From A Class or ALL classes?

Ahh... the days of skipping class to fish, been there, done that....
I remember studying in the back of my truck in May waiting for the tide to turn at C-town.... :smash:

Your wifes car has a flat tire, she complains, you take a look and see a 8/0 VMC treble hook buried in the tire. You're happy to see it didn't destroy the hook.

Your taking the dog for a walk, she takes a dump and it has 4" of a "berkley power worm" hanging off it .

Your diging thru an old tackle box, you find a "brand new" gibbs plug and you know its for sale on ebay as a collectable.

A visitor stops by, you and your wife go out to greet them, they see all the rods lined up in the garage ready to go fishing and says..."MY GOD!, thats a lot of fishing stuff!, why do you need so many rods?" and your wife can't wait to hear your answer, again. (you make a note not to invite them again)

You buy a $22K outboard to "save gas".

You are happy to get a phone calls at 2:30am from some friend on the beach....


Thinking about getting another boat....and still keeping the one you have now as a "backup"


You are embarressed to tell someone how many hours you put on the boat this season and don't really see a need for an "hour meter" on your next boat.

Considered investing in a gas station to save on your re-fueling costs.

Considered buying a home in a foreign country so you can fish year round.

Your in line at the chappy ferry and a tourist sees the truck, rods on the roof and cooler rack....says...going fishing? Yep !...they reply "you're going to pay 8 bucks just to fish?" and you break out in laughter and reply I WISH it was only 8 bucks.

You have seen the same fellow on the beach for 5 years now and have never seen him in daylight and only know him from his truck.

Its mid Feb. and your $400 "hook order" arrives and your really happy cause you know spring is commin..

Whatdoyoumean honey?, Doesn't everyone have 3 refrigerators and 3 deep chest freezers(?)

You have 24 cu ft freezer just for bait and it is not big enough.

Spend over $1000 on stuff to catch and keep bait alive...to "save money" on your bait.

You through out several pair older waders that don't leak but are just getting old (to make room for new breathable ones) and you see the trash collection guy trying them for size on in the street.

You have trained yourself to survive on coffee and candy bars...for the entire fall run...and like it. When the seasons ended and you start eating normally again, you experience DT's from the withdrawl of the fall run diet.

Your favorite snack food is starbucks choc. covered coffee beans with a RedBull chaser.


You realize you have been fishing so hard recently you have not been home at night for weeks, and that you not had sex for a month, so you invite your wife to join you "fishing" the next night. :)


You have numerous outstanding custom plug orders at any given time and can't wait to get them...even though you don't need them you need them anyway. :confused:


Your wife hopes the wind blows hard so she can play golf with you this summer.

Local tackle shops have your home, office and cell phone numbers and use them frequently.

Wife wants to get a second home in the mountains, to get a way from fishing for a few months.

Wife prays they shorten the length of "the derby"

You are thinking of going in with another guy and buying a walk-in freezer and a commerical ice machine...to save money of course!

You wonder where that guy on the cape gets those funny pants and could that be the reason for his success as a fisherman? :)

You get really excited when a sb.com'er is going to the same place you the week prior and will fill you in on his results befor you leave.

Your son when asked at school, if he could be anyone in the world for a day who would he be and why....chooses to be Mike Laptew because would be kewl to see what is at the bottom of the ocean. (really)

When you see an old Uncle Josh glass porkrind jars with the caps that rusted...it brings back fond memories.

You look at your garden hose lying on the ground and think about making a really big tube just for the hell of it.

During the fall run your hands are so bad with nicks and cuts that you can not type on a keyboard.

You thought the title of this thread was about the fishing related flesh eating bacteria.

Considered growing sandworms (seaworms) as a hobby.(really)

You keep eels in live-buckets tied up at the dock....on three different islands.

You attend a fancy work related event... and more then one person asks "what happened to your hands?"

You bring your vehicle in for an oil change and when the mechanic drops the skid plate 30# of sand land in his shop floor.

you like the taste of seawater

You can't hear anything out of your right ear all fall because a wave hit a nearby cusped rock thereby jetting seawater into your ear at Mach 2.

you pray to GOD that you don't get sick during the fall run (and thank him afterwards)

Your church actually plans an activity around your fishing schedule.

