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Daily Blog Achive Dec. 4 - Jan. 1

January 1, 2008

Happy New Year! I hope you all have a safe and prosperous new year.

I usually break the blog here and start a new month, but I decided I would do that tomorrow.

As I related in the last post, I have been battling with my iMovie DVD project and it won. After making what I hoped was a few minor last edits, the program crashed and afterwards caused the whole program to stutter. I still have a few options, but for now I do have the initial trial DVD with its few flaws. It will have to do for now. I have over 40 hours in it and can't look at it any more.

My son, who is an IT guru out in California says I need to get more RAM for my computer to do big video projects. I'm going to look into that. I know it will cost some $, but if it will save a fraction of the frustration I felt over the last few days it will be worth it. Let me know if you're interested in watching it and maybe we can work something out.

A while back, I had a link to the FLW's new Fantasy Fishing competition. The FLW has had the big bucks in it's tournaments, but doesn't have the name recognition for its anglers like B.A.S.S. does. So, they have ponied up some cash to entice the public to get involved in a Fantasy Fishing League. When people sign up and research the anglers to pick their team of ten, they will become very familiar with the anglers drawing attention to the FLW and the world of bass fishing per se. With that said, we might as well take advantage of their promotion and get involved in the league. I have tried a league before and it can be fun, and there's some serious cash at stake, 1.7 million dollars.

I have set up a league on the FLW site. You need to use the link above to join. If you join now, you will also qualify for a "Pick Seven" bonus that FLW is offering, where you could win as much as 5 million dollars! Long odds I'm sure but.... When you register you can then join our Tear Drop Bass league. The password is Michigan. I see TCook has already joined, and the more the merrier. Come on, you can do it! On January 15th you can begin selecting your team.

I got an email from D. Cook and he has put together a tentative Tear Drop Tournament Trail schedule. I'll have the site retooled soon for the new year with new pictures, the 2008 schedule, and rules, but for now here is the 2008 Schedule. Dennis did say to mention that this may need to be tweeked so think of it as a tentative schedule.

2008 Tear Drop Tournament Trail Schedule

May 25th Cadillac/Mitchell

June 22nd Crystal Lake

July 6th Manistee Lake

July 27th Portage Lake

August 3rd Green Lake

August 31st Hamlin Lake

Sept. 20 & 21st Classic Weekend on Duck and Long Lakes

Host Tournament June 29th Cadillac & Mitchell

I did do some surfing today and didn't find a whole lot. Too many football games on any way to sit around the computer for too long. The parting shot for today is from some anonymous contributor. " A New Year's resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other." Have a great day!

December 29, 2007

I am getting real close to having the DVD I have been working on of the Florida B.A.S.S. National Championship done. I ran a test copy last night. It takes about 7 hours to burn the initial DVD so I do it overnight. When I previewed it, it had to audio edits that had the volume turned off. I don't know how that happened. The iMovie version I am using appears to have some bugs in it and I have had it crash three times. Each time I lost anything that hadn't been recently saved. In any case, I reset the volume and made a few other minor changes and reburied the DVD only to find it had an area that prevented it from burning completely. Soooo, tonight I will try again. Hopefully, tomorrow I'll have a finished product. If you are interested in viewing it, let me know, and I'll try to get a copy out to you.

I'm again burning the midnight oil typing this up. I wanted to watch the end of the Patriots and Giants game. What a game! New England pulled it out and set a new NFL record of 16 wins, a perfect regular season record. Can they take it all the way and top it off with a perfect season. Time will tell.

Earlier today, I was able to cruise the net a bit and read a couple of articles. One was off the FLW page and featured Dr. Fish, Jay T. McNamara. He wrote an article called Psychological Holiday Gifts . It was pretty good and worth 5 minutes of your time to be sure.

The other article that I can already see is going to be a regular read for me, is by the "Smallmouth Guru" , Stephen Headrick. Actually it's a blog that's on the BASS website. You are going to want to have this in your favorites.

The next article was a fun one about Skeet Reese . Seems as though Skeet is a music lover and has a new guitar and maybe plans for a new rock group.

The last article strikes close to home. Getting on in years causes you to confront a number of medical conditions. One of those is knee and hip replacement. This year, one of the all time great bassmasters, Denny Brauer, had to have a knee replaced. Here is an article from Bass Fan giving us an update on Denny .

The parting shot today comes from a guy named H.G. Tapply. He had this to say and by golly I thinks he's right on the mark. "Just as in cooking there's no such thing as a little garlic, in fishing there's no such thing as a little drag." Enjoy the day!

December 27, 2007

Christmas is behind us for another year. (Maybe I'll have time to work on the blog again.) Every year I always tell myself that I'll start one of those Christmas club accounts so the cost of the season doesn't hit me between the eyes. However, I don't and it does. Oh well, it's still great to get together with family, and to see folks you always mean to get together with more, but don't. It's kind of like me and Grand Traverse Bay. Every year I say I'm going to try and learn a little more about it, but never do. Unless you put it down on paper in bold print, like they do for a holiday, it just doesn't seem to happen. Maybe that should be my New Year's resolution: to get a calendar out and mark some dates to some of those "been meaning to do" things. I think I'll just do that. I'm going to get a calendar and pick two dates at least. One would be for the Bay and the other for an early spring trip to St. Clair. I'll post it on the blog, and if any one is interested in meeting up we could have a "rendezvous." I have seen forums were members get together and meet to fish on a given lake. We'll have to try that here.

I did some web searching today, but it seems that other people also get sidetracked this time of year, because there didn't seem to be anything new on my usual haunts. I did find a couple of articles that I read. One was on "How temperature affects bass ." There were some things in the article that I hadn't known about Micropterus salmoides, and it's a quick read so I hot linked it.

Another article I read was from Bass Edge, and it caught my eye because it dealt with managing stress. This time of year always seems to be a stress builder so I read it. I certainly can use the help. It was by Jay McNamara, who is a psychologist, and has written a book that has gotten some pretty good reviews called "The Psychology of Exceptional Fishing" . Here's the hot link to McNamara's article "Managing Stress and Crises" . It's really a good article with some great tips that can make us all better anglers, and his tips spill over to every day tips we can use to manage stressors.

