Tokyo Tony

So you know the secret of night time Chatterbait fishing too? Next time try using black, or a dark color. I think you'll do even better :-)

Nice find. I got caught in one driving on 91S in New Hampshire a few years ago. They were doing a lot of construction on the bridges, so near each bridge the speed limit went from 65 to 55. I wasn't paying much attention, as I was just going with the flow of traffic, but at the speed trap they arbitrarily reduced the speed limit to 50 instead of 55 (more cash money for them), and they had a radar cop behind a sign who was radioing information to 10-15 cop cars all lined up down the road, who were continually pulling over tons and tons of cars, then getting back into formation. So I got hit for 68 in a 50, in a work zone, when I was just going with the flow of traffic. I was one of the unlucky ones because obviously they couldn't pull us all over. That p'd me off.

Was the delay caused by the fact that they weren't looking for a way simply to plug the leak, but a way to plug it and still make money off of it? RW I hope you're right, and that things are better by next spring. I'd like to live on the Gulf Coast someday.

Nothing more infuriating than the empowered female. Here's a revised list: SIMPLE DUTIES She makes the bed (0 - it's expected) She makes the bed, but forgets the decorative pillow (-10 points for having a decorative pillow) She throws the bedspread over rumpled sheets (0 - you wouldn't notice, although you hope she wouldn't do this as you like to think she's trained properly) She goes out to buy you what you want (0 - she's just doing what she's told) in the rain (no difference) But returns with Beer (0 - she should have already stocked the fridge before you noticed the supply was getting low) She checks out a suspicious noise at night (0 - you didn't even know it because you were sleeping because you're not afraid of such trivial things) She checks out a suspicious noise, and it is nothing (see above) She checks out a suspicious noise and it is something (-10 because presumably she wakes you up after finding it's "something") She pummels it with iron rod (-20 - not only did she wake you up, but she ruined either your golf club or your fishing rod) It's your pet (divorce) SOCIAL ENGAGEMENTS She stays by your side the entire party (-20 - annoying) She stays by her side for a while, then leaves to chat with an old school friend (0 - who cares) Named Tina (0 - who cares) Tina is a dancer (+5 - nice) Tina has silicone implants (+10 - nicee) A NIGHT OUT She takes you to a movie (+1) She takes you to a movie you likes (0 - expected) She takes you to a movie she hates (0 - how would you know? She's not supposed to express her opinions) She takes you to a movie she likes (0 - see above) It's called 'Butterfly Love with Clouds and Rainbows' (-5 - obviously you don't get as far as entering the theater upon seeing the title, but -5 for the inconvenience) She lied and said it was an action film with explosions and boobs (0 - you would not have fallen for this, so you never would have left the house) HER PHYSIQUE She develops a noticeable potbelly (-150) She develops a noticeable potbelly and exercises to get rid of it (-75 - never should have happened in the first place) She develops a noticeable potbelly and resorts to baggy jeans and baggy Hawaiian shirts (divorce) She says, "It doesn't matter, you have one too." (divorce - women should not think they're allowed to talk back) COMMUNICATION When she wants to talk about a problem...(-50 - stop right there, you're not her emotional tampon. That's what her girlfriends are for.) It goes on for over 30 minutes (still -50 because if she didn't stop talking when you told her to initially, you would have already tuned her out and started doing something else, not realizing she continued to speak.)

Don't ever stop posting your backpacking reports here - I love reading them. Sounds like it was a great trip!

Thanks guys :-) One of the good things about her having caught it instead of me is that I don't feel bad bragging about it 8-)

Nice fish Mike!

Hey guys, I haven't put up a report in a while, mostly because I haven't had much to report. I've had a few good chunky fish this year up to around 5 lbs, and I'll get around to posting the pics at some point. However, this thread is about this past weekend in New Hampshire. My girlfriend and I went up for a relaxing weekend of fishing and hiking, and of course we went to my favorite smallie pond - a small, rocky, crystal clear lake that's about a 1/2 mile hike up a mountain. We brought her canoe, and it was my job to push it up to the lake (see first pic). Overall, I estimate we caught between 150-200 fish, 90% smallies, over two days. Most were small, very small, but you just can't beat the action on this lake. We used 3" senkos t-rigged, jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, inline spinners, dropshot, topwater, and some others. In the 25+ times I've fished the lake, the biggest smallie I've gotten was about 2.5 pounds, biggest largemouth at 3.5. I go for the scenery and the numbers, and it's a great place to gain some confidence in unfamiliar baits. Well, this past Sunday, we were anchored on a rocky point getting smallies about every other cast, when she casts out her 3" senko into about two feet of water. Pretty soon after it hit the water, fish on. She's not able to really move the fish off the bank, so we knew it was a good one. I grabbed the net and instinctively started instructing her to keep the pressure on :-) To add to the drama, we had crushed our barbs down to make it easier to release all the little fish we were catching. This fish gets next to the canoe, and we see it's a freak of nature for this little 20-30 acre pond. I messed up the first attempt with the net, and the fish dove under the canoe pulling some more drag, but I was successful in my second attempt. I don't think I could have lived with myself if I had screwed that up. Anyway, this is Nicole's 4.1 lb smallmouth, her new PB (for both LMB & SMB). Her previous personal best was shy of 3 lbs. What a great way to finish an awesome weekend in the woods in NH. Enjoy!

