BigAngus752

If someone asks me how I'm catching there's a 99% chance I'm going to give them every detail I can. It's very rare that the bite is so tough that day that I say, "I'm sorry but I'll tell you when I'm headed back to the ramp". Very rare. Also, I will go out of my way to direct other species guys to their fish. If I find crappie or walleye by mistake, I'll hunt down the nearest fisherman and give him the where/what. Why? Treat others as you wish to be treated. I'm always open to listening to advice. Unfortunately in this sport many times it's intentionally B.S. when someone starts running their mouth at the launch.

My gosh, she's a balloon! LOL

Was so balmy after I got off work I had to put the boat on the water. First bass of '23. 4lb 8oz. Water was 44.5 degrees. The bite was so mushy that it was one of those "something feels different" hooksets. Can't complain about a jig bite in February in Illinois!

100%. Get some beer and some food. Make a special point to personally invite them face to face.

Fast forward to 1:11. This guy really wanted to win a Darwin Award.

I'm one of the "extra key in the truck" guys. I have also driven an hour just to turn around because the weatherman predicted the storm going a different direction. Just part of the experience I guess. Glad you turned around. I'd hate to be reading a new article someone posted on here about you!

I disagree. I think most people here, or at least the "long-timers", are very, very good at showing appreciation and giving feedback. Many times I'll start a thread and end the question with "thanks in advance" because I'm going to get a huge number of answers and: 1. I appreciate all of them even if it's not something I'm going to adopt. 2. Most times there is not a single "right" answer, but rather a significant number of good points or ideas. Plus, I can now show my appreciation with the click of my mouse! Which was brilliant, @Glenn. Thank you! You are right that some people just post and forget it, but not the regulars. We're family. You said you haven't been on long. Stick around. You will find that this is, by far, one of the most genial forums on the internet. People here truly like each other and the interaction very well-moderated.

I'm with everyone else. Seaguar or Sunline and #6 or #8lb. This year, however, I have switched my finesse rod back to a full spool of 6lb Trilene XL. I just prefer the way it moves in the water and handles finesse hook-ups vs. mainline braid and a leader. My m/h spinning rods still have 10lb Sufix 832 and 8lb flouro leader on them.

A sharp wit.

....for two months out of the year ?

In the winter I always get to work before sunrise. Once in awhile I'll climb to the top of the main berm on Range 1 to watch the sun come up. Usually there are deer or coyotes running around, but not this morning. My resident owl was still awake, however. I don't know how he sleeps during the day with 40+ guns going off all day long but he stays around. Hunting must be good and his hearing must be bad. LOL I shouldn't be surprised since we have groundhogs living inside EVERY berm in the complex. Until they peek their head out at the wrong time, of course.

Average day....(yawn)........

This thread inspired me to make this meme while sitting here eating my burger. Thanks for the motivation.

Well, we were stupid enough to let it float all the way across our continent, sooooo....it worked.

I don't keep a log every time I fish. I was very blessed to get out a lot last year. I start in March and as the water warms I fish more often. April and May will see me on the water at least once a week. Sometimes twice and I'll burn vacation time for it. I slow down in June and by the end of July I'm not fishing much again until October. I'm down to a couple times a month then but back up to at least once a week in October. By the time we hit Halloween I'm taking time off again and I'm getting my biggest numbers of fish near Thanksgiving and taking time off work to fish multiple days a week. I'd estimate that last year was my highest number of days on the water in any year. I'm sure I hit 40. Probably more.

All of my BCs are Daiwa except for the reel on my 7'6" Powell rod I use for frogs, heavy cover jigs, etc. That baitcaster is an Abu Garcia with 24lbs of drag spooled with 65lb Sufix 832. I once rescued a whale from a commercial fishing net with it. Ok, that didn't actually happen but I think it could do it.

I must be a common thing! LOL

Thank you for that explanation. That's really interesting and actually makes me feel better about it. I only use two kinds of line on my baitcasters, Yo-Zuri Hybrid and braid.

You are looking at this the wrong way! About 10 years ago my wife and I were flying out of Las Vegas on Allegiant. We took off and we were hearing some strange noises that sounded like the landing gear. About 5 minutes of flight and the captain says that the front landing gear won't retract. Five minutes later the captain calmly tells us to sit down, fasten seatbelts, and assume crash position because the front landing gear is on fire. He banks harder that I ever thought a commercial airliner could turn and heads back to Vegas. He told us that the landing gear was stuck in between up and down and there was a fire. People on board were crying and calling loved ones. My wife squeezed my arm and asked what I thought would happen. I've been in similar situations a few times. I smiled and calmly told her that I didn't know, but it was okay because we were together and God would look after our children. She smiled back and kissed me and said she was glad we were together. They had all the runways cleared and all the fire trucks and emergency equipment lined up as we came in hot. Obviously, we made it. Not too much fanfare once we were on the ground. Using your logic we would have never flown again. Opposite! We fly all the time! Do you have any idea what the odds are that we would have our plane catch on fire in mid-air A SECOND TIME? We're golden now. What else could go wrong? LOL

Today I was doing my typical winter maintenance and getting ready for a trip to Texas in March. I was changing out the line on a Tatula and found this near the end of a spool of Yo-Zuri Hybrid. I'm glad that the spool was nearly empty and my reel was nearly full or I would be even more unhappy. Someone must have been working on a Friday afternoon and didn't care.

Great fish! Nice work! +1 on letting the big ones go. Keeping the gene pool prime.

This is not getting settled. But it's lining up a ton of movie nights.

My brother from another mother...

There are a LOT of movies tied for second, but the best western of all time is the 1960 American interpretation of the 1954 Japanese epic "Seven Samurai". If you know what American movie this is, we may be friends already. And number 1 1/2 is Big Jake.