What a weekend!!..I LOVE this Country!!

[Bill McElroy]

Man....what a weekend!!!...It all started weds. night! Met Mini at a local establishment for a couple drinks before I split for FLA thursday morning,......we're sitting at the bar, bs'n and solving the worlds problems (as usual) when I get a phone call from Mark Gross (a GREAT guy and member of this board I might add!!)...he want's my 901!! SWEEET!!

So I tell him everything about the boat,...and he agrees to buy it! Mini (my Towel Man), offer's to meet Mark 1/2 way in Ill. sometime in March (Mark lives in Minn,...and Mini will make a few All Star business calls along the way) and deliver the boat for me if I'm not able to go too....is that cool or what??...Anyway,...Mini will go over everything with Mark and handle the deal for me if I can't go,...so my weekend starts off by selling my boat on weds. night. Thursday at 430am I leave for the airport...fly to St.Louis where they have MORE snow than we do and it's colder too!! I hang out there for a couple of hours and fly down to Lauderdale....where it's 50deg and windy!!!

Cold as hell accd'g to the locals, but I'm toolin' around in the car with the windows down....it's 55deg warmer than where i came from!!! LOL. I drive to the Big"O" and Roland Martin' Marina and walk around for a bit and watch the thursday weigh-in......talk to several people I know and basically just relaxed and hung-out on thrusday! Friday, and Saturday I worked the FunZone at the WalMart where the weekend weigh-ins were held! Too COOL!!!!...Met a bunch of people for the first time and made a few more contacts. Let me say this,..the Mgt and the employees for Ranger are absolutely first class,...Bart Schad is one of the nicest and most "imaginative" guys in the business,...man are WE going to get along good!!! After Bart saw what I was doing and the fan's responses to my drawings, he came up to me and said,..."Hey,..send me a .jpeg of your "Scales and Tales" logo,...I'll talk to some people at the plant, and we'll have your logo in-layed in the front carpet on your boat for you,...and we'll do some cool graphics on the side of your hull...not to the extent of a full "wrap", but we'll make your boat look awesome for you!!"....and then he offered to pull it up to the Beaver Lk. FLW for me,...make it part of the display where I'll be working, and I'll pull it home with me on sunday when I leave!!....That is just toooo cooool!!!!

Saturday night, after the weigh-in, I went to the Tiki Bar at Roland's and met up with some friends from MI. who were down there fishing the tournament and one of them finished 8th. (He won $8,000) We all sat there with Pat Fisher who won the tournament ($100,000!!...imagine that!!) and had a great time.....we all went out to dinner afterwards and I really had a good time saturday...(thursday and fri nights were really quiet,....it was cold and not much going on!!)

anyway,...I got calls from Tom, (our store's GM,..and he said the new Tshirts are in the store and on the floor now!!,...We were both stoked!!),,....I called Kathy and she told me my Aqua-View Camera showed up and I also got a notice in the mail that I got picked for a new '03 P/U truck that I wanted!!!.SWEEEETTT!! Wally called me with some more cool news, and I talked with Mini a couple of times to relay info to him......man it was a GOOOOD weekend!

Almost got popped for speeding in FLA though!!,..At 6am I'm cruising (@ 10over the speed limit)through this little town and I see him pull out of a hiding spot and follow me,.....I slowed down to the speed limit without hitting my brakes and he followed me all the way through town but never pulled me over!! ( I was lucky!!...and I wasn't in the mood to visit with Buford T. Justice at 6am!!)..LOL

Anyway,..it was good to get home....this weekend I'll be at the Detroit Boat Show, on friday night and saturday,...'tis the season!! All for now!!

Mac

 

[Texas Transplant]

Mac, sounds as if you were battin' 1.000 last week and this past weekend. Really nice to hear of the successes, one after another.



Tex

 

[Bill McElroy]

I'm blown away by it too Tex, and it's only going to get better!!! I've got the mojo goin' now!!...My confidence and motivation has never been higher....can't wait to start fishin'!! LOL

 

[Andrew Zuber]

Just keep (no-Jo) Marke out of your boat...LOL



Did you get to wet a line at all while you were down there?



az

 

[Rob LaMoy]

I talked to Pat about 20 minutes after he won. He was elated! Obviously he couldn't talk long, but I was home and had no access to see how he had done, so I called him, he just said, "I won it!". For anyone that gets the chance to meet Pat, he is a pro all the way. Very down to earth and one of this sports next superstars! I got to know him pretty well at the FLW on Champlain, and believe me, nobody deserves this win more than him. He also was recently picked up by Snickers. And was the Everstart Champion of 2001. Watch for his name a lot more often in the future. Mac, glad you had a blast. Did you get me anything huh, did you?

