Fishing Rhino

It's easy for a seller to come down in price. Why not shoot for the stars, pricewise? You never know when someone will let their heart overrule their head. A lot of buyers be it for boats, cars, or whatever, buy without researching prices for similar boats or cars, and doing some comparison shopping. Keep in mind that Blue Book or NADA are average prices. It can vary from one part of the country to another. Supply and demand also is a major factorl. If there are a ton of boats on the market, then deals are to be had. If there are very few, it's a seller's market. How a boat is equipped will affect its value as well as condition and amount of use.

There may be some that will pump the water lower than approximately 3/4", but I've never seen them. They all need a screen or some type of strainer to prevent debris from clogging the impeller. The intake for the impeller is usually below the top of the strainer slots, but you'd have to find a pump that comes within 1/16" of the bottom of the strainer section since that is approximately 1/16" thick. That would reduce the capacity of the pump because it restricts the intake area. I don't know of any boat that sits perfectly level on the water. The water will accumulate in the lowest area and cause the boat to list even more toward that area. If your boat sits level so that the water is of equal depth, then put the pump in a corner at the stern and put a twenty pound weight in that area. Get that down to 1/4" or 3/8" of water and you're talking about a gallon or less. If you have not been able to find all the leaks, I'd suggest getting a gallon of Gluvit. Prepare the bottom up to and even above the waterline and apply according to instructions. It ain't cheap, but it is effective. It will create an epoxy skin to the outside of the hull. Apply it a bit heavier around rivets and all areas where there are any type of fastenings. Aluminum can develop barely visible hairline cracks that will leak. If you don't want to coat the whole bottom, you can just apply it to the fastenings. The better thing to do might be to get the boat out of the water and put a few inches of water in it to find out exactly where it is leaking, then make your repairs.

How 'bout the sarge?

I'm not sure you need vents. The only vent I have in my bass boat is a vent to let air back into the tank as gas is drawn out by the engine's fuel pump. Maybe I'm mistaken, but I don't believe the rear compartment holding the mounted tank is vented, unless you count the opening for the cables and wiring. Inboards are vented. In fact the standard practice is to run a blower or open the engine hatches and bilge hatches for a few minutes before starting the engine. Sparks from any source on the engine can cause fuel vapors to go boom. Once it's running any fumes that might leak or get into the bilge are sucked into the engines intake before they can accumulate. On my gas engine powered lobsterboat I had two vents from the bilge. They were four inch pvc pipe with an elbow at each top. One faced forward, the other aft. Any air movement into one was drawn out at the other. I still removed the engine box for a few minutes before starting just to be sure. Starting an outboard produces no sparks in the bilge. But, it's never a bad idea to open a hatch to the fuel tank area and take a sniff.

Google does work that way. I clicked on a folded over corner of the ad and it brought me to Google adsense. It is promoting their service. And from what I read, it works like this. A company subscribes to their service. When a person does a google search and opens a "result", if it is a company that subscribes to Google adsense, then a cookie, spyware, or malware, whatever you call it is installed in that computer, and when said computer opens a page, even Bass resource, it dumps an ad on that page and replaces it with the subscriber's ad. In my case, Jamestown Distributors website is featured as an ad on each and every Bass resource page that contains advertisments. Glenn and Franco, what that means is that someone who supports Bass Resource by getting advertising space is dumped in favor of a Google customer. When I click on the folded upper right corner of the Jamestown Distributor ad, it brings me to a page promoting Google adsense. It does appear to me that Google does operate this way. Here it is, snipped from the Bass Resource site. I thought you might be interested.

I do not know why, nor how to stop it, but Google "adsense" ads are popping up every time I open a page or site that contains advertising. It apparently works like this. If you do a search for a product, and then open any sites, or perhaps rather sites that have subscribed to adsense, that site pops up in place of another ad. I went through the process to disable it, and a page opened showing it had been disabled with a "button" to enable it again should I decide to do so. I closed the page without clicking on the enable button, I assumed leaving it disabled. Still the ads pop up. It is more annoying than opening AOL and them trying to sell you one of their "services". At least that only happens when you first open the site, not everytime you open another site or page. I destest it when some intruder tries to take over my computer, be it toolbars, or my homepage. Off the soapbox.......................................................for now.

left, right, left, right.

