Dminor9

Took my youngest daughter fishing for the first time with a guide friend of mine on Lake Travis Texas. She had never fished before, so we set her up with a Zebco Spin Cast and a crank bait. We had just dropped the boat in the water and were maybe 10 feet off the shore and my guide friend instructed my daughter how to cast. She made her first cast and bammm! A major hit and it took her a good 10 minutes to land the fish. We were all expecting a nice bass, but were really surprised when we netted a 4 foot alligator gar! My daughter's only comment was, "Did I do good?" She was afraid to hold the gar up for pictures, so my guide friend held it with needle nose pliers with my daughter standing next to it. It was almost as big as she was. That was a memorable fishing trip for sure.

Catching fish aside, spending quality time with family is the best! Your father looks d**n good for 79 years old. Hard to beat being on the water with family and the quality time spent.

Years ago (like 1970's), while trout fishing a mountain stream in western PA, caught a huge mud dog. Thought it was a nice trout until I got it out of the water. It was about the ugliest thing I had ever seen out of a stream at the time. I tried to grab it and get the hook out, that was a mistake. It slimed me and I ended up just cutting the line to let it go. Took weeks for the slime to wear off of my hand. One other time my brother and I were fishing a lake at night in northern Wisconsin (1980's) for catfish and my brother's line started zipping out, he grabbed his pole and started reeling in and found a bat had flew into his line and got tangled in it. Another cut the line scenario. That is how you catch a bat. Yikes!

Definitely nothing to brag about here fishing wise. Very tough summer. Fishing on one of the few open to the public lakes in south central Texas has been really tough. COVID has closed a number of other lakes and parks, so more people than ever are coming here to boat, swim, ski, and fish. Too crowded to be able to do much. When getting off the main lake into one of the few slews, it is like taking side streets when a main highway is backed up due to a wreck. Mid September into October is going to be nice when everyone goes back to work, back to school, and back home so fishing will actually be possible and hopefully productive.

I have only been out five or six times this year on the local lake. My son-in-law and I finally got his used Express fishing boat fixed up and running with a motor rebuild, a Garmin Striker Plus fish finder, a Motor Guide Xi3 trolling motor, and the live wells re-wired and working. But the summer hasn't been kind for catching fish. Between the excessive boaters and vacationers, and the intense Texas heat, we haven't caught much. So we pass the time with a lot of practicing using the fish finder including starting to contour map the lake, way pointing groups of stacked fish, and learning the layout of the bottom. Also spend a lot of time practicing casting techniques, such as flipping, skipping, and unfortunately clearing snags. Some time is also spent teaching my son-in-law knots, rigs, and baits to use and how to fish them. Hopefully this will pay off in the fall when temps fall to a reasonable level and all the vacationers and excessive boaters go home for the winter. How do you pass the time when the fish aren't biting?

28 days straight of 100+ temperatures, a local lake filled with vacationers and extra boaters from lakes and parks closed all around due to the Covid crap, yes I am ready for fall. Have only fished about 5 days this summer due to the excessive boat and jet ski traffic on this little local lake. So fall will be much welcome, as I can fish more with little or no boat traffic. Here in south central Texas, winter is not much more than an extension of fall. So look forward to fishing fall, winter, and spring before the idiot boaters and jet skiers take over for another summer.

My vote goes for the Garmin Striker Plus. Just bought one two months ago and it was easy to set up and very easy to use and understand. I also do not think there is a best fish finder. It is a matter of personal preference.

I have used nothing but straight braid for over ten years now. I have never used a leader of any type. I use a braid ready spinning reel loaded with 10# Power Pro in green. I have never had a problem tying a Palomar knot on any lure, jig, or hook, and never had a knot failure. IMHO, it just seems with a leader, there is just more knots to fail and more gear to buy. Line is just like rods, reels, fish finders, lures, etc, it is just a matter of personal preference.

Eddie 101, you got the deluxe Garmin! Good for you. Those models are a bit out of my price range. I know you will be happy with it. If you have questions and don't know how to do stuff with it, there are manuals available on the internet and YouTube has tons of video instructions to help. You are correct on the Jazz/Fusion genre. There are so many great musicians out there, hard to pick a favorite. Guitarfish, guess we are just a bunch of "Fishin-Musicians" !

Hey Eddie 101, funny you said I must be a Pink Floyd fan! I can only think it is because of my screen name. I am a guitar player of over 50 years, and I do like Pink Floyd. The Dminor9 just happens to be one of my favorite chords in one of my favorite keys. You won't be disappointed with the Garmin Striker Plus 5CV. It is very user friendly. It is the first fish finder I have owned and is very easy to navigate and use. I was a little concerned with the screen size, as most think you need a 7" screen or larger. But I disagree. The 5" screen is very easy to read. I am 66 years old and have to use reading glasses, but even without them, I have no problem seeing and interpreting the screen. One thing I haven't had the time to invest in yet is the contour mapping feature. Although I have played around with it. The mapping is pretty cool also. Enjoy your new purchase!

Bought my Garmin Striker Plus 5CV from Academy Sports online. No problems with the order or the delivery. It was delivered in 5 days from the order date, which was June 26th. I am very happy with the Garmin by the way.

A good friend of mine who was a fishing guide for many years, got me started on braid over tens years ago. Since then, I use braid exclusively. So Braid.

I use Clear Vu for structure mostly. In Chirp, fish arches can sometimes not be fish. Sonar can not typically distinguish between floating debris and fish. So I use Clear Vu in the split screen to make the distinction between the two. Hope this helps.

While I can't actually help in regards to how best to use a FF on a Kayak, I can comment on the Garmin 5CV. I purchased one for my son-in-laws fishing boat a month ago. It was a very good buy for the money (299.99). We have only had the opportunity to use it a couple of times, but we always use Chirp and Clear Vu in a split screen. We also sometimes go with a triple split adding in the contour mapping at the same time. Chirp shows structure as well as fish. Clear Vu gives a very good HD view of the bottom and structure and can differentiate branches, weeds, rocks, etc from fish. The Contour mapping feature allows you to map where you fish and set waypoints for spots that consistently produce fish. Not sure if this helps. I feel for the budget you want, this is a very good buy and you won't be disappointed.

I bought 4 Magellan moisture wicking shirts on sale from Academy recently and love them. Light weight, soft, long sleeve, and very comfortable. I have fished with them on in 90-100 degrees here in Texas and was not overheated in the slightest. I also wear long pants, a hat, and UV sunglasses. I rarely fish 10-11 in the morning during the summer and stay out of the direct sun as much as possible. For the very reasons mentioned above, cancer of the skin. Stay safe y'all.