 

[Bill McElroy]

I met a guy from Plattsburgh, Rob,....Bob Perry,....he's an older guy,...retired,..repairs all kinds of reels and stuff!

anyway,...he asked me if I ever fished Champlain before,..I said,.."Yes,...matter o'fact, I was there this past june for a weekend!".....He said to me, without ANY prior mentioning before hand,..."Next time you're over there, call me,..I'll put you on some spots where you'll get 4-5lbr's!!..there's some old sunken tires that are there to break up waves,..it's loaded with big fish!"...ahahahahah

I tried like hell to keep a straight face.....and when I mentioned your name he said,.."Nope,..never heard of a guide up there by that name!!".....LOL!!!...I couldn't remember the name of the motel we stayed at either!! AARRGH!...anyway,..get those ads out,...if Bob the Reel guy doesn't know you,...how does anybody else???..ahahaahhahh

 

[Rob LaMoy]

He's local, and I know who he is. I don't advertise locally, as my clients don't come from around here. But I bet if he follows "his" tires tip back far enough, say about 5 years and the last BASS event, he'll figure out who I am. LOL The motel is the Stonehelm and I stopped there yesterday to try once again to coax some common sense into that guy and see if he would offer me some better rates. I rang the bell and sat at the desk for 15 minutes and nobody came down. I could have turned on the register and helped myself, left, and nobody would have known any better. Like I said.....not very smart business people.

 

[Dan J.]

I thought you and Bart would hit it off. He's just a big kid like the rest of us...with an incredible business sense! (Alot like Johnny! Huh?!) Sounds like a good time. Hope to have some more fun during the Classic! (T-minus three weeks and counting)

 

[Bill McElroy]

Yeah,..Bart's awesome,.....we're going to be able to accomplish a lot together, no doubt!! He immediately recognizes what I can do for them...and what he can do for me!! This is going to be a HUGE opportunity for both of us..and we're equally as stoked.....that's how stuff get's done! We'll hook up for sure in 3 weeks Dan...can't wait to visit Atlanta! (Sure hope it's warm!! GEEZ!!!)

 

[Mark Gross]

Mac , Glad your having a great week I wouldn't want any thing to happen to you at least until after March,and not

even then.

I'm still excited to be getting your 901 . From what all the guys on the site are telling me it sounds like I'll be the very first one to use the live wells!!! How exciting is that!

Mac if you have any more pictures of the 901 you could send me, if its not to much of a hassle.I,ve wore out the one I had . I tried to wipe the drule of the screen and it smudged .

Mabe you could get Mini to help you chop a big enough hole in the ice to test the boat ? If not I guess I can wait till March.



Thanks

Mark G

 

[Bill McElroy]

First one to use the livewells???..Dude!!,..that's COOOLD!!! LOL....and to think I was going to hook you up with a sweeet customized 'toon too......ohwell...you still have 2 full months to apologize!!!

Not sure If I have any more pix's of my boat scanned, but I'll check and send them to you ASAP. Sure had fun jawwin' withya the other night....hopefully my schedule will allow me to meet you in March too....but if not, Mini will give you the total rundown on everything.....he's a real credit to the "Towel Men" everywhere!! LOL

Keep in touch!!

Mac

PS,..I'll make sure the livewells work too......it has been a few years since they've been FULL!!! ahahah

 

[Rob LaMoy]

Mac, does anyone have pics from the rally when we were running side by side? That would be cool to send. I was driving and I don't think Buzz took any, but maybe Marke did.

 

[Marke Cicero]

Mark,



Check Mac's Library. There is an awesome picture of the boat in the water....Just don't get distracted by the two ugly guys fishing on the front deck.



Marke

 

[Bill McElroy]

I don't know!!....If anyone has any,....send'em!!

 

[Marke Cicero]

I think I do have some from the Rally. I know I have a few of the boat parked outside the Stonehelm.

 

[Marke Cicero]

Here's this one....I'll upload some more to my Library.

 

[Bill McElroy]

Marke,....WHY in the world did you pay so much to have my daughter's babysit for you last thursday??!!! DAYUM!!

I told them,..."For that price,...you WILL watch those boys another time for FREE!!!...Marke and Jill aren't going to pay that kinda $$ everytime you both babysit!!" So,..next time you and Jill want to go out,...you've got "sitter's" lined up for FREE!!!!!....Dad's orders!! (and Mom agreed!)

