Will Ketchum

I have had a senior lifetime license for about 18 years now. I still carry it on my fishing cap and it's faded and almost unreadable. When I bought it, I also got a laminated wallet license.

In live bait it's the hellgramite. They're picked from under rocks in the river's current and drifted through the rifts for SM in the Susquehanna.

I am retired and if I would go anywhere it would be a warm place, but it's a big deal to just pull up stakes and go, cuz it's not just about fishing; it's everything else. But I could dream. Maybe a vacation there would be a good start.

The warmest gloves I ever had were dual layer. The outer layer is 30% wool, and the inner layer is thinsulate. There are synthetics added into the mix too. I don't fish in the winter anymore. I either got smarter or older.

What I found with a kayak is you are locked into that one position; can't move around much and will get stiff after a while. Depending on age, you might not be limber enough to climb in and out of a kayak easily too. If you never used a kayak, it might be nice if you could do a test run in one. Other than that, you could have both and find out which is worth keeping over the other. You might even want to keep both.

I have heard of people contacting their congressman for help. It makes good PR for them.

I have Mitchel 308 and use it regularly.

Some of us are not familiar with it. Could you elaborate a little? I remember Buck Perry from In Fisherman, but that was years ago.

I don't carry since where I live it's relatively safe. We're mostly a bunch of small towns abutting up against each other. I think in a lot of cases, pulling a gun could get you into more trouble than out of trouble.

It's difficult for a guy to bare his soul to anyone, so we just suck it up. It's more "manly". Over the decades I built work-a rounds in my mind, and to dig all that up would be like pulling a scab off of a wound.

Let someone know where you're going in case of emergency. See if you're getting cell coverage. Hell, toss in a few night-walkers with no weight. They'll sink slowly to the bottom covering all depths.

If you are using a spinning reel, about the most important part that needs cleaning and lube is the roller. Otherwise you will eventually cut a groove in it. Ask me how I know? Unless you drop your outfit in the drink or fish in muddy water a lot, just wiping off the exterior should do. If you want to dig in, I would do a little at a time, reassemble and do a little more.

These days it's mostly close to home. That would be the state park lake and the Susquehanna. Both are only 5 minutes away. The park I avoid on weekends. Once or twice a year I'll travel to old haunts that I fished when younger. Distance was no object back then.

I would recommend at least a vehicle with all wheel drive and ground clearance. You may need it on some fishing adventures. I have a 2019 Subaru Impreza sedan and it does the job at this stage but wish it had the aforementioned. If I had a one piece pole, I could lower the back seat-back to fit it if I had to.

It will be hard to start a new life with a new job and a divorce at 58. Different is not necessarily better. Get your wife to agree to co-habitate as friends for a change and not a married couple. It might take the pressure off.

There was a now defunct fishing forum where a river fisherman did very well during winter. He jigged slow and deep in slack water with soft plastics letting the lure rest on the bottom for long periods of time and then working it a little.

Anchoring was mentioned above but I'm not sure if it's totally safe at all times. The excerpt below says why. "While it may seem tempting and is perfectly safe if done correctly from a larger craft, anchoring in high wind is a great way to flip your kayak in open water. Even with a trolly system that allows you to deploy from the bow, I wouldn’t anchor on a windy day while fishing the Chesapeake or most of its tributaries. Anchoring in a kayak should be used to combat current, not waves." https://fishtalkmag.com/blog/kayak-fishing-strong-winds

When I was in the Air Force I was on a two week leave before getting sent overseas. I thought I could get away without a license for two weeks so I never bought one. A friend and I went fishing and of course I got caught. I had one on the stringer but said it was my buddies. Now I have a senior's lifetime license so I haven't bought one since 2007.

I'm basically just a fisherman and what species is determined by the time of year. In the spring it's spawning bluegills. About the same time it's small-mouth in the river. Mid-summer it's large-mouth. Fall it's crappie. Those are the times most favorable where I usually fish.

When I was busy, busy with work I seldom went but of course brushed and flossed religiously. I developed an abscess and found a dental clinic and had it taken care of. Now I go for a cleaning twice a year. They pulled a broken tooth a few months ago. Some dental places send you to a dental surgeon if you need something special done, but they do it all under one roof.

I always used spinning reels but bought a casting reel years ago to give it a try. It gave me trouble from the start. Every few years I give it a shot again with the same result. Since I use a lot of light weight lures and bait even, I stick to spinning.

I don't think it's technique so much but which bank you are fishing from. You have to hit them where they're at and not where they aint. Any type of structure is better than none at all. Right now when the water is cooling, the crappie have been congregating along a steep bank. To them it must be structure because the lake was originally built for flood control and is featureless, although steps are being taken to add some structure.

As old as I am, I probably have enough stuff to open my own tackle shop, so I don’t buy much anymore. I remember a mom and pop called Zambor’s. They did so well that they moved to a larger location and expanded with hunting and fishing gear. The owner planned to leave the business to his son, but when he died, he just closed up instead. A former employee of Zambor’s opened up his own place called Ray’s Bait but his mother Marge really ran it. I bought loads there including rods and reels, tackle and bait, but big box stores put them out of business. Marge told me that she went to Cabella’s to see if any of her customers were going there, and sure enough she found some. Ray’s Bait had to close so they had a going out of business sale and I bought a bunch. I miss that place and Marge too, now deceased.

I grew up on the edge of a valley only two blocks from the woods. There were water company reservoirs where we hiked up the mountain to fish with a roll of fishing line in our pocket and one hook and a split shot, and on the way up we'd find a suitable tree branch for a pole. We fished the 1st dam of the three mostly from the dam itself where it was deepest and only required dropping down the line. Bait was grasshoppers picked from the tall grass around the area. Caught were bluegills, perch and bullheads. Our nemesis was the reservoir watchman. He was called Scatter for possibly two reasons. It was thought he was a scatter brain, or scatter is what we did when we heard his old jeep struggle as it made its way up the hilly dirt road.

Pi are not square. Pi are round.