I made a trip yesterday to my local tackle shop, The Outdoorsmen Pro Shop . Grayson, one of the owners, asked me if I was getting his emails and I said I was. He also asked me if I was forwarding them and I said I was. When I got home I made sure I forwarded the one I recently received and checked their website. On the site, as you will see if you check out the link, they have a GPS school that they are hosting at their shop March 29th. They will have Lowrance units there for people to work on. There is a $75 fee, and despite the pricey cost, it certainly looks interesting. I know I would like to make sure I am maximizing my unit, which I already know I'm not. I'll try and dig up a little more info on it.

Herman emailed me a couple of days ago with a picture of a nice buck he took with his bow. Herman is an Indiana fisherman that fishes with T Cook. They won a tournament up on Cadillac this summer and spent a couple of nights at my cabin. They are the proverbial young guns of the sport. Here is Herman's buck.

Herman's Big Indiana Buck

Well that's it for today, because I'm off and meeting Hoogy for lunch, and then we are going out and looking at Lowrance units. We both are looking to put a new GPS/Sonar unit on our boats, and it looks like we can utilize a deal our sugar daddy Don can get for us, if we act soon. So, the parting shot for the day has to be a site that has the The Top Ten New Year's Resolutions . We need to get ready for the next holiday, right? Enjoy the day!

December 22, 2007

Hey, this Christmas thing is really going to happen in just a few days. I have to get on the stick and get some final power shopping done. There are just too many distractions. I'm on Day Three of the Florida DVD and just edited Ben's gator catch. I should be done with the basic edits tomorrow and then I have to go through and sync all the music and sounds. It's getting there, but won't be done in time for me to send it to the guys for Christmas.

Last night I went to the Grand Valley State basketball game. The Lakers are ranked number two in the nation in Division II. The football program isn't the only outstanding athletic team they have. Actually there are a number of sports that the gals have received national rankings in as well.

They played a cross town small college called Aquinas. Aquinas is not a Division II school and was hoping to just stay in the game. However, they did more than that and actually had a lead with minutes to go. Grand Valley pulled it out though and won by 5.

Maybe you watched the Spartans play number five Texas tonight. State played very well with tenacious defense and an offense that went deep into the bench with points. They ought to move up nationally to at least five or six in the country after that performance.

Cruised the net a little to see what's going on in the fishing world. Went on Bass Zone and watched an episode of "In The House" featuring the Angler of the Year, Skeet Reese. In the episode, he takes you through his office and talks respectfully of some memorabilia he has from Denny Brauer, Rick Clunn, and KVD.

I also came across an article on fishing low water lakes . It pique my curiosity, after having been down to Toho and seeing how low most of the lakes and reservoirs are in the southeast. A pretty good read.

I also found tonight an article on the Northern Divisional where my buddy Don Fowler swept the competition away. I've read several accounts, but I don't believe I have seen this Bass Fan article before.

The parting shot today is a fun "Name that Christmas Carol" page that I found on the web. I have done many of these, and I'm really not too good at them. See how you do with "Name That Christmas Carol ." Enjoy the day!

December 20, 2007

I had breakfast today in Big Rapids at the Bob Evans with Don and Ron. I have been wanting to meet up with Don and get his tape that he shot down on Toho. He said he had taken some video of some big gators and I wanted to have it to put in the DVD I'm making of the Nationals trip.

When I arrived, Don and Ron were in the parking lot admiring a rack from a deer Ron got down in Illinois. I would have taken a picture, but both my video and still camera are kaput.

While we ate, we caught up with Ron's two and a half months of hunting down in Illinois. He had leased a bunch of property down there and then sold some hunts. He hauled a trailer down there and spent all of October and November guiding hunters, and shooting a few deer himself.

Don brought the video tape he had. It not only had the Toho segments but contained some additional hunting video he shot as soon as he got back from fishing the Nationals. He had two of the three bucks on film that his nephew and son shot. In the excitement, they forgot to get a picture of Don's seven point. Here's the pictures that I exported off the video of the eight and nine points. He had filmed them after loading them up at night, so they are a little dark.

Paul Fowler's Big 9 Point

Matt Fowler's Nice 8 Point

Don had some additional footage of some turkeys chasing off a button buck from some corn that was fun to watch, and he filmed Hunter, a friend's teenage son, shooting an eight pointer. I'll try and snag a few pictures from that footage for tomorrow's blog.

I watched Don's Florida footage, and will edit out some gator shots and some footage he shot around the locks at the southwest end of Toho. It should fill out the DVD nicely.

A short time ago B.A.S.S. announced it was realigning their Junior World Championship and weren't having this year's juniors fish, as originally planned, at this year's Classic. Needless to say it created a firestorm. The forums were buzzing for a number of days. B.A.S.S. just recently came out with it's newest plan. Here is the link to B.A.S.S.'s new Juniors' plan .

I ran across a blurb on Bass Fan about a law suit. It's a suit involving the FLW and an angler. The angler supposedly made some disparaging remarks about how the tournament he was in was run. Evidently these big tournament groups include a clause that anglers agree to about how to settle problems without airing the differences publicly, and if you don't follow the rules you might get sued. Here's the Bass Fan Dock Talk article.

Another piece I found while cruising tonight was one that was on the FLW site about the "Fishing with the Pros" event held up on Grand Traverse Bay late this fall. Don has fished in this event the past two years as well a Tony DeFilippo along side a host of other pros. It's all done to raise money for kids. Check the article out and who knows you may want to pay your money and enjoy a great weekend on the water for a worthy cause next year.

The Classic is a couple of months in the offing yet, but the excitement is starting to build, and the speculation as to who is going to walk away with the career making first place trophy is popping up around the net. Here is a Bass Fan Radio show that discusses the Classic waters and makes a few predictions as to who is going to be there at the end amongst all those screaming fans.

As I said on the 18th, I had to drive to O'Hare airport in Chicago. I took 94 which goes right by the Portage, IN Bass Pro Shop. I stopped and shopped a while and as usual had to buy a few secret baits. I was surprised though after I left and headed back down 94 toward O'Hare, to find that a new Cabella's has opened just down the road 15 minutes from the Bass Pro store. I didn't have time to stop, but I will have to take a day this winter and drive down and do a Lunkers, Bass Pro, and Cabella's day.

I wasn't going to put up any more gift ideas, because it's getting too late to place orders. However, here's a Hallmark ornament that you're going to want for your tree.

The parting shot today comes from the Trans Siberian Railroad on You Tube . Enjoy the day!

