Fishing Rhino

I cannot figure out Mashpee/Wakeby. It has not been kind to me. The other day I caught my first decent fish from that pond in at least a half dozen ventures at fishing it. I did lose another nice bass, and what I assume was a good pickerel. Never saw it, but it pulled really hard, then the typical "tick" of the line parting when severed by the toothy critters. I did learn a few things, thanks to Gramps, and anticipate better days on M/W. Would be nice to have a boater or two join us. I can/will bring my canoe with trolling motor, batteries, and fish finder if needed. It has comfortable, padded swivel seats with backs. Plenty roomy for two with gear and coolers. You'll need to plan on bringing your own pfds.

When you have a good credit rating, you can borrow money from any lender. However, as your debt liability increases, your credit rating decreases, which lowers the ability to borrow, and to borrow at the best rates. Continuing to increase debt will eventually wreck your credit rating, and prevent you from borrowing from any lender. Increasing the debt ceiling does not magically solve anything. To the contrary, it exacerbates the very problem the government refuses to address in any meaningful way. Increasing the debt ceiling allows the government to borrow more money from China, or whoever. What happens when China, or whoever will no longer lend the US money? It would be political suicide for the current crop of solons to do what really needs to be done. Unfortunately they are more concerned with their political well being than they are about the country. And you can take that to the bank. Pun intended.

Jobs will not come back by raising taxes. Revenues are down because jobs are down, not solely because taxes are lower. Lowering or raising taxes will not have a significant impact on jobs, though raising taxes will likely cost jobs. The reason jobs left is because there are greener pastures offshore with better business climates, particularly for manufacturing. It's the trifecta of cheaper labor, lower taxes, and fewer regulations which force, yes that's right, force, companies to move their manufacturing offshore. It's not a matter of greed. It's a matter of survival. Manufacturing, the foundation of our economy, cannot compete in the world marketplace and manufacture here in this country. Yes, Harley Davidson can manufacture bikes in the country because they have a cultlike following. You cannot buy a Harley that is made overseas. Buying most of the daily goods that we use is an entirely different story. Businesses in Chicago/Illinois are considering leaving for greener pastures in other states for no reason other than the tax hikes being considered in the city/state. Many of these are service jobs in finance. Companies and folks are leaving NY for no other reason than confiscatory taxes. So, in their attempt to increase revenues by raising taxes, rather than increasing revenues, they drive productive taxpayers from the state. The only folks who are not trying to escape the taxes are those who are the beneficiaries of tax revenues. While the needs do not diminish, the numbers of the very folks and businesses who account for the revenues to meet these needs does shrink, placing an ever disproportionate burden on those who do remain. The truth is that for the most part, businesses do not pay taxes. Sure, on paper they do. But in reality, it's the consumer of their product or service that pays the taxes. Let's say the government enacts a ten cent per gallon tax on the oil companies for every gallon of motor fuel they produce. What do you think will happen to the price of fuel at the pump? I'll agree that there may be times when companies absorb some taxes without passing them on to the consumer. But by and large increasing the taxes on the ABC widget company will increase the price of widgets. Some think it's a wonderful thing to whack these rich companies by eliminating tax breaks and loopholes. They don't understand that these evil, greedy, companies will recoup those tax increases out of our pockets in the form of higher prices. It's the old, "Be careful what you ask for. You just might get it." adage. Taxing companies at higher rates by one means or another will come back to bite us, not them.

That's good for me.

