Fishing Rhino

When it can be proven that a fish prefers to be caught by a particular type of rod and reel, then I'll agree that is the best and only combo to use. Having fished with many others, this one thing I am sure of. I spend far less time fussing with the line on the spool of my spinning gear than they do tending to fluffed up loops on their baitcasters. That includes professional guides and well seasoned, experienced fishermen. What bemuses me is that so many of the baitcaster guys seem to have a disdain for those who prefer spinning reels.

It's possible you have rust in the tank, and the plug, (or is it a petcock?) gets a particle of rust in the workings so that it cannot seal.

I'm an old fart. I refuse to watch it for one reason. I enjoy the History Channel and watch a lot of their shows, Pawn Stars, Pickers, American Restoration among them. I just plain grew weary of the incessant hype of the Hatfields and McCoys. It may be the best mini-series ever, but I got tired of being bludgeoned over the head by the promos every ten minutes, or maybe even less than ten minutes. Make that a cranky old fart.

Someone might be able to help if you gave us some information. Just the basics, like the brand, the year, and the horsepower of your motor.

You'll have to take the control apart to replace the switch. I have no idea if it's a simple or complex job, nor do I know your personal mechanical abilities. So, I'll give my standard reply. Check with a dealer and ask them how much it will cost to replace the switch, parts and labor. It could be a twenty dollar job, or a hundred dollar job. From there, it's up to you to weigh the cost of having it done against your confidence in your ability to do the job for the dollars you might save. I say might, because if you buy the part, and then botch the job, it is going to cost you more when all is said and done.

Hey TT, you are wrong about the monogamy thing. It is readily observed, even apart from the teachings of religion. Question: A man and a woman in a monogamous relationship. Is it possible for either of them to contract herpes, gonnorhea, or syphilis from their partner? What is the rate of occurrence of STDs in monogamous relationships. ( Aids doesn't count because sex is not the only way for the disease to be transmitted. ) And what is the rate of occurrence of STDs among promiscuous partners? http://www.usustatesman.com/2.5353/std-rates-highest-among-college-students-1.566549

Even the dinks make me smile. Todays dinks are tomorrows trophies. The more dinks the better, provided there is sufficient forage for them. Stunted fish are depressing.

Does the bottom of the boat rest on the trailer?

Here's the deal. No one can answer your question but you. Marriage may not be for you, but this I will offer. Wait until your late thirties to have kids, and you'll have no retirement. It's possible you'll be schooling your kids (college hopefully) and having those expenses into your sixties. The reason nature has parenting physically begin in the teens is because it takes a lot of energy to keep up with children properly. Sure, you can go out and shoot hoops or whatever with your child when you are in your fifties, but if you think you can do it as well as in your thirties, you are sadly mistaken. While there are no guarantees in life, the odds are that you can participate in your child's activities better when you are younger. Illness is more likely to deprive you of energy and mobility as you get older. When you are sixty is when you want your freedom to pursue your activities. Normally, at sixty, the kids are young adults, and don't need your constant supervision and attention. Your home is paid for, and you are debt free. Your current desires are selfish, centered around what you want. But that's fine, since you seem to recognize it and are not ready to have a wife or family "deprive" you of your liberties. Speaking for myself, and myself only, in a few weeks my wife and I will celebrate our 47th anniversary. There were times that I could not do the things I would have liked to do. Family responsibilities, and finances limited us. Our older daughter is in her 40s, and our youngest turned 40 this year. Our youngest got her masters degree nearly twenty years ago. That means that my wife and I have been independent, and able to do what we wanted to do, when we wanted to do it. No mortgage, no debt, good health, and the means to enjoy our remaining years together. Will it be another five years? Another ten years? Who knows? This much I do know. If I had the opportunity to turn the clock back fifty years, I wouldn't change a thing. I have no regrets. It's a beautiful life.

You are correct, and I am facing the lodge at Pickwick State Park. It's a good deal. If you want to grab dinner, the buffet at the lodge starts serving at four. Tie up to their dock and have dinner at a window where you can keep an eye on your boat and gear. Wolf down some chow and back to the river for more fishing. Can't get any better than that.

If you're going to refer to my buddy get his name correct. It's Bill Dinky. WM DinKY.

It amounted to a shaky head rig. I had a Jackall Wacky Jig Head, 3/32 ounce, with a four inch Strike King Elaztech Finesse Worm, coppertruese color. I did not rig it weedless since the hook has a wire weed guard. I entered the hook at the center of the head, and exited the hook so the head of the worm was snug against the tunsten weight. A drop of Locktite Super Glue to hold the worm in place. That's it. I had switched to the Buckeye Flick It hook in the same weights. They are much cheaper, and with the football head, don't hang up as often when fishing in rocky bottom. But, alas, Massachusetts has banned the use of lead in fresh water. So for around here it's going to be the Jackall or the Inichi wacky jig heads. They have tungsten heads. They also are about seven bucks for a three pack.

Call Bass Pro Shop, or any other Tracker dealer. They should be able to give you the correct answer. Do not remove or modify anything until you are absolutely sure it is safe to do so.

I think it will weigh more than that. The package weight for an eighteen and a half foot Nitro Z-7 is 3000 pounds. That's dry weight, no fuel, no gear. Add fuel and gear and you'd easily top 3500 pounds. The Z-8 which is 20 feet long with a 200 hp Optimax has a dry weight of 3650 pounds. Add fuel and gear, it will top out over 4000 pounds. The vehicle might tow it, but the real question is, trailer brakes or no, will it stop it when someone jacks up in front of you? It looks like either rig is at, or over max load for the Toyota. You have nothing left in reserve for safety.

