RoLo

Cold & muddy water makes for hostile conditions, when you need to move LOTS of water. I use a wind-up soaky toy, and if it doesn't work, at least I've got something to watch Roger

I have eaten many chain pickerel, and they have sweet, white, flaky flesh. As with all members of the pike family, including muskellunge, pickerel have a lateral row of whisker bones that strafe the fillets. There are a couple ways to fillet pickerel to leave the whisker bones behind, but those under 18" aren't worth the effort. Roger

Well...it does in my case, because I like casting all ten rods at once

I can relate to both sides of this quandary, but just like Kent, I too have caught my largest specimens between the hours of 10am and 3pm. In fact, many of my PBs have fallen withing this timeline, for instance: largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, northern pike, striped bass and weakfish. Run-of-the-mill bass seem easiest to catch during transitional periods of lighting, such as dawn and dusk. Most preyfish possess rod vision, while bass possess both rod-and-cone vision, which provides color perception and faster adaptation to light change. This may explain why bass are chiefly diurnal predators, because the rod vision of baitfish is best adapted to low-light vision after nightfall. From all appearances, belly-sagging lunkers don't bother waiting for periods of light transition, but exploit their "cone vision" during midday. Having rod-and-cone vision gives lunker bass a leg up on most forage fish, which only have rod vision which is advantageous after nightfall. Roger

Paul, Your post is very informative and extremely interesting, and IMO well worth the time and thought it entailed. I'm just supposing here, but it's possible that your passing off the "unfamiliarity factor" a tad too lightly. Micropterus is an opportunist first, and the unforeseen offers no pre-conditioning. My experience at Walden's Shore private pier was not a revelation but a reaffirmation. I'm not shy about picking brains, and when the data applies to "when" and "where", I'm all ears. On the other hand, when it comes to "How" and the hottest lures on the lake, that's a different story. Unbeknown to the picked brain, the lures most touted by anglers and bait shop owners are moved to the bottom of my agenda. Someone with your uncommon observation and cognizance is what I need, I'd wish you'd give this tack a shot, and I'll bet you'll be able to take it one step farther. Roger

Sufix is a trusted name in fishing line, and their technological advances seem to running abreast of Berkley (a tall order indeed). Sufix produces a line for every need, but Siege is arguably their best line with casting gear while Elite, which has less memory, is better suited to spinning tackle (it's class line). Roger

As Speedbead pointed out, your first take was correct, but your second take is incorrect. My warranty claim was denied, and NOW I'm no longer eligible for their Xpeditor Service, and it cost me $26 to be denied. Roger

Roboworms.... Absolutely! To which I might add the Strike King 3x Finesse worm & Gambler Big Stick Roger

I understand your question, but I digress. Shaky worming is a deadly technique for taking passive bass, but the emphasis is wrongly placed on the jig, when it should be placed on the worm. If the worm is made of sinking or neutrally buoyant plastic (same weight as water), even on a "flat-bottomed" jig, the lure will ultimately fall-over and the worm will lie on the bottom. On the other hand, when you select a worm consisting of highly buoyant plastic, the focus is no longer on the jig. Even if the jig is lying on its side, the worm tail will still remain brazenly upright, which also makes it harder for the jig to fall over. The "worm" is the main man, and asking the jig to work the worm, is like asking the tail to shake the dog. A highly buoyant worm can be shaken or twitched on ANY jighead: an arkie head, a shaky jig, a football jig, a ballhead jig, you name it. Roger

Ahhhh...Backing up the truck ;D

I would like clarification on that point as well. I thought you were not allowed to use the Xpeditor service because you sent the rod in for the warranty service. You had it right, Ed. The first words out of their mouth was the Xpeditor Service. They pushed Xpeditor as hard as a refrigerator salesman would push a 5-year warranty. I understand why they want the $50, but I trusted their integrity to honor my warranty instead. I was wrong, because they found a "hit mark" that was not there. Once declined, the Xpeditor Service is "no longer available" (the hot setup, eh?). Shimano furthermore refused to defray the $26 cost of shipping Their behavior only justifies my decision not to buy into their 'inexorable' Xpeditor Service. Flechero, Yes, in retrospect your approach would've been the most economical. BTW, I respect your ability to do an about-face, that's a show of principle. Roger

Of course we do, then we spend the last half of our lives trying to simplify the game Roger

Well...I live 10 minutes down the road from Camp Mack, and somehow all these serial robberies have escaped local recognition. Surely you realize that theft is opportunistic, it's something that can and will happen wherever the opportunity presents itself. Indeed, Camp Mack is a just a hole in the trees, but that's no reason for paranoia : No fish camp in the world is theft-free, and like anywhere else USA, your chances of being robbed can only be staved off by you. Ah, live on the edge...give Camp Mack a shot Roger

