Fishing Rhino

Maximize your purchasing power. SPEND NOW!!!!!!!!!!!! Put away two dollars today and in ten years it will buy less than one dollar will today. Savings interest is horrendous, so you won't earn much on your savings. We have almost four grand in our contingency savings account. It makes pennies per month in interest. But, don't spend it on raffle tickets, tobacco products, or other such frivilous things. Investing in fishing gear is the prudent thing to do. Yours truly, The Bait Monkey

Install the carpet by itself, directly on the hull if possible. You may need a dab of adhesive here and there where it tends to lift. Don't overdo it with the adhesive. You don't want to fight with the carpet to remove it.

Fifteen gallons, if it makes it won't leave much for a safety margin, not to mention what you'll burn when you get there. Unless you will only use the trolling motor when you get to the fishing area. Better bring extra fuel so you don't have an uh oh moment.

I mentioned them in the prior post. Actually, Sabbatia is not in Massasoit State Park. Watson pond is in the park. Haven't fished it enough to give a fair assessment. But both ponds are nice. Plenty of vegetation and depth changes. I did better in Watson's and prefer it because there are no power boats, so it's peaceful and quiet. The north end is close to I-495. Parking is five bucks at the State Park. There is no formal ramp, but there are places you can back your vehicle near the water and openings where you can launch a canoe or car top boat. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watson_Pond

I don't know about your tow vehicle, but my pickup has separate wiring and fuses for the trailer. They both originate at the same source, but are fused separately. Whatever goes to the turn signals on the truck goes to the turn signals on the trailer. But, for the tester to show the brake connector for the trailer as flashing, it still has to be some type of back feed to the flasher and then on to the trailer circuit for the left turn signal. Once upon a time, trailer hookups were tied into the tow vehicles tail and brake lights. Now, they are separate circuits. You're problem reminded me why I hate doing electrical work on any vehicle, other than changing bulbs. Sometimes that's a pain too. Good luck getting it resolved. Be sure to let us know what caused this problem, once you get it corrected.

Here's a list of ponds for the southeast, Cape Cod area. It does not contain all the ponds in the area, probably not even half of them. Watson's pond, across from Sabbatia in Taunton is not listed, but it's a nice little pond with plenty of vegetation, and can be accessed from the Miles Standish Park, where you can launch boats that are propelled by paddles/oars or electric trolling motors. It's small with plenty of structure and lily pad beds. I've been there a few times with my canoe, and only seen a couple of other boats fishing it.

The brake lights, turn signals and flashers are linked together. The turn signals would be almost useless if they didn't override the brake lights. Same for the hazard four way flashers. Here's a question. When you put on the brakes, and the left tail light flashes, does the front light on that side also flash? If it does, you probably have a "short" where the circuit for the brakes is feeding juice to the left turn signal. Does your left signal work normally when you are not on the brakes? Your best bet is to take it to a dealer, or a mechanic you trust, and get an estimate of how much to fix it. The problem could be in the turn signal mechanism, or somewhere in the wiring harness. Since it happens when the trailer is not hooked up, you can rule out something back feeding current from a trailer problem. Explain exactly what happens when you take it to the garage, to see what their thoughts are before they plug it into the computer and charge you to diagnose the problem. I doubt it would be the first time a dealer, or busy independent repair shop has seen this problem.

For the trolling motor, if possible put some material between the hull and the motor that will absorb/deaden the vibrations. You can get silicone hot mats at a place like Bed Bath and Beyond that should work just fine. It's very durable stuff. How about getting some indoor/outdoor carpeting at Home Depot or Lowes and fit it to the bottom of the boat. Don't glue it down. That will allow you to take it out and clean any sediment or debris that will get under it. If it tends to shift, just use a dab of the carpet adhesive in corners or places where it wants to lift. You may have to lay it in sections so it doesn't bunch. The other option is the material like Rhino Linings that is put in pickup beds. It's tough, but you would want a lighter color. Dark will get unbearable on hot days. Glue carpet to the bottom of tackle boxes so they can't clank around. Carpet the seat tops so rods and reels won't clatter when you lay one down to pick up another. When something makes noise, figure out a way to stop it. Sometimes it can be as simple as tightening a bolt or screw.

If we get more non-boaters, I can throw my 16 foot, square stern canoe on the roof of my truck. Trolling motor, batteries, and fish finder. It can easily handle two plus gear, plus a large cooler.

I'm bringing a cooler with Poland Springs water, Coke, and Sprite, packed full of ice. I'll have way more than I need, just in case. Oh yeah, I picked up the hot dogs today. They're in the fridge. Will get the rolls on Friday, plus the mustard and relish. If I remember, I'll bring a roll of paper towels. Real fishermen don't use napkins.

Grundle, I sent you a pm. But I'll also post it here. There is room. No excuses.

