http://www.castnshoot.com/rss/Blogs http://www.castnshoot.com/rss/link_blogs/id_225/ http://www.castnshoot.com/rss/link_blogs/id_225/ Now that the dove season is fast approaching, my dad and I hooked up the chisel to the back of the new tractor and hit the dirt.  My dad mowed all the over grown brush, chiseled the grown, then plowed the ground up.  Got the ground ready to plant, and then yesterday evening my buddy and I started spreading the seed.  This year we decided to go with Jap Millet.  Even though it takes 90 days to mature, and we know this is a little late for the doves, but it will be ready for the ducks.  We planted it around several of the shore lines, and in a small field that normally floods.  We will go back in about a week, and probably plant some type of dove seed in another small section that we plowed up.  Sure was a fun way to spend the 4th![IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v603/huntingrdr/dad.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v603/huntingrdr/tractor.jpg[/IMG]My friend aka woodiesmacker[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v603/huntingrdr/steveandluke.jpg[/IMG]The tree of death...[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v603/huntingrdr/photo.jpg[/IMG] Sat, 5 Jul 2008 11:07:16 -0500 http://www.castnshoot.com/rss/link_blogs/id_224/ http://www.castnshoot.com/rss/link_blogs/id_224/ Just wanted to wish everyone a great 4th of July!  Hope everyone has a great time and is safe! Thanks for all who have served for this great country of ours.  Thu, 3 Jul 2008 09:07:10 -0500 http://www.castnshoot.com/rss/link_blogs/id_223/ http://www.castnshoot.com/rss/link_blogs/id_223/ Just wanted to ask which, how big and why?  I usually prefer the PLine and use 30 and 50 if I really need some big stuff.  I have become a BIG fan of suffix braid, it really is nice.  I have a spool of the gorilla braid I am going to try for one reason, it is 35 lb.  A little heavier yet the same diameter.  Don't like the color really though and not too sure I will like a sinking line.  Might have its applications though, time will tell.  That being said, I always tie a Flouro top with a nail not basically. I prefer 20 lb pure flouro and have found them to all be about the same, but lean towards vanish and PLine.  I buy the big spools and put them on smaller more manageable wading sized spools for leader material.   Lets hear what you like and why... Regards,Brian W. Steward, RPLStaff Professional Tournament Anglerwww.CASTnSHOOT.com www.johnsonoutdoors.comwww.humminbird.comwww.minnkotamotors.comwww.transportboats.comwww.mercurymarine.comwww.stcroixrods.comwww.shimano.com    Thu, 3 Jul 2008 01:07:05 -0500 http://www.castnshoot.com/rss/link_blogs/id_222/ http://www.castnshoot.com/rss/link_blogs/id_222/ ONE OF MY BASSEDGE PRO TIPS!THE FLIPCAST   Welcome to the Bass Edge Media Center where you will find the latest episodes of our weekly hour long audio show, instructional videos from industry professionals, and back issues of our monthly e-newsletter. FINALLY! THE TECH TIPS AND TV SPOTS THAT I FILMED FOR THE VERSUS TV SHOW, BASS EDGE, ARE ONLINE!! CHECK IT OUT! CLICK ON THE VIDEOS TAB ON THE TOP! I WILL BE POSTING THE LINKS TO THE INDIVIDUAL VIDEOS AS WELL, BUT REMEMBER, I FILMED A WHOLE BUCH OF THESE AND THEY SPREAD THEM OUT OVER TIME SO BE SURE TO CHECK THE SITE OFTEN FOR NEW VIDEOS!!!  http://www.bassedge.com/media/show/382 Sun, 29 Jun 2008 19:06:51 -0500 http://www.castnshoot.com/rss/link_blogs/id_221/ http://www.castnshoot.com/rss/link_blogs/id_221/ Hey guys! The Arkansas Duck Hunting Video is done! The camera was a little old so not very good color, and this was my first hunting video to do. Check it out and let me know what you think! Also, check out my new myspace page.  www.myspace.com/robertrogersonline      Sat, 28 Jun 2008 21:06:53 -0500 http://www.castnshoot.com/rss/link_blogs/id_220/ http://www.castnshoot.com/rss/link_blogs/id_220/ Attitude is EVERYTHING! — In the sport of bass fishing, whether for recreation or in tournaments, presents anglers with countless variables over which we have no control- wind, water clarity, fishing pressure, or poor weather conditions. That being said, one thing that has helped me TREMENDOUSLY is developing an attitude that is 110% positive. What I mean by that is whenever I encounter a situation that nearly everyone would see as being negative, I try to list at least two good things that will result from it. For instance, if the wind is blowing 20 mph on your favorite fishing spot; yeah, that’s bad for boat control, but at the same time it will keep other fisherman and pleasure boaters out of the area, it stirs up the water column (oxygenating the water, pushing plankton around which keeps the baitfish active which makes the bass more active, AND it helps to position the fish). See, just by using my knowledge of how both bass and bass fisherman work, I’ve turned a bad situation into a great chance to go out and drill some nice fish. Imagine this as well; you pull up on a new fishing spot that your trying for the first time. The second cast in you get hammered and a 5-pounder comes up, shakes his head and throws your lure. Your first thought is probably not a very positive one. Your first thought should be, YAHTZEE! Because now you know that (A.) there are fish (and good fish) in the area, (B) they could be quite aggressive, (C) you could already have the right lure tied on, and (D) because of this, you will probably be paying very close attention to your fishing and end up getting “in the zone.” Developing an attitude such as this makes all the difference in the world when it comes to fishing. After all, how many times have you caught a 10-pounder when you were ticked-off