RoLo

In a thread very similar to this one, I suggested trying a "swimbait". When schoolies are highly selective, I've had decent luck with swimbaits of like size. Oddly enough, they usually don't respond well to the zoom fluke, in that mood. Roger

Totally False! Deep-cycle batteries are built to TOLERATE deep discharging and recharging, they are not built to BENEFIT from deep recycling, a rampant misconception. Deep-cycle batteries that undergo regular 75% DOD (depth-of-discharge), last about half as long as deep-cycle batteries that are cycled at 50% DOD. Furthermore, deep-cycle batteries cycled at 25% DOD last about twice as long as batteries cycled at 50% DOD (four times longer than 75% DOD). However, when you get below 10% DOD, battery life reaches the point of diminishing returns, where lead dioxide tends to deposit on the plates, which over time may cause shorting points. In a perfect world, a deep-cycle battery would never fall below a 75% state-of-charge, which is to say, it would never discharge more than 25%. I knew there was a reason why I almost never enter this forum. Roger

I enjoy leaving the computer world behind and escaping the manmade environment where I'm able to replace civic din with the sound of kingfishers, ospreys, barred owls, bass feeding on top, and the guttural roar of alligators. Catching fish is almost an anticlimax. Roger

Why do people keep saying this? A longer rod provides LESS leverage than a shorter one, not more. It's simple physics. The longer the rod is, the greater the distance from the fulcrum point (your hands) so you have to work harder to apply the same force to the rod tip. A shorter rod is just the opposite and requires less effort to "lever" the fish. I've piped that tune since 2005, but apparently to little avail ;D Let me offer an example: Saltwater boats that venture offshore generally carry about 3 gaffs (hand-gaff, long gaff, fly-gaff). If you gaff a two-pound bluefish, you'll probably be able to swing it over the gunwale like it were a fishing pole. However, if you gaff a 40-lb striped bass, you will quickly learn that it's impossible to lift the gaff pole more than 20-degrees off perpendicular, let alone swing it over the rail. The more you swing the gaff outward from the line of perpendicular, the greater the mechanical advantage of the fish, and the more the fish weighs. Handily, the weight of the fish will pin the gaff pole in a vertically downward position, which effectively subtracts the 6-foot lever from the equation, by reducing the length of the gaff pole to 0-feet. This takes away all the fish's leverage, and gives the angler maximum manpower (one-to-one ratio). From this position of course, you just walk your hands vertically down the pole to hoist the fish upward to the gunwale. In quest of large bluewater gamefish, a "fly-gaff" is used. The long pole is needed to reach the fish from a boat with high freeboard. But as soon as the gaff is sunk, the pole is removed from the equation, and fish is tugged to the boat by handlining the gaff line. Obviously, if a long rod gave the angler any leverage, this would be a monumental blunder, but a long rod gives the fish the advantage (think "fly-rod"). For this same reason, commercial fisherman who boat hundreds, even thousands of a fish per day, do not use any pole, which would totally wear them out. They "HAND-LINE" their catch, by yanking the line hand-over-hand, pitting their strength against fish having no mechanical advantage. (1:1). Roger

I've owned several fiberglass boats and several aluminum boats, and love them both for different reasons. Given adequate upkeep, both materials will likely outlast their owner. Fiberglass gets scratched & gouged, while aluminum gets scratched & dented. Unless your boat is 'pink', nobody really cares if it's immaculate The preferred hull material rests solidly on your priority list of boat amenities. For example, 'fuel economy' and a 'soft ride' make strange bedfellows. Roger

I'll drink to that. In the early years of electric motors, we were told that it's important to fully cycle a deep-cycle battery, otherwise you'll shorten the lifespan of the battery. I think that rumor was spawned by some battery manufacturer ;D Right after closing the garage door, I switch the MinnKota auto-charger to "On" where it stays until the boat is hitched-up again. The battery is in its second year, and I don't believe it's ever been discharged below 80%, and generally meters around 90% when we return. Roger

