RoLo

I don't mind paying a higher price for a crank, when it's justified by premium hooks, counter-balancing, internal acoustics or the like. But it would be a cold day in hell when I throw money at an ultra-realistic, super durable, baked on finish. Ever notice that the best producing plugs are always the ugliest, most battered plugs in your tackle box? Roger

There are 3 fish I would certainly love to boat: > Northern Pike over 30 lbs > Tarpon over 150 lbs > Mako Shark over 500 lbs Then I would rest in peace

During a typical spawning cycle, water temperatures will seesaw back-&-forth between warm fronts & cold fronts. As a result, water temps seen in the pre-spawn may be seen again during the post-spawn, and vice versa, so which temperatures are you going to believe? ? I only place emphasis on 'temperature extremes', when bass may become stressed by frigid or torrid extremes. In the second place, water temperatures that coincide with the disposition of northern-strain bass are very different from the water temperatures that coincide with the behavior of Florida-strain bass. It's my opinion that water temperature is simply a coincident indicator rather than a trigger, and the coincidence is often remarkable, but a coincidence nonetheless. I personally place greater emphasis on 'photoperiod' (i.e. calendar period) , which I've found to be far more reliable than zigzag water temperatures. Roger

Gosh, it must've been about 40 years ago now, when I first read what Scaleface stated. Tests conducted by Mepps found "chartreuse" to be the only color highly visible in both clear & murky water. Roger

When you're viewing a traditional Bassmaster tournament on TV, did you ever wonder why the pro angler always makes bass-contact soon after the camera-boat arrives? No problem, every camera boat is running all the time, but 99.5% of the tapes are scrapped. Back in the 80s or 90s, Roland Martin came clean when he told the viewing audience that the 30-minute fishing video you watch has probably taken months to televise (you can believe it). Before MLF was in vogue, Chris & Bobby Lane had a one-on-one brotherly shootout on lightly fished Lake Jackson, just east of Lake Kissimmee. WELL, two of the most feared sticks in Florida produced a TV show that was no more exciting than watching grass grow. In fact, it was beginning to look like a Double-Skunk, but a dink or two finally saved the day. After all is said and done, that was real world fishing and there was no hero worship. To be sure, the anglers competing in the MLF format must tune their game plan to numbers rather than quality. That is plainly seen by their lack of locational management, by electric motors that run constantly and in my opinion, randomly. There are no riflemen, they are all shotgunners striving for maximal area coverage. I have fished Lake Istokpoga, FL a great number of times, and I've never seen so many runt bass from those waters. However, most of what we see in Major League Fishing is the stuff that would ordinarily be deleted, real-world stuff. Best of all, the MLF format favors the leading characters...the bass. Roger

Be sure to embark on your trip with fully-charged batteries, and they should hold their charge during the trip to your destination. Whether or not the lodge or motel claims to provide an electrical outlet, always pack a looong extension cord to stay in charge. Roger

Nevermind...I thought this was a bacon commercial

GAMBLER ACE: Green-pumpkin Black-swirl I place little stock in color, and when green-pumpkin isn't producing I don't change colors, I put the stickworm down. Roger

Smithwick makes a drove of lures, but two of my favorites made by them is the Devil's Horse and Rattlin Rogue. Roger

Shimano Metanium

I've had a few aquariums over the years, it's a great hobby! I had the usual fare like angelfish, zebrafish, black mollies and neon tetras. If I got another aquarium though, I'd have Cichlids including a couple Oscars. Roger

As a rule of thumb, 'murky water' is favored by dark colors and noisier, larger lures with a slower retrieve. In contrast, 'clear water' is favored by lighter colors and quieter, smaller lures with a faster retrieve. So when you're dealing with water clarity between murky and clear, just compromise the options it's not an exact science. Roger

