Good idea, but what if your captain is also a member of Fishing Forum/Stages? Just Sayin...RJS

I would not tell all I Know, otherwise you will be swamped with all the traffic streaming down from up north! Just Sayin...RJS

A husband and wife had been married for a long time, had recently not been getting along.
They lived in New Jersey, but believed a trip to Florida might help them get along better.
They had been in far south Florida around the Keys, but there had been a rocky patch between them even in Florida.
As they walked on the nearby golf course, they spotted some alligators sunning on the green in between the golf holes.
The wife proudly pulled out a snub-nosed pistol in a .22 caliber and showed it to her husband. He laughed with a guff haw and made fun of her precaution. He said, ‘Honey, that won't do any good. It will not come near stopping a grown alligator!

She replied, “No, it will not, “But it will keep you from running when I shoot you in the knee!” Just Sayin…RJS

Hope you can find a source, but live perch about as large as your hand!
The Bob Samples Rule on bait gathering is this:

You will spend 2 hours gathering bait for each 1 hour of fishing. I found this to be true no matter whether you dig for worms, sein for minnows, or trap perch! Just Sayin...RJS

Hello Measter: I have never fished either spot, but just know that big cats will feed along the shores at night, particularly along rivers. I do not know about along banks of lakes, but they do love live bait. Just Sayin...RJS

I don't know what you can do about invasive species, they seem to be able to handle all efforts to staunch their invasion. But look at the benefit! The alligators would make an excellent source for cowboy boots. While I was working, one day I was going home and entered the elevator with another broker, and noticed he had on a pair of alligator boots. I complimented him on his boots. He said he had personally killed th 'gator and had the skin turned into boots. They were square toed, and not the style I prefer, but were for him, I am sure. Just Sayin...RJS

wow! it is definitely a small world. That is my Aunt Dovie Samples Benett. Born in Indian Territory=Oklahoma. Just Sayin...RJS

I have recently been reading both her and elsewhere about giant catfish, which I find fascinating. For the record, the largest catfish caught and weighed was from the mouth of the Mel Kong River in Thailand. It weighed 646 pounds and was 9 feet long! This happened in 2005.

All the rest or simply fishing yarns, or spoofs! I confess to having written one myself and you can read it here. To do that, look up my earlier story, Cleopatra II, Queen of Red River! I am telling you in advance that I liberally mixed fact and fiction.

I was surprised that my life-long friend and classmate was ill and bedfast. I sent him a draft of my big catfish spoof and he said he thought it was real until the very end. That surprised me because I expected him to realize it was a yarn much earlier.

Now do not discount the value of big catfish stories, after all Junior Samples got his start this way. He had caught a large cat and told his story on the local radio. It was comical enough it led to a spot on the Grand Old Opera! Not bad for a country boy! Just Sayin...RJS























 
 
 
 
 
 






































































































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Were you related to Dane? If he was a son of Dovie Bennett, he would have been a first cousin to me. Just Sayin...RJS

I think Food Fisher nailed it. It was Hal, who tried to murder the crew. Just Sayin...RJS

Yes, Dane was Alice's brother, I think. Either he, or another of Aunt Dove's children was killed while plowing on a tractor at night. I am not sure it was Dane, but either him, or another of their brothers!

Even when Aunt Dovie lived in Lubbock, I think we visited only once. Just Sayin...RJS

Yes, Dovie Bennett was Alice's mother, as well as mother to Bonnie, and one or two other daughters.

Another cousin, Roxie Belle and I suspected that the reason Alice ran away to California was she was pregnant. When the baby was born, a stranger brought Bonnie to Aunt Dove's house (she had an unlicensed babysitting business) He later called and said Dovie could keep the baby since he could not. She was named Bonnie and loved and took good care of Dovie when she was old.

While I was talking to Aunt Dove, she put her hand on the side of my face and said, Bobby Joe, why are you so grey? I had to tell her it had been 20 to 30 years since I had seen her. The last time was when I was only a teen. Just Sayin...RJS

Yes, Frank, I too visited Aunt Dove Bennett in California. I was out there on business. I called her and she suggested I come by for supper, then decided it would be better to come the next evening. So she could get all the Samples relatives to come to.

It was a real shock. If you had taken their home in Lubbock, yard, house, and all the furniture was picked up and moved to California. In Lubbock, it faced East but in California it faced West, but exactly the same as far as I could tell.

I got there early, got to visit with her for a while and she told me a lot of things I didn't know, and gave me a picture of the Samples family when my dad was maybe 4 or 5. She was born in Indian Territory. So, I think my Grandfather Alexander Samples participated in the land rush there and farmed there to prove-up his holding before moving back to Texas. I never met either my grandfather or Grandmother on the Samples side since they both had died before I was born! That is why I wrote my two books of my memories. Grandchildren often are 'short changed' when they don't get to know their grandparents.

I knew Sam and Alice had a place in Oregon, possibly on the coast. Just Sayin...RJS

Mrs. Smith took her dog into the Veterinarian clinic to get him neutered. The procedure was performed, and she returned to get her dog back, and pay the doctor for his services.

But Mrs. Smith was also insistent that the Vet had done a complete job on her dog. In fact, she repeated her question more than once. So, not knowing whether Mrs. Smith might be a little deaf, or even senile, the veterinarian said, Mrs. Smith, I can guarantee your dog has been neutered!

He went on to say, Mrs. Smith, I may be a Texas A. & M. Graduate, but I can count! Just Sayin…RJS

Here in central Texas, skys were partly cloudy but open enough to get a good view.
Can you just imagine what primitive people thought when this heavenly phenomenon happened? All the birds and animals went to bed thinking day was over? My wife and I were out on sidewalk when it started getting dark. I watched as sparrows and other small birds that nest in the shrubbery, hastened home and to their nest! Just Sayin...RJS