wnybassman

The only lazy thing about it is if you drop anchor and fish one spot all day whether the fish are biting or not, and there is nothing wrong with that if that fulfills what you are looking to get out of the trip. But you can also be a proactive bobber fisherman and find the right areas and patterns like any other type of fishing.

I still find smallies more active in the early hours of the day, even this time of year. Largemouth like it better later as the water warms.

Smallmouth. Might have caught a bluegill or two smaller, but pictures were not taken.

Should be an expiration date on it somewhere. And no, for $79 a pop for a re-arming kit, I have not tested it by jumping in the water. lol

Another vote for the Mustang H.I.T. I have caught myself forgetting it was on after I got in the truck to head home. I have had mine for 3 or 4 full years now (I'll have to look at the expiration, I know they are good for 5 years) and the only signs of wear is the red material has gotten slightly fuzzy due to use. Even relatively comfy in the summer heat.

I just use round. K.I.S.S.

It is amazing how something so small can cause such great pain. When mine was moving from my kidney to my bladder I thought I was dying. X rays confirmed the stone, and a relatively small one at that. I don't remember the size they said it was. From that time it took about a week to pass, and when that occurred it tickled more than anything. Tough to explain, but I didn't experience any pain passing it. My trophy..........

Same here. All the way down unless lake bottom or weeds are an issue.

The past couple of years it has been a blade bait.

In addition, I run the short 2" or so piece of wire all the way through the eye and out the other side. You always get that little ball of crud on the end of the wire, and if it is just a quick in and out that ball of crud just sticks back on the eye again. Some jigheads that I know I'm going to lose at a fast rate I don't waste the time curing, but after I clean the eye out I'm hit it with a torch quick to smoothen out the paint edges so it doesn't mess with the line. I have hit them with a torch after breaking the paint out after curing too.

He would need to be especially careful around lightning though. lol

I still use them on offshore structure as well, even with GPS at the console and bow. It is nice to have that visual aid to tell you exactly where you are. Unless your buoy string doesn't unwind all the way, and you find yourself trying to figure out where the fish went and all of a sudden you are a 1/2 mile away from where you thought you were. Don't ask me how I know about that scenario

A few things determine where to draw the line. If I am having great difficulty getting from the cockpit to the bow due to the waves, and I have crawled to the front before. If so many waves are breaking over the side of the boat that both my bilge pumps cannot keep up with the water, it's a good time to get out of there. And if my trolling motors craps out due to constant high power use, and even then I have used the outboard to maintain position before. Under all of those conditions the PFD never comes off. It's all relative though as for wind speed. Lake Erie gets kinda nasty with 15+ mph west winds, although I have been out the in 5+ footers numerous times and once (only once lol) in 6-8 footers. Inland lakes are different. Most of ours are North/South oriented so a north or south wind makes them kick up worse, although it is easier to maintain position/course than a very strong west wind. I have fished in 40+ mph winds a couple times and 30+ more times than I can remember. If it just gets too uncomfortable I pull the plug.

A NW wind means a wind coming out of the NW. I am not convinced baitfish get blown into a wind blown bank, rather the wave action in the shallow weeds/rocks gets microorganisms stirred up causing small fish to actively feed which in turn gets bigger predator fish feeding as well. Also, the water surface gets broken up by the chop making fish more comfortable coming out of cover, and helps camouflage the fisherman better too allowing us to get closer without detection. Often times a wind means a change in barometer or a general change in weather, which often dictates better fishing. Not always though. I generally choose to fish the windy side unless I just can't stand up in the boat due to heavy waves, or my bilge pumps can't keep up with the water coming over the side. lol

To answer the original question, yes you can. It's the only knot I use.

Water and Gatorade. I don't eat much while fishing, but when I do it's during the run from one spot to another. Either small packages of crackers (cheese or peanut butter) or just several peanut butter sandwiches for the day. It has to resist top speed, and those do pretty well.

1/2 ounce is my go to size from 6 feet to 50 feet. Generally if I am dropshotting I am fishing the bottom, and I want it down there 3 seconds ago.

I've never really tried to hold position in a river. Drifting is much more effective, and you really get a workout by the end of the day making 600 repeated drifts in one day. lol

Rivers, as long as it is a bigger river such as the Niagara or St. Lawrence. Why? A 2 pounder fights like a 4, a 4 pounder fights like a 6 and a 5+ pounder is just unreal. Smallmouth of course.

I don't remember exactly what my CPA told me, but said something about the Misc. 1099's and I could have expenses against that particular income only. The first year I had fishing income from one organization that totaled $3700 or so, and I had receipts for over $5000 to wash it out. It was his idea, not mine. I only saved receipts just in case. The second year was only $1200 or so.

Can't get a return, can only break even. I asked. lol

73º, but the thermostat is very near the TV, a lamp and the computer monitor, so it is not real accurate. The thermometer in the kitchen reads 64º-65º most the time.

Really not much different than a one or two hour run from a fishing spot back to the ramp. They do that all the time.

I think it is $600. I had 1099's sent to me two years in a row, but it was very easy to offset the income with expenses.

I started out by pouring my own tube heads because I am a tube dragger from Western New York. If I didn't pour my own, I'd be broke. There would be days I'd snag and lose 40+ jigheads a day easy. Didn't take too many trips like that to pay for the melting pot and a couple molds. From there I got into other jigheads, then dropshot weights, then more other stuff. Lead is basically free, just have to keep your eyes open and jump on opportunities when they arise.