http://www.chucknorrisfacts.com/

Trailer hooks are a must for chatterbaits. I get many short strikes on them, and I'd say approximately 50% of the fish I catch on them are only hooked on the trailer hook. I love fishing them on grass flats by making a long cast, letting the bait sink to the bottom on a slack line, giving a pop off the bottom to get the blade moving and clear off any grass, then slow-rolling back to the boat. You can add a twitch here or there to add to the effect. You can also make a long cast and immediately start the slow-roll, which will cover a few different depths: shallow at first, slowly sinking towards the bottom, then back up in the water column as you get to the boat. When I say slow-roll, I mean literally as slowly as possible - just fast enough to get the blade to vibrate. Black/blue chatterbaits are by far my #1 night time bait, and trailer hooks are even more important at night. I've had nights where they wouldn't bite anything else. I also prefer to slow-roll it at night, but when the fish are active, sometimes I'll make a long cast and burn it near the surface. Getting a strike burning these baits is an awesome sensation. I haven't fished them as a jig with much success, but then again, in those situations, I'll just throw a jig. Maybe I'll give the jig technique another shot.

For the record, I don't believe this, but it's an interesting read. It is a fact that there's a media blackout over the cause of the "explosion", and a lot of people have a lot to gain from this catastrophe. I honestly don't know what to believe, but I'm keeping an open mind. It's hard to believe this was just a coincidence. _________________ "A grim report circulating in the Kremlin today written by Russia's Northern Fleet is reporting that the United States has ordered a complete media blackout over North Korea's torpedoing of the giant Deepwater Horizon oil platform owned by the World's largest offshore drilling contractor Transocean that was built and financed by South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Ltd., that has caused great loss of life, untold billions in economic damage to the South Korean economy, and an environmental catastrophe to the United States. Most important to understand about this latest attack by North Korea against its South Korean enemy is that under the existing laws of war it was a permissible action as they remain in a state of war against each other due to South Korea's refusal to sign the 1953 Armistice ending the Korean War. To the attack itself, these reports continue, the North Korean cargo vessel Dai Hong Dan believed to be staffed by 17th Sniper Corps suicide troops left Cuba's Empresa Terminales Mambisas de La Habana (Port of Havana) on April 18th whereupon it severely deviated from its intended course for Venezuela's Puerto Cabello bringing it to within 209 kilometers (130 miles) of the Deepwater Horizon oil platform which was located 80 kilometers (50 miles) off the coast of the US State of Louisiana where it launched an SSC Sang-o Class Mini Submarine (Yugo class) estimated to have an operational range of 321 kilometers (200 miles). On the night of April 20th the North Korean Mini Submarine manned by these suicidal 17th Sniper Corps soldiers attacked the Deepwater Horizon with what are believed to be 2 incendiary torpedoes causing a massive explosion and resulting in 11 workers on this giant oil rig being killed outright. Barely 48 hours later, on April 22nd , this North Korean Mini Submarine committed its final atrocity by exploding itself directly beneath the Deepwater Horizon causing this $1 Billion oil rig to sink beneath the seas and marking 2010's celebration of Earth Day with one of the largest environmental catastrophes our World has ever seen. To the reason for North Korea attacking the Deepwater Horizon, these reports say, was to present US President Obama with an impossible dilemma prior to the opening of the United Nations Review Conference of the Parties to the Treat on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) set to begin May 3rd in New York. This impossible dilemma facing Obama is indeed real as the decision he is faced with is either to allow the continuation of this massive oil leak catastrophe to continue for months, or immediately stop it by the only known and proven means possible, the detonation of a thermonuclear device. Russian Navy atomic experts in these reports state that should Obama choose the nuclear option the most viable weapon at his disposal is the United States B83 (Mk-83) strategic thermonuclear bomb having a variable yield (Low Kiloton Range to 1,200 Kilotons) which with its 12 foot length and 18 inch diameter, and weighing just over 2,400 pounds, is readily able to be deployed and detonated by a remote controlled mini-sub. Should Obama choose the nuclear option it appears that he would be supported by the International Court of Justice who on July 8, 1996 issued an advisory opinion on the use of nuclear weapons stating that they could not conclude definitively on these weapons use in extreme circumstances or self defense. On the other hand, if Obama chooses the nuclear option it would leave the UN's nuclear conference in shambles with every Nation in the World having oil rigs off their coasts demanding an equal right to atomic weapons to protect their environment from catastrophes too, including Iran. To whatever decision Obama makes it remains a fact that with each passing hour this environmental catastrophe grows worse. And even though Obama has ordered military SWAT teams to protect other oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico from any further attack, and further ordered that all drilling in the Gulf of Mexico be immediately stopped, this massive oil spill has already reached the shores of America and with high waves and more bad weather forecast the likelihood of it being stopped from destroying thousands of miles of US coastland and wildlife appears unstoppable. And not just to the environmental catastrophe that is unfolding the only devastation to be wrecked upon the United States and South Korea by this North Korean attack as the economic liabilities associated with this disaster are estimated by these Russian reports to be between $500 Billion to $1.5 Trillion, and which only a declaration of this disaster being an act of war would free some the World's largest corporations from bankruptcy. Important to note too in all of these events was that this was the second attack by North Korea on its South Korean enemy, and US ally, in a month as we had reported on in our March 28th report titled Obama Orders Immediate Stand-down' After Deadly North Korean Attack and which to date neither the Americans or South Korea have retaliated for and giving one senior North Korean party leader the courage to openly state that the North Korean military took gratifying revenge on South Korea. And for those believing that things couldn't get worse, they couldn't be more mistaken as new reports coming from Japanese military sources are stating that North Korea is preparing for new launches of its 1,300 kilometer (807 miles) intermediate range ballistic Rodong missile which Russian Space Forces experts state is able to deploy and detonate an atomic electromagnetic pulse (EMP) device, and which if detonated high in the atmosphere could effectively destroy the American economy for years, if not decades, to come."

