Fishing Rhino

Nope! I don't pay attention to them for freshwater fishing. I going fishing regardless. Rainy days, I love 'em. I seem to do better, the keyword being "seem". And if I do, it may have more to do with the fact that there are fewer people, particularly non-fishing boaters on the water. Same thing with early morning and late afternoon/evening. On my honey hole, rain or shine, time of day don't seem to matter. On a "busy" day, I may see another boat or two on the pond, and they are paddle/row/trolling motor propulsion. Most days, all day is quiet time. It can never be a good fishing day if you're not on the water. Salt water with its changing currents and water levels, the moon phase is a factor, because of its impact on tidal fluctuations.

Ouch!! That does not sound like a fun thing to do.

We used to bite down on our little fingers at the base of the nail. Bit firmly, but not enough to hurt. We'd hold the bite for a couple of minutes, then link our fingers together and pull. It hurt like hello when you pulled. It was fun watching someone do it for the first time. But that was when I was a kid. Haven't done it since about fifteen years of age. I thought you had to be one of our younger members, then I checked your profile. Forty three years old, and still biting down on your fingers.

I don't/didn't know of anything that will make a permanent bond to that type of plastic. I just came across this in a search. This tells how to fix a crack, not a hole. But it may be possible for you to make a fiberglass patch over the hole, just thick enough to hold its shape, then try this duct tape trick. The duct tape will need to overlap the plastic and the edge of the fiberglass patch. If you do try this, use fiberglass mat and tear it, don't cut it with scissors. A cut edge will make a step at the edge. Tearing will make a feather edge with no step. The duct tape will bond your patch to the hull. It's worth a try. http://www.oregonkayaking.net/how_to/boat_repair.html I don't know where you live in Mass. I'm in Westport, and do fiberglass work. If you bring your boat down, I'll be glad to take a look at it, and help you make the fiberglass patch. I have plenty of scrap material. Shouldn't take long to do it, and it won't cost you a cent. Then you can try the tape thing. The glass is only to provide backing for the tape to maintain the shape of the hull over the hole. Send me a private message, or email me through my profile.

Don't forget to check the fuses. Look in your owners manual, it will likely have fuses that are separate from those for the vehicle. I had a light problem with my trailer. The lights on the truck worked, but the trailer lights did not. Turn signal and brake lights worked, but the regular lights did not. I fiddled with the connections, nothing. Then I tested with a voltmeter. No voltage at the plug's connection for the lights. All the connections at the harness and the plug on the truck looked okay. I was about to take it back to the dealer who installed the hitch. Then it occurred to me the trailer lights might have dedicated circuits with their own fuses. Checked the owners manual and sure enough it did. It was the fuse. What happened was one of the wires to a tail light had become unplugged and apparently shorted on the frame as it was dangling around. That blew the fuse for the taillights and marker lights.

You beat me to it. The drop shot is great when the muck is at the bottom. The only trick is setting the distance between the sinker and the hook. If the bait comes back with the stuff on it, increase the distance until it's clean. I started fooling around with it this year, and it has opened up acres and acres of fish holding bottom that I had previously avoided. Come mid to late summer, I have my doubts. Gas gets trapped beneath layers of the algae, floating it to the surface. By then, the algae is brown/black/purple and when it floats, the gas bubble makes it look like a miniature cypress knee sticking above the surface. At that point, the stuff is suspended at all depths in various places. It's so thick in places it looks like the bottom has floated to the surface of the water.

Fish blood clots the instant it hits the water. I have caught two fish where a gill was severed at the head, and trailed out beyond the gill plate. In the case of the bass, the gill that was severed was white. Yesterday, I caught a pickerel with one of its gills hanging out beyond the gill plate and it was pink. The next time you have a bleeding fish, watch what happens when a drop of its blood hits the water. Instantaneous coagulation.

YESSSS!!!!!!!!!! That's what I'm talkin' about.

One out of three for me. But that's not bad. Bait is good.

Put an old towel or cloth over the propeller when covering your boat. It costs nothing, and will do the job just fine.