I regard whitewater and boils as a swimbait call. But in heavily weeded water, the Johnson spoon & trailer can go where buzzbaits fear to tread. Roger

When living in New Jersey, I frequently targeted chain pickerel and did a lot of ice-fishing for them using tip-ups. My favorite artificial lure for pickerel is a 1/2oz Johnson spoon (in silver) dressed with a 3.5" Zoom Fat-Albert grub (chartreuse pearl) During the fall and winter, my favorite method by far is a "jig & dead minnow". My jig preference used to be a 1/8oz Denny Brauer Weed Sneek, but that jig was discontinued. Another very weedless swim jig is the 1/8oz Outkast Swim Jig (chartreuse/white). Although dead bait is used, live minnows are purchased to assure the bait is fresh. Shiners are preferred but any 3" minnow will do, we've even used killifish. I hook the minnow through the top of the skull (out the bottom jaw) so it rides upside-down Not only does this facilitate a dead-centered hookup, but offers reverse countershading. Similar to a northern pike, the chain pickerel also eats fresh-dead winterkills off the bottom, and are accustomed to seeing dead, dying and inverted baitfish. Once on bottom, just flick the jig & minnow periodically. Between twitches, mend the slack line as the lure settles in place (the key is S-L-O-W). On a jig & minnow, the hit from a pickerel feels like a Sharp Jab, but it's best to twitch the lure a few times before setting the hook. Unlike bass, which swallow their prey whole, pickerel kill their prey first, and during the process the hook is usually outside the mouth.

A 6'3" spinning rod is long enough to be used for anything. In the very recent past, every spinning rod I owned was between 6'0" and 6'6". The longer the rod, the more leverage you give to the fish (less power to the angler). Would it be easier to lift a suitcase by the handle, or with a long pole? Roger

Plastic worms followed by plastic craws. Roger

I'm running two GPS chartplotters on my boat, a Lowrance plotter running Navionics software and a Garmin plotter running Garmin software. I much prefer the Garmin hardware AND software. Garmin was the GPS employed by the US military in Desert Storm, Afganistan and Iraq, I think the recreational boater should be okay Roger

Another vote for Camp Mack and Grape Hammock on Lake Kissimmee, to which I would add the often overlooked Richardson's Fish Camp on Lake Tohopekaliga (West Toho). When still living in New Jersey, we spent a week in one of their cabins, where camping is also available. To boot, it's just a short hop from Richardson's Camp to Shingle Creek of Dean Rojas fame (45lb 2oz daily stringer). http://www.hikercentral.com/campgrounds/103757.html Roger

SPINNING: Berkley Fireline Braid (polyethylene) CASTING: Sufix Elite Copolymer (nylon + fluorocarbon) In my opinion, line color is of trivial importance (monkey and a dartboard). Roger

It's just a matter of personal preference, Tony. No aquatic creature comes to mind that clicks or rattles, so in the interest of natural delivery I'd rather my lure didn't either. I'm sure that rattling and clicking sounds do not spook bass, but if there's a chance it might cause a loss in interest, I'd rather do without. I believe that bass need less help than anglers might imagine, because many fat bass come from perennially muddy waters. Roger

Sorry, but I haven't revisited this thread since Nov 2 :-[ I have used the Bass Stalker grass stalker about two or three years ago. As you suggest, they're an excellent jig, but they suffer from one fatal flaw. Notice the angle formed between the weedguard and the top of the jighead. The angle is approximately 95-degrees which amounts to a sharp corner and a dreadful weed-trap. Now compare this 95-deg angle to the weedguard angle on the Outkast R.T., which is about 130 degs (very obtuse). Roger

Congratulations on your personal best, she's a brute! The mean weight of a 23" largemouth bass is 7 lbs, on the money. However, your bass is a tad chunkier than the average bear so it's my guess that the scale used was spot-on. Precise measurements are of little value, unless the taxidermist has access to a mold of identical proportions (not likely). Roger