Let's talk about jobs for a moment. Today, it's a popular pasttime to put the blame on the "initial" trade agreements. You know, NAFTA, GATT, etc. The fingers get pointed and they get the credit/blame for the outsourcing of jobs. If you believe that, a history lesson is in order. Remember Ross Perot's ill fated independent run for the presidency and his famous line, "That giant sucking sound you hear is jobs leaving the country." He said that in regards to the effect the trade agreements would have on jobs in this country. Perot was a day late, and a dollar short with that line. So, let's take a look at the history of job losses due to outsourcing. When was the last television set, calculator, tape recorder, stereo, etc., made in the US of A in any significant numbers. Electronics were headed out the door and gone decades before the trade agreements. The same for textiles, clothing, and shoes. Let's throw in furniture for good measure. Those are just off the top of my head. It's a long list, but the outsourcing of jobs and the onset of the global economy was underway decades before those despised free trade agreements. I clearly remember the pundits saying we were shifting from a manufacturing based economy to a service based economy. The silly twits never gave a thought that manufacturing is the foundation for the economy and without manufacturing, and its jobs we hardly have any need for service industries. The truth is this. With or without those trade agreements, the world was headed to a global economy, and jobs were headed overseas, for the cheap labor, lower taxes, and less stringent regulations. You and I may not like it, but that's the reality. There is no easy fix, though the politicians would like you to think they can do something about it. Right now, they are in survival mode, trying to kick the "shhtuff" further down the road so it will hit the fan when they are gone, and the current crop of pols will take the brunt of the voters wrath. They are the ruling class, and they like it. Pulling the wool over others' eyes is their specialty. It seems folks may finally be wising up. Term limits. An idea whose time came long ago.

Rhode Island town files for bankruptcy. Who says it cannot happen to government? When you cannot pay the bills, you cannot pay the bills. All this borrowing, and raising of the debt ceiling does is to move the inevitable further down the road. And, you will run out of countries that are willing to loan us money. Then what? How many debts has the U.S. "forgiven" for countries who have borrowed from us in the past? Are we different in that regard from other countries? Google United States forgives debt to get an inkling. The question is, will other countries forgive us our debts as we have forgiven our debtors? http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/01/us-rhodeisland-centralfalls-idUSTRE7703ID20110801

That's one reason I mentioned the textile industry. Today, outsourcing is considered to be out of the country. But in the 1900s the "Textile Capital of the World", Fall River and other cities in this area lost those jobs to the South. Today, the South has lost them to overseas countries. I've heard the argument others have made about passing laws for this and that which will force the companies to bring those jobs back here. If they do, who will buy the product they manufacture? The reason they moved was for survival, in order to be able to compete on even grounds with the cheap labor, low taxes, and less regulated industries in other countries. Just about everything we buy, from clothing to electronics, to toys, sporting goods, etcl, will rise in prices dramatically. But first you have to deal with that thorny constitution which most likely would prevent the government from passing the laws you suggest. If it were possible to bring those jobs back here, and compete on the world market, why doesn't some entrepreneur do it? You are onto something when you said, "we got too greedy". Much labor has priced itself out of work. The only labor that cannot be outsourced is something like construction which has to be done on site, health care, most of which must be provided close to home, education, which again must be provided locally, police, fire, etc.

Include the government in those responsible for reduced mail volumes. Ever hear of direct deposit for SS, income tax refunds, etc.? Lots of jobs have been created and disappeared. The advent of the automobile put buggy whip manufacturers out of business, but also created jobs in another area of manufacturing. Assembly lines, automation and robots have likewise cost jobs. But they also resulted in more uniform and better products, at lower prices. Ever hear this line? The new (fill in the blank) mall will bring hundreds or thousands of jobs to downtown Metropolis. While this is true, it does it at the expense of jobs in suburban malls/shopping centers. The availability of cheap labor and more business friendly regulations in the South cost tens of thousand of jobs in the textile industry beginning in the early 1900s. On the upside, it offered new opportunities in the South. It's called competition, building a better mousetrap, or inventing something new. The economy like everything else in life is an evolving process. The difference today is that, like it or not, today it's a global economy. Emerging nations have expanding economies. The once dominant nations have shrinking economies. Equilibrium and stability are only fantasies when it comes to the economies of the world. The politicians are largely to blame for the perception that we can have our cake and eat it too. None will dare tell the entire truth about the economy.

Not really. What they do to arrive at this "fact" involves Social Security "contributions". Since his secretary doesn't reach the ceiling roughly seven percent of her gross pay goes to Social Security. The ceiling is roughly 100,000 dollars. So, she pays social security amounting to seven percent of her income. Buffet on the other hand makes several million dollars per annum. Since contributions stop once an individual reaches the ceiling, in Buffet's case, his SS contributions don't amount to one percent of his income. It's nothing more than a clever deception. In total, bottom line, he pays much more than his secretary. Those who tout such drivel play with the percentage of SS in a deliberate, premeditated, method to deceive others. It works very well on those who don't really look beyond the surface.

