Lund Explorer

Just remember that no matter how painful, it's better to deal with Mr. Arthur Itis than to get a visit from his cousin, Mr. Ricky Mortis!

It's been almost four years since I've had the chance to talk with him, but if my memory is any good at all, I'd say Road Warrior weighs in close to 162lbs! Just kidding! There isn't a "guess the weight" thing this week. Just fill out the form and submit.

So much the nonconformist, that he hasn't upgraded to an inflatable life vest!

Amazingly, that is probably the only one liner Tony utters all year on that show that doesn't include a "bleep" or two!

Banished to Siberia I see.

Sadly, those are great fisheries located in an area with almost nonexistent "on the water" lodging options.

As a big fan of Skeeter Davis, I can only reply....... I wake up in the morning and I wonder, Why everything's the same as it was. I can't understand. No, I can't understand, How life goes on the way it does.

Above Tippy, but never below until you get to the lake. Above Hodenpyl, but never above Mesick. IMHO, more fish in above Tippy.

Those who know the least, always know it the loudest! - unknown

From what you have described, this is a private lake that you don't own yourself. Sadly this means that the choice of who fishes this lake, or what gets taken out of it is out of your control. My advice to give you peace of mind would be to either try to purchase this lake so you can make up the rules, or to accept the fact that you can't control the actions of others. Every minute that you are upset over this, is one less minute that you have to enjoy your life. Learning to understand your own limitations is the key. To quote Mr. Spock, to do otherwise is not logical.

Let's look at this from the other side. From someone who is a twin. Whatever you buy them in the way of clothing, fishing related or not, please, PLEASE, pass on the urge to buy them the exact same outfits! Cute when they're small, but in fifty years, those twins are going to be looking at those pictures trying to figure out who is who. If you can, always keep one to the left and the other to the right in all those pictures. No matter how great of fishermen they turn out to be, they will be most thankful for you planning ahead when the cameras come out.

Who was talking about golf?

I carry one bag for the bigger stuff, and one 3lb coffee can for the rest. Cutting a hole in the lid, I toss ABC worms, cigarette butts, and all the little stuff in it which is much better than throwing it overboard. An inch or so of water in the bottom of the can will extinguish those butts too!

Saved you a ticket. You're welcome!

"War doesn't determine who is right, only who is left!" Bertrand Russell

Your kind of swinger, or did you just want to "play a round" with her?

"I don't want to know where you were, or what you were doing!" Mom "End up in jail, and pay your own bail!" Dad Seems like I heard those same one liners every Saturday/Sunday morning all the way through my high school years. "Do you realize we're starting to sound like our fathers?" My best friend Mike After a long day on the water when the fish weren't biting and we were left with nothing to do but to reflect on the good old days.

Happy Birthday! How many more decades before you catch up to Long Mike?

As a former tournament angler, the least used piece of equipment was my personal scale. The most used tool was a bump board for those fish that just got over the line, and finally a balance beam when I wanted to cull a fish and had to choose between two bass that were close to the same size. I never came across a tournament director that accepted a weight that wasn't from the official scales everyone's catch ended up on. When you fish long enough you can get pretty good at estimating weights. Time was always too short to worry about an exact weight that wasn't official anyhow.

Should I venture a guess that you've never gone after any of the larger fish species? There are many fish that fight a whole lot harder than your average 5lb LM that you can simply haul to the boat using 40lb braid. Expanding your fishing experiences will give you a better understanding of what you are seeing. When watching that show, the first thing you need to know is that they are using a circle hook which requires no hookset like you would with an EWG worm hook. Secondly as has been said before, you cannot dink drag a fish that weighs over 200lbs without the hook pulling free or some other failure. When you see the fisherman "pulling" the line by hand, what they are really doing is simply holding the line so the reel can retrieve a few feet of line while leaving the drag setting alone, and it has nothing to do with the strength of the reel. My advice would be to set aside some vacation time and explore your chances at getting a charter trip with one of these crews. Maybe head out to the NW and book a river trip for Sturgeon, or Wisconsin for Musky. Heck, come on to Michigan and I'd try to get you in on a King Salmon off of my favorite west Michigan pier head. I'll even spool up some 40lb braid for you and tighten the drag to 100%. I'll even throw you the life ring once you're in the lake!

I think everyone should enter their guesses here. Just so long as they don't enter the correct guess on the entry form!

Same Tip of the Day, Everyday. Turn Off That @#$%& Phone!

I was going to suggest switching to used tires as a good after dark fuel source. And then I noticed the name of the local tire store up there, and didn't want to see anyone wrack up warning points asking if the guy's first name was jack!

Speaking of Tiger Woods, do you think its possible that many of the problems he has been having might be tied more to that overwhelming swing of his youth, and maybe not so much having to duck clubs thrown at him by ex-wives or from crawling out of wrecked vehicles? I've watched some of his recent attempts at a come back, and it seems that he is still trying to swing like a kid.

I'm so very sorry to hear of your loss. Hang in there for the next few days as they are the most hectic. Over the coming months and years, you'll be able to mark those dates, places, and even those smells and remember fondly what you described as a truly great father and mentor. You and your family will be in my thoughts and prayers.