aplumma

Marty with the party. Nice week of fishing Marty thanks for sharing. Art

The need for tradesman are still there but the jobs are not for the taking but are for the earning. I hired 3 new helpers 2 under 20 1 over 30 guess which two quit in the first month because the work was to hard and dirty. Don't applaud the 30 year old he only lasted 4 months. My first 2 years were spent in a ditch running sewer and water lines. If I had decided to stop because the work was hard and dirty then I would not have advanced. I knew to get ahead of the others I would have to be more valuable than the other mechanics. I went to trade school as well as college to show management that I wanted to be a leader, that I wanted to get ahead. This took commitment and to prevent myself from getting into debt I worked overtime and at a hobby shop. It has to do with being proud of what you can do ,it has to do with showing others your self worth. See as an employer I need to invest 40,000.00 a year in wages and benefits to train someone how to be a plumber. If you are not impressing me with your work ethics and showing a desire to advance I will cut you loose quickly. What I am offering that person is a career that can earn in time 80-100 thousand dollars a year in wages and benefits as an employee. With people being short sighted and wanting things easy it just is not a good mix. If you want to get ahead in life you have to make sacrifices and bid your time none of it is easy but if you stay the path and resist the easy path of drugs or alcohol then you will be able to prosper. "The only person who owes you something is yourself" with an attitude like that you can get ahead of life and reap the rewards it brings. Art

When I got out of the Navy in 1983 I had 1000.00 in the bank an old van one beanbag chair and a triumph motorcycle. This is what I started life with and I went to work in the field I had trained in which is plumbing. With this I then purchased a townhouse and continued my training and putting money aside for the future. By controlling my expenditures meaning no starbucks or eating out and all of the other ways to spend money without getting a material return I amassed enough money to start my own company. If someone wants something they can achieve it if someone wants the easy way out then they will turn to drugs or other destructive traits. I agree that a few can have a path that can't be avoided either by environment or situations but that is few not the many who are on drugs. Government programs and bailouts support and enforce the use of drugs. Personally I want drug testing before and program hands out money. This view while unpopular is unpopular because there are enough people abusing the programs who can make enough noise to keep it from changing. I am a darwinian type of person I like the fact the harder and wiser you work the greater the reward. I want the system to be tuned to help those that want to help themselves. If you have massive debt it is you that spent the money no one else. If you spent it on an education what prevented you from working and saving the money you got from working at the age of 16? If you do take on the debt man up and pay it back ASAP where is the pride that you should have? If you are not college material then don't waste your time and money going to college. There are plenty of other jobs many require hard physical work, long hours, unpleasant environments but they don't cause you to be in debt. The trades are an amazing place o make a living but it is very hard at the beginning and if you do not have the initiative to advance then you will work very hard for not a great reward. Now follow the same path and show you want to advance and you can one day be very well off. A drug is just an easy way out with thought and planning you can be as great as you work hard to be. I will say that one or two per hundred can follow this and still be an addict simply because there is no such thing as 100% but they are the exception to the rule. Art

Welcome an ask away we have some really good bass people here and they are sure to give you some advise. Art

Very nice trip thanks for the pictures. I am also sorry your wife jammed here back. Art

Something to think about as you fish is that fish look for the easiest meal available. This means that a fish that sees a frog that is health will not be tempted to eat it because it is not putting off an easy prey signal. When a fish is not healthy then it will swim with a different cadence. This means that if you are fishing with a pull pull stop cadence then try to switch it up with drag drag drag stop stop rhythm. You also have a few different types of frogs to try. Some have a streamlined for dragging over top of the grass and pads and some have a popper type of face to make more commotion. The use of topwater lures is one of the most exciting bites for sure but it is less productive as the water warms up and as the sun becomes stronger. I can throw topwater as long as there is shade on the water but it becomes less effective as the sun shines brightly into the water. If I am not getting a topwater bite I will switch to something that goes deeper such as a crankbait or a spinnerbait. IF there is not action then I will go to sencos or soft baits to find the fish that are deep. Hope this helps Art

Very Nice trip Gino thank you for sharing the adventure with us. Art

We actually have in our rules that sharing spots is not something we encourage and prefer you do it in P.M. This helps keep places from getting to much attention. If you are getting P.M.s that you do not want you can block that person from sending future ones easily. Art

Lew sometimes things are just an accident meaning it can happen any time, anywhere to anyone. riding a motorcycle is about repeating a good time and feeling that you had the last time you rode. I have had thousands of good times riding and a few bad times either from mean people or bad situations which could have made me decide to not ride ever again. The many good times still make it worth the risk for me to keep riding. The few bad times enforce the resolve to keep the odds in my favor with training, equipment and awareness. Some people know what you did for a living and others don't but your job is their "motorcycle" meaning they would never think of running into a burning building no matter what the reason is. All of the bikes that my brother and I have are restored back to life and maintained by us. Many of these are bikes that we wanted to own from the 70s and 80s and couldn't afford them at the time but now we are able to have the toys we want. We ride them when we want to and go to local shows just so we can share them with others who remember their past rides. Art