December 18, 2007

Wow, consecutive days of morning blog entries. That hasn't happened for a while. I do have to get going on today's piece, because I have to drive to Chicago, O'Hare to pick up my youngest who went out to visit my middle son in Lake Tahoe. I don't like thinking about that Chicago traffic, but it will give me an opportunity to catch up on some of my fishing blogs that are getting backed up on my iTunes lists. I'll also have to drive right by the Bass Pro Shop in Portage, Indiana and I just might have to make a stop to see what's tempting anglers at the bass fishing candy store.

I talked to Hoogy this morning, and he dug up some information on the TBF State Championship. As you hopefully have read, the TBF State Championship is Sunday, June 8, the day after the Michigan BFL event on Burt and Mullet Lakes. Just to clarify, that's two tournaments back to back on the same body of water. If you fish one you might as well fish both. Both organizations, the TBF of Michigan and the B.A.S.S. Fed. Nation are having their regionals on St. Clair. That has gotten the attention of a number of anglers, tempting them to fish both events this year.

Having the regional events on St. Clair is going to give the Michigan anglers a leg up. Consequently we are looking at putting two clubs together to fish each state championship in hopes of making one or the others state team in order to move on to the regionals on St. Clair.

Both events are draw tournaments, so if we form a club to fish them, we have to have an equal number of boaters and nonboaters. We need some anglers that would be interested in fishing as nonboaters. There are advantages to the back seat. First of all, you don't need a boat. Secondly, you don't need to prefish. You do have to remain in the back and do have to chip in for gas to your boater. We have had some very successful Tear Drop nonboaters over the years since we've been fishing the Fed. Nation State Championship. Ron Hicks took third overall on St. Clair from the back of the boat and Don Fowler led all three days of the Northern Regional from the back of the boat. We need to get a roster out by the end of the month for the Fed. Nation event, but we have time yet to meet the TBF tournament deadline. Email me soon if you are interested in fishing either as a boater or nonboater. Here is a search I did on Great Lakes Bass for information on the BFL and the TBF State Championship. Once on the site just type in 2008 BFL or TBF.

This will probably be the last of the links devoted to making your Christmas wish list or finding sites for buying those bass fishing gifts for your addicted friends. Here is a generic ideas page from "Bass Resource." It pretty much just gives a family member ideas of what they might want to buy for you, a hint, hint, type page. One other last minute gift idea might be the Cook's Tackle System .

I cyberspaced a little with the Vawter boys last night, and they are off on another adventure. You probably remember seeing their bucks from Iowa (I still don't have a picture of Brad's big Iowa buck.). They are now off to do some hunting and fishing in Texas. Brent was telling me that they will be just about on time for the second rut in Texas. Brent also said he read my reference to Zona's red fish article and sent me these pictures of their fishing catch after last year's Texas hunt. Some big on's to be sure.

Texas Red Fishing

Now that's a big red!

Big Black Drum

The Vawter Boys

In the last picture, you may recognize Nick, the youngest one on the right. Nick use to fish the Tear Drop years ago, before I got involved actually. He has also subbed with one of the boys, I think it was last year. He's now living and working down in Texas, but flies back and forth frequently. I'm looking forward to some more pictures from their exploits. They are certainly hunting and fishing addicts. They are also some of the nicest people that you are ever going to come across. Safe trip to Texas guys!

One last thing before I have to run is that on Bass Fan they frequently have some pretty good deals, if you are a member of their Bass Fan army. Joining their "Army" is free, so check the deals out that are on the link. The Vicious line really looks like a good bargain. Pretty cheap for fluorocarbon line.

The parting shot today comes from Linus, the Charlie Brown Linus . Enjoy the day!

December 17, 2007

Good morning again! Didn't take any subbing jobs today, so I was up and on the computer early working on the iMovie for the Florida National Tournament. Spent just about an hour trying to get the weights for the top fifteen on a scrolling title. Working on aspects of iMovie isn't a "what you see is what you get" endeavor. You have to type in the list, save and render it, after which you have to watch it. If it's not configured the way you want you have to delete the edit and try again. I'm through Day One of the tournament. I have 28 minutes of material saved so far. The program will max out at just about an hour. If you are a Mac user and haven't tried iMovie you are missing out on a easy to use, but time consuming, memory maker.

Cold and gray day here in Michigan. The temperature has been below freezing the last three days. It's suppose to warm up, and we're forecasted to have above freezing temps for the next couple of days.

I have made some inquiries concerning both the B.A.S.S. and FLW State Championship tournaments. You can fish both. The Michigan BASS Federation Nation event is on Charlevoix at the end of August. The FLW, TBF State Championship is the day after the BFL up on Burt and Mullet the first weekend in June.

Don and I are going to be fishing the BFL's so if we stay up at Burt and Mullet one more day we can fish the TBF State Championship and take advantage of all the prefishing we did for the BFL. Sounds like a no brainer. If we get six people to sign up as a TBF team by the end of December it only cost $30 for dues, after December, it will cost $40. If you are interested in either one of these State Championships, with the possibility of moving on to Regional and National events, make sure you email me soon. Use the contact button on the main web page.

Time is definitely running out if you're still shopping for Christmas. If you shop online at Bass Pro Shop they have a deal which upgrades shipping at no cost, and will guarantee delivery, if you shop on line by this Wednesday. One item that may be of interest, it was to me, is the Shimano Stradic spinning reel. They are clearing out last year's model and have it on sale for under a $100.

Here are a few other sites that might give you ideas for gifts or a site that may yet get your gift in by Christmas: Bass Gifts , More Bass Gifts , Even More Bass Gifts .

I know there are many folks out there that get involved in the various fantasy sports on line. FLW has announce a big cash incentive for their 1.7 Million Dollar Fantasy Fishing contest. A lot of green backs, and it's one of those contest you might as well try. You never know. If you register before December 21st, you are eligible for bonus items.

There was recently an announcement for those that drive a 2007 or newer Toyota truck. Toyota unveiled the new contingency program for pro and amateur anglers. Check out the Toyota contingency program by clicking on the hot link.

I read a couple of articles today that caught my eye. One was one done on Carolina Rigs , and the other article is really a tips page . I like those kinds of pages where anglers send in tips or ideas that help with the management aspect of fishing.

It's time to go out and fire up the Toro. We have about a foot of snow that I have been driving over and should get out and clean up so the thaw that's coming will have a chance to melt some driveway ice.

The parting shot today by Dave Berry, is just too close to the truth: "Once again we find ourselves enmeshed in the Holiday Season, that very special time of year when we join with our loved ones in sharing centuries-old traditions such as trying to find a parking space at the mall. We traditionally do this in my family by driving around the parking lot until we see a shopper emerge from the mall, then we follow them, in very much the same spirit as the Three Wise Men, who 2,000 years ago followed a star, week after week, until it led them to a parking space." Enjoy the day!

