Fishing Rhino

I'm glad for you. Isn't it amazing how illness or a potentially serious illness or injury gives us an entirely different perspective on life's priorities. Take care. I have a hunch that if all continues to go well you'll break out a rod now and then, but not with the same intensity.

Regarding insurance. Why does it seem that most are concerned about covering damage/loss to their boat. Suppose you damage someone else's property or worse injure or kill someone else? The first priority should be to provide coverage for what you do to someone else. Losing a full fledged bass boat would be peanuts compared to what your liability would be if you cause bodily injury to others.

So what's the scoop? Is it fixed? One of my pet peeves is when someone asks for help, gets some responses and fails to follow through and let the rest of us know what happened.

Here, add this to your pics.

What I'll remember most about that day was getting a chance to demonstrate how to remove a hook from a gut hooked fish (no treble hooks), not once, not twice, but three or four times. It's something I learned from the forum, and it's the most valuable thing a fisherman can learn. Here it is for all to study, and learn. http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/12981-how-do-i-remove-a-hook-a-bass-has-swallowed/page-2

Here's a blast from the past, the days of a bamboo pole, a length of kite string and a cork split half way through for an adjustable bobber. My cousin and I caught a gold(en) shiner, about the size of medium bluegill. We'd save our "creel" using another piece of kite string with a twig about four inches long tied on at the middle of the twig. We'd push the twig into the mouth, through the gills and once it was through, we'd turn the twig perpendicular to the twine and pull the twig snug to the gill plate. We never had a fish escape this rig. Later in the day we came back to free our captive shiner, but too late. A sixteen inch pickerel had swallowed the shiner. We thought that pickerel was a world record. It was a monster to a couple of kids who were not yet ten years old. Now, talk to me again about good line, good knots, good rods and good reels. I've since caught much bigger fish but none of them brought any more joy than that pickerel.

We need a new topic for threads like this one. "Something Else" We have an "Everything Else" topic, but this thread is something else, as are a few others

Sounds like a propeller issue to me. Maybe a problem in the hub. If possible, borrow a prop to see if the shaking issue goes away.

In no particular order. Wacky worm. Four inch Senko Watermelon w/blk and red flakes. Gamakatsu 1/8th ounce wacky jig head. Rage Tail: Craw, Menace, Structure Bug, Green pumpkin with purple and gold flakes or Watermelon with red and black flakes. Lunker City 2 3/4" Grubster clear water, silver flash and blue halo colors. The above can be rigged on a Keitech 1/8th ounce 2/0 tungsten super round jig head. Insert the hook into the center of the head, then along the centerline until the nose of the bait reaches the end of the bend on the hook. Exit the point of the hook on the top centerline and button the nose of the bait to the ball with a drop of Loctite super glue. It will nicely slip through sparse vegetation. In thick plants, I use an owner twistlock hook either 3/0 or 4/0. put the centering pin at the center of the bait's nose with the top side up. Three turns will bring the nose of the bait to the eye of the hook. Bring the hook through the body of the bait leaving the point just below the skin of the bait, or run the hook through the bait and put the point of the hook into a "pinch" of the plastic to make it weedless. I use a 1/8th ounce tungsten bullet weight to get the bait down into the weeds and to slip it through the plants. An alternative is to use an Owner keel weighted twistlock hook in the same sizes. The Owner hooks come in two versions, the original and the latest a lighter wire version. It makes setting the hook easier with six or eight pound test fluorocarbon line. Your choice.

Don't try that with Elaztech products. They will dissolve your cheeks, your gums, and also your teeth.

Is that Road Warrior without his fedora?

I'll second that motion, and it will cost a heck of a lot less. As for the larger water, why? Define larger. Wouldn't you rather fish in a smaller body of water with plenty of action than to go for a ride on a larger body of water and catch fewer fish?

Watermelon with black/red flakes or Green Pumpkin with gold and purple flakes. For what my experience is worth, they are interchangeable. As far as I know, the pumpkin with gold and purple flakes is only available in Rage Tail products. Give me craws, menaces, grubs, and structure bugs in those colors and I'm a happy camper. I'm trying to figure out why BigO didn't call it Mardis Gras, with the green, purple and gold.

That's one way of dealing with the dilemma. Let me guess. You use wax paper.

Probably the most common is "paper or plastic?". Now I'm not talking about what make of truck or car you buy. That's usually done every few years. I'm talking about those things we do on a regular basis. Those seemingly insignificant choices that can really annoy some. Such as...................... When you load a fresh roll of toilet paper on the holder, do you have it so that it pulls out over the top, or pulls out from beneath? Feel free to answer that, and add any other difficult decisions we face on a regular basis.

Methinks Irene is not far away.

Replace the filter. Just because you cleaned off the "gunk" doesn't mean the filter material is not clogged. My filter gets replaced on an annual basis, whether it needs it or not. Preventive maintenance is cheaper than curing problems arising from a lack of maintenance.

As Long Mike said, the question is meaningless. I have a Nitro Z8 with a 58 gallon tank, and a 200 horsepower Merc hanging off the transom. A full tank of fuel will last me more than a season around here. When I've gone on the road trips is horse of a different color. Probably burned about 15 gallons per day on the large impoundments. Around here I burn less than two gallons per day. Keep in mind the ponds around here are relatively small, averaging a couple of miles from one end to the other, and less than a mile across. I'm guessing it costs as much to keep the trolling motor batteries charged as it does to pay for the fuel I burn. That's just a guess. One thing is certain. I burn a lot more fuel hauling the big boat around than I burn on the water.

Is this a picture of your wife?

Can't afford a scale right now. It's all I can do just to keep baits on the hooks. Didn't go near the shore today, except for launching and loading. Didn't get within a hundred yards of the beach. Worked all the areas with vegetation in water 6 to 8 feet deep. Two types. One is curly tendrils that reach to the surface. Each tendril has a small flower about a quarter inch across. Yellow center, white petals. The other is thicker with leaves. About six inches of the top is lying on the surface. The tendrils yielded the most fish, but it would have been a mistake to skip the other. The thicker plants are easier to find. Instead of the clear water being a blue/green tint, it takes on a brownish hue that lets you know it's a place to try. The tendrils are just a stalk with the flower at the tip. They are a whitish color. Looks like possible T storms tomorrow morning. If that changes, and they aren't threatening this area, I'll be out on another scouting mission. The wind will be easterly, like today. I like that since it is better for scouting the east side of the pond.

That being the case, I don't believe a thing you posted. Then again, I did not hear it. I read it. Does that count? I made an error. my mistake. I did "see" your post. So, I'll only believe half of it.

Lake "X" is an early season water as far as spectacular fishing goes. After that, it's a hit or miss proposition. At least that's been my experience over the last three seasons. I did take my grand nephew from Florida there just after the Fourth of July. We had a good day. The best bait was a 2 3/4"Lunker City Grubster, Clear Water color on a 2/0, 1/8th ounce, Keitech super round jig head. They must have looked like young herring. On the pond near my home they've been hitting wacky worm, Rage Tail Menace, Rage Tail Craw, and the aforementioned Grubster. Been catching some nice fish in the grass beds about two hundred yards from shore in seven feet of water. I started trying the grass beds well away from the shore a couple of trips ago and so far, so good. I'm thinking of tying on a spinnerbait. It should pass through the tall plants pretty well.

Jiggy, when you're ready send me a p.m. We'll hit up that pond near my home. I think you'll like it.

I like it!

It's not unusual for other fish to follow a hooked fish. But I've never seen one follow another to shore and hang around like that. They usually scoot when they get near the boat. I have had a bass jump into my canoe when I was paddling through a lily pad bed.