Ah, the memories of Pickwick, circa 2010. This six pound smallmouth was followed by a five pound spot and a 4.5 pound smallmouth on successive casts. This was on Tuesday after the weekend the monsoon shut down Nashville and parts of I-40. Fifteen plus pounds of bass in the livewell in a 15 - 20 minute span. All told, I pulled over thirty fish from that one spot, after hauling in twenty plus fish at a point a half mile to the north.

The problem with many covers is that they do not allow the circulation of air. This promotes the growth of mildew. Since you have neither a garage nor a carport, the cover is your most practical option. You'll need to figure a way to get ventilation for the closed area.

I'm impressed.

Put a water trap in the line. It's easier to drain that the main tank. Drain it each time you use the compressor. You'll still need to drain the main tank from time to time, but the trap, provided you drain it regularly, will help a lot with water in the air lines and tools. Oil is critical. I have an inline oiler for my air tools. It provides constant oiling for the tool I'm using. A couple of drops of oil in the tool will help, but does not supply a constant, minute, flow of oil to the moving parts of the tool. Fill the oiler each time you use the tool. Plus, it's less messy than adding a couple of drops of oil now and then. . Get the inline type pictured above.

First. There are times it will be impossible to restore faded gel coats. Impossible because the damage is too deep or because the gel coat is too thin, and removing even a slight amount produces "ghosting". It amounts to removing paint until you get close enough that the primer starts to show. Removing more only makes the problem worse. When you "restore" gel coat, you are actually removing some of the gel coat. Hopefully the manufacturer applied a thick enough gel coat to allow for the removal of the sun damaged portion without the ghosting problem. You alluded to the UV damage caused by the sun. Were you to view the damaged gel coat under a microscope you'd see tiny cracks in the gel coat which would look like alligator skin. Whether you use a very fine (1200 or finer grit) wet or dry sandpaper or buffing compounds from very aggressive to swirl removers, you are removing the damaged surface. Metalflake finishes present another problem. The flakes are just that, shiny aluminum flakes with a tint of color on the surfaces. If you get into colored flakes, you remove the tint and end up with dull silver flakes. At this point, you are looking at a prohibitively expensive job in the gel coat shop. The microscopic cracks/blemishes will "trap" grime and mildew, which contribute to a dull finish. A variety of cleaner glazes can be used to reduce this problem. These products can be found at businesses that sell paint and related supplies to body shops. Always test these products, beginning with the mildest on the least obvious places, and see what results you get. When and if you are satisfied that you won't make things worse, gradually work your way toward the most visible areas. It will give you a feel for the products before you get to the areas which tend to attract your eye. Once your restoration process of sanding and buffing is done, apply a good cleaner glaze, followed by a coat of carnauba wax or other product that inhibit the UV rays from doing their damage. Repeat the UV protectant frequently, according to directions. When not being used, keep the boat under cover. A garage is best, but a canopy is also good. A cover will protect the areas it covers. Keeping it in dense shade, under trees will protect from UV rays, but present other problems. Trees, being living things, will drop sap onto things below. Birds and other critters which live in or visit trees will drop crap onto things below. This stuff can be highly acidic. Prevention is best, followed by some sort of surface protection. Remember this regarding glazes, waxes, and other cleaner/protectants. There is no such thing as too much protection, only too little. You may apply it more often than needed, but better that than not often enough.

It's that time of year. I'm experiencing the same thing with hookups. A fish will take the bait, swim around with it, maybe even taking drag in the process, then poof, they are gone. The solution, if you want to call it that is to let them swim with the bait for a while with slack in the line before setting the hook. The problem with this technique is a lot of gut hooked fish. I know how to remove them without causing damage to the fish, but I don't even like keeping them out of the water for the time it takes to free the hook. I'd sooner have a lot of fish escape before getting them to the boat than to deal with a lot of gut hooked fish.

Most of the problems I've witnessed in the process of netting fish is that the person with the net gets too anxious, and tries to net an obviously green fish. Be patient, and wait until the fish becomes somewhat subdued, and controlled by the fisherman with the rod in hand. Then the odds swing dramatically in favor of the person netting the fish. The sole exception to this is when a fish is obviously poorly hooked in just the skin. Even then, the netter should be sure he and the person fighting the fish are on the same page.

In the overall scheme of things reel lube/grease will be one of the cheapest products you will buy. Compared to fuel, line, baits, etc., twenty bucks ain't much, when you consider how many times you can use it to lube your reels. I'd stick with the brand of lube the reel maker recommends. Some like Hot Sauce, if memory serves, is not compatible with all reels. It can literally ruin internal parts of some brands from what I've read on this forum. You may pay more, but you won't go wrong using the products with the manufacturers name on them.

Do not coat the plywood with paint or fiberglass resin. CDX is about the cheapest, and inadequate plywood you can get. It is produced for sheathing sidewalls and subflooring, and not much else. It will have voids and all other manner of defects such as open splits in the veneers, and open knot holes. You cannot depend on it to hold fastenings because there may be a void in the inner plies that you cannot see. Cheap is not always economical. But, if you must use it, coat it with a product like Gluvit or some other epoxy product. It will bond much better than paint or fiberglass resin and should be compatible with carpet adhesive.. The downside is that the price might scare you away. It's almost a waste of money to use it on CDX grade plywood, in my opinion. .

Regarding pedestals. I see some boats with the pedestals always in the socket. Not a good idea. A little corrosion can lock it solid. If a pedestal in installed when you go fishing and removed at the end of the day you can easily tell when the post and receiver need some cleaning and a coating of silicone. Grease would work fine, but it will end up being messy. Most receivers have a nylon or some type of plastic bushing. The problem is when the aluminum post oxidizes and swells. Some steel wool or fine sandpaper should clean up the pedestal nicely. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

No biggie. Didn't mean to sound terse in my reply. You are correct that fuel additives are beneficial to injectors as well as carburetors.