Bankc

I plan on doing this. I'm going to use a marinade injector (because they're essentially the same thing, as a plastic injector, only cheaper) and make some molds out of Durham's water putty from a clay model. I plan on trying out my own designs, which probably won't work, but will be way more fun. I'm thinking something like a trilobite. I figure it's a design that goes back over 500 million years, so there's a lot of evolution baked into eating them. Or maybe not.

To me, the difference between a 6.2 and 8.1 isn't huge. I can speed up or slow down easy enough to make either work for most anything. Just choose one and if you decide later you wish you got the other, then you'll know what to look for in your next reel.

Any and all ways. Sometimes I'll pay attention to it and have an idea for rigging it one way or the other. Sometimes it's just a matter of how I grab it out of the box. I don't think it much matters, to be honest.

I prefer white. It's easiest to see small details for me, especially in the sun. It has the highest contrast. But whatever works best for you is what you should use.

I grew tired of fishing in the late 90's. I didn't have the time or money for it. But I'm back now! Like any hobby, it's possible to grow weary. Don't sweat it. I've had so many things in my life that I was heavily into, only to burn out years later. I was a professional musician for a while with albums and tours. Didn't make much money, and eventually I came to realize that there's just not much of a market for people who do their own thing. And I didn't want to play music that could easily fit into a "genre". Then I switched to painting. Sold a bunch of paintings in local galleries. Same thing happened. I could sell stuff, but I couldn't command the prices that made it worth my time. Good painting supplies are very expensive and paintings can take months to complete. Then I switched to photography. Again, I developed my own process and unique look. I even invented my own chemistry and developed my own prints that no one else could copy. And again, no one wanted a photograph that didn't look like what they were used to. And I had no desire to copy others. I also briefly got into audio electronics for music production. I designed my own circuits and built my own gear. But no one wants to spend enough money on things they've never heard of from someone they don't know to make it profitable for me. When you're making single bits of kit by hand the price of parts is enormous, and you just can't compete with mass produced items out there. There are a few other stints that I've had over my lifetime as well. My point being, it's okay to do what you love. And it's okay to burn out. What's not okay is to worry about burning out to the point where it affects what you love. Do it. Love it. And if it loses its draw, find something else. Just find your passion and enjoy the time you have, and when it's over, look back on it with fond memories. There's always a chance you'll come back to it and rekindle that love one day.

This has happened to me way more than it should have. I have close calls like this probably about 5-10 times a year in my kayak. A lot of powerboaters just don't respect how dangerous their boat is. You'll have guys pulling a skier and it's just them in the boat and they're watching the skier, not where they're going. You'll have guys who just bought their first boat and will run it at full throttle with the bow pointed at the clouds, not able to see what's in front of them. You'll have guys who are drunk. Guys who are watching their electronics. Guys who are tying on a new lure when driving. And occasionally, you'll find the guy who sees you, but decides he has the right of way and doesn't care if it hits you. It's on you to avoid him. That's why I always keep a whistle with me, tied to my PFD. I use it as a horn to let them know someone is there. And if I hear a boat, but can't spot it, I'll start heading towards the bank immediately until I can find it. You've got to keep your head on a swivel at all times in a kayak. Even if the boat misses you, the wake can be dangerous, so it helps to have the paddle already out to position your kayak so it doesn't get rolled. Too many people only care about themselves these days.

Same here. Though we don't get too many days without any wind.

Lift and drop. I won't say that it's always the best retrieve on any given day, but over the course of a year, it's the one that produces best. Though typically, if I'm going to do something like swim it or drag it, I'll usually switch over to something else, rather than a Texas rig.

#5 is the most productive for me. But they really work best on spinning gear, because they're just too light for normal BC gear. #5 seems to catch the same size as the larger shad raps, but fewer numbers. To me, the only reason to go up from #5 is to cast them on heavier gear.

To me, the rod and line have to be in sync for a crankbait rig. I had an issue once using a moderate action rod with mono line and deep diving crankbaits. I couldn't get enough power to set the hooks reliably when the bait was really far out there. That's when I learned that it's all part of system. So how much line you have regularly have out there, the speed and power of the rod, and the stretch factor of the line will all have to balance to give you what you need. And you have to balance that with castability and the depth of your plug. So to me, there's no one-size-fits-all answer. It's all personal preference. Get it wrong, and you'll know.

It probably has to do with the lower burning temperature of alcohol. I know many woodworkers and luthiers prefer it for bending and straightening wood due to it's lower burning temperature when compared to most other fuels. They also use it for those stand-alone heaters in the catering industry, so they maintain a steady heat without cooking your food further. The lower temperature is also why it's less likely to leave soot. It gives you more control. You can still use other fuels successfully, you just have to be more careful about overheating whatever you're working.

That's how I learned to skip. I accidentally skipped it under a tree branch, and skipped it all the way to the bank. I was so impressed, that I tried it again and again, noticing that it's all about the angle. I had tried before, and could occasionally skip, but not very reliably. Something about the height or shape of that branch instinctively put me on the perfect angle. I'm still not good at it though. Which is okay. Most of our docks are floating docks, so there's not much use for skipping. Still, I'll give it a try every once in a while just to make sure I don't forget how.

Nope. The way I see it, if it's small enough for a first aid kit, it's small enough not to worry about. If it needs more than a first aid kit, then I'm heading into shore immediately. And if I'm in desperate need to stop the bleeding immediately, I can use what I'm wearing to make a bandage or tourniquet. They're just not worth the space they take up. However, I fish from a kayak. On a large boat, I'd probably have one.