and frustrated for some reason? Sun, 22 Jun 2008 16:06:16 -0500 http://www.castnshoot.com/rss/link_blogs/id_219/ http://www.castnshoot.com/rss/link_blogs/id_219/ We (cooter & I) recently worked a booth for G&H Decoys at the Gander Mountain store in Spring, TX where a major duck, goose & crane calling competion was being held. There were several catagories but the most intersting one to hear was the "mouth only" goose calling. In the both to our immediate left was Buck Gardner & crew, to our immediate right was Texas Waterfowl Guide Danny Reynolds & crew. The next booth to the right of Danny was Jeff Foiles & crew. Needless to say the conversation on our end of the "show" was quite interesting... guides, decoys, calls, waterfowl hunting, videoing, gear, boats, motors, 4 wheelers, decoy trailers & a lot of other topics. As people would approach our booth they would admire & comment on the G&H Decoys we had on display. The decoys we had with us were from our personal set of blocks & I mean just out of the decoy bag just before the drive down. The oldest was a 12 year old Mallard Drake & the next oldest was a Pintail Drake & a Widgeon Drake, both 10 years old. We also had a few Mallards & Pintail "Super Mag" floaters hung up on the back wall that are a year old that were "Texas Rigged".  Lastly, we had 2 brand new Snow Goose shells set-up on their motion stakes. Some of the comments we heard were:  [i]" 'Em G&H decoys last forever... I'm still hunting over the "Henryetta's" that I got back in High School."[/i](If you've never heard the term "Henryetta's" for G&H Decoys then you weren't around when we could use lead shot & the point system days.) [i]"I hunt over the G&H Decoys my Grandfather used."[/i] And then there's my favorite: [i]"I bought some decoys made by a competitor for roughly $29.00 dollars a dozen... the first half of the season they showed a lot of wear & tear, by the second half of the season the paint was just about worn off & by seasons end, most of the keels had fallen off or were lost. When I replaced them I bought some G&H Decoys... a lesson in "Economic's" learned the hard way."[/i] Needless to say everyone who stopped by all pretty much said the same thing... G&H makes the most durable decoy out there, that's why we've been usin' 'em for so long. Mon, 9 Jun 2008 00:06:39 -0500 http://www.castnshoot.com/rss/link_blogs/id_218/ http://www.castnshoot.com/rss/link_blogs/id_218/ [b]G&H Duck and Geese Decoys[/b] http://www.ghdecoys.com/ [u][b]"A Waterfowl Tradition Since 1934!"[/b][/u]The waterfowler's success or failure depends on the authenticity of his decoys. G&H has developed the finest decoys available today. All G&H decoys last longer than any other brand. The decoys are so realistic that even at extremely close range it is almost impossible to recognize them as imitations. The end result of raised feather detail and custom hand painting is a convincing decoy that fools waterfowl every time. Be sure and register so that you can browse their new website & recieve their e-mail newsletter. They also have an online store where you can buy their products directly from G&H. https://ghdecoys.c7.ixwebhosting.com/shop/index.php?main_page=login&zenid=c431qfd2lhpj5pbvn0bbmvhsr7 Be sure to checkout the 2 vidoes on their new webstite. The give the history of G&H, an short interveiw with Mr. G, a breif synopsis on their factory & decoy making process, product discription & demonstration, plus some great hunting footage. Joel Strickland Co-Host - American Outdoors http://98.130.104.207/index.php?page=Strickland-Video Todd CraigheadOutdoor Oklahomahttp://98.130.104.207/index.php?page=Craighead-Video [b]"The Best Damn Decoy Made Period"[/b] Mon, 9 Jun 2008 00:06:59 -0500 http://www.castnshoot.com/rss/link_blogs/id_217/ http://www.castnshoot.com/rss/link_blogs/id_217/ With our Quality Selection & High standard of excellence, Nikon is "The most trusted name in optics!" Nikon Optics are clear with enhanced brightness for all weather conditions! We have several Superior Models to choose from with advanced technology including Binoculars & Monoculars, Rifle Scopes, Spotting Scopes, Night Vision & Rangefinders. While hunting & spotting game, Trust Nikon to have your needs covered! Whether you’re looking for top-quality, precision rangefinders, or range finders for any use, you’ve come to the right place. Our collection of leading edge optics equipment has everything you need in night vision binoculars, hunting optics and beyond. Whether you’re looking for Nikon rifle scopes or Nikon spotting scopes, even military spotting scopes and much more, make it Big Creek and you won’t be disappointed. Compare spotting scopes and monoculars at other dealers to discount spotting scopes at Big Creek and you’ll soon see the difference. We’re making precision optics affordable! We are working hard on adding new & exciting products to cover much more than just Hunting Products & Accessories. We are looking at carrying Fishing, Bow hunting and more and mroe products to satisfy your every need! So stop by and check it out. Don't forget to contact us if you are looking for something that you just can't find! We will do our best to track it down and respond with our findings! Our goal as always is to provide you with the highest quality products backed with the best customer service around-after all we want your hunting and fishing experience to be the best! Sun, 8 Jun 2008 15:06:27 -0500 http://www.castnshoot.com/rss/link_blogs/id_216/ http://www.castnshoot.com/rss/link_blogs/id_216/ Part II of the Texas Redfish Series Tournament Trail – Matagorda, Texas May 3, 2008 Written by Brandon Marshall, Team Castnshoot In a white tornado of documents I fling my arms around my desk finishing