contium

I usually either fish with my wife or by myself. I occasionally fish with a buddy but I feel too much like a guide when I bring people out on my boat. I feel responsible for them catching fish.

Off the top of my head, Pyramid, Silverwood and Puddingstone. I have seen the signs elswhere though. http://oehha.ca.gov/fish/so_cal/silverwood.html http://oehha.ca.gov/fish/so_cal/pyramidlake2013.html http://www.dailybulletin.com/environment-and-nature/20140929/anglers-warned-about-contaminated-fish-at-puddingstone-reservoir http://oehha.ca.gov/fish/special_reports/advisorylakesres.html

Most of the lakes I fish here in Southern California have warnings about eating top level preditor fish, mainly LMB and strippers. The funny thing is that these same lakes supply drinking water. One would think that if the lake is polluted enough to make fish unsafe to eat, it wouldn't be safe to drink.

I use cheaper technical shirts like Hanes Cool-Dri for other thing like Spartan races, etc. They work pretty good. I have worn them fishing. However, I also have a few "premium" shirts by AFTCO, HUK etc and they are cooler and more comfortable and look better (fit better). It's not like they make them. They are all sourced from China. I'm sure it's just the weave and cut but I'm fine with paying a bit more for a shirt that I'm wearing for extended periods is more comfortable. Problem is, you have to try them on to know what is comfortable on you.

I'm generally not one to avoid the sun but when fishing for 12+ hours it's a necessity. I have a shaved head so I also need back of neck protection. I've been wearing the AFTCO Samurai hooded performance long sleeve fishing sun shirt with a baseball cap. They are around $40. I got it for $30 at The Fred Hall Show. Very cool and comfortable.

I use 35mm film canisters. Keeps the hooks dry too. This is in a deep 3700. They wont fit in a standard 3700.

That's why they make xi5 and Terrova trolling motors. Putting an xi5 on my boat was the best thing I have done for fishing in years. It seems I am always fishing in the wind and its now an enjoyable experience. Can't tell you how many times the wind is blowing straight into a bank I am fishing. With the xi5, I can anchor lock or cuise down the bank standing on the rear deck casting with the wind. There are so many advantages of GPS trolling motors.

When I here frogs and buzzbaits, I think heavy cover. I would go with a medium-heavy. 5" senkos will be fine with it. But it will suck for trout unless you are fishing for big trout,

Since I added a heading sensor to my boat, I stopped using buoys.

That's were I bought my boat and often shop there for tackle as well. Been buying fishing gear there for probably 25+ years. Not sure how profitable tackle is for them but in the long run, I bought a boat so you have to look at it from that angle as well. I would much rather buy a boat from a shop full of fisherman than just some boat salesman.

Don't. Leave them alone to do their thing.

I've caught numerous bass from 24" to 27" long. Not a clue to what they have weighed. All my big fish have been caught at night wading or in a float tube. Minimal gear. No camera, phone, scales etc. Marked them off on the rod and measured it later. All released within a minute of landing. They were all quite a few years ago. I only fish from boats now and all the lakes around me are only open sunrise to sunset unfortunately. Fishing daytime only has definitely reduced the quantity and quality of fish I catch.

Went out to my local lake today (Puddingstone) since I have the day off. Water temp was 73 deg F on February 15 what the heck. Blanked. Could not find the fish. Nothing shallow. Couldn't graph anything. Everyone I talked to with one exception blanked. The one exception was at the end of the day we went to the feeder creek on the east shore and a couple of shore fisherman cought 6 bass up to 4 lbs. The bass had pushed shad up to a little cove. Water was about 3' deep back there. I wasn't about to encroach on them. Anyone in SoCall have any success in these wacky conditions? I mean 73 deg F should be post spawn but middle of February should be winter patterns.

Boron rods were actually boron/graphite. Similar feel to graphite but I thought they were a little more sensitive. The blanks themselves tended to be a little smaller diameter than 100% graphite for a similar action. Boron rods were a lot more durable. A friend of mine TRIED to break a Fenwick boron rod and it was about impossible. As I recall, the price of boron increased to the point it wasn't feasible to make the rods anymore. The military industry started using it more.

That's the truth. I've been doing pretty good and then bam, skunked twice in a row. Not even a single hit fishing around 9 hours each day.

Does Casitas still have the 35 day quarantine for boats? That would make the decision easy on which to fish. http://www.casitaswater.org/boating-and-fishing/

Never knew DSG sold tackle. The DSG's by me don't. My monkey is jealous!

Sidescan on a 5" is pretty much unusable IMO. I have a 7" and I still don't use it so I don't think that should be much of a factor. I used a 53dv for about 6 months and it worked pretty good for a basic unit. The 53DV was selling for $399 not too long ago.

Make sure you keep ElaZtech in bags. I had it warp some of my 3700's.

Every now and then I break out with one of my 5'6" Phoenix boron rods from the 80's. I keep threatening myself to go back to them. I am extremely accurate with them. I have no issues with distance. I really don't see my longer rods casting any further. I think because of the short rod and handle, you can whip it easier which generates a lot of tip speed. I fished with them for decades and never had an issue with hooksets back then. They just feel a more natural extension of my arm and actually easier on my arm. And the shorter handle doesn't get in the way. I like the angled Fuji Speedgrip type handle over what St Cruix offers on their pistol grips. There is just something about the way it feels.

When I used Garmin echoMaps, I would take them off. No cables to detach/reattach. As Minnow said, it takes at most 2 seconds to remove them. Great design. I am running two Lowrance HDS 7 gen 2 touch's now and would have 8 cables to deal with. Pass.

Good move. Might change my opinion of tournaments.

I don't know if I would call an aluminum bass boat a mid life crisis. Maybe if you were thinking an Allison glass boat or something lol. An aluminum boat can be pretty frugal. I have fished out of anything I could get to float. I will take a boat anytime over a kayak, tube, etc. I like to kayak, just not for fishing. I can't sit in a kayak fishing for 10 or 12 hours at a time. I hate the immobility. I can sit, stand, and walk around in a boat. And around here, you will get swamped, blown around and just in general have a miserable time in a kayak. At least I would. And kayaks aren't exactly cheap. I've had fast glass boats in the past but I got tired of the tournament thing and currently have a Ranger RT178 aluminum boat. It is dirt cheap to run. I fill it with gas every 3 months or so and that's with fishing weekly. I tow it with a small SUV and only take a 1 mpg hit when towing. Plus I tend to fish a lot of offshore structure, not doing that in a kayak. I'm sure it depends on where you fish though and a kayak might be the best way to go for some people.

This. When I cast, my index finger is on the trigger. When I retrieve, I prefer to palm a reel with the trigger between my pinky and ring finger. That would require more movement with a left handed reel. I transfer the rod to my left hand during the cast so no time is lost. I do use a left handed reel for pitching. I also find always holding a rod in my right hand causes more fatigue in my right arm. Casting with the rod with the right hand and retrieving with the rod in the left hand spreads the fatigue out.