Trek

I just flip a black jig with a rattle in it. You can see the outline of the cover and fish aren't that tight to cover anyways late at night.

Here in Ohio we call them 25 hp dba 9.9

How about do it before hand, why wait till you have an injury ? I rode 62 miles on my bicycle yesterday with a guy that was 69. One that was 62 and two ladies that were in there late 50's. If you did it all your life you won't loose it when you get older.

It's the most basic solution you can do. Workout and stretch daily. Building muscle around your joints will help support them. Not working out makes your joints do all the work. Doctors love to give meds and replace joints. Find yourself a trainer that will teach you what you need to do to live a better life and just do it. Many will spend thousands on a boat but won't send a thousand on there health and well being. To me that doesn't make sense. The older you get the worse it will get so start while your younger.

I have many times shared waypoints with buddies and they have shared them with me. It beats saying go off woody point till you line up with the tower in the west. That's tournament fishing. You're always going to have the ringers that fish only that lake and have hidden brush piles but your also always going to have the guys with the side finders that find them. It almost always ends up with the guy that did his homework and his fish didn't move on him that finds the win. And you always have those small groups that say they cheated or have some unfair advantage or something. I hate big tournaments with a bunch of rules. No one can enforce them and it gives some people something to complain about. I say if your going to fish tournaments then find a way to win and shut up and fish. Your other competitors will respect you for it.

I have a buddy that does heating and air conditioning. He has always said that the guy will not pay to have the AC fixed till it's to hot to F%^&. Then they'll pay what ever it costs.

I hear this from fishing guys all the time. Elbows, lower back and knees. The best solution is to workout. In the winter I'm in the gym three to four times a week and once a week with a trainer. In the summer I cycle. It's amazing how little I hurt now. Everyone wakes up in the morning and is sore and stiff at my age, at least I know why. Do yourself a favor and loose those extra pounds you keep saying your going to and take the time to workout a couple of times a week. Your body will reward you for it.

I'm with ya on this one. Fishing is not a spectator sport to me. I don't get all caught up with the commercials the pro's hand out when they're on stage. If I get time I'll watch a few weigh ins on line but I'm not going to spend the whole weekend following them around to see how they fish. To me that would be a waste of time.

I use to own a Campion 198. I was fishing at the mouth of a channel and had a slight wind blowing out of the channel. It was warm and I had shorts, tee shirt and flip flops on. And for about the third time on that boat my flip flop tripped on the boat tie and in I went. At first I sort of laughed but then I had to get in the boat. A Champion sits nose high in the water so I swam to the back of the boat and because I was wet the rail became so slippery I couldn't grab it to pull myself up. I tried to swim the boat closer to shore but it was to heavy and the wind was push me out deeper. I finally bear hugged the motor and used the trim to left me up and slid over the top of it to get in the boat. I'm in pretty good shape and I had a really had time getting back in the boat. The Ranger I own now has an on board ladder in the back and fold down boat ties.

I guess the one thing I've never understood about using fluorocarbon as a leader is that the sensitivity you get from your bait to you is through the line. I know the pole will help with that but the main sensitivity comes from the line. That's the main reason I use fluorocarbon. It has other good qualities but the bottom line is you got to feel the bite or your going to miss to many fish. So that being said why would you use it as a leader ? Your not bringing that sensitivity back to your pole where you need it most. For me to use it as a leader I would only being getting half out of what I bought it for. I do use backing under it to help cut costs.

I had some skin cancer taken off my leg about three years ago. Trust me it will wake you up when the doctor says it's cancer. I now cover up pretty good and pile on the sun screen. This year I even got three new long sleeve shirts and face mask from HUK. They make pretty good stuff and it is amazing how cool they keep you. As you get older you start paying for all the stupid stuff you did when you were younger. Smoking, chewing, drinking to much, sunburns and gaining weight are the big ones. Treat your body better and as you age your body will treat you better.

