spot locked down. He wouldn't encroach on them, but said he was hoping to pick up fish on the periphery. Two of the three were Hackney and Vinson and they did not move more than 50 yards all day, for both day's 1 & 2. He caught his first fish quickly on a popper and made a joke about finally having something weigh in....He hung around for about an hour and besides one other blow up that missed his popper there was no action. His next stop was a short distance down river, a stretch of docks with good grass in front. He spent most of the time here using frogs. The new Poppin' Perch, a regular KVD frog, and a new SK toad with 'flat' feet (like a Ribbit). He had two good blow ups just inches behind his toad and had a good fish knock his KVD frog in the air on a blow up...All were decent size fish but they never completely got the bait. He switched colors a few times to see if that would get them to commit a little better but it ultimately didn't result in any more bites. As he was re-tying he pulled out a bunch of the new Poppin' Perch frogs to show me and explained how he worked with SK for almost a year to get it how he wanted....After a few passes up and back with the frog he went into the docks and flipped them with a Menace, but had no bites. From there we ran upriver to a popular creek with another spot where he saw several quality fish in practice. As we rounded the corner and set down he cursed when he saw Gary Klein sitting literally on his waypoint. He showed me on his GPS and sure enough, it was exactly on top of his mark. Klein was getting bit almost every cast on a walking bait and we watched him put his whole limit in the boat...KVD said that he probably got there just a few minutes before we did. He got close to Klein but stayed away from the main spot. The fish weren't as interested in his popper so he said he had to try a walker. He pulled out his walker box and I learned that besides his Sexy Dawg bait, he also really like the Evergreen Shower Blows...He asked if I'd ever used it and when I said it was one of my favorites he agreed and I think his exact words were 'yep, it's a baaaaad sum-b****..." . Even KVD likes a little JDM style . He got no love on the walker since he couldn't hit the main spot, so he started digging in his rod boxes and pulled out a spinning rod. He rigged up a 4" Caffine Shad and started skipping it quickly across the surface, trying to imitate the needlefish we get in the river this time of year. He cycled through colors every few casts before finally settling on one. This was the ticket for him as it resulted in 4 fish to fill his limit in the next hour or so. Nothing huge, but he was happy to get 5 after the disaster on day 1. The tide eventually brought too much dirty water into the area and it was about the right time to go check on his primary spot. We headed down river and as we got closer he looked over holding up his crossed fingers hoping for a little luck. Unfortunately, the wind had it trashed again. He still gave it a few minutes before giving up and we ran back up the river. We bounced around to a few more areas but he wasn't able to connect on anything else that helped him. I know a lot of that is a little vague, but if i went into all the details this post would 4 pages long! Honestly, the actual fishing part was awesome...But the real highlights to me we the conversations about tackle, strategy, locations, and everything else. I asked about a lot of his baits and colors and the level of detail he considers for everything he has is impressive. There is a reason/purpose for everything he uses and/or has his name on. For example, we talked about the Caffine Shad and he told me that he designed it specifically to be different from the Super Fluke. He said he wanted it to fall completely horizontal like a stick-bait instead of gliding around like the fluke. He also told me that they have the Jr sized Rage Bug in the works . His name on the package isn't just marketing, if it's got KVD on the package it's because he either designed or modified it to his liking. The thing that impressed me the most was how well he knew the Potomac. He knows this river better than any local I've met, which obviously includes me too. I'd like to think I know this river better than most and he was on another level. He never went to an area that I haven't been (and neither did my day 1 pro), but the level of detail about each area and the history he knew was insane. A few of the places he hit were some of my favorite areas and he had those places dissected to such detail that I never once thought "I wonder if he knows about 'XYZ' in this spot"...He knew it all. I know he has a long history on this river, but even still it's unreal to me how much detail he knew. He couldn't have been a nicer guy and was very easy to talk to. We talked quite a bit about some other waters in the area like the Upper Bay, James/Chick rivers, Gaston, and Kerr which was fun...Nothing like comparing strategies with greatest of all time . I know in his mind he was probably fuming since he was having a tough tournament, but you never would have known it from talking to him. At the end of the day I helped him bag his fish for weigh in and with a handshake I thanked him for the day wished him good luck with the rest of the season and he wished me good luck with rest of mine (which was cool, even though I'm just small time). It was the best day I've spent on the water and I never even made a cast. I also don't want to overlook my day 1 pro, Cliff Prince who was also great...But I'd be writing all day/night if I put everything that happened on both days in text....I'll just end by saying that if the Elites ever make a stop in your vicinity you should jump on the marshal opportunity...Even just hanging out before launch or at weigh in is awesome, every single pro was friendly and approachable. It's worth every penny and every second.

