Fishing Rhino

The more you "toot", the better you feel. It gets you ready for another meal.

The most interesting calls are those that show your number on the caller ID display. We never answer a call that has our number as the caller. Actually we do not answer any calls where we do not recognize the number. If the caller wants to speak with us, they can leave a message, identifying themselves.

The easiest way to deal with these people is simply, to hang up, But just before you "disconnect", hover your phone over the toilet bowl, flush, then hang up.

Here's a thought regarding hours. There are at least two types of hour meters. One is nothing more than a clock which begins recording time when the ignition is on. It will record the same hours whether the motor is run at idle for two hours, or wide open for two hours. The second is much like a speedometer (exactly like a speedometer). It is cable driven off the engine. The faster the engine turns, the higher the rpms it shows. The hours are recorded exactly like miles are on an odometer. In the case of this type, two engines that are run for the same number of "clock" hours at different rpms will not show the same hours of usage. The "hours" of use are directly linked to the number of revolutions the engine has turned. Neither of the above will give any reliable indication of how the engine was actually run.

Dams are not a problem for eels. They can navigate around them. Here's how they do it. An eel will swim onto dry land, leaving a slime trail for others to follow, then slide back into the water along the slime trail. The apparently go only as far as they can without losing too much slime. As others follow, the trail around the dam gets longer until it leads to the water above the dam. They can travel over land much like snakes. http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/american_eel.htm Some eels stay in marine estuaries. When we lived on Cape Cod, I got an eel spear and would go eeling on a salt pond. Eels hibernate in balls along the transition line where the bottom changed from sand to mud. Cut a hole along that line and start probing with the spear. You did not stab them with the spear. The tines would go over the eels body then you'd pull back impaling the eel on a barb. Sometimes you'd come up with four or five, maybe more eels on those barbs. You could tell when you hit a ball of eels. It felt like you were poking into a rubbery substance.

Here's an interesting thought. If we all bought used cars, the auto makers would go out of business, and in a few short years, we would run out of cars.

I've caught three rods and reels, one good enough to give to a kid in the neighborhood. In my lobstering days, I caught more gear than I could ever use. In late summer and early fall we had our gear set on the rocky edge of Coxes ledge. It was also a popular place for the party boats from Montauk, NY, and Point Judith, RI. In a few weeks, we'd fill a five gallon bucket with lead sinkers and the big chrome jigs and spoons that are typical for "bottom jerking". Our trawls were about a half mile long, and with thirty of them set on the ocean floor, they'd grab everything that crossed their path. The ground line was floating poly so it floated above the bottom between the traps.

A Christmas Story. I can remember all those things from my childhood. The secret decoder ring, wanting a BB gun which I did get, but did not shoot my eye out. In sixth grade a kid in my class stuck his tongue to the cold steel band around a wagon wheel, and it was while we were at school. All the stuff in the teacher's desk drawers. Yep, it's A Christmas Story for me.

"Great minds run in the same channel." Sounds like a compliment. But then, you have, "Fools think alike." Which one is it?

I'd say your boat is worth more than the nine year old. Boats have a way of getting expensive to own as they age. With proper maintenance, you should expect to get several years of trouble free boating with yours. A nine year old boat??????? And having to lay out more $$$$$ just to get it? Not a good deal in my book. The bigger, older boat will cost you more to run, and tow around. Save those dollars, plus what you'd be putting out (losing) on the deal and in a few years, you'll be financially way ahead of the game. Then go shopping for your bigger, better boat.

At least the price of gasoline rises and falls with variations in the price of crude. It never goes down with fiberglass materials and resins. It only goes up. When the price of crude goes up, I get notices from my vendor that due to the increases in the cost of crude oil, it is necessary to pass along that increase to their customers. I have never gotten a notice of a price decrease. If the price does drop to fifty dollars per barrel, I still will not get a notice of a price decrease. As soon as the price of crude rises, I'll begin receiving those notices of price increases. I doesn't matter that those prices they are now raising were based on crude at a hundred dollars per barrel. If the price goes from fifty to sixty dollars per barrel, they will take advantage of the increase to increase their prices. A five gallon pail of black or white gel coat which cost around 65 dollars in 1996, is just north of 200 dollars today. It's a pricing ratchet that only works to increase the prices, but never the other way around.

