Fish Chris

My apoligies for my ball sports bashing. I'd probably be best just to avoid ball sports threads altogether. My only excuse is that it's just human nature to look at things from ones own perspective. If everybody here had had the experiences with sports that I did, when growing up, you guys would all feel exactly the same as I do. Granted, if everybody here had had the experiences that I did, this would be one rediculously whacked out forum LOL Peace, Fish

Well, I'm pretty sure he put 50 lbs in these (they feel really hard to the kick) I'll check today to be sure, and this time around, I run 50 lbs for the entire life of them, and see if I find any differences. Thank you guys, Fish

First off, I LOVE WAL-MART !!!!! They carry EVERYTHING good ! Shop there every week. We just had our old Wal-Mart close down, to be replaced with a brand new super Wal-Mart ! I swear I could spend $500 a week there, if I had it to spend..... But you mean > Fishing tackle ? Ya' know, I think right after the new Super Wal-Mart opened, I walked through the fishing isles once.... Might have bought some split shots. But here's the thing, we also have a big, awesome, fully stocked fishing tackle store, about 10 miles from my house, but even so, I go there about once a month, walk straight to the hooks, or weights, or whatever item(s) I need, grab them, walk straight to the counter, pay, and leave. I could walk in with $500, and walk out with $490. I don't need, nor want more tackle. Well, I could use a rod or two, and maybe a couple reels, but I'd be more likely to buy those online anyway. If it were up to me, the bait monkey would starve to death. Fish

Yea, about once a year, when I get a cold, and all stopped up, I buy a bottle of Afrin. Works great to clear my sinusus while I am sick. So, 4 or 5 days later, when I'm feeling much better with the other symptoms, my bottle of Afrin runs out and I'm instantly stuffed up. But since I feel better otherwise + since I'm usually too lazy or busy to go buy another bottle, I just deal with it for 2 or 3 days, and then I clear up again. I did know one guy though, who was addicted to nose spray for 14 years !!! Finally, he had some kind of surgery on his sinuses, which opened them up permanently.... But it was a brutal surgery, that left him in a lot of pain, and two black eyes for weeks ! No thanks. Fish

Well, I had to work yesterday, which is totally fine, as I totally hate football, and every other ballsport for that matter. But where I have to say you guys are crazy, is that yesterday would have probably been a great day to go fishing > in spite of the fact it was a Sunday, and weekends typically SUCK for fishing, because of the crowds. However, yesterday during my work (I drive for a living) I couldn't believe how light the traffic was ! It actually made my job easy. And I was thinking, I bet the water is pretty empty today too, because a whole bunch of guys are sitting in their house, staring at their TV's, watching a bunch of other guys in tights, throwing, and kicking some stupid little ball around ! How in the heck does that make any sense !?!? If I were into football, or any ball sport for that matter, I'd have devoted my whole lifes attention to it, and I guarantee you, I'd be out there actually playing it, and you'd be watching me ! LOL Fish

I wouldn't own a two piece rod. I think the new ones are quite good.... very little loss in strength or sensitivity. It's just a mental block for me. If one of my rod ends up in two pieces, it's time for a new one Peace, Fish

fish from inside

Doh !

Here's why I ask. I was looking at mine about 3 weeks ago, and I thought to myself, "That's looking a little weathered. Probably would be smart to replace it". So, about a week after that, while ordering a new jack stand, and motor cover, I went on and ordered another bow strap, with clip. The next week, I got my order. Grabbed the bow strap, and threw it under my bedcover. That afternoon, while pulling my boat out of the Delta, I cranked down on handle, and Pow ! It snapped off right in the loop of the hook ! Ha ! What are the odds that I just happened to have a brand new one right there under my bedcover...... and it had only been there for about 8 hours ! Anyway, they are cheap ! Just wanted to give everybody a friendly reminder to get one if you might need it Peace, Fish

Nope. No major problems. I did develop a major blister on one of the tires, which is why I replaced them, however they were about 95% gone anyway, so I didn't mind replacing them. Can't say that had anything to do with running 30 lbs, instead of 50 lbs though. I figured I might have just nailed a pot hole, or clipped a good sized rock, or obstacle.... Hmmm, Fish

