Fishing Rhino

Running a two cycle engine out of gasoline also means running it out of lubrication. There may be enough residual oil left on the bearings and cylinder walls, but then again, why take that chance. It was a standard practice years ago. I'm speculating that the practice began when folks took the motors off their boats, and laid them on the floor of their trunks or pickup beds for transport. It kept the fuel from leaking out and creating a mess. To my knowlege, it was never done in lawnmowers, vehicles or any other engines, be they two or four cycle. It was a practice primarily used in outboard motors. I see nothing in my owners manual that suggests running it out of fuel. In fact, it is impossible to do in most bass boats if not all, because the fuel line cannot be unplugged at the motor. At the end of the season, or when a motor will not be run for an extended period is another matter.

If I found it, I'd gladly share it. But I didn't find it. Another fisherman shared it with me. It's his to share as he sees fit, not mine. If you tell me something, it's between you and me. The point was that learning something that you'll use in the future is more important than what you catch that day.

The only way to repair a section of gel coat is to remove the bad section, not to merely cover it up. It can be done with a tool like a router, where you remove the gel coat to the base color. Next, you'd have to apply a fresh coat of the base gel coat, then apply the clear with the proper flake,color and size. Easier said than done, since you need the same concentration of flake to match the rest of the boat, particularly the area surrounding the repair. Then you need to apply the clear. Gel coat does not go on like paint. It is thicker and prone to very bad orange peel. This is of no consequence when laying up a panel, since the finish coat is sprayed onto a mold, followed by the flake and then the clear. The finished side is as smooth and glossy as the mold. The orange peel is not seen. There is another problem, and I don't have a clue as to how it could be camoflaged. You'll have a distinct edge between the repair and the original, resulting in a "line" between the original finish and the repaired section. My guess is it would cost big, big bucks to get it repaired by a competent person, assuming you could find one. Call the manufacturer, tell them what you want to do, and see if they perchance could refer you to someone in your area who handles their repairs. I'm not keen on wraps. Three thousand dollars for a wrap that will last maybe three years, according to a prior post? That's a thousand dollars per year. Your best bet is to clean it up as best you can. You won't catch one fish less than you would if it were a glittering beauty. Save the money you'd spend on repairs, or the thou per year for a wrap, maintain the boat religiously, to keep its value as high as possible, and in a few years, take the money you'd have spent on gel coat repairs or a wrap, sell the boat, combine that money, and find something more to your liking.

I just checked the profile of you servicemen, and found out you're both males. At least your sensitivities aren't the result of PMS.

I'm usually very free with what works well for me, including places. The exception is when particular information comes from a fellow fisherman, which is the case in this instance. If someone shares their favorite technique, which is new to me, or divulges one of their favorite spots, I keep it in confidence. I was reluctant to start this thread because it could seem like a tease. If I find a spot on my own, or some slightly different technique, I willingly share it with others.

Welcome to the club. Ain't life grand when you get to the stage that you are not at the mercy of the weather? If the weather is good, you can go. Is it a nasty weekend? So what? You can now go on Monday, or Tuesday, or any other day as long as it ends in "y". Congratulations, and enjoy.

Do not sand (wet or dry) the gel coat. If you go too far, which is likely, those red, blue, green, gold, or whatever color sparkles will become silver. Colored Metalflake is only coated with the color. Cut into it by sanding and you end up with silver. Having said that, the proper way to gelcoat any boat is to first apply a Marine clear coat to the mold, then the flake in a clear coat, and then the base color. The marine clear has ultra-violet inhibitors in it to help reduce the effects of sunlight's uv rays on the colored gel coat. But, with enough exposure, the sun will damage the finish. That is why it's imperative to keep a fiberglass bass boat under cover when not being used. It can be a garage, a canopy, or a boat cover. Check with the manufacturer regarding the clear gel coat. If it has been cleared, you can do some very light wet sanding with very fine paper, such as 1200 grit, followed by buffing. After that, apply a cleaner glaze which will fill microscopic pores and cracks, then apply a quality UV protective finish. Solid colors can be buffed back to a shine provided the gel coat is thick enough. Metalflake finishes are a whole 'nother animal. Clear coating might bring back much of the shine. To get an idea, put a film of water on an area. If it still looks cloudy or dull, it will take more than clear coating to restore the finish to its former glory. A word to the wise. Be sure to protect the glossy finish on your fiberglass boats with finishes that block UV rays. Carnauba wax is a very effective UV blocker. Still, nothing beats keeping the boat out of the sunlight when it's not being used.

