Champ188

LOL, your eyes were right on. That's one of my go-to colors in stained water.

All occupants of my boat are scanned for possession of audio/video recording devices and GPS units. That includes Donna.

I'll take you as soon as you are ready. You can lounge in the sit-down seat on the back and I'll pass up throwing at all the prime spots so you can catch most of the fish, like I do for Donna. LOL

Quillback nailed it. That Rock Crawler is a fish-catching dude. I don't know the specifics behind WHY they eat it, but they do. Yes, the Wiggle Wart is a fish catcher, too. I do know that Mike McClelland spent a lot of time getting the Rock Crawler prototypes the way he wanted them. They were released later than scheduled because he wasn't happy with the rattles. I'm glad he and Spro took the extra time because they sure got them right. Only problem is the bills do tend to break off, so be careful about smashing them against rocks on your cast and don't slap them on the water to clear them of moss, leaves, etc. If I had one color, it would be phantom brown. Second choice would be phantom green, and then spring craw.

I presume you're talking about the fish?

Got a box full of 'em sitting in my garage. Not a one in the boat.

Enjoyed a great day with my best fishing buddy. Launched at Big M around 8:00 and fished until late afternoon. Our fish were much shallower than some might have expected. We did catch a couple of smaller ones deep, but all of our better fish were in less than 10 feet. Caught them on everything we threw ... Rock Crawler, Wart, jerk bait, swim bait and jig. Had a good sack around noon when we left the White and headed up the Kings, more to check things out than anything. Found the water stained but not muddy and ended up catching a couple of solid 3 pound-plus keepers up there. Ended up with 21 total with 8 keepers. Best 5 would go 16-17 lbs. Gotta say, if you guys haven't tried the Pigsticker jigs, you might want to consider it. Donna fished the 3/8-ounce Quick Five finesse football jig all day and at the end of the day, the paint on the head was hardly scratched. The jig comes thru just about anything without hanging and has a quality hook that proved it will hold 4-pound fish securely. Donna was also impressed with the trailer holder and only used two craws all day despite catching quite a few fish on the jig. It's shaping up to be a fun late winter/spring.

Congrats on quitting smoking. I quit 5 years ago when I went thru an ordeal with kidney cancer. Happier every day about it. I can breathe better, I hardly ever cough now, etc. However, these holier-than-thou reformed smokers who like to say "Ewwwww, those things stink" are full of crap. Only time I ever think about a smoke these days is when I get around someone who has one lit. Still smells very good to me but not to the point of calling it a craving.

Bill Dance doesn't exactly qualify as a subject matter expert on fish care. You want to catch more "green and brown critters" then it doesn't hurt to start by taking the best care possible of the ones we do catch. If promoting fish care qualifies as complaining, color me guilty from now on.

Flippin, on a 20-foot Ranger, the winch strap is only 15 feet long. In other words, it's not long enough for the boat to clear the trailer even if you let it all the way out.

At least it's not in the water anymore. We don't need anything keeping the water temp down.

I bought one of these recently. Works like a charm.

Article in the Shreveport paper said Dylan's younger brother chased the suspects until they crashed and flipped their vehicle, pinning them inside. Probably a good thing for them or there might've been two killings.

No jerk bait falls 3 feet per second even if you cover every inch of it with SuspenDots. I doubt there's a spoon in the world that falls that fast. A good copy editor would've caught that.

The stabbing appears to have nothing to do with the tournament, which was held on Toledo Bend. Sibley Lake is a 1,000-acre water supply for the city of Natchitoches. Given the time of night, it might be a teen hangout.

There's a comedian in every crowd.

Why would the ramp have been blocked? There is plenty of room there for a club tournament and small weigh-in.

I thought Louise was the brunette.

I always thought Louise was the hottest of the Mandrells.

Great work, Ben. Invaluable info.

Even hooks them precisely in the same spot every time ... top of the mouth, just left of center

Donna and I broke in the Z119 three years ago with a 5-mile ride through 6-7 footers on Eufala in Oklahoma. At least there was no timber in this area so you could quarter them one direction for awhile and then switch to the other direction rather than try to ride straight downwind with a following sea. We only speared one and that was the fault of the numbnuts behind the wheel and not the boat. Best ride you could ever ask for in a 19-8 boat.

The grass is coming back strong on Ouachita. Donna and I are going down there tomorrow and Saturday. Pretty pumped about being on the old home waters.

Actually, as taxpayers/license buyers, they belong to all of us. Therefore, we're all entitled to our opinions regarding what becomes of them. That's certainly not to say he can't do with it what he wants.

I don't get it at all given the lifelike replicas available today. But that's just me.