up paper work for the week so I can hit the highway. Running unusually late to meet-up with my Castnshoot Team Members Wes and Bobby Gilmore in Seadrift, Texas. It’s always a blast hanging out with this father-son duo while soaking in the evening sunset, consuming a couple of cold beverages, and catching up on the latest events since the last tournament in Corpus Christi nearly a month ago. Consequently, I found myself playing smokey and the bandit on the back roads trying to make-up time. I finally roll into the Gilmore’s bay house and immediately begin to fill my lungs with the salt air and cool breeze. The refreshing feeling is something only an ol’salty can know! Wes and Bobby come down greeting me with sarcastic remarks of my late timing then with a warm smile and a firm handshake, hand me a cold brew that I had been day dreaming about on my drive. We sat up for a couple of more hours telling jokes and shooting the breeze while we were waiting on my tournament partner and long-time friend, Brian Steward. As if my timing wasn’t bad already, we now see the headlights of my partner rolling around the bend at the umpteenth hour. The three of us start talking about what kind of prank we could think of at the last minute, but out of pure kindness we held back knowing he would be tired anyhow after the long drive from Port Mansfield. He had been down there for several days addressing an aquatic business trip. We all turned in for the night with eager anticipation of the next morning to do a little prefishing. Morning came too soon as we were all still beaten by the hard work week and late night chatter. Now…some of you have read about Bobby’s coffee from previous articles written by Wes…but let me describe it from my point of view as his son may have sold him short. The coffee taste as though he uses a chemistry kit to get perfect balance between great taste and enough caffeine to wake-up a dead horse. Two cups later and the sugar from a breakfast roll, and I could have literally swam to Matagorda pulling the boat by my teeth! We hit the highway and arrived in Matagorda just around daylight and launched the Tran Sport 210V Cat powered by a new Mercury 250 ProXS. I’m not going to lie...I was still a bit nervous about how my partner would handle the additional testosterone upgrade from his Yamaha 200 hp to this mean sounding Mercury 250. He put me to rest several minutes into the ride as he hammered down coming out of Russell’s Bait Camp and cutting smoothly across the water at 56 mph, a speed the boat had never seen previously. We spent several hours searching back lakes due to the higher spring tides, but the wind was providing no help with gusts up to 35 mph. With winds like that, a person is just happy not being tossed around like a rag in a washing machine. We managed to find some scattered fish but as my partner and I remained quiet, we both knew that the next day would be difficult. We met back at the boat ramp with our counterparts, the Gilmores, and gave them a quick shrug of our shoulders and a face gesture resembling that of a three year old sucking on a lemon. For the captain’s meeting, a crowd began to gather and we slowly shouldered our way towards the registration table to fork out the green stuff once again and draw our boat number. I usually draw, but to be courteous I extended the chance to my partner. Needless to say, out of 127 we drew 130! I looked at my partner like a parent catching their kid’s hand in the cookie jar and yelled out, “How can we be 130 out of a 127 boats?!?!” The guy holding the bucket just replied, “uhhhh…That means you’ll be last.” To make the best of a rough day casting several thousand times and drawing a number that could not possibly be beneficial, we high-tailed it back to Seadrift where I had planned out dinner for the night, King Ranch Chicken Casserole with a side of rice. We all enjoyed dinner and a hard day fishing. We sat around playing guitar and telling stories before heading to rest our tired bodies. Saturday morning came with excitement as our adrenaline began to kick-in along with Bobby’s kryptonite coffee and the soreness felt just several hours earlier began to diminish. Brian and I loaded-up in the truck for the drive, which seem to take forever! Almost like a youngster awaiting the arrival to the amusement park, I kept asking, “Are we there yet?” Annoyed by me, Brian pulled into the bait camp where the place was lit up like a disaster area for half-cocked captains and fishermen. We managed to back the boat down into the ramp without hearing anyone screaming bloody-murder, so all-in-all everything was going great. The 127 boats circled around like Indians on a rampage when the loud speaker began calling the numbers one by one allowing them to slowly head their way out of the bait camp. I looked over at my partner just as he began cleaning his reel and changing out the line. Outraged by this lack of time management I asked, “What are you doing man…we’re going to be heading out in a little bit!” He nudged me with his elbow pointing to the boats behind us and laughingly said, “Chill! We probably have 30 minutes before they get to us.” I took a deep breath and then looked behind me as boat number 20 passed close by. I gave a short wave and fake smile as if they stole our number. It was torture just setting there and listening to the sound of outboard engines revving up and racing-off to their favorite fishing hole. Time to spare, Brian and I start discussing last minute plans to head to an area we had not fished yet, gambling that our instincts would payoff. Like a ready greyhound on a leash, we began creeping up until the last number was called and Brian let the Mercury roar! However, a few hundreds