Kirtley Howe

Wrong video. He did not "jump" his boat. He rolled up a set of rollers that are built into the embankment. The rollers were constructed to allow anglers access to the "pond" he fished in. Very similar to using a lock to access a section of lake that you cannot directly boat into. (as in being blocked by a dam). The real question is if the pond he accessed was actually part of Lay Lake that was within the tournament boundaries. He felt it was. I agree with him. But BASS felt it was not....and it is their tournament, and their judgement that matters in the end.

What bothers me even more than the waste, is the fact that this is Littering. Don't toss your used plastic baits on the ground or into the water. Put them in a bag and dispose of them properly. Losing a bait is one thing....deliberately tossing it into the water of on the ground to get rid of it is another thing entirely.

Not being able to go fishing whenever I want to.

Try here: TrackerMarineParts.com

A Bettle Spin was the "magic lure" when I was young. And a Rockey Jr. They were the first lures I had, and they both worked....probably still do. Do they even make the Rockey Jr. anymore?

Must be a new species. I have never caught a parmesan encrusted bass. <G>

Sounds like a good day. Thanks for the report.

This time of year in the Susquehanna River it is often necessary to try a bunch of different things. The fishes mood seem to change every few minutes, and it seems to be almost impossible to stick with one lure and/or technique and have consistent results. Plus, I like to try different stuff.

A lot of people use shallow spools for pitching, flipping, and punching. For those applications you don't need to have a reel that holds a bunch of line, as you are fishing close to your position. I have also had some people say that they use a shallow spool when casting lighter weight lures, as the spool "starts up" easier than a large spool that holds a lot of line. (Less inertia as there is less mass). I personally do not own any shallow spool casting reels, just because I am too cheap to buy extra spools for my reels, and too cheap to buy a reel with a shallow spool that can only be used for a few presentations.

How about a 1 gallon Zip-Lock Freezer bag? Cheap, reusable, and easily replaced when it gets worn out. Added bonus is you can freeze things in the other bags in the package.

The Things Remembered store closest to me will no longer engrave anything that they did not sell. It may vary by store.

If I recall correctly, in MLF it is a 5 minute no fishing penalty for leaving your boat. In BASS, it is a disqualification for leaving your boat except in an emergency and/or with the Tournament Directors permission. Rules differ by organization and type of tournament. Rules are even different in Opens as opposed to Elites. Either way, Keith did not leave his boat. The disqualification is based on the idea that he left tournament waters. His argument is that the spot he fished was within tournament waters but other contestants could not reach it in their bigger, heavier fiberglass boats....which he felt was their problem, not his problem. BASS disagreed with his opinion, and since they are the sanctioning authority, they can do that. I personally disagree with their opinion, but it is their ballgame, so they can make rules and interpetations as they see fit.

I don't change up lures "just to keep it interesting". I change up because if a lure or type of lure is catching fish does not mean it is the lure that will catch the most, or the biggest fish. Also, I will change up lures to something I prefer to fish (topwater vrs crankbait for instance.) to see if that will also work. In some cases I will settle for catching less fish, or maybe smaller fish, in order to use a lure or technique I have more fun with. Example: Ned rigs catch a ton of smallmouth bass, but I would be happy catching a few less using a crankbait. HHHMMMMM......reading what I just wrote, I realize that, in essence, I DO change up baits "just to keep it interesting". I really never thought of it that way before. My bad.

Just do an internet search for "engravers near me". I have gotten several odd things engraved at a local shop.

