Fishing Rhino

Yeah, but think about what you saved on oil changes.

Nine, because that is all I can safely stow in my canoe, and still have quick access to them. My new canoe will handle 11, with more space between them. Plus a trolling motor. For those who haven't seen it.

Let's take a look from this viewpoint. Take the total number of small bass. Of that number, tag an amount of them equal to the number of big bass. Collect a ten dollar reward for each tagged bass caught. Would you consider yourself lucky to catch one of the tagged bass? As the tagged bass are caught, then returned to the pond sans tag, the small bass are fewer in number and thence harder to catch. When it gets down to one small tagged fish in the pond it will be much harder to catch that particular fish. Some on here have posted that they are seeking only a record or real trophy catches. They gladly sacrifice quantity for quality. Since they only catch these super lunkers occasionally, and not on a regular basis, a certain measure of luck has to be involved. Is it all luck? Of course not. Neither is it skill alone.

I have one thought for you. It occurred to me when my mother passed away, and while riding in my truck, our younger daughter started crying. I knew why, but regardless, I for some reason felt compelled to ask her why. She responded that she missed her Grammy, and would never see her again. I explained that her sadness was actually a good thing. Not the sadness itself, but what the sadness meant. It meant she had spent time with a grandmother that she loved and that loved her a great deal. She was very close to her grandmother, and the fact that she was so sad was because they meant so much to each other. What would be really sad, would be if she didn't care, or wasn't sad. Her sadness was the result of losing a very precious relationship. And that relationship was a blessing she was very fortunate to have had. To not grieve over the loss of someone or a pet, would be truly sad. Be thankful for the joy that a relationship has brought into your life. When you are sad, it may be a good thing.

Galactic Gorilla?

The ways you can fish it are limited only by the recommendations here, and your imagination. I too like the Owner Twistlock 4/0 for the Monkey. It can be had in the 1/8 ounce weighted version, or just the bare hook and twistlock, no weight. The weight aids in casting, while the weightless hook allows a slower retrieve to keep it on or near the surface. Fishing deep, use the weighted. On or just below, I prefer the weightless. I did run it on the surface, through the emergent vegetation, with the weighted hook. Got plenty of swipes at it. Went to a weightless, and with the slower retrieve my hookup ratio improved. That could be my fault, but it is what it is. Eventually, I found that running it just below the surface (slower yet), yet shallow enough to create a wake or disturbance on the surface worked even better. I find it also slips through the vegetation a bit easier without the weight. The weight catches briefly on vegetation, then comes free. I suppose at times this could induce more strikes. Earlier in the season, late April and early May, when the lily pads were beginning to show, the following method caught 'em like crazy. Five feet of water. A few lily pads on the surface, with the rest at various depths as they emerged from the winter dormant period. Toss a monkey on a weighted hook into the pads. Leave the bail open or the reel in free spool. Count slowly to ten. Reel in the slack. If you feel a weight, increase the pressure. If you feel anything that indicates life on the end of the line, set the hook. If nothing, drag the bait a couple of feet. Pause, and let it settle back to the bottom. Repeat until the retrieve is complete. With braid, you will feel every encounter the line or the bait has with the stems of the pads. When you feel a tug, it's a fish. Work an area of the pads thoroughly before moving to virgin territory. I've pulled as many as six out of one casting area. There had to be more that I missed. These were all nice sized fish. Most likely pre-spawn. I fish in Massachusetts, so your bedding season may vary, but while not sure, I suspect any area would correspond with the emergence of the pads in a similar fashion. Colors that have been most effective. June Bug, followed closely by Watermelon/Red, then in no particular order, Big Tex, Double Header, Bama Bug, and Okeechobee Craw. Those are the colors I tried. For all I know, those I did not try may have been better. I can only recommend what I have tried, and with which I have been successful.

Michael at 50, Elvis at 42. Both revolutionized the music of their day, though Michael had more talent, in my opinion. I was not a fan of Michael, but there can be no denying the impact he had on the music of his day. Both lived tragic lives at the end, and their lifestyles did them in. Sad.

It's funny how things pop into your mind when you're not thinking about them. The topic of this thread, and the relative importance of better equipment prompted the following for your consideration. This may be off topic slightly, but one area where technology has made the fishermen, particularly the less skilled, better, is the technology of lures, and their action in the water. Back in the day, it took a lot of practice to impart the desired action to lures and plugs. Today, with very little effort and practice, just about anyone can successfully fish baits like the Rage Tails. You can name countless others as well. The "frog of choice" fifty years ago was an Uncle Josh pork rind, with a chunk of the pork left on for the body, and the tail filleted, leaving only the skin. There was an art to rigging them and an even more difficult art of working them properly. Today, you have Spro, Scum and a long list of froggy baits that make the process easier for all, with a lot less effort and study. Uncle Josh had probably been around prior to the advent of the spinning reel, and baitcasters back then had to be cave man material compared to today's computerized stuff. While the cream still rises to the top, the rest of us have been elevated in our "ability" to catch fish simply because of the technological advances. I for one, am thankful for it.