That was waaayyy too generous Marke...it's good for another nite out!!! LOL

Just an FYI!!!

Mac

 

[Marke Cicero]

Mac,



I guess it's been a long time since you've paid for a sitter. We always pay that much. Like you said, we have pretty much guaranteed that they will be willing to come back. Good baby sitters are hard to come by these days and daughters are good kids and worth every penny. We WILL pay them next time too...even if I have to tell them "Don't tell mom and dad." )



Marke,



PS, check your basstoons email.

 

[Bill McElroy]

You're killin me!!....Well the next time they 'sit,...don't buy all the food!!!...ahahaahhaa...they came home fat AND RICH!!!!....I just replied to that mail.....I'm outa here...

Mac

 

[Mark Gross]

Geeeeeee's.. Nobody ever told me Mac was so sensitive.I guess I hit a sore spot. Sorry Mac,I only was repeating what I keep hearing over and over.Please, Please Don't change you mind about the tune. I was going to have it professionally Framed and promenitly displayed in my family room.for real!! "Now this" ,I feel that I've failed some how as a human being.I worship the work you do.You are my favorite cartoon artist IN THE WORLD.



How was that Mac.

Do I still get the personalist cartoon,do I,do I, do I.



O.K. everybody no negitive posts about Mac..at least until after March. Please



P.S. thanks for the pics.

 

[Rob LaMoy]

Mac sucks, he couldn't catch a cold! LOL All the pics he has of fish, the fish are drawn in! LOL Hey Mac, I don't know what Marke paid you daughter but a reliable decent sitter costs about $5 p/hr these days and that's just to sit there and eat popcorn and talk to their boyfriend on the phone while the kids sleep and you hope she doesn't invite him over on YOUR couch! Now I know your daughter wouldn't do that because you would kill her borfriend, but that's the sitter game these days. When you find a good one, you keep them!

 

[Bill McElroy]

Mark....you just scored a custom "Original".....and I'll already have it matted and framed for you upon delivery!! Keep up the good work!!...ahahahahha



Rob,...I learned all I EVER need to know about you down in Florida!!...Your "so called secret money spots" are even widely known about and talked about,..by old retired dudes livin' in Winnebago's!!! Give me a break oh lord of the Blow-Hard Goodrich!! LOL!!!!....(It's been awhile since we had to pay for a babysitter,....but I do now that Marke and Jill "overpaid" for 2 teenage girls to babysit what they described as "perfect angel" little boys!! Jamie and Julie both said,..."WE LIKE the Cicero Family!!....A LOT!!!"..LOL

 

[Bill McElroy]

Hey Mark,...I have an AWESOME .jpeg of "your boat" on my c;drive of my PC at work....infact i'm using it as "wallpaper"...it was taken by a friend of mine last summer on a local inland lake..Mini and I are fishing off the frt deck and the clarity is unreal!!! I'll send it to you tomorrow!! I totally forgot about it until i logged off to go home!! Will send it to you in the a.m.!!

Mac

 

[TrepMan]

Hey Mac - Know you won't see this till O-dark-30 Tuesday but:



1) YOU ROCK!!! MAN keep living the dream and NEVER wake up!!! I tell ya, in about 3-4 years i'm gonna RETIRE after selling a few of the "Mac" originals I have on eBAY!! That first edition Crappie t-shirt SIGNED should fetch $1.2 - 1.4m in a few years!!!



2) You actualy MET someone who KNOWs Rob? All of us southerner's thought he was some LEGEND in his own mind who sold women's shoes and just DREAMED of fishing!!!



3) So did I kiss your butt enough to get those hand signed T shirts to Dan J. at BPS while i'm on vacation in 3 weeks??? Huh, Huh??? I can grovel more!!!!



Mark G. - Welcome aboard and you got a SWEET ride!! now if you decide to REALY fish you'll have to trade the 901 in on a REAL boat -TIN RULES!!!

 

[Mark Gross]

Mac great I'll look for in the a.m.thanks.





Trepman , thanks but no thanks.There's only one way to greatness and thats with glass. I've got a good 170 TF I'll sell you thought, and I'll give you a one hundred dollars trade in on your tin boat.I think thats preatty fair .lol

 

[Bill McElroy]

Trep,.....the ol'dude I met in Fla was from Plattsburgh, NY, he still lives up there, but he and his wife "winter" in FLA....I asked him if he knew Rob but he didn't!!...He knew all about those old tires though and how to fish'em, and that was what I found so darn funny about the whole encounter!!!...Rob is still the Al Bundy of Plattsburgh, but his "Secret" honey hole is known NATION WIDE!!! LOL

 

[TrepMan]

HAAAA I wondered if you'd Pick up on the Bundy reference!!!



