Billy Bob

I read the title and thought it was going to be a picture of Pamela Anderson...LOL BTW Nice Bow

When gasoline prices spike like this and inflation rises I just cut out these luxuries and save my income for more important things, like gas to go fishing..... Sportsmen shows peaked years ago IMHO.....now they are mostly cash grab venues.

PRINCECRAFT........sounds too she'ish....LOL :rofl2:

Merc.....down there I would expect them to be crows...maybe Art can chime in on that......up north where you are, there are more ravens, but down here we have more crows... The birds especially the crows at first (more population of them then turkey vultures) has a huge advantage over ground predetors like the fox or coyotes.....we forget about the birds being predators....without snow and Joe's camera, everyone would of thought fox, coyote or other ground creatures ate all gut pile....nice work Joe....

Not true......I have a friend that works there and he said someone was upset and wanted to develop a new "Smoker Craft" fishing boat in retaliation.

Art (my dad's name) you definitely don't give up and I like that........do you have some German in you ? ? ? I have to admit you're in a disadvantage residing in Virgina and have not experienced the problems we are discussing on a daily basis when it comes to Lake Erie....but you still put up a good fight. Since I worked on the RR I could EASILY contour that all the commerce on the St Lawrence seaway could be handle by rail without a problem....but that would be too easy.......Lake freighters come and go daily during the open water season on the Great Lakes but during the winter the railroads easily take up the slack......but during the shipping season on the Great Lakes ALL boats have to pass through the first down stream lock at the St. Lambert Lock. At this point with through vessel inspections most if not all invasive species could of been stopped cold from entering our fresh drinking water supply. DEMANDING that all vessels at this point contain ONLY salt water in their bilges would have been a EASY thing to do.....BUT WAS NOT DONE...to this day this is still not being done although it is required by law...... ...you see it is Black and White if correctly applied.... Now onto this quote.... ...."The forage base increased as the water was cleaned up and the predator base Salmonoids became less intense. The smallmouth fisheries is something I am taking as true statements made from articles that I have read not because I have fished them. I know it is your area to fish so I might be wrong Bob. Art, I don't know where you read this but it just jiberish at best...it counter itself with in itself. The water clean up better described as water clarity was a direct result of the zebra mussels....they are breaking down the amount of zoo planton within Lake Eries water column and that is not good, unless you like to just swim in Lake Erie...it's water is as clear a swimming pool... Salmon have no effect on our smallmouth population because they don't inhabit the same water column....in short, smallies are a mostly shallow water bottom structure fish while salmon roam the thermoclime feeding off of suspended alwives and smelt....The forage base of shad/alwives/smelt actually was WAY too much and that is why Pacific Salmon were introduce into all the Great Lakes. Balance has now been pretty much achieved. I have been fishing and catching smallmouth bass on Lake Erie since the 60's and they were always there......but now we have better equipment to access them more easily, even on some of the rougher days on the water..... and as I have already mentioned, the recent major bass tournaments and television has really spotlighted Lake Erie as the Worlds Best Smallmouth fishery.....but don't overlook our walleyes.... I'll give you the last word, sir....

TROY is also my FAVORITE swamper....."It's a tree shaker"...love that quote. as said GREAT family man trying to teach his son the family heritages. What you guys are watching are RERUNS of last years show....the NEW episodes are being advertised here in the States to air starting March 28th..... Bob the tree shaker.... :rofl2:

I somewhat agree with this post (except about the smallies). But your fist quote of "have been absorbed with minimal negative impact" is the part I have the most trouble with.....just the HUGE costs alone can't be described as minimal negative impact. Lake Eries Smallmouth population (I believe your referring to Erie) has always been tremendous....it's only now that it's being recognized throughout the fishing world due to several major bass tournaments held on Erie. I don't believe water clarity has anything to do with that, however the clear water changes the way you have to approach fishing ANYTHING on Lake Erie now, something we didn't have to deal with before the zebra mussel invasion of the early 80's.