I spent the '03-'04 winter out there when my grandmother lived in Jackson Hole. It's absolutely gorgeous, and the skiing is amazing. They say it has some of the best lift-access terrain in the world. The Snake River is also beautiful, and I heard the trout fishing is amazing. Yellowstone - amazing. I just have nothing bad to say about the place, except that it gets pretty cold in the winter. I would love to go back in the late spring/early summer sometime. Enjoy your time out there, and make sure you post some pictures for us.

Yours was probably 5.5 lbs. The other guy's dink was pushing 2 lbs at most.

What's red and goes up and down? A tomato in an elevator. Count it.

How about a urologist?

If a guy has something planned in advance, and his girlfriend's friend calls because she wants to go out, and the girlfriend says he has to join her, and he does, he deserves whatever's coming to him. Hopefully after the divorce he grows a pair.

I'm glad for Phil in light of his recent family issues; however, I'm not a fan. He seems like a phony. Not sure if he is, but he seems to be one. That said, he plays pretty well 8-)

Yet another example of how this country is growing more and more anti-business. Burley, I can't understand the jury's thought process either, but I'm willing to bet it was something like this, whether they would admit it or not: Poor kid gets his leg severed and needs money for the surgury and continuing medical care. This manufacturer was involved because it was their motor, and they have tons of money (big corporation - bad). They should pay for the medical care because they can afford it.

What a f'ing loser.

Among the many shortcomings is the fact that you can't multitask with it. However, it's an Apple product, so it will sell ridiculous numbers to the hardcore Apple fans alone. Love my iPhone and my Powerbook, but I will never buy an "iPad" ;D

Yup, same canoe. It's really stable which is why I love it. Two fishermen can stand up and fish comfortably, as long as they have decent balance.

I love seeing a post of yours titles "Whoo Hoo!" because I know it's gonna be serious :-) Beautiful fish, and as always, amazing shots. Keep posting!!!

Great fish! I think I have the same canoe - is that a Quest? I got mine at Dick's and it has a flat back for a motor. Great canoe, very stable. Kind of crappy material though.

The thing is, there are a lot of recreational golfers (I know many) who put too much emphasis on the equipment and not enough time on the range or practice green. They think a new putter will make them putt better, or a new driver will make them hit all the fairways. They continue to buy the newest equipment as it comes out, continually in self-denial, and see no improvement in their game. When it comes to the newest equipment, all high-end equipment is more or less the same. It comes down to preference. That's not to say there isn't a huge difference between blades and cavity backs, or between drivers of the past and modern day drivers. There is. But when you compare the high end cavity backs to each other, there isn't that big of a difference. Same with the blades. Bassn' - Callaways are some of the most forgiving clubs out there, so I think you made a great purchase, especially at that price.

Well you're right that there's no golf club that will make you play well if you don't have game to begin with, just like there's no fishing rod/reel that will make you catch fish if you aren't a good fisherman to begin with.