Launched around 2:30 this afternoon. Was clear and hot with water temps around 86 degrees. The lake I fished has tons of hydrilla and lilly pads that border the bank almost around the entire lake. From 2:45 until 7:30 I threw a swim jig, crankbait, pitbull creature bait t-rig, and a keitch noisy flapper. And a hollow body frog. Not a single bite but kept grinding. Decided to regroup and retie each rod. Switched up to a spinnerbait, jig n pig, and shadow rap shad jerkbait. Had a smaller bass hit the spinnerbait on the edge of the lillies, but missed him. Fished another hour with no luck. Switched up to the jerkbait right before dark near a grass bank with weeds and this one blew it up on the second twitch. My PB for the year. Weighted 3.62 which is a larger bass for my region of the world.

Got on the water pre dawn this morning. A couple of days of much needed rain had reduced the water clarity down from it's usual 15 ft plus down to 3 feet at best. This is often a good time to be on the water especially in the heat of the summer. Today was no different. Started off popping a tube along & through a weed edge. I caught 3 mid size fatties right away. About an hour after sunrise I moved north & fished the same type of cover. It was a pretty morning but Flat & Calm. Took a couple of smaller fish on a drop shot. Around 9am a few puffy clouds rolled over head and a NW breeze freshed up the air. Since the water had so much color, I decieded to move on to a shallow flat on the inside of a long mid-lake point. With water temps in the mid 70's, burning a 1.5 squarebill in 4-8 feet seemed appropriate. Smallies were all over it. Got to love a wide open crank bait bite - the strikes are just so much fun. Had one go 4.85 ~ Very respectable. The loon call in the backround added a nice Up-North touch to the fight. A-Jay

Lawyer up. You need to be on top of things first legally. Playing from ahead seems to work better than playing from behind. Once you pick your lawyer do exactly as he/she says. It's always better to be on the same page as your lawyer. Also it use to be that the woman pretty much had a cake walk in these cases. Not so much any more. Good luck. Oh don't send her a dime that you don't have a record of exactly what it was for etc.

Yeah, it's hard to do.

Anybody who has ever hunted, fished, hiked, swam, or camped on government land can relate to this.

A highly skilled bass fisherman will outfish most bass fisherman with a rod that cost under $50.

Anglers tend to relate water clarity and visiblity to thier own eye sight. Predator fish like bass would starve if they had to rely on human eye sight. Bass find prey in very low light or darkness with ease, they will know your swimbait is nearby as soon as it hits the water, getting them to strike it requires you to use it. Tom

12 rods, all my lures, tools, extra line, pain meds, an ice chest with food and drinks, a portable fan, a radio, a golf cart, and a caddy. And a hat.

My issue aint cost, it's all about feel! Before I buy a rod I put my reel on it, string it up, 1/4 oz bullet weight, 3/0 hook, & worm. Now I know how it's gonna balance, cast, everything but how it'll handle fish. I've had custom rods built, took em to the lake, & returned em Monday morning. I don't look at name on the side, technique specific, recommend line, or lure weight!

I always wear, and use the safety lanyard. I clip the free end to a belt loop. When I get up, I pull the lanyard free from the safety switch, and put that end in a pocket below the belt loop. It's never in the way, or hanging loose from the safety switch. By the way, it is important to know that by pulling the lanyard free from the safety switch, you cannot forget to hook it up to the switch, and start the motor.

There's nothing special about "reel" oil. Marine grease on gears, 80-140 gear oil on level wind , non spool bearings and sliding parts, 3in1, Remoil or sewing machine oil for spool bearings.

