That is one of the greatest videos I've ever seen.

No doubt.

Today I went fishing for tarpon. My buddy hooked a monster. Caught it all on film.



I'm coming for you Spielberg.

My first tarpon. They are absolute beasts. Fought it for an hour.

Looks like you are living The Life Bigger.

Have you cooked that one? Or what do you do with them after you have them?

Yeah, when I step back and think about thing, it ain't so bad.

Can't cook those for several reasons.

First, they are prehistoric fish that are bony and the meat isn't very good.

But even if they were they are highly protected. You can buy special permits to keep one trophy fish per year. Otherwise, you can't even bring them onto the boat. That's why the pictures are of the fish in the water.

So, you let them go.

Spiked my interest enough to read through the wiki.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarpon

"Megalops is considered one of the great saltwater game fishes. They are prized not only because of their great size, but also because of the fight they put up and their spectacular leaping ability. They are bony fish and their meat is not desirable, so most are released after they are caught. Numerous tournaments around the year are focused on catching tarpon"

Not much to report.

I've been boat shopping and I've pretty much picked out what I want. However, I have no place to put it. I don't really want to trailer it so I've been looking for boat slips in my complex. The ones available don't have lifts, though so that's another expense. Nothing seems to be happening. The girl that works the condos that handles the slips has been difficult to communicate with. I told her I am looking for a slip and she said "just send the down payment to..." Whoa, there's a lot of questions in between those things. I've also called the lift installers twice now and two different people have promised a quote but as of now I haven't received anything.

Just as well this takes a while. My credit card is in pain right now. I need to pay some things off.

Fishing update: I hooked something really big last night. It took about 100yds of line before it even figured out it was hooked. It just swam away slowly and I couldn't stop it (with 50lb. line). Then I guess it realized it was hooked and the reel started screaming. It finally found (as usual) one of only two things it could find to break the line and it did so. I honestly don't think I could have stopped it anyway. I need a much bigger rod/reel setup to catch these bad boys.

Here's my new buddy. For some reason he likes to hang out on my patio.

The fish are winning so I thought I'd get some heavier artillery. Penn 6/0 reel, stiff strong pole, 300 yds, 80lb. mono.

Are cats catch and release, or do you keep them for trophies?

bait

Both last two pictures are great. Interested cat in a picture makes it great. And with the other one - the bird and water makes it interesting for me.

Got this email today.

o_O
Do I understand it right, it is not from some authorities, but from a private guy?
How did he got your email? (That one is for me a total shocker)
Was it really signed with third reich nazi, or did you add this?

And I am curious about the details of this round-a-bout. Why is there a sign for a right turn? Shouldn't a a round-a-bout always be rounded anti-clock-wise? And did you really do it clock-wise?

I assume it's from an official representative of his HOA (homeowners association) and that he added an unofficial title to his name.

Sounds like BB has no respect for roundabouts.

So, this isn't a real roundabout. It's more like a decorative toy roundabout. It's mostly there for display purposes. It's the only roundabout in the complex and less than 20% of the population would ever use it. It's so tiny that my truck cannot stay in the lane and make the curve.

I did cut it once on purpose. The second time was because a woman with a stroller was in the lane on the other side and I was sincerely trying to be polite.

Yes, it's the HOA nazis. I mean, yeah, I'm a lawbreaker but maybe he could just not be a dick about it.

to lapka re: direction - It's murica - we drive on the right side of the road

View from the front.



View from the side where I cut the corner.

That is incredibly poorly designed.

LOL, I just got this. It was sent out to everyone that lives here.

Damn lawbreakers are rampant.

Yeah that's dumb. But just go around I guess. Also doesn't seem like that big of a deal

I'd drive my truck into the pool and sit in the middle of the roundabout drinking a 40 of OE.

Sorry if this is dumb, but what is the transponder? Gated entry key?

It probably gives you access to amenities like pool, party room, whatever.

The transponder is attached to your windshield. There are 2 gates. One opens automatically when it senses the transponder (you don't need to push a button or anything). The other gate is controlled by the guard. When they disable your transponder you have to stop and talk to the guard, presumably with your head hung low in shame because you did something bad.

There is another card to get into the pool, laundry room, etc.

Ahhhh. That's not too bad IMO. Are the guards sorry nits too or can you just bribe then with beer or something?

I've heard some bad stories about the guards but they've been pretty good to me. They've certainly broken the official rules more than once to accommodate me. I've tried to use the catch more flies with honey approach and it's worked for the most part.