TOXIC

Nice feeesh.

I tend to match the reel to the application vs line capacity. A 3,000 size reel for Ned rigging, Senkos, and other finesse applications is just too big and heavy. I use a 3,000 for vertical jigging and weighted Senkos on 10lb mono.

And today I read where a boat blew up at the gas dock at Anna Point Marina. 1 burn victim airlifted out, 5 injured. 😢On edit…another article popped up in my feed regarding a 9 year old who died when the boat she was riding in capsized at night.

Are you talking about 2500, 3000 and 4000 size spinning reels? Standard rule of thumb….freshwater…. 1,000-2,500 trout, panfish and crappie 3,000-4,000 walleye, largemouth, smallmouth 4,500-5,500 pike, musky, catfish 6,000+ offshore That being said, I use a lot of 2,000- 2,500 size for my finesse setups. I step up to 3,000 for my 35lb braid and larger mono. I also like the Wide Spool Technology spools on the 3,000 size for braid.

I will admit it was always busy on a summer weekend not unlike a lot of rec lakes and it was not one of my favorite times to guide but now a lot of my fishing friends say it’s almost impossible on summer weekends. Opposite end f the scale is the Potomac river where it used to be polluted and terrible fishing, has been cleaned up and now major tournaments are held on it. The hidden resource is the Rappahonock River and it’s where I spend the majority of my time.

I used to guide on this lake and I’ve watched it declining over the years. Development has gone crazy and so far this year there have been 3 drownings, an ecoli outbreak that sickened 30 people and put some kids in the hospital on dialysis, a no swim advisory for toxic algae and finally cautions and no swim issued due to stray electrical current in some part of the lake. That’s a lot of negative for what used to be a beautiful lake.

Ahhhh….the memories. Good to see all the cigar answers. I got heavy into cigars for a number of years, have a nice hand made humidor, and thoroughly enjoyed experimenting with different brands. 5 years ago when I retired I promised the wife I would give up my cigars. Although she was talking about the small tins of Hoya De Monterey cigarillos I was smoking daily and not my full size humidor occasional smokes, I found it was easier if I just stopped altogether. I had a small cigar shop here in my town where the owner, on the first Wednesday of every month would bring in hand rollers from a brand and would supply all the booze and snacks plus 2 hand rolled cigars for $20. It was open to his regular customers. I think we all started with Macanudos due to their mild flavor. I really liked the taste but as they became popular, consistency faltered. I got some great hand rolled sticks in the Dominican Republic on a trip there. If you stick with the cigar hobby, you will find your taste will change over time. Ultimately, I settled on Punch for the best flavor at the best price. I’m sure the way taxes have been going the cigar market has been hit hard since I quit. I’m tempted to give it another go. I really did enjoy it.

One of my little secrets is to use a skip cast with a Yamamoto DShad on fish schooling on top. The bait skittering across the top looks like a fleeing baitfish and they chase it down. 😉

I’m thinking on installing the remote drain plug on my Ranger. I’m not liking having to do the ninja crawl under the back of the boat to put the plug in. Because I hate it so much is why I never forget to do it. 😂

I have the confidence to say that I could catch fish in a mud puddle with a Senko. And I would also say there’s not a lake anywhere from Canada to Mexico I couldn’t catch something with a Senko. Would it be the best lure? Maybe not, but my confidence level is very high. 😉

Well, I could literally write a book on Senkos. As a matter of fact, I pretty much have if you research my posts here. I’ve been throwing them since 1986, Yamamoto baits was formed in 1983. I’ve been pro staff for the last 25 years. Used them in my guide service, caught conservatively 1,000’s of fish on them from north to south, east to west, written articles on the 78 ways I came up with for rigging them. Pics are all Senko fish from different years in Wisconsin, Virginia, Florida and Michigan. I could add a lot of other states to the list as well but I think I’ve made my truth obvious. Do I like Senkos? Yeah kinda….😂😛

I don’t know how to explain it but at first we were limited to watering certain days depending on your address (odd/even) then it got increased to full restriction, no watering, no fountains or any outside water features, no wading or any other pool filling, and no washing vehicles. This is the second time this summer that this has happened. We are still watering some of our flowerbeds by pitcher but the deer have decimated those as well. We are not on city water but we are on a community well. We have a gravity tower and luckily our rates are 1/2 what city water is.

We are under another water restriction. I have no grass left and we actually lost a weeping cherry that was 20 years old. I have given up on my landscaping for this year.

I know 6th Sense has been marketing Milliken travel rods that break down into 4 pieces I think. I am monitoring them since they have been promising a new rod with recoil guides and I have a buddy waiting for them.

One of the original members of our annual trip to St Clair owned a tackle store. KD Outdoors. Sadly he passed away and the store was liquidated. He had a business model that was working. Instead of trying to compete with the big box stores he specialized on baits that were working on St Clair and the surrounding inland waters. He sold local makers products and in plastics, he sold a lot in bulk. In the winter he switched over to ice fishing baits and live bait. He also did tm repair and carried some hunting gear. It was tradition for us to stop by the store on our way into town and stock up on some great tackle before he joined us out on Harsens Island for our week long trip. It didn’t help that his mother would cook up a huge southern meal for us and set it up in the store before we got there. Fried Chicken, cornbread, greens, red beans and rice, cabbage, Mac and cheese, finished off with sweet tea and pecan pie. Sadly most everything I need now is from makers I know or on line. I miss the old hometown Tackle stores.

