JohnF

Maybe they were listening to the folks who've been complaining that many of the mags cater to the expert fishermen with much of the material close to fantasy for guys like me who are just learning. I'm hard-pressed to relate to catching Peacock Bass on $500 dollar baitcasters in Venezuela. It's great escapism but it really doesn't relate to catching 2 pounders on $29.95 spinning rigs in the Thames. It's a problem with a lot of mags of this type. It's fun to read about the fantasy fishing trips but I've gotta learn the basics. I had a few lightbulbs go off as I was reading the articles in Bassman. Admittedly some were a tad embarrassing - you know, when you slap yer forehead and say "Duh!". For sure bass fishing appears simple enough at the outset - worm, hook, line and water, the bass will come. But it seems the more I learn the less I know. I liked the magazine for it's acknowledgement that there are dummies like me out there. It was written in my language. When the day comes that I can scoff at it's simplicity, then I'll buy me a hotrod bass boat and hit the tourney circuit. I'm looking forward to the next issue, with or without the girls, preferably with. JF

Just spent the last hour with it. I like it. JF

I developed a huge new respect for ICU nurses when my son and I were in a bad car accident some years back. He was in a coma for 39 days, never got off life support. The nurses were (almost) without exception wonderful to my wife and I through the whole ordeal. The day Steve died two of his primary care nurses (changing shifts) held each other and cried at the foot of his bed. I still can't get over the amount of stress and emotion intensive care nurses have to contend with on an ongoing basis. Those ladies had a whole ward full of people like our Steve and still coped. I used to think they just grew a hard shell and refused to take their work home with them, but watching those weeping ladies at Victoria Hospital I now know better. I can't think of an emotionally tougher job. Bless 'em all. JF

We have over-achiever pike. JF

My fishing buddy does it too, but he goes a step further and breaks their necks with a little back snap. At first it seemed a tad brutal but after I considered the alternatives I came around. It occurs to me though that they might not bleed out as well when dead. Should this be a concern? JF

I grew up playing on , and swimming in Trout Creek and it doesn't seem to have done me much harm. And that was in the pre-dam days when the water was really disgusting. Welcome to my world. Midget fish are the norm around here. JF

HAH! Good report. JF

Congratulations TG. 50 years is a long time for any respectable woman to put up with one of us. My wife thinks 40's an accomplishment for her. JF

Excellent! And happy anniversary. JF

Doubt that it matters who I want to win. It looks like Tiger's playing a very hot hand at the moment. The combination of his skill and the luck he had yesterday are likely unbeatable. It's hard not to be impressed with his game most of the time. I'd like to see Westwood win. I don't like Mediate. I've seen him in action personally and he was a prick. Of course being a lefty I'm always rooting for Phil but he's struggling. Unless Tiger's knee packs up I bet he's gonna roll to a win, probably by a few strokes. JF

You can't be much of a fisherman. That's the kind of boat that would call out to me. Looks great. Who needs fishing? Just burn some gas. JF

Ya mean we'll all shut up and fish? JF

He might take them out in the boat for one last shot at Walleyes. His balls aren't an easy thing for a man to give up. He's probably spent some wonderful moments with them in his lifetime. I can understand why it would be hard to just leave them on the side of the driveway to be picked up by a near stranger. Would you? JF

Mighty nice of you. I would never want to impose, particularly after not being there to install the dock (business obligations ya know) but I'd enjoy meeting you and some of the other characters of OFC. If there were some rental accommodations nearby (cabins, motel, whatever) I'd sure like to join in the fun. I'd be happy to bring a case of wine or a few cases of lager, or a box of burgers(several of those) or steaks, whatever would add to the merriment. I'm not sure if I'd bring my wife or my buddy Rob, the fishin' artist. Both are housebroken. Rob's a fishin' demon, and could probably be talked into bringing a piece of his fishart for ya. Wendy's just a nice non-artsy lady who goes "EEEHHHWWW" if I suggest she handle, or even catch, a fish. She limits her water involvement to personal hydration and swimming, preferably in a civilized pool for the swimming part although she bends that rule for scuba diving in nice warm clear Carribean waters with, as she refers to them, pretty fishies. If you think you can handle a non-worker type in the mix let me know. I might even be shamed into coming up to pull the dock in the fall (and do some fishing). BTW. I have a nice shiny gas powered 25 cc lawn trimmer that needs a bit of attention. It has compression but no spark. It may be just a past retirement age spark plug. In any case I've purchased a new one so this one's yours if you wanna play with it. JF

You can only hope that Beans later posts a lament about how heavy your balls were to carry. JF

Isn't that the kind of memory many of us are trying to get back to with fishing. How many here, no matter how many fish they've caught since, still remember the simple days as kids catching Rock Bass and Sunfish with worms as the best days of our lives? JF

History has proven that mankind has a pretty crummy record when it tries to mess with Mother Nature. We introduce a new species, inadvertently (gobies) or deliberately (trout), or start restocking an existing one and somehow the downside costs often exceed the upside benefit. It may take years for the pattern to emerge but emerge it does. We get accidental eradication of another native species we were perfectly content with, we get less tasty farm trout or we get a change in the spawning patterns of the very beasty we're labouring to preserve. Perhaps we should just accept that we're a part of some grand plan and let our fishing depredations work their magic, positive or otherwise, and chalk it up to The Plan. Sometimes what we get in place of a waning or lost species is less exciting, like the bunny in Australia, but sometimes it's better. Asian Carp I leave up to each of you to decide. It's interesting that Mother Nature always seems to have an answer to our nonsense. When we screw up and deplete one living resource she often comes back with another. Of course it may well mean we have to learn to make Gobies or even Zebra Mussels a sport fish. The point is that our world is a-changin' on it's own, in large part just because we're here and growing, numerically and industrially, and it may well not matter what we do to try to prevent it, the changin' will go on. Mayhap what we really need to do is to roll with the ass-kicking from Mother Nature, mainly due to our own burgeoning population and just make the best of it. The MNR perhaps should concentrate on the waterway polluters and those who fish to excess. We fisherpersons are simply a part of the equation. The powers that be need to find better ways to adjust to us cuz we're here to stay, in more arenas than just the fishing one. YMMD JF

My Mom didn't like the one I took home. Said she wasn't a very nice girl. I asked "What's yer point?" Oops! Sorry. Are we still talking about fishing and stuff? JF

Seems to me there's enuf free time whilst waiting fer the carp bell to ring that one could do a full rod assembly by the riverbank. I fear I'll need some diversion to keep me awake. The MNR frowns on me chucking lures for bass while I wait for the carp so I might as well be building a rod. JF

It's sure a load off my mind, and likely many others here, that you've found a way finally to unload yer balls. Waytago Cliff. JF

Your "go into real estate school" piqued my interest. Are you talking about Ontario? JF

That's encouraging. This whole thing of matching the hatch and knowing all the different patterns and their appropriate application is pretty intimidating to a newby. Makes sense to start from a simple base selection and work out from there as one gains experience. JF

I buy that. I even gave up on chasing carp when someone here said they'd started the mating thang. Time enuf this summer when they're just being fat and lazy. JF

That's what a perfect wife does - just look good and cover up for the guy she married. Mine is great at it. Some people actually think I'm smart when they talk to SWTMWIWTD (She Who Tells Me What I Want To Do) JF PS - Not catching fish doesn't mean we're less manly, dammit.