RoLo

Thanks for saving me the trouble of finding those websites ;-)) Although this info is going on 8 years old, I still hear anglers touting fluoro for its reduced elasticity. The reason that you cited for using fluorocarbon is probably the best reason (though line-watching achieves pretty much the same) Roger

When I was 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand that old man, but when I reached 21, I was astonished by how much that old man learned in 7 years. Mark Twain

One day while drifting for summer flounder off New Jersey I hooked a sandshark (smooth dogfish). I decided to use him for fluke strips, but was shocked to find that his innards were warmer than my hands That evening I read that sandshark, like mackerel and tuna can produce their own heat. Roger

Very nice account Shankmare, I can almost hear the seagulls screeching (In Jersey, we used live tinker mackerel for bait) You're right-on about the strict teamwork between the angler and the helmsman backing-down. It's hard to exaggerate the power of a horse mackerel. There's an actual account of a wireman who stepped into a loose coil of line. When the giant lunged next to the boat, the line sliced into his leg down to his shankbone. Roger

Nothing official, but for better or worse I generally use the terminology below when assigning names to my waypoints, each having its own connotation: FLAT Any broad area with inappreciable depth change. A flat can exist in 'any' water depth. SHOAL A shallow flat, generally one that threatens my propeller during low pool levels. LEDGE A flat bottom area that adjoins a drop-off SHELF A flat bottom area providing a bedding flat and nursery (a food shelf). ======================================================================== DROP-OFF Using a staircase as an analogy, each step is analogous to a 'ledge' or 'shelf', while the vertical wall separating each step is a ‘drop-off’. In lake jargon however, a drop-off is any abrupt depth change, but rarely vertical. SLOPE When the declivity is gradual I’ll call it a ‘slope’ TAPER Synonymous to 'slope': there are fast tapers & slow tapers BLUFF A sheer, nearly vertical drop-off (a cliff). Roger

Crystal River, Florida has a year-round water temperature of 72 degrees. What would you do with your water thermometer? With a calendar (i.e. photoperiod), it's impossible to miss the pre-spawn period. Rainbow River, Florida has a year-round water temperature of 73 deg What good is a water thermometer? With a calendar (i.e. photoperiod) it's a cinch to nail the pre-spawn period every year. Ponce De Leon Springs, Florida has a year-round temperature of 68 deg Otter Springs, Florida has a year-round temperature of 73 degrees. Etcetera, etc. Roger

Water temperature and air temperature both fluctuate back-&-forth, but photoperiod is predictable. A spring day might have the same day-length as a fall day, but they’re easily distinguished because spring day-length is in an uptrend, while fall day-length is in a downtrend. Nevertheless, events triggered by photoperiod can vary a great deal depending on the species in question. For instance, different species of flowers fill entirely different niches, which is why flowers may be in bloom during all four seasons of the year. Events in the animal kingdom are also hard-wired to photoperiod, which comes as no surprise since both kingdoms are inseparably linked. WRB, I think the following might help address your question. To bolster spawning success, fish eggs hatch in a wide range of water temperatures. But the temperature range & spawn timing is furthermore widened , when northern-strain, Florida-strain & intergrade bass all spawn in the same waterbody. Roger

You Can't Be Serious! Pollination, blossoming, bird migration and scores of other natural events are all linked directly to "Photoperiod". The bond is so close that countless annual events in nature recur the same time every year within days. A natural event that depended on water temperature could never be predicted within days, because temperature is volatile and unpredictable. I feed wildlife in my backyard all year long, however we only see red fox during their mating season. Every year, we see our first red fox between April 6 & April 10, every year regardless of weather or air temperature. The same is true for migratory birds, where the Audubon Society knows the arrival dates and departure dates of all transient species. The birds follow those schedules like clockwork, because they're governed by "photoperiod", not by air temperature. Ideal temperatures are only coincidental, and may be achieved numerous times without triggering departure or arrival. The vegetable kingdom and animal kingdom are interdependent, they are inextricably linked. You labeled "water temperature" as a key factor, but water temperature is not causative, it's coincidental. As Mother Nature would have it, fish eggs hatch in a wide range of water temperatures, it's not a critical constraint. During the past couple of weeks, the weather in central Florida has been schizoid. Our lake temperatures have seesawed between 55 to 69 degrees. Many anglers hold that 65-deg water is perfect for spawning bass. Nevertheless, bedding activity in central Florida remains sparse at best, but this is normal for this time of year, regardless of ever-fluctuating water temperatures. If water temperature was in fact the key, then fish would spawn twice a year. They would spawn once in spring and again in fall during the same water temperature range. In reality, 'photoperiod' prevents this from happening, because 'day-length' is in a downtrend during the fall, which prevents the secretion of reproductive hormones. In post #11 above, I discussed the spring-fed waters in Florida that maintain a "year-round" water temperature of 70 to 72 degrees. Yet, despite a constant water temperature, the bass in these waterbodies spawn unerringly, once every year in spring. You denounced photoperiod as a timing factor, so you'll need to explain how water temperature can trigger the reproductive urge in lakes where water temperature is stable throughout the year? Roger

the 'Carbonaro Effect'

Yup, that's nailing it down

Crappie Setup? How many rods will you be trolling: 8, 12 or 20? Roger

A swimbait on a keel-weighted hook is remarkably weedless and may be used all the time. If a belly-weighted hook wasn't exceptionally weedless, I would put it out to pasture ;-) To maximize weedlessness, I thread on a "1/16 bullet sinker" before tying on the hook. The little spire-pointed sinker shields the eyelet of the swimbait hook, which is the only snag-prone part Roger