Here's my take. If and when I have problems with the grease type on my trailer, I will give serious consideration to changing to the oil bath system. Get low on oil, and it will still lubricate the bearings. Get low on grease and it gets thrown into spaces and cavities where it never reaches a bearing surface. The see through caps are a big plus.

Learn to comprehend. No one said he was going to "retard his hand", whatever that means, for the rest of his life. They said he might cause further permanent damage. That is simply common sense, based on what he said the doctor told him. Just because some folks who are heavy smokers live into their 90s and beyond does not discredit those who tell you smoking can be harmful to your health, and you're better off not smoking.

The weather is locked into the same cloudy, windy, drizzly, fifty degree pattern it has been in for the past two weeks, except for one nice day. But, as far as I'm concerned, the weather can stay like this provided the fishing remains the same. In my favorite little honey hole, the fishing has been the best I've ever experienced, and has been consistently so for the past two weeks. In addition to my undies and blue jeans, I had to wear a tee shirt, long sleeved jersey, a Woolrich shirt, topped off with hip boots, foul weather gear and a hat, plus my pfd on top of it all. The wind howled at times, but I was warm, dry, comfortable, and catching fish from my canoe. Did I mention we also had intermittent rain showers? The weather has been perfect........................for the fish to bite. Ghoti, as far as I'm concerned, I hope your complaint falls on deaf ears.

As you say, to each his own. But a marine grade silicone sealant will do the job just fine. The trick is to fill the holes, and put an eighth inch or so coat on the bracket. Put the bracket in place, and tighten the screws until a bead starts to ooze out between the bracket and hull. Leave it like this for 24 hours or whatever cure time is on the container. Once it has set, finish tightening the screws. It will compress, making a watertight seal, but will not ooze out. I guarantee it will not leak, but it will allow the part to be easily removed. I put all sorts of through hull fittings on my commercial lobsterboat for water intakes, transducers, keel coolers, wheelhouse windows, etc., to know this stuff holds up under everything the ocean and the skies can throw at it. I made the mistake of using 3M 5200 for one of those jobs. When it came time to change a below the waterline fitting it was an all day job. Had to literally drill, cut and grind the fitting away to avoid damaging the wood hull. I took a belt sander to the 5200. One of the boatyard workers showed me the trick to using marine silicone sealant mentioned above. 3M 5200 is great stuff, for permanent jobs. Years ago, I installed two vanities in our home with Corian sink tops and a back splash. When I purchased them, I asked what they used to fasten the backsplash to the top. They said to use a good grade of bathroom silicone. It should last at least ten years. I got a tube of 3M 5200, glued it to the counter top and the back wall. That was over twenty years ago. The backsplashes haven't budged since. They'll still be stuck fast when I'm planted six feet under. You've used it. You know what you're dealing with, and you like it. I've recommended it to a lot of people, but I also inform them that once on, it's there to stay.

Since you mostly troll, you have little need for a bass boat style rig. I'd opt for a 14 foot aluminum, round bottom boat. They are stable enough to stand in, and won't rattle your teeth like a jon, going into a light chop. If there are any ponds you like to fish that have horsepower restrictions, get an outboard you can use on those ponds, or pull the outboard off and go with a trolling motor. You should be able to find something in that category for well under the three thou of your budget. With what you have left, get the best sonar unit you can afford. It is far more important than the boat when it comes to finding fish holding bottom, be it structure, cover, or transition. If possible, get one with GPS. It will get you back to those tiny pieces of bottom that you find hold fish.

He coated the screw with silicone. In any case, I would never use 3M 5200 for this project. It's an adhesive, and a darn strong one at that. It would be just about impossible to remove the screw, or the bracket without causing unwanted damage. See exerpt from article below. Read the portion with the subtitle, "Demolition Begins" on the right hand page. Sorry, the program wouldn't allow me to copy and paste. http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/boatus/diyboatowner_issue108/index.php?startid=55

Ahhhh, but you have only one week out of eight that demands your 24 hour availability. That you make yourself available to your fellow mechanics, and they to you is an option, not an expectation placed on you by your employer. I understand that's the way it is. How did we ever survive before we had all these "puppet strings" attached to us? Ahhh the joys of having been a commercial fisherman, at the mercy of the weather, and other factors beyond my control, but in the end, no one told me when to go, when to return and to whom I would sell my catch.

