Fishing Rhino

If you cannot see the fastenings, they must be screwed in from the bottom of the deck. Is the framework that the plywood is fastened to aluminum, angle, channel or box? If so, then the deck must be fastened with screws running through the aluminum into the plywood. Open the hatch and if necessary, use a mirror to examine for fastenings going through the aluminum.

No pics. I'm too clumsy to risk pulling my smart phone out of its protective holder. If I'd have been in the bass boat, I would have taken some pics. It's handy in the center storage locker. Just lift the lid, and there it is. Don't need to be anywhere near the side with the camera. Too many things can go wrong in the canoe. I almost lost a rod over the side yesterday. I was picking up a rod, and somehow the eye at the balance point snagged the line on a rod below it. It flipped the rod over the side. Fortunately, it landed flat and I was able to grab it before it got out of reach.

To anyone who wants to do it as shown in the video, a bit of advice. All the boat yards and haulers in this area will put either a chain and binder or a cable come along around the two forward stands to ensure that the forward stands cannot spread.

Went to Devol today. The peepers were peeping. The turtles were sunning and the baitfish were swarming the shallows. Every time I made a cast into the shallows it spooked the small fish lurking there. Water temps from 58 plus to just over 60. Caught four bass, the largest almost six pounds. All were in close to shore. All were caught a black with blue flakes Rage Tail Menace. It got hung up on every other cast. Next time I'll rig it on an Owner twistlock, keel weighted hook. I had one (the Owner twist lock, keel weighted hook) rigged with a Rage Tail craw. Didn't get hung up, but it didn't catch anything either.

Nothing. I'm retired. But, when I had a job, here's the list. I started out as the general manager in a production woodworking shop. Did that for seven years. The next four years, I made wood clock cases for a company on Cape Cod. Grandmother, grandfather, wall and mantle clocks as well as making kits for them. After that, I did this for twenty some years. You'll notice the wheelhouse before (above) and after (below) I rebuilt it. After lobstering, I made fiberglass race car bodies. These cars are not painted. The color is in the gel coat.

That has changed dramatically at Sawdy. Today's temp and the entrance to the main pond was just over 58 degrees.

John Cameron Swayzee, is that you?

Gamakatsu Finesse Wacky Jig Head.

Where are you staying on the Cape?

A while back I thought I saw the rarest of all creatures an honest politician. Alas, I was mistaken. Maybe Big Bill can help me in my quest.

I suspect most of them are very high. The ponds around here are higher than I've seen them in years. I'm a half hour south of the Cape Cod Canal. I went to Great Herring in Plymouth a couple of weeks ago, and the water level was higher than I've ever seen it there.

This from someone who opened the door with this comment. My doctor better buy me dinner before my first colonoscopy.

Fat chance. You'll be lucky if the doc has the decency to pipe in some mood music, though they do dim down the lights. Now, if you really want something that might give you pause. If you ever need an endoscopy where they can examine your throat and stomach, make sure that they don't use the colonoscopy tube by mistake.

Whatever you decide, you should keep your bilge pump on its own dedicated circuitry, not interconnected with your live well. Put another through hull fitting of the same brand as the one for your bilge pump for appearance sake. Put it alongside your bilge pump outlet.

I don't know, but many years ago I could have supplied the lobster and crabs. Circa 1978.

We have those too. "The Westport River is considered to be one of the most significant natural features in the area. The river supports an extensive and productive estuarine habitat including over 1,000 acres of saltmarsh vegetation and over 100 acres of eelgrass beds. There are approximately 3,000 acres of shellfish beds, harvested for both commercial and recreational purposes. The major economic shellfish species include bay scallops, quahogs, American oyster and surfclam. The river is one of the few remaining areas in Buzzards Bay to harvest bay scallops. Soft shell clams and blue mussels are also important recreational species." http://westportwatershed.org/river-info/

Yankee version. Genuine clambake. Elvis sang two songs about these dishes, "Crawfish" and "Clambake".

Kudos. Well done. Here's mine. My wife grew up on a dairy farm, so I did the living room to reflect her heritage. The fireplace wall is barn board. The stones for the fireplace came from her parent's farm. The other walls are a barn red with white trim

Looks like it is bone side down to me. My one suggestion would be to fold the thin tail end of the filet under a bit, two to three inches. Will prevent the thinner tail flesh from drying out/overcooking. Actually, you can fold it under far enough so that the cooking thickness is fairly uniform from one end to the other, and the filet will be uniformly cooked.

