wrote on Jan 19^th, 2008 at 1:33pm:

Jimbo The ghosts don’t bother me as much as that thing you pulled up out of the water last year. You remember you had to beat it back into the water with a club. MagicPaddler

Yeah, Magic-

Bring your "beating stick" and get ready to catch a big one again [see:   (You need to Login or Register ].  Unfortunately, this year we are forced to comply with new park rules.  NO LIVE BAIT!  You will have to leave your sacrificial goat at home this year.  

That's not all bad, though.  Those bleating little beggars would more often than not chew through the lines tethering them to camp.  Then, we'd end up chasing them 'round & 'round the woods.  Not to mention the nuisance bear problems they brought us over the years!  We're probably better off without them.  Nevertheless, Pollyhumpers sure DID like those goats, though, didn't they?!  Especially the spotted ones!  My personal preference were the white ones with black spots, particularly in the mid-evening hours with the sun going down.  You could troll those babies at about half-paddling speed on a smooth surface, then... WHAM!! Hold on, brother, 'cause you're going for a ride!!!!

Ah, the good old days....

Nope, we're gonna play by the rules & come up with legal bait in 2008.

That's not to say that we couldn't send Quentin out for a swim just before we start fishin', though.  He's a pretty fast using that butterfly stroke, as I recall.  That's JUST the right sort of action that will attract a Pollyhumper, too.  If we practice, we can get it so we cast in right behind him right about when he starts to get tired.  With luck, we get the Pollyhumper & Quentin gets to keep his right foot.

I was thinking about contacting one of those guys who carves those wooden duck decoys for a living.  Maybe they could create us a "goat decoy"?  I realize it wouldn't be a very lively lure & getting it to sink down to Pollyhumper depth could be a pain-in-the-you-know-what but it just might work.  Could be that Dr. Juice sells a "Tournament Pollyhumper Scent" that we can spray on the lure, too.  We should research that.

If Bo comes along, we could just rub the lure on him, eh?  He sort of smells a bit like a goat, don't you think?

With a little preparation, I'm confident we can do this thing right, despite the new rules.

And Magic, don't you forget to file down your treble hooks.  No barbs, remember?  Best get started now, though.  It takes a while to shave down the barbs on a grappling hook....

Jimbo   8-)