TOXIC

VA, FL, MI, DC, Canada and some years the Walpole Indian reservation (need special license).

As for the home front and getting cleaned out, I have a 110lb "man's best friend" who will (and has) dissuaded unwelcome visitors from entering my house when I am not home. As for credit card and identity thefts, there's not much you can really do about it. Stay vigilant and check your statements and bank accounts weekly to catch any fraudulent activity. I can only imagine the costs to credit card companies dealing with this problem. On my recent trip to Florida, I was getting my credit card refused at the pump at gas stations. I am the only one who has this particular card in my family and I use it mainly for gas so it gets used often. I tried it at 2 stations on the way down and it got refused both times. I thought maybe the card got de-magnetized or something. Tried to use it at a restaurant in Florida and it went through fine. Hmmmmmm......what was the difference? At the pump they ask for your zip code to verify the purchase. So, I told the wife I would try it one more time on the way home and if it didn't work we would call the CC company since we were going to be in the truck for a while. When I tried to use it at a gas station on the way home, I got a message on the pump that actually said "Zip code verification failure" so we called the company. Through the process the customer service rep said that my address was different than my wife's and the red flag went up. We went through the charges on the account and found fraud. Why didn't we know? Because the crooks did an address change so we did not get our statement, it went to the "new" address. Eventually we would have caught it but my wife pays the bill on-line so a missing statement may have taken a couple of months before she was prompted to call. My card was denied at the gas stations due to the zip code being changed and subsequent new address and no longer matching the one I entered. All is well, new card and credited back the $900 in fraud charges but it really sucks to have to deal with it.

I may go against the grain a little here but I use only spinning gear for weightless plastics and I use straight Mono (pick your favorite brand) in 6, 8 or 10lb test. I consider weightless plastics a "Finesse" technique and since I only use Yamamoto plastics, I want them to be able to act 100% natural. IMHO that's where they separate themselves from other plastics. Any factor you add in the equation, swivel, leaders, braid, etc., affects the action of the bait. I want to be able to control the action of the bait and to me that is best done by hook size and placement. I don't want to have to factor in floating line, sinking line, extra knots, clips, line stretch differences, etc. I want as pure a presentation as possible. With good gear, you really up your ability to downsize your line. Not on purpose but last year I caught a 14lb snakehead on 6lb test mono and a spinning outfit in heavy weeds. I regularly catch 4lb hard fighting smallmouth on 6lb test mono. I very, very, very, rarely break off and it's usually because I was lazy and didn't retie when I should have or a toothy fish gets me. I will commonly clip off my bait and feed out a couple casts worth of line when we are in dead water or moving, to get line twist out. I also use a lot of backing and change out my line regularly. But that's just me....

What I have found is that there is no magic pill for increasing MPG on any newer vehicle short of a chip or reprogramming. I look at it from the standpoint that wherever you get gains in 1 area you are going to lose something in another....for example a chip will boost performance but it just may be at the cost of some internal parts or transmission. Bottom line I live with what the manufacturer set the truck to run at. I traded my 2004 Silverado 2500HD, 6.0, 4WD, 4.10 rears, that got 10-12mpg empty and 9-10 pulling a heavy 21 foot Ranger for a 2016 High Country Silverado 4WD, 8 speed, 5.3 and get 19-20 empty and 13-15 towing the same Ranger. Actually the new truck tows just as good if not better than the 3/4 ton I traded it for. I didn't buy my truck to get good mpg, I bought it to tow. The increased mpg with the new truck is just a bonus. MPG claims are always a hot topic but I have one friend with a Tundra and while it tows well, he got 7-8mpg on a recent long tow from VA to FL with a 20 foot boat, full gear and 3 guys in the cab. Ouch......