yards and we shut down again to putt through The Locks, a Watergate system for the intercoastal waterway for barges to pass through without having to worry about tide fluctuations. Coming out the South end of the system we throw the hammer down again and began passing boats one by one. For those readers who have not tournament fished before, passing other fishermen is just one of the many thrills in itself! To look at your opponent as you pass them and see that their number was a good 20 boats ahead of yours, is a great feeling, even if they’re heading to a spot no where near yours. Enjoying the surprisingly calm winds, we break away from the crowd and begin cruising the shoreline searching for an area not already covered up with boats. Brian looks over at me after bait begins jumping against the bank as if asking for approval that this is a better spot than any. We jump out and immediately we both begin catching some five-pound reds. Nice for any other day, but not nice for today. After grinding out 15 or so twins of the two we have on the stringer, we head back to the boat and rethink our game plan. Crossing the bay system we see a storm system coming in from the North and before we could hit the safety of protected water, we get slammed with high, cold, winds. The boat beats through the rough water to get us to an area along muddy shell and we bail-out into knee deep mud. After getting about 50 yards from the boat and catching my breath, I start to think maybe this is a bad idea. About that time, Brian hooks-up and brings in an 11.5 lb red that is only slightly over the slot limit. The catch gave me another boost of energy and I continued pressing forward, literally, as to break suction from my feet to lift my legs up and out of the mud. We remained in the area long enough to realize that we hit a straggler and the best thing to do with only a couple of hours left was begin fishing our way back toward bait camp for weigh-in. With time to kill, and still quite a ways out from making a good show, we stopped along the intercoastal behind some spoil islands to try our luck. Brian was throwing this new spoon I’ve never used before and begins catching some undersized reds with an attitude. Not having any luck, I walk back to the boat and pull anchor. Waiting there, Brian hands his rod and reel to me with that special little spoon and says, “Throw it a couple of times while I check on the fish in the live-well.” I’m thinking at this point anything is possible and start casting. On the third cast, I couldn’t believe the luck, the rod doubles over and line starts ripping off the reel unlike the reds I had been catching earlier that day. We net the fish and to our shock was a pound and half better than the other two fish we had. The whole way back to the dock we started laughing because for years now Brian and I have joked about how nice it would be to better our fish with only minutes before weigh-in. Only five minutes to spare we make it to the bait camp and place 53rd out of 127 boats with a weight of 10.16 lbs. Although the outcome was not exactly what we wanted, we did keep the team effort on the forefront and had a fun day fishing! Sun, 8 Jun 2008 00:06:34 -0500 http://www.castnshoot.com/rss/link_blogs/id_215/ http://www.castnshoot.com/rss/link_blogs/id_215/ Took my uncle, Randy Steward, and my tournament partner and part of Team Castnshoot, Brandon Marshall, fishing. We hit many areas with nothing much more than some undersized fish and of course the oversized red Brandon is holding in his half naked pose showing off his unmanly frame (hehehehe just joking Brandon) which makes that 32-34" redfish look like a 25" fish. We ended up at one of Brandon's favorite places. He bailed out of the boat, I was reorganizing some tackle as I was going right up against the shoreline. We were sitting there as Brandon was a few feet away and here came a Majek Extreme loaded with people running about 65 getting ready to plant themselves upon the sandbar we were getting ready to wade up against. They would have run inside my boat, and it was anchored about 100 yards off the shore. We managed to wave them off, and brandon makes his way to the dropoff. About the time he gets to his most productive water here comes another uneducated boater, to put it nicely, right at him in a Blazer Bay I think it was. I could not get to my camera fast enough to get my shots of it getting ready to happen. I got a little concern for his well being, they were heading right for him, he was waving his arms, had his shirt off so you know they could not miss him. They kept coming and I could tell they would at least miss him at this point. So, I dug a little more diligently and found it about the time they shut down whether they wanted to or not 10 yards from him AT THE FURTHEST! I know he was fuming, they ran through his fishing water, they almost ran over him, then shut down right as they got to the sand bar. You can see the smooth water behind Brandon in the pictures, it is amazing. Then they tilt up the motor and try and jump up and throw bottom everywhere. Brandon and a guy in the boat exchanged some words and we thought there was going to be a fight as one of the guys was crawling out of the boat. I told my uncle I bet Brandon is going to handle both of them without problem as I started taking pictures. So later after I got to Brandon he explained what all the bickering was about. He said the guy asked where deeper water was, Brandon pointed to the ICWW since he was in a much deeper v bottomed bay boat. He then said well I ran through here yesterday. Brandon was in shock that someone would run that close to another person fishing, especially in that kind of boat when he could see brandon was