OCdockskipper

Legally, they are allowed to curse, drop their pants and dance naked on the front deck if they want to. They are not bound by FCC regulations. The interesting thing will be what the BPT decides is appropriate, which will be based on who they believe is their target market and what is best for business. I can see anglers like Ike, Ish Monroe and other volatile anglers pull for anything goes. However, remember that this is the brainchild of Boyd Duckett & Gary Klien, who from outward appearances appear to be more interested in a family friendly product. This may be the first item that splits the BPT membership into 2 factions. My guess is the family friendly side will win out. There is cursing on the field of all sports, but the goal is not to do it when you are fully aware the camera is on you.

Will Ike get the first BPT suspension? Couldn't happen to a more level headed guy. Ike - "Got one, its a big one" Official - "13 ounces, non-scorable bass"

If someone insults you, just make sure you don't get your panties in a bunch!

I was wrong about no written coverage, there were a couple of good articles in the results section. Us old people are happy!! If they have bad officiating during a tournament near New Orleans, will there be a lawsuit to vacate the results of the tournament? ?

This may be an old man complaint, but I find written coverage of MLF events to be lacking. I'm from a generation that likes reading about events and having boxscores to review, MLF seems to be more focused on doing video for everything. It wouldn't have to be overly thorough, just a brief recap with some interview quotes.

I believe that if you were a fish & you left the water to lay in either the grass or the rocks, you would probably die after a few minutes, no matter how warm either was... Unless you were one of those walking catfish.

I never met my mom's dad, he died in his early 50's before I was born. He was a hunter & a fisherman, first in Minnesota where he was born & later in Central California, where they moved when my mom was young. From what I have heard about him, he was gruff with younger kids (he was from the generation that believed children should be seen but not heard), however he had a soft spot for his grandkids who showed an interest in the outdoors. My mom believes he would have taken a liking to me based on my interest in fishing, but might have had a hard time understanding my preference for catch & release. My oldest son is going to have their first child (a boy) in May and just in case I have my grandfathers short lifeline, I am planning on having my future grandson in the boat before he can walk...

I believe the saying goes "Behind every cheater is a wife with a credit card"...

You would be surprised where crayfish show up. In areas that dry up seasonally, the crayfish burrow deep enough to get in dirt (mud) that still has moisture in it. When the pond refills, they come out of their burrows. I saw this first hand on the creek that runs from the dam at Canyon Lake into Lake Elsinore. For much of the year, especially during the summer, the area is just a dry creekbed. As a teen, my uncle took me there one June day, and had me help him flip over the largest boulders we could handle. Sure enough, you could see the burrows, some inches deep, some a couple of feet deep. Most of the burrows had multiple crayfish in them.

The parts of the lake that are in South Texas, South Louisiana & South Florida.

I agree. Nothing ruins sports or any good time like when you get a lawyer or politician involved...?

I remember that point, yes it is a great prespawn spot. It drops quickly into the creek channel and seems to be a stopping point as fish pull up to the flats on either side.

Here comes one of those predictions that can come back to bite me: I predict the Rams will jump on the Patriots early, scoring 3 times before the Pats get on the board. Either 21-0 or 17-0, with one of them being a defensive or special teams TD. No real reason for this for this other than a gut feeling. There is just something about the Patriots style that I have a hunch McVay will be able to take advantage of, at least early on.

That must be a newer park (last 30 years) or a newer name for an existing park, I don't remember it. Is it on the main lake or in the no-wake zone?

I stand corrected. Thanks for catching that, I missed it the first time through until I read that other site interview you mentioned.

I agree, for 99% of the anglers. There is no way an Edwin Evers or Jason Christie, to randomly name a few, do anything like this. The 1% is the problem, either the guy struggling to stay in the BPT, who somehow rationalizes that it is okay to bend the rules this one time (which leads to a next time & next time) or someone who looks at the world the same way it appears Nate Wellman does. I would expect the anglers will do a bit of policing themselves. There will be sharing of information between anglers and that can be used to keep poaching at a minimum. On tournaments were they go to a different location after day 4, it doesn't hurt for a day 1/3 fisherman to tell his roommate (who is fishing days 2/4) about a spot in order to help the latter angler make the cut.

But how about their wives/girlfriends? I know what the rules are, but how do you monitor pillow talk? At least when everyone is fishing together, if information gets out about where & how you are catching them, you can protect an area. If another pro hasn't been in that area for practice or day 1, it is less likely he will show up with you there on day 2 (except for Ike, he will barge in on anyone, anywhere, anytime). With you gone, the angler with the least integrity will be the first to take advantage.

Here is a negative that I just accidentally found out. I was moving around the MLF page and looked at the current angler bio's, where they have wins & money earned listed. They also have a separate category for MLF wins. Well I happened to look at an angler who fished MLF last year for the 1st time and they have him with one MLF win. That win had to have come from one of the episodes that hasn't been shown yet, that we will see in the coming months. That is the tough part about trying to mix taped for future viewing events and live events. I won't name him here so as to not spoil future episodes for others.