Show me an angler who believes that fishing live bait is easy and requires no skill, and I'll show you an angler who has limited experience with natural bait. Every winter in Florida, my wife and I fish native shiners in addition to artificial lures. Two years in a row, the spro aruku shad has outfished natural bait. However, the odds of boating a truly outstanding trophy are favored by natural bait...how bad is that? Roger

Maybe a senko is the wrong lure for learning how to slow down. I've got an idea, rig the senko "wacky-style" and fish it as a vertical dropbait. There's no way you can rush a dropbait without aborting the vertical fall. Roger

I would only hope the bubble-boy doesn't see this (moop = maximum out of pocket) Roger

Wow, this is a really KOOL post! In your first image, I well remember the jointed eel located two lures up from the right corner. My dad was not a very good bass angler but had an uncanny ability to catch chain pickerel, and that funny-looking lure was his favorite. He called it an eel lure, and though I found nothing on the Internet, I'm almost certain the commercial name was Jointed Eelet. The lure in the lower right corner of your first image reminds me of a Phoebe, although it looks wider than a phoebe. My dad, who was a tool & die maker, tried to break into the lure business and built a coining die of a Phoebe knockoff. We named his lure the Savage Minnow, and distributed them in New Jersey on consignment, but it never got off the ground. The hammered spoon on your first page resembles a Hopkins Spoon but it's probably a knockoff. My dad passed in 1964, and its possible that my mom still has his tackle box. I never even gave that a thought, but thanks to this post, I will now pursue that possibility. Roger

SirSnookalot nailed it (Johnson Silver Minnow 1/2oz x 2½" black nickel w/ Fat Albert trailer) Roger

I'm with you, the Big-K is a subtropical wonderland. I'll bet we both spoke with that same longhorn (Brahma Island) It blew just as hard this past Sunday, but the fishing was much slower. Starting to look like the fall topwater bite may be over. So be it, now we can look forward to the pre-spawn period. Roger

I'm really not sure what you mean. An SD card and DVD disk are two forms of storage media. While an SD card resides in the cardreader or in the GPS unit, the data from a DVD disk is downloaded directly onto the resident drive of your computer. In other words, once you download the software onto your computer, you may never see or work with that DVD again (mine is buried somewhere in a drawer with the passcode). Since Garmin MapSource resides directly on your resident drive it is fully interactive with your computer without any intervening software like MapCreate. You are free to load all or any part of the cartography into the memory of your GPS unit, where it'll remain indefinitely, without the need for any SD card. In sharp contrast, a preprogrammed miniSD card cannot be loaded onto your computer, in fact, if you attempt to copy a preprogrammed card you'll receive a self-destruct warning. Furthermore, you can only read the SD card that's currently inserted in your unit. With Garmin there is no miniSD card to shuttle between your GPS unit and your computer, so renaming, adding, deleting and editing can be done at any time on any dataset. On the contrary, my Lowrance GPS which uses Navionics SD cards is a basketcase. I can only edit waypoints that I load onto a separate SD card, otherwise I'm forced to use some patchwork software disk to circumvent this shortcoming. Because the Garmin GPS requires no cardreader cord between the computer and GPS unit, the handheld Garmin plugs directly into my computer via USB or serial port (my choice). In addition, the Garmin GPS does not need a transformer or cigarette lighter, but runs directly off computer power without any batteries installed. Since there are no SD cards to shuttle back and forth, waypoints can be instantly created, renamed, edit or transferred in either direction (computer to unit or unit to computer) I have thousands of waypoints for dozens of lakes in my computer, so I usually reduce the number waypoints I take afield. To streamline waypoint selection, I generally delete everything from the GPS memory, then download from my computer only the waypoints for the lake or lakes I plan to visit. It all takes about 60 seconds, much quicker than the explanation. Roger

Assuming that the cold-front has impacted the water temperature, adverse reaction will last substantially longer in Florida-strain largemouth bass. Conversely, northern-strain are more adversely affected by summer hot spells. Roger

HOLY COW!! That's a "whale" of a pickerel...Congratulations! Roger