Before any concrete decision can be made, I'd first try to determine what repairs are involved. It may only need a carburetor job, which is only a fraction of the cost of a new outboard motor. Most of the old engines didn't use injectors but were carbureted, furthermore, the gasoline sold today no longer contains the additives it used to contain. When you couple a carburetor with gas without any additives you've got a gunk-prone motor. If you get a carburetor job and connecting lines, be sure to add Stabilizer (one of the additive removed) just as faithfully as you add oil to a 2-cycle motor. Roger

By all means, make the switch from nylon mono to braided line. Rather than creating issues with spinning gear, braid will solve issues with spinning gear. With a medium power spinning rod I'd suggest 20-lb braided line. Mind you, the difference between 10-lb and 20-lb braid is 0.001" (that's 1/1000 inch). The brand of braid can be selected by giving a monkey a handful of darts. If you'd prefer to stick with Berkley (who makes your XL), try their 'Berkley Trilene Braid' (great line). Roger

If you want to save small change, use backing from an old monofilament supply spool. But if you want to eliminate the pesky connection knot and have braid all the way, a few wraps of electrical tape around the spool-arbor and you're good to go. Roger

New Lines? How bout: "You got any sisters?"

I own several Johnny Morris rods, both the 'Signature' model and 'Extreme Performance' model. My rods are several years old though, and are the old JM builds that ran abreast of top-rung rods like St Croix. The old Johnny Morris line was 'overbuilt', yet it failed to attract the market that it truly deserved. As a result, it's not the same fantastic rod today that it once was, and I have since fallen out of their loop. Roger

With regard to the weights used by professional anglers, I haven't seen any paradigm shift. From day one, the pro angler tended to use more weight than the recreational angler. To begin with, pro anglers are pitted against the clock and finesse fishing eats the clock. In addition, the majority of a bass’s life is spent “OFF-the-feed”, which plays right into the hands of a faster sink rate. There’s no better example than KVD, who built his career on the effectiveness of the 'impulse strike'. I will say this, 20 years ago (mid 90s), fluorocarbon rose to fame as the new 'leader' material (I used it for saltwater leaders). Today however, a fluorocarbon main-line has become commonplace. Fluorocarbon is 'twice' the diameter of braided polyethylene of the same breaking-test. In spite of the overblown property that fluorocarbon line sinks, let me pose a question. Which main-line do you believe would require a 'heavier sinker' to hold bottom during a brisk drift: Fluoro or Braid? Roger

In surf-fishing, a long-cast is necessary to reach the swash, otherwise buy a boat. But the long freshwater wands I see kicking around violate the point of diminishing returns. The longest one-piece rod in my arsenal is 7'6", and that will be the first rod to find my overhead fan Roger

When I lived in the northeast (most of my life), the bass held deep in winter, usually on the sharpest drops. But early spring was a different deal, when my best luck was in shallow water and during warm-fronts, particularly during sunny afternoons. I threw the usual fare: jerkbaits, jig-&-craw & lipless plugs (Heddon Sonic back then). Roger

You might want to look at the "Dobyns Fury FR 704C" (7.0 ft | Heavy | Fast | $110) Roger

I guess it boils down to different strokes for different folks. For example, Wayne loves his side-imaging sonar and Wayne has submitted many impressive side-imaging captures. I used to own a Humminbird Onix with 2D Down-scanning, 3D Down-scanning, Side-Imaging and Auto-Chart for making my own charts. In all honesty, I found it very time-consuming, as I was wasting too much 'fishing-time' chasing rainbows. Today I simply monitor my 3D sonar to scrutinize structure, bottom contour and cover (woody, weedy & rocky). BTW: My unit is a Lowrance Elite 7 Ti w/o side-imaging (Ti = Touchscreen interface). Roger

The Lowrance Elite Ti is available with or without SideScanning. Roger

The Hook is an affordable sonar unit that doesn't offer side-scan, but offers "2D downscan" (game fish & baitfish) and "3D downscan" (structure and cover). Unless you're heavy into sidescan, you'll probably never miss it. It's a super little unit for the price, but naturally it doesn't include upgrades like touchscreen, sidescan ~ ~ Roger

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