X100!! I catch most of my Bass in the heavily matted Potomac by T-Rigging a 5 inch Senko with a screw in nose weight. Deadly to drag across the tops of mats and let fall through the holes. You just have to rig the bait with more plastic forward of the hook so that the screw in weight doesn't hit the eye of the hook which is buried in the bait. I also bury the hook point in the bait a little deeper all the while remembering that you have to have a very stout hookset. The other bait I would suggest is a Texas rigged Yamamoto DShad. You can dance it across the top of the mat and once over an opening, twitch it like a dying or injured baitfish. Due to the heaver than normal weight of the DShad, it will also free fall in the openings better than other fluke style baits.

And just for reference, if you are shiner fishing "normally" you go to a spot, set up, put out a spread......and wait. If you are throwing artificials, your casting lanes will be limited and you more than likely will end up making 50 casts to the same area because it's a process to pull in lines and move when you are shiner or balloon fishing. If it were me, I would leave my gear at home, hire a good shiner guide and fish right alongside pops. You'll both have a blast.

While we don't bed fish at night, we certainly fish the smalljaw spawn every year on Lake St Clair and I can guarantee you for a certain amount of time the big females lock-on and protect the males bed. Often it is a 2 man approach where 1 of us will ****** an agressive male off the nest while the second pitches in for the bigger female. Works more often than not. Once released both head straight back to the bed.

"Flipping Hook" is a generic term and there are many different hooks you can use for flipping. "Normally" a true flipping hook will be a thicker gauge steel and "may" have an additional baitholder. As for your question, you are correct, you can use a flipping hook for any application that the hook style you choose works for (straight shank, EWG, etc).

Barrett Jackson is for the most part a "no reserve" whereas Mecum pretty much all have reserves. BJ will accept reserves on the highest priced offerings usually over 1m. I saw some the reserve was met and some it was not. I'm having a bit of a problem tracking the earlier cars that go for affordable money and those later in the week that go for top dollar. Sure, I understand if it is 1 of 20 made but some of the top sellers were just beautiful modded cars with crate motors or not much original equipment left. There were a lot of Rolls Royces go across the stage some were way more expensive than others. The collectors I know call the auction fever Mecumitis and Barret Jackson Syndrome.

To be honest, I think it was the added length of the transom bolts that caused them to work loose easier than the JP mounts. Whatever the reason, the sandwich mounts were problematic. The plate mounted brackets were not. Mine have never worked loose.

Smallmouth Killer on Lake St Clair. Saved a trip for us one year and we went through 10 bags a day. Luckily I was hooked up right before we left and for some reason put them in my truck. 5" Yamamoto DShad Texas weightless rigged on a 4.0 Gamakatsu EWG hook, dragged like a tube. It's been a staple and produced every year.

That charger ate transmissions like bubblegum!!

I have tried to do that to some extent by splitting up my dropshot rigs (weights/hooks) , my shakeyhead rigs, and my worm weights into seperate boxes but it is a PITA keeping track of them. Especially if I am jumping between boats.

I carry a TON of Senkos in various sizes. The box I pack for the day is this one: https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/catpage-PLANOSTRG.html?from=basres One side holds full size Senko's and the other holds the smaller sizes. Since I use Yamamoto plastics exclusively, I never, never store my terminal tackle with my plastics so I have a terminal box with multiple size Gamakatsu EWG hooks for everything from drop shot to swimbait. I am still looking for a terminal tackle box that I don't crack within the first week of using it.

I actually like the "survivors" better than the modified versions. Like they say, "They're only original once". When you start cutting, tubing, droppin new/bigger motors, custom painting, etc, etc, I feel like you might as well buy a shell remake and just outfit it the way you want. It pains me to watch all of these shows where they take a solid old original vehicle and mod it out. I'll admit Chip Foose does some beautiful builds but there something special about a survivor. I wish I had kept any of my muscle cars over the years and I really like to see examples of them go across the auction block. 57 Chevy 64 Ford Galaxy 390 Police Interceptor 68 Charger 440 Magnum 73 Firebird Formula 350

I'm sure there are some spots on the upper Potomac but be sure to look at the New River and the North Fork of the Shenandoah river. On the Doah, the best (and only unless you know someone) access is at the state park locations or public ramps. Once you get access, as long as you stay in the river you can wade. As far as flys, beaded nymphs and hellgramite imitators will get it done. Some streamers are also a good choice. Good luck.