I understand perfectly that there are jobs which require round the clock availability, and that if you aren't willing to accept that as part of your job description, there are others that are waiting to take your place. But, that's part of my point. Before these things existed, there were no such demands/expectations placed upon employees. You put in your time, or overtime or, extra unpaid hours if you were a salaried worker. Once you left the place of employment, you were free. and that's a part of the curse of these gadgets. There are times when the person is to blame for a lack of courtesy, or the person is to blame for texting while driving, but the other side of the picture is the demands placed upon administrative employees. It's why plumbers, electricians, etc., by and large don't publish their personal phone numbers. Most of their calls go through an answering service of some type. These things have their benefit in the case of emergencies, and being able to stay in touch with family and friends when away from a land line. Come across an accident, and contact the police instantly, no searching for a pay phone or having to knock on someone's door. But, they also have their dark side. They have changed our culture, for better or worse, and that's the question. Overall, are they a boon to society, or a boondoggle. I envision the Indians, oops, Native Americans lamenting the creation of smoke signals, and debating its merits.

My deal is this. I remember the days of bliss when you got away from home, and the land line, you were free. There was no way for anyone to contact you, unless they knew where you were staying. No pagers, no cell phones, no interruptions, wait, change that, no intrusions into your personal vacation time or weekend getaway. Today, there is no such escape. Prior to her retirement, my wife was in hospital administration. She was constantly checking her Blackberry for messages, just in case something needed her attention. This was seven days a week, fifty-two weeks a year, on the job, or on vacation. Someone commented they'd be bored without their electronic gadgetry. I was never bored with my life when those things existed only in the comics, ala Dick Tracy's wrist watch radio. I didn't like it when my wife was issued a pager by the hospital. The only folks who had pagers then were doctors and drug dealers. The pager began the ever increasing electronic intrusion into our lives.

The low voltage alarm is to tell you the state of your battery, not to protect the unit itself. I cannot be sure, but I have to think that the unit has protection from power surges or drops. You would not be able to change those settings. Have your battery and charging system checked. They may be fine, but if the motor is not run enough the battery for starting and all accessories will gradually lose its charge. In that case, you'll need to charge that battery after each fishing trip to avoid the unpleasant surprise of your motor failing to start. I speak from experience. The bilge pump will draw more amps than your HD7, and the power trim will draw more amps than the bilge pump. Running lights probably draw more amps than your Lowrance unit, but I'm not sure. Have a technician perform a load test on the battery. If you go to an Interstate battery dealer, they will usually do the test at no charge. Some of the chain auto parts stores may do it as well.

I know, I know, I'm an old fuddy duddy, but it seems some folks were born with a cell phone grafted to their ear. They are convenient. But they are all too often a nuisance. Golf courses have banned them, ditto for some restaurants, doctors' offices, etc. I used to go to breakfast regularly with a buddy, 'til he got a cell phone. Then breakfast consisted of me listening to him have conversations with others. Maybe it says something about me. No matter, those breakfasts are a thing of the past. There was a guy on our gang that plowed snow for the state. He got a cell phone and spent more money on his phone bill than he earned plowing snow, and that was while we were plowing. That was several years ago, but still................... If the entire system ever went down, a large percent of the public would be suffering major withdrawal effects. It's their umbilical cord to the world.

the Rhode Island guys? Most of them seem to have disappeared from the forum. Some were regular "contributors".

Check this site. http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/habitat/maps/ponds/pond_maps_sd.htm

You've got to be kidding. That panfish won't fit in any pan I've seen.

My suggestion would be to start with a decent rod or two. Don't spend a ton of money to get the best. The reason is simple. There is no guarantee that fishing will be your cup of tea. Fishing is really no different than any other hobby. Folks think they'd like to do something, start out, and then lose interest. For others, a hobby becomes an obsession. SirSnookalot's advice about starting out at a local tackle shop is on the money. They will know what works for the various species, and what works at different stages of the season. The beauty of fishing is that each of us can do it our own way. We can go "by the book", or think outside the box like mad scientists. Each can approach it as seriously or casually as they want. Good luck, and have fun.