Lund Explorer

You need only to remember the retort: Your Sister's Are Bigger! -or- Your Sister Is Thinner! Whatever - Just make sure to mention her sister.

I'm not sure what these guys are paying, but they were on the news last night. Still here and growing! http://muskegon.wzzm13.com/news/news/72458-made-michigan-motiv-bowling

I know of several that have such scales. These aren't the ones sitting on the counter, but they are usually located in the back room and are used to weigh incoming shipments which could be as big as an entire side of beef or a whole dressed pig.

The species that you go after with those tip ups will determine where to set them. Northern Pike could be in shallow weed beds during first ice but will follow natural prey such as bluegills which tend to move deeper later in the winter. I usually fish Walleye in deeper water near the areas that we also target for perch. The deepest fish are Lake Trout which we target in water depths of 90' - 120'. For any of these fish, tip ups are baited with some type of live minnow. Grey, Blue, or Golden Shiners are popular as well as smaller Suckers. Some states allow you to use goldfish, but not here in Michigan. I usually use Sucker minnows for Pike unless its going to be sunny out that day, and then I'll use a shiner minnow that puts out more flash. Walleye/Lake Trout usually calls for smaller Blues. Your local bait shop should be able to help you out with what is working in your area.

Heck no, I'd give it to a bucket fisherman to take home to eat! Now seriously, I guess I'd feel a little stupid/unlucky/whatever for not knowing the rules. After about ten seconds, I would simply accept the fact that rules are rules. And I have not only read stories about record setting catches, but knew what needed to be done to establish a claim for a state record catch. In the 1960's this state added a whole bunch of new salmon species swimming in our Great Lakes. A lot of people dreamed of catching a state record King, Coho, or Atlantic Salmon. A#1 on that list was a certified scale had to be used, which with a little thought should be easy to find if you have ever visited a meat market as their scales MUST be certified by the State Dept of Agriculture. As far as a witness from the state, there's a conservation officer in every county, many of whom would gladly come to help out. The Bottom Line - The things this fisherman did wrong far outweighed (no pun intended) an IGFA rule that was in effect long before he ever hit the water that day. If he or anyone else wants to take it personally, then I can't cure that either.

Schnapps - - - Peppermint Schnapps!

Berkley Power Worm, and/or Rage Tail Space Monkey.

So, What Happened? I always hated that phrase and learned that the best reply went something like "Yes, I've been holding back for too long." The best defense is a good offense!

X2

I made it for just shy of twenty years before I started wearing a wedding ring. Here I was sitting in the bar after attending a food show with my banquet manager waiting for our host's dinner to begin. Some little gal asks me if we have time for a quickie, which being hopelessly married, I took as too mean just one more drink. Duh! It was less than one month after the story was being constantly repeated by this witness that I was presented with a wedding band for our 20th Anniversary. That wasn't enough though as two of my bartenders (females-go figure) talked me into footing the bill for another bauble for the wife too. That was many years ago and I have learned my lesson. Always go alone to a food show!

Sounds like you are fishing outside. Two things to consider. 1) Bring along a few towels to keep your hands dry and taking a few short breaks with your hands in a pair of mittens or a heated muff can help. 2) Try pinching off the barbs on some of your teardrops. I just bounce the fish onto the ice and many times the fish comes off on its own. Okay, three ideas. Pick yourself up one of those fold over ice shelters and a small space heater. That's what I've got.

Nice Dog! If that kid wants to catch dogs, just fish shallow weedy areas. The channels on the Martiny Chain are absolutely polluted with those things. The coves on Lake Mitchell in Cadillac and Upper Hamlin in Ludington are great places to look for them too. Gawdy spinnerbaits and big soft plastics seem to catch the most for me (not like I target them), but if you aren't fishing heavy line expect a lot of bite offs. Have you seen all the teeth those things have?

Ice fishing is fun and you can enjoy the sport for just a few dollars or going hog wild for every toy possible. For the shore bound angler, its the time of year that you can actually fish those waters you were staring at all summer. The MUST HAVE stuff includes warm boots and clothing that not only insulates but also cuts the wind. Top of the head, tips of the fingers and toes are all where you'll freeze out first if you aren't prepared. For fishing, you can get away with a couple of simple spinning rod combos, a TipUp or two, a hand powered ice auger, and a bucket to carry your bait, tackle, and fish in. One last must have is a set of ice spikes to help you get out if you ever unlucky enough to fall through. It happens! The toys include; Flashers like the Vexilar, Cameras like the Aqua-Vu, GPS Units, Gas powered augers, portable ice shanties, propane heaters, and the 4WD Quad to haul it all onto the lake! The very first toy should be a flasher unit as they can be indispensible at times.