Well now then, if you were chasing a little white ball down the fairway, that's pretty good in and of itself. All too often I'm chasing mine into the rough, or a hazard, or the woods. But I blame the course designer for putting the fairways in the wrong place. One of my favorite expressions when someone hits the ball really fat and the divot goes further than the ball, "Play the divot."

Nice! It sure makes the off season shorter. I haven't been catching any panfish, but I'm not throwing a Mepps. Mepps was my favorite bait back in the 1960s. Got some Black Fury baits when I started fishing again in '08. They were killer on smallmouth, but the crappie, white and yellow perch and bluegills were also all over them back then. It doesn't look like my little honey hole will be iced over, in the near future, judging by the long range forecasts. Hope they are correct. I only need to catch a bass in January, which is almost a given at this point, and then in February to have caught a bass from the pond in every month of the year.

Works for scuba divers on their diving masks. Keeps 'em from fogging up.

Gas should not be a significant expense for your boat. I can fish all day with my Z7 with a 150hp Merc, and use less than five gallons of fuel. Most of the day is spent on the trolling motor. But, most of the ponds/lakes I fish are not large bodies of water. The first few times on any pond will find me using more gasoline, simply because I am running and gunning trying different patches of bottom. Once I get used to a pond, I don't zoom back and forth. I methodically work my way around the pond from one known productive spot to another close by, rather than running helter skelter around the pond. I burn much more fuel towing the boat to and from the fishing hole. The ponds I regularly fish are anywhere from 30 to 60 miles from home.

If mine was not one of those four, it must have been held up in the Christmas mail. It was sent on the 17th.

I do what they recommend for flat panel televisions. A soft damp cloth, followed by a soft dry cloth. Works like a charm. I keep a few clean towels on my boat, mostly hand towels. Dampen a spot on the towel with bottled water, wipe the screen to remove the water spots then wipe it with a dry section of the same towel. Then, stick the towel in my belt to use for wiping my hands while fishing. Take towel home and throw it in the washing machine. Damp towels are great for removing blood and slime before it hardens.

I got it from a friend's dad. He was somewhat into cameras and photography, but sold the stuff he replaced with newer cameras. It's a fixed lens, no zoom adjustment. It does have four positions to which it can be set. Portrait, group, close up and landscape. That's about it for focussing. At the top of the viewfinder is a bar with a needle to set exposure. You adjust it until the needle is in the middle, and that' it. It was pretty high tech back in those days of Kodak Brownies, etc. It doesn't use batteries. I took mostly slides, and it took great pictures, 'til the shutter started acting up.

I could be wrong, but I think the main purpose for the raised casting deck on bass boats is that it provides for tons of storage space beneath. I fish from my canoe and cast sitting down. Personally, I see very little advantage to standing and casting, with the exception of flipping, pitching and casting under docks. You can do that while standing in the boat you just bought. The downside is that you don't have a flat surface on which to stand. I'd opt for the lowest deck possible which would afford me a reasonable area for standing. Building a raised foredeck that is considerably higher than the bottom of your boat might compromise stability. Bass boats are little more than very fast rafts. You can walk all over them from rail to rail and they hardly list. Put in a temporary platform at the height you would like, then, with the boat in shallow water, move around on that platform and see how the boat responds. It may be fine. It may be scary. But don't go through all the work of permanently installing a foredeck until you are satisfied that it does not significantly impair the boats natural stability.

I've done the golf glove thing, and they work well. But, think about trying the kitchen gloves that can be worn for doing household work such as doing the dishes. They have a long gauntlet which can be folded up to prevent water from running down your arm and getting your sleeves wet. They have some type of fuzzy liner which will provide some small measure of protection from the cold. They also come in three or four sizes so you should be able to get a fairly snug fit which will give you better feel than heavier gloves. They won't be much help in bitter cold, but on those days when your fingers just start to get uncomfortably cold when bare handed, they should keep your hands dry and comfortable.

I have a Zeiss Ikon Symbolica, 35mm camera that is at least 60 years old. I know there are some members who are into photography that might like it as a collectors item. While it looks like new, including the hard leather case, the shutter is stuck. It could be something as simple as lube that turned to gunk or something more serious. I have no idea. No batteries, built in light meter. It looks just like this one, including the case and I believe a light meter or range finder clipped onto the strap for the case. I have no use for it, so if anyone is interested let me know. No charge, and I'll even pay the shipping to get it to you. Merry Christmas.

