Marty

Those are some very good groaners!!

Go to Cabela's and on the page for any sunglasses there is a buyer's guide which includes lens colors. Just click on buyer's guide just above where the pricing starts. http://www.cabelas.com/product/Costa-Wave-Killer-Polarized-Sunglasses/1157040.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch.cmd%3Fform_state%3DsearchForm%26N%3D0%26fsch%3Dtrue%26Ntk%3DAllProducts%26Ntt%3Dsunglasses%26x%3D0%26y%3D0%26WTz_l%3DHeader%253BSearch-All%2BProducts&Ntt=sunglasses&WTz_l=Header%3BSearch-All+Products

Not everyone does. I don't. My Power Pro goes from dark green to light and I do nothing, as I have never noticed any change in the line's properties.

Why are some of Hawaii's roads part of the Interstate Highway System? Years ago a co-worker committed a couple of malapropisms which greatly amused me. On one, he was commenting on an accident on a divided highway and said the car jumped right over the meridian. On the other, he said Bob (another co-worker) had invited him to his club for a round of golf and he thought it would be the right thing for him to retaliate and invite Bob to his club.

This is just my way, not necessarily the right way. Unless the pond has specific good spots known to me, I cover a lot of water without spending much time in a given spot. I'll walk around the pond with one lure, then again with another lure until and if I've found something to make me do otherwise. Usually one trip is with a topwater and the other either a soft plastic or a horizontal lure like a crankbait or spinnerbait. I tend to not stay in one spot and change lures unless I have good reason to believe that the spot has a high probability of holding fish.

Generally two, a dark and something lighter.

I use buzzbaits and other topwaters from spring through fall, under under all conditions from bluebird skies to heavy overcast and rain. You might be surprised how often topwaters get hit in midday, sunny conditions.

I use the uni to uni, but sometimes I wonder if it matters, as in all my years fishing I've never gotten down to that knot.

Agree 100%. No way would I test a scale other than by weighing stuff that's already been weighed on a certified scale.

Congratulations on your PB, always a huge thrill. As to lure confidence, that can be difficult. One of my ways to develop confidence is to start out with the new lure rather than your worm. I used to try new lures after my other stuff wasn't working and that's pretty silly, since the new lure is not likely to catch fish after you've already established that the fishing is no good, at least in there area where you were. If you can't bring yourself to do that, then start with your worm and if you're catching, then try something else now that you know there are catchable fish in the area. And if you can't do that, then maybe you're destined to remain strictly a worm angler. But I'd urge you to try your hardest to develop other confidence lures because they're fun and they're effective, sometimes more so than your worm. Finally, as someone infinitely more knowledgeable than me posted somewhere years ago, if you're doing well on worms you may be costing yourself fish. Why is that? Because if the fish are active and taking your worm, you may very well be able to catch even more fish with a faster-moving, horizontal lure, such as topwater, crankbait or spinnerbait. Good luck. I hope you don't deprive yourself of the enjoyment of the large variety of lures out there. Just my personal preference, but I'm more likely to change location than change lures.

Exactly. Or in different words, don't implement a solution in search of a problem.

I've foul-hooked a lot of carp, mostly in a section of the Erie Canal where there were good numbers of bass, walleye and pike. I rarely foul-hooked the others, so the only explanation I can come up with is that carp, for reasons unknown to me, seem to not get out of the way when a lure is coming at them. Most, but not all, of my foul-hooking was with crankbaits and it seems unlikely that the carp would not be aware of them.

I'd agree with your interpretation.

My uneducated guess is that you were in the right place at the right time and that a number of different lures would have caught fish. I've used rattling Rapalas and they're fine as far as I'm concerned.

I assume you're fishing in the South, so I don't know. But I can say here in western New York I get a lot of fish on topwaters in sunny conditions from spring through fall. Maybe it's confidence? At any rate, I have no hesitation about using topwaters under clear skies. (My profile picture features a topwater fish).

I do all my fishing with M or MH rods with 15# braid. They've been excellent for all around fishing.

There are easier ways. Like setting the camera down somewhere that you have already established will cover the area you want to photograph, setting the self-timer, pressing the shutter and striking your pose. I recommend using the flash to illuminate back-lit subjects and/or filling in shadows when the subject is front-lit or side-lit. There are a couple of other things to do, but I think you get the idea.

More reasons why Will is held in such high esteem.

I'm not saying my way is the best or that it's even good, but I believe in covering a lot of water unless I have a real productive spot. If I'm not getting hit my inclination is to move rather than to change lures or colors.

Agree, you might want to add a topwater to your arsenal, but what you have will catch fish. I'd definitely work the edges of that weed mat with the soft plastics and if the mat has holes in it, for sure you should run the plastics over the mat and drop them into every hole that you can.

There's a lure out there that hardly ever gets talked about and that's the Rapala Countdown. It'll catch anything that will hit an artificial and smallies are no exception.

I think a variety of small artificials will catch them. I don't target them as often as I used to, but these are what I used and all were successful: Small Kastmaster spoon Rapala Mini Fat Rap Smallest size Rapala Countdown I'm not sure exactly what the word "bream" covers, but what I caught were Bluegill and Pumpkinseed. They're great fighters on an ounce-for-ounce basis and are loads of fun on an ultralight with 4# line.

Glenn, is this a record, more than seven years between posts on a thread?

Did the administration really say prices are high because of low demand? I don't profess to know a lot, but rising demand in such places as China is a factor, as is political stability/instability and amount being produced. As was stated above, we were a net exporter in 2011 so there aren't easy answers. Finally, internationally, oil is traded in US dollars, so weakening or strengthening of the dollar can affect prices without any changes in demand or other factors.

I'd certainly probe anything that looks good; points, islands, vegetation, rocks, overhanging trees and the like. However, don't hesitate to cover a lot of water and fish areas that look like nothing because you might find a productive spot and may not learn why it's productive. A number waters where I've bank fished appear featureless so I've had no choice but to cover water. My biggest bass came from the bank and the fish hit in the middle of nowhere. Good luck.