SoFlaBassAddict

Carpenter Most of you who have watched the Food Network have probably seen my work somewhere on the channel without even realizing it. Started out as a hobby. Morphed into a hobby that I got paid to do. Now I do it full time and love every day I walk into my shop. Most of the time I'm building temporary stage/set pieces in strange places. Case in point, the project I just got done with took 3 months to fabricate. It was installed and lasted for almost a week. It was torn down in three and a half hours and part of it was trashed right after. Never sounds good when you say that much work basically got pitched. I do occasionally get commissioned to do a furniture piece, though I'm still building my skills on that one. I've been working on the same table for my house for the last seven months. Completely handmade. No power tools involved. That is a humbling experience.

Unsuccessful male escort....

He speaks the truth. The PQ is a great little reel for the money. When you can get them on sale, it's almost a no brainer.

Went out to Holiday this morning for around three and a half hours or so. Had around an 18-20 pound bag. I was happy with that considering I haven't been there in months. Wind was ripping. Probably go again tomorrow and try a different area. Water levels are pretty high right now.

Water has dropped further since my last trip. Was able to sneak out for about 4 hours yesterday morning. Made a longer run than I normally do. Found a very productive stretch. Plenty of fish to be caught. Was able to fish an area until I stopped getting bit, back up and fish it again over and over. Nothing huge, but it was definitely fun.

That was such a great show.

Good stuff, Lou! Some nice healthy looking fish right there.

So I recently decided that I was in a serious need for a new laptop. I told myself when I sold another few small photo/video projects that I would treat myself to something new. Well that happened a few days ago, so I decided to go shopping... Somehow I walked back into the house carrying a 2500 dollar Macbook Pro. I haven't owned a Mac in, well, a long time. I know, I know, I could have bought a PC based system for far less money with better specs. I'll still be keeping both my laptop and desktop in addition to this. The laptop will go to the kids, I'd expect it to last a week. Another selling point for me was that I, my daughters, mother, brother, and several good friends all have multiple apple mobile devices. If that wasn't the case, I certainly would have spent more time looking elsewhere. I've been very interested in a Mac for a while, but when I saw the 15" Retina screen in front of my I was darn near sold. I've got two weeks left of playtime before the times up to return it. My first impressions are very good though. I still have a long way to go messing around with the new OS. Handles editing 4k video like a dream though. Conversion and render times in 4k aren't phenomenal, but they certainly aren't bad either. Especially when you consider that it's not a desktop. Have to see how the learning process goes before I make my final decision on it. I feel like a complete rookie using this thing.

Probably one of my favorite shows on the tube, fishing or not. Hell of a nice guy too. I've had the opportunity to sit down and talk with him a handful of times. The amount of knowledge he has about fishing is just astounding.

I've been using them for a while now. Darn good bait.

Ain't modern technology great.

That definitely is not for a tachometer. That's the speedometer. Before you mess with anything, get the Tach fixed. You could be propped wrong, motor height wrong, both, or any number of things. Fixing the Tach will instantly help you know what's happening.

Scary part about the IFBB guys, yes they're on gear, but it takes an incredible amount of work to do what they do. Metroflex has produced some seriously big, strong freakin people. Average Joe Schmo juice guy will never step on stage and look like that. That pic of him isn't even a great one. Love Ronnie, but Levrone is still on the top of my list. Dude had such a crazy looking body. If you want to see straight freaky, check out some of Kai Greene's recent photos.

If I were repowering, I'd definitely be looking at a 4 stroke. But man, I just love the sound a 2 stroke makes. On my offshore boat, I'd kill to have a new four stroke. That monstrous motor is so loud it's not even funny. You can forget about speaking to somebody when moving at cruising speed.

The original outboard on my saltwater boat had roughly 2000 hours on it before the powerhead let go. Water pump failure caused the powerhead to fry. Had it completely rebuilt and its at around 1800 hours now and runs flawlessly. Like Rhino said, hours are not the end all be all determination of a motors health. Solid maintenance record and having a good mechanic check it out are better indicators of how it'll run.

Spent some time out of Holiday up north by the alley this weekend myself. Took the kids out with me so they could do some shiner fishing. Plenty of fish around, all seem to be in the 1-3 pound range. Still waiting on the bigger fish to start chewing once the water drops.

Congrats! There is absolutely nothing better than coming home to the rugrats each day. Nothing.

For right around 200 bucks, those Pinnacle Perfecta rods are darn good. I won one on the site here a while back. It gets used on basically every trip. I've never had a real complaint with it.

Use what you're comfortable with. More and more people seem to be gravitating towards using faster reels for most baits now. There are plenty of times when I'll intentionally use a lower gear ratio reel to force myself to slow down.

Agreed. Dollar for dollar, the Champion series is the better bang for the buck. Those extremes are sweet rods. I've been tempted to pick up another, but they are on the pricy side. Gary Dobyns has even said the Champion line is the backbone of the company.

I've got three basic colors of lures in the boat. White Green Black If I think the fish are chasing shad/shiners, I'll throw something in the white family. Otherwise it's the darker the water gets the darker I go. I don't think I've used anything but a black and blue colored plastic for the last few trips. KISS theory: Keep It Simple Stupid

Honestly, who cares what they think? If you're happy with it, screw them. You're the only person who's opinion matters.

She's a girlfriend. Not a financial manager. If she isn't happy with it, she has two choices, live it it and accept it or hit the road. I'm sure she has habits/hobbies/addictions that she spends money on and thinks nothing of it. Invite her to go with you. She might enjoy it. Offer to spend a day with her doing what she likes. I'll never allow a girlfriend to tell me how and where I should spend my hard earned pesos. I told mine straight out front that I spend a lot of time on the water. Whether it's fishing, diving, or surfing, it ain't cheap. I make a conscious effort to include her as much as possible if she so desires. She's not big into fishing, and that's cool. She's more than happy hanging out on the saltwater boat getting a tan or landing an occasional fish. Freshwater, on the other hand just doesn't quite do it for her. When I explained to her that this is something I was born doing, this is something that all the men in my family have been doing for generations, that it won't be stopping, she made a choice to accept it. You do still have to be responsible with spending as well. Make sure you don't blow what you can't afford to. Women all require money spent on them in some way, shape, or form.

Love my Ford pickumup truck. 2000 F150xlt with the 250 tow package. Has never had to go to the shop for a major mechanical problem. 153k on the odometer and counting. Pulls my heavy saltwater boat like it ain't even there. As much as I'd like to get a new truck, this one just won't die.

So that was you that did that to my family and I?! You sir, have been found! Same scenario happened to us one night many years ago while night fishing on the bank. Customs and Coast Guard. Brightest light I have ever seen. Once they checked us out, all of the immigration paperwork, etc etc the tension quickly went away. But man, those dudes were rolling full battle rattle that night. That's one experience that I will never forget. Tax dollars at work right there.