Gotta hit the office, check back tonite!

 

[Rob LaMoy]

You give one pro a tip and he wins the tourney there on national TV......geeeesh! Like I said....NEVER again.

 

[Bill McElroy]

lol.....just bustin' your schmeckle bigdog.....no harm intended!!...ahahahah

 

[Rob LaMoy]

I know that. But it's amazing how many people for YEARS didn't know how to fish those tires correctly and I used to win so many local tourneys there. Then BASS comes up, in my young exuberance thought by telling one of the pros about it, I might get some recognition! HA, I got squat except one previously honey hole turned community hole, and a ESPN segment showing EVERYONE and their grandmother EXACTLY how to pluck fish from it! You live and learn. But I can still get them out of there, Buzz and Marke learned that last year on Marke's last weekend here, just takes a lot more effort now for not nearly the same sized bag of fish. I do have other spots, that will go to my grave with me unless Buzz or Bob talk! LOL

 

[Bill McElroy]

It happens all the time dude,....a "local" guy here showed and told a VERY WELL KNOWN PRO how to fish deep water and current on St.Clair,.....that Pro now dominates when he's here!!..Do you think for a minute that a PRO would give credit to a local "amature" for his win?? In your dreams!!! He's the PRO,..he's supposed to figure it out on his own and they like people to think they did!! (they may use an amatures advice as a starting point,..then they refine and perfect it to their advantage)..It's happened to Mini before too..he's helped some Pro's on 'clair before too.....they've done well,..cashed BIG checks,....and Mini got squat!! See how much help they offer the PRO's "next time"!!.....There's a lot of big names out there that rely on local help all the time.....KVD and a hand full of other's are well known for NOT asking or listening to local's advice......they finds their own stuff!! There's an awful lot of goood angler's up here who catch big limit's all summer,..and they are deffinetely called upon for input when the tour's come to town...but I have yet to hear a winner give "thanks" to one of them on stage!! Their ego's won't allow it!!..LOL!!!

 

[Rob LaMoy]

That bites. If I fish the 'start and win out there, I will definately give credit where credit is due....... to Mini! LOL What goes around come around. It's like some of the "bent rod" pattern anglers I know on the pro circuit. One even has his own show, and has followed me 2 of the last 3 years when guiding in the spring. This guy who will remain un-named, but you all know him, was burning spinnerbaits. As he was cruising by, he saw everyone in my boat loaded up and stopped and started fishing, cast for cast, and tried to see our baits. I kind of lit him up a little and so did one of my clients. Then last year in the FLW I didn't know it, but took out one of his cameramen. Since I was in a borrowed Ranger, he didn't recognize me. When I figured it out, I told the guy next time he would find out what us northern rednecks do to copycats and he passed it on to the angler. I will see in a couple of months if it did any good. If not, Champy will get a mouth full with that big ole boy!

 

[Bob G.]

Rob,



Don't worry, I won't give up your secret spots!! My goal this summer is to find spots on my side if the lake that are similar to some of the spots that I fished with you.



Bob G.

 

[TrepMan]

Rob - If you come down to fish Lanier just let me know. I'll make sure I tell all the OTHER pro's my BEST spots!! that way if you stay away from MY spot's you WILL catch fish!!!

 

[gone bye bye]

It happens all the time....some guys get help, some guys dont and some guys need it.



Mini

 

[Mike Levesque]

Wow Mac, good to hear! congrats...... egMike

 

[Tim King]

Mac,



Congrats on a super weekend!! Shilo made our reservations for Springfield the other night!! We are staying at the HOJO Express just a few blocks south of the mother land!! We will be there the 21st thru the 23rd! I can't wait I am so stoked!!



Tim

 

[Bill McElroy]

SWEEEET!!!.....Don't forget, I won't be in MO. until that saturday morning (I'll be in Chicago all day Friday)....i get in @ 11am i think...and I'll be leaving sunday......so we'll have to hook up saturday evening for dinner or brews..we'll make a plan after I get there...I'm stoked too!! I think Scott and Mo are going to be there too so maybe we can all go get lunch up in Hemingway's too??!! I'm open to anything!!...