Funny you should ask. Glenn and A-Jay both asked what I was thinking. Here is my reply. Since I joined the staff, and now read every post as often as I can, I've noticed something. There may be thread about a particular reel, or rod, or bait; and somebody will jump in to say use braid. Not in every thread, but often enough I took note of it. I was online one evening, with my mouse in position to hide one of these off topic posts, when my wife said, "guacamole sounds good; why don't you make some?". What squirted out of some odd, unused corner of my mind was this. Don't delete these posts, don't hide them, leave them as is. But, in every thread about braid, I say something about avocados. And try to make it fit the theme of the thread. Trying to make a point, in a somewhat humorous fashion. Been waiting for somebody to ask if I've been smoking that stuff again. No, I haven't.

Hi folks, I'm nearly done recarpeting my 2004 Tracker Pro Team 185; the boat looks amazing. I've been at this for about a month and thought I'd share a few things I learned along the way before I forget them. I did a lot of research on how to recarpet a boat before I started. I read multiple articles and watched numerous YouTube videos. I suggest you do the same if you're thinking of replacing the carpet in your boat. Having said that, I didn't see most of the items below mentioned (or at least they didn't sink in!). I thought I'd post what I learned from my experience in case someone else was thinking of replacing the carpet in their boat. To be blunt, some of the lessons below may (should?) have been obvious. I can now laugh at some of the mistakes I made that should have been obvious. Having said that, hopefully someone else may learn from my experiences. Plan for the job to require a lot of time and effort. I'm a month into the job and am close to done. I have 6 more pieces of aluminum from rod lockers to recarpet before I finish. I've worked on it for 3-4 hours a day, 3-4 days a week for the last four weeks. Call it 50 hours invested so far, with another 5 hours left to go. I thought I could finish in two weeks, but clearly mis-judged it. Even thought it is taking longer than I thought, I'm still really glad I started. My 12 year old boat looks just a couple years old now. On a related note, I had a very understanding friend that I hit the water with a few times in his boat while mine was in pieces. Gotta get that fix of time on the water! Plan on doing more maintenance/repair than just the carpet. I found it easiest to do some deferred maintenance when my boat was already in pieces, like lubricating remote control gear linkages, re-running wiring, replacing broken accessories, etc. There is no better time to do these things then when nearly everything is accessible to you. I'd recommend you think about what other maintenance items you may want to do when your boat is disassembled and plan in advance. I made a list of maintenance/repair items and bought all the material I needed before I started the carpet job. That list didn't include things that would pop up during the carpet job, such as broken throttle-only buttons. Stripping the old glue takes forever. Even after I found the nuclear weapons of carpet adhesive stripper (Klean-Strip Carpet Adhesive Stripper, found at my local Walmart and Home Depot), I would guess 50% of my time was spent prepping the surfaces for the new carpet. The rest was around 15% for disassembly, 15% for reassembly, and 20% for actually applying the new carpet. Getting ready to lay the new stuff is by far the most time consuming task. All of my research mentioned stripping carpet and glue. Some of my research mentioned the prep work takes a while. None of them prepared me for how much time it would actually take. Don't underestimate how much time you'll be wearing gloves and eye goggles, painting glue stripper on, scraping glue off, painting glue stripper on, scraping it off ... Also, be careful with the Klean-Strip stuff. You will know within seconds if you get any of that stuff on your skin. Having said that, please don't use the stripper I used without knowing it is safe for your boat. I used it without problems on an aluminum boat, but it stripped glue and paint off with equal ease. I have no idea what that stuff would do to fiberglass. Order carpet samples! Did I mention some of these would be dumb/obvious? I should have ordered a free sample, but I was in a hurry and decided I liked the grey color I ordered based on the picture on the website. Unfortunately, the product received was a MUCH darker grey than the picture on the vendor's site, and it had a blue tint to boot. I thought of complaining to the vendor I bought it from, but realized it was my own d**n fault for not being patient and ordering a free sample. The samples are available and free for a reason. Having said that, I still like the shade I ordered. It looks great on my boat. I also plan on sending a note to the vendor recommending that they update the picture on their site. Buy more carpet than you think you will need. My boat is 18.5' long with a beam width around 7'. The bow and stern areas are painted metal, leaving around 17' of carpeted area. I thought that a roll 24' x 8.5' would be more than enough for the job, but I was wrong. I needed around 6' more, but I ended up having to buy another 