DogBone_384

... not often enough ....

Good question, and YES, it sure would!

You best take her out for a nice night out! Abu's Veritas are my favorite rods. They fish on the heavy side of their rating but load up great. If both of your rods are fast action, you can use them for almost anything. I have the 6'9" MH casting rod and use it for mostly soft plastics and light jigs (1/4 oz and up). Most of my spinning rods are M and ML so I can't help you with your spinning set up. Best of luck with your new stuff!

THAT'S getting your money's worth.... congratulations!

Took my wife's friend's son Evan to Hedges Friday afternoon to see if I could get him his first SMB. I put him where I'd caught them the other night and told him to toss a blade bait. He got some hits but was unable to get them to the boat. I hooked onto a couple good ones too that managed to free themselves while in mid-air. We moved around some but didn't have much luck so back to our starting point. Evan got two perch to his kayak and I managed 2 decent SMB and three perch. Had a PB perch just about in my hands but it shook free as I reached for him. Have some work to to landing SMB with treble hook baits. They're very good at shaking themselves free. Water temps were 83.x - 84.x

I've seen them too! Stacked up like airplanes at Home-D every morning....

Kayak's on the truck and I'm not working tomorrow. Don't know where I'm going yet, but it'll be somewhere.... Somewhere turned out to be Ponkie in the morning and Hedges in the evening. Launched at Ponkie around 7:30 and stayed until 11:00. I landed a few little ones and three in the 1-5 range. They all came on a 'generic' brand twin tail grub on a 1/8 oz. Keitech jig head. Something BIG hit it, assumably a Pickerel, because it chewed straight through my braid. Didn't get on the water at Hedges until after 6:30. There were two accidents in addition to regular afternoon traffic. It was worth it though, with four good SMB, one little one, and a nice fat yellow Perch. I can only count 1 SMB, the other fish came close, but never made it into my kayak. All came on blade baits. I started with a 3/4 oz gold Binsky in roughly 17 - 20' of water. One of the good sized smallies hit it like a truck and spit it while coming out of the water by a foot or more, which, itself was worth the drive to Plymouth. Another SMB is wearing that gold Binsky beacuse my braid/fluoro knot failed as I was reaching for it (forgot net ?). I hope it can shake it loose. Water temps at both locales was 81.x.

No. No boat for a little while. I just bought a new truck.

...hhhmmmm. ..... rules ... boat captain ..... how do I convince with boss (wife) into a boat .... hhhmmmm. ...

I know. I keep an eye on what he's doing.... I CAN say I got big SMB of the day once at Great Herring and I think I got him at one of his local ponds with a little gold square bill. Thanks for the good words.

There's no confidence to shake. There are things I'm good at and some I'm not. Just how it is.

I have no mojo. Even the day you and I fished together you out fished me at least 3:1. Some guys have the touch. I don't. We launched @ area 3, don't know what gate.

Tom and I have been at the Quabbin since opening bell. It's just about noon and he's got me 11 to 0. Make that 12... I'm done for the day. ....13.... Final tally: Tom 20 +\-, Dogbone 1. A least I didn't get shut out.

Rain or shine, Fishing Rhino and I are heading to the Quabbin tomorrow.... Hope to see others there. I'll have my VHF radio on channel 16.

Neither fighter loses. Check their bank statements after the match.

X2 I've got Monday & Tuesday off. Anyone up for a trip to Quabbin?

Highlight of 2017! AWESOME!

I have a 7' MF Villain casting rod and love it. It's feather light and fishes closer to a MH. I had a ML/F spinning Villain but lost it off my kayak. THAT was my favorite spinning rod, period. I own Veritas and Veracity Abus too. Of the many brands I own, they feel the most natural to me.

Are you a good mechanic? A small leak carburetor leak isn't a big deal. I'd keep it, make a prioritized list of what you want to do to it and pick at it as needed. I kept my Suzuki RF900 motorcycle for 20 years, doing all maintenance/repairs myself. It still looked new when I traded it for my current bike, which I hope to keep 20 years.

I had a 50th birthday dinner at the Monoponsett Inn at 6:00 yesterday so I dropped into Monoponsett Pond (West) with Evan, my wife's friend's son who I've mentioned before, about 3:00 yesterday. It was very windy, but we went for it. Evan didn't catch anything and I managed two decent Larry's and lost one on a 4" wacky rigged Senko. Surprisingly, Fishing Rhino's secret weapon didn't produce more than little tap-taps from panfish. The weather was a bag of everything and surface temps started at 80.x and dropped to 76.x by the time we had to leave. Evan got discouraged and went back the launch, but I coaxed him back out. He's 17, stuck on hard baits and switches every few casts if they don't produce. He's seen me catch bass on soft baits a few times and is now willing to give them a try. I told him to bring two rods next time, one with his favorite hard bait and the other with ONE soft bait. If we fish Ponkie it'll be a T-rigged worm and a wacky Senko if we fish a deeper/open pond. All in all a good day, but have to work on getting Evan a couple fish before Summer is over. On a side note, it might be time for another lunch meet to discuss a group fishing trip to ?????

RIP #69

Yep, '07 BMW K1200S. Started in '88 on a Suzuki Katana, then '95 Suzuki RF900R, and '97 Suzuki TL1000S. I had the RF for 20 years. The TL was a cool toy I found stock & unmolested in 2011. I traded the two Suzukis for the BMW in 2015.

Abu Garcia's Veritas spinning or casting gets my vote. They're $79 right now and if you dig around the internet you might still find them @ $69.

Go into your installation settings and make sure you have the correct transducer selected. Good luck.

I smell a trip to the Qubbin after the 4th....