Champ188

Hands down, the most ignorant comment made yet in this Frankenthread. Speaks volumes for the catch-and-kill crowd.

Ham, driven to choose between the two, I'd probably have to pick fishing, too. But living in Bella Vista, we have 7 golf courses within 5 to 20 minutes of the house, so we're fortunate not to have to travel very far to play. There is also a very nice driving range/full practice area 10 minutes away. Still, it's hard to fish and play golf, too, and do either at a level that is satisfactory to a perfectionist like me. LOL

I can drive a Titleist or Callaway a lot cheaper than I can drive the GMC/Ranger.

Got on the water at 6 a.m. and left it to the lake lice shortly after noon. Caught 15 total with 4 keepers. Fish were in 2 to 65 feet of water and caught them on everything from swimming a Fin to deadsticking a Ned. Did catch 4, including 3 of the keepers, out of one big pocket between Eagle Rock and Shell Knob. They were scattered from the mouth to two-thirds of the way back. Hope this helps.

I'm with BB. That's a fine shot. You guys will look back on that many years from now.

Yeah, it's Johnny's new Bass Slayer model. He's trying to reach an entirely new demographic. Comes with charging ports for your fillet knives, aerated baitwells and coolers for your live bait, rocking chair casting seats and spitoons.

Snapped this shot Wednesday not far from Big M.

Might not be a good thing to eat the ones with wounds. Just sayin, since the one pictured is a K and it's alright to keep and eat those.

Great trip and great report. And I think you'll find the walleyes fond of the Ned, too. They are on Table Rock.

Yes, I've certainly missed turns because I was on the phone. Admit that in full.

I can see/support an app to disable texting while driving. But I have hands-free Bluetooth with voice-activated dialing in my truck that allows me to have a phone conversation without taking my eyes off the road. It's no different than talking to a passenger. The control buttons are even on the steering wheel. I don't want my phone disabled so that I'm unable to use a safe feature of my truck.

So even though we've all been careful not to indict you and to repeatedly say that you did no wrong, those of us who were not thrilled by your pic of bass on a rope and merely spoke our minds about it on a public forum are now bad people? How do you justify that? Incidentally, that's a LM in your picture and not a K.

https://gifyoutube.com/gif/KYjB83

That's funny stuff, jolicious. Thanks for sharing! Love Fat Cat Newton.

Thanks a bunch for saying so Cody. I do have a very strong passion for the lake itself and the sport of fishing. I don't always come across as diplomatically as maybe I should, but I have no underlying agenda. Just don't know when to shut up sometimes. Again, thanks for the kind words.

In addition to what Hunter pointed out above, MLF also has an additional camera boat with every competitor and the footage is aired on national TV. Without any such security, local anglers aren't going to trust local judges not to fib on catch weights and divide the winnings with the cheating angler. There's a strong mentality among amateur anglers that they need to see proof of what their competitors' caught.

Get off the golf course and wake up, Jerry! Just kiddin, been golfing instead of fishing the last two weekends myself.

I was somewhat that way myself at that age and I'm thankful that I didn't hurt anyone else or myself. Let's hope the same for your stepson. Pretty tough to tell a 16-year-old boy anything that he doesn't want to hear.

You know, iclass, you are right. I do have a way of coming across as critical when that's not my intention. I'll work harder on that.

Fisherofmen11, it's a little topwater popper very similar to a Rebel Pop-R.

Sorry, ness. Kids at that age don't have the driving experience/skills to handle any kind of distractions, and no one can drive with their eyes off the road.

And thank you, Flysmallie, for showing your true colors. Nearly half a million words in the dictionary and you have to resort to profanity. Classy. Or is that i-classy? If you don't like this thread, go to another. You have that freedom, just like I have the freedom to say I don't support the killing of bass. And for those of you who continue to say that us C&R posters are trying to take away the man's right to keep fish, READ OUR POSTS. We have made it, unmistakeably clear that he has the right to do as he wishes within the law. We just happen to believe that as sportsmen, we should rise above the law to a higher plane of concern for the fish that we spend so much time, energy and money chasing. We are not under any impression that all of you are going to catch and release. But neither are we going to stop stating our convictions that as long as we have a lake that does not receive supplemental stockings of bass, we should do everything within our control to help them reproduce on their own. And that begins with not cutting the sides off prime brood fish.

Cat's out of the bag now, dadgummit.

Yeah, that bring up another point ... HLS might just be out of dropshot weights, too.

People are just ridiculously unconcerned with the presence or welfare of others these days. Glad you weren't hurt.