farmpond1

It's pretty short for a deck. How wide is it?

It depends on the materials it's made of and so forth and so on. 350 isn't too bad but again, it just depends. What brand are they? If he has 12 canoes he's been holding onto for awhile, they'll likely still be there if you decide to do some research before you purchase.

IMHO, The "Must have's" are are a collection of baits which cover a wide cross section of Lakes/Rivers/Ponds and conditions. If you want to be versatile, you should have some diving crankbaits which run at different depths, some spinnerbaits with gold and silver blades, some jigs, a few spooons, some softplastic worms/crawdads/lizards/swimbaits, some tube baits, some topwater baits-all in a wide range of colors and sizes. But this is really if you plan to fish at many different locations or times of the year. If you only fish one or two spots, it might do to find a local expert and ask them what seems to work regularly. One of the reasons the bait monkey is so powerful is there are times when only a very select number of baits or colors will work. I can't count the number of times I've been fishing with a friend and he'll be catching fish on, for example, a silver Rapala. I'll switch because I see that it works but instead of silver, I might have only a white or natural minnow color. Or maybe I'll have a silver Rapala but only in one size larger or smaller. And I'll be darned if the fish still totally ignore what I'm using and continue to tear his bait to pieces. So, immediately after the trip, I'll go out and buy exactly that bait. Only to find that on the next trip, it's something else they want. Or, to stay one jump ahead of the fish, I might just load up on everything I can afford. Have I confused you enough? Listen to paragraph 1 and ignore the second one.

I am not saying we shouldn't conserve our fossil fuels. We are likely to run out of coal, oil, and natural gas before we find/develop alternative sources of energy. However, to say that green house gases (specifically, an increase in CO2) causes global warming is a farce. Al Gore is a Maroon! His supposed research suggests that increases in CO2 cause global warming when evidence (when looked at properly) suggests that global warming causes an increase in CO2. He's got it backwards. He's a spin doctor! That he won the Nobel Peace Prize makes me nauseated. I believe most of this global warming bunk is politically motivated.

That's something you don't see everyday! That's really cool!

I agree with Munkin. Back off. Give it a rest for about a half an hour. Creep up quietly (but keep your distance), use light line and some kind of natural looking soft plastic. Cast beyond the spot you last saw the fish, and work it slowly towards him/her. And if you catch it, reward it by letting it go. p.s. I hope I used this quote feature correctly.

You are correct. A medium action rod will act as a "shock absorber" when pulling a crankbait through the water -allowing the lure to be well ingested and securing a good hook set where the hook won't tear out. A fast action rod is better for slow baits where you need the extra muscle for the hook set and where you might need to pull the hook through some plastic. A little stretch is good in many instances so if I'm using a fast action rod, I prefer a monofilament which will stretch some.

Two questions: 1. If I stretched bubble wrap over a rigid boat frame, do you think the Coast guard would approve it? 2. Do they make marine grade bubble wrap? I'm just joking. Please don't expell me.

Rebel crawdads, panther martin spinners, small x-raps, deer hair jigs, 1/4 ounce spinnerbaits.

A "dink" in South Florida is a trophy bass in Illinois. :-/

Freshwater mussel (clamped down on lure), bullfrog, Jimmy Hoffa.

Welcome aboard, Kess! I'm a relative newby too. This place is a lot of fun if you like to fish-especially, of course, for bass.

Nice fish. I've type this in green because I'm green with ***.

Nice fish! Awesome!

Yep. I want to get a good 5-6 weight rod but the bait monkey has only a partial grip on me and with Christmas on it's way, I'd better hold off for awhile. I've heard it's best to save up for a pretty good rod rather than buying a cheap one-which is what I have now. Doucet, I may be contacting you later in the Spring. I don't really want to spring for a sinking flyline so apart from that what's the best way to get a fly down deep. I know only a little about weighted flies and putting split shot on the leader. For the latter method, how far down (or up) the leader should I put split shot? How much is too much weight? Another question I just thought of: How far from the fly or streamer should I put a strike indicator? These are basic questions, to be sure, but I am pretty much a beginner.

Well, actually it wasn't a fire. Thank goodness! But twice I've had electrical wires begin smoking and melting because there was a catostrohic failure somewhere between here and there. The first time it was on a GPS (automobile kind with cigarette lighter adapter-for use on Lake of the Woods, Ontario to avoid getting hopelessy lost) and second time was on some cable leading to my trolling motor. Now I'm paranoid with electricity. Now I keep my electronics and wires as far away from my gas tank as possible. Anyway, Does anybody else have any similar stories?

"Still in the Lake" cause I've never caught it.

It certainly sounds like you're in the right occupation for the task at hand. Surely you know some jet engine mechanics who can help out. Mount some turbofans on that baby!

Very nice fish! I guess it was more surprised then you were. It's always nice to actually hold the fish in your hands. When my friend and I fish, out of professional courtesy, we will say a fish is "caught" if it is next to the boat/bank. Heck, it doesn't reeaaallly matter since we let the fish go anyway. But, again, it's more fun when you actually get to hold 'em.

Nice fish! Those chubs make great catfish bait, too-lots of smelly oil in their flesh.

RoLo, That's a great story!

Yowza! I've been fishing for more than a few years and I've yet to catch one bass as big as these, let alone two! You got game! Are you sure you didn't photoshop them in? Just kiddin'. I'm glad to hear you let 'em go.

That's waaaay cool. Nice fish (both of them)!

If I (ever) catch two good 'un's like those in the same day (let alone the same season), I'll know I've reached nirvana. Good job! By the way, where, exactly, do you fish? Just kiddin'.

Yes, thank you. These are the kinds of responses I've hoped for (and appreciate). I don't really go out of my way to lie to people. I just know that if you call someplace paradice, kiss it goodbye (from Eagles song "Last Resort"). If I know someone who practices catch and release, I'm much more inclined to share info. But I also know people who will ruin a spot by fishing it to death until there isn't anything left in the water but used fishing line and syrofoam bait cups. If I'm in a boat and catching fish while my buddy isn't, I'll offer to share my bait with them-even if it's my last bait of that kind. I also practice catch and release so apart from educating the fish, I'm causing little harm. But I know others who keep everything they catch. So I'm pretty private about this.