In Virginia the requirement for a boating certificate was phased in by age over a few years. I was old enough that I was in the last traunch of required. As of right now everyone is required. All PWC operators age 14 and older and all operators (regardless of age) of motorboats with a 10 hp or greater engine need to take a boating safety course. Once you complete the course, the course completion certificate or card that is provided by the course provider is what is required to operate a vessel.

If I’m not mistaken, you have a deep V and they are pretty squirrly in the wind and on the troller. My 21 foot Ranger Z21 is extremely stable in the wind and tracks pretty straight unless I put the tm on a high setting. My only complaint is it takes a bit to get the boat moving and there is a pretty good coast after you get off the power.

Were you in your pajamas? If not, then you’re ok. 😂

Praying for you both.

Mitigating factor here is current. I fish flukes (Yamamoto’s DShad) deep because they are heavier and have a faster fall rate. I will put a small screw in nose weight if it’s windy or some current. 95% of the time I am weightless in up to 10-13 feet.

Funny story, when I was new truck shopping in 2016 I took my young driving age daughter with me to show her how some dealerships work. I already had been to my first choice (locally owned Chevrolet dealer) and gotten all of the pertinent information such as discounts, fees, trade in on my then current truck, etc. Since I was buying flagship models, there was no need to haggle on things like towing package, leather, etc. My 1/2 ton local dealership options were Silverado High Country, Ford King Ranch, Tundra 1794, GMC Denali and Ram. I say Ram with no model because when I stopped at that dealership, it took 20 minutes for a salesperson to approach us and it was a pleasant young lady who knew absolutely nothing about trucks. I was gone in 30 minutes. GMC was no discount off the highest base price of the entire group and lowest trade value. Next was the Ford dealership where we were greeted quickly by a young gentleman who knew his sales pitches so well he could have been a video on my phone. He was also short on actual knowledge regarding towing capabilities and disappeared multiple times to get questions answered and was constantly answering phone calls. Let me add we were trying to stay local because I like some services to be done by the dealer. The truck I was trading in was a sponsorship truck from a dealership 50 miles away and it was a pain to get in for service even though it was free. Ford dealership was a branch of a big dealership in the DC/Northern Virginia area and you could tell the sales people weren’t local. Last stop was the Toyota dealership and it was the absolute worst of the bunch and that was disappointing because I was very interested in the 1794 Tundra. They already had one strike because I had taken my Lexus there for service and they tried to charge me extra for rotating the tires because the stock wheels had so many bolts in the wheels (Lexus SC430 owners call them pie plates) and they also tried to charge me for washer fluid when I purposely filled it before I dropped it off as a test. I got a bunch of charged dropped. That was service and I hoped sales would be better. They were not. They way undervalued my trade, wouldn’t budge on price, shoved a sales contract in my face and it had to be signed right then and there, brought the sales manager over to pressure me (I actually think it was just another salesman) and the last straw was they were not giving me the keys back to my truck. I finally had to threaten to call the law if they didn’t get my truck back out front in 30 seconds. I was red faced pizzed by the time we got out of there. That’s not to say I haven’t had my problems with the Chevy dealership but the new truck sales manager was a fisherman and I gave him a KeelShield for his boat and some Yamamoto product. I had an open line to him and his personal cell. I called it more than once and got some issues resolved under goodwill that would have probably not been allowed otherwise and the service department initially denied. He’s retired now but the dealership knows me well even though I now utilize some excellent private service shops. If/when I decide to new truck shop again, I’ll start the process all over.

Oh….I almost forgot, my current toy. The most under rated sports car….a 2002 Lexus SC430, hardtop convertible, 4.3 V8. It is the first year of production and the factories weren’t established here, so it was hand built in Japan. The ones that stayed there are called a Soarer. I bought it because I thought it would be a fun car when I lived in Florida and then I found out it was too freaking hot to drive a convertible in Florida. 😂. It’s been parked in my garage for the last 4 years here in Virginia.

When I lived on a 130 acre farm in Iowa, the county sprayed all the gravel roads with oil. It kept the dust down.

I’m a little different. I use it on a Carolina rig. 4.0 EWG.

Oh sooo many. A few I wish I still had. 42 Ford I pulled out of a field and rehabbed. 57 Chevy 62 Nash 64 Ford Galaxie 390 police interceptor 70 Pontiac Catalina 400 4 barrel 68 Dodge Charger 440 Magnum 72 Pontiac Grand Prix 73 Pontiac Formula Firebird 350 balanced and blueprinted 76 Mercury Cougar 75 Ford LTD Brougham 75 Porsche 924 73 American Motors Jeep Wrangler v8 93 Jeep Wrangler 4.0 currently has 475,000 miles a few Hondas and Nissans in the mix and my trucks. The 2 I want back are the Firebird and the Charger. The Firebird got me a ticket for 140mph and I sold it before my court date. My Charger ate transmissions like M&Ms. I wasn’t well enough versed in transmissions to fix whatever it was that caused it.