Lund Explorer

I'm predicting a short career on the river during the day, and a much longer one at the drive thru window at night. Perhaps his biggest mistake is failing to mention that he wants everyone to "Like" him on Facebook. It seems to be the key to success these days.

Knowing her ability to joke about herself, I'm surprised there wasn't a stock tip in her obituary. Sell Botox!

I limit my salmon fishing to pier heads whenever the water temps get down into the 50's, usually in August or the early part of September before the fish go from chrome to whatever you want to call that brown color they take on as they start to die. On this side of the lake, that means we watch the winds as a heavy Easterly or Northerly wind can flip water temps almost overnight. To or three rods on every trip. One for casting spoons like a glow in the dark 3/4oz Little Cleo, with the others setup for bait fishing. Without a doubt, live alewives are the top choice. Dead baits include whole smelt, spawn, and on occasion, shrimp.

Poppers, Prop Baits, or Spooks - Size and action is dependent on what they're feeding on and how much action they'll respond to. Any serious topwater angler is going to have quick access to all three. They're also going to have a spinnerbait and soft plastic follow-up lure handy as well.

When it comes to more than one person having the desire to use something that others also have access to, almost everyone will have their own ideas of how that resource should be restricted. All types of water have restrictions on them. In Michigan you'll find lakes with horsepower restrictions, no wake lakes, electric motor only or no motors at all lakes, and most popular are the no wake or high speed boating time restrictions. On our rivers, some have limited use restrictions where the gov't limits the number of canoes (also known as the aluminum hatch) that can travel on that river each day. I'm quite sure that most other states have restrictions on their lakes or rivers. Then there are all of the restrictions on fishing. In our state, we are restricted from where we can use a drop shot rig. We have closed seasons for a whole rash of different fish species, and some areas that are closed to all fishing at certain times of the year. We have stretches of rivers that are restricted for using flies only, hardware only, and no kill zones. From reading some of the comments of users here, I'm going to assume that many of us could come up with a few restrictions we'd like to see. How about no bucket fishermen? What about a restriction on how close a boat can get near a shore bound angler? A time limit on how long a person can tie up a launch site? With a little thought, we can all come up with a list of restrictions we'd like to see. Some real great ideas that would fit the way we see as the proper way the resource should be used. If enough people got behind those ideas, we could influence the power that be to change how everyone enjoys this sport. Wouldn't that be great? Of course, how long before all the dock owners get a law passed that keeps fishermen 100' from their docks? The bottom line is that every restriction that sounds great to one group of people takes away from the rest of us. I don't mind seeing some restrictions if they are based on safety or the protection of a resource in danger of being lost. After that, it becomes nothing more than a special law for a minority.

Maybe a deer or a pronghorn, questionable on an elk. Okay on a lion, but a bear? Only if you are in a tree and your guide has a real gun!

I must be the only guy in the world that was ever happy to buy a single box of 50 rounds of ammunition. Maybe its the fact that the only time I pull out my .22 is at the start of squirrel season, or it might have something to do with the other fact that my rifle is a bolt action. Just how many bricks of ammunition does the typical shooter go through in a year? I know that in a few trips to our gun club, I witness the spray and pray boys popping off countless rounds. I've seen their rifles. Everything from old school modified Ruger 10/22's to lord only knows what they are. To be blatantly honest, many of them need to shoot so many shells, because they sure don't have a clue to accuracy. Then there is the mess left behind. I've been in charge of mowing those ranges every couple weeks, and in that time the shell casings can be piled up like snow drifts! I have literally vacuumed up over 30 gallons of casings in a single pass over those ranges in a single swipe. Then there are the guys I've talked to that tell me about how many cases they have sitting at home. Cases! It's lead not gold, but to many of these guys you'd think it was. And we all sit around and try to figure out why nobody has any bricks on their shelves, or why when you do find one, they are so expensive! We'd all like to see availability improve and for prices to return to normal. The only way that is going to happen is to see consumption return to normal as well. If the spray and pray gang would learn to enjoy the sound of a sting of Black Cat firecrackers going off for a year, and the hoarders would try investing in something with real value, maybe sanity will return. I wouldn't bet on it!

You hit the nail on the head there! I can't count the number times I've turned the boat where both of us could fish the same water only to have the guy in the back trying to take over the whole side.

To paraphrase a sage: "Yelp!"

The Detroit Lions over Buffalo with a last second field goal! Nobody said it had to be a GOOD guess.

Morale support you'll get by the boat load Eric. If you are lucky enough to hit the big time circuits, I'm sure that you will have all the other support you need in your venture. Get some practice on the sales part of the sponsor game by seeing if your Dad will let you bid a few of those home improvement projects. It's refreshing to see someone posting in this section who isn't asking for tons of freebies!

You can actually use Schedule C to report income and expenses from a hobby operation by simply answering "No" in the box next to the material participation question. In my past experience, I would suggest following this course if the angler was fishing in one of these "One Big Bass - One Big Paycheck" tournament every year. By fully expensing all of your costs each year, you are allowed to carry those losses forward to future years. One of those just might end up being the year the hawg decides bite and put you into another tax bracket! I have also had luck avoiding the SE tax in the rare event that a year ends up with a positive number, but only after a history of showing hobby losses in prior years.

The person in the front of the boat only has as much advantage over the backseater as they want to have. Unless you can talk the boat owner into running backwards all day, the only way to have the advantage comes from owning your own boat. Sad but true!

I wonder if anyone of the big bad swimbait crowd can explain the results the Big-O gets from those "Barney Baits" he designs?

