RPreeb

Okay, here's the deal. I have a 2016 F-150 4X4 3.5L Ecoboost, Supercrew cab with short 5.5' box. I noticed last year that I was getting somewhat worse mileage in the winter, but I never really got to compare any valid numbers. Last week I had to drive to Denver (150 miles) and back on a day when the temperature was near 70°, and the truck's computer calculated mileage was 19.2 mpg. Today I made the same exact trip, only when I left the house it was only 10°, and didn't get up to 30° until I was almost to my destination. The mileage for that half of the trip was just 15.7. After taking care of the appointment I had, I headed straight home. The temperature was up to 43°, and climbed to near 50° by the time I got home. The computer showed an average of 18.1 as I pulled into the garage. That seems to indicate nearly a 2.5 mpg difference for just under a 40° rise in temperature. I know better than to take those mileage numbers as a real world quantity (My actual calculated mileage in summer driving was 18.5 mpg), but as a comparison with each other, they should be valid. All driving was consistent, no hotrodding, cruise set at 80 mph all the time on the interstate. Just curious if any mechanics out there can explain the reason for the significant increase in mileage as the temperature goes up.

It almost looks like one of those acrylic sculptures.

Some of the hardest photos to get right are birds in flight, but every now and then I get a decent one. This was a vulture that I took in Africa: Another one from Africa - Lilac Breasted Roller: Then one that I took on our island when we lived in the Bahamas - Kissing Flamingos:

I think that you can become a good angler quite quickly just by using your head and showing some common sense. Regularly having a good catch is part of it, but there is more to it than just catching fish. It's handling those fish as little as possible, treating them as though you really want to catch that same one next week or next year. Following the regulations in the area where you are fishing is part of that. For the most part, your local fish and game department has a better grasp on the needs for sustaining the area where you are fishing. It's treating the environment with respect, not leaving balls of mono lying around on the shore or in the water for other wildlife to be trapped by (I rarely leave a lake or river without 50 or more yards of some else's line wadded up in my pocket or pack). The considerate angler will always take his trash out with him, and generally leave the lake, pond or river in no worse condition than he found it. It's treating others on the lake with respect. Just being a pleasant person to chat with in passing - you don't have to tell all of your secrets, but it's not that hard to act friendly when someone else drifts by asking "How's the fishing?" It's being respectful of the other angler's space so that you both have room to fish. With all that it's nice if you also catch fish, but that won't always happen every outing. All these other points should apply every time you put out the "Gone Fishin'" sign.

The Pusher is a good one too - I used to have the longer live version of it. Both were written by Hoyt Axton.

This is another photo I took many years ago. I just makes it feel warmer when I'm stuck in the middle of a big cold. Alpine tundra at about 12,000 feet up in the Colorado Rockies

5 (not a fan of the rap style, but I give it the benefit of the doubt and rate it in the middle) Snowblind Friend by Steppenwolf (Steppenwolf 7) Edit: I can't make it embed... not sure what to do about it. https://youtu.be/OMxCi3ljWEg

Good question. All of the threads he's started could have been handled in one.

I expect to see those photos on Facebook with some sort of cynical captioning attached. Something like "This is the recommended form for casting on hard water."

I have exactly 2 reels. One Diawa baitcaster, and one Shimano spinning reel. My next buy will be another Diawa baitcaster, so I guess my answer is Diawa.

Can't say, since I've not achieved that plateau yet. At 71 and just trying to figure out this thing called "bass fishing", there may not be enough time left. I doubt that I'll ever get enough hours on the water to figure it out well enough to be able to say that I'm a good fisherman, but I'm okay with that. I put in what time I can, and I get the results that I get. As long as I'm enjoying myself and catching a few fish, that's all I really ask.

Boating under the influence in Colorado will potentially get you jail time and fines, and a mandatory 3 month boating suspension. Colorado Department of Parks and Wildlife: Also from the CPW website:

I don't have a console system, but I buy my home computers with a few games in mind. The desktop system I'm typing on right now is a 6 core AMD with 16gb ram and 4gb nVidia graphics. I first got into Call of Duty when the original game was released. I played Links 2003 golf online with several friends, here in the US and others in Europe and Australia. We played almost every Saturday night for a few years. They got me into Call of Duty when it came out, and I've bought almost every one since then. I currently have: Call of Duty 1 and 2 with the United Offensive expansion; World at War; Callo f Duty 4: Modern Warfare; Modern Warfare 2; Modern Warfare 3; Black Ops II (I have Black Ops I, but it always crashes at some point. Turns out that it does that on virtually every PC anyone has ever tried to run it on, and it never did get fixed). Planning to get the newest WWII release someday soon. I don't play any of them online any more, since at 71, I'm too old and slow to compete with a bunch of twitchy kids.

Watch any of Glenn May's videos and you'll see him casting two handed overhand. Watching him, it looks like an easy, no stress motion that's silky smooth. I think that some of it is properly matching the weight of the bait to the rod too. Watch this short video of Glenn casting light lures: Casting Light Lures

It all depends on how long you are exposed. I've known scuba divers who wore a full length 3 mil wetsuit in 80+ degree water to keep from getting chilled (being noticeably chilled or shivering is the first step toward hypothermia). I rarely wore a wet suit, even a shorty, in tropical waters. I've been in 63° water in the Sea of Cortez in just a 3 mil shorty, and it's a shock when you first go down through the thermocline, but I had no problems on a couple of 30 minute dives. On most of my dives, I just wore a t-shirt to keep my BCD (buoyancy compensator) from chafing.

