bilgerat

I gather up all my torn plastics and otherwise busted up baits along with a tube of superglue and Frankenstein up some pretty wild looking things. Some of them even catch fish ;D I got an idea in my head for a topwater bait that I convinced myself will be a killer. Who knows, maybe I'll get filthy rich on it.(yeah, ok) Will start work on the prototype in a few days. Time on your hands can be a dangerous thing.

Good to see you back Dave.

How did you get through school with no class ?? Just bustin' on ya. Way to go, Muddy. We're happy for ya

Just for fun, post your state's records. I did freshwater for Jersey, post whatever you like.http://www.nj.gov/dep/fgw/recfish-fresh.htm

Clint Eastwood

Instant Fisherman complete with Flying Lures. Still got it in the original box. Start the bidding.

Don't like it ? Don't support them in any way. Don't watch them on tv or in person. Don't buy their merchandise. What's a pro athlete ever done for you ? Are the Yankees (or any other pro team) gonna help you out when times are tough ? It amazes me when pro teams get their stadiums built with taxpayer dollars and then price their seats out of reach of most people. Talk about p*ssing on the people that got you where you are. Pro sports have gone too far this time.

Make sure you wash that down with a diet Coke.

Good to have ya here. Night fishing RULES Been doing it for the better part of twenty years now. Originally I went at night because I worked at night, now I do it after my family obligations are done. I too know the heartbreak of losing a beast on a jitterbug, mine came years ago. I had been fishing all night and the first light was coming through. I was beat and about to call it a night. Tied on a j bug and tossed it out. Couldn't have reeled it more than five feet and I got smoked !! Had him about 15 feet away and had his head out of the water. You could have dropped a softball down in his mouth, he was that big. Easily would have been my PB. Then a head shake later, that j bug came whizzing by my head about 90 MPH. That will haunt me the rest of my life.

Have a pleasant non denominational late December/ early January celabratory time with your family/partner/soulmate/tribe/whatever. :-X Ah Screw It..... happy holidays, merry Christmas, happy chanuka If I've offended you, tough luck. Sue me. To the rest of you with a sense of humor, only the best for you and yours in these tough times.

I hear you loud and clear Fathom, but individualism is frowned upon anymore. If you don't like the program, you're not a "team player". Man I hate that phrase !!

We blew it bigtime when we stopped being innovators, thinkers and manufacturers. Now we've become a nation of consumers. I've said it here before, our founding fathers have probably reached Australia by now from spinning in their graves. When I was growing up in the sixties and seventies, kids were taught about saving and learning how to deal with money responsibly. Now it seems to be all about spending. Maybe I'm a complete idiot, but someone explain to me how a nation can survive on consumerism when more and more of the workforce is creeping towards minimum wage. It won't be long before the workers in the cheap labor countries wise up and start wanting a piece of the pie. What will the companies that abandoned the USA in favor of "cheap labor" do then ? Oh yeah, just go to Washington for a bailout. B*stards. > Look back at the WWII generation, most of whom grew up in the Great Depression but have more character in their little finger than most of us have overall. There's a reason they are called the greatest generation. Most of them came from nothing and, lemme see here, won a world war and built this country into what it was until recently. For the sake of this country I hope we can pull it off.

Why not keep them until spring and use them just as they are ? The fish may tear them up with that stank on them Or mix up some mineral oil (has no odor at all) with garlic or anise and spray them or soak them.

That's hilarious. It's happened to me a few times. My kids call them "keychain" fish.

Not sure of the rig (you could probably Google it) but a guy I work with told me the secret to eels is (I'm not making this up) to whack them on the side of the boat or something hard. This more or less stuns them and prevents them from balling up. If they ball and curl up, they are useless as a bait.

Thats insane. Demand the dealer GIVE you the batteries. Do you buy a car and then pay extra for a battery ? If the dealer won't give you satisfaction, I'd contact Skeeter and see if they shipped the boat to the dealer with a battery. If so, then the dealer ripped you off. I've never bought a new boat but that just does not make any sense to me.

That's the ugliest snow angel I ever seen....

They just let four guys go at our shop, any one of us left can go any day now. BrianinMD is right about some states offering grants for job training after a layoff, thats exactly how I went to school back in '91 after getting laid off from General Electric. Look into it, it's your tax dollars that paid for it. Best of luck to you.

I invested my 401k from a job I left years ago. The financial planner (who happened to be a family friend) spent hours explaining eveything to me. One thing I remember vividly about that meeting was him telling me that he considered a return of about 6% to 8% annually a decent return, and if I didn't agree that perhaps I should invest my money elsewhere. His point was that there are a lot of people who will tell you they can get you much higher returns - 10, 12, 15, 20% if you invest with them. Beware. It's true that a sound investment can achieve those levels at times, but it's the exception rather than the rule. I don't claim to be a financial authority on any level, but just look at the mess we're in now. How much of it was caused by the so called experts ? Choose your investments wisely, choose your financial advisor carefully, and have reasonable financial goals. Live within your income. A big house and a brand new car are useless if you have to work like a slave to maintain them. Sam Walton, who started Wal Mart, drove an old Ford pickup even after he made his millons. He wasn't a slave to money, money was a slave to him. You are smart to be thinking about this at your age, I only wish that I had started earlier. Good luck to you.

Thanks gentlemen for the replies. All I can do now is stock up, read up and wait for spring. My "experience" with anything close to cranks was running Rapala floaters with a steady retrieve just under the surface. I know they weren't intended for that, but man it got me a lot of fish over the years !

Do yourself a huge favor in addition to the Bosch blades - get a bottle of Rain X and apply it to all of your exterior widows. I thought the stuff was some junk gimmick, but it works great. One thing though, make sure your glass is absolutely spotless before you put it on, it works better.

I threatened to mount one of those commercial dispensers like you find in a rest area bathroom on our bathroom wall - the one that holds a roll of paper the diameter of a spare tire. Now theres always spares in the vanity cabinet. Never threatened the pillow case stunt, thats a good one

Here in New Jersey it's no better. All they'd have to do is put up a fence and some razor wire around the state house in Trenton to make our "politician's prison"

When HASN'T the bait monkey got you in trouble ? But then again, the bait monkey is married to the shoe monkey..... Works both ways.

You'd better go and play the lotto !!! NOW !! get off the computer and go !! And give me a big fat cut 'cause I suggested it By the way, Congrats and good luck with the Sheriff job.