Here's another tidbit. When you are prowling around, studying the bottom, pay attention to what I call transition bottom. It may be a change in the bottom composition, muddy, rocky, sandy, gravel, etc. It can also be a transition in depth (structure) or a transition from bare bottom to bottom with vegetation. Articles frequently refer to fishing the edges of weed beds which is a transition area. When you are catching fish, pay very close attention to the image on the screen, the bottom line in particular. Is it rough and jagged, wide or narrow, etc. When you've cleaned out that area, find another like it in approximately the same depth. Nearly thirty years of commercial lobstering taught me a lot about studying the bottom. Unlike fish, lobsters never show up on the image, except for those that must be returned because they are too small or egg bearing lobsters. Then you might see them sinking to the bottom if they pass through the cone of the sounder.

Looked to me like the biker was in the rut.

In some fishing a ten pound fish is called bait.

Merry Christmas Glenn, Keri and all Bass Resource friends.

The pond I'm now fishing is one of only two ponds I fish that does not have both species. I cannot say with certainty, but it seems to me that the largemouth get more sluggish than the smallmouth bass when the water temps cool. That's not to say the smallmouth don't slow down, but the change is more dramatic in the largemouth. My thoughts are based on anecdotal, not scientific research.

I've got one other thought for you to consider. The fish may not be any less concentrated than they are in the summer with warmer temps. Let's say a fish will move two feet to get to a bait as they get sluggish, as opposed to six feet when they are at their peak of activity. That distance makes the radius of a circle in which they will strike at a bait. The area of a circle is the radius squared time 3.1416 Two feet squared is four, six feet squared is 36. The area in times of peak activity is nine times larger than when they are sluggish. Since a fish will travel further, you will naturally catch more of them when casting to the same spot. If they were evenly dispersed, you have the potential to catch nine times as many from casting to any given spot which makes it seem like they are concentrated in any given area. The mathematical reality is that the more sluggish fish get, the fewer you will catch of them. Find the combination of bait/presentation that works the best and stick with it.

It occurs to me that the fish might want a slower presentation. If that's the case, a fast retrieve/presentation isn't going to find them. I've never really understood the "find 'em with a fast bait, then catch 'em with a slow bait" theory. I'm still catching plenty of bass in SE Mass with water temps in the low 40s. Three weeks ago, when the water temps were in the mid to upper 40s, the bass were tight to the emergent vegetation, in a foot and a half to two feet of water. Upon returning from a trip to our daughter's in GA, the water temps were in the low 40s, and the fish had moved into three to five feet of water. The only way I could catch them was using the method Big O described, slowing my retrieve to just about a dead stop, retrieving the line in maybe six inch pulls max, then pausing. The bass moved deeper, if you can call three to five feet of water deeper, but they still want the bait presented at just about a standstill. The bass are extremely sluggish. The best they can do is shake their heads. They don't even try to pull directly away from you. They'll swim like a dog walks around at the end of its tether, not trying to get directly away. If they try to jump, they barely break the surface of the water. Put the bait a few inches from their nose, moving it very slowly and they'll likely grab it, but they sure as heck aren't going to move very far or fast to grab it. I may be wrong, but I doubt anything would produce a "reaction strike" from the bass I'm catching. They are far too sluggish. I'm not fishing for the thrill of the hit and the fight. I'm curious to see how long they'll keep biting and plan to keep at it until the pond is covered with ice. My goal is to catch a fish in January and February. Then I can say I've caught a bass in all twelve months from the same pond. While it may be no big deal since some catch them ice fishing around here, it surely shortens the off season considerably. This is the first year I've fished into November, and I'm still catching 'em well into December. I don't know where you're fishing, but your 50+ degree water temps may be my 40ish temps.

Here we are in SE Mass on the first day of winter, and I'm going fishing. Temps were in the mid fifties yesterday with rain. Mid fifties today, sunny with light westerly winds. I went last Wednesday and they were still biting, but in slightly deeper water. Taking my great nephew who is up here from Florida for Christmas. I'm pretty sure the pond will deliver him an early Christmas present of a bass or several.