December 15, 2007

Good morning! Set the alarm today so I could watch Zona's new "World Greatest Fishing Show." It's on at 7:30 a.m. on ESPN2. I watched it last week and enjoyed it. This weeks show was another good one. He's just got that host thing down and knows what it takes to produce an interesting and entertaining show. "Beat Charlie Moore" comes on after Mark's, and that show is kind of wild and crazy. Bassmasters comes on next and this week they had the 2007 Amistad Elite Series event on again. I had seen it before, but watched it again. My nephew and girlfriend from Des Moines were here visiting so during commercials I was frying some bacon and fixing eggs, etc.

I got an email from some guys that are interested in joining a Michigan Bass Federation Nation team so we can fish the State Tournament up on Charlevoix. Remember, if you make the 12 person State Team, the Northern Regional is right here in Michigan on Lake St. Clair. If you are interested in joining the group, read the previous blog posts for the details in terms of cost to you.

I didn't mention in the earlier posts that when you do pay your various membership fees there are a number of benefits that your money also buys for you. You get a magazine with each of the entries as well as a bunch of other opportunities. Check out the Michigan Bass Federation Nation website for the details. The biggy here is that we have to have a paid roster in by the end of this month. Email me soon if you're interested.

With many Michigan "snowbirds" heading south this winter, there are opportunities a plenty to get in on some soft water, hot weather fishing. During my Saturday morning fishing show forays I often find a Red Fish tournament to watch. Red fishing appears to be a salt water bass fishing contest with fish that have also started taking steroids (Looks like another Mitchell report focussing on the reasons for the huge size and tenacity of those Red fish may be in order.). Those Reds look like they would be a blast to catch. So, when I saw this Red Fish article by Mr. Mark Zona it intrigue me enough to give it a look. Once you have read the article, you would have to agree that a trip to Louisiana might have to be scheduled.

I am not a huge stats person, but I am curious about what the numbers do tell us on a variety of subjects. Bass Fan posted an article that shows the results of some fishing and hunting surveys, and it is very interesting to see what they suggest. Again,numbers are just that, and often they can slant a view just as they can focus one, so I'm always a little cautious as to what the conclusions they may shape, but I think you'll find the article interesting. Here's the article from the stats of AnglerSurvey.com and HunterSurvey.com .

We are definitely running out of time to send out for those Christmas fishing gifts, so we had better cut right to the chase. One of the "secret" lures I have on my list, that I was wasn't really going to make public, was the Megabait Charlie . It's a relatively inexpensive bait that, in my net surfing reads, I've come across a number of times. When I start reading about the same bait on several different sites, I would say that particular bait becomes a "buzz" bait.

I have been wanting to try a swimbait, and I think this is the one I am going to be throwing this next season. I like the black and gold and the perch for Michigan waters. I can see me throwing this down the breaks in early spring as those big smallies are staging to come shallow. I bet they crush it!

The Bassmaster site has some of their gear on a Christmas page. They have some nice looking stuff and the blue hat on the page is pretty sharp looking. You can never have too many hats. Here is there holiday site .

Just a F.Y.I. for you basketball fans, Michigan State plays IPFW today at 5:30 pm ET. Who's IPFW you say? Well, I looked it up. IPFW is Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW). There mascot name is the Mastodons . They have a three point shooter that they claim ranks right up there with the big guns in Division One, like State's Nietzel. Should be an interesting game.

Having been back in school subbing and reading more children's literature, this parting Christmas shot from Laura Ingalls Wilder, caught my eye. She said, "Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time." Enjoy the day.

IPFW is Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW). There mascot name is the Mastodons . They have a three point shooter that they claim ranks right up there with the big guns in Division One like State's Nietzel. Should be an interesting game.

December 13, 2007

Man! I am starting to remember why I retired. This working thing is like.... work. I subbed again today in a sixth grade room, and I have another assignment for tomorrow in a fourth grade room. Consequently, there was no blog entry yesterday. I didn't get any work done today on the Florida National Championship DVD either. At this point in the work, I'm inputting footage from day one of the championship. Thus far I have 20 minutes of video timelined. This weekend I hope to get a substantial chunk and maybe all of it done.

C.J. emailed me some of his hunting pictures today. He shot his buffalo, he said, at a hunting high fenced ranch near Morley Stanwood. I had thought he told me he shot his hog in Texas, but I'm not sure of that. He did say that he was having buffalo ribs for dinner this very night. Here are the pictures.

CJ's Long Bow Bison

I Smell Bacon

CJ and I have been emailing back and forth and talking about fishing Saginaw Bay. The fishing in May and early June for smallies can be fantastic. Out around the Charitiy Islands, pretty much due east out of the ramp at Au Gres can be really hot for numbers of big smallmouth.

I noticed on the Bassmaster site today that they have the complete list of qualifiers for the 2008 Elite Series. Scanning the list, the only Michigan angler is KVD. Taking a very quick count it looked like Texas had the most qualifiers with sixteen pros.

On Bass Zone, they have an article on Chris Loftus from Bloomfield, New York. Chris was one of the Federation Divisional winners down on Toho and is going to the Classic on Lake Hartwell in February. The story is a quick read and it's always heartening to read about an every day Joe making it through the Federation all the way to the Classic.

I hesitated when I saw this last article because I have seen the "Float n' Fly" type of articles before. To tell you the truth, however, I have never tried it. I have always told myself that I'd give it a try but just haven't. People seem to swear by it, and it really looks to be a technique not unlike the drop shot but in reverse. Instead of just off the bottom, you're fishing just under the surface. Sometimes that's a couple of feet or maybe as deep as fifteen feet. Here is an article from B.A.S.S. featuring the "Smallmouth Guru," Stephen Headrick who feels we all need to give this technique a try.

Here's one more fishing gift site that you can browse and either leave hints for your own list or use it to buy a personalized gift for a buddy.