LOL. Another philanthropic mendicant. I'm sure you'd "welcome" the opportunity to do just that.

In the end, when all is said and done, the main factor in the equation boils down to the fisherman, himself, or herself. I suspect that Catt has more expensive, and better gear than I do. I have no doubt that were we to switch gear, he'd still outfish me. As he said, "People in life who are the happiest don't have the best of everything; they make the best of everything they have". A "great" fisherman with mediocre equipment would still be a great fisherman. The thing you can improve most, at no cost to you, is ............. you. edit: I have no doubt that were we to switch gear, he'd still outfish me. Except when it comes to catching lobsters.

You want to give him something he'll be guaranteed to like? A gift card is the way to go. That's what I get from my wife and daughters. Please, please don't buy me clothes. Some folks would be thrilled, I wouldn't. You should know how your brother feels about clothes. If he is a clothes horse, then clothing is a fine choice. Some frown on gift cards, or consider them crass, and that is fine. For years my wife frowned on gift cards. She felt the time spent selecting just the right gift was as important as the amount spent. It wasn't just the gift, it was the thought and effort that went into its purchase. But a card is the one sure way of getting him something he likes. He sure won't use it on something he doesn't like.

I don't know where you read that as it is common knowledge that braid and rocks go together like a knife and soft butter. Agreed. Braid is not the best choice for rocky areas. When fishing those areas one should use a good sized leader of mono or flouro. Braid may be resistant to certain types of abrasion, but it's not resistant to rocks!!! I also agree now. But I was going by what I had read that pretty much parroted what I cited in my prior post. I find it very odd, and more than a bit frustrating that Power Pro claims their Spectra cannot be cut by rocks or coral. Some of the other stuff I've read more than likely were consumer reviews of braid on the BPS and Cabella web sites. Since I had been away from rod and reel fishing for more than a few years, many of the products are new to me. I search the internet to learn what I can to help with the learning curve, and to avoid making the error I did with the braid. There are times the info is just junk, as it was in this case. I should have know better, since I often use (after reading about it on this forum) the stamped sheet metal cutter from dental floss to cut braid. In fact, the Power Pro Spectra comes with one on the package to cut the line when you've stripped what you need from the spool.

Seems odd to me that a battery at three months needed to have water added. Is the battery connected to anything other than the charger? If it is in your boat and connected to the trolling motor or other electronics, it's possible there is a draw on the battery. If that's the case, the charger will never "see" the battery as being fully charged.

Try fishing spots with the same characteristics as the spot where you hooked and lost the big one. Casting to the same spot can be futile, unless the fish are schooling. If one big one was happy with a particular spot, other big ones will look for the same type of environment. Depth, structure, cover, food supply.

Sounds like your body clock got set to wake you up at 3 each morning. The best bet? Check with your doctor. He/she should be best able to instruct you on what will "reset" your body clock. If pain woke you up, and you took meds to relieve it, your body can develop a dependency for that med. If it got used to receiving its "fix" at three in the a.m., it will wake you, just as hunger can wake us in the morning. Doctor first. He will know if a sleep study is in order.

How old is the battery? Was the electrolyte level below the plates before you added the water? I just got a Schumaker fully automatic charger that is made for deep cycle batteries. When a battery is fully charged, it will turn off. A continuous trickle charge can damage a deep cycle battery. In the trouble shooting section, under charger will not turn off: Battery has problem and will not take full charge. Solution: Have battery checked.

Actually, not very painful at all, as long as I did not jiggle it around. It sure looked nasty though.