Regardless of the added weight, I am not a fan of the sandwich mounts. I've seen too many of my friends have the nuts work loose on a very regular basis...yes, even they nylocks. So much so, they were checking them every time before they launched. I went with jackplate mounts even though my boat is older and has a 2005 plate that we had to drill.

I watch both Barrett Jackson and Mecum and I like the Barrett Jackson operational model better. No (or at least very rarely) a reserve. I actually like watching the first days of both auctions better because that's when there are vehicles actually in a price range I could afford. They get more expensive as the days move into the weekend.

I never got the flu shot either until after I got the "REAL" flu. I now fully understand how people can die from this!! I was working a fishing show and after a seminar, I came back to our booth and felt chilled. It progressed into uncontrollable shivering and I told my partners I was out and heading home (75 miles). I drove with a winter jacket on, the heated seats set to high and the heater set to 95 degrees. I was shaking so bad I thought I wasn't going to make it home. When I got there, I walked right past my wife and told her I was sick and to stay away from me. I went to our lower level bedroom and climbed into bed fully clothed and with my jacket still on. I didn't move for 3 days. No food no drink no bathroom no nothing. After a week I went to the doctor and he told me to take it easy for another week and I decided to go back to work and I got it AGAIN and was out for another 2 weeks. So if I am any kind of reference, 3 weeks is a good guess!! BTW, I get the shot EVERY year now. Even if they miss the strain, it will ease the symptoms if I do get it per my Doc. I read where 18 children have died so far this year from the flu. It's nothing to mess with.

It's very hard to explain to others the bond between longtime fishing partners. I'm very sorry for your loss.

I personally like the Swap & Sell portions of websites just like this one. Better deals, custom baits, etc. As always though, you need to know what is fair in pricing non-retailer items.

Hmmmmmmmm......I see a pattern. Nobody buys from BPS or buys very little from BPS. Makes me wonder how Johnny is making all that $$??? SOMEBODY is obviously buying BPS merchandise. {{{{insert sarcasm}}}} Let's face it, y'all are not his target demographic but whoever is, makes him a very wealthy man.

You will be amazed at the difference!! As a side note, you can get non Rx sunglasses at Bass Pro that have readers built in or you can get stick on magnifiers for whatever glasses you buy to help with close up work. You don't have to spend a mint to get Rx glasses if you shop around. Cosco has an awesome eye center as does Target and Sears. I assume WalMart and Sam's do also. My wife just got a pair of Rx sunglasses from Target since my vision plan picks up more of the cost there, she doesn't fish but got Ray Ban Rx and she is flabbergasted at the difference driving.

I am a BBQ fanatic. So I smoke a lot of different meats and use different sauces and rubs depending on the meat. If I want something special or want to send a gift I order from here: https://www.nueskes.com/about/ If I want BBQ sauces I get them all from Kansas City. Gates: Ribs Arthur Bryants: Pulled Pork Haywards: Burnt Ends Jack Stack: General Use If I want to send pastry as a gift I order from here: https://www.ohdanishbakery.com/everyday-kringle-favorites/wisconsin-kringle Best Kringle on the planet. My father used to own a few restaurants/steakhouses in Nebraska so I have some other go to places for meats (steak cuts/Prime Rib) as well.

Most all of the mid-to upper $$ manufacturers offer Rx glasses. Where it gets tricky is like in my case, I wanted "progressive" lenses. That way I can see to tie knots and bed fish at a distance. Progressive lenses have to be made with your eyes as a template and require fitting depending on the frames. If you have just a single Rx then you can order on-line once you make sure the frames fit properly. I guess you would have to ask the manufacturer who does their Rx but I know SolarBat and Smith Optics were on my list when I was checking. They specialize in Fishing Glasses so I would hope their Rx glasses are higher quality. I would hope that the big name manufacturers like Costa, Maui Jim and others have high standards for their lab work. If I were looking, I would be calling them.