Fishing Rhino

Why not a braid? You can get a braid that is much stronger with the same casting ability as mono. It might save you a few baits and fish. If visiblility is a factor, use a floro leader of equal strength.

I don't bring a snack. I carry a couple of bottles of water, just in case. In the heat of the summer, I will bring a small cooler with iced water and coke. That's the only time I've bothered to take on liquid. When I'm really into something, I'm like a camel. Can go eight hours without a pit stop.

I'll second the jig thing. I just started using jigs in the middle of March, and they produced when nothing else would. With a topwater, you can watch it work. With a jig, you feel it as it works the bottom (swim jigs aside. I've got some of those to try as well.). One is visual, the other tactile. I've got a lot to learn about jiggin, but I'm comfortable with what I've done so far. Learning to distinguish between a "strike" and a hang is challenging, but I'm learning.

Have you tried jigs? There is an article on here about pre spawn bass fishing. In a nutshell, it's this. Find drop offs near shelfs. A drop off may only be a couple of feet. Work the jig at these "drop offs". This is my first year using jigs, and I'm wondering why I ignored them for so long. I'm using 3/8 and 1/2 ounce football jigs. Strike King or BooYah seem to work equally well. Strike King calls theirs a football jig, BooYah a pigskin. Black blue flash in the SK and river craw (also black blue flash) in the BooYah. Flappin Hogs, watermelon w/ red black flake makes a good, but fragile, trailer. I switched to AlluringBait's beaver craw, and chunk in watermelon red. Much cheaper, as effective if not better, and much more durable than the GYFH. Cast, allow jig to settle on bottom, twitch, pause, drag, twitch. Vary the retrieve, and mix it up. http://www.***/articles/jig-fishing.shtml

Misery loves company. I've kicked myself in the butt a few times for failing to check the line regularly for nicks when fishing rocky bottom, especially when the lure gets snagged and you manage to get it free.. I've gotten into the habit of checking the first six feet of the line for nicks or chaffs every time I land a fish, just in case. Constant vigilance is a necessity, whether it's tying a knot, or checking the line.

I fish a canoe, and had always considered one of its weaknesses was problems with the wind. I've fished the past two days, and been quite successful in spite of the strong winds. Necesity is the mother of invention, so they say. I've found it very productive, and in some ways easier than on calm days. On very windy days, like the past two, I fish the sheltered shore. I paddle upwind, close to the shore to the place I want to start. Then I move away from the shore watching for the drop off. At four to five feet deep, the anchor goes over the side. This allows me to fish what is at the moment, the productive depth and bottom type (rocky). The anchor is tied off at the stern seat, beside me. This orients the canoe with the wind to my back. Makes for longer casts. When the area is worked over to my satisfaction, I pull the anchor, and let the wind drift me just shy of where my casts were landing. Work that area, and repeat the process. Even in a one foot chop, when anchored the canoe does not pitch in the least. It is as smooth as a calm day. It does tend to swing from side to side. But that's about it. Fortunately, my main fishing hole is nearly completely lined with this type of bottom. Windy, or calm, I'm going fishing.

I've always been an early morning guy. It's usually calmer, quieter and sometimes better. Plus, I always liked to make my fishing days as long as possible. I still enjoy sunrise on the water regardless. But, I've found the best early season fishing, for me anyway is between ten in the morning and two in the afternoon. Been out just after daybreak, while it's still frosty, and spent two or three hours with little action. Between 9 and 10, it picks up, along with the breeze. After two, it slows down. Possibly because I've worked the best spots. Possibly coincidence, but I've been out more than 15 times in the last three weeks. For me, fishing has been consistently better during the two hours before and after noon.

Used the Rage lizard yesterday with good results. Got one pole rigged with a Space Monkey. Hope to get out this afternoon. Still doing best with the jig thing however. When I found them, I made a few casts with the lizard and caught two, pretty quickly. When several casts yielded nothing, I went back to the jig, and caught more. Who knows, the lizard might have got them as well. More anecdotal than scientific. Also rigged a pole with a Rage Anaconda, and an *** Disc Lizard.

http://reviews.ebay.com/The-Swimming-Jig-How-to-Fish-with-Bass-Fishing-Lures_W0QQugidZ10000000004402468

I've tied it with the loop above the eye as well with no problems. But, when that loop goes above the eye, and it is tightened, it will have a tendency to cut into the line it is around. With it below the eye, and around the shank of the hook, it cannot exert the slightest cutting pressure on the rest of the knot.

I'd bet most of those who drink a lot while fishing, also drink a lot period. Personally, I think the link with fishing and drinking going hand in hand is like the same involving golf. Exaggerated. The guys who take a case of beer with them, will take that case of beer to tailgate parties before any entertainment event. The "outings" are just an excuse/opportunity to drink. If they weren't fishing, golfing or tailgating, they'd be drinking in front of the tv at home, or at the local pub. Home is the best place to get a snoot full. At least the drinker doesn't have to get behind the wheel to get home.