I don't know where you read that as it is common knowledge that braid and rocks go together like a knife and soft butter. These are not the articles, or items I read, but they convey the same message. Braided Fishing Line Posted on Aug 19, 2008 under braided fishing line | No Comment Those of us that share a passion for fishing have certainly realized the many advantages of using braided fishing line on various applications. Braided fishing line is one of the strongest types of fishing line in relation to its diameter. Braids are made by braiding or weaving fibers of a man-made material like Spectra or micro-dyneema into a strand of line. Braided fishing lines are resistant to abrasion. This line is so strong that you have trouble breaking it when you get a snag. A fish is very unlikely to break it. http://www.braidedfishinglineblog.com/ and: Sufix Performance Braid From castability to abrasion resistance and knot strength, this incredible new line excels in every category that's important to you. In fact, its soft, supple feel makes it completely compatible with spinning reels - something that very few braids can claim. The exclusive Y6 Digital Braiding process produces a tighter braid pattern that won't unwind under the severest conditions. A specially formulated finish protects Sufix Performance Braid from abrasion caused by contact with logs, rocks and debris, so you'll be fishing this line long after your buddies have respooled their reels. PowerPro Line An innovative manufacturing process known as Enhanced Body Technology permeates this revolutionary braided line with a protective layer that will not peel off. This results in a line that is 10 times stronger than steel and winds easily on to any type of reel without retaining memory. The smooth surface texture allows PowerPro Line to effortlessly sail quietly through the guides. This high-performance Spectra braid handles like mono and has one of the highest strength-to-diameter ratios available. Enhanced Body Technology delivers a compact, abrasion-resistant line with a smooth surface texture and virtually no spool memory. Braided Fishing Line Caught More Fish A braided fishing line is made by weaving multiple strands of fibers like Spectra or Micro-Dyneema into a strand of line. Braids are much more expensive than any other lines in the market due to the difficult weaving process. They are sometimes called Super lines. These fishing lines have little or no stretch with very small diameter for their strength. They're not stiff and have no memory. Braids are very strong and abrasion resistant. Power Pro Braided Fishing Line. 10X stronger than Steel. Micro Filament Spectra. Power Pro Line Will not cut guides: Smooth casting: Super strong: Ultra sensitive: Cuts through the air for long casting. Cuts through the water. No false hits. Zero stretch. Rocks and coral will not cut this line. The best line for surf fishing, deep sea fishing, trolling. The reel was spooled with PowerPro Spectra, Red, 10 pound test.

Chartreuse/green and white skirt. Cochran's Lil Mr Money. Available only at Walmart. Made by Strike King. It's not a large spinnerbait, has Indiana and Colorado blades. The larger blade is copper or gold, and the smaller is silver. Use a Mister Twister chartreuse with silver flake or a Mister Twister purple trailer. I've also got the Strike King Premier. It's a large spinnerbait. Same colors. It has Willow leaf blades. It fishes as good as the first, but costs two dollars more.

Hmmmmm, where's Miss Cleo when you need her?

I tried a couple of things that worked very well for me today. First, thanks to *** for his wacky worming article which prompted me to experiment and innovate with wacky wormin'. The first. The "X" factor. I tried two five inch *** chartreuse/pepper worms, hooked about a third of the way from the head, rather than the center. Before casting, set them so they cross, not lying side by side. Fish using your usual wacky worm techniques. The T-bone I hooked the five inch chartreuse/pepper *** worm through the center, as per usual. Then, I hooked a four inch *** chartreuse/watermelon laminate about an inch from the end. Either end, makes no difference. I had hooked it near the head, and when it showed a tear, I hooked it near the tail, and it worked just as well. Again, fish using your usual wacky techniques. Oh yeah, the hook. A 5/0 circle hook. I have Owner and Gammy, and do not know which it is that I have tied on. Hope it works for you as well as it did for me today. For a report, see "The saga of the silly old fool" on the tournament/outing forum.