Seeing as how we're giving unbiased views of some states, I'll toss Michigan into the fray. Smallmouth Fishing? Ever heard of Lake St. Clair? Lake Erie? Grand Traverse Bay? Bay De Noc? Walleye Factory? Saginaw Bay! The Au Sable & Pere Marquette Rivers? - The holy waters of fly fishing for trout. The Great Lakes? - World class fishing for King Salmon, Coho Salmon, Steelhead, Brown Trout, Lake Trout. In northern Lake Huron and the St. Mary's River - Atlantic & Pink Salmon. Google "Stannard Rock" to see what first class fishing on Lake Superior is all about. Largemouth Bass, Northern Pike, Jumbo Perch, and many other species from Detroit to Gogebic County! Unlike Texas - Few ticks and absolutley no chiggers, fire ants, scorpions, or water moccasins! You can fish at high noon twelve months out of the year. They make ice shanties with heaters to keep you warm in the winter, but they haven't figured out how to install AC on a bass boat! The Mitten - Home of the 2 Special "K's" - Kevin VanDam & Kate Upton!

Here's a link to an interesting site. http://www.checkoutmycards.com/

Agreed! It's harder to find a place to work/live where the pay is good and the climate is agreeable. Take advantage of what is swimming in your home waters and use your vacations to explore other parts of the country for what they have to offer.

While I'm sure most of feel sorry that the guy lost his chance at a payday, you only need to read the story to see that he made quite a few mistakes along the way. From the original article: "Ply caught the striped bass on Feb. 18 and submitted his catch to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission; the state record is 64 pounds, 8 ounces. But in May, the commission disallowed the catch as a state record because an Arkansas wildlife official did not witness the weighing and the scale was not certified." So besides the fact that IGFA doesn't recognize the Alabama Rig, the State (and most likely IGFA) doesn't recognize any weight using cousin MaryLou's baby scales, and actually requires an official witness. I could give Bubba here the benefit of the doubt with regards to the lure of choice, but if he's going to take the time to sign up with Mustad, maybe he should've taken the extra time to learn a little bit about what it takes to establish a record. Somethings you just can't cure.

Jackie had a question for you. On a roadtrip, does Roadwarrior take the place of your wife or the dogs?

Hmmm, this would have made a great letter to either Ann Landers or Dear Abby! Actually, I'm pretty sure that both of these advice columnists dealt with this type of issue long before FB or any other social media site was even thought of. So here's the whole thing in a nutshell. Have you and your fiance had a discussion about this? What was her reaction? If she agrees with you and says that she will change, then the only thing left to worry about is whether she actually changes. That's out of your control, and its where that word trust comes into play. If she doesn't agree with you, then you need to decide if you can live with that. Of course you also have to understand that a person doesn't need FB to stay in contact with somebody. In the Good Ol'Days, you only had to wonder why she keeps hanging up the landline phone when you enter the room and cellphones could make it worse. Or maybe why it took her an extra 45 minutes to get home from work one afternoon. And there's half a hundred other things that could eat at you. The more you think about it, well, maybe its better not to think about it, huh? The bottom line is that you marry someone for who they are, and not for who you think you can change them into. Trying to control anyone isn't the blueprint to a very happy future. But that's just my opinion.

None of us can match NASA's budget!

He is 16 so the first day of classes are today, regardless of what grade he is in. Anyhow, my condolences for all the kids who don't live in Michigan where classes can't start until after Labor Day.

Your post is a great example of a lesson that I tried to teach my children many years ago. At that time, our youngest daughter was making many trips to the Shriner's Hospital in Chicago as they tried to correct a birth defect that gave her one leg shorter than the other. The lesson I tried to teach them, and that our daughter learned first hand was: "There's always someone worse off than you." Even though she didn't enjoy all of those trips, it only took living in the same room with someone wearing a halo from a broken neck or being fixed with a prostetic limb to put life into perspective. I guess that in the big picture that I'll consider myself lucky. The last few years has seen a tremendous drop in my fishing. From the loss of my lifelong friend and tournament buddy a few years ago, to a mother suffering from dementia for the last several years, or to just leaving the boat in the garage to help our kids with home improvement projects this year. Putting my love for fishing aside has always been driven by a love that runs much deeper. Regardless of the challenges any of us face, I know there's someone who would gladly take the easy route we've been given.

Howdy Stranger! I was starting to think you'd been roped by some young gal and had given up fishing. Here's hoping that you enjoy college life. Keep that nose in the books.

We must have married sisters, mine kicks! I went with the wife to the garden center today to help her pick up a few plants and what not. We got up to the cash register and the young guy working there mentioned that they had hanging plants on sale. The wife growled in her own pleasant way that she didn't have or want anything that was hanging. All I asked the salesmen was if they had a sale on anything drooping.

I always base my choice of color on water clarity rather than by season.