Fishing Rhino

Maybe I'll watch some football, if I'm not fishing, or mowing the lawn, or washing my truck, or doing some gardening, or out and about with my wife, or not taking a nap, and there isn't a cup race on the tube. Oooops, the tube is no longer a tube. I should have said "the panel".

What kind of boat? Some have threaded holes for the plug. These are generally opened and closed from the outside. Others use the expansion type of plug, which may be accessible from the inside or outside, and in some cases from both. You may not be able to access the plug from inside the boat, without removing batteries, oil reservoirs, chargers, etc., and the plate to which they are secured. That is the way it is for my Z-8. So that I don't forget to install the drain plug, I remove the hitch from the receiver and put it on the floor beneath the drain. I always screw in the plug first. Then install the hitch. You can put a Post it note on the steering wheel, or whatever, that will remind you to install the drain plug before you get on the road. Some put 'em in when they unhook the tie downs and remove the transom saver. I don't trust myself to install the plug at the ramp. A ramp can be a hectic place, with too many distractions. That being said, I still check the plug when I unhook the stuff at the stern, just in case.

In a heavy rain, some water will "leak" through the locking mechanism. Water will collect in the hollow area and gradually seep into the storage area because the shaft is not watertight. It may have a rubber gasket, but water can leak past that as well. Generally, the water should be confined to the area below that latch. When you have a heavy rain, the drain may not be able to drain away the water that runs into the "gutter" fast enough, and it may run over the gutter into the compartment. Though it is a new boat, check the drain to make sure there is nothing restricting the flow of water. Most of those drains, like the one in the foot control recess are pretty small. Another thing to check is, does the lid block the drain when it is closed. In any case, the best thing to do is remove everything from the compartments to let them dry, use a wet or dry vac and thoroughly vaccuum not only the compartments but the deck carpet as well. Any decent shop vaccuum should remove most of the water, leaving the carpet only slightly damp to the touch. It should be thoroughly dry with just a couple of hours in the sun, or within a day if under cover. It's also a good idea to leave all the hatches open between trips, provided you have a secure place such as a garage, where you keep your boat. If closed, the edges of the covers will take "forever" to dry. The more air circulation, the better. Mildew thrives in closed areas. Even if your compartments are dry, chances are you will have some small amount of water in the bilge. That's all it takes for mildew to grow. Be sure to open the drain plug, and have the trailer tongue high enough to ensure that all the water drains to the transom, leaving as little water as possible in the bilge.

On hot, sunny days, I wear lighter colors, preferably white since it absorbs less radiant heat from the sun. On cool days, I'll wear dark colors to better absorb the suns heating rays. The weather dictates what I wear. It's difficult to enjoy just about anything, including fishing, if you are too hot, too cold, or miserably wet.

Did you try squeezing the primer bulb to make sure the carb(s) was full of fuel? It sounds like it's a fuel problem, and the engine is not getting fuel after sitting without running for a few hours. Do you have fresh fuel in your tank? Stale fuel might run and start an engine that is warmed up, but not a cold engine.

Please note that all the rod tips are protected by the small foredeck. It is important so that you can run your canoe into the vegetation and brush without snagging and most likely breaking a rod.

Not necessarily. There is no reason a man cannot be the "high maintenance" individual in the relationship.

The issue is resolved. Our business with the bank has been successfully concluded. Credit bureaus accept the statements given to them by the reporting companies, such as Sallie Mae, or credit card companies. They do not investigate them for accuracy. Nor do the credit rating bureaus take any responsibility for erroneous reports. All they do is compile the info as it is received. This matter was resolved months ago.

"Whispering Grass" "If I Didn't Care"

Math, sciences (excluding chemistry, and electronics) and mechanical things came very easily to me. English, history, social studies, etc., were a drag. Math and the sciences are very precise, and for the most part predictable. I was always able to figure out how mechanical things worked. Not so with the rest of my classes. They required memorizing dates and events for history. Diagramming sentences, and sentence structure varies from language to language. The sciences are the same, the world around. The single glitch in the sciences are variations in the system of weights and measures. The rest of the world uses the metric system while we still use ounces, pounds, inches and feet. But, those are easily converted back and forth. Our report cards had a letter and number system. The letters A,B,C,D and F showed the level of proficiency a student had in a given course. The numbers 1, 2, and 3 reflected the effort a student put into their studies. In my freshman year I received an A3 in Algebra I. When I asked the teacher why she gave me a three, she told me it was because I wasn't trying very hard. I was tops in our math class yet I got a 3 for effort. She even admitted that I could not have done any better no matter how much effort I put forth. Funny thing is, she was one of my favorite teachers, and I was one of her pets. Is there such a thing as a "teacher's pet" today?

Wow, and I thought I was older than you. I recall the 78 rpm records, and my parents having some 78 rpm albums. The only albums I can recall off the top of my head from those days were by "The Ink Spots". By the time I reached my middle teens most albums were 33 1/3 rpm. Must have been about the same time that singles were mostly 45 rpm. I can remember having some 78s that were cracked between the hole in the center and the edge. If you got the crack aligned just right, you could play the record with a slight tick, tick, tick in the audio. If not, it would endlessly repeat a few words, or the needle would go screaming to the end of the record. The needles on the old 78 players were quite crude compared to those found on the high tech, slower rpm players. The needles didn't last very long, and if you didn't change them regularly the records didn't last long either. Dang! Why'd you have to bring this up and remind me how old I am.

A private person? Yet you come to a forum and air some of your family's personal matters? What is wrong with this picture? It does however, explain your reluctance to getting married.