Thanks to braided line, I’ve saved hundreds of dollars in lures that would’ve fallen victim to monofilament line. If I deliberately want to break-off my braided line (very rare!), I'll begin by pointing the tiptop guide 'directly' at the snag, which takes the rod blank out-of-harms-way, making it impossible to break the rod-tip. In addition, positioning the rod blank parallel to the line gives the angler maximum power (think hand-lining). In stark contrast, holding the rod perpendicular to the line gives the angler max sensitivity but minimal power. Next I'll grasp the rod blank forward of the reel firmly with my reel hand, Since I'm right-handed, my casting reels are all left-handed, so I'll be pulling with my strong arm (right arm) Finally, I'll draw my right elbow straight backwards on a line parallel to the rod and line (The rod, line & forearm are all parallel to one another), which usually generates enough power to snap 30-lb braid. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When frogging or punching with 60-lb braid, I use a different method. In Florida, the mean catch depth is around 4 feet, rarely exceeding 8 ft. When hopelessly fouled on a snag that I cannot reach by hand (very rare), I'll bring the boat directly above or alongside the snag, then reach deep in the water and cut the line. The line lost will generally amount to about 4 feet of braid (again, very rare). Roger

Scott spends time fishing with his two young daughters, probably where the Barbie idea came from. You gotta admire Scott, he's super aggressive like his dad, but maintains a pleasant persona (Roland ought to be proud). Roger

A north wind is cold, no matter what direction it comes from

I have a Humminbird Onix and chart my own contour lines using AutoChart Live. It's a very time-consuming task and is only fun when you're boating alone. I always feel guilty using AutoChart, because my wife has to fish from a boat moving 5 mph Roger

In that price range: Shimano Curado

The answer depends mainly on the whereabouts of the lakes you're fishing. Lakemaster has only recently expanded their cartography to southern waters. If I were living in the upper midwest, I would definitely opt for Lakemaster, but living in Florida, Navionics clearly gets the nod. Unfortunately, I'm not aware of Lakemaster's accuracy in South Carolina. Roger

Water temperature is among the worst indicators to use for pinpointing the spawn. On the other hand, 'photoperiod' is one of the most reliable indicators. In Florida, there are several spring-fed waters that maintain a year-round temperature between 70 and 72 degrees. Despite a perennially constant water temperature, the bass spawn once-a-year unerringly. Roger

Technically speaking, the 'thermocline' is a thin water layer that separates the epilimnion from the metalimnion. So the presence of trout below the thermocline would indicate two things: 1) The presence of adequate dissolved oxygen in the metalimnion 2) An oxycline that lies below the thermocline. Roger

I realize that it flies in the face of conventional wisdom, but fish are cold-blooded creatures, therefore they're relatively comfortable in ‘all’ water temperatures. For this reason, the thermocline by itself doesn't delineate the dead zone, the dead zone is normally determined by the “oxycline”. The zone below the oxycline is variously known as the anoxic zone, anaerobic zone and dead zone. Three things complicate the location of the oxycline: 1) For starters, not all lakes stratify, so a lake may have an oxycline in the absence of a thermocline. 2) Different fish species have different dissolved oxygen requirements 3) The oxycline can migrate independently above or below the thermocline During the winter, the oxycline can lie considerably below the thermocline, which would then support fish life below the thermocline. During the summer however, the oxycline may migrate above the thermocline. This is caused by oxygen-depleting vegetable decay that can force fish to live well above the thermocline, otherwise become a statistic (summer fishkill). I hasten to add that smallmouth waters rarely experience summer fishkills like those seen in weedy largemouth waters. Roger

I'll normally let it tumble naturally with the current, while mending any excess slack Roger

Most of my years have been spent chasing northern-strain bass (between Ontario and Georgia) A passing cold-front will generally knockdown fishing for a day or so, but by the 2nd day and certainly by the 3rd day, northern-strain bass are back on the feed. When a major cold-front hits central Florida, it typically causes lockjaw for several days and during persistent cold weather, the doldrums can last a week or more. This past Tuesday, a small local tournament was held on Tiger Lake, right after the water temp dipped from 69 to 61 deg. Twelve anglers fished 6 hours to land 4 bass! KVD has fished all over the USA and stated that Florida is the toughest state he's fished, particularly during the coldwater period (I concur). Roger

Straight Braid - No Leader I don't doubt they see it, I doubt they give a darn (they have more important things to worry about). Freshwater shrimp are transparent morsels with a refractive index similar to water. Nevertheless, tiny transparent shrimp are highly visible to fish which snap them up like gumdrops. This would suggest that bass have no trouble seeing fluorocarbon, which is fat line that probably looks like an icicle to bass. All the same, bass live in a world strewn with wire grass, plant stems, fish feces, shoestring snakes, vegetable debris, flotsam, jetsam and umbrella rigs with 3/32" spreader frames. Throwing caution to the wind, I target only courageous bass that dare to take on a 0.009” diameter braided filament Roger

It's a funny thing, but 'winter' is a relative term. Frankly, I *** you boys in the temperature zone who are dealing with northern-strain bass. Although Florida-strain bass are extremely heat-tolerant, in water temperatures below 65 degrees these mollycoddles are indolent snobs Roger