10 linear feet due to order minimums. In my case, most of the difference between 17' of carpeted length and and the 30' required to complete the job is from the compartments that are carpeted both inside and out on my boat. I didn't realize that until after I had bought the carpet and pulled all compartments apart. This leads me to the next lesson I learned ... If you have to buy more carpet to finish the job, make sure you get it from the same roll (or at least order exactly what you bought the first time). As mentioned above, I bought 24' x 8.5' of carpet in my first batch only to find it wasn't enough. I ended up buying some more, but had to buy it in 10' minimum lengths. In order to save a few bucks, I decided to buy 10' x 6' as it was $4 cheaper per linear foot than 10' x 8.5'. Dumb move in hind sight, as that means it was coming off a 6' wide roll instead of the 8.5' roll from the first order. Both orders were for the same color, but the rolls were slightly different in shade. Another one that should have been obvious in hind sight. Thankfully I was able to use the new stuff in places that the slight difference isn't noticeable. Again, I could have complained to the vendor, but I should have realized this one before I ordered the second batch. It was my own fault. Make sure you have more bracing wood and clamps than you will need. Both are needed to hold the carpet against the boat/compartment pieces while you wait for the glue to set. I started off buying 16 nylon clamps and two 2x2x8 pieces of wood that I cut down into smaller sections of different lengths. I ended up buying 16 more clamps and another two 2x2x8's and still ended up having to wait over night for glue to set before I could continue. Mark screw/rivet holes when you are putting the boat back together. On some parts, it will be obvious where to run the screw/bolt/rivet when you're putting things back together. On others, you will end up carpeting over both sides of the hole like around the edges of a deck board. I used a long pin to find blind holes by trial and error. Once I knew where the hole was located, I heated up a drill bit with a blow torch and pushed it through the hole to melt the carpet and make it easy to find the hole later. Take pictures as you disassemble the boat. I took pictures of anything I thought I would need as a reference in the future. The pictures were as good as gold on things like wiring the console back up. I also added items like tape measures to the pictures when it would give me a reference when putting the boat back together (i.e. where screws were in relation to other parts of the boat). Buy more "paint" supplies than you think you will need. Nearly all my research mentioned using a trowel for applying the new glue. Only one video mentioned painting the glue on. The glue I used was more like paint and less like tile grout, so using painting supplies instead of a trowel was an obvious choice. I used 4" rollers and 1" chip brushes to apply most of the carpet glue. Since I only had few hours at a time to work on the job, I ended up having to break up the carpet laying over multiple days which meant I used more of the rollers and brushes than expected. In total, I think I used three 4" rollers and around 10 chip brushes, including a forgettable trip to Walmart just before midnight on a Saturday night ... Use a beard trimmer on tight compartment lids. All of my compartments were tight once they were wrapped in new carpet. A $20 beard trimmer off Amazon helped fix that. I used it to shave off some of the carpet around the contact edges. All compartments are comfortably tight now, but not difficult to open. This was a great tip I read on a forum post during my research, but it wasn't mentioned on any of the articles or videos that I found. Well, that's it for now. Hopefully this was informative to folks thinking about replacing the carpet in their boat. As mentioned, I'll post pics once I'm done with my boat. I am really pleased with how it has turned out. I hope yours ends up looking just as good or better!

Hello, I realized that I'd been concentrating so much on river smallies that I'd totally neglected frog fishing this year. Driving from one river point to the other, I stopped by the lake to get me one: Not huge, and blurry pic. But there it is. Figured I needed at least one this year. Regards, Josh

Just added to my already massive bass fishing library. BASS' s 13th year anniversary book. Reprinted articles of their magazine from 1967-1980. Select articles of course. Hootie

That is wrong. if you reassemble the seal, back bearing, hub and front bearing all correctly you should pump more grease in through the grease zerk in the axle. The grease should build up in the back and come out through the front bearing. If you see grease coming out near your rear seal then either the axle is badly grooved or the rear seal was compromised. If the rear seal can not keep grease in, nothing would keep water out when you launched your boat. I would remove the hub, clean and inspect everything again ans pay special attention to the axle. Make sure the edges and seal areas have no sharp edges, and the sealing surface for the seal is not heavily or deeply groove. If so that axle will need either a wear sleeve or replacement. This may be why you suffered a bearing failure to begin with.