There are a few of us looking to get in to this year's B.A.S.S. Federation Nation State Championship up on Lake Charlevoix August 22, and 23rd. The Federation Nation requires a minimum of six anglers to form a club or team. Anyone on the team roster may fish the State Championship. If you would like to be a part of our group, you would first have to sign up to receive your Bassmaster Magazine which makes you a part of the Federation Nation. Next we would need to send in the National and State yearly dues of $45 per team member. To fish the State Championship, there is another $100 entry fee which pays for the banquet and the entry into the two day tournament. If you make the top 12, you would be on the state team that would then go to Lake St. Clair for the 2008 Northern Regional, with a chance then to go on to the Nationals, and from there to the Bassmaster's Classic. We will be needing boaters and nonboaters. Email me at the website if you want to be included in our State Tournament group. The roster for the State Championship has to be in this month so time is short.

The last parting shot was from Dr. Seuss's Grinch. Today the parting shot is from a grinch all right, one that broke poor Shirley Temple's holiday heart. "I stopped believing in Santa Claus when I was six. Mother took me to see him in a department store and he asked me for my autograph." Shirley Temple. Think of poor Shirley, but enjoy the day!

December 11, 2007

It's going to be a short read on the blog today. Worked today and also worked another three hours on the Florida National Adventure, FNA, DVD. It's coming together, however, I am having a problem with the resolution on the still shots I took. I'm not happy about how they are being displayed. On other projects, I haven't run into a problem with importing stills and keeping them looking crisp. Oh well, it is what it is.

Talked to Hoogy today and we discussed fishin' the BFL's. I believe, I've already said that Don and I are going to fish all four. He as a boater and I am a nonboater. Hoogey said he's thinking about fishing some as well. It would be fun to have a West Side group that could travel and stay together. Could be a way to save some dollars as well. The first BFL event up on Burt and Mullet won't be a fun one for a nonboater, but... we'll see what happens. The other three are basically St. Clair and Erie and I've seen several backseaters out do their bow mates on those bodies of water - right Don and Ron!

I did some emailing and talked to CJ, one of our old Tear Drop anglers from days of ole. CJ is one heck of a fisherman and as I have gotten to know him have found out he is a passionate father and a long bowman as well. He first told me about his kids Christmas program and then went on to say he harvested a four point, a buffalo and a Texas hog with his long bow. A buffalo?!? He had better have some pictures of that emailed to me soon.

Before I sign off and go to bed, I need to be sure I put on some more Christmas wish list items. First, if you're shopping and want a deal you can go to Bass Pro Shop and if you spend $100 you'll get a $20 gift card. Pretty good deal if you plan on doing some shopping anyway. The deal is only open for a few more days. The second site is Log Cabin Fever . They had a bass fishing Christmas stocking, but I think they're sold out.

If you're like me and already getting a little cabin fever, there is hope on the horizon. If you can't fish you buy lures and go to fishing shows. One of the first big shows of the new year is the Ultimate Fishing Show . It's going to be held January 10-13 in Detroit. The hot link brings up the list of seminars and shows. You can get all the particulars by negotiating your way around the site. Looks like some good seminars.

Don't know if you recognize Ron Shuffield, but he's an eight time B.A.S.S. winner. His son, Spencer, was recently shot in a hunting accident. Here's the link to the article that talks about how Spencer is doing .

The parting shot today comes from one of my favorite authors, Dr. Seuss:

"And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more." Enjoy the day!

December 10, 2007

Today in history... Did you know that in 1901 on December 10th the first Nobel Prizes were awarded? If you were like me you didn't know, but may have seen Al Gore on TV where he was in Stockholm to accept his Nobel Prize for his environmental work and movie "An Inconvenient Truth." The award comes from the fortune of Alfred Nobel, the Swedish inventor of dynamite and other high explosives. Before he died he directed his fortune to be placed in a fund where the interest would be distributed " annually in the form of prizes to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind." Definitely a very prestigious and productive award.

Yesterday, I put up a bass senses article from Berkley's site. I said that I would put up part two today, so here is the link . I also looked up on Amazon.com Dr. Jones' book. Here is "Knowing Bass" by the "fish guru" Dr. Keith Jones.

. Maybe the book could go on your Christmas wish list, or if you're interested in some other items like a fishing lure toilet seat you'll want to check out Black Forest Decor .

The Vawter Boys just got back from hunting out in Iowa and sent me some pictures of their deer. There are three Vawter boys and I only have two of the three's pictures today to put up. Brad's deer photograph didn't have enough pixels to view well. Hopefully, one of the younger brothers will help big brother out with a full size picture that I could upload.

Brent's Big Buck

Bryan's Big Buck

The Vawter Boys are true outdooraholics. If they're not hunting they're fishing and if they're not fishing they're hunting. They went down to Pike County, Illinois for a bow hunt, and they took two deer down there. In a few days, they are headed to Texas to do some more hunting and fishing. Man... to be young and fancy free.

Don also just recently sent me a picture of a deer that has been circulating on the net. Look at this monster.

Is this the Mythical "Yooper" 30 point buck?

If you have never heard "Da Yoopers" then your missing some funny stuff. Here's there "Turdy Point Buck" on YouTube . Make sure you also listen to the "Second Week of Deer Camp" it's a catchier tune.

I mentioned the other day that B.A.S.S decided to change the venue for the Junior Worlds. As I said, it created a bit of a hornets nest on some of the forums. Here is the latest from Bass Fan concerning the issue. Hopefully it gets resolved soon.

I just remembered I have to iron clothes for tomorrow's subbing job, and I have to run to the store to get spray starch. So, time for the parting shot. I think the importance of climate change has to make the shot today one from Oslo, "The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Albert Arnold Gore Jr. were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change." We all need to seriously consider being a part of this change. Our children's future is in serious jeopardy. On that somber note, enjoy the day!

December 9, 2007

Well the house is draped in mourning today. My alma mater, the GVSU Lakers, lost their National Championship Div. II game last night to Northwest Missouri. Maybe you saw the game on ESPN2. If not, the game was played in a freezing rainstorm. The conditions were far from ideal. Grand Valley shot themselves in the foot a number of times with penalties. Missouri, on the other hand, did what they had to do and played a near flawless game. They came up with the big runs and the critical third and fourth down passes when they had to. They are certainly a very good team and should move on and win the National Championship. The game ended GVSU's forty game win streak! However, on the bright side, they made it nearly all the way back to the National Championship for the third time after losing some key players. Brad Iciek, their sophomore quarterback, has two more years to win another one. I'm sure they will be back.

Unfortunately for me, it means I don't have an excuse to spend some travel bucks to go down and watch them in Alabama. Traveling just before Christmas really doesn't fit into the budget any way, and staying home will allow us to work a few more days to help with financing the holiday. I guess they call that "looking on the bright side," but I don't think staying home to work is exactly what is meant by the "bright side."

