haggard

Dragged the trailer out of the basement today and finished the electrical. Only remaining items are bunks and safety chains. This has been a fun winter project.

Thanks for the reminder @jbmaine. The Thresher loss was a few years before I was born but I recall learning about it while working for the local paper, covering the memorial held at the shipyard in '05. Wiki article notes it was the "deadliest submarine disaster ever." Wikipedia is a great resource for reading (and re-reading) about historic events like this. There are so many of them, far too many details to remember, but so important to remember. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Thresher_(SSN-593)

Different tools for different jobs.

Discovered fishing only two seasons ago and deep smallies have become my favorite. Home lake is 40 ft max. For the first two seasons on the lake I used 12 lb test mono with Texas rigged 4 and 5 inch worms with bullet weights 1/4 and 3/8 oz. Biggest problem was sensitivity and ended up gut hooking too often (fortunately was able to free the hook and release the fish in most cases). This season I plan to really focus on deep smallies and will try 40 lb braid (for better sensitivity especially when deep, hoping to reduce the gut hooks), using two techniques: a) Texas rigged 5 inch worm (either straight or with paddle tail) with 3/8 oz bullet (gets it to the bottom faster), working it either on the bottom or swimming it back to the boat mid column, and b) skirted jig (3/8 to 1/2 oz) with a crawdad trailer, working it on the bottom.

Texas rigged 4" worm with 1/4 oz bullet weight on a M/F rod.

Written checklists save your bacon. Don't trust the memory. 99% of the time your checklist confirms you've done everything you should have done. It's that 1% that gets you. They sound tedious and they feel inconvenient but there are good reasons for them. Personal experience.

What weighs more: a pound of feathers or a pound of bricks?

Hobie bimini top is now available. A long day of yak fishing just got way better. https://www.hobie.com/accessories/bimini/

I also use the Boonedox, a must on my heavy yak and I absolutely love it. I'll be happy to answer any questions you have about it. You do need to drill four bolt holes in the hull, but the mounting system uses backing plates (at least on my version, may vary with models?) and is designed with stress on the hull taken into account. (edit - just saw you got a C-tug. Looks great, and still small/light enough that you can take it on board if you want to save a trip back to the vehicle)

Clearly 9 lb 2 oz Congrats!

Not a fan of pocket carry, too fumbly and seems unsafe. Love the J frames, found them most comfortable IWB at 4 oclock position in a cheap not leather holster, can't remember the name, just some synthetic material that felt like neoprene. It was okay but haven't yet found the right holster.

Best way to avoid spending money on something you don't need is to sock the cash away for something better. Because there's always going to be something you want more.

I get where you're going with that and it can be an effective deterrent (at player/parent meeting) - but if you take that action, it seems like punishing the player for somebody else's actions isn't fair. Just thinking of it from the kid's perspective. I don't envy you for having to deal with hot headed parents. Have you ever had to follow through with it? To be clear, thanks for what you're doing. While there are certainly limits, I think most kids learn a lot more about respect (and life) from a tough coach than from an everybody's-a-winner coach. Just a little opinion there.

Forget top loading. Van should have plenty space inside for part of the jon or yak. Leave the hatch open, bolt on a trailer hitch ($150-200?) and buy a bed extender T-bar setup ($50 Amazon?). Definitely wide enough for the yak. They're adjustable so it may even accommodate the jon. With this solution you don't even need to buy a trailer. Tracker jon sounds like a great little boat but also don't rule out a yak.

If there's nothing on your wish list, sock the money away and keep adding to the stash. At some point there will be something you want. Unless you're made of money (which is fine BTW), if you spend it now, you might wish you had it later. Not spending money is money in the bank.

Family obligations #1. Outside of that, relocating for a passion such as fishing, absolutely. There are two fishing friends in or close to my neighborhood who are in the process of doing exactly that, and in both cases there are no dependents, and in both cases, they sure put the work in and earned it.

They just fade away...

Advantages of a 2-pc are portability and easier to store it out of sight in the vehicle. Disadvantage is you have to carefully align the line guides when coupling the two sections, but in reality that's easy to do, and even with a 2-pc I'd guess you rarely end up taking it apart anyway. The 2-pc can be awkward to carry when it's taken apart, unless you carry it in a bag. As far as sensitivity goes, I wouldn't worry about it. My first rod (unless you count the Ugly Stik) was a 2-pc StC and it's perfectly sensitive. I'd say keep it simple and base your decision on portability alone (storage in vehicle, carrying through woods, taking it with you on a trip, etc)

Ditto! I take plenty photos in the teardown process for just that reason.

Winter project: extending the life of the trailer (and converting from rollers to bunks) instead of buying a new one which in retrospect may have been more sensible, but before long I was too far in. Didn't plan on tearing it down completely but that's what happened. Lots of sanding, priming and painting, some new parts, and @jbmaine used his machinist mojo to repair the gouges I put in the axle when removing a stuck bearing. Stripped loose paint and rust, then most parts were hit with self etching primer from a rattle can. Rougher rust areas were scraped as much as possible before applying primer painted on by hand (the brown in the photos is the primer, not the rust). Final coat is a machine gray enamel from a rattle can, one coat over the self etching primer, and two coats over the rougher areas. Thought about a more flashy final coat but figured the cheaper flat machine gray will make the bright red 12 ft. skiff really pop. Stripping/painting phase almost complete. Only remaining paint work to do is a final coat on the underside of the main trailer frame. Then it's reassembly time which will include installation of new stuff (electrical, wheels, tires, hubs, coupler, misc hardware). Oh carp, just realized I still have to build the bunks and order the bunk swively things. Anyway can't wait to see this thing finally come together. It's not perfect by any means but there's something very satisfying about this project.

Most phone cameras and GoPro-like video cameras use wide angle lenses that make objects close to the lens appear larger than their more distant backgrounds. It's natural to proudly display the fish at arms length close to the camera, but to show proper scale (pun intended) hold the fish right against your chest or body. It won't feel as glamorous but will give the viewer a much more accurate assessment of the size of the fish.

A year or two ago I was trying for panfish with an ultralight and a small jig head and caught an accidental largemouth. Chunky but probably only a 2+ pounder. What a thrill it was bringing it in on that ultralight. Now I always like to bring one panfish combo. There are many days when I don't land a single bass so on the way back to the launch it's satisfying to know I can at least catch a perch or bluegill before getting off the water. A day on the water without a fish is still a great day, but it's just better when you can land something, even a small something.

I was a few posts in, wondering why nobody said "favorite rod is a subjective thing" yet, until I realized Favorite is a brand.

Barbless hooks. Saves lips :)

I'm right handed. When buying the first reel salesguy asks if I want righty or lefty reel. No idea. Tried righty. That was okay. Tried lefty. That was WAY more okay. I feel like reeling is something either hand can do, but when it comes to casting or working the lure, that's for the power and control of the dominant hand. For this righty, it's always a left retrieve reel.