Fishing Rhino

I recall seeing an informercial about a bait that did the same thing, backing away from you on the drop. If memory serves, it looked kind of like a pork rind strip. I cannot recall its name. It was a few, or maybe many years ago. It was not the infamous BM however. Sounds interesting enough that I'll be giving them a try.

Don't remember ever getting that upset. But, when I fished only once or twice a week, it would bother me when I lost a nice one. Now that I can fish a lot more, catching and losing fish has become more routine. I'm kinda laid back in my fishing. I get excited when I hook a nice one, but if I land it, there's no whooping and hollering. If I lose it, there's no outburst of frustration. I've arrived at the point where it has happened enough that I just take it all in stride.

I dunno either. But, the cops schooling him on where he messed up, and telling him he might have gotten away with it if he'd done it at night, weren't too bright either. Maybe the crook is too dumb to learn by his mistakes or the advice of others. I hope so, because in this case, it's possible that the cops are just as dumb.

Amen, and Amen.

Nickled and dimed. You don't have to tell me anything about that. You need to try the fiberglass business. Think the price of gasoline went up? You should see what oil prices have done to the price of gel coats and resins. Four years ago, a five gallon pail of black or white gel coat was less than eighty dollars. Today, it's over two hundred. Similar increases in the polyester and polyvinyl resins. The kicker is that there have been similar increases in the fabrics such as mats and roving. They contain nothing but minute glass strands either bundled or woven together. Yet their price increases have kept pace with the petrochemical products. Acetone was a about four dollars a gallon, bought in five gallon pails. Now, it's closer to fifteen. Metalflake products have had price increases as well, but nowhere near to the degree of the fabrication materials. It's a good thing I'm close to retirement. The only work I do now is whatever comes my way. I don't go looking for work. If the phone doesn't ring with orders, I go fishing. It's more for walking around money, so I don't have to tap our savings. When my wife retires in the next couple of years, I'll probably shut it down. I've got the solution for the pegs. Came to mind when I recalled some use them to hold skirts on jig heads. Small electrical wire ties to clamp the worm on. That will work great with the elaZtech worms, since they are indestructible. I wouldn't use that method on the others that are good for only a relative handful of fish.

You may be right. It certainly looks nice in the packaging. There are certainly times the packaging sells an item as much as its effectiveness. I was only speaking for myself. I'd be glad to pay the same price because I've seen what they can do. Even after they'be been hammered in the rocks and lost most of the powder coating, they seem to fish as well. I use an elaZtech worm on the jig. It's very springy. It's no small feat to get the proper amount of worm between the barb and the hook. A smidge too much and it will not be straight. Perhaps that doesn't really matter. I know I've caught plenty of nice bass on a curved installment. A smidge to little, and it may spring off the barb on the cast. There are times I've got it just right, and it stays put ninety percent of the time. Heck, I've seen it fall from the post on the cast, and still caught fish on the drop or the retrieve. Sort of a modified wacky rig. I suspect a floating worm, rigged wacky style, would produce nicely.

Try every method of retrieving you can think of. Vary it, and mix it up. You can use small hops or just twitch it along. You can also drag it, with intermittent pauses. Most jigs have brush guards to make them fairly weedless. Football heads are supposedly better in the rocks, but more troublesome in vegetation. Narrow swim type heads will work better in the grass and weeds. To make the brush guard more effective fan it out from side to side occasionally. You'll have to do it from time to time since its memory will return it to the original shape over time.

I do believe those unpainted barbs will hold very well, even on the stand alone post. You powder coat the jig without coating the hook. Don't know how you do it, but if you could possibly eliminate the coating on the weedless rigging post, you'd be golden. In fact, I'd buy them uncoated. If I want them colored, fingernail polish would do just fine, and it comes with an applicator brush that would be perfect for jig heads.

I'm not so sure it will produce larger size fish, on average, than its cousin, the Senko. If you're after larger size fish, use it as a trailer on a jig.