This one falls less into the "blooper" category and more into the "no good deed goes unpunished" category. Towards the end of spring last year, I was fishing and worked my way to the back of a small cove. There is an abandoned launch ramp there, fenced off to stop non-residents from launching boats on it. Using the ramp as a beach were a pair of black Australian Swans, who were tending to their 3 cygnets (baby swans). There are about 18 Australian swans on our lake, all from 1 breeding pair that was brought in about 7 years ago. Since this is the only home they have ever known, they have no fear of nor animosity towards humans, they look at us as potential feeding machines. As I got closer to the swans, I heard a cry emanating from the opposite direction. I look over and a baby Canada goose, maybe 2 months old or so, has lost his way from his parents and in a panic, starts swimming towards the swans. Immediately, the male swan takes this as an act of aggression and begins swimming towards the gosling. Knowing what is about to happen, I pull my boat between the swan & the gosling, only to have the gosling dive under water, swim past me & the swan and pop up at the boat ramp right next to the cygnets. All hell breaks loose! The adult swans pinned the gosling against the fencing and began hammering it with their beaks, feet & wings. The gosling kept trying to get through the fence to get away, but couldn't. I quickly got my boat up next to the retaining wall, and went over towards them. The swans stopped, calmed down and just watched as I lifted the bottom of the fence up so the gosling could get on the other side. No worse for wear, the gosling kept squawking, running down the shore trying to find his parents while the swans went back to their brood. Feeling like Dr. Doolittle, I turned back to my boat...which was now floating in the middle of the cove.

Hooks that penetrate the mouth (not gills) are fine. Bass eat plenty of creatures that stick them in the mouth with pinchers & dorsal fins and they probably even get the inside of their mouth bit & scratched when the grab small birds or mammals. The inside of the mouth of most predator fish (bass, catfish, etc) was designed to hold up to that kind of wear & tear. Foul hooking has the potential for damage, whether it blinds the fish or causes cuts that get infected. The slime coat helps prevent infection, but can not regenerate an eye. That said, I caught a 6lb bass last year that was blind in one eye. Other than that, she was healthy and strong, so that handicap was not completely debilitating. I named her Sami, short for Sammy Davis Jr.

I posted this adventure in a similiar thread, but it is worth a repeat. I am moving down a bank and come to a retaining wall that juts out into the lake & is part of a green belt area for people to fish from shore. I see a bass pinning baitfish up against the wall, so I quickly fire a high arcing cast in that direction. Unfortunately, I was so focused on the fish that I failed to notice the enormous tree right near the edge of the greenbelt. My popper ends up about 25 ft up in the tree. After grabbing a different rod and failing to catch the fish, I set my attention to freeing my lure. I pulled & yanked from different angles to no avail. Finally, I was directly under the tree and for some reason thought a good hard yank would work. It did, kinda. As I yanked, both my rod and the tree limb snapped simultaneously, the rod fell to the deck & the branch fell on my head. But I got the lure back...

Sometimes? I believe 3 kids at our elementary school had science projects about you... ?

I would agree with you, for that is what I was taught when I learned to flip way back in the 70's. However, Bill Dance had an episode last year where he was flippin & pitching (and explaining the difference between the two) while seated. I'm guessing it severely limited his distance, but there was no footage of him standing the entire show. I mention this not because it is something that most of us would want to emulate, but rather that it is indeed possible & being done. I guess if you had a handicap or balance issue, it would be better than nothing.

It sounds like you may be storing them in the wrong locker. I don't have any personal experience, but I heard a woman once say you should breath deep & relax...

I understand blowing off steam, I don't begrudge you that. I am just trying to toss a few things for you to consider as you do it (which is really stupid on my part, who wants to list to anyone while blowing off steam ?). As far as a fix, there was a blown call earlier in the game when Goff is trying to score. He gets by a Saints defender who reaches out, catches his facemask and turns Goffs head nearly 90 degrees. Goff continues on & is tackled around the two, no call. That was an obvious call as well that was missed & much like the missed call at the end of the game, changed the game. The Rams would have had a 1st down at the one, instead they settled for a field goal. What I'm asking you to look at is if there was a fix in, why did the refs let that call go? The Saints had no penalties called on them the entire first half. If there was a fix in, don't you think the refs would have found something to call on the Saints, especially with the Rams trailing? I would suggest that the fix wasn't in, but rather that the game was poorly officiated, it went way too far to the point of "letting them play". If the Rams had lost, I would have been ticked and the scenario might have been you telling me how the poor officiating didn't cost the Rams the game. I hear you Sam, I just don't think being ticked at the Rams is the right thing. I would hope I wouldn't harbor any ill-will against the Saints had the roles been reversed. My hope is that all of us fans can reunite once again in our loathing of the Patriots...?