Fishing has been so so lately. Good fish, the braggin' kind have been few and far between the past few weeks. Didn't get out Sunday, Monday or Tuesday. Screaming northeast wind, among other things. Today was a perfect day. Cloudy, sprinkles, light breeze. Perfect to try something different. Hmmmmm, how 'bout wacky wormin'? Not your normal wacky wormin', this is wacky, wacky wormin'. Two worms on the hook. Not hooked in the middle. Hooked about a third of the way. Make sure they make an "X", and do not lay beside each other. Two *** five inch chartreuse/pepper worms. First cast. A bass about two pounds. OK, the wacky thing doesn't scare 'em all away. At least one liked it. Lose one worm in the process. Put another on. Work my way along the shore. Toss the spinnerbait. Catch two small bass. Try the Space Monkey, one hit, no fish. Two hundred yards or so along the shore from where I started, I catch another nice bass on the wacky, wacky rig. This one about three pounds. Lose another worm. The wacky wacky seems to work just fine. Let's try a variation. Hook the first worm in the middle as per the usual method, then hook the second through the body an inch or less from the end. Either end, makes no difference. In this case, the second was a four inch chartreuse/watermelon laminate. The hook, for those taking notes, 5/0 circle hook Gammy or Owner. Have both, not sure which was tied on. At the northeast corner of the pond, I head south, along the eastern shore. Another cast, another bass. About like the last. They seem to like the T-bone wacky as well. Get to an underwater ridge of rocks that are perpendicular to the shore. Hooked and lost two nice ones last week when they took the ten pound braid into the rocks. I've read that braid is good when it comes to abrasion resistance. I disagree, it popped like sewing thread when they got into the jagged rocks. To make sure that didn't happen again, I tied a four foot length of YoZuri 30 pound test leader to my braid with a blood knot. Let's see what happens now. Cast. Bam! A bass grabs it a couple of seconds after it hits the water, and heads for the rocks. Sorry, not this time fella, or gal. Boat another nice bass in the three to four pound range. Release it, and make another cast. Bam! On the first twitch an even better bass gets hooked, then boated, then released. The T-bone is hot stuff. A third cast. A couple of twitches, and a snag. Then the snag begins stripping line from the reel. Rocks be damned, the hybrid is doing its thing. Now I've got a monster (for this area of the country) at the boat. Larger than the fish in my avatar. I've got a nice Rapala digital scale to weigh the gal. Hmmmm, it's in the Rubbermaid container about four feet ahead of where I sit, below the lineup of my rods. Easy to get to. I lean forward, reach between two rods, and my hand stops. Uh oh, the Xrap front treble is now buried in the fat of my palm at the thumb. Take a look. It's past the barb. Put the reel the lure is attached to in free spool so I can get back in my seat and ponder my next move. First, return the fish to the water unweighed and unphotographed. On to the hook imbedded in my hand. Looks nasty, but only hurts when the hook gets moved around. What to do? If I had an extra hand, I could use the string extraction method. But I don't, and I'm alone. Maybe if I lock the forceps on the bend, I can effect the same motion by rotating the hook so the side opposite the barb spreads the puncture, while trying to jerk it out. A couple of tries convinced me that was futile. OK, how 'bout if I just shove the hook on through? If I can't cut the hook, I can at least squeeze the barb closed, then slide it out. Simple enough, right? Wrong. Try as I might, I could not get the point to pierce the skin on the way out. All I got for my effort was a bump that looked like a pimple when I tried to force it through. Surprisingly, none of this was extremely painful, and I did not want to quit fishing considering how they were biting. Finally, wisdom prevailed. Go to the emergency room and get it removed. So, I paddle across the pond. I briefly consider just dragging my canoe away from the shore, but with over two grand of equipment on the canoe, I decide it best to load it into the back of my truck, go to our house, and stow the canoe safely in the locked garage. This I do with the Rapala dangling from my hand. Once home, I put a few layers of packaging tape around the tail treble so it can do no damage or get snagged. Then with masking tape, I secure the lure in a neutral position so it's putting no pressure on the treble in my hand. Get the the emergency room, the doc tells me I'm lucky he's there today. He's the only one who knows how to remove a fish hook. Sorry, I tell him. I do too, but I'd need a third hand. He asked me how I'd do it, and when I tell him with the string technique, the wind goes out of his sails. That's what he does. I can tell you it is completely painless. Tie the line, get the hook lined up, press the shank downward, one swift tug, and it's out. Back to the house. Load the canoe. Back to the pond. Resume where I left off. Caught six more, two of which were larger than the one I wanted to weigh. All caught on the T-bone wacky rig. Never thought about weighing or photographing them. Just keep on fishin'.

6.5 pounds. BooYah jig (pigskin, river craw color) with an *** Beaver trailer (watermelon/red), with the flappers dipped in JJ's Magic methylate. Did I get all my sponsors in?

Never checked at my favorite pond, but it's surrounded by private property. Fished several times at ponds in Fall River, and saw the Environmental Police all but a couple of times. Spoke with them on those occasions but they never checked my license. In fairness, it is pinned onto my hat in a license holder, in plain view. Years ago, by law, you had to have the license "prominently displayed" while fishing. When you bought the license, you got the holder. Most pinned it to their hat. Now you don't have to have it prominently displayed. If you want the holder, it costs a buck. Mine stays on my hat, which I only wear while fishing. Have a duplicate in my wallet, just in case. I keep the "non-resident" licenses in this type of holder. Put the license for the state in which I'm fishing to the front of the holder. Slip it over my head, with the holder at my back.

Hey Kent- You can send me those Owners if you don't want them. I use both and don't have any issues with either. Owners do seem sharper right out of the package though. CWB, you are such a philanthropic mendicant. As I recall, you also offered to relieve me of the burden of some baits I wasn't using. ;D