Four in a jon boat? It's ok if you're all bait fishing, but casting with four in a jon boat is courting disaster. Even with four experienced fishermen paying strict attention to every cast it's not what I consider to be a wise move. Four person capacity boats have weight ratings all over the place, but some list between 800 - 900 pounds max. Keep in mind, that includes gear, battery(ies, fuel, motor(s), etc. I'd guess on the average boat, that "stuff" is 300 to 400 pounds. That means the four fisherman would have to average about 125 pounds each.

Hey man, Maybe you shouldn't have titled this thread "desperate times".

Are you saving for your kids' college educations? How much do you have in a rainy day fund? What does your wife spend on her activities? Money and time is what it takes to go fishing. If you have to scrounge bottles to go fishing your finances seem to be on shaky ground. Before we had kids, I played golf once a week, and went fishing. When the kids came along, I hardly did either. It's a matter of priorities. Not to mention, the current economy is not so hot, and it doesn't look good in the long term. Seems like you need to look past the end of your nose and plan for tomorrow rather than living for today. Unless you are independently wealthy, there are sacrifices that must be made in budgets. There is a vast chasm between needs and wants. The needs should always be at the top of the life priority list. When those are satisfied, both long and short term, then pursue the wants. A wise old Yankee once told me, "If you want to make a living do something people need. If you want to get rich, make or do something people want." That about sums up human nature.

Sadly, that's not the reality. Plastic bags that held Zoom, or Berkley, or Yum don't litter ramps because non-fishermen tossed them there. Same for line, boat carpeting (yes, I've seen that) and other fishing parapernalia that is discarded at or near launch areas. There are slobs and inconsiderate in all groups. The plain evidence is that fishermen contribute to the litter problem. I usually take a trash bag, and a pair of latex gloves for the purpose of policing the launch area(s). Leave a place better than you found it. Who knows? Someone who cares sees you cleaning up a little bit and maybe they'll follow your example. If we all did a little, then the slobs wouldn't be able to ruin it for us.

I was thinking of something along those lines. When you're catching fish, you know they are there. When you're not, it doesn't mean they aren't there. Wrong bait, wrong presentation, not interested? Any of those three can account for not catching fish that are there. There is a fourth possibity, they aren't there. Only catching them conclusively proves anything.

Time of day isn't even on my radar screen. By nature, I'm a very early morning person. Love being on the water at the crack of dawn with a light mist wafting along the glassy surface. For years I thought early morning was the preferred time. It is quiet. Light levels are low. Nothing external to disturb the fish. It was preferred all right, by me, but not necessarily the fish. I've fished enough the past few years to learn my theory was all wet. I've seen the bite turn on in the middle of the day with a glassy surface and a cloudless sky. I've seen it turn on mid-afternoon and mid-morning as well. I've had poor days when all the book indicators say the fishing should be great, and great days when all of the stars (again, according to the book) are out of alignment. Fish a small productive body of water, such as the one near my home, often enough, and you'll find out the fish do not read those books. Now, if you want to talk about seasons and how they affect the movements of bass/fish, that's a different matter. Time of year is important to understand the movements of fish, and their level of activity. Time of day is, to me anyway, meaningless. Took a fellow with me this past Monday. He was absolutely set in his belief that the fish would be in the shallows, since they moved up there during the night when the shallows cooled. I've been fishing this pond at least three times a week for the past few weeks, and I knew where I had been catching them. It sure wasn't the shallows. While he dropped his baits up against the weedlines in the shallows, catching the occasional small bass, I was happily catching them right where they had been since moving from the shallows after spawning. At nine o'clock after three hours of thrashing the shallows, he decided to fish deeper, and switched to what I had been using. Suddenly, he began catching some nice fish. One on each of his first three casts, right where I told him to cast. He said he was kicking himself for not listening to someone with a lot of experience on the pond. My credo. There is never a bad time to go fishing, other than during extreme weather.

That's horrible. I can only imagine how I'd feel if something like that happened to my honey hole.