Any MH/F rod around 7' or a little longer will work. It's not a complicated bait or fussy technique.

In this time of general turmoil, hatred, and unrest, my heart and prayers go out to the cops who are doing their jobs and laying their life on the line for the good of our communities. Props to them. @Bluebasser86 is the only bassresource member that comes to mind, but any cops or the like reading this, you guys are appreciated.

^^^ This Exactly! I don't understand the reservation. Most like me that either couldn't or wouldn't spent $180 on a single fishing rod have a rare opportunity to buy brand new, lifetime warranty rods at 1/2 price and people avoid them why? I picked up 2 myself and fished all day yesterday with them. I caught over 50 lmb and I can say these rods are very nice. Light weight under 5oz and very sensitive. Very very nice rods.

OP, in that case the 7' MF should be a no brainer. Great rods at full price. Why look for a $100 rod at $100 (or even $80 on sale) when you can get a $180 within your budget. Very nice rods. I've got 2 and would have more with the sale going on, but financially can't do it right now.

Ive Texas rigged them with a 1/16 oz pegged bullet weight and a 1/0 gamakatsu wide gap light wire hook. 8lb test trilene xl. Have to set the hook with a little more force but I rarely lose them and never get hung up. Also I've watched the rig in clear water and the trd still floats up and I still catch fish. I don't need rig a whole lot but when I do I usually use this method unless I'm fishing around rocks, gravel, or sand without any hard or weedy cover

Bob Lusk the Pond Boss!

"Usually" stunted bass dictates a overpopulation, remove some. If the crappie and bluegills are huge then Id take some of them out too, because they will be competing with the bass for the bass's forage. Dont remove them completely, you will need some to spawn more forage for the bass Its going to take some time for the pond to re-bound but it will if its healthy enough to support the larger panfish. This worked for a small pond up here that the state screwed up by removing the weeds, and the asians could now bobber fish the heck out of it from shore, and caught all the bigger bass leaving a ton of smaller bass. which snowballed to a stunted pond. Some of us concerned cartopper anglers removed some of the smaller bass one year,.. and the pond is now back to its former glory,.. weeds and all, took about ten years but it worked

Don't give up. Try weightless senkos or flukes on 10 pound fluorocarbon using your lightest rod, and fish slowly. August and September are the toughest months for largemouth bass in S FL, because the hot water holds insufficient oxygen, and deeper, cooler water is scarce. Things will get much better after October when the water starts to cool. Then your frog might get bit more often. Alternatively, target peacocks, snakeheads, mayan cichlids, carp, or saltwater species.

Like the others said, get a lawyer and do exactly what they say to do/not do. You're working from behind the 8 ball in this case simply because you're a male and today's society gives the mom the benefit of the doubt on who is the more fit parent. The fastest way to lose contact with your daughter is to prove that notion correct by doing something foolish. I can't tell you the number of times I've heard this story; Boyfriend and Girlfriend have a kid and end up splitting. BF wants to see baby and GF isn't having it. BF decides it's his kid too and he has rights so he goes over anyways. GF calls the police and now he's telling me his story in a striped suit. Or even worse, GF says he can come over, then when BF gets there, GF calls police and makes up a story and gets him arrested. Now BF has a record and GF has a ton of leverage against him in the custody case and it's all on hearsay. I'm sorry about your situation, and you certainly have a potentially rocky road ahead of you. Tread lightly, and carefully follow all advice your lawyer gives you. I hope you are able to work everything out and keep things civil if for no other reason than your daughter is able to have both her parents in her life.

I punch from my float tube and a yak. I have better results using a roll cast. You are already low to the water. A nice easy roll cast can give close to the same entry as a pitch.

About the only choice you have is to get a lawyer.