I bought a single knuckleball last spring and had some really good luck with it. I didn't use it that often, because it just seems weird to me, but the times I did use it, it did really well for me. Mostly in the summer up in skinny water. It did seem to get hung up more than it should have, though. Otherwise, yeah, it looks good to me. Give it a go! Though, I'm not one to judge. Every time I've modified a spinnerbait, I've somehow made it worse. I'd probably pull those out more when looking to go deeper. Single willow blade. That jig head is pretty small and dense and the arm is short. It seems to me like it's biggest advantage would be staying down in the water column. But who knows until you try, right?

I actually prefer a bit longer paddle for fishing kayaks than what's typically recommended. The reason being, I use mine while standing, for pushing off things, unsnagging lures, and moving branches around me quite often. Since my kayak is motorized, I don't use it as a traditional paddle as often as I use it for other things. That's just personal preference though. One thing I would recommend, is get one with a fiberglass, wood, or carbon fiber handle. On hot sunny days, the last thing you want is to grab a metal pole that's been baking in the sun. And on cold winter days, the last thing you want is a cold metal pole that sucks all of the heat out of your hands. And you probably don't need the world's most expensive paddle if you're not going to be using it as your primary source of power. But don't go too cheap either. If you discover you need your paddle, and your paddle breaks, you're in trouble.

I've yet to catch one off a blade bait. I do pretty well with spoons and crankbaits, so I feel like these should work for me, so I haven't given up yet. I also can't remember catching a bass off a jerkbait when fished like a jerkbait. I know I've caught a couple with a steady retrieve, fishing it like a crankbait.

I do mine once a year, or if one gets dunked in the dirty lake. That's probably overkill, but I enjoy doing that kind of work. My grandfather never took his reels apart. I inherited a few that had 30+ years of wear on them, and were never cleaned. Occasionally, he'd drop some oil in there, but that was it. And most of them still worked when I got them. Though they did make more reliable reels back then. How often you want to clean them is entirely up to you.

I prefer the tight line bite. I'm just more used to it, as it's primarily how I prefer to fish. With a slack line presentation, I'm rarely 100% certain I have a fish on my line until after I've set the hook. Like I'll notice something is off and I'll set the hook to see what's going on. But with a moving bait, I usually instantly know what's happening, as it's happening. I'm just more familiar with it, so I'm rarely surprised.

The biggest hook I've ever straightened was the stock hook on an old Cotton Cordel Rattletrap. I don't even know how it happened, and it was a serious pain to bend it back without snapping it. But I'm with you. Straightening a hook is a once in decade event for me, at best. I'm much more likely to snap my line or occasionally uncoil a split ring than straighten a hook. Good hooks are usually tempered to hold a point longer, so they won't often bend very far before they snap anyway.

It's up to you. As you know, there are advantages and disadvantages no matter which way you go. Personally, I prefer a more moderate speed rod when dealing with topwaters. You have to pop the rod a bit harder to get the same action, but that doesn't bother me as much as losing a fish. But I'll frequently use fast action rods as well. I fish from a kayak, so I limit myself to six rods, so they all have to pull multiple duties.

I had a friend several years ago that I had to ban from my boat. A bunch of us went out for a weekend of fishing and skiing (a 24ft ski boat), and he told me he could ride in the boat (on the trailer) while I towed it from the cabin to the dock (about 10 miles). I told him no, and he kept repeating "nah man, it's cool. It's cool." He wouldn't take no for an answer, so I just flat out told him he wasn't coming, and he'd have to stay at the cabin. He then said he'd ride in the truck, but I had already determined he wasn't safe to take out on the water. Nice guy and generally fun to be around, but he was an only child of rich parents, so he couldn't wrap his mind around having to do what other people told him if he didn't want to do it. We got back to the cabin about an hour later (the result of a classic Oklahoma pop-up storm), and he was already slurring drunk. Though I do have to give him some credit, as he never held it against me.

It has to depend on the body of water. At the three local lakes I frequent, I catch well over a hundred bass a year and have never seen one over 4lbs in the many years I've fished them. There might be some in there, but if it were 1 in 34 odds, I'd have seen one by now.

I've experimented a lot with knots, trying to come up with some of my own and learn a bit about how they work. And while I haven't tried that particular one, I would expect it to perform pretty close to a regular Palomar. It seems to me that it should still have the same weakness in the pinch point as the Palomar, but with extra steps and bulk. Then again, I can't say anything for sure until I've tried it. With any knot you want to balance breakage versus slippage. The more the knot's forces are spread out, the less likely it is to break the line, but the more likely it is to slip. The more you concentrate the forces, the more likely it is to break, but he less likely it is to slip. For braided line, try a Fish N Fool, Reverse Improved Clinch, Or San Diego Jam. They're all fairly easy to tie and hold better than the Palomar.

I keep one of these on my keychain. I use it just about every day for something. The scissors and tweezers are especially handy. And it's stainless steel, so it won't rust on you. The downside is, it's stainless steel, so it gets dull quickly. That's okay for me, as I enjoy sharpening knives. As a knife goes, it's pretty subpar. There are better blades out there. But as a useful tool goes, you'll be glad you have with you on a near daily basis. It's pretty much unbeatable when you factor in its size and utility. Plus, if I'm ever caught in a security line with one, they're cheap enough that I can pull it off my keychain and hand it over to the guards. It's not like a $100 knife where I'm wondering if I should go back to my car to leave it there. At around $15-20, it's semi-disposable.

I feel you. I too use my spinning setups far more often in the winter. However, I get by with just two. While I'll use all of those rigs you mentioned in the winter, I typically won't be switching between them very often in the winter. And when I do, the bite is usually so slow that I don't mind the time it takes to retie. It helps to keep the mind calm and your presentations slow. I could honestly get by with just one rod, if I wanted. I certainly don't feel the need for a new rod for every presentation. Though, if I had unlimited money and storage space, I must admit that I probably would have five rods for each!