Kirtley Howe

I could not care less about LiveScope or FFS. If you want to use it, go for it. If you don't like it, don't use it. I did kind of like Randy's idea of having the tournament anglers vote (with in their own organization) as to if it should be allowed in their tournaments. That does seem fair to me...let the tournament anglers decide for themselves.

I started with Spinning reels and rods. Used them for many years before getting my first baitcasting set up. I use both now, depending on application and my mood. Each has its' advantages. I don't think spinning reels/rods are going to go away. Personally, I don't care if you want to use a piece of string and stick and a safety pin....just get out there and fish.

What is the strangest place you ever caught a fish? For me, it was the Ithaca NY Wegmans parking lot. This was about 16 years ago. Wegmans had built their store near a flood control channel. I was working a second job doing security at the store, so I spent a fair amount of time there. We had one of those "once in a hundred year floods", and the channel overflowed pretty dramatically. After a few days, the water receded, but a large section of the parking lot was still flooded with 2-4' of water and one of my jobs was to put cones and caution tape around the area. While I was doing that, I noticed something swimming around in the water. So I said to myself (and I know it was me because I recognized my voice)...."Self, after work you need to break out the fishing gear and see if you can catch a fish or two." So after work, I grabbed a rod and some lures out of my truck, and gave it a go. I figured that the fish were most likely Carp, as there were always a few of those in the flood control channel, so I ran into the store and bought a can of corn for bait. Tried that for about a half hour with no luck. I should mention that customers going into the store were giving me some pretty strange looks...but that did not deter me in the least. Anyway, I had no luck with the corn. I figured what the heck, and put an original floating Rapala on and started working that. Long stort short, I ended up with 2 reasonable size Bass, and 3 very nice size Brown Trout. The Bass got put back in the flood control channel, and the Trout went home with me. I had several nice meals of broiled Trout over the next few days. I keep fishing the parking lot until the water was pretty much gone, buy only caught (snagged) one Carp after that day.

My mother was from Madison West Virginia....or as she always said....Madison West by God Virginia. Welcome to the group.

Gadabout Gaddis. Babe Winkelman (sp?). Used to watch their shows as much as possible. Of the pros I have met.....Hank Parker (wonderful person and always willing to talk to you). Shaw Grigsby....about the nicest pro I ever met, and excellent at explaining things. Roland Martin...I thought he was a total jerk and did not like him as a person, but he was incredibly talented and knowledgeable. They all inspired me to learn more about fish and fishing.

A classic and still successful lure for any member of the pike family is a good old red and white spoon.

I have watched every episode. I have the BluRay set, so I have actually seen them in the proper order. I agree that the series as ended too soon. Nathan Fillion has said he would love to reboot the series at any time, but Josh Wheaton owns the rights and won't sign off.

Good call. I had not thought of that.

All those already mentioned, with The Magnificent 7 being my favorite.....but I am surprised no one mentioned The Hateful Eight.

In my twenties and thirties, I often had a second (or third) job as a bouncer. I always felt that if it got to being a fight, I did not do my job well...but if I had to resort to violence, then all rules were off. I seldom lost, as drunk idiots, even if bigger and stronger than me, had the disadvantage. When I was a kid, my mother told me that if possible, walk away from a fight....but if not possible, carry a roll of quarters in your hand, and don't be afraid to use it. She also said that if any family member was in a fight, and it was a more or less fair fight, then I should stay out of it, but be there to take them home if he/she lost. And if it was NOT a fair fight, then I d**n well better not come home unmarked. She was a wise lady.

I use either my 8 speed or my 5 speed depending on the conditions. My 5 speed is usually loaded with lighter line, so I use that in areas where there are less snags (gravel, sand, silt bottom) or if I want to get a bit more depth with a given lure. My 8 speed is often loaded with heavier line, and I use that in areas where there is a bottom with more snags. I don't have a problem slowing down when I use the faster reel. Another point to consider is that sometimes a faster retrieve is better....you have to experiment to see what the fish want at any given time. And remember that it is physically impossible for you to reel a lure at a speed that a bass cannot catch if they want it.