WD40 is like its cousin, CRC666. They are great to spray on electrical wiring such as spark plug wires. Got a car with old spark plug wires that short out when they get damp, spray them liberally with either product and the car/truck will start right up. Years ago that was a common problem when the plug wires got old. Pretty rare in today's vehicles. It was common, particularly in a salt water environment to see a fisherman remove the cowl of his outboard and mist the entire powerhead on a regular basis. It eliminated a lot of corrosion and starting problems. Like automobiles, better, more durable components, such as silicone spark plug wires eliminated a lot of the common ailments of old time machinery. Armorall (silicone spray) is great for cleaning the vinyl dashboards and doorpanels of vehicles, but don't ever use it on floormats or seats. It's as slippery as ice.

It's not good for fishing in the rocks unless you use a long mono or fluoro leader. It's tough to cut unless you use serrated scissors. Or, if you want to see how weak it can be, a dental floss cutter will cut it cleanly and as easily as dental floss. But in vegetation, it really shines. It will cut/saw through lily pad stems like butter. Fight a good size bass in a lily pad bed and it will cut through them like a scythe. Unless the fish fights directly toward you or away from you, braid will cut down every pad stem it touches. It can clear a small bed of pads in seconds. It's great for casting, but it's tough on the rod's eyes. You can use heavy test line with not much of a casting penalty on spinning gear. It will cut grooves into the regular guides on econo rods. Fifteen pound test braid will cast better than six pound mono or fluoro on a spinning reel. It can also do a great job of slicing into your flesh if you don't pay attention when tying knots, or if you try to haul a decent fish over the side by grabbing the line. It will snap a rod on a hookset with less effort than mono. It takes more care when filling a spool with line. If you don't use any mono backing, or a couple of wraps of electrical tape on the spool, it is possible for the spool full of braid to spin inside the spool, or, for the spool to spin around the braid, with very little strain on the line. A decent fish can easily spool all the line off the reel with very little effort. The line may be tight to the spool when you first load it, but when the line starts to slip, it happens very quickly without warning. If the spool has eyes in the axle of the spool run the line through the holes, rather than around the outside of the spool when you fill the reel. That will prevent the spool from spinning inside the coil of line. Braid is a great line as long as you understand its weaknesses and characteristics.

The thing on any package that is going to require the most service and maintenance is the propulsion system, the outboard. And the most repairs as well, unless you run your boat into a jetty. No matter what brand, the boat will need repair. I too am perfectly happy with my 2011 Nitro Z-8, bought new off the BPS floor for 28,000 dollars give or take a few bucks. It was a leftover. It had three options, trailer brakes, belt buckles for the tie downs, and a custom Nitro cover. Best for the money, I'll say the Nitro. Best boat period, regardless of price, I'd go with those already listed. Their hardware is a step above that on Nitros, but you get what you pay for. You'll also get some nice touches on the top boats that you won't find on a Nitro. But then again, they come with a cost. I've got the basic 200 HP Merc Optimax Pro XS. The boat is rated for 250. The top speed on mine recorded on the GPS is 62.8 mph. Just me, light fuel load. Speed limit on Mass state waters is 45 mph. Even when I go out of state I do not routinely exceed 45 mph. If you are into tournaments and want to minimize your travel time, and maximize your travel time, then max horsepower is a priority. I have a philosophy, and it goes like this. A boat is nothing more than a platform on the water to get you to where the fish are. The second part is, that the man in the boat is more important than the boat he is in.

The 3M 5200 is great stuff. I've used a lot of it on my lobsterboat. But, and here's the rub, you can use it on something that you'll never have to take apart. There is nothing I know of short of cutting, or grinding, that will touch the stuff. I've use a lot of the various marine sealants in my days as a commercial lobsterman. For a through hull fitting, I'd use the plain old silicone sealant. There is a trick to using it however. Whether you are putting a window in a wheel house, or a through hull fitting, do not tighten them down right away. Tighten them just enough to get a good spread of silicone between the mating surfaces, then let it sit until it sets up. Then you can tighten it down and it will not squeeze the silicone out. You will have literally made a silicone gasket. If you tighten it up right away, you'll squeeze most of the silicone out and it will eventually leak. Whichever way you choose to go, do not fail to seal the tube at the inside of the hull. One other way is to seal the hole with epoxy. Get an O-ring that will just slide over the tube, then insert the fitting into the transom and tighten. That will seal the unit from outside water, while the epoxy will seal the transom from bilge water.

Thank you.

What? No picture of the swan on her nest?