in less than knee deep water. Then finally he said he was sorry as he jumped out of the boat when it was already in deeper water to push. That was after motoring through where Brandon was headed all the while he was walking only 20' away at best. The pictures will tell the rest of the story. I told Brandon that these guys were probably from the Port O'Connor-Houston area as they had NO CLUE as to what they were doing in a boat. I am not generalizing about an area or even saying that there are not locals that have the same ignorance but it seems to be much more prevalent in the mid coast area. So, please do not take this short story that way because most of the serious fishermen up that way would agree with me there is a serious problem on the water and that area is probably more serious than the rest of the area from the large number of boats they have on the water. Again, another classic example of why we need MANDATORY boater's education before your allowed to title a boat. I would be willing to sacrifice my time and even a little money to go through it to see to it that this becomes a thing of the past, sacrifice a little for the better of the whole. I told Brandon that I would not have been so kind, he said well it was obvious they didn't know any better and I could tell he wanted to be the bigger man and walk away. Hell, if I was his size I would have at least scared them a little or climbed in the boat with them saying let me help you and then started a lecture. Yes, I am that brazen and that is probably the best thing for new uneducated boaters, a good short and sweet lecture of OTWE (on the water ethics) and why they should be more attentive. There are some people I know that really are not even close to that nice and have thrown topwaters rigged intentionally with big treble hooks across in front of boaters that have run within casting distance if there was another route and had lost many'a lures in clothing, skin etc.. over the years. So, enjoy the pics and remember, try and give another fishermen as much room as possible, if they are wading, run around them deeper, if they are drifting to and run either as far down wind so as not to disturb the rest of their drift or way upwind realizing that they might have caught some fish and they will run back upwind and make another drift. Try and not anchor in channels and realize some boaters will run through that channel, just part of the game especially with channels to back lakes and marshes. If someone is running up on you and your catching fish wave your arms and tell them to stop. I have no problem sharing fish but when someone runs up on me and runs them out we are going to have some choice words. _________________Regards, Brian W. Steward Staff Professional Tournament Anger- www.castnshoot.com Johnson Outdoors Minn Kota Humminbird Tran Sport Boats Billy Stix Custom Rods Sun, 1 Jun 2008 12:06:32 -0500 http://www.castnshoot.com/rss/link_blogs/id_214/ http://www.castnshoot.com/rss/link_blogs/id_214/ Here is an article from another of my writers (Old Man Cooter) that is also in the June Issue of RAO. Feel free to check out the rest of the magazine at www.redashoutdoors.com Thoughts on the Right to Keep and Bear Arms   by Old Man Cooter   Hey Gang, Old Man Cooter here.  Been reading about some of those folks who are all about anti-gun and who want those of us who have em' and use em' to just go along with them and turn em' in.  Seems to me there are more groups out there who want to ban anything they don't particularly like or agree with.  Why hell there are the anti-gun nuts, the anti-hunting nuts, the anti-eating meat nuts... not too mention the anti-fishing nuts, the anti-truck nuts, and tons more of anti-anything nuts.  Their all nuts!   I have to laugh sometimes though.  I saw a posting in one of the forums here that challenged the anti-gunners to stand up for their beliefs and post a sign in the front yards of their homes that proclaim "THIS IS A GUN FREE HOME!"  Dang, I've been running the roads for awhile now and haven't seen one such single sign.  I guess they have no problem squawking about the rights of others, but don't have the ba... er, fortitude to personally support their cause.  Talk about a phone call at 3:00 AM... the neighbor with a gun in the house would be the first person called when the ag's (anti-gunner) heard someone breaking into their home.   The Second Amendment reads "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."  The ag's always do their best to put their spin on what the Second Amendment says.  Some of their arguments refer to the 'militia' as the National Guard.  Sorry ag's, there was no National Guard when this was written.  The militia, was and still is, the PEOPLE.  Any need for a 'militia' to preserve and defend the security of a free state would be the people, who have a RIGHT to keep and bear arms to become the militia.    Another point here is that the Second Amendment doesn't say that the constitution gives the people the right to keep and bear arms, what is clearly says is that it recognizes the God given birthright for a person to defend their life, their families life, and their country.  That is clearly shown in the words... "the right of the people to keep and bear arms SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED."  In other words, legislators keep your hands off.  Yet, they have infringed and continue to infringe in violation of the Constitution, especially some states and many metropolitan areas.   Now the First Amendment reads,  "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."  Now let's, just for the heck of it explore this a bit.  