Outrageous signs & Best fishing product, 2013!

Outrageous signs! You’ve seen them near recreational, boating, and fishing areas. They are big, yellow, and rectangular. The goal is to communicate caution by using the international language, simple pictures. Now days they are just getting outrageous for some of the messages they’re trying to convey. Not to be out done, I came up with my own humorous signs that you may see at a recreational area near you. I call them “Guess the Sign.” I will be adding new ones every day or two this week. Here is today’s sign.

It’s a known fact, banjo music make fishermen very nervous. If you were unaware of that fact, then you may need to watch the movie……….Deliverance. If you hear banjo music when fishing, kayaking, or boating……RUN FAST in the opposite direction.

Now this brings up the hottest new product of 2013! Do you want to protect your favorite fishing hole from other fishermen that are trying to catch your trophy? Some clever fishermen are using banjo music, yep banjo music. They install a motion detector that is connected to a battery operated CD player. When a fisherman comes near their favorite fishing hole, banjo music starts to play. Boy, fishermen run so fast they often leave their fishing gear behind along with that trophy fish. Look for this new product in recreational stores near you.

Remember: Life is short, get away from the big screen and get on a big stream, but always be aware of banjo music.

 

Mud, Fishing Inflation, & Barefoot

A Blast from the PAST! I remember the late sixties and seventies as a kid, barefoot on the river bank, mud squeezing between the toes and fishing. Yes, we had shoes in the south but preferred not to use them in the mud. How did this memory come about? I was looking in my father's old tackle box the other day and found a few of these snelled hook packages. If you are not familiar with snelled hooks, basically they're assorted sized hooks with 6-8" of monofilament line attached. They're great for kids to easily tie the hooks to the fishing line. Interestingly, this package cost $0.98 for 60 hooks. It was purchases at Fred's, a store that still exists today. I think this package is 40 to 45 years old.

I am great at determining useless information, so this got me thinking about the inflation of fishing gear.  I did a little research to see if I could find today's cost of snelled hooks. After some Internet surfing, I found a package that is still being sold today and is similar with 48 hooks. The cost is $3.59. Now, doing a little math, I found that the increase in Snelled Hooks have averaged 6-7% over the last 40-45 years. So what does this mean? It means fishing gear is double the historical inflation rate of 3-3.5%. Why, because they can? Of course, this may not be for all fishing gear, but appears to be for snelled hooks.  

Anyway, check out the knot diagram on the package. Great, for kids learning to tie knots.

Last but not least, the back panel. Hope you enoyed this useless information. Hmmmmmm, it's raining outside and my shoes are off. Maybe I will..........Remember: Life is short, get away from the big screen and get on a big stream!

Pimping Your Kayak, Cartoons of the week!

Do you want to pimp your kayak? Well, here's some kayak ideas that you may have never thought about. I bet you will incorporate them into your kayak. Anyway, the Cartoon of the week focuses on Kayak Fashion, from the kayak hoody to the metro sexual kayak all the way to the western kayak. Now here's the deal, leave a comment if you enjoyed!!!!!!!!!

This will be a hit, very functional. Actually, this hoody doubles as a rain hood, great for the fisherman. The Kayak Hoody may be coming to malls all across USA.

There is nothing like dressing for success. The metro sexual kayak is all about looking good with the main focus on matching. Great for the city park fountain or duck pond!

The "Boss Hog" of kayaks. Check out the horns! No doubt about it, look for them in the boot section of your favorite western store.

I hope you enjoyed my twisted humor! Remember: Life is short, get away from the big screen and get on a big stream!

Worlds Largest Freshwater Aqaurium

Do you remember as a kid having a fish aquarium? I do, my aquarium was 10 gallons and stocked with guppies and gold fish, boy do I mean guppies.They could reproduce like rabbits, first two then 30 in just a few days. 

Recently our family visited a really big Aquarium, The Tennessee Aquarium, actually two aquariums, freshwater and saltwater.

This is no kid aquarium, its gimongus. The freshwater aquarium is the largest freshwater aquarium in the world. The best way to describe it “walls of fish.”

You walk along walkways next to the 30-50 ft tall aquarium wall. The walkway slowly slopes down until you are on the bottom, great for viewing fish. There are other sections that feature hands on exhibits like the butterfly garden.