I got my first pair of glasses at 7 years old. That was when I discovered that trees had individual leaves; before that, they were just brown sticks with green or colored blobs on them. Wore glasses until I was 19 years old, then shifted to hard contact lenes, Wore those until I was 27 or so, then shifted to soft lenses (I always had a pair of glasses to wear when my eyes got irritated by the contacts). At 33 years old I was in a very bad car wreck and among other things I ended up with glass fragments in my right eye, and that caused scaring which made it impossible to wear contacts anymore, so back to glasses I went. I should say that without the glasses I was essentially blind...I could see great for about 6 inches in front of my face, but everything after that was just a bunch of indistinct shapes and colors. At 64 I was diagnosed with cataracts. Since I had to have surgery anyway, they did lens implants in my eyes. For the first time in my life, I could see without glasses or contacts. I had 20/15 distance vision, but if I am doing a lot of reading or computer work, I have to wear reading glasses. Now at 73 I have 20/20 distance vision and my close up vision is unchanged. Funny how a 15 min operation can so dramatically affect your life. I was 4F during the Vietnam years due to my vision, and back then there was no "cure" for it. Now days, it is a super simple thing to fix.

Now that is what I call a professional over-run.

One of my favorite signs is a road sign that says "Limited Sight Distance".....Oh, so THAT explains why I can't see very far ahead! Do they really have to put up a sign for that? Just how stupid has the general public become? Years ago car manuals told you how do things like change the oil or adjust the valves. Now days they have warnings to not drink the contents of the battery or radiator. I am beginning to despair for the human race.

Lovelywife Melody got me this for Christmas last year. I don't drink much...there is still about 1/4 bottle left.....but when I do drink, I like a good sour mash bourbon. This stuff is great. Oak barrel aged at least 4 years, 101 proof, limited edition Kentucky bourbon. I mix it only with a bit of water and one ice cube, and sip it. Very smooth with a nice kick. I get flavors Oak, tobacco, a hint of fruit, and a bit of vanilla on the finish. I have no idea what she paid for it.

And don't forget the original CastMaster spoon. Looks like a useless slab of metal, but is great for jigging in deep water, and casts a mile. I also still use the Original Cream pre-rigged worm. It still works great, although you almost never see them anymore. Sometimes Walmart has them, and you can find them online.

Yes, it is a variable speed trolling motor. I would by the Walmart battery, but as I said I have gift cards for Bass Pro. There is no core exchange necessary, and the recycle cost is built into the battery I believe. If not, I don't think it is more than about $5.00.

Thinking of buying a Bass Pro Group 27 Deep Cycle Trolling motor battery. Anyone have any experience with them? Are they a good value for the money? Any problems with them, and if so how did Bass Pro do with the warrantee? I plan on using this with a bow mount 55 lbs thrust trolling motor on a 15 foot Boston Whaler Sport. I would not be using it nearly as much as a pro would...maybe 2-3 hours of use on an average day. The main reasons for buying this battery is price ($149.00) and the fact I have $150 of Bass Pro gift cards that Lovelywife Melody gave me for Christmas.

You didn't have a "both" option. We have had 3 dogs in recent years. Two were rescues, and the other we took in when her owner had to move out of state and could not take her. 2 of the dogs died from old age, but at least for the years they were with us they were health and happy, and very loved. We also have 5 cats at this time, all rescues. We fenced the front yard for the dogs, and I closed up the front porch with chicken wire so the cats can go "outdoors" without being at risk of being eaten by coyotes. They are basically indoor cats with outdoor visiting rights. Over the past few years we have had a total of 14 cats, but never more than 5 at a time. We always say we are just going to make sure they get neutered and have been checked out by a vet and gotten their shots, and then we are going to rehome them. But we always fall in love with them and almost never give them up. One cat we took in was pregnant and had 6 kittens. We did rehome 4 of them to good homes (we are very picky about the homes they go to), but we kept 2 of them and the momma cat.