Let's say that there was a group who wanted the freedom of the press leashed back a bit and a Bill was introduced into the House for that purpose, let's say it was to limit some of the media's attacks on the government, or foreign policy, or the news pieces that came from leaks of sensitive material or information.  What do you think would happen?  The 'cow flops' would hit the fan, that is what would happen.  The media would be 'up in arms' (no pun intended) and they would be screaming that their rights under the First Amendment were being infringed and that any such law would be unconstitutional.  Guess what?  The Second Amendment is as much as a right as the First, or as any of our rights.   Here in Pennsylvania, the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is even more clear... it states that: Right to Bear Arms Section 21.  The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State shall not be questioned.    Before I go any further let me make something crystal clear, I am 100% American Patriot.  I love my country with all that I am and would defend it and the Constitution of the United States with my life.  In fact, I had taken that oath at an earlier point in my life and will honor it always.   The Second Amendment's purpose was to keep the power in the people's hands.  Should a tyrannical government take power the people would have the ability to deny it.  It was not primarily for the defense of this country from invading armies, but just for a moment let's take a look at that.   Especially in this day and age, if something catastrophic happened that enabled other nations to invade this country, and they did... they would be facing 80,000,000 Americans who were armed.  Call those Americans the Militia if you will.  Because of those 80,000,000 armed Americans, an invasion won't happen.   Let's take a look at another possibility.  We all know that the 'terrorists' still want, and are planning attacks on this nation and it's people, we and our families and our way of life.  Stick your head in the sand if you want but there is no denying it, or the possibility that this will happen.    Some type of catastrophic event, especially if it involves multiple population centers, supply centers and the nerve centers of our society could easily break that barrier between civility and anarchy.  Remember the various riots of the past, where large numbers of people used the civil disorder as an excuse to loot, rob, rape, assault, pillage and burn?  Now ponder on how bad things could get if that affected the nation as a whole.  There would be groups roaming everywhere and taking what they wanted or needed by force.  When a group of criminals bust into your home at three in the morning, you better be able to defend yourself, your wife, and your children.    This article was not written to frighten anyone, it was written to make you think.  It was written to make you realize that the Second Amendment and the Right of the PEOPLE to keep and Bear Arms SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED, and why it shall not be infringed.  More gun laws only affect the law abiding citizens, they do absolutely nothing to restrict the criminals.   Now more than ever, every single one of us who target shoot, hunt, collect or simply own a firearm for protection, as well as the millions of Americans who don't own a gun but who support the Second Amendment need to be heard.  No longer can we shrug it off and let someone else do it, it's up to us. Get involved, write letters to your representatives, let your voice be heard.   As an American I am exercising my First Amendment Right here.  This is not a debate column, it is not a blog, this is MY column.  There will be no viewpoints from those who do not agree.  If an anti-Second Amendment person reads this and has a problem with it... exercise your First Amendment Rights and put that sign in your yard... "This Is A Gun Free Home."  Yeah, right... let me know how you make out with that. Just don't call me at 3:00 in the morning. Sun, 1 Jun 2008 00:06:37 -0500 http://www.castnshoot.com/rss/link_blogs/id_213/ http://www.castnshoot.com/rss/link_blogs/id_213/ This is an artilce by one of my writers, that can be found in the June issue of Red Ash Outdoors Online Magazine which is going to be published this week.            Feral Cats Wreak Havoc With Our Wildlife         I have seen this event time and time again and to this day it still frustrates me to the point of saying something about it.  Isn’t it cute to see fluffy the house cat bring home a pretty song bird and drop it at the feet of the irresponsible pet owner, that’s right folks, Irresponsible pet owner. For those of you that are not aware, the common house cat is the number one predator here in this country. The old school of thought was that the house cat will be a good mouser, which they are very good by the way, but they are also very good at catching and killing song birds, rabbits, frogs, butterflies, pond gold fish, and the most important one of them all pheasant chicks along with what ever else they can catch. The irresponsible pet owner that does not want the cat any will drive out to the country where there are many farms and with the hopes of the cat finding there way to the next farm, But what really happens is they become feral and wreak total havoc on our eco system. The common house cat can take care of its self more than you can believe, and they are very adaptable to every type of situation. The Coyote gets a pretty bad wrap for the decline of Iowa’s game bird population, granted a coyote will take a sick game bird something easy to catch; after all they are in the dog family. I have never seen a Coyote jump 7 ft high to catch anything, let alone a healthy pheasant; a feral cat on the other hand will have no problem with that type of feat. The state of Florida has such a problem with Feral cats that the beaches on the Gulf side of the state, the sand mouse has been put on the endangered list, all because of the irresponsible pet owner. This is a mouse that lives in the sand and is a nocturnal creature, so are the Feral Cats. I was able to do the math on this subject and I was floored with the results, think of it this way. You have the so called indoor / outdoor cat, that cat catches and kills one other creature per day, your cat goes out everyday that is 365 creatures it has killed, played with, etc. now imagine if the pet owner had 2 house cats that would be 730 creatures killed. So you see how these numbers start to add up.  