OK, it's time to start planning for the next outing. The consensus was that we hit Mashpee/Wakeby on the Cape. It has both largemouth and smallmouth bass. I must confess, this pond has not been kind to me. I've tried it a few times and worked hard to catch a few mediocre fish, though I did catch a decent rainbow on a dropshot rig. But, it is a nice pond with plenty of structure and in places, vegetation. Not huge, but maybe a tad larger than Whitehall. Nice ramp and parking facility. Here's the deal. Before Labor Day, we'd have to get there earlier on a Saturday or Sunday than we did at Whitehall. It's a popular place, but large enough to accomodate the pleasure boaters, skiers and fishermen. Who's interested? Time for your input.

Yes, it will be behind you. Marker buoys are cheap, about seven bucks for two, or you can make your own with a bobber, plastic bottle, piece of wood and a sinker or any type of weight. They are invaluable whether you are in a kayak, canoe or bass boat. You can use them to mark edges of weed beds, bottom contour features such as bottom composition or depth changes. It enables you to accurately and thoroughly fish a particular piece of bottom. They provide a visual reference, just like navigation buoys indicate channels or hazards. If you're fishing away from shore, and hook a fish, drop a marker buoy. Go back to it for your next cast and cast in the same direction as before. Make note of an obvious landmark such as a house, boulder, tree, point or whatever. There will be times when fish hold up on a small patch of bottom. A few feet one way or the other can determine whether or not you catch another. The buoy enables you to return to that precise position. You can use the buoy as a reference to which you can cast, or a boat position from which you cast.

There's no way to answer your question with any degree of accuracy. First, the bottom image on the screen is a history of where the transducer passed. Where that "fish" echo you saw was depends on the direction of your boat travel. Are you drifting sideways, forward, backward, or, are you under power. Let's assume you are under power to keep it as simple as possible. The distance behind the boat where the fish you saw are located, depends on two factors, boat speed, and graph speed. The faster the boat speed, the further back it is. The faster the chart/graph speed the closer that target will be. You'll have to perform some "trial runs" to arrive at an answer that is reasonbly close for stationary objects. Fish are not stationary, they can be moving along any of 360 degrees. So, let's work with something stationary, like a rock or other bottom landmark you can recognize. Mark the spot of your landmark with a marker buoy. Then travel over the landmark. When it appears on the screen, drop another buoy, and you'll get an acceptably close idea of the distance. This will only work when you maintain that same speed. If you travel at various speeds while hunting your quarry, the distances will be different. Same if you adjust your chart speed. As I mentioned earlier, fish are not fixed objects. You can return to the precise spot where the sounder marked the fish, and it may no longer be there.

In my canoe, the guy in the front has the advantage, particularly on windy days. It lays naturally stern to the wind, so most of the time, I'm only holding the boat in position, facing the target, and depending, sliding the canoe from side to side. My bass boat tends to drift sideways with two in the boat, and the motor down. It's more or less equal in the Nitro. I look forward to a "day off" with another at the helm.

That's the plan. We'd like to find other boaters who are interested in a strictly fun outing. Nothing at stake, not even bragging rights. Catch none, or catch a ton, it's all about an informal social get together with other forum members.

Looks like the next will be at Mashpee/Wakeby on Cape Cod. No time set, or even talked about. August or after Labor Day? We'd like to hear from others who may be interested, and would also like to find another boater or two to join us. Will start a new thread in the next day or two.

I'm hooked up, and ready to go. Only thing left to do is get ice for the coolers. Will do that last thing. They are in the house where the temp is 70ish. Will put them in the boat when I leave. Get a good night's rest. Jones and Grundle, 5:45 Wally World parking lot.

Looks great. I'm glad to see Chevy got rid of those hideous end caps they had on the bumpers. They looked like an afterthought. By the way, I like the new sinister look.

It would look like heck in short order from getting peppered with road grit. Plus, it's a textured finish and would have to be smoothed out to get the same finish as the bumpers. Armorall or tire shine will spruce it up, and the road dings will hardly show. Paint on the other hand........................................ There's a reason they put a textured finish on those vulnerable spots. It's the same reason they do it on appliances, refrigerators in particular. The textured finish doesn't show fingerprints and other blemishes.