You say screw it! to the rest of the world, sell everything you own (except your fishing stuff) and move you and your family to an island for a better quality of life... and to be closer to good fishing.:)


You downsize your house so you can get a better boat.

You have no idea what day it is but you know what the tides are.

Your so used to sleeping 3 hours a day you get bored lying in bed in the off season.

You have just about every striper book ever written but have not read any of them.

You cast plugs with no hooks in the back yard so the dogs can chace them on days with bad tides.

You live less than 1.5 miles away from the water, but you contimplate on moving closer.

You freinds at work think your hung over every Monday morning.

You have the biggest room in the house dedicated to old plugs and fishing gear.

How bout having dreams of eels biting your hands and wake up laughing about it...
Contimplating putting off getting married for another year just so you can buy all the tools you want so you can turn plugs
Or when you climb into bed @4 in the morning and she says, {did you wash your hands,they stink} and all you can do is smile
Instead of sitting and talking after dinner, you sneak off to the cave and just look at all your plugs, rods, and gear like you have never seen it before...

You can't relax during season cuz you know somewhere, someone is killing them and it could be you.

Anybody that schedules a function during the season is now an inconsiderate jerk(really why not get married in Jan)

I go to work at 3-4am, but think nothing of getting up at 12 to fish a few hours before work.

Re: Symptoms of the disease - Lets here them.
 

Except for the age difference, we could be twins separated at birth :D :laughs:

"But, but, what if they're only eating a Smokey Joe Redfin and I don't have it with me!!!!" :wall:

You have one dress belt and about 6 wader belts.

Your keychain is a 2 oz kastmaster.

You put ski racks on the roof in spring and take them off in fall.

You figured out a way to modify the spot cooler in your server room to aerate your eel bucket.

You've taken a shower in the parking lot of your office at 7:59am because you needed to check just one more spot.

Your kids can drop a 1.5 oz plug (w/out hooks) in a hula hoop 70' away. It just takes the 4 year old more tries.

You already know that your anniversary and wife's birthday are on a new moon next summer. :wall:

You can't get out of bed at 7:00 to make it to work on time but getting up at 2:30 to go fishing doesn't require an alarm clock.

My fridge and freezer are basically empty except for, Frozen fish, eelskin plugs, and eelskin jigs.

How can we forget the "I'll be back in two hours" line. Only to return two days later.

Buying a bigger truck because the "old" truck was too small to carry all your fishing gear. Still currently working this angle.

Trading in you motorcycle for a boat.

Choosing your friends based on whether or not they share my "addiction".

This is a great thread!!!

Oh yeah, ever set a hook in your dreams and knock your wife out of bed?

Problem? . . . What problem? . . . I can quit any time I want

I only take a couple of plugs with me , Right Tattoo. No Sickness here...Ya right..........................

HABS - The only guy I know who brings the large surfcaster bag and the large Aquaskinz bag with him on the rocks.

Also the only guy I know that has no less than 30 needlefish in ever shape and color with him while fishing. Looses one and replaces it with the same thing from the back of the truck.

You sell off some gear you haven't used because she thinks you have to much, then take the money and buy different stuff.

You tie leaders at work.

You have no idea who the hell the boston red sox are or how to catch one.

People ask you did you see the game and you have no idea what the hell they are talking about.

You have trained your body to shut down all no neccasarry functions while fishing. You drink 6 cups of coffee and never have to pee while fishing. The body starts up again as soon as you start the ride home.

You send $350 bucks and 3 1/2 hours getting a striper tattooed on your back.

By the way, these are all true......Keep them coming

You wade a certain area of the SE Cape in 57-60 degree water in early June without waders for 6 hours on what was supposed to be a "scouting" trip. You clearly are suffering from hypothermia, but will not leave the water due to an abundance of big fish. You are urged off the flats by a number of fisherman who are truly concerned about your condition.