I am sure there are many responsible cat owners and I applaud you for doing the right thing and keeping them confined to your home, I have no problem with cats as pets until they are released into the wild, and then it becomes an issue for every sportsman and woman to take up the cause to make sure that they do not destroy our wildlife. By Chris Bates Sat, 31 May 2008 15:05:11 -0500 http://www.castnshoot.com/rss/link_blogs/id_212/ http://www.castnshoot.com/rss/link_blogs/id_212/ I'd love to get on the forum and meet everyone, but it just won't let me in. Keeps saying invalid username or password. Fri, 23 May 2008 16:05:27 -0500 http://www.castnshoot.com/rss/link_blogs/id_211/ http://www.castnshoot.com/rss/link_blogs/id_211/ Well next week I am going to start writing the fishing reports for Full stringer lodge! It all started with a call.....I had told David cassidy that I was interested in doing this because Kyle Tomek went on to bigger and better things....I want to follow in his foot-steps! He said you can start next week so be looking at Matagordabay.com for the reports! I also do Jesse arsola's fishing reports on wadefishing.com under the same username! Well ant other guides need reports done??? lol..lol...j/k Thanks again, Lagunar boy Wed, 14 May 2008 21:05:51 -0500 http://www.castnshoot.com/rss/link_blogs/id_210/ http://www.castnshoot.com/rss/link_blogs/id_210/ Here's a Red River Airboat video I shot and edited. Thanks to Travis and the guys at Red River Airboats for the hospitality and fun on the boat.  As usual, it's highly compressed so the quality isn't the best but you get the idea. :) Sun, 11 May 2008 09:05:35 -0500 http://www.castnshoot.com/rss/link_blogs/id_209/ http://www.castnshoot.com/rss/link_blogs/id_209/ Here's a 30min teaser video footage of the beginning of the season with CASTnSHOOT member Brian Steward (stew1tx) and myself shooting some footage with Team Green members. This isn't by any means a full video of the season but merely the opening weekend to kick off the season. Since Team Green probably hasn't seen this, i thought i'd upload it just as a sample of the work that both crews put in. thanks to Team Green for allowing us to come along and also to Brian for getting dirty and shooting video with me.  Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:04:03 -0500 http://www.castnshoot.com/rss/link_blogs/id_207/ http://www.castnshoot.com/rss/link_blogs/id_207/ Well even though the first stop of the Texas Redfish series is complete and the results posted, I thought I would provide everyone with a little tournament recap. Prefishing:It's always a challenge to find enough time to prefish correctly for these events, and for a team that lives 3 hours inshore, slipping out for a quick scouting trip is not an option. So needless to say, for us, when you get the chance to prefish it's "go hard or go home".. Day 1: After getting in late to Seadrift wed night, Thursday called for a 4am wake up to make the drive CC. Of course the drive was made all the more interesting by the super strong coffee, my partner made before the drive. The man has perfected the art of making coffee without the aid of a measuring device. The end result is coffee that redefines the color black... Despite the late night and early call, we make it the CC by first light and splash the Lake and Bay, with the intent to head South. After about a 30 min run, were on a good bite in protected waters... Things were off to a great start. In fact we were so preoccupied catching fish, that we paid little attention to the building wind. By noon we were leaning horizontally into 40 mph gust all the while trying to cast from a boat that was drifting just shy of being on plane. Even though conditions turned extreme, we were still seeing signs of encouragement from the area. So to this point in prefishing, Day 1 was shaping up well despite the wind. Now the task of heading back to the ramp across unprotected waters in sustained 40 mph winds. As expected as we broke out across open water, it resembled a scene from the discovery channels "Most dangerous Catch". Now I know under those conditions there are protected routes, but hey life’s an adventure right ? Day 1 prefishing left us shaken but not stirred, as we were optimistic about the fish we found. Day 2: The plan was to head North, on what was a polar opposite day from day 1 weather wise. We were greeted by light winds and calm water, and immediately sight fishing was all I could think about. The day started a little slower as we patrolled a back lake from the boat. Lots of bait, but the few fish I saw wouldn't eat, or at least wouldn't eat what I was serving. We saw a few mid slot redfish cruise by us parallel to the shoreline but ultimately getting them to eat was not to be. We bounced out to the shoreline of a primary lake and found a few 5 pound fishing cruising that were willing to mix it up a bit. Running in doubles I don't know if they were hungry or really competitive. Twice within a 100 yard stretch doubles cruised