Not true in the case of my wife, thank goodness. You do know that failing eyesight as we age is actually a kindness. Not only when we look at our wives, but also when we look in a mirror. At times, I curse whoever invented corrective lenses.

Potentially, but not necessarily.

Hmmmm, sounds like blackmail or "maybe" extortion.

Nice! Looks like you have ceded the back of your vehicle to Lola. We've been dogless for just over a year, and the house is not the same without them. The back seat of my pickup was dedicated to our dogs. They were excellent travellers and rode for many thousands of miles in the back seat area. We'd fold the seats up, and pad the floor with comforters and blankets, much like in your photo. Good luck with her. She looks like a happy pup.

The SK 4" finesse ElaZtech worm is hard to beat as a drop shot bait or a shaky head. They are just about indestructible. My favorite color has been coppertruese with watermelon red flake, or pumpkin red flake not far behind. Another excellent drop shot bait that very few seem to mention is the Yamamoto Flappin Hog. It is probably too bulky to fit into the finess category, but I have caught a ton of fish, including smallmouth using it on a drop shot rig. Watermelon w/Black and Red flake seems to work anywhere. Their biggest downside is they are quite fragile.

I did not read anything about lightning in the first post. My question is why are you waiting for the rain to stop? I love the cloudy, drizzly, rainy days. Those days mean a lot of things. First, there is less recreational activity. The rain on the water muffles a lot of noises that would ordinarily spook fish, and the same could be said for shadows. If you have ever cast a bait over bedding bluegills on a sunny day, you can see what panic that small shadow causes. It also keeps some fishermen on the beach waiting for the rain to stop. I'm still not getting the barometric pressure thing. The fish we are after can be found at the surface or depths of thirty feet plus. The pressure on a fishes air bladder is much more extreme in a depth change of a few inches than in the wildest barometric swing. One fish, a few inches deeper than another will feel a greater difference in the pressure than any atmospheric change will cause. Fish suspended at thirty feet will have twice the pressure on their air bladder than those at the surface. It seems to me that if a pressure change makes a fish uncomfortable they can easily make minor adjustments to their depth to be comfortable,...........and active. Consider this. The "height" of the atmosphere is considered to be 80,000 feet. It takes that to create one atmosphere of pressure. Yet it takes only 33 feet of seawater to equal one atmosphere. Freshwater will take a bit more because it is lighter per given volume. If a fish can be comfortable between the surface, and a depth of 30 plus feet, I don't understand how the relatively minor changes in barometric pressure can have such a dramatic impact on fish behavior. • Air Has Weight Yes, air actually has weight. The weight of air experts pressure on your body - about 14.7 psi (pounds per a square inch). This amount of pressure is called one atmosphere of pressure because it is the amount of pressure the earth's atmosphere exerts. Most pressure measurements in scuba diving are given in units of atmospheres or ATA. • Pressure Increases With Depth The weight of the water above a diver exerts pressure on his body. The deeper a diver descends, the more water he has above him, and the more pressure it exerts on his body. The pressure a diver experiences at a certain depth is the sum of all the pressures above him, both from the water and the air. • every 33 feet of salt water = 1 ATA of pressure Total Pressure at Standard Depths* Depth / Atmospheric Pressure + Water Pressure / Total Pressure 0 feet / 1 ATA + 0 ATA / 1 ATA 15 feet / 1 ATA + 0.45 ATA / 1 .45 ATA 33 feet / 1 ATA + 1 ATA / 2 ATA 40 feet / 1 ATA + 1.21 ATA / 2.2 ATA 66 feet / 1 ATA + 2 ATA / 3 ATA 99 feet / 1 ATA + 3 ATA / 4 ATA *this is only for salt water at sea level • Water Pressure Compresses Air Air in a diver's body air spaces and dive gear will compress as pressure increases (and expand as pressure decreases). Air compresses according to Boyle's Law. http://scuba.about.c...er-Pressure.htm

There are some lily pads in the middle pond, and some in the area you traverse to get into the north pond. There are a few in the north pond. There are several types of vegetation. You should find some to your liking.

Fish the outer edges of the vegetation. Worked for me a couple of weeks ago. Got a guided trip from Grampa the week before that.

The acceptable word for such occurrences is malfunction, not mishap.

When you start your computer, it should show what version of windows you are running on one of the opening screens. It will be Windows XP, Vista, or Windows 7. Other than that, you can click on the open programs icon, bottom left corner, click on computer. When that window opens, click on properties. The next window should tell you about your computer, including the version of windows it is running.

For max speed, you'd need to shift weight around. Start with weight forward to get it on plane, then, gradually move it aft until the stern starts to squat. If you've ever seen the small hydroplanes race, the drivers start out by lying on the front deck, ahead of the steering wheel. Once the bow comes down, and the boat gets on top of the water, they move back, behind the wheel. The extended tiller handle is a great idea. It allows you to shift your weight to maximize speed. In the case of your five hp motor, you won't need to worry about setting your hair on fire. It's not only about the speed. You'll also improve your fuel economy considerably, if the boat is not always "climbing out of the hole".

I have to make a confession. I woke up in the middle of the night, which is my norm, so I turned on the tv. The women's beach volley ball match between Russia and China was on, so I watched for a minute or two, or five or ten, maybe a half hour. Just to study their techniques and strategy of course.

I had a Sears 12 foot Jonfisher, with a five hp Johnson direct drive outboard. The boat was little more than aluminum foil and very light. I weighed about 200 and the kid next door who often went with me weighed about 140. That little ol Johnson would get the boat up on plane. I'm guessing we scooted along at a little better than ten mph. With just me in the boat it would do about 15 mph. While that's not fast, compared to rowing the jon around it seemed like we were flying.