Marty

I've read that putting it into the gill should never be done. I don't know if if it can be done safely by a careful angler. My friend weighs his fish by this method. I use a digital scale and for the past five years or so I use a cheap lip gripper from Cabela's and put the scale hook into a hole in the gripper's handle. Then I subtract the four ounces that the gripper weighs. http://www.cabelas.com/product/The-Fish-Grip-Fish-Holder/738192.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch.cmd%3Fform_state%3DsearchForm%26N%3D0%26fsch%3Dtrue%26Ntk%3DAllProducts%26Ntt%3Dgrip%2Bholder%26x%3D0%26y%3D0%26WTz_l%3DHeader%253BSearch-All%2BProducts&Ntt=grip+holder&WTz_l=Header%3BSearch-All+Products

I'll take your word since, as I mentioned, I never set foot in a kayak. I feel very safe in my canoe but have no way of knowing if it's less safe than a SOT kayak.

I have never set foot in a kayak of any kind, but I still know that the above statement is true, although I'm not sure about the safety thing. I have a 14' tandem canoe which I use solo. It's wide and relatively flat-bottomed so it's not efficient to paddle. But I tend to bring a lot of stuff with me and it's all laid out right in front of me for easy access. My point is that one needs to buy the boat which best suits one's wants and needs and you have to take the bad with the good.

Topwaters and crankbaits.

I disagree with the generalization about abrasion resistance. I've heard that braid doesn't do well with rocks, but I find it incredibly abrasion resistant to wood and vegetation. That is one of the main reasons I switched to it from mono and copolymer. I'm almost always fishing weedy water and my former lines would have areas of fraying every few feet for almost the full length of a cast. It drove me nuts. Power Pro 15# is what I use. While braid does have some annoying properties, the pluses outweigh the minuses and I'm not going back.

I think it's a matter of not fishing them at the right time in the right place, since tubes and jigheads are known fish catchers.

Here's a quote from a Kevin Van Dam book. Draw your own conclusions. "During a tournament in Michigan a few years ago, the top four finishers were fishing the same weed flat that was about a quarter of a mile in diameter. We were all pitching worms into the weeds, and as we later discovered, we were all using a different color that each of us believed was the secret to our success. I was throwing a black worm and it was the only color I could get bit on, yet one angler caught his on junebug, another was using red shad, and another was convinced that pumpkin was the hot color. Obviously, color didn't matter to the fish as much as it did to us."

Some people think color is very important, others don't. Regardless, it's a crapshoot. Every time you hit the water you can start with the color that you believe is appropriate for the conditions, but in the final analysis, whether it's color, lure, speed or whatever, you have to keep making adjustments until and if you find out what's working on that particular day. Fishing is unpredictable and trial-and-error is the name of the game.

I don't think a generalization can be made regarding the casting distance between the two types of reels. My friend with baitcasting regularly casts considerably further than I do with spinning, using the same lures. It's been years since I used baitcasters but back then I noticed that casting distances could be very good with them.

That is a common practice in a wide variety of industries, highly dependent on the relationship between employee and employer and the circumstances of the departure.

I agree 100%. This is not about the current employer, it's about how companies view someone who walks off with no notice, even if that is exactly what the company deserves.

I'd probably prefer the President 6935 for use with 10# line. All other things being equal, a larger spool will handle line better and the 6935 is by no means too large a reel.

I prefer a bag over a box, but you need to buy based on your storage needs and personal preferences.

I probably should have picked up on that based on your user name.

I use braid for everything, including cranking, and haven't noticed any problems.

What makes a guy from SC a Bills fan? Don't the Panthers provide you with enough misery? I didn't follow his career but a friend who's an FSU grad followed him and isn't very impressed. On the other hand, a good friend is a dyed-in-the-wool Bills fan who studies the game closely and he's high on Manuel. It seems pretty clear that the guy has a good work ethic and is of high character, so all we have to be concerned about is football skills. But it's too much of a stretch at this point to entertain the thought of him being a franchise QB.

I'm obviously not Jeff, but I use a uni-to-uni knot. But as I mentioned in my earlier post, I don't think it matters since, at least in my case, I never get down to the backing.

In the normal course of fishing, I never get down to the backing, therefore I never thought it made a difference what kind or size of line was used for the backing.

John, I don't think usage of plastics is related to what someone will pay for a crankbait. Everybody has their own thoughts on what constitutes value. I'm sure many anglers who own boats won't pay $17 for a crankbait. Where does this argument stop? "You spend thousands on a boat and motor and you think $17 is extravagant?" There are $7 crankbaits that will catch hundreds of fish and last for years. I still have seen no evidence, other than anecdotal, that a bait priced at triple of another provides triple the value. Again, everyone has their own thoughts on value. I'm very far from wealthy, but I can afford a modest lifestyle in my retirement. I could afford to pay $5 for a candy bar but wouldn't because it doesn't meet my standard for value. I could likewise afford to buy some $17 lures but wouldn't for the same reason as the candy.

For those who think it's a scam, and I'm not disagreeing, what do you think the scam is? Just for the sake of discussion, all the information he's asking for is public information from the phone book, assuming you're one of the old fashioned who still gets service from a company that publishes a phone book. So in theory you provide the information and two things can happen: 1) He sends a check and if it clears he can take the boat; 2) He asks for more information, in which case you don't provide it. Having said all that, I wouldn't respond if it were me.

You could possibly modify a john boat with some bass boat-like features, but I don't know that it'd feel like a bass boat. They're just two completely different types of boats.

I can't speak for baitcasters, as I stopped using them about 20 years ago. Spinning reels in the $40-60 range have done everything I expect them to do.

Certainly pike and pickerel will take any bass lure in your tackle bag. I don't know if walleye will hit as many lures, but I know they hit grubs on jigheads and a wide variety of crankbaits. Pier fishing Lake Ontario for brown trout, coho and lakers my favorite lure is a lipless crankbait.

I can't help you make the transition, but I can offer up a quote from Kevin Van Dam's first book: "In fact, show me a good shore fisherman and I'll show you an angler who will make a great boat fisherman should he ever decide to add a boat to his fishing arsenal."

I don't think I've ever paid more than $8 for a lure. That's because I have every confidence that these traditional, moderately priced lures will do just as well as their more expensive counterparts. I've never seen any credible evidence that pricier lures catch more and/or bigger fish. Obviously if an angler thinks they do, then he'll have to use them to feel confident in what he's doing. I've always believed that you can't buy your way to more success with more expensive rods, reels and lures. If evidence came to light that changed my mind, I'd be first in line to buy that equipment.