OkobojiEagle

Years ago manufacturers would recommend "breaking in" a new small outboard with 50:1 and then use 100:1. Over the past decade or two I've only seen 50:1 recommendations for all-around use. 100:1 will give you less smoke from the outboard but will not lubricate the internal parts as well. I buy my marine oil in pints and mix one pint in a six gallon container. Stabil is good insurance if you aren't going to go through the six gallons inside of a month and I consider it a necessity when storing gas through winter. oe

Yellow and white are harder to see with the sky as background. Dropping from 20lb diameter to 10lb diameter makes the line harder to see irrespective of the color. oe

Don't leave unattended tackle in the pond. oe

Rooster... on paper; uhh... memory chip... you've got it figured out, now you need to put it into practice. oe

EZE-lap model S... keep it in your pocket, you'll use it more often. Sharpen the hooks you are a using every few fish you catch or after each snag you free. Dwight's technique is effective. oe

I rig "thicker" grub bodies with a X-acto knife. I use Brewer's Spider head jigs and slit the bottom of the bait lengthwise (about 1/2 way through depthwise). Using wide gap hooks I've slit the top seam of the bait (again 1/2 way through) and hide the hook point in the slit. When I "top slit" the bait I usually "kirb" the hook point slightly to bury it into the side of the slit. oe

A good place to START understanding "finesse fishing" is researching "Charlie Brewer" and "slider fishing". He wrote a little book 40 years ago that may have you re-thinking your fishing strategies. oe

0 oe

... or you can know someone in "Product Development" oe

A 4" grub or tube married to a jighead hopped across bottom structure will catch a few bass. Keep the weight just heavy enough to feel when you're fishing it. oe

yes oe

Skeletor... A good explanation often inspires more questions. With a shorter wave length, does UV light reach greater water depths and does fluorescent line glow at greater depths increasing its visibility at those depths? Are fluorescent lines MORE visible to tetrachromats than trichromats? Thanks for sharing your knowledge. oe

Lab studies have reported a probability that some fish (perhaps many) see significantly farther into the ultra-violet light range than humans. Does this suggest that those fish have an increased ability to see fluorescent fishing line more easily than non-fluorescent line? oe

I've never been able to fish more than one rod/reel at a time. If my current rod filled the bill for both techniques I'd continue to use it for both. Re-tying baits occasionally is NOT a bad thing. oe

I look at everything as a "work in progress". oe

Clear water = lighter translucent shades Dark water = darker solid plastics oe

Crestliner... I've been using two spinning reels with 10lb NanoFil + 10lb Sensation leader since June 2011, one spinning reel with 8lb NanoFil + 6lb leader since this past June (2012) and recently spooled a finesse baitcaster with 17lb NanoFil + 10lb leader. They are used primarily smallmouth fishing, but I catch my share of walleye, large white bass, drum, northern pike and muskies as well. I haven't had break off problems as you've reported. Very early on using NanoFil I learned to leave 1/2" of tag line with my NanoFil knots to accommodate any slippage that occurred with the line (that stuff is SLICK). I haven't used the 17lb/baitcasting combination long enough to form an opinion... I'll report back after a couple of weeks use. oe

I think you may be whistling down the wrong path worrying about realism of appearance. Match a 3" tube pretty closely to the prevailing crayfish colors and learn to "skitter" it along cover edges and current breaks where smallies are expected to be. oe

Filing the barbs off of the trebles doesn't eliminate but does reduce this agony. oe

The "hum" of the C-series Abu reels was actually helpful in recognizing whether or not the spool was in control and not over spinning. oe

Logan... I absolutely love Charlie Parker's jazz. He played a wonderful sax, but sadly, he died in 1955. oe

I find distance and accuracy increase if I concentrate on letting the bait fully "load" the rod during the back cast and timing the forward cast when the rod is fully loaded. If the bait is not loading the rod well possibly the rod has too heavy an action for that particular bait. oe

James... I'm sorry you didn't understand my response. A good cast ought to be 20, 30 or 35yds not 20, 30 or 35 feet (60', 90' or 105') I don't care what your units of measurement are. oe

The distances you mention above should be yards rather than feet. oe

It's going to be hell keeping your bait down while trolling! oe