I always use a leader. I do a lot of fishing with four and six pound test fluorocarbon, and would lose a lot of baits to pickerel. I use fifteen pound test fluoro for a leader and use an Albright knot to join them. With braid I also use the fifteen pound fluoro for a leader. Most of the ponds and lakes around here are extremely rocky. Braid and rocks do not play well together. A nice fish takes the line around a rock and it's gonzo. Braid is great in vegetation, it can mow down patches of lily pads, sawing through them like butter. But in craggy rocky areas it's next to worthless. If you want to see how easy braid can be broken pull it over the cutter on dental floss. It cuts the line as well as any, and better than most braid scissors, and it takes very little pressure. It may be fine on smooth rounded rocks, but the rocks around here will part it as easily as the dental floss cutter. The knot goes through the guides with nary a tick.

I'm waiting to see if TW offers their gift certificates at ten percent off. They have the past two years, and it' a great deal. For ninety dollars you get a hundred dollar gift certificate/card. Use it for items they never or rarely discount, or use them in conjunction with their sales and you really save some dough. As for what I got on Black Friday. I went to Home Depot and got, a 220 volt, fifty amp circuit breaker, a junction box, a junction box cover, clamp connectors, and 6 gauge wire nuts. In the next week or so, I have to install a built in double oven in our home. Now the only thing we need is the double oven.

I just don't like fishing around here this time of year. The fishing really slows down. I have caught bass as late as December 31st, and a few were nice ones. But, it wasn't fun. Their metabolism must be almost hibernation stage. They try to jump and can barely get their nose above the surface. It's like dragging an old boot to the boat. I don't think they'll move more than a few inches to grab the bait. At least that's what it seems to be. Time for me to get all the projects done around the house so they won't interfere with next year's fishing season.

Great job! One suggestion, I'd fit a piece of plywood 6 to 8 inches wide, or maybe narrower, to span the two gaps where you secure your rods. The rods are very vulnerable, the tips particularly where they have no support beneath. One slip, or something dropped could easily snap them. Cover the plywood with carpet. It could be something that just rests across the seats, and the bungee cord that holds the rods down will keep them in place. Make them as narrow as possible, keeping in mind that you might want to carry more than a couple of rods with you. Cut the plywood to fit against the side of the boat.

Congrats. Well done! You are lucky to have found a woman with the patience of a saint. Now, where can we send a sympathy card to your wife?

The Black Keys? Are they related to The Ink Spots?

Whatever it is, it would have to be made out of tonguesten.

This is a bass fishing forum. In keeping with the theme, Raider should have had his tongue pierced with 6/0 hook. Or maybe a treble hook. Three times the fun. Our resident pharmaceutical guru, is now the forum masochist.

'tis the season.

So were the Slim Whitman, and Roger Whitaker albums. That's why I thought some of the youngsters might remember them.

Hey, yodeling ain't easy. It was either Slim, or Zamfir and the Pan Flute. The yodeling was the tie breaker. Roger Whitaker was a close third. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGWs1HK8iDU I know, I'm from a different time, and a different dimension. I do enjoy them, but my main purpose for posting these was to have a some fun with y'all.

You had to have it done to realize that sticking a pin through your tongue was not a good idea? Brings to mind something my dad said to me many years ago. I was doing something stupid, but was determined to keep on doing it. My dad said, "You'd probably keep hitting yourself in the head with a hammer because it feels so good when you stop."

Glad to hear your daughter is doing better. Hope she has a full recovery. Our younger daughter had something similar happen to her two years ago. She was having stomach pains. An MRI revealed she had fibroids in her uterus. My wife and I went to GA to be with her, and to help out for a few weeks following her surgery. The surgery went well, and we brought her back to her home three days later. The symptoms returned and she was feeling really lousy. Back to the Emory Medical Center. Tests revealed bone marrow depression, and poor organ function. It turned out to be a violent reaction to the antibiotic that she was on. They took her off all meds, except for pain control, and she bounced back in a couple of days. They put her on a different antibiotic, and monitored her closely. There was no adverse reaction to the new med. Back home in a couple of days. We stayed for a month, and helped out so she could rest. All has been well since. Hope your daughter's recovery goes as well.

Save time and money. Get your son one of these. Grown men have been known to flee from its presence.