I hear a lot of people say that they cannot be as accurate with a spinning reel as they can with a casting reel. I not sure why that is. I find I can be very accurate with a spinning reel. I can "feather" the line with my finger as it comes off the reel and drop a lure right where I want it, and with very little noise as it enters the water. I can't believe I am the only one to figure this out but I have never seen it mentioned in articles or being discussed on this forum. Have I just missed it, or is really a "secret"?

My first wife....We dated for 2 years, lived together for 1 1/2 years of that. We talked about everything. She had been married before and had a daughter. They divorced after 6 years. She said he was abusive and a cheat. We discussed having children together, and she said she really wanted to have children with me. She said she was proud of me and what I had accomplished in life. I was very much in love with her, and adored her daughter and wanted to adopt her. We got engaged and I bought her a flawless 1/2 carat engagement ring. A week later she took it back to the jewelry store and swapped it for a very gaudy, and very flawed 1 carat diamond ring. That should have been my first clue about her character....We go married, and she shortly informed me she was going to have her tubes tied so she could not have any more children. This was NOT a medical necessity...she just decided she didn't want more kids. This should have been my second clue, but I was in love with her or so I thought. She then said I didn't make enough money and I needed to get a second job to provide for our family. OK...second job it is. Then that was not enough, so I got a third job. Still not enough money. (This took place over a period of several years...it did not happen all at once.) STILL not enough money. So I changed careers and took a job that paid about 35% more than I could make with the 3 jobs I had been working...but I had to travel a lot for work and was often gone from Monday to Friday. I started to not know who I was, and I was not happy. She thought that was great.....Then I found out that 1) Since she had power of attorney for me so she could handle the bills while I was on the road, she had opened up 6 credit cards in my name (I had a 795 credit rating at that time) and had maxed them all out. I didn't know for a long time, as she got and "handled" all the bills. I found out when our landlady asked when I was going to catch up on the rent that was 3 months behind, and I started checking into things. I found out I was $60,000 in debt. 2) I also found out she had been a serial cheater with at least 3 men if not more. I told her she could be someone else's mistress or my wife, but not both. I also said she would have to get a job to help pay off the debt she had created. She refused. I told her she had the next week to move out and when I got home the next Saturday she had indeed moved out...and taken everything...including the curtains, light bulbs, towels....I had a bed, a kitchen table and chair (singular...she took 3 of them). She took all the dishes, pots and pans and silverware. And the car. The divorce was NOT amicable, cost me a lot, and she got off owing nothing and I was stuck with every bill. It took me 4 years of working 80-100 hour weeks to get out of debt. Still very glad that is over. Current wife is a lady I dated when she was 18 and I was 24. I thought she was fantastic then, but felt the age difference was too great (at that time), and I broke up with her. 5 years after my divorce we got back together. 7 months later we were married. Best thing that ever happened to me. 11 years now and still going strong. She respects and loves and supports me, and I love, respect and support her. Do we sometimes have problems? Sure. But we are honest with each other and that makes all the difference in the world.

Something like this maybe?

I have to grow old. I refuse to grow up.

And I think they quit calling a group of Baboons a congress because it was an insult to the Baboons.

I don't think line visibility is a concern when trolling, and I much prefer the characteristics of mono. I use Trilene XT in 10# test for Rainbows and Landlocked Salmon. I move up to 12# or 15# if I think I may encounter Lake Trout I never target them, but in Cayuga Lake and Seneca Lake where I am most likely to fish, they are sometimes an unintended catch. I like the knot strength of XT better than XL. My fallback mono is Vicious as I can often find that on sale in my area. Some people swear by Big Game mono, but I don't like the way it handles. In all likely hood any major brand of mono should work fine.