TOXIC

I have Carolina rigged a 5” Senko but weightless no usually any deeper than 10-12ft. Now, fishing lake Powell in Arizona I fished a weightless Senko in 300 ft of water but we were fishing “butt cracks” which are the cracks in the canyon face that go all the way to the bottom and the fish hold in them at different depths. Deepest I let a Senko free fall in that situation was about 20ft. Side note: I caught a lot of smallmouth doing it. ?

We are hedging our bets and staying 3 days on the north end of the lake in Okeechobee City and then heading south to Roland’s for 4 days.

JLM Signature rods from bass pro used to have them. I still have a few in my stash. 13 fishing I think made some for a while as well. I think cost was a factor in doing away with them.

I’m watching it pretty close since we are going to Roland’s next week.

I fish brackish water and prefer to use tiny plastic cable ties vs wire. I just did 4 swimming jigs I am taking to Florida next week. No rusting or rotting off. I put the head of the cable tie on the bottom side of the jig.

I think what everyone is missing is that if the boater is done with the dock, he’s not going to sit there while you fish it. He’s moving on to the next one. You “might” get one cast in as he moves by. You might get lucky and the docks are close enough together that you can fish the one he just finished while he’s fishing the next one in line.

Bass fishermen like to think the bass are smarter than they really are and that they are smart enough to figure them out. Winner…..fisherman. When I’m giving seminars or doing demonstrations with a Senko I hear this all the time…. ”I don’t use a Senko because it’s an idiot bait that doesn’t require any skill to catch fish” I then have to chuckle when I say that the reason we fish is to catch fish right? I understand we like to think our skill is to “figure them out” which proves we are a better angler than the next guy that can’t.

Having been a guide and needing to put the back deck on fish, I totally understand your predicament. In a tournament setting, the front deck angler is going to position the boat where he has the best angles to fish the dock. That leaves you in the open behind the dock he is fishing. Tournament etiquette dictates you not cast to the front of the boat. When he feels he has exhausted the dock, he will quickly move on to the next dock leaving you no time to cast to any of the dock structure. Here’s what you do…..stop trying to fish the dock. Your casting time is while he is fishing the dock. I would finesse the shoreline and fish the open water behind and to the opposite side of the boat from the dock. Trying to fish the dock is a losing proposition. You’ll have better luck fishing where he hasn’t. If the docks are close enough that you can get in some casts to the dock he just left, then fish it.

I am having a terrible time catching anything on a chatterbait. I throw it a lot and to date I have caught 1 yes 1 bass and I think I hit him on the head with it. I am leaving for Lake Okeechobee in a couple of weeks where Swimbaits and chatterbaits traditionally do well.

While I totally agree with everything you said and I may be wrong about this but I have never read or seen any proof of a bass boat doing a “blow over”. Lots of hooks and flips but the blow overs I have seen have all been on boats other than bass hulls. I know Allison, Stroker, and a few others can be 100mph boats, I have never read about one blowing over?

I stand corrected. I did a little more research and discovered that the round gobie is a threat and not yet found in the lake. Migrating via the Hudson waterway towards the Champlain canal. Since I fish St Clair where the gobie is well established more than I do Champlain, I just assumed they were in there. I use the same baits on both bodies of water.

I assume you mean Lake Champlain? If so, yes there are gobies. Makes no difference though, they will kill a tube bait anyway. ??

Be advised, lots of folks want to take the rod tubes out of Rangers (mostly in the port compartment) but they are foamed in and it’s a mess. If you are ordering new you can get it without the tubes.

Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy You Can Tune a Piano but You Can’t Tune a Fish

If your water is suited for a deep v rather than a modified v then that’s your first consideration. If your water has the capability to get nasty and you decide on a glass boat then size matters. If you decide 18 or 19 foot is adequate then 150 on an 18 footer and a 200 on a 19 footer would be the minimums. Normally you want to put the maximum allowed hp on the size hull you decide. It will help the boat perform as it was designed. You don’t have to run wot. Be advised, glass boats require more maintenance and the 19 footer should have a dual axle trailer where the 18 could get by on a single. Dual is more maintenance ie., tires, brakes, etc., and is harder to maneuver by hand and would benefit from a full sized tow vehicle. As for brands of glass boats, I have a good friend who works on my boat and many others as a favor and he has been in most every brand out there minus Caymus and Vexus. Those are too new and none of us has purchased one. He’s worked on most all of the other brands. There isn’t one that is the absolute worst or one that is the absolute best. They all have their good points and bad points. He’s partial to Ranger because “as a rule” their build quality has generally been better in small things like wire runs, fit and finish etc., but he’ll be the first to say that all of the current manufacturers make a good product. With that being said, I’d go for the best deal from a dealer who is local to you. That’s worth a lot.

Stainless is also heavier than aluminum and doesn’t flex near as much as aluminum. That’s why you get better performance, flex = loss of cup and lost performance.

Under 150hp is where I would consider an aluminum prop. Especially if I was running rocky waterways. As for repair costs, I’m sure aluminum is cheaper but stainless can be repaired. I messed up and ran my $700, 3 blade Yamaha stainless T1 prop into the rocks one year in Wisconsin and rolled all 3 blades really bad and actually lost metal. Luckily I had my spare prop with me. I sent it to the prop shop when I got home and for $200 it was repaired as good as new and I actually had it customized for a little more bow lift. Yes, stainless are designed to spin the hub if you hit something but they still damage lower units and prop shafts more than aluminum.

As a rule, soups in our house are sides. The most under rated soup of all is a good potato soup.

I normally leave my truck empty and unlocked when I am going to a ramp I don’t think is secure. My old 3/4 ton 2004 Silverado would allow me to set the factory alarm and not lock the doors. If anyone pulled on the door handles to see if it was locked, the door would open and the alarm would go off. I did it to myself a bunch of times when I forgot I set the alarm. Nonetheless thieves suck.

I have my grandfathers metal rods with reels spooled up with cloth line. My first real combo was a Zebco 202 on a fiberglass rod.

Tough call. Especially with a child that is not your own. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, sounds like he hasn’t had a job that he enjoys well enough to stick with it. First question is what does he want to do for a career? Not giving him the benefit of the doubt I would say his mother has enabled him to quit for whatever reason he has. You have to remember, the younger generation has had it drilled into their heads that you have to do what makes you happy. Money is not at the top of the list anymore. I don’t agree with it but it is what it is. I have a 24 year old daughter that has found her passion but the pay stinks and my only advice to her has been that she should “back” into her situation. Questions she needs to answer are things like, Where do you want to live, what do you want to drive, what kind of lifestyle do you want? There’s all sorts of different answers and they all have different price tags. This I will say, when she came home after college we told her 6 months free rent then she had to pull her own weight. And we stuck to it.

Wow! No wonder I didn’t recognize it. ?. That is before the green packaging with the same font. Yellow packaging is normally reserved Japan only baits. Good find! I still have some of the old green bags that look the exact same as the bag you posted. Only difference is the background color. This is what a current Japan only bait looks like.

See your other post.

Not a Yamamoto. Their kut tails are cut at an angle not teardrop shaped. Nice looking bait though.

Being a Fed at a non-appropriated agency had its perks before I retired. I earned 8 hours of annual leave every 2 weeks and 6 hours of sick leave. Sick leave could be carried over in its entirety from year to year and I could carry over 240 hours of annual leave every year. My first year I didn’t take any annual and for the rest of my 34 year career I carried over the maximum annual and used all that I accrued during the year. I also had some positions that paid nice bonuses. Rare for government work. All my sick leave got added to my “time in grade” in 30 day increments which upped my pension amount when I retired and I was paid for all of my unused annual. Benefits kept me doing a tough job as a career. 401k, thrift savings plan, 10% employer match, full insurance including dental and vision that came with me into retirement and a generous pension. I’m a happy retiree right now. My wife is the Executive Director of a non profit here in the county and we haven’t touched any of my retirement accounts. I’m 64 and don’t plan on getting social security until 67. I’m maxed out in that as well.