I have fallen off the front deck of my boat more times then I want to admit. Part of fishing I guess. If I'm fishing with a friend I don't worry about it as much because I have help there. But if I put my boat up on pads we always wear a PFD. It's just a boat rule.

I use 100 percent fluorocarbon on all my flipping and spinning rods. At times it's a real pain but It's been proven to me your missing bites if your not using it. Plain and simple. I never use it as a leader either. Just learn how to use it. It's a learning curve just like a bait caster was. You'll get the hang of it and you will catch more fish on it. At first I used a lot of KVD line conditioner but now I use it sometimes but pretty much just go fishing.

Here's an idea. I had some given to me at a tournament and I will say I like them. I also like they come in different colors. Many of my rods and reels look alike and I can tell them apart now with just a look at the handle. http://www.reelgrip.com

I personally like Trilen XL 10 lb. for small square bills. I like it because it has some stretch to it and when I get a fish on between the line and the longer pole it helps keep the fish on. I think a stiffer set up allows the fish to pull the hooks out of their mouths.

Females don't guard the fry. Males do. I think first you need to understand what's going on to understand how to catch the fish.

I like the Yum Dingers. I think I even like them better and they have a few colors in a swirl that GY's don't.

I remember when the GY Senko first came out. I made the state team for the federation in 2002 to fish in 2003. We would go to team meetings and they sponsored us. They would bring huge boxes with hundreds of bags of senkos in them. If I remember right they were mostly some sort of black or green pumpkin but not a lot of choices like they have now. I grabbed a few hands full and told my buddy how many worms do you really need. When we got to the tournament in Canada the next year they told us when we got on stage to say we caught our fish on the GY senko and to wear the hat they gave us. The problem was we really did catch them on the senko. The Canadian small mouth never saw anything like it and would jerk the rod out your hand when they hit it. Knowing what I know now I wish I would have walked out of those meeting with one or two of those boxes. I know they would have let me. I'd still be fishing free senkos.

I noticed you had a pretty stout hook on it. I like that you can glue an eye in on those. I make a 1/2 oz one on a football shaky head. I can put a 6/0 hook in that thing. But I put a bigger swim bait on the back of it and the weight keeps it from flipping on a faster retrieve. It's a good fall bait.

Is there a reason for the swim jig mold ? Or is it just the mold you have with the eye of the hook being that way ?

Early spring when the females are starting to move up to their beds I'll toss a senko. I know at that time of the year they are a little spooky and a slow falling bait works well. Then as the summer mood comes in and they get up or into cover I just think it's hard to fish a senko and go to more of a beaver style bait. But I'm looking for more of a reaction type bite then. Then come fall they will start schooling on the shad to fatten up for winter and I switch to a crank bait. For me a senko would work all three seasons but maybe not be the best producer of the better fish in summer and fall. But you could catch good numbers all year on it.

Early spring when the females are starting to move up to their beds I'll toss a senko. I know at that time of the year they are a little spooky and a slow falling bait works well. Then as the summer mood comes in and they get up or into cover I just think it's hard to fish a senko and go to more of a beaver style bait. But I'm looking for more of a reaction type bite then. Then come fall they will start schooling on the shad to fatten up for winter and I switch to a crank bait. For me a senko would work all three seasons but maybe not be the best producer of the better fish in summer and fall. But you could catch good numbers all year on it.

Well I think your talking crank baits now. We were talking shaky heads when you started this post.

Well salt does not equal blood. There is more to the taste of blood then just salt. In most cases when a bass grabs a bait there is no blood at all. I have watched pike grab my walleye on a hook and never let go and there was no blood. The fish is reacting to a bait and not to the taste. But what you have found is a bait that works for you. So why change ?

I believe putting the bait in front of the fish in a matter they want it is the most important factor of catching fish. Not salt, scent, color or style of bait. To many people focus on the wrong thing. I watch people all day long changing their baits and then fish them all the same way.