When I first read your post, I thought you meant "the whole grip portion of the handle" was carbon fiber ! But then, heck, if you just mean the reel seat portion, I think almost all of my rods (and some are several years old) are carbon fiber. The only reason I can't just take a look at them over my shoulder right now, is because I ALWAYS wrap the reel seat portion of my spinning rods with batters grip tape, to 1) give me a fatter, tacky surface, for a better grip, and 2) insure that my reel will always be as solid and tightly connected to the rod as possible. Never a loosened reel seat ring, on my rods Anyway, I can't remember ever having broke a reel seat, of any kind. I feel like I'm fairly hard on rods..... But then again, I've probably only broke about 4 rods, in 44 years of fishing.... Hmmmm, Fish

Okay so, I just got another new set of tires for my boat trailer. Now, my boat motor and trailer are pretty darn light. I think about 900 lbs for the total package. The tires are 12 X 4.80, and they are 4 ply tread and sidewalls, rated for up to 800 lbs each. Oh, and they have a max pressure, of 60 lbs. Now, because I'm running such a light load, I've always ran about 30-35 lbs in them. They wore just fine, and I figured it gave the boat and motor a little softer ride. And BTW, at 30-35 lbs, their is virtually zero bulge of the side walls below the rim. However, my buddy the tire pro, says if the tires are rated for 60 lbs max, he would run 50-55 lbs, regardless of the load being ran on them.............. Hmmmmm...... Oh, and I have been getting about 15K to 20K miles per set, which doesn't seem bad for a little 12" wheel. I bet they turn as many rotations as my truck would in 30K to 40K miles ! What's your personal opinion ? I just don't see any big advantages to running any more lbs than I have been. Fish PS, How many guys actually wear the treads off of their light duty trailer tires, vs. the ones that sit on a driveway until they are dry rotted ? Boats like that need to be given to somebody who's going to use them !

Crestliner, the MA state record is a prime example of a genetic fluke. I wrote an article about this subject (posted on my website), of which, of course I sited the MA record fish. Interestingly though, the previous MA state record was nearly "4 lbs" smaller, and even that record had stood for many years. A 10 lb'er in MA is still exceedingly rare, but I know it happens. The best part of the MA record bass catch, is that it just goes to show, a person can never be sure where the next world record will pop up. It could very easily be a place which has never pruduced a bass over 18 lbs, which pops out a 23+ lb'er tomorrow. On the other hand, the odds say, California, Mexico, or maybe Japan. Peace, Fish

Just a few notes on digital scales.... All of the scales mentioned above, are usually fine. However, a digital scale is definitely the kind of thing you need to carry a second one, as a back up. You know.... Murphy's Law. The other thing is, while digital scales tend to weigh very consistently, some will weigh a bit heavy, and some a bit light. So do this > Go to the grocery store and buy 1 gallon jugs of drinking water (cheap stuff.... like $1 a gallon). Bring a magic marker. Then, when you get to the counter, have them weigh these jugs for you on their "certified scales" which almost always weigh to the 1/100ths of a lb. {note: they might look at you crazy, and try to point to the weight on the jug, at which point you just have to tell them what your doing, and why} Don't go by the weight printed on the jug. Not only is this just the minimum weight for the water in the jug (they will usually hold a touch more) but also, the weight of the jug itself is not accounted for. Get the exact weight for 2 or 3 jugs, then hang them on your scale to find out if its weighing spot on, slightly heavy, or slightly light. Say for example, it weighs .2 lbs light, at 10 lbs, .3 light at 20 lbs, and .4 light at 30 lbs. Simply make a note of it. You could even put one of the little sticky labels on your scale, and use a waterproof pen to show your corrections. Of course if you find out your scale is WAY off in either direction, just return the scale for one that works right. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BTW, I always carry two Berkeley scales, + one Salter Brecknell, {a back up, for my back up } which I had certified by the Dept of Weights and Measures.. Peace, Fish My trusty Pelican case.... Getting kind of crammed these days, as it also now holds my two way remote alarm for the truck, my iPod touch, my stereo faceplate, and my cell phone I just don't know how any hard core angler could live without a Pelican ! I sure couldn't.