Hey. I'm a little less of a newbie now. This morning I went out to Echo Lake in Henrico County and caught my first largemouth (about 18"). Woo-hoo! I've been reading up on the Midwest Finesse techniques on the In-Fisherman site and used a junebug-colored Yum Dinger on a red mushroom jig. It's beginner's luck but I'll take it.

I buy them from a guy that uses a mushroom jig mold modified to hold a thin brush guard, but if I run out of those I Texas rig them on a #1 ewg hook with a 1/16 ounce pegged bullet sinker.

REAL MACHO men wear can wear pink. I don't have any pink or pastel colored rods ( like pistaccio green or lavender or baby blue ) just because the color distracts me, no other reason than that. Wanna know what I use ? POWER: anywhere from UL to XH, it just depends on the cover ACTION: FAST Simple.

Last i heard fish dont really read our rods..i dont go $20 cheap but for me $20 up too $50 works fine and my cheap yard sale pistol grips fit perfect never had a notion to try a $300 dollar 3oz rod when a $20 3 oz rod does what i need...LOVE sittin in my yak busting bass shallow while the dude with the 60k bassboat is tryin to sneakk a peek then keep moving lol

I use a drop shot hook keeper on my rods (all custom ) but i think my next one i'm gonna drill a hole in my Fuji SK2 reel seat trigger , like whats on Phenix rods . i hate when lures sratch the rod blank if it works out good i'll drill out my other rods too .

Screw working on the house. We went fishing.

Check out the Fenwick Aetos, they are 50% off right now, so it makes them only $95. http://www.fenwickfishing.com/fenwick-freshwater-rods-fenwick-aetos/fenwick-aetos-casting/1365054.html#specifications

They are - I've found 8 wt. rods are better for me with the bigger flies. I think you'll like the heavier line weights. As for getting better...like everything else it's all about practice. I spend about 20 - 30 minutes lawn casting most days. I'm building muscle memory. I work my way around the house so I have to deal with the wind from every direction.

Every place I bank fish I can drive right up to the bank! To old & wore out for hiking

I do Treble Hooks on Reel. All others on Hook Keeper.

Hook keeper because well.... That's what it's made for. Yes, you may end up with a minute scratch on the Rod every now and again, but it super convenient.

I am determined to learn how to fish a jig. Next time out, these are all that are coming with me....

i can park near the bank so i bring like 7 rods and a chitload of tackle lol

If you are replacing your braided line when the color fades, in my opinion, you're wasting a lot of money on line. If the line is too faded or frayed for your liking, you can always turn it around and put the faded section next to the spool and have the fresh end to tie your baits on.

The Hass avocado is the most readily available, and has good shelf life; retaining it's color better than some other varieties.

We did that once before over the winter to iron out details for our weeknight deals, and now we're fishing every two weeks instead of every week. Add to that a cover photo in the Facebook group gets S/Os riled up and upset...would rather we get ALL THE people together meaning OUR group, which hasn't happened for a long time. Not trying to come off as a D, but it's true.

Read this forum, there is a lot of information in here.

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ As you mentioned "I've recently started fishing a lot" ~ Whenever we participate in "a lot" more of something physical, there's a chance that while our bodies acclimate to the New activity, there can be "some soreness"; regardless of age. How much soreness / PAIN may be different for each individual, however too much may be a sign of some type of injury. If you think that's the case, you should definitely have it checked by a medical professional as soon as possible. If you are injured, ignoring it and to continue to do whatever it is that hurt you, is a mistake. One that many of us have made and later regretted. As for workouts, stretches or techniques - perhaps think of it like this - if you want to get better at running 5 miles - you need to run. So if you want to get better at making multiple cast during a prolonged fishing trip - you may need to make multiple casts during a prolonged fishing trip. The key ingredient that may be missing here is REST. Perhaps take a day off here & there so as not to continue to stress vulnerable joints & muscles that are tired & sore. Fishing a different technique that requires less in the way of hard casting - like flipping & pitching may help as well. If you're not actually injured over time your ability & stamina will improve. Good Luck A-Jay

PB walleye. Middle of the day in Central IL. Great eye for around here!

Don't know if this is the set you're talking about. It might be. Hootie This one. Hootie