Guitarfish

When I was a young man I swam almost daily and would challenge myself to see how many times in a row I could swim the length of our pool underwater on one breath. I was as close to a fish as I will ever be. I was absolutely a great swimmer and had no fear. Forward just a couple of years and I found myself on an outing at a lake with my girlfriends travelling softball team. There was a floating platform probably 75 yards out that I went for. Halfway I cramped one leg so bad that I couldn't use it. I was fighting to stay at the surface in a full panic. I gulped some air and then a voice in my head said 'float'. That little voice saved me. I made it to the platform but it took me a long time to talk myself into going back. That feeling never left me. Forward 30 more years, (and I won't bore you with repeating the story), I found a guy while I was fishing a local lake. Unknown to me he had been missing for 3 or four days and they had suspended the search. He had been at a company outing. An employee brought his tin boat w/o enough life vests. Then proceeded to overload it and they sank 1/2 way across the lake. He sank and didn't surface until I pulled him to shore. I will never forget him either. It upset me writing about him again. I am the biggest puss you ever saw when it comes to water now. I won't go near it until I am a guaranteed floater. Not even the dock. And you will get a serious talking to if you think you are taking that vest off in my boat. Thanks for sharing Jonas.

I have a coffee can full of those. Never did try one.

I'm starting out today spending $400 for my daughter's birthday tomorrow. Happy Father's day to you.

Chips off easily.

Unlikely to run into these motors as they are now an additional 6 years older than when this thread started. But if you do, and it's still running....hmm.

I used to have every color PopR. Never caught a thing. Used to have every color RattleTrap. Never caught a fish. I am working on developing a package of lures that won't catch a thing, so you can just go fishing and relax. I just found a small box full of old wooden poppers that I was going to sell on EBay I guess, but now I'm going to save and try out. I've been assured Oregon fish are not as smart as California fish.

There is no lonelier feeling than the one that comes over you when thinking about your best bud that passed. I have tons and tons of fishing stuff and would trade it all for a couple of striper trips with him again. That song 'You can't make old friends' says it all. So yeah, I fish alone.

They go over my 10 BassHunter with a fine tooth comb. I had to open and air dry the pontoons for days once after it got rained on.

Thanks to the guys that replied. I have (2) Stradics in the 3000 size I haven't spooled up yet, and it's good to find this info prior. OP, Go for it! Have a grand time.

I use a head net over my hat, long sleeves, fingerless gloves and a scarf around my neck. Then I spray Deep Woods Off on my sleeves, scarf and back of the gloves. You still hear the buggers buzz in, but they don't land. I flat out love night fishing.

At the risk of being boring, I'll say again I absolutely love my Shimano Bantam Mag 15xsg's. Small, almost tiny but it catches the dink bass assigned to me all day.

I did that with a MinnKota. I just went to youtube and someone had posted a how-to. Good luck.

I don't think you can walk the dog over vegetation. It depends on the plant material. My favorite method is to wiggle the rod on top to move the pad like a frog is literally walking across, then pull my bait into the hole and then give a slight bit of slack to let it drop. Watch your line.

Show us the magic lure.

I'm a big Anise BaitMate fan. In my opinion you are really being irresponsible if you introduce WD into our waterways.

My 1971 is manual everything, brakes, steering and shifting. I expect it to be my main putt putt for Home Depot runs after I move.

I would stick with lighter colors for comfort on hot days. I used gray vinyl flooring with a pebble-ly finish for non slip. I'm doing the same with my motor, repaint and decals. Except everything's on hold for a few months until I'm moved.

I love the HJ8 for bass and troll the big jointed suspenders for trout.

Start taking it apart. If you get to the exposed bridge you should see the problem. Don't force it to turn until you see the problem. All Penn Senators are built the same from 1/0 to 14/0 ( roughly), so if you can fix a smaller one you can fix a larger version. If you want to talk to the best shark reel assemblers go to AlanTani.com, Look for 'Sharkhunter'. He's the man.

We have younger folks on three sides as of a week ago. All from India. They see my garage and just wonder if I'm crazy. I don't think I'm getting any new fishing buds. After 20+ years of being a rental with a jerk of a landlord the house to my right just sold. A great young couple pulled up in front of our house the other day and introduced themselves as the new owners. They were so polite in an old fashioned way that surprised me. Even got their tan Lab out of the car and introduced him,lol. Instant friends.

I worked for a bunch of different sports guys over the years. Canseco, Walt Weiss, Merton Hanks, a Raider lineman (Bubba something, losing my mind), and Brent Jones. Brent Jones was the nicest of the lot . Just a real guy. It never occurred to me to ask for autographs. Some real weirdness working with egos is all I'll say about some of the encounters. I do have some autographs on 1967 Topps baseball cards from Oakland A's that were at a neighborhood QuikStop when we were kids on bikes. Why they (Sal Bando, Gene Tenace) were promoting at a small convenience store I have no idea, lol. And I was (am) a Giants fan.

I never have dry drags even on my saltwater reels. Smooth start up is what I'm after always. If I lose a bit of drag pressure I go to the next size up reel. And carbontex of course, either cut or bought from SmoothDrag. All that said, if I'm fishing light line for trout or crappie the stock clean oiled felt will suffice.

Congrats. I'm retired and hope to be debt free in about two more months. I'll have no house payment, truck payment or boat payment. Thank god we all have taxes & insurance to pay eh? I want to putter around woodworking and doing any remodels the new place needs. Like above, I go to bed and get out of bed when I feel like it. I just packed two big boxes of fishing reels to put away for the move. Going from mostly salt to fresh is going to take some getting used to.

WRB, now I'm curious what those colors are?

I just got a new pair of MJ readers. My wife picked them up without asking because she knew my frames cracked. I would have preferred looking at something else, but they are what I've been using for years. They are just too darn prone to cracking lenses.