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I personally don't eat bass. I feel they gave a good fight and deserve to live and fight another day. The state has warnings on fish eating due to high mercury content from runoff. If I truly want fresh fish, the crappies / specks here are big, overly abundant, and taste better and can be found only a few yards from the bass hangout. Normally though I release them all. I just feel it is more sporting and makes me feel better to see them swim off. If you eat them, that is up to you. I just prefer Catch & Release.

That is another thing that irks me. Our line winding machine at my store is far from perfect and many times it does not work the way the way it was intended. Stop being so d**n lazy and put the line on your own reel. If you want to call yourself a real fisherman, that is a task you should learn and do religiously to your own standards. You will never see an elite tournament angler go to a store and ask to have his line spooled. If you are a beginner, that is a different story and I will gladly put some line on your reel to get you started. I have been spooling my own line since I was a young kid and would never ask a store associate to do it for me. If you spool it yourself, you know how it is done and if it is not perfect you can blame yourself.

I have to agree with Hootie on this one. I had a good job making good money as a manager and when the economy headed south, the business closed. Work was scarce. Our current government leaders have totally destroyed the middle class. I could not find a similar job to save my life. Before I lost everything, I fell back on something I know and care about. So I am an associate at a retail sporting store. I work in a large outdoor sports area and one person covers that area by themselves at most times. My knowledge is mostly fishing, some other areas I know the basics. I do not know it all, or pretend to. I will go out of my way to help you if you just treat me decent. There are times I would love to grab a customer and beat the crap out of them for being rude. Please keep in mind, these jobs are part-time with no real benefits and no 401k. You make close to minimum wage and have to work mornings, nights, weekends, holidays, and overnights. Your pay is just barely above minimum wage. So why you are home with your family or watching your favorite show or game, or even out fishing, I am trying to help customers that many times treat me like dirt. Sorry about the rant, If I could find a better job I would. Take a walk in someone else's shoes before you pass judgement.

I have a humminbird 535 that developed a 3"dark circle in the middle of the screen. It is visible even when the unit is off. It still works ok, it is just hard to read the part in the middle where the dark sphere is. Can I do anything or is it time to replace? Thanks.

I was wondering if the .22 ammo shortage will end soon. Most stores around here have a decent amount of every other caliber back in stock. 22lr is still missing. I have heard that the major manufacturers have increased their .22 output and are hoping to get product to meet the demand. I long for the good old days where you could go to the store and buy as much .22 as you wanted and it was cheap, oh yeah that was only a few years ago. Do you think it will return to normal anytime soon? Thanks.

I was wondering if these top toads are any good. I have had good luck with the ribbit solid frogs and these top toads would also float when you stop the retrieve. Thanks.

If it's too windy or stormy or not enough time to fish, you go buy lures. What's wrong with that. Besides it is cheaper than collecting guns, cars, motorcycles, aircraft, wives, mistresses, homes, etc...

On your soft paddle tail swimbaits do you prefer a jighead or a weighted hook? Also what brands and sizes of jighead or weighted hook seem to work best? Thanx.

I found going up a size of hook really tends to help. Otherwise it sounds like you are doing everything you can and I praise you for it.

Despite what some think, ammo, like everything else, doesn't last forever. I think it will be funny when the hoarders pull out the thousands of rounds of .22 they have kept and find that many have long term storage issues. Corrosion, bad powder, bad primers, ftf, fte, etc. Shoot some, buy more and always have better quality. I truly do not understand hoarding .22. If $#%t hits the fan, .22 will not save you from aliens,an invading army or zombies.

Around here a live wild shiner will catch a big bass faster and more efficient than anything else you throw. Heck, you could chuck your whole tackle box in and let them pick what they want and you still won't beat a shiner. That being said, I still prefer artificial lures. To me, it is more sporting to know that I have tricked a primary predator, in his domain, into biting something that is not a real prey item. So many lures and presentations add to the fun of the sport we all love. Plus, the bait monkey loves lure collectors!

I know lately it has been hard to find some pistol ammo and if you do, the prices are unrealistic. So where do you get yours?