I read a few days ago about a Paralyzed Veteran Tour angler, Don Jenkins, who won that trail's Angler of the Year and in doing so won a berth into the B.A.S.S. National Championship. But,.... and that is a big but, he missed his opportunity because he thought he was a member of the B.A.S.S. Federation, but in fact wasn't. Therefore, by rule, he was not able to attend and PVA angler Kurt Glass ended up representing the PVA Trail in the National Championship. Check out the archived blog links for pictures of Kurt taken down at the Championship. Here's a link to Bass Fan's article on PVA angler Don Jenkins .

While making my internet rounds I also ran across a hot topic concerning B.A.S.S. and the Junior Bassmaster World Championship. It appears that B.A.S.S. has decided to move the culminating Jr. Classic away from the Bassmaster Classic in February and combine it instead with the Federation National Championship in Kansas in November of 2008. The crux of the issue, is that the decision to do this was just recently made. This year's Junior winners were already told they were going to the Classic. Needless to say, this has generated quite a bit of discussion on a variety of forums. Here is a summary of the decision to move the Junior Worlds .

I read an article today that I found on Berkley's site. It dealt with knowing more about bass biology and specifically, "Skin Senses: Touch and pH Sensitivity" . If you want to increase your catch, you need to know as much as you can about your quarry. So, take advantage of the opportunity to get the upper had by reading this interesting two part article. I'll put up part two tomorrow or, of course, you can link to it yourself.

In keeping with the holiday spirit, I have another fishing related gift site. I can't believe any self respecting fishaholic doesn't already have this in his or her home, but if you don't, here's the link for Monopoly, BASS Fishing Lake Edition .

I had the pleasure of connecting with Dennis Cook, the Director of the Track n' Trail Tournament Series tonight and he has told me that the schedule for next year's events should be put together soon. He also asked me to put in the blog that those who will be helping to find ad buyers for this year's flyer please be ready to send them, or call them in to Dennis so that he can get the 2008 Tear Drop Flyer out by the first of February.

I also finally got a call from our Pike County Illinois outfitter whose been holed up in Illinois for the last two months. Of course, that person is none other than Mr. Ron Hicks. Ron said they saw a bunch of deer and harvested some of them. I asked if he had some digitals to send me and he told me he had lost his camera. Between he and Fowler I don't know which one misses more digital or celluloid memories. I hope someone that has hunted with him will have some pictures to share. I'll keep digging. In any case, it was good to hear his voice again and hopefully we can get together soon and maybe do some rabbit hunting.

I am giving the parting shot today to one Charles Dickens. He was known to have said, "I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year." Just trying to build some holiday spirit. Enjoy the day and the season!

December 7, 2007

Pearl Harbor Day today. If you read the blog yesterday you saw that I put up a copy of FDR's original, "Day of Infamy," speech. Tonight on the Nightly News not much was reported about it being the anniversary date of the Pearl Harbor attack. I figure people do grow old of the constant reminder, but I also, as I stated yesterday, feel that sacrifices made by our men and women in defense of our country should never be allowed to be forgotten.

I subbed today in a school that I began my teaching career at. I was a resource room teacher today. That means I worked with kids that had various impairments. Man, what a workout. I believe that most people just don't realize how difficult a job teaching is. In fact, in my opinion, it's an impossible job. It takes hours of preparation that go way beyond the hours the kids are actually there. When I worked full time, there were few weekends that I didn't go in to work at least one day, and there were very few days I got home before six o'clock. I loved working with the students, but after 34 years I just couldn't deal with the hours any longer. With the current economic state of affairs in this state, the kids are bearing the brunt of budget cutbacks. Cutbacks that are going to cost us down the road because these kids needs weren't met at critical times during their education. I'm not talking about throwing money at a problem, but there are needs we aren't addressing that the current educational system simply can't provide at the funding levels that they now have to deal with. Whether you have kids in school or not we need to let our legislators know we expect more support from them, in terms of dollars for education.

Now that I'm off my soapbox, I'll talk a little fishin'. I got an email from Kim Stricker a day or so again. Remember Kim has the DVD Smallmouth Neighborhood , that I strongly recommend you put on your Christmas wish list.

In his email to me he mentioned a couple of things. First he told me that his second DVD, Smallmouth Neighborhood Volume II, "Close Encounters," will be coming out soon. He promised to send me a copy of the press release as soon as it becomes available.

Kim also broke some big news! He has a new TV show, "Hook N' Look" that will be airing on the Versus Network on January 7, 2008, just one month from today. It will be broadcasted three times a week: Monday's at 7:00 am, Tuesday at 4:30 am, and Thursday's at 1:00. Kim told me that they have been filming all around the country with pros like Mark Davis, Dion Hibdon and Tom Mann Jr. to name a few. If you have seen Kim's work from his DVD, or sat in on one of his seminars, you will have an idea of the particular angle he'll be taking as he films. His shows, with Kim's underwater perspective, will be unique and different from any other shows currently in production. Hook N' Look's major sponsor is Strike King, with support from Chevy, Ranger Boats, Evinrude, Solar Bat, and Amphibico (I Googled Amphibico and found that it is a manufacturer of Underwater Imaging Equipment). Being retired, I know I can arrange my schedule to watch the show and definitely plan on doing so. The rest of you will have to set your Tevos.

It doesn't look like Kim's second DVD will be done in time for this year's Christmas so here is a pretty good site that has some rather unique fishing gifts. The site is appropriately called BassGifts.com . This is probably the best site for those inexpensive fun kind of gifts that you can pick up for $20 or less.

A couple of days ago I talked a bit about taking a critical look at your 2007 fishing season, in order to improve your 2008 outings. Bass Fan did an article on Ike's retrospective of 2007 with a two part article. Part one is on the blog and here is Part Two . I found Ike's articles to be good reads and recommend you spend a few minutes reading both part one and two.

Well, after working a full day, and now plugging away on the blog at 10:24 pm, it's time to quit so I can get to bed early so I can get up and watch ESPN's fishing Saturday.

The parting shot for today was an easy one. Fowler sent me an email about a Montana cop that I think you'll find pretty funny.

One Fast Trooper

Enjoy the day!