Redline, I promise SSS, that sucks. 15 months ago, before I got onto this whole fitness / lose fat / get buffed kick, my blood pressure was averaging 150, 102 ! Yikes ! I check it pretty often now, and it averages 100/60. Fish

Well, their have been studies which show "above water" noise, travels almost zero distance underwater. Of course a 10Kwt system with 6 18"s might smack the hull hard enough to travel quite well... But I don't think you were considering a system like that For myself though, I listen to music a LOT ! I have a really nice system in my truck which I crank up LOUD all the way to my fishing location, and all the way home, but when I'm on the water, it's just like Rolo said, I listen to the music of nature. Don't want any man made garbage to mess that up. That's me though. Peace, Fish

Thanks guys Hey Bassfisherjk, true our light aluminums catch some wind, but don't you just love how our V-hulls cut those waves ? + I have electric power trim, so any time I hit big waves, I just trim the front down, to cut the waves, with the sharper part of the V, instead of slapping them with the flatter underside. Works great ! In fact, unless it's REALLY huge waves where I think I might spear one, I can pretty much run wide open throttle, without too major slapping. Ohio, no, unfortunately, I only get out a couple days a week now. For years (until this crappy economy) I only worked 4 days a week, and often got on the water 3 days, but unless things turn around, I'm stuck with 5 days of work CJ, that's what I'd like to think Peace, Fish

Well, I did catch this one nice 14'ish fish at about 11 am. But no sooner than I landed it, I could see the giant windmills in the distance start spinning, and the glass calm water start turning that dak gray color, on the other end of the bay..... And here it came The North wind from hell ! It blew like 25 mph, with 40 mph gusts the rest of the freaking day ! I toughed it out, but like a fool, I quit at about 4pm.... right when they have really started biting good lately. I was just tired of bouncing around, up at 4 am for the second day, and still had to get home for my workout. But the good thing was, I caught this one in a little different spot, on an incoming tide. So maybe I'm onto to something here Can't wait to try it again next week, hopefully in less than a full force hurricane ! Peace, Fish PS, I keep thinking that one of these days, if I wade through enough 10 to 25 lb'ers, I'll finally hit a 35 to 45 lb'er..... But their are just so few monsters left ouyt here anymore Still, their are a few, and of course, fishing is fishing. You just never know, right ?

Okay. I thought "this fish" was 18.18 But either way, that is one heck of a nice Bass ! I'll be trying for a 30 to 40+ lb Bass today.... But I think mine will have Stripes on it Peace, Fish

One answer: So you don't have to be just another one of this 6 1/2 billion people crowd. Fish

Although it took all day to get going ! Actually, I didn't even start fishing for Stripers until about 1:30pm anyway. Up until then, I just spent a couple hours catching bait, and trying for a Sturgeon, but no luck on the dino-fish. So, even after I started fishing for Stripers, I fished until 3pm before I had the first bite, and it was a 5 lb dink. Then, at 3:30, I get a 9 lb'er. Then another dink. Then, at 5:30pm (getting dark) I stuck a good one ....22.1 lbs. So, I had just got done taking the photos and releasing it, and the other pole starts singing, and I stuck another 9'ish fish. Sorry, my photos were really underexposed, and needed a lot of photoshop, hence all the digital noise. Oh well. Had it been a really big fish, I'd have checked the shots before I released it, but anyway, you can still see it was a really pretty, healthy fish. Fought great too ! Going to try it again tomorrow Peace, Fish

What's the "Superbowl" ? I guess it doesn't really matter, as all you would have to do is to tell me what time this Superbowl thing is, and with my daily intake being so consistently planned to the 'T' everyday, I could probably tell you exactly what I will be eating Life is too short to sit at home and watch somebody else actually participating in their passion, on your TV ! If your into football, why aren't you out there on that field playing it !?!? Your not good enough ? Then choose something you are good at ! But don't just sit there ! Time is wasting ! Peace, Fish

Wow ! Those are some nice healthy looking fish there ! Keep after them Fish

Yep. Braid is a must. About as important as oxygen Kinky, coily, stretchy arse monofilament needs to retire. Fluorocarbon is fine for leaders. Fused lines in the lighter lb tests makes good dental floss.... In fact, I think Johnson & Johnson is the main producer LOL Fish

As far as I'm concerned, a sportfish is a sportfish. I'll stick a hook in anything that wants to fight me ! I've never caught a Wiper, but I here they rip ! Keep after them Fish