Fishing Rhino

NIce. In graphic detail you describe what he is facing, and then say, "I hope you are doing ok....." He probably was doing ok,...................until he read your post. I have never had stones, and don't now, but your post made me cringe. OUCH!

Check with an "animal control officer". They are licensed to remove pests, be they racoons, squirrels, ducks, geese or any other nuisance or destructive animals from your property. They should also know what will repel the critters, be it a scent, a sound or whatever.

One of my buddies tows his 17 foot Triton with a Jeep Liberty, and has no problems.

The towing isn't the problem. It's the stopping that should be the number one priority. You'll need to know the weight of your rig, and the capacity of your vehicle. If your trailer has brakes, that will help. If the tow vehicle has to stop the entire rig, you better have brakes up to the task, particularly when someone pulls out if front of you, or stops short. When you are towing leave extra room between you and the vehicle ahead. Even if your brakes are adequate, it will require a greater distance to stop when you are towing.

Worse than that, your food will now be an out of pocket expense. What you've eaten today would feed my wife and I for three days. When I was younger, I had a hollow leg too. That's what my parents said I had just about every time we sat down to eat.

Hope everything goes well and the procedure is uneventful. Don't blame your kidney though. It only processes what you put into it. Seriously, did your doc tell you how to reduce the chances of producing stones in the future?

Maybe next time you'll catch a cold along with the fish. This old man wrapped up the season the day after Turkey Day, on a Cape Cod pond. Temps in the mid 50s, the surface of the pond was like a mirror, water temp about 42. A nice five hours of fishing netted two of us three largemouth bass and a chain pickerel. Next Thursday the boat goes in to get the motor winterized and checked over. With any luck, I'll get out a few times next April to clear the fogging out of the motor, and practice for the road trip. I may not be too bright, but I'm not a glutton for punishment. I had enough ice in my beard during my commercial lobstering days.

That's so they can be used as bait when they grow up.

Had it in Phoenix as an appetizer years ago. It had a mild taste, and was pretty good. No, it didn't taste like chicken.

Happy anniversary, newlyweds.

Yes, Snow Balls do come in pairs. Sweaters don't, but pants do. Tell me how that makes any sense. If pants have two legs, a pair of pants should have four legs.

You are flirting with getting a warning. They do come in pairs.

My pet peeve in the great shrinking caper is dial soap. It used to be rectangular with convex surfaces. Now, it's still rectangular but it has a trough running lengthwise on one side, and crosswise on the other. I doubt it's more than a quarter inch thick in the middle. But I've minimized my losses. Used to be, when the bar got down to sliver size I'd toss it and get a new bar. Now, that sliver fits nicely into the lengthwise trough, and "glues itself to the new bar.. I figure nine or ten of those slivers is the equivalent of today's bar size. I gain a bar for every nine or ten that I use. Soap won't make me or break me. It's my way of getting back at those dirty soap companies.

Each rod is rigged with a different lure. Two may be rigged with my preference of the day. That picture was taken in 2008. Most of the time I fish with three or four rods at the ready, even on the bass boat. I wanted to fish as efficiently as possible. I had just started fishing again, and was trying to make the learning curve as easy as possible.

What, no full galley, or master stateroom?

I have two canoes, one with a trolling motor, and the other for paddling. I also have a Nitro Z-8. I enjoy all of them and prefer each for various applications. But, as far as the fishing goes, I really like fishing from the canoes. I'm closer to the water. Everything I need is within reach so I can do it all from my seat at command central. I can have more rods rigged and readily accessible in my canoes. I do not have to worry about them being stepped on or kicked overboard. Want to change rods, drop the one I'm using into my rod holder and pull out the one I want. The downside of these rod racks is that you cannot use them when you are fishing two from the canoe. Nine rod rack in the paddlin' canoe. Eleven rod rack in the trolling motor canoe. Here's a canoe my wife and I won in a raffle. Doubt I'll ever fish from it. It's a work of art.

She looks very nice in the pictures. Hopefully you'll make many happy memories with her. Treat her well, and she'll respond in kind.

I've had two motorguides and one Minnkota, all new. The only failures I've had with the Motorguides has been the cord for raising and lowering the unit. My Minnkota, less than a year old burned out the speed controller. I guess that makes Minnkotas junk. Here's the real deal. Both are good units. If one was significantly better than the other, then that company would have put the other out of business. Some pros use Minnkotas. Some use Motorguides. Not all of them are paid to endorse either product. If one had a notable advantage over the other, that is what you would find on the pros' boats. The two Motorguides I've had came with my Nitros. The Minnkota I bought for my canoe based on what I had read here on the forum. Yet the Minnkota is the one that failed. It's like the "Which is better, Humminbird or Lowrance?" question. You will end up with two answers. Some will say the 'bird, others will say Lowrance.

The hope is gone. "A U.S. bankruptcy judge approved Hostess Brands' plan to wind down the company after last-minute mediation fell through Tuesday night between the snack maker and one of its biggest unions." http://www.foxbusiness.com/industries/2012/11/21/judge-approves-hostess-liquidation/

I'm with the others on the new gel coat. It is very expensive, and never looks like the original that was sprayed into a mold. Gel coat sprayed after the fact has worse than an orange peel texture. It's more like the finish of sprayed on bed liners. It also has to contain wax, or the gel coat will take forever to cure. It then takes considerable sanding, followed by buffing to get a decent finish. Way too much expense to put in a sixteen year old boat. Gel coat has some interesting properties, one of which is that when sprayed into a mold, the material against the mold will cure more quickly. The side exposed to the air, to which the laminates will be applied is formulated to slow much slower. This allows for a chemical, not an adhesive bond between the laminates and the gel coat. If I were to refinish a boat with a poor gel coat, I'd use something like Awl Grip. It is very smooth and durable. Personally, I'd never trade to a boat that much older than mine. Does the Ranger have wood in the transom, the stringers and other hull components, such as the decking? If it does, I'd avoid it like the plague. Too many unknowns.

It's probably the one I posted that got removed. It is gory and gruesome. But, at least it was not intentional. My mother grew up in a family with about fifteen siblings. Her parents were French Canadians. When I was a kid she and her sisters would go to the Rhode Island Reds' hockey games. They were a tough bunch, and unless there was blood on the ice they felt they got cheated. They loved the fighting, and the bleeding. Hockey was a lot tougher in those days. Goalies didn't wear masks, and all of the players had a lot less protective equipment. There is an old joke that demonstrated the roughness of hockey in those days. I went to a fight, and a hockey game broke out.

No. That's not one of my problems.

Is that supposed to make me feel better?

I just got another notice that three more people have unfriended me. Why is it always three? It's never one, or two, or four. What's that saying, bad things, or is it good things come in threes? A google search turned up that it works both ways. Be that as it may, I'll be glad when I am unfriended by the last of my friends. Then I won't continue to get these notices. But I'm not holding my breath.

One thing you can do is to tighten the mounting bolts for the motor. If the transom compresses, the center of the transom is punky. If water can get into the holes that are drilled for mounting the outboard, that is where the rot will begin. Another is to remove a bolt and poke at the wood with a scratch awl. Be sure to get the permission of the owner beforehand. It's possible that the transom has a foam core. If it does, rot will not be a problem. Best option is to have a boat surveyor/appraiser check it out. Be sure to get a price on their services beforehand. The cost could be prohibitive. Depends on your finances. If you know someone who knows someone with boat experience, they might do it as a favor. One thing about the aluminum boat, you shouldn't have to worry about rot on the inside of the transom. Aluminum boats may have wood as part of their transom, but it's usually visible, and if there is a problem it's a lot easier, and cheaper to fix.