Fishing Rhino

I'll put in my two cents worth about the Johnny Morris spinning reels. I have two, and will not own another. They had them on sale for 63.82 recently, and there is a reason for that. Here's my experience with them. First, the "titanium deposit" finish peeled off the part of the bail that holds the roller. In addition, the finish on the body of the reel blistered like it had been underwater for years. They replaced it. The reel is smooth to crank, but when jigging or even twitching drop shot rigs, the anti-reverse is not instant as they claim. There is play in both of them, and any type of jerking or twitching produces an annoying click, click, click. Never happens with my Saros reels. But the worst trait of the reel, that also never happens with the Saros, is that from time to time, when the bail is closed, the line will take a wrap around the roller section. It is smooth, and the drag is fine, but the other characteristics are unacceptable. Just bought two new Saros to replace them.

Nice..........calendar. ;D I love fishing. But, it is a distant second to ..............nevermind. Even at my age.

Small freezer zip lock baggies? I say freezer because the plastic is thicker and stiffer. The lightweight sandwich baggies would bunch up much easier. Or possibly some type of folder. http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_37107_100011010_100000000_100011000_100-11-10

Colors are funny (interesting) things. Years ago, like forty or fifty, the pond I fish was a smallmouth pond. Back then the only plastic worms were Creme or Burke's (maybe Berk's) worms. There were other makes but they were like the sidewalls of tires. The colors were black and brown. Black was the color we had the most luck with. Today, that pond is a largemouth pond. When I resumed fishing a couple of years ago, I bought some black worms based on ancient history. Can't catch a cold with the color black today. Black jigs work fine, but plastics................. I have no doubt that it's an effective color. Perhaps a few non-productive casts turned me off. It's tough to fish with something in which you lack confidence. In 2008, I caught a lot of fish on Mepps, spinnerbaits, Storm wildeye swim baits, chatterfrogs. Last year I tried them from time to time. Ended up hardly using those baits at all. That's fishing for you.

Twice this past year, I've pulled people out of the water because they stood up in similar boats, and capsized them. Neither had raised decks on them. They just got close to the side, and over they went. In both cases, rods, reels, tackle boxes, miscellaneous gear, and a battery ended up on the bottom of the pond. The advantage of boats of this type is their lightness and portability. This also makes them less stable, and, prone to swamping if weight is moved (person or gear) away from the centerline. Some make them work. But some can also walk a tightrope. Boats are designed for specific purposes. Modifying them can make them less stable, in some cases, dangerously so.

You are all twisted. That's why I'm looking forward to it.

The kicker in this is the filamentous algae. I don't know of any bottom dredging lure/bait that can slide through it without grabbing it. There is one other possibility that I have used with some success, because it stays above the mats of algae. That is the Strike King Perfect fluke type of baits. I suspect that other fluke type baits would work as well. The slow sink rate works well, as would the four inch senko suggestion for the same reason. When you twitch a fluke or sluggo for that matter, they dart toward the surface when rigged straight. I sometimes rig 'em so the back is humped up a bit. When jerked, it will dart toward the surface, but when given slack after the initial jerk, it will dive toward the bottom. You'll have to fool around, adjusting the hump 'til you get the action you want. But, hump or not, they can be fished effectively above the junk. And, it will fit your jerk bait screen name. Filamentous algae is nasty stuff. In my favorite pond there are times that gases build up, trapped beneath it, and the stuff floats to the surface. In other places, bubbles of gas get trapped and come to the surface. Looks like small cypress knees.

That "grass" looks more like filamentous algae. Hard to tell from the picture. I know your screen name is jerk bait junkie, but if you want to fish where that "grass" is, I suggest swimming a drop shot rig, using a cylindrical drop shot weight. Tie on an owner weedless wacky hook 1/0 or number 1. Leave a tag end of up to four feet. You can try just about anything on the hook. Here's what I suggest. Yamamoto flappin hog and Yamamoto 3 3/4" crawdad, a Strike King four inch, coppertreuse finesse worm, or a four inch Zoom lizard. Watermelon red happens to be the color I use more than any other. Put the dropshot sinker about two feet from the bait. Make a long cast and retrieve with pauses and twitches, allowing the sinker to stay in contact with the bottom. You may feel the sinker fetching up in the grass, but that's fine. Just keep jiggling your rod, and it will slide along, maybe picking up some of the gunk in the process. If your bait is snagging grass, increase the distance between the bait and the sinker. That's why the long tag end. I find that my best results come when the bait occasionally snags the vegetation. If you are regularly bringing back the greens on your bait, move the sinker further away. If you're never, or very rarely snagging the grass with the bait, decrease the distance in six inch increments. Keep in mind, that in shallower water you are likely to need a greater distance between bait and sinker because the line will be more nearly horizontal. In deep water, the line will be at a steeper angle. Sometimes, less is more, when it comes to the action the fish want.