I have fished both fresh and salt water. From experience there can be little doubt that on average, salt water fish put up more of a fight pound for pound. This is due in no small part to the fact that most of the salt water fish I have targeted are pelagic species, stripers, blue fish, bonito, etc. They do much more swimming than their fresh water counterparts. Some may challenge that salmon are a match for salt water fish, but most salmon are sea run fish. Hatching, then heading to sea, and spending their lives there until they return to fresh water to spawn. Largemouth, and pond or lake smallmouths do not move around a lot, compared to salt water pelagic species. It is no wonder they lack the stamina of the salt water varieties. So why do I prefer fishing the sweet water? After years of commercial lobster fishing, I've had enough of tides, currents, surf, waves, choppy conditions, etc. I want something a bit more relaxing, while providing a measure of excitement. I can secure my gear and canoe in the back of my truck and travel from north to south, east to west, and find plenty of places to fish, in almost any kind of weather. At the moment, I have no desire to gear up for saltwater fishing. Tomorrow? Who knows? I have had the urge to take my canoe down to the river just to play with some of the freshwater baits and try to catch some schoolie stripers. The Rage Tail Anacondas are not unlike a rigged sea worm used for catching stripers. I remember, when living on the Cape, seeing a guy haul in striper after striper on Pleasant Bay in Chatham/Orleans. I worked my way closer to check out what he was using. This was around 1970, and he was using something I had never seen before. It was some type of plastic about five or six inches long, and had a tail that curled back about 180 degrees. Could have been a Mr. Twister, or certainly passed for one today. Whatever it was, it was one hot producer.

There are none of the major brands that I don't trust. Granted, I don't have them all in my gear selection. It would be financially impractical. It is obvious to me that there are many diverse opinions as to which worms, jigs, swimbaits, spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, etc. are best. If someone considers a particular brand to be the best, it should be deduced that brand produces well for them. Conversely, some on here have no use for this or that brand or particular colors. But, because one or a few cannot catch a cold using a particular lure or type of lure does not prove it cannot produce. Were that the case, crankbaits would not work, because I just plain do not have the knack for fishing them. While I prefer Owner hooks, I have no qualms about using many of the other brands. The question is like the arguments about car brands, and which is best. While I may prefer a particular brand, I would trust other brands to be reliable transportation.

This is nothing new. If you recall, the surgeon general under Clinton, Joycelyn Elders advocated teaching children how to masturbate, back in the nineties.

Speaking of golf, Titleist originally had Tiger in their stable, but Nike made an offer he could not refuse. Next time you see Tiger putting, pay attention to his putter. The grip says PING, but the blade is a Titleist. Just about any iron or metal wood can be bent or weighted to suit a golfers feel. But a putter? Apparently not. Some golfers spend hundreds on drivers but skimp on the putter. The pros put a much greater emphasis on their putter, Tiger being the prime example.

Markings are like fingerprints. I know of one fish I caught twice within a few days. It was about two pounds, and one of its gills had been severed at the top. That gill was white, and protruded about a half inch beyond the gill plate. Aside from that damage, the bass appeared to be fat, healthy and well fed. It did seem to tire more quickly than the average bass. Oxygen depletion, maybe? The markings of every lobster are also distinct. Even though they shed their shell in order to grow, the new, larger, soft shell which forms beneath the old will have the identical colors and markings of the old shell. The new shell will be an enlarged version of the old.

You are absolutely correct. I first tried these in clear water, with a fifteen foot visibility. I cast one into about six feet of water with a brightly colored worm so I could easily see it, and get a feel for the action. It unfailingly landed in the upright position. Whether twitched, jerked, dragged, or popped, it ended in a perfect standing position. Even when it was bumped over and around mussels, it performed as advertised.

Circle hooks, 3/0, brand of your choice. Do not overlook the Jackall Wacky Jig Head, or the Zappu Inchi Jig head. You can use them on all size worms rigged wacky style. They come in three different weights, 1/16, 3/32, and 1/8 ounce, with or without weed guards. Unless you really need the weed guards, don't pay the extra. The thin wire guard will break off after unhooking a few fish. The hooks are thin, and small, the thicker worms might interfere with hooksets. But, they really work well, and are among my favorite weapons. As a rule, size is more important than color. Some days the 3" worms rule. Other days 4" and some days, the 5" worms are what they want. Then there are the days they attack anything that splashed down next to them, and size seems not to matter at all. On those days, I use the small worms. Two advantages. One they cost less, and two, they give the hook a better bite, and better hooksets.

They should have had an anchor light on, and, they should not have been "dead" in the channel, anchored or not. Channels are for navigation. And yes, when I was a commercial lobsterman, I had trawls set in the shipping channel of Buzzard's Bay. But lobster gear in state waters could not be hauled between the hours of sunset and sunrise. And, I paid attention to the commercial traffic, which was considerable, and stayed out of the way of freighters, tugs, and tankers who could only navigate in the channel. On foggy days with zero visibility, I checked the radar frequently and when a large vessel was headed our way, I contacted them on channel 13 on the vhs to let them know I saw them and would get out of their way as they approached. I'd ask if they preferred me to move to the north or south to give them clear passage. Having said all that, here is a partial list of some of the things I have seen that could easily flip or destroy a small boat travelling at speed. Some would not even be seen with a spot light or headlights. Mounted and inflated large truck tires, telephone poles nearly submerged but with enough bouyancy to barely break the surface, mill timbers (16" X 16" by 20'), fifty five gallon drums containing who knows what, barely breaking the surface, dock pilings and sections of docks, capsized boats, etc. Zooming around at night may be thrilling. It's just not wise, or safe. I don't know if you spoke to the folks in that boat, but it's just possible that they broke down, and their batteries were dead. Did you think to check with them? I would have, if for no other reason than to get them out of harm's way. Been there, done that.

