J Francho

ARC will definitely take care of you!

Check out my bud's site. Really good prices on the starter kits, and it isn't junk.

There's a pretty cool one up here, in winter - guys, pies, and flies. It's actually all genders, family friendly, pizza, and fly tying. At the end there's a raffle.

I had a few hand-held meters for pH, Temp, dKH (hardness), redox potential.... The problem was, none were water proof, they were meant to be dipped into a sample. Getting a sample from depth was problematic on the water, though for aquarium/pond analysis it was great. They were also a bit finicky, and needed to be calibrated frequently. The better pH pens had both calibration and slope adjustments. Those were the good ole days when I had no problem dropping $150 on a toy. These days, that cash goes to baits, heh.

My buddy Burnie Haney (look him up, some good articles on his site), was fooling around with a pointer and bedding bait. Drop his bait there, and lead the fish to it with a pointer. The fish had to be in the shade for it to work, though. I don't think it was that earth shattering.

That isn't gonna save you if you're knocked unconscious, which is the main point of wearing a PFD, in my opinion.

Better question....why aren't you fishing a blue gill bait? Something like a 3" swimbait.

What were those crankbaits with lazers built in them?

The difference in pH values is logarithmic. The difference between one tenth, is ten fold. It may not mean much to us drinking the water, but a swing of one half point will really stress fish. In fact, some fish are very specific to what pH they can survive in. Also, interesting to note, most aerobic bacteria diminishes as pH drops below 7. Fun facts I picked up working in the aquarium industry and my fisheries mgt. schooling.

Mine is a custom build on a modern graphite blank. I'd say it's comparable to a light power, fast spinning rod.

What rod is it? Sounds like the answer to the age old question, "Is there a rod that will do anything?"

I have a 7' 3wt two piece that I only use for blue gills and sunnies. Even them, it's not a big struggle to get them in. I can imagine a decent smallie over 14" being a problem, though.

I like the Keitech heads for the smaller rigs, and J-will heads for bigger rigs. You do want to set the drag appropriately - I accidentally bent out some Keitechs using 50# braid, XH heavy stick, and too tight a drag. Once I had everything setup properly, that same rig gave me a 1st and 2nd on Oneida with big mixed bag limits.

Does "he" even know you have the internet loaded?

Rubber band works too, for pulling it off.

Tapered are fine. My friend owns a fly fishing company, and his wife ties and makes leaders, so I get them from him. Good place inexpensive supplies. http://www.wildwaterflyfishing.com/furled-leaders/ The owner and I grew up together. He actually lives down the street from where my parents still live. Really good guy. I introduced him to fishing back when we were in cub scouts.

You should call Wildy...they'll take care of you.

These are nice sticks for the money.

I have yet to come across a foot peg that didn't feel like I could snap it in a fishing boat. They are nothing like the pegs in a Valley or Swift (sea and touring) kayaks.

A tippet is just an extension of your leader. I use furled leaders, and attach the tippet to that.

It's not broke. It does not have anti reverse. The click is just a ratchet to keep the reel from free spinning and tangling up the fly line. Yes, irrespective of the reel type, you strip the fly in, and then just false cast that line back out, and cast to your target. You should look up some YouTube videos to get the hang of it.

NIIIIICE!!!!! Not one with anti-reverse.

I'm not saying it wouldn't be fun, but it's not a fight. You can downsize the tackle to create more of a struggle. About the only time I feel like I'm under matched is when I've got a smallie on light line, in very deep water. Even then, you just let them run, and gently reel them up. And you do have access to some of those fish, though you might have to travel to get to Erie. As far as the gills being hard fighting, ounce for ounce, that's very true. An ant can carry ten thousand times it's own weight, but it cannot withstand me stepping on it, lol. Let's some pics of those slab gills, man. We catch some monsters through the ice on Oneida.

Bass fishing is a mental game. Rarely does a fight last more than a minute or two. Blue gill don't even register on my radar of "fishting fish." Here's a couple examples:

If you're in it for a fight, choose another species.