It's one reason I like fishing from my canoe. My favorite pond has a rocky shoreline, and the few guys that fish from bass boats or any other power boats have to stay further away from the beach. They have to cast toward the shore, and retrieve to deeper water. I can get into the area where the fish are holding, and cast parallel to the shore, keeping my baits in the critical depth. If they make a thirty foot cast, their bait is in the zone for less than ten feet. I make a thirty foot cast, and it's in the strike zone 'til it gets to the boat.

In the 1950s, when I was a teenager, my buddies and I used to get Pippins cigars from a vending machine for a nickel. See the nickel price to the left, and above the peach over the Pippins cigar. The date for that was 1892. Sixty some years later they were still selling for a nickel. Talk about low inflation. The only time I smoked was during that era. I guess that made them my favorite cigar. The El Productos were out of our price range.

I have experienced the slow loading too, when I connect through internet explorer. A few weeks ago, someone suggested downloading the Opera browswer. I tried it, and it does load faster than IE. I was using IE today, and it was painfully slow. Shut IE, opened Opera, and the site is loading fine. There are times when IE does a better job than opera, particularly when MSN.com is on. Click on sports, and it may not open. But in most cases, it is better. The free download is what I have, and it works fine for browsing.

Well, if I had known that, I could have left that fifty bucks in the bank, and maybe gotten two cents in interest. I'm just being a smartazz about getting in early.

I'm doing my best to pick up hitchhikers along the way. Got one confirmed, and another likely. Room for four, but could squeeze five in if needed. Be sure to mark me down as needing a seat. That's why I responded as quickly as possible, to get in line. As I said in the reservation form, that could change. If it does, I'll let you know.

I agree. My check went out, first class, last Tuesday. First class is supposed to reach its destination anywhere in the contiguous forty-eight within three days. It hasn't shown up on my bank statement yet. But, I'm keeping a close watch for further developments. The postman probably saw FIRST CLASS and knew it couldn't be for Mike. ;D Did you ask for a receipt? I did consider sending it registered mail, return receipt requested, but I figured if he needed the fifty bucks that badly ..................... and it also had Road Trip on the "Pay to" line.

They are also my favorite, and there is a neat, quick, and simple fix. It takes three things. A candle, a safety pin, and a match or lighter. Heat the pin in the candle flame. Center it on the head of the SK finesse worm and press it into the head along the centerline to a depth of 3/4" - 1" deep. Can do a pack in a couple of minutes. Use a thin safety pin. You can use a needle, but you'll need to hold it with pliers, or you'll get burned. The heat doesn't conduct well beyond the loop of the safety pin. When you put it on a barbed post like the ShakE2 jig head, apply a drop of super glue. It will stay there until you lose the rig. Try the four inch coppertruese worm. I use it for shaky head fishing, and drop shotting as well. I don't use it exclusively for drop shotting, but I do for shaky head fishing. Neat, clean, quick. No fuss, no muss.

Or vice versa. It seems we are relating the amount or variation of gear we bring as making it complicated. Think about this. How many ways are there to present any given bait? Fast, slow, pause and jerk, dredging the bottom, mid-water, top water. Granted, not all baits can be fished as listed above, but some can. For example, I can fish a Rage Tail Craw or Space Monkey as any of the above. The beauty of fishing is that it is a complex sport with an infinite number of permutations as to how it can be pursued. Sir Snookalot, sometimes goes to the beach with one lure, and a backup in case it parts off. I'd feel naked. But I have skinnied down what I bring, though most of you would go into hysterics at what I call "skinnied down". Most days, I could make do with a half dozen different baits. But I'm not at ease unless I have the "just in case" other baits along. They are like a security blanket. I'm not so insecure that I cannot admit it.

Trust me. I'm plenty relaxed. Just having some fun, like the guys in the know do with that "chicken" thing.

I agree. My check went out, first class, last Tuesday. First class is supposed to reach its destination anywhere in the contiguous forty-eight within three days. It hasn't shown up on my bank statement yet. But, I'm keeping a close watch for further developments.