I know Jones will be there. UKBumpkin is in. The three boaters will be there. So, if Grundle and Jigs (let us know for sure) go, we'll have enough room for all to fish. I can take two with me. Grampa can take one, and Tate at least one, so that accomodates the four non-boaters. All this is barring unforseen circumstances. Hopefully, this works out well so we can do another "mini" road trip for the guys/gals in eastern MA. Out of staters are also welcome, but you'll need a MA license. I'd like to see this develop into a regular thing, with a "special" weekend outing to a place like Lake Champlain, once a year.

OK guys, we're five days out. It would be nice to get a final count of who's coming. Hot dogs and hamburgers after the fishing, so we need to know how many to bring. Hope everyone interested makes it. Should be a lot of fun.

Striped shirt, plaid pants, and Chumlee. Sweeeeet indeed!

I have two Carbonlite and a Browning spinning rods with the "foam" grips. At first they felt odd compared to the cork grips on all my other rods. But, I've come to prefer the more slender grip. When I pick up one of my cork grip rods, it feels like a club. It may be me, but I have better feel with the thinner grips. It's not unlike golf clubs, the thicker the grip, the more they take hands out of the equation. Some pros use grips on their putters that are two inches in diameter to prevent them from getting "wristy" with their hands. Grips can be used to help reduce slicing or hooking. A golfer will tend to slice with thicker grips, and hook the ball with thinner grips. Maybe the thinner grips allow for better transmission of feel to the hands. When all is said and done, grips, like just about everything else in fishing, it's user preference. Some like the esthetic qualities of particular rods and reels, but I buy them to fish with, not to admire. When fishing, I rarely look at them except when changing rods, or for possible damage, such as bent eyes.

Gadabout was probably a nickname, but that's not the one I'm thinking of. I believe the one I'm thinking of was used on every show, at least those I saw. No fair googling. Let's try it this way. Gadabout Gaddis was also known as.......................................................................

Quick quiz. What was Gadabout Gaddis' nickname?

I started with a cane pole, kite string, a cork slit halfway through for the line, as a bobber. The line was tied to the tip with a long tag end. That long end was then tied further down to the stouter portion of the rod so there was a bow between those two ties. Then a few more half hitches, and the line was finally tied off about halfway down the rod. Bamboo while fairly flexible is also fragile. If it snapped near the tip, which it frequently did on new poles, you could still fish with it.

Eight days, and counting. Anyone got a portable, tailgating type grille? I'll bring the hot dogs, rolls, mustard and relish. If we do it, I'll also bring a cooler with cans of Coke, and Sprite, as well as bottled water. BYOB if that's your beverage of choice.

Here's the list. Cayuga HD Oneida HD Otisco not HD Owasco HD The HD maps show navigation markers, docks, plus other bottom info such as submerged timber, vegetation, etc. Below is a section of Kentucky Lake that I snipped from Navplanner2 which has the same maps as the Hot Maps Premium chip so you can see what the high def maps look like. The red circles are places I marked that looked interesting when getting ready for the road trip. They will not appear on the chip's display. But you can see the contours, and two docks in the lower right corner, plus other info.

The Navionics Hot Maps Premium has the one foot increments on the HD maps as well. The difference is the Platinum version can show the bottom in a simulated 3D, but it costs fifty bucks more. Be advised, not all lakes/ponds are in HD one foot increments. The HD maps are very accurate in conjunction with GPS regarding positioning. The non-HD not so much. On some of them, the boat shows up on dry land when it's more than a hundred feet from shore. It does show contour lines in five foot increments, so it's still helpful for reference. I find the chip to be very useful, since you can mark and store waypoints, and return to them repeatedly on either version of the lake maps. It also records the track of the boat. For me, it's well worth the money, be it on unfamiliar waters, or the ponds I regularly fish.

Hey Jones, where in southeastern MASS? I'll be heading up Rte 24 from Westport, getting onto 495 to Hopkinton. You're welcome to ride with me if we work out the details.

OK. I can be there. Room for two, provided all are careful and pay attention. Two of us on the bow, one on the stern. At Kentucky Lake we fished three from my boat with one in the cockpit. A cast by one of the guys, snagged the line of the fellow at the rear who had just finished retying a bait. Ended up with a hook buried in his thumb when his line was snagged by the bait being cast. Took a trip to a clinic, where they sent us to the ER at a local hospital. They removed the hook. I don't want a repeat, so a note to all, before casting, make sure no one is in the line of fire. As for the time, I'm coming from Westport, but can be there at the crack of dawn, or anytime thereafter.

My boats are in the garage, but that doesn't help you any. So, here's an idea. Is there enough overhead clearance to suspend it inside the carport, above either vehicle? If so, problem solved.

We just returned from that debacle at Kentucky Speedway. She's got over 80,000 on her now, still on the original 20" tires, with almost 1/8th inch to the wear bar indicators. She's a good road vehicle for travelling. It handles my Z7 ok. You don't know it's there once you get to cruising speed, but getting it up to speed is a bit of a chore for the 5.1 and four speed automatic. Wouldn't you know it, they came out in 2008 with a five speed option.