TOXIC

2 schools of thought. If you are truly injured, carpal tunnel or tennis elbow type of injured, then by all means back off. If you are muscle or tendon stressed like back or legs, I tend to push through it and make those areas stronger. So many don’t understand the different muscle groups used in serious fishing. When I was guiding, I had no choice but to work through it but in the long run it did me good, made my back like gristle and serves me well in our combat fishing in Florida and Michigan for weeks straight. @A-Jay would probably have better advice on proper stretching and exercises to get through what can be and what can’t.

There’s a good selection of case packaging here both cans and bottles. I prefer bottles. There’s also a seasonal spotted cow and an 12 pack of all the versions from New Glarus. Off to find another bottle of Cherry Vodka made from Door County cherries. We made some Wisconsin mules with it and they were awesome.

It’s listed as a Farm Ale. New one to me.

I had that exact boat and fished the Shenandoah river regularly. It’s very good for that as long as you know how to work current and how to anchor in current. I used a coffee can full of cement as an anchor when I wanted to hold in an area. Always be prepared to cut it free if you can’t get it loose. Wise not to anchor in faster current. No standing due to rocks and sand bars.

Only available in Wisconsin which is where I happen to be. Will be bringing multiple cases back to Virginia when we leave.

Had a spicy Bloody Mary with a spotted cow chaser to start the afternoon, then did a local Hazy and after a pontoon ride did a Jack and ooooppppps, no coke so I mixed it with a Dr Pepper Cream Soda to take the bite off.

Electrical tape leaves a sticky residue on your spool. If I’m going to put any backing besides mono, I use plumbers Teflon tape. Couple of wraps and you’re good.

I’ve gone about as far as I can with the home place. My daughter on the other hand just moved into what we like to call a barndominium. It’s a barn where the front 1/3 is a house. She runs a horse boarding training and hauling business and besides the main barn attached to the house, she has another barn not pictured with some additional stalls. The place sat vacant for a while and although the inside is quite modern with an upstairs connected with a spiral staircase, the outside was pretty run down. Wife and I have spent a month weeding, trimming, painting and fixing the outside. We are done for the most part and the wife will do a few more plantings to finish it up.

As long as it’s not on the first cast, I’m thrilled with the first one of the day. ?

As far as candy goes, my mother had a drawer in the kitchen with candy and I was allowed periodic dives into it. Some of my favorites were Sugar Babies, Milk Duds, Slo Pokes, Bubble Yum in the long ropes, salted nut rolls, tennis size jawbreakers, but from my fondest memories was my grandfather who always had a box of Brachs chocolate stars and a bag of Circus Peanuts orange foam peanut shaped candy.

One year going to St Clair that stretch from Toledo north through Detroit and on to Waterford, claimed a trailer axle on a Ranger dual axle trailer. We now are more alert for potholes and missing concrete.

When guiding before they came out with cooling towels, I bought 4 synthetic chamois called the absorber from Walmart. Dip them in a cooler or lake water and drape over the neck and it is amazing how much cooler you will feel. It’s like a portable air conditioner. Saved a lot of summer guide trips.

Been going to the King Chain (Waupaca) for 25 years. I used to pull my boat up every year. Then they sprayed. Fishing went to crap. Fish are still there but it’s now a night bite only for the most part. You can catch a few on rainy/cloudy days but it’s nothing like it used to be. Definitely not worth a 2 day boat tow, launching at the marina, storing the trailer offsite, stringing power cords at the cottage and letting the boat sit all day just for a few hours at night. ?

Tire inflation numbers are always stated as cold and they take into account the heat generated. Ambient air temps aren’t a factor. Tow normally.

Good luck. My normal rise and shine time for a day of fishing is 3am. Not fishing this weekend and heading to Wisconsin next weekend for 2 weeks so, I’ll be on the water but not fishing. It’s a shame but unfortunately the chain of lakes we go to has been ruined by spraying.

Nest step up from the pill type is a different activating trigger. It has something to do with water pressure and not moisture. Personally, there have been too many stories of that style not going off for me and I wear a full vest when running.

Another tip for keeping your Senko from ripping or scrunching on the ewg offset shank hooks is to make absolutely sure the bait is hanging perfectly straight and I mean perfectly. Major tip #2 in my seminars. If you don’t, in addition to the bait spinning and introducing a lot of line twist, when you get a bite the extra plastic will tear either on the hook bend or the hook eye.

I thought tundras were noted for being trouble free but not getting too good of gas mileage.

Depending on the manufacturer there are a few ways to tune a crank. Bend the line tie, file the bill, change the hooks or hangers you can even go so far as to use suspend dots.

The “perfect” rig will have the bait right to the end of the hook eye. The amount of movement the line has in the hook eye itself isn’t bad but if you extend the bait up the mainline any it will split.

I might be stating the obvious here but the trick to keeping a bait from sliding down the hook on an offset shank is to make absolutely sure the bait only covers the bend on the shank to the hook eye. If it goes beyond the hook eye your line will slice the bait and will push it up on the offset allowing it to slide more easily. That’s one of my main Senko rigging tips in my seminars. And one of the reasons people think a Senko is a one fish bait. Bad rigging.

To me it’s a sliding scale. When fishing soft plastics with no rattle or scent, read Senkos for example, the first notch on the scale is choosing a color the fish can see. That’s based a lot on water color and conditions. Second notch on the scale is what they are feeding on. Third notch is how are they positioned. That’s just a general approach and there’s always an oddball situation. On St Clair I found that traditional knowledge on a weightless Senko didn’t work. When it was cloudy they wanted a lighter color. When it was sunny they wanted a darker color. Gotta stay flexible.

Remember, there’s straight shank and ewg which stands for extra wide gap. Then there is offset. His hook is an offset straight shank. I only use offset, ewg hooks for my soft plastics. I prefer a thin wire and gamakatsu is my hook of choice. I’m not loosing any due to the hook.

I had a Sammy that was 15 years old and had caught hundreds of topwater bass. Then one day a couple of years ago while on the Rappahonock River trying to get a cast way up in a creek mouth, I had my reel engage mid cast and heard that gut wrenching pop. I waited hoping that I heard a splash but instead heard it land way up in the tall fragmites where there was no way to go get it, even from land. I had a brand new one that I tied on the same rod and reel and it has failed to even come close to the fish catching ability of my old one. Confidence? Not really. I just don’t think it is the same.

I used to make fun of my wife’s grandmother when she would meet us In Wisconsin and on 90 degree days she would be wearing a sweater. She lived in southern Florida. Then I spent 2 years living, working and fishing in Florida and when I came back to Virginia, which by all standards isn’t a cold state, I almost froze to death before I reacclimated. I grew up in Nebraska so the cold never really bothered me.