You find a 5/0 hook in your vest pocket in line at Dunkin Donuts "the hard way."

You have contemplated throwing a plug at breaking fish on the Vineyard ferry only to be threatened with your life by your fiancee.

I actually did that one time 2 years ago from the freight boat, I just could not take it!! we were going thru a massive school of bonito going wild!.... mussled it to the boat and lost the fish trying to haul it up the side....(my wife was not around that day:hee: ) The ferry guy kindly asked me to "refrain from fishing on the boat" but I had a decent crowd of spectators around.


here is another:

I am afraid to start making plugs...I don't need another "problem" disease

Your wife says your vehicle smells so bad she is going to vomit but you really don't seem to notice it anymore.

Your desk at work is covered in fishing mags all open to different pages of stuff you 'need'
You get aggitated that your boss wants you to do something because you are too busy surfin S-B.com
You have a lunar chart instead of a calendar hung up
No clue what the date is but can tell someone to the minute what time tide is at

Couldnt be said any better...

Sandman I am with you about plug building..I found myself pricing out lathes the other day and I can barely change a tire.

I honestly could go on for days...

Like booking window seats on all flights out of Logan so I can see birds and breaking fish on takeoffs and landings.

Maybe we should all fish together this spring and have some laughs.:D

There are fish scales stuck to the side of your truck, and you think they look cool.

You wonder how people can own just one rod.

You need a backup reel for every rod.

You visit the herring runs every Saturday starting in January.

You know who is fishing where by what trucks are in the lot, but have no idea who these people are.

You start relating all non fishing events in your life to a fishing experience you had

And based on above then start wondering why people look at you funny afterwards

You talk to your 14 month old about every fishing trip because he's the only one who seems to listen in my family and I'm now convinced he actually understands what I'm saying

You put up an entire shelf rack system in your garage and your wife is extremely impressed. A day later when 90% of storage space is decidated to fishing equipment she changes her mind.

You re-arrange your plug bag twice a week.....in January.

BTW Sandman next time you are throwing out perfectly good "old" waders shoot me a PM.:cool:

You go to a party in the off season and come home with the buckets from the margarita mix because they "will make good eel buckets"

You choose the calender you put up in your office not based on your favorite vendor, but if it has the moon phase on it or not...

No matter where you go or what time of year it is you need to wander over just a little closer to ANY water and look for fish.

You'd rather play hookie then get nookie.

You hear that Pedro is meeting with George Steinbrener in Tampa and you wonder if it's tarpon or snook season there...

Hi, my name's Bruce and I have a fishing addiction.


You wake up your wife because you are setting the hook in your dreams.
Every moment of every day are thoughts about fishing and how you can catch bigger,more and better fish.
Hunks of scrapwood appear as plugs in your mind.
You have to buy fishing line in the winter just because.
You can never have too many plugs, EVER.
You go swimming after a lousy 10 dollar plug after snapping it off.
You snap off a Mr. Pogie bottle swimmer in the canal and contemplate suicide and need to call the phone number on the sign by the bridge.




and Tattoo, you are 100% correct that all bodily functions that could interfere with fishing just shutdown till fishing is over with. :btu:

Vacations are picked around the herring run and fall run only.

you get a fish tattoo on your 18th birtday.

you love the blood that is all over the tailgate of your truck and show it off to friends. they look it as normal.

you have a beach from inside one end of your truck to the other year round so you never feel like you leave the surf.

you are single/divorced because you fish.

your office, living room, bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and dining room have plugs hanging in them.

when you look to get a new place to live, the selling point is fishing storage space and proximity to the surf.

When you spend more time in waders than you do in bed with your wife.

Jesus, we are a sick bunch aren't we.:eek:

That's what my wife said when I went fishing with Canalman the other night with snow on the ground and 18 deg. out.
It's all worth it.:smash:

When you bring an eel into a tattoo parlor
A pile of un-used for years reels sitting in a corner(just in case)
Back-up reels crammed in every corner of your truck.

Nice thread, I am very sick,but apparently not alone: probably come up with a few more..