Back in the early to mid 80's BPS had a huge double spinnerbait. Don't remember the name, but it had a large spinner arm up & a large spinner arm down and a leadhead with a curly tail coming out the middle where the line tie was. It was a ***** to cast, especially in a breeze, but it caught fish until I lost it to a snag. Have not seen another one since. It was like an old precurser to the A-rig some folks throw today!

Unless you are suspending or stopping your bait, crankbaits are moving too quickly for a bass to see the realistic color pattern. Bass attack those baits due to the movement or vibration given off. If that bait is acting different from the native surrounding live bait it becomes instinct to hit the one that may be weak or injured. On slow moving baits, color and movement becomes more important because the bass have more time to see what they may eat. I believe it is sometimes the difference between a reaction strike and a feeding impulse. Color can be more important in a feeding response depending on available light and water clarity. To answer the question, I would not pay extra for a fancy paint job on a crankbait. Just my opinion. If you are a lure collector, go for it.

Just an idea, you may want to look into getting regular steel belted radial car tires. As long as you can get the right weight or load bearing it could save you money. Trailer tires are normally inferior in ride and wear, and usually cost more. I was able to switch and it was amazing. The trailer rides better and quieter. It also pulls easier so the mpgs have improved. So far, no noticeable wear. I like them better.

I believe that is an old Poe's Cedar Wood lure. I am not sure on the date, but I believe they were from about 1980. Look it up and you may find a match. Good luck!

Thanks guys, I did check the gap before installing the new plugs. The plugs were recommended by evinrude because that's who I ordered them from and they were the exact same # as the ones I pulled out. Everything should still be the same. I am not a total newbie to engines and I would not mess with anything I do not understand, but a 1/4 turn of a carb. idle screw should not be total doom. Thank You for your ideas, and if anyone has any other suggestions please let me know.

The engine was running smooth and making RPMs. The screw I turned was the idle adjust screw that was pointed out in my service manual. I did not mess with anything else, linkage or otherwise. I checked for the mentioned broken wires or worn parts but could not find any. I just thought it was a bit strange that the idle was a bit lower and harder to keep it running after replacing the spark plugs with exact replacement new ones. Could the culprit possible be old gas? I use stabil, but the engine had not been run for about a month. Thank you for your help.

I don't really care for flourocarbon line. I have had it snap on a moderate hook set, had knots fail, and it seems to have more of a memory problem. It is extremely smooth and mostly invisible and I am sure it has some great applications. Our water here is mostly dark, shallow and weedy so a line that sinks faster can be a burden. To each his own, If it works good for you, use it.

I have an older 88hp evinrude, plain jane 2 cycle pre-mix carbed engine. The only thing I did was install new spark plugs. Now it seems to idle to slow and sometimes stalls. I turned the idle screw in about a quarter turn when I returned home. I have not tested it again, but wondered if anyone knows how much adjustment would be close to correct. I really don't want to adjust while its running with the fly wheel close to the adjustment screw. Any help? Thanks.

I have an old german ortgies 7.65mm pistol that I love to shoot at the range. It is a fun pocket gun and very accurate. It says 7.65mm but everything I read says that it is the same as .32 acp. It fires the .32 fine but the ejected shells sometimes jam on their way out the slide window. I can't find any plain 7.65 ammo from overseas and most of that ammo is still listed as both 7.65 & .32acp? Is there really any difference in those bullets or is something wrong with the gun? Would extra deep cleaning help? Anyone have any experience in this? Thanks.

I fish in hot humid weather and find that an oversized white cotton long sleeve t-shirt is the coolest most comfortable and usually cheapest protection from sun and heat. I do have some of the tech shirts, but the cotton t-shirts seem to keep my a bit cooler.

I was wondering how many members actually work in a fishing tackle dept. at a retail store? Just curious, no need to mention which store, just give a shout out if you work in a tackle dept. Thanks.

Glad you brought this one up, I was thinking the same thing. Every time it rains I have to head for cover because my storage areas on my boat fill with water and it is a total pain to take everything out and dry it. Any ideas on a good type of weather stripping to seal boat compartments?

When you guys change spark plugs do you use the original plugs called for by the manufacturer or do you use some of the new super plugs with extra contact points that are supposed to burn better, last longer, and give better performance and mileage? Has anyone tried, platinum or iridium plugs in their outboard?