herder

I don't think I've eaten one in 50 years. Not to many freshwater fish I've eaten besides Yellow Perch and Channel Cats from clear cold water. Saltwater fish is a different game, stripers, fluke, tog, spanish mackerel and even bluefish were always harvested. Now a days it's very rare for me to harvest anything to the disdain of my wife. I look at cleaning fish as work, being retired I avoid work at any cost. I've become Maynard G Krebs !!

The waters by me for potential big smallies are 45 minutes to a hr away. Farest I've driven is 5+ hrs to the Adirondacks, then we camp for a week up there. I've have not reached my potential

It all depends on where I'm fishing. Deep clear reservoirs, I'm bringing my dropshot stuff in addition to my boxes of plastics, jerk baits and top waters. River fishing depending on the river just plastics, jerk baits and topwaters and spinner baits. Shallow lakes pretty much plastics and top waters. Saltwater depends on what I'm fishing for, stripers it's plugs and jigs, fluke jigs, tog is just rigs and crabs. The most rods I bring are 4, again depending on where I'm fishing.

Just been spooked a few times, shad fishing solo on the Delaware river over 30 years ago. Waded about 20 yards off the bank casting darts for shad, out of the corner of my eye I see something. Turn around and I think man that's a big dog, well it's a good size black bear. At this time bears were very rare in New Jersey, well the next thing is the bear gets in the river and starts swimming across real close to me. I can't really move to quick in the river current and I think maybe if he gets too close I can poke him in the eye with my rod . Thankfully he just swam across paying no attention to me. Another time solo camping on the Delaware river sitting around my campfire after a day of fishing. I'm in that zone where I'm just one with the universe, something made me look off to my side and put my headlamp on and there's the biggest raccoon I've ever seen just waddling up to me, made my heart skip a few beats as I just shooed him off. I solo camp a couple times a year on the Delaware river, my wife is not too happy about me being out there alone, she's worried about bears as they are around up there. I tell I'm more afraid of things that walk on 2 feet, not 4.

I lost a 15$ tube lure in Massachusetts striper fishing. The only problem was that it was attached to a St.Croix musky rod and an Ambassador 6500. We were striper fishing and just picking away at em, I found a bunch and called my buddies on the radio to come over where I was. When I called I just laid the rod down on my lap just hanging the tube in the water off the front of my kayak. I looked down and the rod and reel shot off my lap like a rocket, striper grabbed it right on top of the water. I think I created a bunch of new ways of stringing expletives around.

Here all license funds go the fish and game, for now. They tried to get it to go into the general fund but cooler heads were able to keep the status quo. State parks are free for launching boats, not all public lakes are, and here there are a lot of private lakes where you need to be part of the HOA's. Access is an issue and is getting harder every year.

As others have said, Cals on Carbontex washers. Just remember when using it you only need a tiny bit of it, I have the 1 oz container and it's lasted me for years. Don't know how many of youse remember this one; "a little dab will do ya"

Cut off here in New Jersey is 70 for freshwater, there is no charge for saltwater though your supposed to register for a free one. From 65-69 the license is 1/2 price which is 12.50$ Trout stamp is an additional 10.50$ I've brought my licenses from age 16 to 69, so now I'm enjoying a couple years of "free" fishing. Looking at what a lot of you other guys are paying New Jersey is a bargain, which is something I've never said before

I'll have to add somehow I've been married 39 years, have no clue how she put up with me all this time I also think that Katie knows bass

Have to say I had another great year, over 40 days of camping/fishing. One trip in the spring up at ADK, had the greatest days of freshwater fishing. Bunch of one day trips were I caught a lot of good days with some not so good. But the best thing is still getting out and doing it. Missed the last couple of weeks due to a shoulder issue, went to the Dr today and it looks like bursitis, got the cortisone shot. Hopefully that works as I have another 5 day camping/fishing trip down in south Jersey for tog, this is a saltwater trip arriving on Sunday. This is my last camping trip of the year Kayaking in a inlet with some wicked tidal flow is not for weak

I'm still looking for a copy of Knowing Women

Frugality rules!!!

Being on a kayak I've been using the Boomerang's for years now. Their really convenient as they attach to my life vest, so less that I fumble around with while on the water, one less thing also for me to drop overboard I like the ones with the longer blades, try to cut mono/fluoro with the tip of them and braid near the back. I do have a pair of Cudas in my tackle box that I use back at the campsite for making leaders and such where I can just pick them off the ground when dropped.

Skeet Reese 6'10" drop shot rod that was around 50$ on sale at Dicks. I was just getting back into freshwater fishing and was reading about drop shot fishing here. Didn't want to spend too much on a rod that I wasn't sure if I'd even like or find drop shotting effective where I fish. It worked great, even got double duty throwing light plastics, until I broke the tip of it trying to get a 1 dollar jig out of a tree, didn't realize the braid was wrapped around the tip, pulled and wah laa; broken tip. Cut off about 2" and put a new tip on, changed the action so now used inshore saltwater throwing jigs and gulp shad.

My favorite Oktoberfest beer

Dicks has the Pro Pack Fat Swing Impact on sale.

Wow, I'm surprised the weather was that nice. Yeah, that can be a tough place to figure out sometimes, I've had 40 fish days and 1 fish days there. I'm kinda at a disadvantage as there is just the one launch area for fishing and being in a paddle kayak limits my ability to search out the whole reservoir. I'm always a little cautious there as the wind can pick up at anytime, and it has the nickname of death valley, due to the 6 people who have been lost there and never found. Here's a link for the water levels; https://www.njwsa.org/uploads/1/0/8/0/108064771/data.pdf

I carry a pair of small bolt cutters in my kayak with me at all times. Thankfully I've never needed them so far for cutting a hook out of me. A couple of years ago on a camping trip my friend reached in his crate to get something and "found" a plug he didn't know was in there, buried the front hook past the barb in his hand. Being a fly guide in the Catskills he knew the technique of pushing the barb down while wrapping braid around the bend and pulling it out, he couldn't do it though himself. He told me the whole procedure, I was unsure I could do it but he said it's pretty easy and you have to give it a good yank. Well,,,, I gave it a good yank and successfully got it out, and promptly buried the rear hook into his hand. Luckily there was a couple of other guys camping with us and they were more successful in the hook removal process. My medical career pretty much ended there.

Hard to get a rod that does all that well, but I have a Daiwa XT that could be used for all that. I would check out WRB-2.0 listing in the flea market, I don't have those St Croix rods, but have other models and have checked them out in my local shop and their pretty sweet.

303 user here for 20 years on my kayaks. Haven't tried anything else as this has worked for me. Also use it on my dashboard in my Forester, 10 years old and still looks new.

2" chartreuse Mr Twister on a 1/16 jig, many many years ago. Green Pumpkin Max Scent Flat worm drop shotting. 2.75 Keitech Fat Swing Impact on a 1/8 oz ball jig. 5" Green Pumpkin Yum Dinger wacky hooked. Saltwater; Ava jigs, 17,27 and 47's. Gulp Swimming Mullets on a bucktail. Gulp Jerk shads on a 1/4 - 3/8 oz jig

I hope it was a little nicer there then it was up where I live, it was a light rain most of the day here. Valley is at 92% capacity, still a lot better then 3 yrs ago when it was at 55% capacity.

For gim

Chips 4 fish