straight toward the boat and resulted in hook ups. The remainder of the day North was lackluster to say the least. We pulled the boat out headed back to CC and splashed it again at Marker 37 just to check a few areas that historically have served us well. Funny how that works really, you spend countless hours running new water only to fall back on something familiar.The captains meeting was interesting as usual. The tournament field ended up being 128 teams, in fact I think it was announced that it was the largest field in the history of professional redfishing in Texas. The field would be cut from 128 to the top 50 for day two. After receiving all our instructions, the when, the where, and the what ifs. It was off to the room to wrap up the prep work and try to get some sleep. Tournament Day 1: Seemingly the check in and start fly by, and before you know it we’re rooster tailing down the channel in a pseudo boat race. Which in itself is a tournament within a tournament. This comes in handy when your sitting in the stands after zeroing and watching your competitors weigh in 15lbs, as you can say “Hey isn’t that the guys we blew by this morning in the ditch??”… So in short order we were in our predetermined location and out of the boat. In today’s tournament boat there is little reason to ever leave it, however in this case, with little wind and spooky fish, we felt it best to spend a little time with our feet on the bottom. Within the first two hours of the morning we managed to locate the school we intended to target and the culling ensued. After several trips to the boat and a few lost fish that would have justified yet another trip, the weigh-in was nearing. Day 1 saw us weigh in 12.90 and resting comfortably inside the cut line at 32nd. In hindsight the day went as well as planned, aside from the lost fish that might have improved us substantially. After looking over the weights, you’d have to say it was a very strange day. I believe the cut was over 10lbs which is extremely stout. There have been many tournaments over the last few years that would be handing out a check for a weight over 10lbs. Little did we know, more of the same would be seen on day 2. [IMG]http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg302/lwgbully/2277893230036372278gfzjCu_fs1.jpg[/IMG] Tournament Day 2: The plan was to start where we finished, as we felt the right bites were there to improve us by a few pounds. Almost to within a few feet, we located the fish from the day prior. Two back to back cast and we were stinging 12lbs. A third consecutive cast ans were upgrading to 14+ pounds. The area cooled due to recreational pressure, so we elected to make a small move. As it turns out, the move was the right one, as we were able to upgrade several times over the course of the day. Again, in what seems as fast as the tournament started, it was over and we were off to check in, not knowing exactly what our weight was. After check in we received a police escort to the HEB parking lot for weigh in. Again, we stood there waiting to weigh-in watching crazy weights hit the scale with regularity. Finally we get to hit the scale, two fish, 27 ½” for a total of 15.58lbs, pulling us into 15th place for the tournament. A check, a hand shake, a picture, and it’s game over. Happy, but far from satisfied. Without our sponsors, none of this would be possible and for that we owe them a great debt of gratitude. Lake and Bay boats, thanks for building what in my mind, is the best boat in it’s class, your support has been instrumental in our success. Laguna Rods, absolutely the best fishing rod I’ve ever had the great pleasure to use, Catalyst Financial without whom we couldn't afford to do what we do, and Castnshoot.com for giving us the forum within which to communicate to the masses. [IMG]http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg302/lwgbully/2918105520036372278fVqbDG_fs1.jpg[/IMG]Wes GilmoreTeam Castnshoot Fri, 25 Apr 2008 00:04:05 -0500 http://www.castnshoot.com/rss/link_blogs/id_206/ http://www.castnshoot.com/rss/link_blogs/id_206/ Off to do another shoot.  I have 3 shoots i haven't finished yet due to other commitments but they'll come with the new site. Sat, 19 Apr 2008 13:04:05 -0500 http://www.castnshoot.com/rss/link_blogs/id_205/ http://www.castnshoot.com/rss/link_blogs/id_205/    What a winter!  It seemed as summer drew to a close, my spirits began to wilt.  It seemed that I was feeling a funk setting in.  My mind seemed only to remember the bad things of winter.  The pounding rain, freezing weather, driving north wind, slicing and cutting me to the bone.  But, as the first cold fronts began their yearly migration south, my spirits were lifted.  I had forgotten how beautiful the fall colors could be.  I forgot about the vast empty bays all to myself, I had forgot about the joy of hunting big trout over muddy flats, I forgot the exhilaration of watching a cold front build on the horizon and, watching the fish go crazy.  Now I say goodbye to winter and, hello spring.  The smell of blooming flowers fill the air.  The sun fills the sky, with longer and warmer day.  The birds are building nests and, boats are coming out of hibernation.  It is spring!  Into storage go the winter clothes and, out come the shorts and t shirts.  O it is spring.  Where the fish school for the shrimp and, the birds point them out.  Where the flounder return to their summer homes, it is Spring! Now, as everything wakes from its sleep, I can’t help but notice how vibrantly green everything is.  It seems almost unreal.  Has it only been a few months?  It seems as though you have been gone for years.  O it is spring! She has returned to us again!  O it is spring! Tue, 1 Apr 2008 13:04:45 -0500