Folshen

I got my first boat this spring, a 1236 and couldn't be happier with it. Its always myself and daughter or wife. Got 3/8" floor with carpet, TM and battery along with all your "normal" tackle. Even got swivel seats on 9" pedestals and stability has never been an issue even with jet skis and speed boats in the vicinity. Just weeks after getting that boat I ran across a 1032 for $50 that I just couldn't turn down...only for resale / profitability reasons. Long story short, fixed some leaks, applied paint and then took it out for a "test flight". Rating tag I believe stated 375lbs as the max capacity. I figured myself and the wife combined had us just over 400lbs and we took nothing but the oars, seat cushions, a tackle box and two rods. Never went more than 100 yards from the boat launch and probably never into water more than about 4' deep. It was miserable to say the least. I've never felt more like a human bobber than I did for that hour or so we spent on the water and promptly sold the boat a few days later.

So far this year, one muskie, two pike, a few bluegill, pumpkin seeds and sunfish, a couple perch and a lot of rock bass.

My local Walmart has the better part of one isle dedicated to fishing items but the bait selection has been in horrible shape all summer. For the most part it always looks like a tornado just went through there and very little stock. The last time someone mentioned a big sale at Walmart I went over there that night....and when I walked into the isle I couldn't help but laugh. I don't think there was a single sale price in the whole isle, let alone anything marked clearance.

I'll have to admit the Dremel tool probably wasn't the smartest option, but it was the only thing that came to mind at the time...and it did wind up working. As for the loop method, looks fairly simply but I had never been hooked before and had never researched methods of removal. Now should it ever happen again I'll surely be giving it a whirl if it means saving $300 or so. Of course had I known the doctor would simply rip it out with pliers I could have probably done that myself. The only concern I had was I truly thought it might have hold of some tendons as if I squeezed the pad of my finger the hook would rotate forward. There really was no pain involved though. The only thing that came close was when the doc injected the lidocaine as that did sting a bit but a few seconds later the whole tip of my finger felt like it was on fire and then quickly went numb. Its been six weeks now and the very tip of my finger is still a bit numb but its slowly coming back. I guess when he ripped it out the barb must have had hold of a few nerve endings. I can tell ya one thing, I've always been pretty careful around a mouth full of trebles, but now I'm much more cautious than before.

