Scott F

On actual fishing tackle like lures, line, rods or reels, nothing. I did buy a boat which was over $10,000

Slot limits for bass seldom work. For a slot regulation to work as intended, smaller bass have to be removed from the system. Seeing that bass anglers these days are mostly catch & release, and they don't keep any bass, it's hard to make a slot reg work.

That's why I have my own boat.

Confidence plays a big role in fishing. If you think bass have the brain power to reason and figure out that fishing line is a bad thing but that treble hooks, wood, metal and plastic are OK to eat, than you should keep using leaders. I believe bass are not that smart and I have a lot of confidence that they will try and eat my artificial lure even if it is connected to line that they can see. So I will continue to use braided line without any leader. By the way, contrary to what the line makers say, FC line is visible underwater.

What would be the reason for the barrel swivel?

I'm another that wouldn't buy insulated rain gear. A good rain suit is pricey. Having to buy 2 sets, one for spring and summer use and another for colder weather doesn't make sense when you can buy 1 suit for summer and add extra layers of clothing underneath as needed for the cold weather. I can't speak about the quality of Cabela's rainsuits but any clothing with Cabela's brand is guaranteed for life.

It's always a hard pill to swallow spending more than you might want to when you are buying something. There is probably no one on here (or anywhere) who ever got a bigger motor for his boat and spent more than he wanted to, who is sorry he did. There are plenty of guys, like me, who wishes he'd spent the extra money in the beginning and got the bigger motor. Trust me. If you can afford it, get the biggest motor your hull is rated for. You'll soon forget how much it cost.

A motor is not being used while hunting or fishing so the size of the motor should have no effect on your comfort while hunting or fishing. The motor is used to get you to your fishing spot. Aside from not being fast, a motor that is too small will cause the boat to plow through the water and won’t get on plane easily using more fuel than the correct size engine. Get biggest motor your boat is rated for.

There is an app for your phone that will work as a remote so even if your remote battery dies you can still operate the motor.

Of course it’s about the money. Did anyone ever pretend that it wasn’t? Without the money, there would be no B.A.S.S. Or FLW or MLF. They’d obviously like to be like the PGA where there are millions of dollars in TV and other big sponsors so the payouts don’t have to come from the participants and the Pros make enough money to travel all around the world to compete.

What a shame, after all the work and time it took to create, that in a couple of months, it will all melt.

Tohatsu makes the smaller motors for Mercury. I’m not sure what the cutoff point is. Everyone I’ve ever spoken to about Tohatsu has had nothing but good things to say about them. They run well and have been very dependable. I bought a 2 stroke Tohatsu jet last year. I haven’t run it enough yet to give an educated review. If you have a dealer nearby who can do warranty work if you need it, I think it would be a good safe choice.

I have used rubber core sinkers to add weight to wide gap hooks. I remove the rubber core and crimp the weight around the shank of the hook. Some call them belly weighted hooks.

I buy my batteries at Walmart where it doesn’t get any cheaper. The last one I replaced was purchased in June of 09. If your batteries are not lasting very long, you may look at your charger or how you take of them.

I love good BBQ but I’m more of the “I pay someone who knows how to do it right” kind of guy.

You can buy lithium ion batteries for your trolling motor. They are smaller, lighter and powerful. The trade off? They cost around $700-$1,300 depending on capacity and more than once have been know to catch fire.

I go to the St Croix store from the Chicago area around 3 times a year for many years and I’ve never seen the B stock rods at 50% off. Normally the discount is closer to 30%

The seconds have a factory blemish. It is nearly always a cosmetic defect that is very difficult to even find. They only have a one year warranty and are marked with an “S” on the reel seat or if it has a foam handle, it might be marked on the butt end. The amount of B stock rods is limited and they don’t have every size of every model. They also sell combos with a B stock rod and a reel. The reels are almost always low end models. You never know what you will find until you get there. While you are there, check out the “C” stock rods. These are rods that had the tip broken off and have been repaired. You can get a used $300 rod for $50. It might be one inch or one foot shorter than when it was made. There is a measuring stick in the bin so you can see the current length. No warranty on those rods. Depending on when you are there, they might have closeouts on new “A” stock, discontinued rods that have the full warranty. Its also a full tackle shop with full retail prices on lures. If you like St Croix branded clothing they have that too.

I always thought it was funny that the end of High Plains Drifter and Pale Rider are almost the same. Clint alone, faces a gang of gun fighters and takes them out one at a time.

Any of the Clint Eastwood westerns. Fistful of Dollars, Hang 'Em High, High Plaines Drifter, Pale Rider. Too many John Wayne westerns to list. On TV, I still like The Rifleman and Maverick. Not so much today, but when I was a boy, The Lone Ranger and The Roy Rogers Show were two more of my favorites.

Are you kidding! He's got the best job there is! He only has to work one day a year for just a couple of hours and never gets fired even though he's not very good at the only thing he's asked to do. Name another job that is better than that!

Use them on anything that will make fishing easier. As a matter of fact, there are times when I use them on wightless worms. The snap keeps the bait from sliding up the line.

You can always add sinkers above the jig

Considering Punxsutawney Phil has been accurate on his predictions only 39% of the time, smart money is on just the opposite of whatever his predictions are.

You can use the same 3 styles of plastics for a year but after a while, you will start looking for something else on those days when you get bored and want to try another bait. You will rediscover those that you put away. If you gave them away or sold them for peanuts, you won't be happy when you have to purchase them again for twice what you paid for them the first time.