LOL, I used the biologically correct name for the appendage, but it got changed to "thingy" by someone, or the program which blocks certain words.

No hearing problems at all. He's a she, well was a she, but she's stuck in neutral now. The two are brother/sister/cousins. I just looked at the photo again. What appears to be a thingy on Ava(lanche) is the bottom of the fence pole behind her. I wondered why you mistook her for a male. Now, I understand. How? Same father and their mothers were sisters. They came from Virginia. 'Nuff said?

I don't know.

I made reference to my line getting scuffed because it makes contact with the rocky bottom, not the powder coated opening for tying on the line. I have no problem with the annular barb on the hook shank. That holds the SK finesse worm just fine. The angled barb for rigging weedless does no hold the SK finesse worm well at all. It is smaller, and shorter than the barb on the hook shank. Many don't like the elaZtech worms because they are nigh impossible to put on a barb, a twistlock, or any other coil type holder. I heat a thin safety pin, and melt a hole along the centerline of the worm to a depth of 3/4" to 1" deep. Problem solved. But, here's the kicker. I have to work to get it onto the angled barbed holder. It's at this point that it gets tricky. I have to hook it with a bit of excess worm body between the barb and the hook. If I don't, even nibbles from the little finned creatures is enough to pull it free. Sometimes, just casting is enough to dislodge the head of the worm from the barb. I would guess that pre powder coating, the barbed holder looks just like a hose barb. Powder coating, as I understand it is a powder that adheres to the object being coated by electrostatic charges. The object is then heated which melts and fuses the coating into a single unit. On the bait holder barbs, this eliminates the biting edge of the barb, since it melts together in a fairly uniform concave ring around the holder. The bait holder looks more like this annular ring shank nail. It's not a big deal to me, since most of the bottom where I fish the rocks has no weeds. A slight refinement in the angled barb would make all the difference in the world.

I believe they are powder coated. If they are, acetone, lacquer thinner or nail polish remover wont touch it. The powder coating is the problem. It fills the recesses in the ringed barbs. I use the Strike King finesse worms. They do not tear. But, I use them on the barb of the hook shank. When I use them on the weedless "holder" they do not stay well. They remain on the hook just fine, but the head pops off the barb. Sometimes on the cast. I like 'em. I use 'em. But the retaining barb for weedless rigging is useless. I see nothing to indicate that the powder coating lasts any longer than paint when fished in rocks. Not the bottoms I fish anyway. Most of my jigs end up being silver where the paint or powder coat gets knocked off. I don't see that as a problem since the parts that make contact with the rocks, and lose their coating aren't visible to the fish to begin with.

Index and middle finger ahead of the reel stem, ring finger and pinky behind it. I just like the feeling of security that I have control of the rod and reel, no matter what happens. I've seen one person hold the rod behind the reel. That scares me. Seems too easy to have it yanked out of your grip by those heavy strikes which sometimes occur when you are distracted, and not paying attention. I cast overhead, using sidearm for getting beneath branches or docks. My directional aim is lousy with the sidearm. On the other hand, my directional aim is good using sidearm with a baitcaster. Go figure.

I've never had a problem with storage. I keep it under the seat in my canoe in the bottom of a half gallon Tropicana OJ container. I cut it at the same height as the bottles, and put in cardboard dividers to keep them from clanging together. They are there 24/7, whether I'm on the water, or the canoe is in the garage. But, it is never exposed to direct sunlight. The contents have been exposed from temps in the forties to in the nineties with no adverse incidents.

I took last week off from fishing because of my fiftieth HS reunion. Glad I did. One of my former classmates lives in Oregon near excellent salmon and halibut fishing. Got an invite to go whenever I'd like. Another now has a home in Yarmouth, on Cape Cod. I knew Cape Cod had a lot of kettle ponds, but not the 356 that he said dotted the cape. He took up fishing a couple of years ago. He can get info on the various ponds as well as the Bass River. What was a fishing free week took a turn for the better. I know right where Douglasville is. Pass through it on I-20 whenever we go to visit our daughter in Temple.