December 6, 2007

Well, it's Pearl Harbor Day Eve. December 7th is one of those days that always sticks in my head and I'm sure in the heads of many others as well. FDR referred to it correctly as "a day that will live in infamy." Dwelling on the past, and especially on bad things, isn't something most would recommend. However, when there was so much sacrificed, by so many, for the sake of a free nation, we simply must remember. We need to keep close those brave actions and sacrifices of days gone by as well as those that are being made today in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Here is FDR's famous speech that he delivered to Congress on December 8th after Japan's sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. I took it from this site, Pearl Harbor-FDR's Day of Infamy Speech , just in case you're interested in other information pertaining to the date.

- a date that will live in infamy -

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Moving on to a more lighter subject, I have another fun site for your Christmas wish list perusal. It is FISHBOY'S site. They have a ton of funny and unique gifts. Check them out. I have my eye on a couple of t-shirts.

While surfing the net I come across lots of interesting things and this one caught my eye because it fits right in with the Christmas list offerings that I have been posting. This particular item is one I wasn't going to highlight because it may give away Ricky Skinner's gift for his partner John "One Sock" Bennett. I'm not saying that Ricky has made the purchase, but after his experience on Manistee Lake this past season, I'm sure he's sealed the deal with Santa. Let's hope so for John's sake. Here is the link to the Bassroom . John is, an officer of the law and this would certainly put him undercover.

The Bass Zone has a new "In The House" segment featuring this year's reigning king, Angler of the Year, Skeet Reese. If you haven't watched the "In The House" videos yet they are short, three to six minute clips, of some of the top anglers homes. They show their shops, fun rooms, and basically just give you a tour of where they live and play. They're entertaining, and if you have a few minutes, I think you'll find them fun to watch.

I know it's later than late fall, season wise, but on the Bassmaster.com site they have an article on Finessing Late Fall Bass , by Lee Bailey. It basically talks about downsizing and light lining Fall Bass. Once the leaves fall off the trees, Lee suggests you go to a slow falling jig on light line and fish it along the edge of the weeds, whether that be an edge of 4-5 feet or 15-18 feet. At the end of the article, is a link to Lee's personal website, proanglers.com . Besides being a full time professional angler, Lee designs and builds websites for other pro anglers. I have heard Lee interviewed on a podcast where he talked about using his creative skills to design marketing websites for fellow anglers. He has always been a James Bond fan and uses that as a concept piece for his own site. I have only been on his page a couple of times and am not quite sure how I like how busy it is. Certainly creative, but a little to much so for my tastes. It does have some good information though. See what you think.

Time for me to get busy today. I have two projects on the burner to get finished up and then I plan on putting in some time on the Florida National Championship DVD I'm making. I need to clear up some space on the hard drive, because working with video takes lots of room. Especially when the finished product will be about an hour long.

The parting shot today comes from one of the great all time female athletes, Babe Didrikson Zaharias. What she has to say can surely be directed at anglers. "Luck? Sure. But only after long practice and only with the ability to think under pressure." Well put. Enjoy the day!

December 5, 2007

Well, only 20 days till Christmas so it's about time to get busy shopping. One of the spots that I like to browse on the web that has a ton of things that might fit in a stocking, or at least under the tree, is West Coast Mall . I set the link to open up at the needle nose pliers and side cutters. These must have in the boat tools, are cheap enough that if they rust up after a season, who cares. I like the pliers and side cutters for those deep hooked fish.

Make sure if you don't already have the DVDs from Seth Burrill and Kim Stricker that you highlight them at the top of your list. I have talked about them many times, and I have honestly never had anyone who has watched them had anything but rave reviews for them. I don't get a nickel for hawking them either, and I do so only because they are very, very good.

With the boat put to sleep for the winter, and the lakes skimming over with ice, it's a great time to reflect on the season just past. Hopefully, we can all be open minded enough to learn from our mistakes in order to maximize our chances in next year's tourneys.

Bass Fan did just that with Mike Iaconelli. They sat down with him and took a close look at his 2007 season. They broke the session down into two parts. Here's part one of Ike's Analysis .

Bass Fan isn't the only site that has this type of self improvement model dialed up. On FLW's webpage they have an article up discussing what anglers need to do in the area of self improvement when it comes to working well with the people we fish with and sometimes against. The article, "Teachers, teammates and partners: What can be learned?" brings up some important points for all of us to ponder.

Changing up a bit, I watched MSU last night play the mid major Bradley. Bradley gave State all they wanted. In fact, Bradley led most of the game and only relinquished the lead with a minute thirty to go. You have to give some credit to State's tenacity, because they couldn't hit any of their long range, or for that matter, mid range shots. Bradley was raining threes.

MSU plays Brigham Young this coming Saturday, December 8. They will play at Energy Solutions Arena, in Salt Lake City, Utah. The game begins at 2 pm. One thing the BYU has or had in common with Bradley is a long home court winning streak. MSU broke Bradley's and has a good shot at doing the same thing Saturday in Utah. BYU won't be a push over. They did beat No. 6 ranked Louisville just before Thanksgiving and only lost to No. 1 North Carolina by 10.

Saturday is a huge day for the Grand Valley Lakers. They play Northwest Missouri State in the Division II National Semifinals . ESPN2 will televise the game live at 9 p.m. (ET). I can't wait, and this household will be wearing the colors and rooting them on. Go Lakers!!! I want to go to Florence Alabama for the finals!

The parting shot today comes from one of da Chicago Bear great linebackers, Mike "Samurai" Singletary. " Do you know what my favorite part of the game is? The opportunity to play." Modesty like that from one of the great "Monsters of the Midway" is refreshing. Enjoy the day!

December 4, 2007

As you can see, there was no blog piece yesterday. I actually worked a day subbing to get a little holiday cash stock piled. I'm also finding that you need to pay to play. On a retirement income, and with the price of gas affecting everyone's fishing wallets, I need to subsidize the fixed income.

I sent and received an email from one of our buddies from the National Championship, Alan "Duke" Earl. It was good to hear from him. He's busy organizing tournaments for the PVA for next year and they look to have a pretty good trail already organized. Alan also said he has been getting out hunting as often as he can. He's off soon for a deer and hog hunt in Georgia, and I hope he sends some pictures.

I have been doing some thinking about what I can be writing about on the blog that will be of interest to folks through hard water season here in Michigan. With this cold spell upon us and ice already skimming over many, ice fishing is certainly topical. I'm not much of a hard water fisherman, but we have scored quite well in the past on some big walleyes through the ice. Here's a couple of photos.

Couple of big winter eyes caught through the ice.

Jigging up some nice walleyes!