I had similar difficulties with my canoes. I have a carrier that has wheels like those on small bikes for when I cannot back up to the water. I came up with a very effective and efficient solution for launching at ramps. Hip boots, or waders. I had hip boots, and you can get some that will do the job for about fifty bucks. Back your truck right up to the water, so your jon boat extends over the water, or to the water depending on the slope of the ramp.\ Slide the boat into the water until it is nearly off the truck. Then support that end, slide it off and lower it to the water. I didn't think up this idea. I saw a guy launch his twenty foot bass boat wearing hip boots. He backed the trailer into the water. Got out of his truck, donned his hip boots, and waded into the water to get the boat off the trailer. Pulled the boat onto the beach, parked his truck and trailer, walked his boat to water deep enough to lower his motor, jumped aboard, took off his hip boots, stowed them, and was on his way. Works slick. Most times, prior to wearing the boots, I'd be fishing with wet feet. In fact, I wore my kayaking/canoeing mesh fabric sneakers for that reason. The boots work great, particularly when the water temps are cold, brrrrr.

I've been thinking about replacing the two Johnny Morris signature spinning reels I bought as combos with his rods last year. Those reels can be had at BPS for $63.82. They once sold for over a hundred bucks, and if memory serves were more expensive than the Saros. They don't have a full time or instant anti-reverse, so when jigging or twitching a bait, the bail can move backward until it reaches the stop. Both of them do it. The deposition finish isn't very stellar either. They replaced one of the reels because the finish was peeling off the part that holds the bail roller, and the body of the reel had corrosion blisters all over it. I went to the local tackle shop that had the best prices around here decades ago, and bought two Shimano Saros which he discounted to just below $115.00 each. The best part is they are a full servicing Shimano dealer, as well as other top names. From now on, they will have my rod and reel business. They are only 15 minutes from my doorstep. One of the brothers who started the business many, many years ago, is nearly 90, and still goes to work every day.

New boat, or used boat? I'm not thinking about pursuing tournament fishing, but I am serious about fishing. Number one. The man in the boat is more important than the boat the man is in. Number two. If you can't find 'em, you can't catch 'em. No boat by itself will help you find the fish, I don't care if it's a boat you paddle around, or a glitzy boat that will do eighty mph. You need to see, and learn to read the bottom over which you travel. That means electronics. The best your budget will allow. A fifty thousand dollar boat with inadequate electronics is worth less than a twenty thousand dollar boat with the best electronics, when it comes to catching fish. My suggestion is to research, and select your electronics. For your goals, side scanning and bottom scanning is a must have. GPS features as well cannot be overemphasized, particularly those that show the bottom in relief, rather than just a chart with depth lines. Once you have settled on the electronics that show you the bottom and reveal fish habitat on the bottom, then spend the rest of your budget on the most boat you can get. What is between your ears is the most important piece of equipment that you have. It needs data to process. No boat alone can provide that data, no matter how big, fast or glitzy it may be.

I'd suggest you meet me at my home. You don't want to leave your truck in the parts of NJ through which I'll be driving. You can have my truck's garage space. Don't have to worry about the elements or ultra violet rays damaging the finish or your dash. It's only a three and a half hour ride. The peace of mind should be worth an extra seven hours of round trip driving. That pic was taken when it was new, three years ago. But, it looks the same today, only the miles have changed. I posted it so any interested party could see what they'd be riding in. I've had pickups that look like this. I had Target as a sponsor in those days. Truth is, it was so banged up, I painted the bullseye on it so other drivers had something to aim at.

As chance would have it, while I was there, a boatbuilder was speaking about the ability of G flex not only to withstand water but to actually bond wet surfaces. He soaked a couple of pieces of wood in a bucket for three days. He removed them and applied the G flex to the wet board, clamped them and placed in the bucket for another day. When he tried to pull the pieces apart, it was the wood that gave way. The bond remained intact. I have no experience with the product, but was very impressed with what I heard. The only other material I know of that will bond soaking wet pieces of wood is 3M 5200, and that stuff takes days to cure.

Yesterday while picking up some materials at the fiberglass vendor I picked up an Epoxyworks magazine and saw this article which may be of interest to the rod builders on this forum. While it's done to a fly rod, I imagine it would work on spinning or casting rods as well. Here it is. I hope it reproduces so it can be read and the photos are clear enought.

I'll be driving down from Mass. Room for one more for sure, and possibly two. Here's my route. If interested and can meet us along the way, let me know. Leaving MA mid morning on May 1. Rte 95 to NJ Turnpike, rte 78 at Newark to I-81, through NJ, PA, a corner of MD where another will join me, through VA into TN. Get I-40 west and then on to Pickwick Landing. A couple of state highways between I-40 and Pickwick Landing. It will be a banzai run to reach our destination around sunrise, approx. If interested, pm me. I've got a four door pickup and a cap with locking door on the back. Room for gear and luggage to be safely stowed out of the weather. Comfortable ride, easy to drive. Navigation system, and everything but a sun roof and overhead dvd player.