DogBone_384

Call Abu's customer service. I caught the tip of one of my Veritas rods in my tailgate last year. They sold me a new one for roughly 1/2 of retail pricing. If that's not an option call DVT and see if they can help. Good luck.

I've had 6 reels cleaned, tuned, and/or modified by Mike @ DVT. Just tell him what you want done and let him do his magic and go with his recommendations. His communication, turn around time, and pricing are great.

Found this, which might help a little: http://www.mass.gov/eea/docs/dfg/dfw/habitat/maps-ponds/dfwashl.pdf

I fish mostly on the South Shore, in and around Plymouth. I switched to baitcasters (B/C) three years ago. If you're interested in switching to B/C, just do it. There is a learning curve, but the payoff is worth it. I cast farther and more accurately with a B/C than a spinning rig almost all the time. I use them for every type of lure I throw except for the few soft baits and spinners weighing less than 1/4 oz. I recommend a BPS Pro Qualifier (or Shimano @ same price point) and a 7' M/F rod that feels good to you. As far as hard baits, I'm no expert by any means, but I have my best luck with suspending & floating yellow perch Rapalas: they look like the baitfish in the waters I fish. I don't fish buzz/spinner baits that much, but you can't really go wrong with a chartreuse one and a blue/black one (for dusk/night). Don't worry about becoming an expert quickly. Buy a couple lures you want to learn and focus on just that technique for the whole season and don't be afraid to try any retrieve you think of. A lot of members here keep log books of their fishing trips to better learn what works/doesn't work in specific environments. That might help too. Like I said above, I switched to B/C only three years ago, so I spent that first year just casting different lures to learn only the B/C. The second year I focused on T-rigged worms and Senkos. Last year I used hard baits most of the time to discover what worked and what didn't. This year it might be jigs, who knows. Lastly, read this forum. There's an infinite amount of information here for members, from members. Best of luck this year, and go get yourself a B/C rig. You'll love it.

Great to hear. Sounds like an old fashioned, hard working, 'have to get the job done' American. Great example for all!!

Might just have to help my 48 YO eyes at dawn/dusk with one of these... thanks for posting it.

I'm gonna beat the horse again: Pflueger..... Pflueger...... Pflueger.

Pretty aggressive. I'm hoping the ice is gone by April 1st, though I'm not holding my breath. It'd be better if you were right.... good luck. Here's a picture of the bay where I live. BTW, that's Boston in the background. Yep, Spring isn't far away....

Heavy cover? You aren't talking about the 3+ feet of snow on the ponds & lakes, are you?

Anything FUN is banned in MA. I've already notified my boss (err, wife...) I'm not retiring in MA.

Better and much more expensive than 2013. Bait Monkey's fault.....

It's almost March, which means open water is near.... It's all good.

I use a Pelican case big enough to hold a battery and my Lowrance 4X and use industrial velcro to keep it in the hatch, as close to the center of the yaks. I use a 24 amp/hour battery that last nearly the whole season w/o recharching. A waterproof quick connect allows me to use my motorcycle's BatteryTender to charge it when it needs it.

AWESOME! That means if you have some open water in NY ... can't be far away for Red Sox Nation! Congratulations...

OH CRAP! You drove my bachelor party .... didn't you !?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Congratulations on your retirement... I can understand your feelings. I've got 16+ left on the FD and also worked two jobs most of my life. It'll be tough transition I'm sure, but you'll have more freedom to decide how to spend your time, whether you fish, travel, work part time, or help raise Grandchildren.... the options are nearly limitless!

I've always had good jobs, but these three are/were the most fun: Working for a mid-high end audio company (Tweeter Etc.) as a car audio installer in the late '80s & early '90s - got to build some nice systems for the likes of Joey Kramer, Jim Longborg, and Jim Wiemer. Working for Alpine Electronics of America in marketing, tech support, and sales. Also helped build some of their demo vehicles (have you ever cut the floor out of a perfectly good Ford Explorer to flush all the amplifiers at floor level in a motorized display rack or flush 2 12" subwoofers in the side panels of a Nissan Sentra SE-R? AND GET PAID FOR IT!). Firefighter in the city I was born & raised in..... pretty self explanatory....

It's nearly 01 March - the thaw will come quickly. I can't wait to get the kayak out on ANY water....

I double checked it - it works on my end.... Good thing we don't rely on the interweb to physically catch fish... THE HORROR!

Found an article that might make some laugh and others keep the monkey at bay (... a little longer, anyway...) http://www.kayakfishmag.com/tips/the-case-going-light/

Does that mean you have 3 - 6" on the ground? I worked a trade show in Nashville once and they got about 3", or so, and the whole place shut down. The only ones out on the road were those of us from cold climates with rent-a-dentals. Kind of a trip, but I can see if you live somewhere where you don't get snow, you'd have a tough time driving in it... I'm on the coast, just south of Boston, and we've gotten between 4 - 5' this month. Spring will be here soon, and when this melts, the water levels will be nice and high...

I have my best luck with nearly any color 4" Senko, weightless, and Zoom's 6" U-Tail T-rigged in gourd green. Hey Felix - have you figured out how to get your kayak in a carry-on bag yet?

Welcome to the forum. The more you read it, the more you'll love it AND get addicted to it. Since you're from RI - I have to ask: Yankees, or Red Sox?

I have my best luck just before dawn. I try to get the kayak on the pond while still dark and be as quiet as possible until I can see w/o my 'headlight'. Just my experience.

Thanks - I'll give it a whirl. Worst case, a friend of mine is from Paris - I can see if he can have a relative ship it... Though I must admit I've done well fighting off the monkey this winter - he's tugging at my PayPal account hard tonight.... MUST RESIST.