You and your lovely family will be added to our weekly prayers. Bob

Absolutely NOT true...just the zebra mussels alone have change fisheries where ever they are now present by filtering plankton out of the water columns here....zebra mussels have caused BILLIONS of dollars in damage to water intakes all along the Great Lakes and will continue to do so. I could go on and on but anyone who is near or fishes the Great Lakes can tell you the problems invasive species have done here. NOT GOOD ! ! ! What I find amusing is the Obama administration is spend millions of dollars to prevent Asian Carp from entering the Great Lakes all while companies are transporting them alive to anywhere they can be sold.....this species should be wiped out in North America and anyone who wants to dine on this species should take a plane to where ever they are originally from and enjoy his/her meal.

I think you may be confused....all HDS units are "capable" of down scanning AND SIDE SCANNING where the 5X DSI cannot side scan or be networked together. Networking 2 or more units on a boat is the cat's meow. Lowrance's HDS units are the best on the market right now until Lowrance or someone else comes to the market with even a better unit.....HOWEVER, this units come with a hefty price tag. But it's the only unit out there that has a TWO YEAR warranty.....now if they could only make the fish bite...

Solo's story reminded my of when I served as Safety Director for my department on the RR...I had several complaints about raccoons and skunks in the big classification yard we owned in Buffalo.....So I hired a pest control guy to live trap the animals to reduce or at least eliminate the problem. Only problem is, on the railroad we had many joke-sters among us and some were VERY creative. At first the guy we hired was successful in trapping several animals and even hauled them away (smarter guy would of let them off at the yard limits so he could recycle them)......so one morning I took a ride around the yard to see if any of his traps had captured anymore animals....rumor was a lot of his traps were right in the ditches next to our service roads....I thought I was going to piss my pants when I rolled up to the first trap only to find a stuffed animal of Big Bird in the trap, next one contained the Fruit Loops Bird, the next Poo Bear.......etc....someone brought in all their kids stuff animals and put one in each trap.....the trapper guy had a fit and quit....LOL Just thinking about that still makes me LOL... :rofl2:

You're right......when the HDS units were first released Lowrance rushed them to the market and there was a H2O leakage problem when it rained.....Lowrance has since corrected that problem and replaced all effective units. The HDS units also are covered with a 2 year warranty, the only units that have that....all others 1 year only. Bob

GOOD IDEA ! ! !

Thank You.......I am forwarding this info...

My choice would be Lowrance, as previously stated choose the tool not the toy.... Here's Lowrance's website.....you can compare their products here...If it were me I would purchase the HDS 5 unit if that's the size screen you prefer. http://www.lowrance.com/Products/Marine/ Good Luck in your decision, Bob

I Googled Knob and Tube wiring and it says it was used in North America from 1880 to 1930...I have never seen this type of wiring in any of the homes I have been in....I'd say it's safe to assume this home is not Knob and Tube wiring...... On a positive note the boy's offer was accepted today, contingent on a home inspection. He and his fiancée are thrilled after 6 hard months of looking at homes....they were getting sick at looking at homes that looked good on web pictures only to find reality when they got there......and you would be surprised at how some people don't keep up there homes inside and out. AGAIN THANKS EVERYONE....I REALLY APPRECIATED ALL THE HELPFUL RESPONSES. Bob

Are paving tiles considered "hard surface" it is in my books....go to Home Depot and purchase a few to but under boat trailer tires...problem solved until they again change the rules to suit themselves.

Sounds like the mayor/council might have investments in storage areas...

At the present time.....and I STRESS present time our gas is running between $3.66 to $3.69 per gallon. I have seen the gas station closest to me has gone up 3 times in 24 hours.

Are they allowed to make changes in the rules without input or approval from the tax paying residents.....

I'm wishing I was fishing but it looks more like the beginning of Feb then March here. Snow is falling as I type.....Grrrrrrrrrrr

You mean something like this....

To each his own.....I traded in a Found On Road Dead truck for my Toyota Tundra rice burner and never looked back.....BTW rice is much cheaper now then expensive gasoline.... :rofl2:

I have found gunpowder/lead is the only sure FIRE method....with the addition of trapping in no FIRE zones....