Very nice Lew. I have the 3.5 in both my pick up and my van and so far they have been bullet proof. I am glad to hear FORD did what they needed to do to make this right by you. Enjoy the new truck Art

Some of you don't understand the out to kill you statement so here is what it means. One day you are going to be either hit or forced off the road by a car. This is the statistically supported. To be fair one day you will have a car on car accident as well. The really bad news is you do not get to pick the place or the time of when the car is going to get you. There will not be a sign or any feature on the car that says I am the one that will take you out. The good news is if you pay attention to all of the cars around you they will give you a hint before you have an accident with them. With this in mind watch them as though they want to kill you. The other killer is yourself but you have the ability to control him for the most part and he will give you a warning that you are going to do something stupid. Just resist the urge to do it. I love speed on a bike the acceleration the wind and the noise is very tempting so I went to the track for awhile to get that bug out of my system. I wore full racing gear and had other trained riders around me who knew what the limits of their skill and machine where and would dive in a turn a foot away from you that scared me less than the stunts I have seen on the road. With this said be aware, be careful and enjoy the bike. Art

senco all the way. I like to go catching instead of fishing Art

I have no issues with a discussion on this subject because it is a fact drugs are not the answer and are also out of control everywhere. Please keep the comments factual and not turn into a mud sling about locations and cultures and we are fine. Art

If you have a motorcycle safety course under your belt they will be more likely to insure and or discount your rates. I just reinsured my 4 bikes with 500,000.00 per incident liability for 204.00 a year for all of them. This is with 40 years riding and in the USA so I am not sure we are comparing apples to apples. Art

Way to go, I am glad you passed the course. Enjoy your bike. Art

Welcome Derek thank you for joining. In the future if you want to tell people of your products we have a section here called members business directory in the future feel free to use that section for product news. This section is for saying hello and posting all of your fishing adventures or NF related stories. So everyone say hello and in a few days I will move it to the correct place. Thank you Art

Sorry brian but ive been riding for 40 years on bikes that range from 125 to 1200 cc and if you do not have the mind set that everyone is out to kill you then you are not paying enough attention. I feel safer on the race track than on commuter traffic. It has gotten insane with the cell phones and the applying makup and the eating of breakfast in the driver seat. I love to ride and will not stop till I can't but it has gotten way scary compared to the 80s when i first started. Art

Very cool , I am into the antique Yamahas from the 70's mainly. I have a 1972 RD 350, 1972 75/5 BMW, 1976 SX650, 1978 SR650 and a 1984 RZ350 . They are all restored and live in the garage unless it is a nice sunny day and they get to go out and play. Enjoy your bike and be safe everyone is out to kill you. Art

I fish a Ranger bass boat and I have 2 hand held controllers and a foot one on the XI5. I use the hand one almost all of the time, with spot lock and heading lock you need to adjust it very little. I moved away from the foot controller because as I fish keeping all of my weight on the leg that was not on the controller made it hurt after a day of fishing. The second controller goes to the person fishing the back of the boat so he can control the boat when I am catching fish or distracted . Art

Very nice fish Brian glad you had time to get out and fish a little. Art

I am all for Mr.B getting a replacement because it IS a special issue with his lack of use on the products. I was saying that the many others who abuse warranty issues by lying to get a replacement have ruined it for those that are honest and really do have a defective product. I hate that it happens and I hope that with a few more conversations they will be able to get a resolution that makes them happy. Art

I hate to say this but for the few stories that are honestly the truth on minimal usage due to an injury such as yours. they get 10 that are totally bull trying to beat the system. I feel for you and wish that it is different but you kind of have to appreciate why they can't warranty it. I have an XI5 on my boat and it has been flawless. Art

Very nice it is amazing how over the last 7 years that electronics have really surged ahead. Navionics has really been one of the leaders for sure. Thanks for the heads up David Art

If you aren't supposed to eat Muskies why did they make this knife?

I have fished for muskies with some of the finest musky friends and guides and I still have a perfect record of zero. I have beat them all using all kinds of old school lures. I will watch them cast or troll there second best lures after making sure they have giving me the best in the boat. I always win , they usually are letting me cast first to the choice spots and willing the fish to attack but I have a secret weapon it is anti musky magic. I am not sure any lure no matter how good it looks will increase the odds of me catching a musky. I still say to all of those people who have tried to make me catch a musky Thanks it is always a pleasure to spend time with my friends in a boat talking and fishing. Art