Happy New Year!

Quick Quip...

Ice Thickness Reminder Every winter, thousands of anglers break through the ice, putting themselves and often others in extreme danger, if not dying altogether! Here's a handy chart to memorize before you venture out this season:

• Walking:             4 inches
• Snowmobile:     5 inches
• Car or Truck:   8-12 inches

What's New...

First of all, I'd like to apologize for the down time TFN has been experiencing over the past few weeks. The main web-server died at 7:00 pm Xmas Eve, which was then followed by failures in sound cards, SCSI cards and Ethernet Cards. - Oh well, 'tis the season for giving, and I'm sure my hardware supplier appreciated the gesture! We've got things pretty well under control now, but these problems also account for this issue being up a few days late; again, apologies.

We've just finished opened the "New and Improved" TFN Trophy Bass™ 2 section and begun qualifying events so you can get placed in a division with fellow competitors of equal skill and luck! Make sure you register for the events before you come to play. We ask those who registered in the past to please do it again - there's a new database system in place and the old registrations aren't compatible. We're also looking for people to scrutineer events (this means you have to play one game a week on-line and HONESTLY report back the weights for each of the other registered participants).

While I'm talking about 'TB2', I'd like you all to welcome Jared Bowker as our new TFN TB2 Tournament Director! Jared is not only a wizard at the game, but brings a wealth of experience in on-line clubbing from days putting together some of the most successful MUDs (Multi-User Dungeons Games) around! Welcome, Jared!

We're also testing using Javascript as the basis for the TFN navigation standard. By doing so, we keep the pages the same size, but no longer have to add individual graphics for each navigation button in the margin, thereby reducing the amount of time it takes to load pages as well as the log files that are created on the server each time a file is loaded. If enough of you have problems with the new system (i.e. you have a Java-challenged browser) we'll add normal navigation links at the bottom of the pages. However, our log-stats indicate that less than 3% of all visitors to TFN are using these older browser programs.

This Issue...

In Volume 3, Issue 6, I'd also like to welcome Jared's brother, Jason Bowker, who is starting a column on building fishing rods. Jason has years of experience, and operates his own business out of Wisconsin, Personal Touch Custom Rods. So, welcome to both the Bowker Brothers! We also continue with some of the new features begun over the last few issues. In particular, we've had some great feedback on the "Hooked for Life" and "Destinations" Columns. And don't forget to read the TFN Book Review, and if you like the books highlighted, make sure you buy them here! That way you help support TFN.

Comment...

Following a brief ICQ conversation with our intrepid TFN Forums administrator, Max Huber, who asked if I knew how he could launch his boat on the ice... (don't ask) I thought I might offer some suggestions on how to ice-fish while dealing with the rather bizarre effects of 'El Niño'.

1. Book a flight to either Alaska, the Yukon or Northwest Territories. I believe there actually is some ice there.
2. Go through the TFN Archives in search of articles on ice fishing, read a few, open the freezer (horizontal chest models work best), sit on the edge with your sock-covered feet dangling inside, shut your eyes and have someone constantly ask you "Do you really think there are any fish here?".
3. Go to your local hardware store and purchase an assortment of 'bungy-cords' to strap your Clam over the stern of your boat and go out on the lake. (NOTE: remember not to cut through the surface immediately under your shack with your auger.)
4. Visit the TFN Ice-Fishing Forum and lie about all the fish you're catching through the eight inches of ice on your local body of water.
5. Have a few libations and think about it tomorrow.
6. Join the TFN Trophy Bass 2 Tournaments and worry about how to catch fish on warm, open water.
7. Take a few buddies, some tip-ups and a couple of buckets of large minnows to your local ice-skating or hockey arena, set the fish buckets on the outside of the boards with the tip-ups above, on top of the boards, and run around the ice, from 'hole' to 'hole', yelling "Fish On!". (NOTE: it's advisable to slow down somewhat before you get within ten feet of the boards.)
8. Write an article on ice fishing and submit it to me for possible publication in an upcoming issue of this Web-Zine.
9. Build a shack on pontoons with a secure assembly at the back for attaching a motor.

Until next issue...
(tight lines, get it wet, good fishin', see you on the slush, etc., etc.).

Scott M. Binnie, Managing Editor