Looks like a freshwater Dory from the movie Finding Nemo? We saw sharks, grouper, jelly fish penguins etc…. This aquarium has a wonderful layout that’s easy to follow and helps naturally control congestion.

The water is so clear, the fish look like they are in high definition.

I will finish this post with a picture of rainbow trout. If you are ever in Chattanooga Tn, then visit the Tennessee Aquarium, it will be well worth the trip. Remember: Life's to short, get away from the big screen and get on a big stream.

 

 

 

 

Toons of the week: Prince Harry, The Pearl Rig, Bob

I couldn't resist doing a little humor about Prince Harry.



A fishing snap swival & fishing weight, brillant. For the non-fisherman, a pearl rig is a type of fishing system sometimes referred to as the Alabama Rig.

 An almost famous idea that just didn't make it. Kayak transportation.

The Process of Fishing

The Process of Fishing in Black & White

(A six stage event)

The Bait

 

The Cast

 



The Adjustment

 

The Watching

 

The Bite

 

The Catch

 

I couldn't resist using these pictures that I shot last March of my father-in-law fishing on Lemon Bay in Florida. They were in color but I converted them to black and white for a better effect. I like the black and white photos, they're so much more dramatic. I didn't plan on making fishing into a six stage event, however after putting these pictures in time sequence, it became apparent that fishing is a six stage event. Sure, you might be able to elimanate one stage, but not any more.    

Life is short, get away from the big screen and get on a big stream.

The river of Oz

This week I was sucked up and carried to the river of Oz. Since this is my cartoon of the week, I went fantasy fishing.  Yep, I said fantasy fishing! Just think, if there were fantasy fishing, then the river of Oz would be a top destination. Of course you would need to watch out for those flying monkeys, but the rewards could be epic.

Remember those munchkins?  I once met a Munchkin that was in the original Wizard of Oz at the mall. I was there with my 6 year old. You know the oddest thing happened, the Munchkin sang the song “The Witch is dead”, however he was cantankerous and sometimes sang “The Bitch Is Dead.” This was humorous especially when you looked around and seen the faces of the other parents.  Anyway, what kind of bait do you think those munchkins fished with at the river of Oz? I think I know.

The best bait always follows the monofilament road!

The Scary Crow Spinner is a great bait that can be picked up at bait shops in Emerald City.

Unfortuntely, you must use lots of bait oil to have any luck with the Big Tin Crank!

This is a fantastic bait, but just doesn't have the heart for all situations.

You can't go wrong with the Wicked Witch Jig, the Wizards favorite bait.

Hope you enjoyed my little fantasy fishing trip and remember get away from the big screen and get on a big stream because you're not in Kansas any more.

Bottling Relief

Do you remember the best feeling as a kid? I certainly remember mine. It all started when I was 8 years old and my family was helping clean my grandma’s yard on a hot southern, summer day. We started by removing a large amount of vines growing around the edge of her yard and on a fence.  

Being a little kid, I did as the grownups did; I pulled the vines up too. As I started pulling, I think the vines were possessed and knew what was in store for them. These vines put up one heck of a fight. In fact, I found myself all tangled up in leafy greens and probably looked like a cherry tomato in a salad bowl from the sunburn that I had been working on. Anyway, I had to use all of my 8 year old muscle to free myself from the wild vine. Finally the job was complete. We placed the vines in a large pile and burned them to ashes.  For a hard day’s work, grandma’s cold iced tea hit the spot for the long drive home.

When we arrived home, I started to break-out in little watery bumps, up one leg, then down the other, up one arm and down the other, even the face.  Then, the itch began and I mean itch. Oh, it felt soooo good to scratch and scratch and scratch. In fact, soooooooooo good my eyes rolled back in my head. Lucky for me, my mom applied Calamine lotion which helped soothe the itch.  The damage was already done, all that scratching created scabs which burned, especially while taking a bath and this was Sunday night, bath night for me.  After the painful hot bath more Calamine lotion, but now I looked like a strawberry dipped in cream. 

Yelp, that vine was Poison Ivy. I finally got over that bout and learned to spot the vine. I still end up in the middle of it on occasion, but I’m not as allergenic. Just think, if I could bottle that feeling of relief without the scratching, then I would become a Buzzillionaire.