AQUA VELVA

Iv'e seen guys make a cast and watch the rod fly right out of their hand and into the lake. It's not funny but it makes for some interesting expressions on their faces.

I have been using nylon rip-stop rod sleeves for years and they seem to work great for me. I keep my rods in my rod locker .

Maybe a year round bass season would keep me out of trouble.

We get a lot of that here in MI also. I call it lake snot. Seems to be up in the shallows mostly.

There seems to be a disconnect between what humans do and the environment. Way back in the pioneer days, most everything was biodegradable and was not a big problem. Now we are leaving trash on the land and in the lakes and oceans that will likely outlive us. Humanity is pooping in it's own bed and doesn't seem to care. I feel sorry for the wildlife that is being forced to deal with this and it's not even their fault.

Read an artical some years ago when everybody and their brother was putting those things on their vehicles that said there was no scientific proof that they had any effect at all. It was a great marketing ploy by the first company to make them, thats for sure.

Woke up to a beautiful Easter morning here in northern lower MI. Can't wait to get out on the water after this long winter!

Iv'e been using rod socks made from some kind of nylon rip-stop material that fasten behind the reel with velcro tabs, for years. Don't know if they are still being made. I will tell you this, though, some of the best reel covers that I ever found are those blue, cloth Royal Crown bags with the gold draw strings. I bought a bunch of them from some guy in N.Y. about 20 years ago and Im still using them.

I saw them on sale at Cabela's for $14. Yea, they are real pretty to look at but Im not buying any until see more feedback from the people that will be using them.

It is just a sad comment on the state of the human condition. It seems our only defense is to numb ourselves to the endless parade of human wreckage that we watch every night on the news. The lives that people are willing to accept out of pure ignorance and dysfunction is appalling. For most of us, you will always have a choice, and as you choose, so shall you be.

Ive been using the arbor knot for years. If you tie it the right way, it works, if you tie it the wrong way it won't. It's as simple as that.

My younger brother, the ''motorhead'', had a orange one that he bought from the original owner, a cop, no less. The first time I ever rode in it we were on our way to my dads cottage on Lake St. Clair on the Canadian side. We got out into farmland on 401 and John said, '' check this out''. He put his foot down and the car exploded into life. Before I knew it we were doing 160 passing people doing 70 like they were parked.I can only imagine what they thought when we went by them. Thank goodness the OPP wasn't out there that day, we would have probably gone straight to jail.

I would picked them up in Wally World and study them every time I went in there. They looked different in an ''odd'' sort of way and vaguely suspicious. After all, my trusty Plano spinnerbait lunch box had served me well through the years. One day I just decided to get one and try it. I loved it, it's a perfect fit in my soft side tackle system. You have a good view of all your baits safe and snug. Sometimes different is good.

You say you ''keep hearing''. What are your sources of information?

We have whats called a mixer valve in our basement. Go to Home Depot or Lowes and ask someone in the plumbing dept. about them.

Then I guess maybe, possibly it is not the rotator cuff. Im right handed and have a tendancy to be a hard caster. After a long day the area near my right shoulder blade is killing me to the point that I have to stop fishing. I wonder if this is very common or just age related?

My gal is completely oblivious to and could care less about all things fishing. All she knows is that I like to fish. Works for me.

MI: Lake St. Clair ever since the zebra mussles cleaned it up.

I will usually night fish lakes in my area that see a lot of daytime activity. On some occasions I've been on lakes that see very little day activity and the fishing is poor during the day anyway. Come back at night and that same lake explodes. Go figgure.

I feel like the ''fish'' everytime I walk into Cabela's or BPS.

1/4 oz. Rat-L-Traps in silver and gold for shallows, 1/2 oz. Red Eyes in Citrus Shad,Gold Sexy Shad & Oyster everywhere else.

None, it's just a distraction. My Harley came with a sound system I never used for the same reason.

Wonder what applications those line- through-blank rods would be used in? I don't see them for sale in my salt water catalogs.

Don't feel to bad ,my friend, at 27 you still have time. It's not likely that I'll live for another 66 years.

I can't wait for 10:1 reels complete with huge salt water handles! Yowzza!