The Susquehanna River near Owego, NY finally dropped enough to make fishing a reasonable possibility, and since today was my birthday, I decided that it was "necessary" for me to go fishing. I was fishing from shore only, as my boat won't be water ready for another month or two. The weather was perfect. MIx of sun and clouds. Temperature was between 62-73 degrees while I was out. LIght (4-7mph) variable winds. Water temp. was 54-58 degrees. First spot I tried was a shallow flat adjacent to deep (8-15 feet) water. Started with a jig with a crawfish trailer. No love for that. Switched to a Berkley Choppo that is about 5 inches long, and muted baitfish color. Fished that for about 15 min with no luck, then something (Bass? Pike?) blew it 2 feet out of the water. Never got a hook in the fish, and didn't see it, so I am not sure of size or breed, but it sure got my adrenalin going. Kept at it for another 20 mins or so, but couldn't convince the fish to come back. Switched to a weightless fluke, and caught a 12" Smallmouth. Stayed with that for a while, but no more takers. Tossed a bunch of other stuff with no success. Moved to a different area. This area is a deep, narrow channel between the shore and a rock strewn flat. Pretty heavy current. Cast several squarbills in various sizes and colors, but no takers on those. Tried drifting a weighted worm with the current, and caught 3 10-12" smallmouth, and a bonus 14" Walleye. Switched to a tube jig, but only caught bottom. After breaking off 3 tube jigs with no fish, I gave up on them. Then tossed a 1/2 oz rattling rapala in red/orange crawfish color. Caught a 2 lb largemouth. Then the action died out. Threw a bunch of other stuff, but no more luck. Moved to another area. This area is a rock strewn flat with backwaters and eddies. Tried the choppo again, but no luck. Tried several other top water baits (original floating rapala, jitterbug, crazy crawler) but top water just was not working. Tried the tube jig again (coffee tube) and got lots of hits, but only caught 3 short smallmouth. Threw a rattle trap (1/2 oz in sexy shad) and bagged a 1 1/2 pounder. Short, but really fat. Definitely a pre-spawn female. After that no more bites on the rattle trap. Threw a couple of different spinnerbaits, but no love there. Tried the squarebill again, and caught two more smallies, about 10" in length. Had to call it a day at that point. So, no big ones, but all in all a very successful day.

When I owned a wooden rowboat, I mounted lights front and back. The rear all-around white light was powered with 2 D batteries. The front Red/Green lights were powered with a small 12v battery. I am not sure what the rules were, but I did not want to be invisible to other boaters. I also put 3M reflective tape on my oars, and down the sides of the boat just below the gunnels.

Just a side note on the Tungsten weights....In New York State since 2004 it is "illegal to sell, or offer for sale, lead fishing weights of less than 1/2 oz". It is NOT illegal to USE lead weights of less than 1/2 oz. Which means that you can make your own, or buy them from a source outside of NY, and use them....which many anglers do.

If someone is fishing a spot and you move in on it while they are fishing, you are not a nice person, But, it is not "their" spot....it is "a" spot, and fair game if they are not on it when you get there. In the modern world with Google Earth, Google Street View, and modern electronics to find and mark places, there is no such thing as a "secret spot" anymore. Want to fish where no one else is fishing? Find a spot that is very hard to get to. You will most likely have it to yourself, as most people will not make the effort to get there.

Yeah, I only buy one or two dozen at a time. And they are all FOR ME!!!!!

According to him this removed any rough spots, burrs, etc, and helped the gears mesh together better. Maybe, but it always seemed to me that he was just causing premature wear. But, his reels, his choice.

When I was 10 years old up until I hit my twenties, I used to wade in sneakers and blue jeans from as soon as the ice went out until the first hard freeze in the fall. I think something was seriously wrong with me.....

I had a friend, unfortunately now deceased, who swore by a technique he used to "break in" new casting reels. He would bring them home, and before ever using them, he would take them apart and clean them. He would then re-lube them and put them back together. He would then take the handle off, and attach his electric drill to the shaft for the handle, and then run the drill for a while on slow speed, and gradually ramp up the speed to as fast as his drill would run. Then he would take the reel back apart, clean it again, and re-lube and reassemble the reel. He claimed that doing this "broke the reel in", and made it much smoother to use. I have never tried it, nor do I recommend it, but it seemed to work for him. Any thoughts on this?

I would be hard put to choose between Lake Onterio/Thousand Islands and Lake Erie as far as "best" for Smallmouth bass. And don't forget Lake Champlain......

I find it much easier to slow down reeling with an 8.1 than to speed up reeling with a 5.1 or 5.3. The only reason I own a lower speed reel is so I can use the slower reel to get big fish out of thick weeds. The lower speed reel has higher "cranking" power. In more open water that has never been a concern for me. That said, some pros swear by the slower reels for certain techniques. To each their own. Some people have a very difficult time consistently slowing down reeling, and if you happen to be one of those then for sure get a slower speed reel.

Fuji Hook Keeper. $3.49 at Cabalas. Fits any rod.