Besides ice fishing, I also thought that I could come up with some various weekly themes based on techniques or lures. That way I could focus, say on spinnerbaits, and dig up techniques and different presentation, new designs, and provide links for material for building them yourself. There are certainly enough lures and techniques to fill a number of weeks. Plus, there are really only two more months before the Elites and FLW series take off. The Classic is the third week of February. I should be able to come up with plenty of good topics.

This month I thought I would continue to post some items that maybe folks could put on their Christmas wish list. I found a DVD that you may want to add that details the big swim bait bite. Maybe not as appra-po for Michigan waters, but then again I have been hearing more and more folks talk about using them for Michigan bass. Here's the Big Bait Posse link. They include a trailer on the site for a short preview of the DVD.

On the same note as big swim baits, there is an article on ESPN that focusses on designing custom baits . Shows some pretty different offerings. While we're still on the topic of swim baits and revolutionary designs, there is a Bass Zone audio interview with Bruce Porter from Basstrix, and Ken Huddleston, the original big swim bait innovator that you can check out using the link above.

One other article that I came across this morning while surfing, was a final Bass Fan article on the recent Elite WildCard Event on Okeechobee. It had a few more morsels of information on what they were using to catch their fish.

I tried for an ice fishing parting shot today and I did come up with an old joke that's not too bad. "A guy gets up really early in the morning to go ice fishing. He goes out onto the ice with his tent, his spud, and his fishing rod, and starts to spud a hole. Then he hears a big booming voice: "THERE'S NO FISH UNDER THE ICE." The guys looks around and then starts to pick at the ice again. Then he hears the voice again: "THERE'S NO FISH UNDER THE ICE." Now the guy is getting a little edgy. He looks up and says, "God is that you?" There is no answer, so he shakes it off and starts to spud the hole again. "THERE'S NO FISH UNDER THE ICE!!" Then the guy yells again, a little more emphatically"God is that you?" From up above comes, "NO, IT'S THE MANAGER OF THIS ICE RINK!!" Enjoy the day!

December 4, 2007

The start of a new month and time to break the blog and archive the last couple of months and the Florida National Adventure. When I do the blog, because of the nature of the beast, the month ends up in reverse order. So, I took the Florida trip and copy/pasted the days back in a first to last day presentation. One other thing that I hope to work on very soon is to fix the links in the trip. When I hot link a site, say from ESPN, those links don't remain forever. The links disappear after a few weeks on those active sites that are constantly putting up articles, so when you go to the archived blog entries above you may not be able to link to some of them. I am going to try and copy them and add the Florida trip links as stand alones. Don't really know how that will all work yet, but I am going to give it a try.

Yesterday they concluded the B.A.S.S. Elite Series Wildcard Event on Lake Okeechobee. If you have been following the blog you know the Byron Velvick, "The Bachelor" has been in the lead Day One and Day Two. Does he survive the distractions caused by his recent problems with his long time Bachelor girlfriend Mary Delgado and hang on to win. The answer,.... yes he does.

For the first two days Velvick shared his water with Keith Phillips an Alabama angler. Starting the second day the two got crowded out of their spot by crappie fisherman. Day 3 they had to leave their hot spot to find new water.

Velvick and Phillips battled each day with Velvick staying just ahead of Phillips. Day 3 was no exception. Velvick did what he had to do, and his new water produced just enough fish for him to seal the deal. Velvick weighed 40 lbs. 8 oz. for the three tournament days and Phillips had 38 lbs. 10 oz. Here's the ESPN Day Three article on the Wildcard Event . Here is the Standings Sheet for the event. The top ten anglerson the pro side on Okeechobee received no cash, but do qualify for the 2008 Elite Series. However, not all the top ten finishers may decide to fish the Elite Trail in 2008. In fact, on stage Phillips declined to accept the berth so B.A.S.S. then moves down the list of Wildcard competitors until the 110 slots on the Trail are filled.

Staying on the topic of winners, how about that Grand Valley Laker Football team. They beat Central Washington convincingly yesterday at Lubber's Field in Allendale, MI. Grand Valley had Central Washington down by 4 touchdowns in the first quarter. Blake Smolen, one heck of a scat back, had 200 yards on 20 carries. He's a back that every time he touches the ball it's a show. Brad Iciek, GVSU's quarterback utilized that spread offense they run to set up for four touchdown runs right up the middle on quarterback draws. Iciek, also threw for two touchdowns.

The Lakers will play their last year's National Finals opponent Northwest Missouri State, at Missouri State in the National Semifinals game next Saturday. The game will be televised Nationally on ESPN2 at 9:00 PM ET. Go Lakers !!

On the Bass Zone site, Ken Cook's wife filmed a buffalo and elk stand off right from her kitchen window. Here's the YouTube link that shows the footage she shot. It's not terribly exciting, but it is unusual.

Another unusual item is a bait that I ran across on the Swarming Hornet Lures website. It's a drop shot jig that has a bent hook eye that sets the bait horizontal and then has a hole through the head of the jig allowing your line to go through the jig head to the dropper weight. Curious little item.

I talked to Don yesterday and he wanted to know if I was interested in fishing the Michigan BFL's. I told him I was, and hopefully he's on the job signing us up. He's going to fish as a boater and I'm going to go in on the nonboater side. The first tournament is up on Burt and Mullet and is a spawn tournament. I'm not looking forward to sitting in the back seat on that one. The rest of the tournaments are on big water so the advantage isn't nearly so one sided toward the front of the boat. If I could win the Lotto, I could afford the front seat. I'm already getting excited, and it's six months until the first BFL starts! Here is a link from FLW with the various 2008 division schedules .

I have been in contact with Dennis, and a few other Tear Drop anglers, to see what people are thinking would make a good Tear Drop Schedule for 2008. Hopefully, Dennis can put together something in the near future, so we can start planning our tournament schedules.

Now that we are in December, I thought I would put up some sites that might have some unique gift ideas for your list for Santa. Here's a starter page of gift ideas . I like the one where you send in a fishing picture and get back a realistic magazine cover.

Well today is the last sign off using a quote from Jimmy Velvano. You have probably seen the information concerning the V Foundation cancer fund raising drive on ESPN. It truly is a worthy and deserving cause, and again, if you can afford to give to their drive this year, it would be a donation that could prove to make the big break through in cancer research. Here's the parting shot from Jimmy V. "How do you go from where you are to where you want to be? I think you have to have an enthusiasm for life. You have to have a dream, a goal, and you have to be willing to work for it. Don't give up, don't ever give up!" Enjoy the day!