I've been on the BR forum for about a year now, and one thing I see over and over is the similarity in attitude toward fishing equipment and golf equipment. Each year club and ball manufacturers market the new lines as being exponentially superior to last year's versions, yet strangely enough, the the actual real world data shows that the changes in performance, if any, are minuscule. Most players can't perceive any change at all, but they won't admit that they bought the hype. They have to believe that the new gear has made them better, even though their scoring doesn't reflect that belief. I finally quit buying the orange juice about a decade ago. I'm not good enough to make the same blanket statement about fishing rods, but it's hard to see how they can make any truly dramatic improvement, aside from bringing the price of the good stuff down to the point where I can justify trying it.

Yeah, it is. It turned that word to stars (****) immediately when I hit the "Submit" button.

This is Bailey. He was almost 15 when he reached that point of tipping the quality of life balance too far on the wrong side. He was a shelter rescue, a White German shepherd/golden retriever mix, and the sweetest disposition of any dog I ever lived with. He loved snow... could curl up in a snowbank just as happy as could be. Here I was taking a break from shoveling (2 feet on the ground and still snowing) for some playtime:

If I expected my canoe to sink to the bottom when swamped, I'd have a very different opinion about this, but it's buoyant even when full of water. When I'm prowling the shoreline, never more than 200 feet from shore, I simply don't worry about it. If I was in a bass boat ripping across a big lake at 60 mph, then I'd be wearing some sort of dependable flotation. I respect water and I acknowledge that it's not **** sapien's natural habitat, but I don't fear it. *Gotta love the auto censor! It cut out the scientific name for man.

Yep, it's really a matter of perspective. I could certainly afford a $400 rod. I don't really know what I'd do with it that's different from what I do with my Ugly Stik. I'm not a good enough fisherman to really appreciate the difference at the present time. You could set out 5 rods and I doubt that I could pick the most expensive one from the group, but that doesn't mean that there isn't a difference. And it doesn't mean that there isn't value there for the angler who knows what to look for. When I was working, I drove a 1989 Toyota 2wd pickup that I paid $9000 for new. I drove it for 14 years. My wife drove a Corolla, and later a Chevy Malibu. I retired at 60, she at 55. We could do that because we chose to be somewhat frugal and sock away all we could afford. Now we are quite comfortably retired, living cheaply in the tiny town where she grew up, and are able to do pretty much whatever we want within reason. I have my 2016 F-150 XLT 4X4, she just got a new 2017 Edge SEL AWD. This is exactly the life we wanted to be living at this point in time. My next rod will probably be in the $120-$150 range - reel about $150. That's all I need to give me the pleasure of being on the water with a decent rig. My needs just aren't that exotic. I don't begrudge anyone the right to spend $400 or more as long as it doesn't take food out of his baby's mouth. That's his choice, and as I see it, it's all about making the choices that best fit your wants and needs.

As I said, I'll wear one when the situation warrants it. I spend a lot of time near shore just prowling the shallows. I won't probably be on any very large lakes unless I'm a long ways from home - aside from Lake McConaughy, about 1½ hours away, the lakes around here are smallish reservoirs, and most of my fishing and exploring will be around the edges of them. If I get into a situation like you describe, I'll be wearing my PFD, but I won't be locked into it. My choice.

A bit more to add to this. I used to be a whitewater kayaker - paddled some pretty hairy rapids - and I wouldn't be caught out on the river with my PFD. I unintentionally swam through rapids which I would never have voluntarily jumped into. I'm also a scuba diver, divemaster rated, and I wouldn't do that without my BCD (buoyancy control device), but it is a bit different when you carry your air supply with you. When I go out in my new canoe, I will definitely have a PFD with me, and it will be worn if conditions warrant. Otherwise it will be stowed in a spot on the canoe which is accessible from the water. I have no qualms about taking off my shoes and pants in the water if necessary, and I know how to put the PFD on when in the water. Since a canoe is not typically going to be involved in a high speed accident, the risk of physical injury is less than in a powerboat.

I grew up in Minnesota and Wisconsin... every time you make a wrong turn you fall in a lake. Swimming is a survival skill. My stepfather is the only native Minnesotan I ever new who wasn't at least a decent swimmer - he could dog paddle around, but was not what I'd call a swimmer. I was in the lake with my mother when I was 6 months old, and every summer until I was 17 years old and we moved to Montana. I was never taught to swim - from my earliest memories, I just knew how to handle myself in water. Us kids swam in Balsam Lake from several different docks, almost never with adult supervision, and never thought anything of it. Done that intentionally. On the canoe trips I did as an Explorer scout on the Canadian border, I don't remember ever seeing any life preservers. We paddled as far as 140 miles on my two 8 day trips, but they conducted a safety refresher before each trip. That included paddling a canoe out a couple hundred feet from shore while fully dressed, then swamping it, getting back in and paddling it back to shore while it was full of water. For me it was old hat, because I'd been doing that with our canoe just for fun ever since I was old enough to hold a paddle. I've never tipped a canoe over by accident, despite my hundreds of hours spent in one, but I have no concerns about what to do if it should happen. I know that in my canoe, I simply have to stay with the boat and I'm good... it won't sink.

I have a BPS Ocean Master travel spinning rod (3 piece). I've been using it for both fresh and salt water now for 6 years with no issues whatsoever. I've caught a couple of largemouth on it, but also up to 10 pound jacks and snappers and a couple of 3-4 foot barracuda. It's currently the only spinning rod I own. Seems to get the job done.

Am I the only one with good weather to report? Today in the mid 40's is the coldest of the next 5 days. By Tuesday we are supposed to be in the 60's before the next possible cold front finds us. Having a heat wave.