J Francho

Not much, LOL. I collect and race vintage slot cars, play drums, guide, fish tourneys, do seminars on kayaking, and sometimes I'm even a father and a husband!

I don't charge for shipping on orders over $100.

Not entirely....a longer handle gives you more leverage.

LMAO.... Burney Haney Noel "No" Good "Tackle-Junkie" Steve "Tsunami" Mike Wild Bill...er, sorry no effect here, LMAO.

That was rather snotty, and uncalled for in an otherwise good spirited, friendly debate.

Plastic yoke posts.....

Tell your buddies to leave the weed guards home, and set the hook, LOL. Don't know what to tell you Wayne. You seem intent that my way is wrong. If that's your take, so be it. It isn't an issue for me. I would argue that all the hardware on that hook is why you need to use a bigger hook, not the plastic of the Senko getting in the way. Its an apples to oranges comparison, anyway....different hooks, weedguard/no weedguard, snelled/not snelled, and probably vastly different tackle as well. Its not always just "your way" (by that I mean me, you, and anyone else) its just "a way."

Get the hood, its a glare sucker. No better for low light shots that capture more of the scene than a 50. I have a bunch of lenses...35 f/2.8, 50 f/1.4, 100 f/2.8 Macro, Tammy 28-300 (great vacation lens), 18-55 beater lens, 70-200 f/4L, 85 f/1.2 (expensive paper weight), and a couple others I forgot about. The ones above, and the macro probably spend the most time on the body.

That's my point as well, Wayne. No, I would use the same hook I use for wacky rig, a 1/0 Finesse Wide Gap for 5", 2/0 for the "log sized" worms. Same if I were drop shotting a smallie beaver, fluke, or similar. The #6 drop shot hook works great for nose hooking 4" Power Worms, Cut Tail Worms, Roboworms, and other similar sized baits.

LOL, not always, but I get a big kick out of kids fishing. Can be frustrating as hell sometimes, but everything gets that way sometimes with kids.

The one that gets the job done, LOL. I have a 17-40 f/4L that I use a ton, a 28 f/1.8 that's a cracker. 70-200 f/2.8L IS is awesome, if not a little heavy.

The ones I have, are black, black and blue, and chart. I actually don't think it matters all that much. If you can't find a single blade, just clip the smaller blade off.

I've read that walleye and chromes target them as well. I've never caught a walleye this time of year, though it seems like a no brainer for them to be eating these guys. Post spawn steelhead in spring that I've caught have almost always been gorging on alewife. I'm not sure how effective a bottom feeder they are, again if the prey is there and abundant, it makes sense too. Its just been my experience that every fish I've filleted had alwewife in their gut.

Looks good! You need one more, with a single, giant, soupspoon of a blade for the dark/muddy days (and nights).

I know plenty of kayak bassers that use a similar home made livewell setup, and no paint necessary. In fact, I think it would creat a mess in the end, and finding a "safe" paint, that actually adheres to the cooler might be a tall order.

I don't think hook size says anything about its ability to hook a fish, regardless of size. Too big a hook, and it impedes the bait. Too small, and the hook loses its bite. I have caught steelhead in the teens, and brown trout over 20 with hooks as small as #10. I realize they're not the same fish, but you get the point. A 1/0 EWG is much smaller than a 1/0 finesse wide gap. You need only rig the bait to see that there either is room for the hook to work, or there isn't. You want to talk tiny bass hooks? 5-0 smallie on a #6 dropshot/split shot hook. Another thing to consider is each brands hook sizes. A Gamakatsu 6/0 Octopus hook is about the same size as an Owner 4/0 SSW Live Bait hook. Both work great when snelling up pegged beaver rigs (see, not all my hooks are tiny, LOL). So, it pays to not only state the size, but also the make/model of hook. I'm not trying to convince anyone to change, just explaining that something different works, and works well. Once you have a system that's well tested with time on the water, the rest is up to confidence.

There will be a few times in everyone's life where you just have to react. You did good. Thank goodness all are OK. Has to be some big bass karma points there, as well, seeing as it was a water rescue.

Canon guy here as well. Couple DSLRs, old PnS, Holga, Polaroid. Here's a link to the public assortment: http://plan-b.smugmug.com/Photography/Pictures-Id-Like-You-To-See/901645_en55e#265077604_7rWTC A couple recent shots from an installation shoot I did for a commercial client, I really enjoy this type of work: http://plan-b.smugmug.com/Client-Collections/BSPottery/bsPottery-20100131-08/777466412_2jfL9-L.jpg http://plan-b.smugmug.com/Client-Collections/BSPottery/bsPottery-20100131-02/777465465_CSsSk-L.jpg One of my favorite catalog shots for the same woman that handmade the sinks: http://plan-b.smugmug.com/Client-Collections/BSPottery/20060510-bsPottery-009-650x650/69074997_JqjHJ-L.jpg No sissy light tents there folks!

Pelican makes the best electronics cases. They're pricey, though.

Enough gear to get 20 kids into fishing.

The finesse wide gap is a pretty big hook, actually, with a gap similar to your 3/0 octopus. When I t-rig Senkos, and I hardly ever t-rig them anymore, an Owner Wide Gap Plus in 2/0 or 3/0 size is plenty fine. Again, sight match the hook to the bait.

I use a St. Croix AVC70MHM for big cranks.

When comparing reels, use inches per turn (IPT), not gear ratios. Personally, I don't like really slow reels, or super fast reels. I think my cranking reels are 23 IPT, and that seems to work fine.

I'd have to start with a complete cleaning before I'd even try to diagnose the issue.

Its all relative the the rod's taper as well. My Kistler 6-9 ML/X-Fast has landed several bass over 5, and one over 6 in moderate weed cover without any major fuss. Some manu's "MH" is like others' H. St. Croix comes to mind there. The line ratings can give you a better clue to their relative power.