It was not a day of lunkers, or even fairly large fish. It was not a day of huge numbers. If the fishing wasn't one of my better days, what made it one of my best days? Glad you asked. I went fishing with another forum member to a lake in central Massachusetts. He shared his wisdom with me, and I learned about a bait, and technique I had never thought of, let alone tried. I can't even recall reading anything about it. Those who are familiar with my posts know that I'm partial to drop shotting, Rage Tail baits, and wacky worming plus a variety of plastic baits. Those who fished in my boat on the recent road trip have seen my considerable inventory of plastic baits. Yesterday, with a bit of coaching, I now have another weapon in my arsenal. I told Mike that it had been one of my best days of fishing ever. He asked why. The simple answer is that I learned something new. Not only new, but extremely effective. If we had caught a boatload of lunkers yesterday, it would be a memory. A darned nice memory, but still only a memory. What I learned yesterday will pay dividends for the remainder of my fishing days. A great day on the lake is not always about what you catch. Good company, and a great lesson learned is hard to beat.

Welcome to the party.

Being versatile, and "trying" to be versatile are too different things. Being versatile means you are already well versed in many techniques. Trying to be versatile means that you are not versatile. Big, big, difference. Trying to be versatile will likely lower production in the short term. Becoming versatile will increase production in the long run.

To eliminate the possibility of getting wet triggering the inflation mechanism, the latest versions have hydrostatic triggering devices. They work on water pressure, not wetness. It activates when submerged to a depth of four inches. Are they dependable? Absolutely. Hydrostatic devices have been used for years in life rafts which are mounted on vessels. Should the boat sink, the raft automatically inflates, and breaks away from its mount. They are also used on EPIRBs (emergency position indicating radio beacons) which need to be automatically triggered when a boat sinks. It must not go off when a boat takes heavy spray or in storms simply because it got wet. http://www.sarsat.noaa.gov/emerbcns.html

If you're going with an automatic bilge pump, I'd recommend this switch. It contains the fuse, has a light to let you know when the pump is running, and can also be used manually. You have to hold the switch in place to manually operate the pump. It is spring loaded and returns to the off position when released. This was a necessity in salt water, since the wires commonly corroded on the automatic side, no matter what you did. Soldered, crimp connected, heat shrink wrapped, nothing was absolute protection in that environment. If, no, when the float side inevitably failed the manual always worked. The only time the wire to the pump is live is when you toggle the switch to the on position. It's always live to the float switch. http://www.bing.com/shopping/rule-deluxe-3-way-panel-lighted-switch/p/084657FB5EE3F0345006?q=Rule+Deluxe+3-Way+Panel+Lighted+Switch&lpf=0&lpq=rule%20switches&FORM=CMOPEG

If your old pump is working fine, why not just get a float switch? http://www.bing.com/shopping/rule-35a-float-switch-for-bilge-pumps/p/DE4EAED28137B539ED3D?q=RULE+35A+FLOAT+SWITCH+FOR+BILGE+PUMPS&lpf=0&lpq=float%20switch%20rule&FORM=CMSMEE

I thought NASCAR rules were bad...............until I watched the F1 race at Monaco yesterday morning. The fellow leading was on old tires. The second and third place drivers had caught him with several laps remaining. The third place car was the fastest of the three. With a half dozen laps to go there was a red flag brought out by a bad crash. During the red flag stop, the leading car put on new tires, someone else replaced a nose section, and yet another had major repairs done to its wing. When the race restarted, the lead car with new tires pulled away, winning it in a breeze. That made five wins in six races for that car. Regarding NASCAR, I feel their rules are written on an Etch-a-sketch. Their intepretation of the rules depends on who is involved, or so it seems. But that's still not as bad as the fiasco known as F1.

It makes reading the side imaging a lot more difficult. It's not just the spinning but also the leaning from side to side. Even a soaring osprey showed up one time.

These types of comments always makes me chuckle. It's like the notion that using a landing net is somehow unsporting. In fact some tournament ban their use. Some fishermen spend tens of thousands of dollars, in some cases, hundreds of thousands of dollars, on the latest and greatest gear, including boats, tackle and electronics, then pooh pooh others who use senkos. That strikes me as being a bit hypocritical. I've posted this before. From the time man discovered that using a pointed stick rather than bare hands made him a more productive fisherman, the technology race was on to give us ever greater advantages over our quarry. To single out any item, and not use it, be it a bait or a landing net as a gesture of demonstrating sportsmanship and superiority is laughable.

Funny. At first, WFN was only available on HD on Dish Network. While I wish the HD was still available, there is a lesson to be learned. Though some mock golf, and OWN (I'd never watch OWN), the reality is that they make these decisions according to ratings and popularity, or their anticipation of ratings. Truth is, we fishermen are a small minority as far as tv goes. A lot more people play golf, and have an interest in seeing it on television. There are more golf courses than places to fish around here, and the courses are much more crowded, particularly in the warm months. Personally, I'm glad that's the case. Fishing would be impossible if all the golfers switched to fishing. But, there would be an silver lining to this. There would likely be more, and better television programming about fishing.