Methinks there may be a downside to leaving the cork on. You're in a wet environment. Inevitably the cork will absorb moisture and the plastic will not let it dry. All the experience I've had with boats, wood, and the water tells me that unless the wood is absolutely sealed, it must have good ventilation, so it can dry. Wood does not rot when it is soaking wet, or when it is dry. Fungus can only destroy wood (what we call rot) within certain ranges of humidity and temperature. When the bilge of a boat is not adequately vented, the temp and humidity will stay in the range for fungus to become active, and stay there longer. It's why they put strips of wood between the freshly sawn planks at saanother sitells. Stack em without separators, and they quickly rot. I think the plastic is there to keep them clean, and for no other reason.

I've been accused of being "soft" in the head.

I also understand that if a brother and sister marry in Tennessee, she can keep her last name.

http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/habitat/maps/ponds/pdf/dfwswatu.pdf Plenty of walkable shoreline available for fishing on South Watuppa. Some of it is boulder strewn, but that's not a bad thing. Just be careful scrambling around on the rocks. A fall could ruin your day.

Keep this in mind. When bonding to any cured fiberglass, boat or whatever, always use epoxy. You are making an adhesive, not a chemical bond, and epoxy is much stronger than any of the fiberglass resins, polyester or vinylester. Once you have the structural pieces bonded in place, you can then fiberglass the assembly using fiberglass resin. For boat construction, vinylester is much better than polyester resins. Polyester resins will absorb water.

The following is not an exhaustive list of ponds in Southeastern Mass, but it is a start. Some of the info is old, but it will give you an idea of the fishing available in each pond, and a topo map showing its depth contours, and launching areas. You'll find a couple of ponds in Taunton, but they're not far from Nip. They are more interesting. I tried the Nip once last year. It averages about three feet deep and the north end is choked with vegetation. What you won't find is Watson Pond which is across the street from Sabbatia. No gas powered motors allowed. I think you can use trolling motors however. You can launch at the state park across the road from Sabbatia. It's ok for a canoe, kayak, or car topper, since there is no real ramp. You can back down close to the launch area. If you have a carrier, you can walk in when the park is closed. The fishing is pretty good. It's a small pond. On windy days, you can find a sheltered shore to fish along. Definitely worth a shot if you have one of the aforementioned boats. It does not have heavy fishing pressure simply because it is not convenient. http://www.boatma.com/pondsonline.html You can pm or email me with any questions.

In his promo for this years new programs, he pokes fun at his goofy and contagious laugh. You have to kind of like a person who does not take themselves seriously, even if they are a bit corny. I have a friend from high school days who has always laughed like Mortimer Snerd. Because of that, he was given the nickname of Mortimer which endures to this day. For you youngsters, Mortimer Snerd was one of the ventriloquist, Edgar Bergan's puppet characters. Charlie McCarthy was his headliner.

Never had a single negative remark about fishing. It could be due in part that I am in coastal New England, which has a rich history of commercial and recreational fishing. Fishing and farming are an integral part of the history of Westport, MA. I also enjoy golf, and have had several folks comment that they look at it as a waste of time. Appropriately I tell them, different strokes for different folks. My enjoyment of any pasttime is not dependent in any way upon the approval of others.

I have them, use them, and they catch fish. I have often wondered what they are supposed to represent since I could not think of a thing they looked like in the environment of the places most of us fish. This morning I looked at the screen saver on my computer entitled aquarium. It's a "video" of gold fish in an aquarium. As they face you, all the fins are in motion, and the look amazingly like those wild videos of the Ragetail space monkey. Here's an image of a goldfish with wild, flappy, outsized appendages (dorsal fins, pectoral fins, anal fins, pelvic fins, etc.) This one appears to be a doubletail.

Wrong type of telescopic rod. ? http://www.tackletour.com/reviewkhe2hc76t.html Thank you. When he specified flipping stick, I came across that in a search. Learned something new.

Wrong type of telescopic rod. ?

http://www.cabelas.com/prod-1/0011753112334a.shtml Read the reviews. Great for a specific purpose. Other than that, not so good. You can't expect much for twenty bucks, other than convenience. Certainly not performance.

Anyone who remembers the old televisions will recall they had a channel selector, and a "fine tuning" knob. Usually with the channel selector in the center of the fine tuning ring. Select the channel, then adjust the fine tuning for optimum performance. The bearing tension knob is the channel selector. It is set with the rod in free spool. The setting will vary according to lure weight, but the process is the same. With the rod horizontal to the ground, and the lure you plan to use attached, put the rod into free spool. The lure should drop. When it hits the ground, the spool should stop rotating. The instructions I've seen say it should make no more than one revolution after the lure hits the ground. I prefer less than that. You'll have to tinker to find what is best for you. The further you cast, the faster the rotation of the spool, and the longer it will take for the bearing tension to stop it. Once you have that set, you then fine tune with the centrifugal braking adjustment. Again, this setting will vary for each fisherman. If you find your optimum setting at either end of the centrifugal adjustment range, make fine tweaks in your bearing tension adjuster, until your centrifugal adjustment is near the center. This allows you to adjust for slight differences in baits, conditions (wind) or your casting, which will vary from day to day.

After reading that, it confirms what we all know, or should. The grass is not greener on the other side of the street. If I had to make a living from fishing, I'd rather do a television show. Something tells me Bill Dance, and Jimmy Houston have more enjoyment in life now, than they did on the trail, especially when they were trying to establish themselves. Most pros have sponsors. Very few get lucrative endorsements. Interesting read. Funny, yet it shows the reality of tournament fishing.