AQUA VELVA

Now if they could only make Gorilla Tape UV proof.

''We all live with the objective of being happy. Our lives are all different and yet the same.'' Anne Frank

Ive heard so much technical information about that plane I feel like I could fly it if I had to.

A weasel came out to the very end of a log not six feet from where I was wader fishing in a river. We just stared at one another for a minute while I wondered how far weasels can jump, and then, curiosity satisfied, it turned around scampered back down the log and into the brush.

My Wally World has Quantum PT Kinetics marked down to $70.

Squid soup in an Italian restaurant in NYC. They looked like little spiders and tasted and chewed like rubber.

I read an article in our Sunday Free Press that said a lot of shallower lakes are likely to see fish die-offs due to the longer-than-usual ice cover that prevents oxygenation of the water.

I can't count the number of times that I have been out on a lake, the sun baking me like a potato in a microwave, no breeze, biting flies, sweating like a pig and no fish. I look around me at all of this ''stuff'' that I have invested in, at no small expense, to catch and release a creature with a brain the size of a wallnut that will not be caught and I ask myself,''Why in the heck do I do this?'' I have no immediate answer. By the time I get home it's dark. I put my gear away, take a shower, fix something to eat and relax. Before the evening is over I am already thinking about what lake I will be going to next and what new lure or technique I might try.And so it goes.

Don't know about butt seats but I love my Tempress Navistyle Hi-Back.

I gotta get one of those things!!!

Does anyone besides the pros use these things? I don't know anyone who does. That whole set-up looks kinda iffy and they are not cheap at two grand a pop.It looks like an upside down power antenna on steriods. Whats your take on them?

I no longer buy or carry around lures that I have little confidence in. There is just way to much ''iffy'' stuff out there on the market and I will never go back to being a walking tackle store.

Was thinking about trying out the Rage Shad until I started reading a lot of negative customer reviews about how easy they tear up. At five bucks for a five pack, they aint cheap.

I just get that feeling by looking at it that if bought one, I'd be the first ''fish'' caught. Good luck.

What A-Jay said. Although some lures are coming with better hooks than in the past I usually upgrade to a Mustad KVD and a size larger if I can. I like Sure-Set hooks on the tail of most of my cranks.

I bought a couple black ones to try out for night fishing. I put bulkier, longer skirts on them with a trailer hook and the bass loved them. Only down side was that they foul up to easy around weeds.

Drop shot, swim jigs, chatter baits, spoons.

Ive carried those things around in my tackle box for years. Used them ocassionaly but never had much success. Seems like something you would need to use a steel leader on or you would lose a lot of them.

I throw SB's and CB's on BPS Crankin Sticks and have no problems hooking up. I use trailer hooks on all of my SB's . Im pretty sure your rod was not the problem.

Im going to try that this year and see how it goes. When I strip the old line off my reels Im always aware of how much of it is wasted as filler. Im also sure that if guys who fish the pro circuit didn't think it was worth it, they would not do it.

Remember the blank through line guide rods that were around just a few years ago? They came with a rigging wire so you could pull your line through the rod. Didn't go over to well with the general fishing community and they died a pretty quick death.

Oh, man, Little Debbie Nutty Bars are the best. I read a product review on KVD line conditioner and it was given pretty high marks. Did not know that you could buy it by the gallon. So this stuff has absolutely no build up when you use a lot of it? Sounds almost to good to be true.

Three inch, half ounce Rebel Mag Pop-R in G-Fleck Rainbow G-Finish.

What RipSomeLips says has some validity. I belive bass become leery of lures that have given them a bad feeding experience. I remember when Slug- O's came on the scene. For about three years those things worked like magic and then the magic wore off or the bass got smarter. I still use them but they don't produce like they used to.

I used to think that there was really something to those but nobody I ever talked to paid much attention to them. When I was working I fished whenever I could, now that Im retired I fish nearly every day and at night and don't think about the tables one way or the other.