Sometimes it is. A family I have known for many years had a situation that falls into the category of the absentee father that I would like to tell you about. A young couple divorced after five years of a marriage that had created three children. After the divorce, and even though the two parents lived within 30 miles of each other, the father broke off all contact with his children. Never paid a penny in child support until taken to court, never bought any of his children a birthday or Christmas present. Not even a single phone call. This completely self-absorbed man walked around town like he never even knew these children existed. Twelve years later, when the mother was having serious issues with the oldest son, she contacted the father in a last desperate hope that he would help the boy. A little over one year later, she came home to find that this young man had hung himself. His name was William. He couldn't cope with the fact that the man who helped bring him into this world, could abandon him so completely. No amount of love and attention given to this child from others could heal the pain he felt. Even though his name is so close to a certain comedian that took his live too, this young man didn't garner all of the same remorse he did. Even though in my mind, he should have. So yeah, it can be too late. In my honest opinion, it becomes too late the minute a parent decides that their life is more important than the ones they created, no matter how long that decision lasts. The truth is that there are children who are abandoned in homes where both parents still live. I will agree that absentee parents should make the effort to get back in their children's lives, but I think the more important lesson is that these so called adults should make the choice to put their kids first long before they unzip!

The following is strictly the opinion of a retired accountant and tax preparer and should not be considered legal advice. Others may have a different opinion based on their interpretation of the IRS's current regulations. Any opinion not based directly on those regulations should be considered meaningless unless the person offering the advice agrees to cover any penalties that advice may generate! Any income a person receives as a result of their bass tournament activities is considered taxable by the IRS. This can include cash or merchandise won in tournaments, received from sponsors, paid for endorsements, or any other related activity. Done correctly, the individual will receive a Form 1099-Misc. from all organizations who pay $600 or more to that person. Prize money should be reported in Box #3 of that form, and other income may be reported in Box #7. Regardless if the money earned is reported on such a form or not, ALL INCOME should be reported on the Form 1040, Schedule C. Any expenses directly incurred in the activity is then reported in the expense section of the schedule. This can include entry fees, travel costs, expense tied to the operation of then angler's boat, expenses for lures and tackle. Insurance cost for the boat and liability are usually deductible. A person who is actively engaged in the venture may also deduct self-employed health insurance costs. Depreciation of assets having a life of more than one year, such as the cost of the boat, rods and reels, and electronics, can also be written off based on their useful life. Depending on the amount of income, certain assets may be expensed in the year of purchase based on IRC Section 179. The sale or disposition of these assets is reported as a sale of business property and should be reported on Schedule D of the same tax return. Upon completion of the Schedule C, any net income is taxed based upon whether the individual is actively or passively engaged in the operation of the business. Those persons who are actively engaged will pay both income tax and self-employment (social security) taxes on that income. Those persons who are performing the activity passively (aka a hobby) should not be taxed for self-employment purposes. An individual who is subject to SE taxes may also deduct losses from the activity against other income if the taxpayer is fully liable for those losses. Losses from the conduct of a hobby generally are not deductible. Any income or losses may or may not be subject to state or other taxes as well. It is my opinion that anyone who has won $70,000 in any kind of tournament should immediately contact a professional tax preparer for advice on their specific circumstances. DO NOT wait until after the tax year has ended! As a matter of fact, it would be my suggestion that anyone who is fishing in tournaments should spend the time to learn what their responsibilities are for reporting their income and expenses.

I seldom if ever use live bait for bass. I use it all the time to other species like walleye, yellow perch, bluegill, and when pier fishing for trout/salmon. Uncle Homer had some really great ideas, but I needed to tweak this one. With so many assorted panfish in our lakes, I've found that suspending a small soft plastic offering behind the boat works a lot better than hanging live bait back there. A slip bobber rig with a 4" worm, 3" tube, or 3" grub works better than a live crawler.

If the basis for "rock-n-roll" was the inability to understand the words, then Opera would have to be included!

Agreed! The only thing left to do is to go home a hug his DAD!

Yup! Nothing drives a market like irrational fear, which makes the saying that "Those that keep their heads when everyone else is losing theirs" quite relevant in this case. If you read enough gun forums, you'll find all kinds of people who are bragging about the 10's of thousands of rounds they have hoarded away.

Sounds like a classic case of "Can't See the Sarcasm Font" on the old lady's face.

The only advice I can give you on using these things has nothing to do with the brand, but more to do with disrupting the normal passage of deer in the area. Our middle son bought one last year and bombarded me with pictures on the deer showing up on it. I don't ever think he figured out what he was really seeing on those pictures. The first few included a nice buck taken during daylight. Within a couple of weeks, all the pictures were of does and small spikes moving by at night. By the time opening day got there, he never saw squat. Too many trips into the place to retrieve pictures had spooked the deer. My Advice - Limit your trips to retrieve that chip!

It's impossible to limit it to just one, so like others I'll list a few. Twelve O'clock High Key Largo The Searchers Moby Dick It's A Wonderful Life Way more would fall into a full favorites list, including a few more recent films.

Sad. We have a member here (00Mod) who has real life track experience, who takes the time to make a very detailed explanation, and the result is a bunch of petty sniping. Makes me think that the next time someone asks a question about accounting or income taxes, the best course of action would be to look for the answer from Raider's Chinese cook! Great Post Jeff - It wasn't a complete waste of time because I was hoping from the start that you'd chime in. Edit - I should also mention that Sam sent me a PM mentioning the change of the thread's title. I think it is important for Sam and everyone else to know that I didn't have an issue with Sam. The title was based on exactly what the linked story used. No Harm - No Foul

You're a better man than me. Let's hope he gives credit where its due if he pulls out a limit of hawgs today!