Its the 4th of July about 6am, dead calm, water was like glass and my daughter and I left the landing as the first boat on the water. Fast forward about 20 minutes and we'd made it through the channel and into the second lake. The sun is getting brighter on the horizon and I'm thinking this is going to be a great morning. She's casting a Heddon Tiny Torpedo and suddenly its "fish on" and her pole is bent over pretty good. I set my pole down and get the net ready. It gets close to the boat then just about bent her rod in half as it darted under the boat. Looked like a very nice bass as I dipped the net in and scooped it up...but it wasn't a bass, I'm really not 100% sure what it was though I believe it to have been a walleye. The reason I don't know is because the bait was no longer in the fish but just tangled in the net...so, I reached in and grabbed it, got the first treble free and started on the second...just about that time Mr. Mystery Fish decided he'd been playing dead long enough and you would have sworn somebody had just lit 'em up with a taser. Well naturally that's all it took to sink one of the trebles completely into my middle finger, right at the first joint. I quickly put a foot on the fish to stop the seizure he was having and finished freeing the lure. At that point I just held the net up briefly so she could see her fish which was approx. 20" and then dumped it overboard. Now all attention is on the finger. I unhooked the swivel so I was no longer attached to my daughters pole, smiled and reassured her I was ok and that it was by no means her fault, then fiddled with the lure for a couple moments. It obviously wasn't going to just slip back out as the barb had a good hold on me. I spun the lure free of the treble so I could get at things a little better. I jiggled and tugged and pulled and twisted and cursed under my breath more than a few times but knew I wasn't going to get it out while on the boat. My side cutters wouldn't / couldn't cut the hook trying to work left handed so I sat back and lit a smoke. Smiled at my daughter and told her to tie on something else and get back to fishing if she'd like too. Then I thought "hey, perhaps I can still fish with it stuck in me" and I picked my rod back up. Casting wasn't a problem but trying to reel it back in holding just your middle finger out, trying not to let the treble get caught in the bail...well, I figured that just wasn't going to work so I eventually conceded. Now its 20 minutes or so back to the landing and then I've got to unload the boat, get the 12' jon up and into the truck, load everything else in and then drive home...all while trying not to hook anything else with said treble. Finally home, get another pair of "beefier" side cutters out...still can't operate well left handed. Light bulb comes on over head, I'll use a couple bar clamps to secure the Dremel tool to the work bench and then use the cut off wheel to get rid of the treble. I'm thinking at that point I can just push the hook on through and pull it out...might even be back on the water in less than an hour. Moments after touching the treble to the cut off wheel it jerked it out of my left hand and twisted the barb inside my finger...but only a tad, just enough to make ya go "oh shoot" (or something like that). So now we get a little smarter and hold the treble with a pair of pliers to keep it steady. Hey, works great and we're nearly half way through, sparks just a flying and suddenly, d**n did that thing get hot! Fast forward 30 seconds after shaking the finger and blowing on the treble to cool it off. Light bulb is on a little brighter now, this time we'll cut a little at a time instead trying to burn right though it. Worked beautifully. Now, I'm finally down to just the one hook sticking into, or out of my finger...which ever way you choose to look at it. Its about this time the wife steps into the garage and says "you guys are back awfully early!" I smiled and said "yeah, not by choice but its kinda hard to fish with a hook stuck in your finger". I then explained what happened and what I was attempting to do. All she said was "I'll get dressed, your going to have to go to the emergency room". I of course laughed as the worst was over, now I just gotta push it on through and its back to the lake. I spent another half hour with mini vise grips and a couple different pairs of pliers trying to work this thing out of my finger. I'm right handed and this trying to work with the left hand just is not working. For the second time this morning I finally conceded to her and said "I think your right, its not coming out". So, its now around 10am and we're at the prompt care. I'm thinking this is just great...I have no insurance and not only is it a Saturday, but its a holiday on top of that. Who knows how much this is going to cost me. Finally get in and they stick me with the needle to numb things up. Now the doc takes a pair of hemostats and proceeds to "wrestle" with the hook for a good ten minutes. I expected him to push it on through but no, he was bound and determined to pull it back out the way it went in. I brought the remainder of the treble with me so they could see exactly what was in my finger but apparently the barb didn't intimidate him any...and hey, it wasn't his finger so why should it? So after the first couple rounds go by he decides he needs something bigger to get a hold of it. Out the door he goes, then moments later comes back...with the exact same brand/color/size pliers I had been using at home. Less than a minute later I'm all set. I can now get through airport security without setting off the metal detector again! Wash the area real quick, didn't hardly bleed at all, stick on a band aid and ok, lets get outta here. Nope...not so quick. Tetanus shot? Uhmm, I don't know, guess it was probably about ten years ago. Oh, ok...a quick stab to the shoulder and great, now I'm updated for tetanus too, great! Can we get outta here now? Checking out at the main desk, nope...don't have any insurance. How much is this going to cost me? She had no idea, couldn't even guess but they would like to have $100 deposit if at all possible. Well I had gotten paid the day before so, sure...here is $100, now lets get outta here. My finger feels like a balloon but its numb. Daughter has had enough fishing for one day and wants to go see Grandma. No problem, drop her off then go load the boat back up again. Wife and I made it on the water shortly after noon. It was no longer dead calm as the wind had kicked up. We're not the only boat on the water this time as the jet skiers, speedboats and tubers are all over the place. We still managed to boat a few fish and had a good time. I did spend an extra couple minutes in that very spot where my daughter had caught Mr. Mystery Fish as I somehow felt the lake, felt that very spot somehow owed me something. Well, if it does it wasn't in the mood to pay up. So, its now the middle of August...nearly six weeks have gone by and I've not seen anything from the prompt care in the mail. The wife suggests maybe I overpaid. (insert laughter here) No, I highly doubt that. Well guess what showed up in the mail today, right you are, its my statement and no, I definitely didn't overpay. $75.00 - Pharmacy $232.00 - Professional Services Less $100 from my deposit and another $46.05 that was labeled as "Estimated Discount" and I still owe them another $160.95 for their services. My boat was purchased for $435.00 and leaks quick well. My Vari-Max was $179.00 The deep cycle was $90.00 Everything else was much cheaper. My "good" reel was bought over 15 years ago for approx. $20 and my "good" rod cost me another $20 or so. My tackle box was only $25 and there is well under $200 worth of tackle in it. I sure wish I had $307 to share with the bait monkey, or to put towards a better boat, or a couple of really nice rod/reel combo's. Ya know, I just wish that spot would cough up what it owes me as I try it every time we go past...still nothing. ::sighs:: Ya know, I guess I can't really complain much. I've got a wife and a daughter who both love to fish and even though the boat is only big enough for two of us as at time...I'm always one of the two. Now if ya actually stuck around long enough to read my ramblings, my hats off to ya and my only advice would be...have a lot of respect for them hooks...especially the ones with barbs in 'em. Oh, and if you ever see Mr. Mystery Fish, let him know I feel somewhat cheated and that I'm still trying to collect. Probably will be for years to come too.