I've been reading through the replies to this thread, and need to put things in perspective. The original intent of my message was to serve as an "FYI" regarding the Loomis Warranty. To that extent, I feel this post was very successful, obviously many were unaware of the glitch. As for me, I feel perfectly justified in forfeiting the Xpeditor Service. The fact that they stuck me for a $26 shipping cost, further justifies my decision. I declined their Xpeditor offer for four good reasons: First and foremost, I did so out of principle, because I didn't feel that I was responsible for blank failure. Secondly, I was looking for an education on a road less traveled (going with the flow is boring). Thirdly, as the photo above clearly shows, the rod was not a GLX, and $50 is a high percentage of the original cost. Finally, I was never thrilled with that particular rod, and I feel that the same $50 would be much better spent toward another Okuma or new Damiki. Over and Out, Roger

I actually forgot this picture was in my camera (should've sent it to Shimano America). At the very least, it rules out a boot step, the car door and high-sticking. Unfortunately, it lacks the magnification to show the "hit mark" found by Shimano ;D http://216.149.215.9/scans/Loomis-Failure-2.jpg Roger

Congrats Hawk, that's a great haul for such a windy day! Coincidentally, I also christened a new Tracker two Sundays ago and was out again this past Sunday. Both Sundays were from hell (this past Sunday was actually a tad better) Like you, I was also very pleased with the Tracker's performance in a sharp chop. I'll bet this looks eerily familiar (Florida, Sunday, January 24th) Roger

We have a cockatiel at home, and for no apparent reason he used to make a unique outburst once almost every evening. It wasn't until many weeks later that I finally realized that our bird was reacting to the theme song at the end of the "Becker" show. When we moved two years ago, we lost access to that particular TV channel, and our bird never uttered that sound again. Then a couple months ago, we caught a random episode of "Becker". Although it was the farthest thought from my mind, our cockatiel suddenly sounded off in the same unique way when the showed ended, and he hasn't heard that song for almost two years! Here's the upshot. While this behavior typifies excellent retention, this same bird gets lost inside our house. For this same reason, cockatiels that escape from the house, never return. Apparently they lack the memory to retrace their latest steps, similar to someone with Alzheimers disease. In the same vein, I don't know of any ironclad method for measuring the memory span of fish. I don't believe that any fish can be accused of being smart, but unlike a box-of-rocks, cold-blooded creatures possess the instinctive ability to react to conditions. When we lived on the shore of Lake Walk-In-Water, I frequently fished from the community pier during days when I didn't launch my boat. As long as I brought along a lure that I hadn't recently used, I rarely failed to catch at least one bass from the pier. In other words, lures that caught bass in the past few days were the worst performing lures, and any new lure, no matter what it was, would almost always catch at least one bass. I believe this phenomenon is very significant, because unlike fishing from a boat, the bass at the pier were essentially a captive audience. For the most part, I was catching the same population of bass, over-and-over. I can't say that this behavior is directly linked to the memory of bass, but "change" was clearly the key, and any lure that was "new" held the most promise. Roger

Here in Florida our most productive 'soft-plastic' swimbait has been the Berkley Hollow-Belly Swimbait and we've tried most of the brands. The Hollow-Belly comes in 4, 5 & 6" lengths. In our experience anyway, the Basstrix Paddletail Swimbait isn't far behind the hollow-belly, followed by the Luck E Strike Bass Magic. Although KVD pushes the Shadalicious, I stopped throwing that lure. The swimming action seems a bit unstable and laborious, and the soft-plastic tears-out a little too easily in heavy cover. Roger

At the risk of going off topic, I have seen more snail kites in the past three years than bald eagles, harriers or kestrels. I believe they're doing better than realized. Roger

I could be wrong, but I don't believe the Humminbird 800 series are true portable sounders. They incorporate a quick-disconnect' mount but use a permanent transducer, if that's what you want. On the other hand, the 300 series are true portable sounders with a suction-cup transducer. I would definitely go with the 5 screen (diagonal measurement), and the choice between 16-level grayscale and color is purely personal. One has greater resolution, the other has color. All that said, my favorite portable sounder is an Eagle FishMark 320 (5" display - 320x320 pixels), which I use on rental boats when I vacation in Canada (It'll sound 1000 ft deep). Roger

The Poor Boy Goby (dropshot) seems to be stealing the show, but I prefer the profile of the Strike King Go-B-Gone (your top image) Roger

How would you like that, 'numerically' or 'alphabetically'? Roger

I believe that is the correct answer I visit it quite often in my dreams Roger y'all bring as many rods as y'all want! Oh Boy, that sounds like an Xpress X19 Silver Series Let's see, it'll be one less rod without that G. Loomis ;D Roger

Nice drum roll : I must say, for the price that's amazing levity! Roger

I believe that is the correct answer