Hey, to each his own. I've seen my daughter take her Ford diesel to a varitey of shade tree mechanics, with varying results. But, there was always something wrong with it. On one of our visits, she was complaining about something on the truck that had been giving her trouble. I told her, let's go to the dealer where you bought the truck. She went with me to the service department. I asked to speak to the service manager, explained what had been going on, and that my daughter was dependent upon that truck in her business. I told him to do a thorough diagnosis of the truck, see what was what, and then to call me with the results. It had a few non critical issues like the electric door locks not working, while others were critical because they were safety related, such as seat belt retractors not working properly. Those were fixed at no cost because of government regulations. New batteries, to replace the batteries someone had installed less than a year earlier, fixed an intermittent starting problem. In the end, I dumped about eight hundred bucks into her truck. Oh yeah, one other thing they did, was to remove the power chip they had installed so the truck would have more power. It had more power, when it was running, but at times the engine would die, and she'd have to wait a half hour to get it restarted. One thing that does bother me regarding the flat rate. That flat rate factors in the time it takes for a tech to fetch the vehicle into the shop and then to put back on the lot. That I understand, but, if you have a half dozen things done, you've paid them for doing it six times, when they've only done it once. The important thing, regardless of independent or dealer, is to develop a relationship where there is a mutual trust between the repair shop and the customer.

There is a distinct advantage to that type of cast. It has nothing to do with distance or trajectory. Francho touched on it when he mentioned loading the rod. That little swing around the tip of the rod accelerates the bait more gradually than the traditional swing the rod back then give it a forceful forward thrust. What has just happened? You've instantaneously reversed the direction of the bait, putting a lot more force on it than when you loop it around the rod tip. Ever tried to make a long "standard" cast to a swirl with a fragile bait like a senko, only to see it sail a hundred feet, while the hook only goes thirty or forty? Physics is definitely involved. The physics of inertia and acceleration.

I'm curious. What hobbies or activities did your dad enjoy?

This question comes up from time to time. I'll ask this question in response. Why do you or I want to "promote", or "grow" the sport. If someone is interested, I'll gladly help them. But I'm not about to go out recruiting for the sport of fishing. It's not everyone's cup of tea. I'll tell you who wants us to promote the sport of fishing. Those who have a financial interest in the sport. It can be your local bait shop, the megastores like BPS and Cabelas, or, the pros, whose income is related to the popularity of the sport. If you are a weekend warrior, or an avid recreational fisherman, promoting/growing the sport increases fishing pressure, puts more people on the water, and thus is actually detrimental to the recreational fisherman. Don't misunderstand, I do not resent folks who want to fish as though they are intruding into my domain. I'll share what knowledge I have with anyone. I'll also tell them places where I've done well, right down to the particular spots. If you want your kids to fish with you great, as long as they are genuinely interested. But if they'd rather play golf, go hiking, or maybe another watersport, then God bless 'em. The only way I "promote" fishing is by feeding the bait monkey.

There is a problem with independent shops, actually several. There are good independents, and not so good independents. When you have a dispute over work done, warranty or not, from a dealer, look in your owner's manual, and you'll find a number where you can file a complaint with the manufacturer. If it's legitimate, the dealer has to answer to the company. Not so with an independent. Yeah, you can run to the better business bureau, or hire a lawyer, but you are on your own to find someone to help you. Further, most independents use after market pieces, not the original equipment parts. If you think these aftermarket parts are as good, and manufactured to the same tolerances, think again. I had an alternator replaced on my 01 GMC, and when I drove it, there was a code light flashing on the info system. Took it back, had the mechanic check it out, and his testing equipment said all was fine. The voltmeter showed the battery was properly charged, but that flashing "check charging system" light just kept on blinking. I normally take my vehicles to the dealer, but it happened on a Friday afternoon. I took it to the dealer where I bought it, they tested it, and the regulator did not keep the alternator within factory specs. They called the mechanic who said he'd take it back, but I was still out the labor. Develop a relationship with the service department where you bought your vehicle. They will want to keep you as a customer, and hope you will buy from them again. An independent is under no such compunction.

Bummer. How many issues can there be that they need to have it for a week?

Thank you, and back at ya. No fishing for me 'til Tuesday. Family cookout on Memorial Day, and we're getting everything shipshape for the holiday. But, I'll be outta here about 4:30 a.m. heading to a pond on the Cape. Be home early afternoon to play nine holes of golf with my wife. Have a safe and enjoyable weekend to all.

POLICE: Naked man crashes truck into house, tenant fights off man with hammer South Berwick Police say a man crashed his truck into an apartment building Wednesday night, got out - while naked - and started fighting with a man he didn't even know in the building. Police say it started when 24-year-old Eli Hutchins got into a fight with his friend at the apartment complex in South Berwick, then took his truck and rammed it into the building, but police say that Hutchins drove into the apartment of someone else who he doesn't know. Still, the South Berwick police chief says Hutchins fought with the tenant of the apartment, all while naked. The chief says that tenant started hitting the naked suspect in the head with a hammer to defend himself. Police showed up and arrested Hutchins immediately; they say he was high on drugs. The tenant and a 7-year-old child were in the building at the time of the impact, but no one was hurt. Hutchins is facing several charges, including assault and operating under the influence.