My daughter just turned 11 last month and she fishes with me 50% of the time. She has no problem getting up at 5am and spending 3-5 hours on the water. I just try to make it as "comfortable" as possible. Make sure she's over dressed in layers so she can peel off as needed. Let her wander down the snack isle in the grocery store the night before and pick out whatever chips, crackers, jerky or cookies she wants along with a big jug of Gatorade. I like the "teach, don't preach" mentioned above and I try to do just that. There are times where she fishes away and other times where she'll just be dipping her Rapala in the water or watching it "swim" next to the boat for extended periods of time. Other times, she might put the pole down and sort out / organize / play in her tackle box for a half hour. I just try to cherish each and every trip knowing that it won't be that long before dear old Dad and early morning fishing trips are replaced with texting and facebook and boys...

I'd love to be able to stand but with a 12' jon I'm stuck in the seat 99% of the time. It's got to be some very calm water in order for me to be able to stand...even then its not a "steady" comfortable way of fishing.

Can you tell me what I'm doin wrong? Uhmmm...let the wife drive?

Unfortunately mine is the only power source I have...outside of using the oars that is. I would have to agree though about the packaging, I too assumed it meant that I would have increased open water speed, but that was definitely not the case. No idea on the efficiency of it but I'm still pleased with the weed performance vs. the stock prop.

Looks like you had pretty close to the same results as I did though I will definitely be using the Safari as my primary prop...at least so long as I keep playing more in the weeds than I do open water.

I have the original and a jointed version in silver/black and I can't get over all the people who swear by it...I still tie one of them on here and there and never get a bite. I seem to have the best luck with a gold fluorescent red while the wife gets 90% of her fish on a blue and silver. Second choice would be the firetiger.

I used to have one of them cheap, inaccurate spring scales but haven't seen it in years. The only time I remember using it was on a 22" I caught who was very lean...the scale put her at just under 4lbs. The only other fish I weighed was a 20.5 which I took to the post office and laid it on their scales. That one was 5.76lbs and I had it mounted (back in '92) as it was the biggest bass I'd ever laid my hands on. No others have been weighed and every bass since then has gone back in the drink to catch another day. My other two "big" fish both measured 21" but I've no idea on their weight.

Been out on the water a couple times with it now and it is like night and day compared to the machette prop. The only downside is I went from 3.4 mph in open water down to 2.8 mph according to the GPS. Well worth the trade off for speed considering I can go through the weeds now instead of trying to go around them.

I would have to agree, you don't need all that new stuff to catch fish and have a good time doing so. I've been bass fishing for 20 years and never had my own boat until this year. I've got a leaky 12' jon and a trolling motor. I own three rod/reels that total well under $100 and all my tackle including the box could probably be replaced with another $200 or so. My heaviest bass was 5.8 caught on a gray Moss Mouse and the longest was 22" caught on a yellow w/black stripes Beetle Spin. We never go out and "knock 'em dead" but we do have a great time every time. As for the "old baits", I don't have a Hula Popper but I do have a Jitter Mouse that put two fish in the boat Wednesday night including one on the very first cast.

Odd one for me would be about an 8lb carp that slammed a Hula Popper years ago.